Canada’s Best Online Casinos for Payouts

What is a Good Payout Casino?

An online casino’s payout rate refers to the proportion of wagers bet by players that the casino pays out in real money winnings. To calculate its own payout rates, a casino will aggregate the individual payout rates of all the games it offers on its site to arrive at an overall percentage. Typical payout rates at online casinos range between 94-96%. This means that, on average and over an extended period of time, the casino will return $94-96 in winnings per every $100 wagered on its games. An online casino with an average payout rate above 97% can be thought of as a high payout casino.

As part of the conditions of receiving and maintaining legitimate licences, the payout rates of individual games at Canadian casinos – also known as RTP or Return to Player rates – are published on their own sites. To make sure these are accurate, games are independently audited by regulatory bodies like eCOGRA. They’re responsible for first calculating the payout rates, and then for making sure they remain as advertised through regular checks. 

RTP and Variance Explained

You might be thinking that you’ve cracked the secret to beating the house – that all you need to do is play sensibly at a casino with the highest payout rates and you’ll be going home with significant winnings. This is unfortunately not the case. Although a casino’s payout rates are truthful, they encompass huge data sets and only give an average indication of returns. As such, the payout rate of any one individual’s gambling session can deviate massively from the specified figure. We can break this down further by looking in further detail at RTP and variance. 

Return to Player (RTP)

As we mentioned above, casinos will state the RTP percentages for games, so that players get an idea of what they can expect to win, on average, over an extended period of time. This means players can compare and select titles based on favourable RTP figures. Just remember that the RTP percentage is only a theoretical indication of average returns, and your actual winnings can be less or more in any session. Casino games with some of the highest RTP rates include single-deck blackjack (99.54%), baccarat (98.99%), French roulette (98.65%), craps (98.64%), and European roulette (97.30%).      

Variance

RTP rates are indicative of a game’s payout percentage over the long haul, but in the short term, variance is what fuels the thrill of casino games. Games with high variance are ones that payout infrequently but with larger returns; low variance games will do the reverse. 

A good example of high variance casino games are progressive jackpots – slot games that accrue wagers from players around the world and contribute to the same rolling jackpot. The odds of landing the jackpot are akin to winning the lottery, but the game will pay huge dividends to those fortunate enough to do so. Variance is what makes it possible to win $1 million from a $0.20 stake on a progressive jackpot. Players who prefer the chance to win smaller but more regular returns should choose low variance titles instead.

House Edge Explained

It’s a fact that the house always wins in the long term, and that’s because of the house edge. If a slot machine has an RTP rate of 96%, this means the casino’s house edge on that particular slot is 4%. In other words, the casino’s chances of winning money from a player’s wagers are 4% higher than the player’s chances of winning money from the casino. Let’s take a look at the house edge in relation to specific casino game examples.

Best Payout Casino Games

The house edge of a standard single-deck blackjack game is 0.46%, the lowest of all casino games. With just the one deck, the chances of hitting the best hand – an ace with a ten-valued card (ten, jack, queen, or king) – is relatively high. However, your chances are reduced when there are more cards in circulation. Single-deck blackjack still ensures the house edge through the rule that the casino wins if both player and dealer go bust.  

For some casino games, the house edge changes depending on the kinds of decisions players make during a round of betting. At the French roulette wheel, for example, the lowest house edge of 1.35% only applies to even money bets, such as red or black, thanks to the player-friendly ‘La Partage’ rule that applies to these bets. But if players decide to wager on inside bets (such as the ball landing on a specific number) then the house edge increases.

‘La Partage’ aside, both French and European roulette have lower house edges than American roulette. That’s because the former two games only have one zero pocket on their wheels, while American roulette has an extra, double zero pocket. This makes it that little bit less likely for a player to win any given spin.

Fast Payouts

The best payout casinos will not only offer their players decent RTP rates, but will also be able to facilitate fast payouts too. This will be determined by the kinds of payment methods the casino lists as withdrawal options – newer banking technologies like e-wallets are less hindered by slow processing checks, enabling casino players to get hold of their withdrawal requests in lightning quick time. Let’s have a look at some of the payment methods that offer fast payouts. 

Skrill

Skrill is an e-wallet widely accepted at Canadian online casinos that offers users fast payouts. Deposits are also quick and easy, with no need to key in any bank account information, and there are high limits on both. For super-fast deposits, Skrill users can deploy Skrill 1-Tap – a mechanism that allows deposits to be made with just the click of a button. 

Neteller

Another popular e-wallet option at Canadian gambling sites, Neteller also removes the need to exchange personal banking information at the point of transaction. Like Skrill payments, this limits the opportunity for hackers to access this information, making payments extra secure. Neteller users can also utilize Neteller’s own prepaid card, Net+, which can be issued both physically and electronically.

Interac Online

A familiar brand for all Canadians, Interac Online is a fast payout option at casino sites. This method involves sending direct payments from one bank account to another, speeding up processing times. Interac Online isn’t as widely available as Interac e-Transfer at online casinos in Canada, but is the faster withdrawing option of the two.