Support UkraineLightning Roulette may be Evolution Gaming's most popular game. It is so popular that Evolution decided to “upgrade” the game by creating a new variant and this is how Xxxtreme Lightning Roulette came into being. At first glance, everything looks great: the maximum payout can be up to 2000 times the bet. However, when we examine the payout table of the game, we see that this is not the only thing that has changed: It is stated that the RTP rate is 97.30% excluding straight bets and 97.12% for straight bets. For a game that can pay out up to 2000 times the bet, those are unrealistically high numbers, and you know what the general rule is: if something looks too good to be true, it probably is not true. Here we will test the RTP percentage of the Xxxtreme Lightning Roulette and find out what it really is: the results may surprise you.
Hidden Truth About RTP of Xxxtreme Lightning Roulette
Revealing the problem
To illustrate the main problem here, let's start by listing the differences of the game from regular Lightning Roulette:
- In the Xxxtreme version, the payout for a straight bet is 19:1 (29:1 in the regular version)
- In the Xxxtreme version, the maximum payout is 2.000x (500x in the regular version)
- In the Xxxtreme version, straight bet RTP is 97.12% (97.10% in the regular version)
These are not the numbers we found, but the values in the paytables of both games – in other words, the official information. Notice anything strange here? The Xxxtreme version pays much lower for the straight bet but somehow offers a higher RTP!
This is not logical and there is reason to be suspicious. Since only straight bets can trigger multiplier payouts in these roulette variants, other bets are almost never placed, and finding out the real RTP value of this bet is important for the same reason. Let’s do that, shall we?
Calculating RTP for Xxxtreme Lightning Roulette
Before you start reading this section, we recommend that you take a look at our articles on how to calculate RTP and house edge calculation: this way, you can more easily understand what we are talking about. To put it as simply as possible, the formula that allows us to find the house edge of a roulette bet is:
(loss*odds) + (win*odds)
The “loss” part represents the bet value, and the “win” part represents the possible gain. We are doing this calculation for the straight bet. In Xxxtreme Lightning Roulette, this bet pays 19:1. So we will use “1” for loss and “19” for win.
“Loss odds” is our probability of losing. In a straight bet, we pick a single number but there are 37 numbers on the wheel. So, the loss odds will be 36/37. “Win odds” will be 1/37 for the same reason. If we apply all these values to the formula, the result will be:
- (-1*36/37) + (19*1/37)
- -0.9729 + 0.5135
- -0.399
In percentage terms, the result of the formula is 39.9%. In other words, this is the actual house edge of the straight bet. By simply subtracting this from 100, we can also find its RTP: 61.1% (100 – 39.9). So, Xxxtreme Lightning Roulette's RTP for straight bets is 61.1%, not 97.12%.
Conclusions
As any roulette player can attest, 61.1% is a ridiculously low RTP value. If we consider that this value is 97.30% in regular European roulette, the difference will be more noticeable. However, Xxxtreme Lightning Roulette offers the chance to win up to 2.000 times the bet; an opportunity you will not find in other variants. So, you can earn 2.000 units by risking 1 unit. This opportunity is the main thing that attracts players to multiplier roulette games, and this may apply to you too. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's best to play with realistic expectations regarding RTP/house edge. The actual RTP percentage simply indicates that it will take longer and be more difficult for you to recover your investment (and make a profit) on a straight bet compared to regular variants: we recommend planning your budget with this in mind.
