A published sample of eighty-four titles across fourteen studios found return-to-player settings at this operator ranging from 88.4 percent to 98 percent. Every Red Tiger release in that sample ran below the studio's own default configuration. Twelve studios matched their published defaults exactly. The finding is significant because operators can select among the return settings a studio ships, and that choice changes the expected cost of every spin — most visibly for anyone working through a rollover.
This page covers reel games specifically. Dealer-streamed tables, software-dealt card games, instant-win titles and sports markets are covered in the wider games overview.
Return-to-Player Readings by Studio
The table below summarises the sample. The final column records whether the measured figures matched each studio's published default settings.
| Studio | Titles | Range measured | Against published default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Tiger | 6 | 94.66% – 95.07% | All six below default |
| Hacksaw Gaming | 6 | 88.40% – 96.40% | Five match, one far below |
| BGaming | 6 | 95.80% – 97.31% | Matches |
| Microgaming | 6 | 96.10% – 96.86% | Matches |
| NetEnt | 6 | 95.97% – 96.75% | Matches |
| Nolimit City | 6 | 96.00% – 96.10% | Matches |
| Pragmatic Play | 6 | 96.44% – 96.71% | Matches |
| Push Gaming | 6 | 96.13% – 96.83% | Matches |
| Quickspin | 6 | 96.16% – 97.34% | Matches |
| Relax Gaming | 6 | 96.10% – 98.00% | Matches |
| Stakelogic | 6 | 95.80% – 96.60% | Matches |
| Wazdan | 6 | 96.07% – 96.63% | Matches |
| Yggdrasil | 6 | 96.10% – 96.80% | Matches |
| Play'n GO | 6 | 96.00% flat | Matches |
Studios ship most titles in several return configurations — commonly a default around 96 percent alongside lower variants. The operator selects which build to deploy. This is standard commercial practice across the industry and is not a malfunction or a manipulation of results within a session. It does mean that the same title can carry different mathematics at different casinos, and that the figure published on a studio's own site is not automatically the figure in play.
Studios Running Below Default Settings
Red Tiger is the clear outlier. All six sampled titles came in beneath the studio's published baseline, with deficits between 0.99 and 1.86 percentage points.
| Title | Measured | Studio default | Deficit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dragons Fire Megaways | 94.68% | 96.07% | −1.39 |
| Dragons Luck | 95.07% | 96.24% | −1.17 |
| Get The Gold Infinireels | 94.68% | 95.72% | −1.04 |
| Gonzo's Quest Megaways | 94.66% | 95.77% | −1.11 |
| Hot Slot | 94.87% | 96.73% | −1.86 |
| Piggy Riches Megaways | 94.72% | 95.71% | −0.99 |
A single Hacksaw Gaming title also fell far outside its range: Time Spinners measured 88.40 percent against a 96.19 percent default, a deficit of 7.79 points. That is the lowest reading in the entire sample and an order of magnitude larger than the Red Tiger deficits. The studio's other five sampled titles — Eye Of The Panda at 96.26, Frutz at 96.40, Itero at 96.18, Mystery Motel at 96.30 and Stick 'em at 96.08 — all matched their defaults, which makes Time Spinners a title-level configuration rather than a studio-wide pattern.
In practical terms, a 1.5-point deficit costs roughly C$15 in expectation for every C$1,000 staked. Across a C$7,500 rollover that is C$110 of additional expected cost compared with a default-configured title — enough to matter to anyone clearing a bonus, and invisible to anyone who does not check.
Studios Matching Published Defaults
Twelve of the fourteen studios sampled ran at their standard settings throughout: BGaming, Microgaming, NetEnt, Nolimit City, Pragmatic Play, Push Gaming, Quickspin, Relax Gaming, Stakelogic, Wazdan, Yggdrasil and Play'n GO. Several individual titles measured well above the 96 percent norm.
| Title | Studio | Measured |
|---|---|---|
| Money Cart 2 | Relax Gaming | 98.00% |
| Big Bad Wolf | Quickspin | 97.34% |
| Lucky Lady's Clover | BGaming | 97.31% |
| Fruit Million | BGaming | 97.23% |
| Immortal Romance | Microgaming | 96.86% |
| Jammin' Jars | Push Gaming | 96.83% |
| Ozwin's Jackpots | Yggdrasil | 96.80% |
| Space Wars | NetEnt | 96.75% |
Play'n GO is a special case worth noting: all six sampled titles — Book of Dead, Cat Wilde and the Lost Chapter, Gigantoonz, Legacy of Dead, Rise of Olympus and Secret of Dead — measured exactly 96.00 percent, suggesting the studio ships a single configuration rather than a range.
How Return Figures Are Established
The method behind the numbers above matters as much as the numbers, and the source that published them does not describe it. What follows is how a reading of this kind is properly obtained and what its limits are.
- Open the title's information panelEvery certified slot exposes a paytable or game-information screen listing the configured return rate. It is reached from the menu control inside the game window, usually marked with an information icon or three horizontal lines.
- Record the figure as displayedThe number shown is the configuration in force for that operator, not the studio's marketing figure. Feature-buy titles often list two rates — base game and bonus purchase — and both should be captured.
- Compare against the studio's published defaultStudios publish baseline return rates in their own game documentation. The difference between that and the operator's displayed figure is the deficit or match.
- Record the dateConfigurations can be changed. A reading is accurate for the day it was taken and no longer.
A configured return rate is a theoretical figure calculated over millions of simulated spins. It says nothing about any individual session, and it is not a prediction. Six titles per studio is a sample, not a census — a studio marked as matching its defaults may still ship a reduced build on a title outside the sample. And the readings above were published by a third party, not measured independently for this page. The only reading a player can rely on completely is the one displayed in the game window at the moment of play, which anyone can check in under thirty seconds using the steps above.
The Studios Behind the Reels
Published counts of the studio roster range from thirty to ninety-seven. The figure of eighty-three is the most testable, because it is the only one published alongside a complete named list — a count with a list behind it can be verified, a count without one cannot. The studios below account for the bulk of the reel catalogue.
| Studio | Known for | Reference title | Configuration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pragmatic Play | High-volatility scatter-pays and tumbling reels | Gates of Olympus | Default |
| Play'n GO | Book-of formats and expanding symbols | Book of Dead | Default |
| Hacksaw Gaming | Compact grids and extreme volatility | Stick 'em | Default with one exception |
| Nolimit City | Mechanically complex, very high variance | Mental | Default |
| Relax Gaming | Feature-buy design and persistent symbols | Money Train 2 | Default |
| Push Gaming | Cluster mechanics and multiplier jars | Jammin' Jars | Default |
| NetEnt | Long-established titles with broad recognition | Gonzo's Quest | Default |
| Quickspin | Narrative-led releases, moderate variance | Big Bad Wolf | Default |
| BGaming | Crypto-native design, provably fair variants | Aztec Magic Megaways | Default |
| Yggdrasil | Distinctive art direction, mixed volatility | Gem Rocks | Default |
| Wazdan | Player-adjustable volatility settings | Magic Target | Default |
| Red Tiger | Daily jackpot drops and licensed themes | Piggy Riches Megaways | Below default |
Choosing Titles for Rollover Efficiency
Reel games contribute 100 percent toward a wagering requirement while table games contribute 10 percent and dealer-streamed titles contribute little or nothing. That makes slots the only sensible vehicle for clearing a bonus here, and it makes the return rate of the specific titles chosen a direct cost variable.
| Return rate | Expected cost | Difference against 96% |
|---|---|---|
| 98.00% | C$150 | −C$150 |
| 97.00% | C$225 | −C$75 |
| 96.00% | C$300 | — |
| 94.70% | C$398 | +C$98 |
| 88.40% | C$870 | +C$570 |
Three factors are worth weighing together when selecting titles for this purpose.
- Return rate sets the expected cost per unit staked. The spread across this catalogue is wide enough to matter.
- Volatility determines how far actual results are likely to deviate from expectation across the turnover. Lower-variance titles produce a more predictable outcome; the very high-variance releases from Nolimit City and Hacksaw can exhaust a balance before the requirement is met even at a favourable return rate.
- The C$5 stake ceiling caps how quickly turnover accumulates. C$7,500 at C$5 a spin is 1,500 spins minimum, which is a meaningful time commitment inside a thirty-day window.
None of the above produces a positive expectation. At a thirty-times rollover on bonus and deposit combined, the expected cost of the required turnover exceeds the bonus value at every deposit level. Choosing higher-return, lower-variance titles reduces the expected loss; it does not eliminate it or reverse it. The full rollover arithmetic is worked through on the bonus terms page.
Reel Formats and Feature Types
The catalogue is organised into recognisable categories, each with a distinct mathematical profile worth understanding before playing.
Reel heights change each spin, producing up to 117,649 ways to win. High variance is intrinsic to the format rather than a studio choice.
The bonus round is purchased directly. Buying usually shifts the return rate — Money Train 2 rises from 96.4 to around 98 percent on a purchase.
Base return is lower than a standard title because part of every stake funds the pooled prize. The advertised figure often includes the jackpot contribution.
Respin mechanics with locking symbols. Moderate variance and generally close to studio default settings.
The progressive category deserves the closest reading. A jackpot title advertising 96 percent may deliver substantially less in the base game, with the remainder held in a prize pool that the overwhelming majority of players will never win. For rollover purposes specifically, jackpot titles are among the least efficient choices in the catalogue.
Free Play: A Contradiction in the Record
Whether titles can be played without staking money is genuinely unsettled, and the disagreement is unusual in that one source contradicts itself.
| Source | Statement |
|---|---|
| Cryptocurrency review site | Lists demo mode as a headline feature, describing most games as playable free — and states elsewhere on the same page that games cannot be played in demo mode |
| Listed affiliate publisher | Records the absence of demo games among the operator's drawbacks |
| Canadian market specialist | States that no demo option is available, and flags this as unsuitable for newcomers |
Two of three sources say no, and one says both. The likely explanation is a change in policy or a partial rollout — demo availability is often set per studio rather than platform-wide — but the public record cannot settle it. The reliable check is to open a title while signed out: where free play is available, most platforms expose it without an account.
The practical workaround is worth stating for anyone who wants to understand a title's mechanics before committing money. Studios publish their own demo builds, and several titles measured above — including releases from Pragmatic Play, Play'n GO and NetEnt — are available in free-play form on the studios' own sites and on independent game databases. Testing a mechanic elsewhere and playing it here for real money is a perfectly workable sequence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does MyStake lower the RTP on its slots?
On the published evidence, selectively. A sample of eighty-four titles across fourteen studios found all six Red Tiger releases running between 0.99 and 1.86 percentage points below the studio's published defaults, and one Hacksaw Gaming title — Time Spinners — at 88.40 percent against a 96.19 default. The other twelve studios matched their defaults throughout. Operators can choose among the configurations a studio ships, so this is a permitted commercial decision rather than a malfunction, but it changes the expected cost of play and is worth checking title by title.
Which slots have the highest RTP at MyStake?
In the published sample, Money Cart 2 from Relax Gaming led at 98 percent, followed by Big Bad Wolf from Quickspin at 97.34, Lucky Lady's Clover at 97.31 and Fruit Million at 97.23, both from BGaming. Several titles clustered just under 97, including Immortal Romance, Jammin' Jars and Space Wars. Configurations can change, so the figure displayed in the game's information panel at the time of play is the one that applies.
Which slots are best for clearing the bonus?
Reel games are the only category contributing 100 percent toward the requirement. Within that, higher-return and lower-variance titles reduce the expected cost of the turnover — the difference between a 96 percent title and a 94.7 percent one is about C$98 across a C$7,500 rollover. Titles from studios running default configurations are the safer starting point, and Red Tiger releases are the ones to avoid for this purpose. No selection makes the exercise profitable in expectation; it only makes it cheaper.
Does MyStake offer demo play?
The record is contradictory. Two sources state that no demo mode exists; a third lists demo play as a headline feature and denies it elsewhere on the same page. Demo availability is frequently set per studio rather than platform-wide, which may explain the disagreement. Studios and independent game databases publish free-play builds of many of the same titles, which is a reliable way to learn a mechanic without an account.
How can I check a slot's RTP myself?
Open the title, then the information or paytable panel from the menu inside the game window — usually an information icon or three horizontal lines. The configured return rate is listed there, and it reflects the build this operator has deployed rather than the studio's marketing figure. Feature-buy titles list separate rates for the base game and the purchased bonus. The check takes under thirty seconds and is the only reading that is definitively current.
19+ in most of Canada; 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. A return rate is a theoretical figure across millions of spins and predicts nothing about a single session. Free confidential support is available through ConnexOntario, PlaySmart and ResponsibleGambling.org.
Monetisation disclosure. This site earns commission when a reader registers with an operator through a link on this page. The return-rate findings above, including the reduced configurations documented on one studio's titles, are published regardless of that arrangement.