Although every online slot gaming session is different, a couple of general ideas are agreed upon: low volatility slots can provide players with frequent, low paying wins, while high volatility slots may offer infrequent, but occasionally sizable, payouts.
So when the UK government announced its slot regulation changes in 2025, a maximum stake limit of £5 per spin for players aged 25+ - and £2 per spin for those aged 18-24 – threatened to upset this low and high volatility balance.
With stakes capped, can players still win big on high volatility slots? It’s certainly a fair question in this new landscape of maximum stake amounts.
So let’s take a look, analysing how the new stake limits will impact high volatility games and whether these still hold value for players who prefer the high risk, high reward end of the slot spectrum.
What Do Stake Limits Mean for High Volatility Slots?
One theory is that because players are forced to stake less than they previously might have, their payout potential is also decreased accordingly.
There’s certainly a grain of truth to that. If you were staking £10 per spin and landed a 3x multiplier, evidently this will now pay less in this £2/£5 maximum stake regime.
But here’s another way of looking at it. A player may have a set budget per session – let’s say, for argument, it’s £20. Now, with maximum stake limits imposed, they may just be able to play more spins per session than before.
So, with more spins in play, some will actually be more interested in playing high volatility slots now. Why? Because with more spins to play with, the chances of landing a sizable payout in a high-risk game increase – more spins equal more chances of triggering a winning payline.
The stake limit impact on slot game choice is real, make no mistake. But any notion that high volatility slots are now somehow less attractive to players can be easily dismissed.
Max Wins In an Era of Tighter Stake Limits
Of course, the maximum win available in online slots will typically be lower under this new stricter regime.
If the max win is 5,000x and players were once able to wager, say, £50 per spin, that would have amounted to a payout of £250,000. Today, that same max prize has been trimmed to £25,000, owing to the £5 stake limit for players aged 25+.
When designing high volatility slots in the UK, developers now have a decision to make: will they keep the maximum win amount at this new lower threshold, or will they seed their games with higher multipliers – perhaps introducing a max win of 10,000x to counter for the reduced staking plan?
The impact of these stake limits is that developers will need to find a way to make high volatility slots that still appeal to players with a ‘high risk, high reward’ mindset… and that usually comes in the form of the potential for huge payouts.
Retaining Players Through Risk-Reward
If developers don’t dangle the carrot of handsome payouts in their high volatility slots, they should expect to lose much of their audience.
In fact, their loss could well prove to be the gain of jackpot slot developers… particularly those with a progressive network jackpot.
Adopt the mindset of a high risk, high reward player for a moment. They’re not interested in regular, low value wins – they’re specifically seeking bigger prizes.
So, if high volatility slots aren’t satisfying this desire, players will look for options that do; the sky-scraping prizes on offer in jackpot games will certainly tick that box.
It’s so important for slot developers to consider the psychology of players when making new games. Why would somebody want to play this title? Aside from a fun theme and enjoyable game mechanics, for some the lure is the potential to land a big payout or two.
And without the possibility of exactly that, high volatility slots become far less attractive.
Adapting Play Styles in an Era of Stake Limit Restrictions
For some players, the UK stake limits won’t make any difference – they bet less than £5 per spin anyway.
But for others, now is the time for reflection as to how they can make the most of their online slot game time with a staking plan that fits their preferred style of play.
One way to maximise the possibility of each spin is to try high volatility slots, which – while generally low frequency in terms of winning spins – can still pay out sizable sums both in their base game and via their bonus features.
We wait to see how developers will react to the new stake limits with interest, but don’t be surprised if some firms up the potential maximum win in their high volatility games… satisfying the needs of high risk, high reward players across the UK.
