When choosing slots, users often analyze the minimum bet, maximum payouts, and return to player (RTP). However, many casino online users neglect such an essential factor as volatility. In fact, it is a critical factor determining the frequency and size of payouts. Beginners and experienced players alike should analyze slot volatility to avoid disappointment.

What is Volatility in Slots?

Slot volatility in online casino Australia is often referred to as variance. Both terms reflect the level of risk associated with playing a particular slot. The expected payout frequency measures this parameter. A game's volatility is programmed into it during development. It determines the frequency and size of payouts over time. High-volatility slots pay out infrequently, but with substantial prizes. Low-volatility slots, on the other hand, pay out more frequently, but with smaller amounts. You can find out a game's volatility in the payout table or on review sites.

Defining Different Types of Volatility

Slots at online casino Australia can be divided into three volatility levels: high, medium, and low. Each game offers a balance between frequency and payout size. Players should understand what to expect from each option to make the right choice.

• High volatility games. These slots have a low payout frequency. Wins occur less frequently than in medium and low volatility slots. However, when a player wins, the average win size is higher than in other slots. Popular high volatility slots include Book of Dead, Big Bass Splash, and Bonanza.
• Low volatility Slots. These slots offer a high payout frequency. The average payout is lower than in high volatility games. Notable titles in this category include Starburst, Agent Jane Blonde Returns, and Age of the Gods: God of Storms.
• Medium Volatility Slots. Their volatility falls somewhere between low and high. In theory, players receive frequent, medium-sized payouts. Many modern slots fall into this category. Developers understand that players value a balance between risk and potential payouts. Games with medium volatility include Fishin Frenzy the Big Catch, Rainbow Riches, and Magic Jokers.

Before choosing a slot, players should evaluate their risk tolerance and the volatility of the slot they prefer.

Key Factors of Volatility

Slots' volatility in the online casino Australia is not a random value. A combination of design components and mathematical principles influences it.

• Paytable structure. High-volatility slots often offer disproportionately high wins for rare combinations. In low-volatility slots, payouts are distributed more evenly across combinations.
• Bonus functions. Games with complex bonuses and multipliers have higher volatility. These features increase payouts but are rare. It increases the unpredictability of the slot.
• Reel and symbol composition. Games with fewer winning combinations and rare icons tend to be more volatile. They offer higher payouts when such combinations are formed.

Understanding slot volatility allows players to choose their entertainment. They should consider their budget, risk tolerance, and individual playing style. Different types of volatility suit different types of players, as they have their own strengths and weaknesses.

The United States Hockey Hall of Fame has announced the Class of 2025, which will include four players (Zach Parise, Joe Pavelski, Scott Gomez & Tara Mounsey) and one builder (Bruce Bennett).

This group will be the 53rd Class for the Eveleth, Minnesota-based institution, and the induction will take place in St. Paul on December 10.

The Class of 2025 is:

Zach Parise:  From Minneapolis, Parise played 19 years in the NHL with extended stays in New Jersey and Minnesota.  An All-Star in 2009 when he was fifth in Hart Trophy voting, the Left Wing scored 889 Points in 1,254 Games and represented the United States in nine tournaments, earning Gold in the 2004 World Juniors and Silver in the 2010 Olympics.

Joe Pavelski:  An NCAA Champion at the University of Wisconsin, Pavelski played 18 years in the NHL; 13 with San Jose and five with Dallas, and accumulated 1,068 Points over his career.  A four-time All-Star and one-time Second Team All-Star, Pavelski received Frank J. Selke votes in 14 of his NHL campaigns.  Pavelski was part of the 2010 Olympic Team that won the Silver Medal.  How can a man nicknamed “Captain America” not be in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame!

Scott Gomez:  From Alaska, Gomez won the 2000 Calder Trophy and also helped the New Jersey Devils win two Stanley Cups.   Accruing 756 Points and two All-Star Games, Gomez also played for the New York Rangers, Montreal, San Jose, Florida, St. Louis, and Ottawa.  For the United States, Gomez played in four tournaments.

Tara Mounsey:  Playing collegiately at Brown, where she was the ECAC Rookie of the Year, Mounsey represented the U.S. multiple times and was a member of the 1998 Olympic Gold Medal Team. 

Bruce Bennett: Bennett is a renowned sports photographer who has captured more than 2.5 million images of NHL action.

We at Notinhalloffame would like to congratulate the United States Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2025.

The NHL never waits. New blood, new champions, new hype. In a league lit by flash and youth, age is supposed to be an anchor—not a life raft to new glory. Yet, through the first weeks of the 2025-26 campaign, one man has smashed every grim prediction with defiance. Sidney Crosby, the 38-year-old icon with three Stanley Cups and plenty of miles racked up, has set Pittsburgh alight with an opening run that’s as dramatic as it is improbable.  

Heading into the season, the Penguins were cast off as an afterthought, a rebuild waiting to happen. 16 games and 20 Sid the Kid points later, Pennsylvania's finest are somehow second in the Metropolitan Division, but the online betting sites remain unconvinced. Despite Crosby's heroics, the latest NHL betting at Bovada odds still list the Penguins as a mighty +800 outsider to win the Eastern Conference this term, the third-longest odds of anybody in the league. 

But Crosby isn't the only NHL icon to age like fine wine. While his renaissance is the current flavor of the league, a few others have also managed to shine in their twilight years. Here's our pick of them. 

Sidney Crosby back to scoring goals for the good guys! ?

pic.twitter.com/fRCVvJKxAS

— Bovada (@BovadaOfficial) February 22, 2025

Wayne Gretzky

Start with the polestar: Wayne Gretzky. If you want drama, savor 1995-96, with the Great One straddling L.A. and St. Louis and still orchestrating plays with preternatural vision. At 34, the Great One had already done everything there was to do in the NHL, claiming five Stanley Cups and scoring goals for fun. Even so, that hunger remained, and the Canadian sensation still continued to shine on teams desperate for support. 

Gretzky rang up 259 points across his final three seasons in Tinseltown, despite heading into the twilight of his career. A move to the Blues left a lot to be desired, but Gretzky would return to his very best with the Rangers, with his mind only sharpening, despite his legs slowing. He amassed a stunning 25-point scoring streak at Madison Square Garden, before a 90-point curtain call in his penultimate season at the age of 37. 

No one has mapped the late-career topography the way Gretzky did, showcasing pure skill as an antidote to aging. In a league that recycles stars every spring, his closing chapters remain a master class in adaptation—anticipation replacing acceleration, cerebral poetry over brute force.

Jaromir Jagr

The numbers stagger. Jaromir Jagr, hair flowing, legs like tree trunks, played with physics and probability right into his mid-40s. After Russian exile, Jagr returned at 39, pumping in 54 points for the Flyers. Other players slow; Jagr simply grew more baroque.

His puck protection was folklore—a 220-pound sorcerer spinning defenders away, then unleashing a laser off the half-wall. Teammates half his age marveled. Jagr’s total? 1,921 points, second to Gretzky, each new milestone wrung from experience, will, and a genetic quirk that let him outlast science.

Mark Recchi

Grit and skill. That’s Mark Recchi—a man who didn’t just age with dignity but weaponized it. “The Recchin’ Ball” racked up 1,652 games and 577 goals across seven franchises. In his final five seasons, four topped 50 points, climaxing at 43 with a 14-point playoff run that helped deliver Boston’s first Cup since 1972. 

Veteran mentoring? Certainly. But Recchi’s true signature was chameleonic hockey sense; he tailored his game to fill whatever hole a contender needed—primary scorer, net-front pest, or locker room sage. Young Bruins talk about him in hushed tones: the sage who pushed them over the summit.

Martin St. Louis

How does a player go undrafted, wait until 27 for a regular spot, and then become the embodiment of the clutch playoff phenom? Ask Martin St. Louis. From 35 to 39, he didn’t just maintain—he dominated, averaging over 80 points a season, including a 94-point eruption at age 36. 

At 37, he won the Art Ross in a 48-game lockout sprint. Whether in Tampa—engineering the miraculous 2004 Cup run—or at Madison Square Garden—driving the Rangers to the 2014 Final—St. Louis’ edges, acceleration, and bottomless will rewrote every scouting report. Size, it turns out, is the most overrated stat in hockey.

The Blueline Miracles: Giordano, Gonchar, & McDonagh

Not all renaissances unfold up front. Mark Giordano’s is perhaps the ultimate outlier story: undrafted, toiling in the minors, unremarkable—until, suddenly, a Norris Trophy at 35 behind a 74-point shockwave in Calgary. Years 33 to 37? Fifty-plus points as standard issue. That’s evolution, not luck.

Sergei Gonchar quarterbacked elite power plays into his late 30s, notching 59 points at 34 and 47 at 36, using vision and heavy minutes to outmaneuver younger, faster rivals. He’s a statistical beacon for late-blooming defensemen. Then there’s Ryan McDonagh, once considered a spent force after his Rangers exile, suddenly anchoring Tampa Bay’s blue line amid Cup triumphs, logging brutal minutes, and stabilizing chaos as only a veteran can.

The world of Basketball lost one of its greatest legends when Lenny Wilkens passed away at 88.

Wilkens is one of five men to enter the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and a coach. 

As a player, Wilkens played at Point Guard and was a nine-time All-Star, who played for St. Louis, Seattle, Cleveland, and Portland.  The leader in Assists per Game in 1969-70 was also the runner-up for the 1967-68 MVP.   Compiling 17,772 Points and 7,211 Assists, Wilkens was later named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

During the late stages of his playing career, Wilkens transitioned into a player-coach, and over his long run as a Head Coach, he coached Seattle to its only Championship in 1979 (when the franchise was in Seattle) and had a record of 1,332-1,155.  He was also the Head Coach in Portland, Cleveland, Atlanta, Toronto, and New York.  Wilkens won the Head Coach of the Year award in 1994.

We at Notinhalloffame extend our condolences to the family of Lenny Wilkens.