PH365 Hit frequency Meaning: The Third Number, After RTP and Volatility
Hit frequency (also called hit rate): How often a spin returns a win of any size, however small, irrespective of the total returned across time.
- Term
- Hit frequency
- Short for
- also called hit rate
- Set by
- Decided by the game studio in building the paytable and reel maths
- Where you meet it
- Info panels from studios and spec sheets, which publish it less commonly than they do RTP
- Not the same as
- Hit frequency stands apart from RTP and volatility, even if comparison tables occasionally blur all three into a single 'how good is this game' impression. The three numbers move independently, so a game may combine high hit frequency with low volatility, high hit frequency with high volatility, or any other mix, and a full picture needs all three.
For a casino-page term worth understanding properly, Hit frequency is a sensible choice.
Hit frequency (also called hit rate) — How often a spin returns a win of any size, however small, irrespective of the total returned across time.
What Hit frequency actually means
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Term | Hit frequency |
| Written out | also called hit rate |
| In one line | How often a spin returns a win of any size, however small, irrespective of the total returned across time. |
| Fixed by | Decided by the game studio in building the paytable and reel maths |
| Where you meet it | Info panels from studios and spec sheets, which publish it less commonly than they do RTP |
To get hit frequency, count the share of spins that produce a payout of any size, even a payout smaller than the stake. Along with RTP and volatility it comes from the paytable and reel maths of the game, though what it tells you differs from either. Long-run total returned is what RTP describes; how that total divides between frequent-small and rare-large is volatility’s job; and all hit frequency tells you is how often the reels stop on a winning combination of any kind.
The common misreading
It is commonly thought that a high hit frequency signals a more generous, ‘looser’ game. It does not follow. One game may hit on 40% of spins yet return just 90%, as most hits are smaller than the stake, while another hits on 15% of spins and returns 97% because each hit pays well. Win frequency and the size of total return are set independently of one another.
Hit frequency stands apart from RTP and volatility, even if comparison tables occasionally blur all three into a single ‘how good is this game’ impression. The three numbers move independently, so a game may combine high hit frequency with low volatility, high hit frequency with high volatility, or any other mix, and a full picture needs all three.
Using it in practice
Low hit frequency means longer stretches without wins than the RTP implies, which affects the feel of a session though the long-run maths is nothing special. A studio that publishes both hit frequency and RTP lets players read the pair together, which says far more about the feel of a session than either figure by itself. Checking it against volatility explained, which appear beside it in most rulebooks, is the fastest way to fix it.
Across the game pages on this site you will meet terms such as Hit frequency, and if the studio has not published the figure behind one, the page says so instead of using a comparison-site number. So a number of the spec tables here show no value in places.
A worked example
When a game gives a hit frequency of 25%, roughly one spin out of every four returns something across many spins, while the other three return nothing. Roughly 100 spins out of 400 would win, and with moderate RTP and volatility the majority are probably smaller than the stake. RTP is the number that settles whether those 100 wins total more or less than the stake, which that figure cannot say.
Checking Hit frequency at PH365
- At PH365, open a game and look for its info or help screen.
- Locate Hit frequency in that place, then apply the definition above when you read it.
- Before choosing which title to play at PH365, set it against the same entry on another title.
- Before the first round at PH365, write down your stake and your stop point.
Related terms defined here
FAQ
What does Hit frequency mean?
How often a spin returns a win of any size, however small, irrespective of the total returned across time.
What role should Hit frequency play when I pick a game?
Low hit frequency means longer stretches without wins than the RTP implies, which affects the feel of a session though the long-run maths is nothing special. A studio that publishes both hit frequency and RTP lets players read the pair together, which says far more about the feel of a session than either figure by itself.
What is commonly misunderstood about Hit frequency?
It is commonly thought that a high hit frequency signals a more generous, 'looser' game. It does not follow. One game may hit on 40% of spins yet return just 90%, as most hits are smaller than the stake, while another hits on 15% of spins and returns 97% because each hit pays well. Win frequency and the size of total return are set independently of one another.