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Stake Volatility List: How to Read and Build Your Own

Looking for a Stake volatility list? See how low, medium and high volatility work, which labels to trust, and how to rank games by real stats.

By Seal · 2026-11-06

Stake Volatility List: How to Read and Build Your Own

Stake Volatility List: How to Read and Build Your Own

Woman checks slot versions at home

There is no single official volatility list for Stake, because volatility is not a standard number. Studios publish their own labels (Low, Medium, High, or a custom scale), and the same title can carry a different rating in a different version. The most reliable list is one you build from each game's published RTP, hit rate and max win, then check against live stats. This guide shows you how, with worked examples of low, medium and high volatility slots.

TL;DR

  • Volatility describes how unevenly a game pays: small and frequent wins on the low end, rare and large ones on the high end.
  • Labels are not standardized, so compare games on hit rate, RTP and max win together, not on one word.
  • High volatility means long dry stretches. If your bankroll is small, size your bets so that a cold run does not end your session.
  • Provably fair checks confirm a round was not altered. They do not tell you a game's volatility, RTP or your odds.
  • Our tools show RTP, volatility and hit rate for 2500+ Stake Engine games, so you can sort a list yourself.

Table of Contents

What volatility actually means

Volatility is the spread of a game's results around its average. The UK Gambling Commission explains that it is most commonly represented by the standard deviation of the game. Highly volatile games can have prizes that are very large but rare, while low volatility games pay small amounts often.

The bigger the standard deviation, the wider the range of outcomes. That is all it says. It does not say you will win, and it does not say when a big hit is coming.

Three numbers get mixed up constantly, so keep them apart:

Term What it tells you What it does not tell you
RTP Theoretical long-run return of a specific game version What you will get back in one session
Volatility How unevenly payouts are spread Whether you will win
Max win The largest outcome the rules allow How likely that outcome is

A slot with 96% RTP does not promise $96 back from your next $100 in wagers. Neither RTP nor volatility predicts a single session. They describe the long run and the shape of the ride.

Why there is no official Stake volatility list

Most lists you find online are one person's classification, copied from a studio's page or from a reviewer's feel for the game. That is not wrong, but it explains why two lists disagree.

The reason is simple: volatility is not normally a standardized percentage. Developers use Low, Medium and High, intermediate labels like Low/Mid, or their own numerical scales. One studio's "medium" can play like another studio's "high."

Version matters too. The same source compares Starburst, rated Low/Mid with a published RTP of 96.09%, to Starburst XXXtreme, rated High with a published RTP of 96.26% or 96.45%. Same brand, different ride. When you read any list, check that it names the exact version you will play.

Low, medium and high volatility: worked examples

Published specs are the best starting evidence. Here are three well-known slots with their published figures from Dot Esports:

Slot Published volatility Published RTP Published hit frequency
Blood Suckers Low 98.00% 45.00%
Gonzo's Gold Mid 96.11% 27.00%
Dead or Alive 2 High 96.80% 30.00%

Look at what the table teaches. Blood Suckers wins nearly every other spin, but its max win is modest. Dead or Alive 2 hits slightly more often than Gonzo's Gold, yet it is rated higher in volatility. So hit rate alone does not decide the label: the size of the biggest wins matters just as much.

One more example, from a studio's own page. BGaming lists Joker's Million as a fruit slot with 100 paylines, 97.34% RTP, medium-high volatility and a 3,000x max multiplier. Its features include stacked symbols, expanding Wilds on reels 2 to 4, two kinds of Scatter and a Gamble round. A medium-high label with a 3,000x cap is a good reminder that "high" is a range, not a single point.

Low, medium and high volatility: worked examples

Reading the max win figure

Max win tells you the ceiling, not the odds. The highest published max win of any online slot is Tombstone Slaughter by Nolimit City at 500,000x, with a probability of approximately 1 in 189 million. The same report puts the average industry ceiling in 2026 at around 50,000x.

Slot maximum win figures and probability compared

A huge max win usually goes with high volatility, because the rare top prize has to be paid for by many smaller losses. Treat it as a measure of how lopsided the game is, not as a target.

How to build your own Stake volatility list

A list you build yourself can be sorted by what matters to you. Here is a process that works for any game on Stake, including Stake Engine titles.

  1. Pick your goal for the session. Long playtime on a small balance points to low volatility. Chasing a rare big multiplier points to high volatility. Decide before you open a game.
  2. Collect three numbers per game: RTP, hit rate and max win. Our tools list RTP, volatility and hit rate for 2500+ Stake Engine games, and our win finder covers max win and bet replay lookup.
  3. Note the version. Confirm the RTP and rating belong to the version you will actually open. Check the paytable or the operator page, because the numbers are only useful when tied to the exact game and version.
  4. Sort into three buckets. High hit rate and a low max win goes in low volatility. Low hit rate and a high max win goes in high. Everything in the middle is medium.
  5. Cross-check with live stats. A published label is a design target. Observed results over many rounds show how a game behaves in practice.
  6. Use similarity to find neighbors. Once you know a game you like, our similarity graph shows titles with comparable mechanics, which tend to feel alike.

Theoretical vs. actual RTP

The regulator draws a line between theoretical RTP and actual RTP. Actual RTP is calculated from generated win and turnover figures for a live game over a selected past period. Over a short window it can sit well away from the theoretical figure, and the more volatile the game, the wider that gap can be. That is why live stats are worth reading next to the published spec.

Low balance? Match volatility to your bankroll

The People Also Ask box for this keyword includes two questions: are high volatility slots good, and what is the best Stake strategy for a low balance. The honest answer is that neither volatility is good or bad. It is a fit question.

High volatility slots pay less often but deliver bigger payouts. Dry stretches of 30, 40 or even 50 spins can come before a bonus round paying 500x or more. If your bet is large compared with your balance, you may run out of money before the game gets to that round.

Practical rules for a small balance:

  • Set a stake size so that 100 spins cost a small share of your balance. The smaller the bet, the more spins you get to see the game's real shape.
  • Choose low or medium volatility for longer sessions. Wins arrive more often, so the balance moves in smaller steps.
  • Do not treat a dry spell as a sign a win is due. Spins do not forecast your next spin, and a cold run is not evidence that a hit is coming.
  • Decide your stop point first. A loss limit and a win target set before you start protect you from decisions made mid-session.

Our bankroll analyzer helps you test bet sizes against a balance and a volatility profile before you spend anything. Play only money you can afford to lose, and if gambling stops feeling like entertainment, step away and contact a support service such as the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-GAMBLER.

What provably fair does and does not show

Stake Originals and Stake Engine games use provably fair verification. This lets you check after a round that its result was decided before you placed your bet and not changed afterward, using the server seed and nonce. You can run that check with our bet verification tool, and the provably fair explainer walks through each step.

It is just as important to know the limits. Per iGamingToday, provably fair does not show that a game has a good RTP, that a casino is licensed, or that you are likely to win. The same article advises treating it as one check among several, alongside the RTP, the operator's licence and its payout record.

So a provably fair round with a high volatility game can still be a long losing session. Verification confirms the integrity of the result. Volatility and RTP describe what kind of results to expect. You need both pieces of information.

Perspective

We built Stakestats because volatility lists kept contradicting each other, and players had no way to see why. A label like "high" is a studio's opinion. The numbers underneath it, RTP, hit rate and max win, are what let you compare games honestly.

Our view is that a good list should be sortable and verifiable. That is why our tools put RTP, volatility and hit rate for 2500+ Stake Engine games in one place, and why we pair them with bankroll analyzers and bet verification. When you can see the shape of a game and check that a round was fair, you pick games on purpose instead of on hype.

Our advice is simple: choose the volatility that fits your balance and your goal for the session, set your limits first, and let the stats do the arguing.

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Put the stats to work

If you want a volatility list you can sort yourself, start with our Stake tools. They bring together live RTP, volatility and hit rate stats, max win and bet replay lookup, a similarity graph for game mechanics, and a bankroll analyzer in one place. For Stake Originals specifically, the Originals analyzer is the place to begin, and the Stakestats home page lists everything else.

Stakestats

Browse our blog and guides for step-by-step explainers on verification and game math, and check the bonus code page if you are looking for current codes.

Check your state's rules first

Online gambling law in the US is set state by state. Thefinrate notes there is no uniform federal authorization, and that UIGEA (2006) does not make online gambling illegal for individual players but affects how financial institutions process transactions tied to unlawful internet gambling.

For a dated reference point, the National Council on Problem Gambling reported that as of December 2022, internet gambling was legal in seven states: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Rules change, so confirm what applies where you live with your state gaming regulator before you play. You must be of legal age to gamble.

A quick checklist before you pick a game

  • Is the RTP you found for this exact version?
  • Is the volatility label the studio's own, and does the hit rate agree with it?
  • Does the max win fit what you want from the session, bearing in mind it says nothing about likelihood?
  • Can your balance survive 50 or more spins without a win at your bet size?
  • Have you set a loss limit and a stop time?

If you can answer yes to all five, you have done more homework than most players, and your own list will beat any copied one.

FAQ

Are high volatility slots good?

They are good for players who want a shot at large multipliers and can accept long dry stretches. They pay less often, so they suit bigger balances and smaller bets. If you want steady play on a small balance, low or medium volatility is a better fit.

What is the best Stake strategy for a low balance?

No strategy changes a game's RTP, but you can control how long your balance lasts. Use small bets, pick low or medium volatility, and set a loss limit before you start. Our bankroll analyzer lets you test bet sizes against your balance first.

Does provably fair tell me a game's volatility?

No. Provably fair confirms that a round's result was set before your bet and not altered afterward. It does not show a game's RTP, its volatility or your chance of winning. Check those in the paytable, the studio's page or live stats.

What game has the highest payout?

By published max win, Tombstone Slaughter by Nolimit City tops online slots at 500,000x, with odds of roughly 1 in 189 million. Max win is a ceiling, not a typical result, so use it to understand a game's shape rather than as a goal.

Sources