RTP is the percentage of total stakes a slot is designed to return to players over millions of spins. A game with a 96% RTP pays back, in theory, £96 for every £100 staked, and keeps £4 as its house edge.
The figure comes from the game's maths model and is checked by an independent test house. It is a long-run average across every player, not a promise about your session. Over a few hundred spins your actual return can sit far above or below it, and volatility decides how wide that spread is.
A worked example with illustrative numbers: £1 a spin for 500 spins is £500 staked. At 96% RTP the expected loss is £500 × 0.04 = £20. The more you stake in total, the closer your result tends to drift towards that figure.
Many games are released in several RTP versions and the casino picks one, so check the game's help screen (see RTP range). Our RTP calculator turns any RTP, stake and spin count into an expected cost.