The best payout online casino is really two questions. How much does a pokie return over time, and how fast does the casino pay a win out? Studio-published RTPs for the pokies in our guides run from 88.12% to 97.17%, and the same game can run lower at another casino. This guide ranks high RTP pokies, explains the gap between versions, and points to the sites with the quickest payouts we measured.
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Casinos suited to high RTP play
Westio and Atefia are picked for their RTP-related terms, WinCrown, Wild Tokyo and SkyCrown for payouts we measured.
RTP (return to player) is the part of all stakes that a pokie pays back across a very long run. The list below ranks pokies by the headline RTP printed by the studio, with Immortal Romance’s figure taken from published RTP tables.
| Pokie | Studio | RTP | Volatility | Max win |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonanza Trillion | BGaming | 97.17% | High | 5,000x |
| Sweet Bonanza POP | Pragmatic Play | 97.05% | Not stated | – |
| Wild Cash Gold | BGaming | 97.02% | Very high | 25,000x |
| Aztec Clusters | BGaming | 97.00% | Very high | 10,000x |
| Divine Queen: Power of Sun | BGaming | 97.00% | Medium-high | 5,000x |
| Immortal Romance | Games Global (Microgaming) | 96.86% | High | – |
| Lady Wolf Moon Megaways | BGaming | 96.75% | Very high | 6,000x |
| Big Bass Bonanza | Pragmatic Play | 96.71% | High | 2,100x |
| Big Bass Splash | Pragmatic Play | 96.71% | Not stated | – |
| Rise of Merlin | Play’n GO | 96.58% | High | 5,000x |
BGaming holds four of the top five places, and the top ten sit within about 0.6 of a percentage point of each other. At that range the casino’s version of the game and the volatility matter more than the headline.
A 97.17% RTP means an average of A$97.17 comes back for every A$100 staked, over a very large number of spins. Stake A$1,000 across a long session and the maths expects about A$971.70 back at 97.17% and A$881.20 back at Mega Moolah’s 88.12%. Your own session can land anywhere around that, far above or far below. It is an average, not a promise.
BGaming prints 97.17% for Bonanza Trillion, with high volatility and a 5,000x top win. Symbols pay anywhere, reels refill after wins, and free-spin multipliers run from x2 to x500 and accumulate. It has a Buy Bonus with three options and a Chance x2 setting, which raise your cost per spin.
Aztec Clusters pays cluster wins on a 6x8 grid, with cell multipliers from x2 to x10 and sticky wilds up to x100. It prints 97.00% and a very high volatility, so expect swings. The Buy Bonus options run from x100 to x800.
Rise of Merlin from Play’n GO sits at 96.58% with high volatility and a 5,000x top win in published RTP tables. The Magical Orb is both scatter and wild, and three or more orbs award 8 free spins with expanding symbols. A good pick if you like expanding-symbol pokies; the types of pokies guide shows the other formats.
The same table helps in the other direction. These games still publish respectable figures, but they sit lower, and two of them carry a clear reason.
| Pokie | Studio | RTP | Volatility | Max win |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starburst | NetEnt | 96.09% | Low | about 500x |
| Gonzo’s Quest | NetEnt | 95.97% | Medium-high | – |
| Dead or Alive 2 | NetEnt | 95.92% | High | – |
| Elvis Frog in Vegas | BGaming | 95.3% | Medium-high | 2,500x |
| Legacy of Dead | Play’n GO | 93.65% (reduced version) | High | up to 250,000 coins |
| Mega Moolah | Games Global (Microgaming) | 88.12% | Medium | – |
The distance between 97.17% and 95.3% looks small, but it adds up. Over A$10,000 of total stakes the maths expects A$9,717 back at the top of our list and A$9,530 at Elvis Frog in Vegas, a difference of A$187. Legacy of Dead’s 93.65% configuration would return A$9,365 on the same stakes. That is the cost of a lower setting, and the reason to read the info screen.
Studios often build several RTP versions of one game, and the casino picks which to run. The figure on the studio’s page is the default. Published RTP tables show the spread.
Hacksaw Gaming shows how this looks in practice. The studio’s page for Wanted Dead or a Wild lists 96.38%, 94.55%, 92.33% and 88.42% without saying which a casino uses. We print “up to 96.38%” for that reason. Legacy of Dead’s 93.65% is a reduced configuration according to other review sites. Westio is reported to run the higher RTP versions of the titles checked, but only the game’s info screen at your casino settles it.
RTP is the long-run return. Volatility is how the return arrives, and our how pokies work guide explains both with worked A$ examples. Lady Wolf Moon Megaways is very high at 96.75%, Red and Hot Chilli medium-low at 96.35% and Starburst low at 96.09%. If you want longer sessions on a small budget, a lower volatility game can make more sense than the highest RTP on the list.
Mega Moolah returns 88.12% in published RTP tables, a networked four-tier progressive. A slice of every stake feeds the jackpot, so the base RTP is low. It suits a player who accepts that trade for a shot at a very large win, not one who wants the best long-run return.
Starburst prints 96.09% and Gonzo’s Quest 95.97%. Dead or Alive 2 is 95.92%, and Elvis Frog in Vegas 95.3%. They are respectable figures, but the newer BGaming titles above edge them out by about a point.
Stay near the top of the first table and check the version in the info screen. Bonanza Trillion, Wild Cash Gold, Aztec Clusters and Divine Queen: Power of Sun all publish 97% or more, and you can browse them in our pokies games guide.
Look at volatility first. Red and Hot Chilli (medium-low, 96.35%) and Starburst (low, 96.09%) return small wins more often than very high volatility titles, so a modest budget lasts longer. You give up the chance of the big top wins.
Wild Cash Gold prints 25,000x, Joker Mask 15,000x and Bonanza Billion 15,000x. Mental, from Nolimit City, prints 66,666x and a 96.08% RTP, with a hit frequency of 34.19% according to the studio. Expect long gaps: a bigger ceiling means a rougher ride.
Check game weighting. Pokies count 100% at Crownpokies, Casinonic and Atefia’s high-RTP titles. At WinCrown an A$100 deposit with the 120% match means A$4,200 of stakes at 35x the bonus. At a 97% game that is an expected cost of about A$126 in theoretical loss, set against A$120 of bonus, which is why the terms matter more than the title.
Land-based and online pokies are different products. For pub and club machines, state rules fix minimum returns, such as 87% in Victoria and 85% in Queensland according to an SBS factbox. Most online pokies in our guides publish headline RTPs from 95.3% to 97.17%, apart from jackpot games such as Mega Moolah at 88.12%, and lower versions exist, such as a 93.65% Legacy of Dead. We do not quote NSW land-based figures because sources conflict.
There is no way to make a pokie pay, and no reliable way to tell when it will. A random number generator picks every result, and past spins do not change the next one. We do not recommend any strategy for beating pokies, and we do not suggest a best time to play.
What you do control:
On the casino side, payouts are fastest where we recorded them. WinCrown paid PayID instantly and SkyCrown cleared PayID with a 10-minute median. Neospin cleared Litecoin with an 11-minute median and Wild Tokyo paid crypto in 12. These are tested figures. The sites we did not test state windows from 0 to 3 hours up to 72 hours at Godz and Crown Slots, and we mark them as stated. The full table is in our instant withdrawal guide.
Every one of the five casinos we tested paid. Winnings from bonuses carry wagering, caps and expiry dates. WinCrown caps free-spin winnings at A$200, SkyCrown at A$300, and Crownpokies at A$150. A high RTP does not remove those caps.
A high RTP describes the game. The casino’s rules then decide how much of a win reaches your account in one go. Withdrawal caps are printed in the terms, and they differ a lot.
| Casino | Withdrawal limit as printed | Cap on bonus winnings |
|---|---|---|
| SkyCrown | A$7,500 per day, A$15,000 per week, A$45,000 per month | A$5,000 per deposit bonus |
| WinCrown | A$6,000 per withdrawal on most methods | Bonus x7, or x5 on deposit four |
| Crownpokies | up to A$6,000 per withdrawal | 10x the bonus on cash bonus winnings |
| Casinonic | A$4,000 per day, A$8,000 per week, A$24,000 per month | not printed |
Casinonic, Ricky Casino and Lucky7even exclude progressive jackpot wins from their limits, and SkyCrown does the same for jackpots. A life-changing win on Mega Moolah would be paid under separate rules, so ask live chat before you chase one.
A bonus with a cap of 7x on its winnings turns a big result into a small cashout. If you are playing a high-RTP pokie for a serious session, taking no bonus keeps the cap off your balance. Our free spins guide walks through the trade-off.
Launch the pokie in the casino lobby. The info or paytable button sits in the menu or on the control bar.
Note the percentage. If a range is shown, find which one applies to the casino you are on.
If the number is clearly lower than the studio’s headline, pick a different title or a different casino.
Choose both before the first spin, and stick to them.
Only adults aged 18 and older may play. Gambling Help Online gives free support on 1800 858 858, day and night. See our responsible gambling page.
Most pokies in our guides publish between about 95.9% and 97.2%, with Bonanza Trillion highest at 97.17%. Anything at or above 96% is a solid figure. Progressive jackpot games sit lower: Mega Moolah is 88.12% because part of every stake funds the jackpot.
Open the game’s info or paytable screen inside the casino. It shows the RTP of the version that casino runs, which can be lower than the studio’s headline figure. Compare it with the number in our tables. If the screen shows nothing, ask live chat which version the casino uses.
Not necessarily. RTP is the share of stakes returned over a very long run, while volatility decides how the wins arrive. Red and Hot Chilli is medium-low at 96.35%, and Wild Cash Gold is very high at 97.02%. The second can go quiet for long stretches, then pay a lot.
No. A random number generator settles every spin, so past results tell you nothing about the next spin. What you control is the game and its RTP version, the stake size and whether you take a bonus with heavy wagering. Choose those with a budget you could lose without hardship.
For speed, WinCrown paid PayID instantly in our tests, and SkyCrown cleared PayID with a 10-minute median. For RTP terms, Atefia counts high-RTP pokies in full toward bonus wagering, and Westio is reported to run the higher RTP versions. See the fast withdrawal guide for the numbers.
Yes, at the real-money casinos on our list, subject to their terms. We withdrew from five of them and each test request arrived, from instant to 70 hours by bank transfer. Winnings from a bonus carry wagering and caps, such as A$200 on WinCrown’s free-spin winnings, so read the terms first.
Stake only what you can spare
Online pokies are for adults 18 and over. Set a deposit limit before your first spin and treat every session as paid entertainment, not income. Free, confidential help runs around the clock at Gambling Help Online, phone 1800 858 858. BetStop excludes you from licensed Australian wagering, but it does not reach offshore casinos, so use the self-exclusion tool inside the casino as well.