CTR
AcquisitionCTR = Clicks / Impressions × 100%
12,400 / 620,000 = 2.0%
Common mistake: a high CTR says nothing about traffic quality — look at Click-to-FTD next.
Metrics glossary iGaming
This is a reference of 33 iGaming metrics. Every entry carries a formula, a worked example with real numbers and the common mistake people make when reading it. Eight groups are covered: acquisition, payments, gaming, NGR and revenue, bonuses, retention, customer value and cohorts — from CTR and CPA to GGR, NGR, Bonus-to-GGR, LTV and payback period.
Every metric comes with a formula, a worked example and the common mistake people make reading it. This is not a term dictionary but a reference for people who make decisions on these numbers.
33 of 33 metrics
Registration Conversion
AcquisitionReg. Conversion = Registrations / Clicks × 100%
1,240 / 12,400 = 10.0%
Common mistake: counting bots and duplicate accounts in.
Click-to-FTD
AcquisitionClick-to-FTD = FTD / Clicks × 100%
186 / 12,400 = 1.5%
Common mistake: comparing channels with different cycle lengths without an attribution window.
Registration-to-FTD
AcquisitionReg-to-FTD = FTD / Registrations × 100%
186 / 1,240 = 15.0%
Common mistake: a low figure gets blamed on traffic when the cause is often the payment methods.
CPA
AcquisitionCPA = Marketing Cost / FTD
€37,200 / 186 = €200
Common mistake: judging a source on CPA alone without looking at the cohort LTV.
CAC
AcquisitionCAC = (Marketing + Sales Cost) / New Customers
€44,000 / 186 = €236
Common mistake: confusing it with CPA: CAC includes every acquisition cost, not just media.
Deposit Success Rate
PaymentsDeposit Success = Approved / Attempted × 100%
8,940 / 10,500 = 85.1%
Common mistake: a drop gets blamed on players when the cause is routing or one provider.
Average Deposit
PaymentsAvg Deposit = Deposits / Deposit Count
€447,000 / 8,940 = €50
Common mistake: the mean hides the VIP tail: look at the median and the segments.
Withdrawal Ratio
PaymentsWithdrawal Ratio = Withdrawals / Deposits × 100%
€268,200 / €447,000 = 60.0%
Common mistake: reading it as a loss: part of the payouts is turnover, not loss.
Chargeback Rate
PaymentsChargeback Rate = Chargebacks / Deposits × 100%
€2,235 / €447,000 = 0.5%
Common mistake: not cross-checking against fraud signals: a chargeback is often already a consequence.
Turnover
GamingTurnover = the sum of all bets in a period
€1 000 000
Common mistake: comparing turnover across products with different RTP as if it were revenue.
GGR
GamingGGR = Turnover − Player Wins
€1,000,000 − €960,000 = €40,000
Common mistake: treating GGR as operator revenue: adjustments still stand between it and NGR.
Hold
GamingHold = GGR / Turnover × 100%
€40,000 / €1,000,000 = 4%
Common mistake: hold is not profit, and in a given period it can be negative.
RTP
GamingRTP = Player Wins / Turnover × 100%
€960,000 / €1,000,000 = 96%
Common mistake: treating RTP as a promise for one session: it is a property over distance.
Hit Rate
GamingHit Rate = Winning Spins / Total Spins × 100%
1,327 / 10,000 = 13.3%
Common mistake: confusing how often wins land with how big they are — different properties.
NGR
NGR and revenueNGR = GGR − Bonus Cost − Provider Fees − Payment Fees − Taxes
€40,000 − €8,600 − €2,000 − €1,000 = €28,400
Common mistake: the definition of NGR must be fixed contractually — it differs between contracts.
Adjusted GGR
NGR and revenueAdjusted GGR = GGR − adjustments agreed in the contract
€40,000 − €8,600 = €31,400
Common mistake: comparing one side’s Adjusted GGR with the other side’s NGR.
Platform Revenue
NGR and revenuePlatform Revenue = Contractual Revenue Base × Revenue Share %
€100,000 × 12% = €12,000
Common mistake: not checking which base the contract actually fixes as the Revenue Base.
Bonus Issued / Used / Converted
BonusesIssued ≠ Used ≠ Converted ≠ Cost
issued €2,000,000 · accepted €1,240,000 · wagered €430,000
Common mistake: reporting "bonuses issued" as a company cost.
Bonus Cost
BonusesBonus Cost = the real cost of the bonus to the operator
€8,600 for the period
Common mistake: counting the bonus face value instead of its actual cost.
Bonus-to-GGR
BonusesBonus-to-GGR = Bonus Cost / GGR × 100%
€8,600 / €40,000 = 21.5%
Common mistake: reading the figure without a split by segment and campaign.
Bonus ROI
BonusesBonus ROI = Incremental NGR / Bonus Cost
€12,900 / €8,600 = 1.5
Common mistake: calculating it without a control group — then incremental is unproven.
Active Player
RetentionActive Player = a player with activity in a defined period
the definition is fixed once for every report
Common mistake: two reports with different definitions of an active player — and D30 means different things.
Retention D1 / D7 / D30
RetentionRetention Dn = Active on Dn / Cohort Size × 100%
372 / 1,240 = 30.0% (D7)
Common mistake: comparing D30 across cohorts without one definition of activity.
Second Deposit Conversion
Retention2nd Dep. Conv. = Players with 2+ deposits / FTD × 100%
93 / 186 = 50.0%
Common mistake: ignoring it, though it is the earliest signal of source quality.
Repeat Depositor Rate
RetentionRepeat Rate = Repeat Depositors / Active Depositors × 100%
1,430 / 2,200 = 65.0%
Common mistake: confusing it with retention: this is about payments, not activity.
ARPU
Customer valueARPU = NGR / Active Players
€28,400 / 2,200 = €12.9
Common mistake: comparing ARPU across markets with different payment cultures.
ARPPU
Customer valueARPPU = NGR / Paying Players
€28,400 / 1,430 = €19.9
Common mistake: passing ARPPU off as ARPU in a report — the denominator differs.
LTV
Customer valueLTV = ARPPU × Average Lifetime (simple model)
€19.9 × 6.5 months = €129
Common mistake: building the forecast on a base-wide average instead of cohorts.
LTV-to-CAC
Customer valueLTV-to-CAC = LTV / CAC
€236 → €129 = 0.55
Common mistake: a figure below 1 means the channel does not pay back — not "too early to tell".
Payback Period
Customer valuePayback = the time cumulative cohort NGR takes to cover CAC
CAC of €236 is covered in month 8
Common mistake: calculating payback on deposits rather than on NGR.
Cohort by FTD date
CohortsCohort = players with a first deposit in the same period
June cohort: FTD, D7, D30, deposits, GGR, NGR, LTV
Common mistake: mixing registration-date and FTD-date cohorts in one report.
Cohort NGR Payback
CohortsPayback % = Cumulative Cohort NGR / Acquisition Cost × 100%
€26,000 / €37,200 = 69.9%
Common mistake: drawing a conclusion about a cohort before it reaches D90.
This is one module of the Metrics and Economics course. It has eight modules and 27 formulas.
View the metrics course →So the team reads these numbers the same way
The same metrics, but practised on your back office and your contractual definition of NGR.
Primary sources
The definitions in this glossary are operational, taken from the reporting practice of operators. The regulatory and technical requirements they rest on are published by:
Metrics glossary iGaming
This is a reference of 33 iGaming metrics. Every entry carries a formula, a worked example with real numbers and the common mistake people make when reading it. Eight groups are covered: acquisition, payments, gaming, NGR and revenue, bonuses, retention, customer value and cohorts — from CTR and CPA to GGR, NGR, Bonus-to-GGR, LTV and payback period.
Every metric comes with a formula, a worked example and the common mistake people make reading it. This is not a term dictionary but a reference for people who make decisions on these numbers.
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This is one module of the Metrics and Economics course. It has eight modules and 27 formulas.
View the metrics course →So the team reads these numbers the same way
The same metrics, but practised on your back office and your contractual definition of NGR.
Primary sources
The definitions in this glossary are operational, taken from the reporting practice of operators. The regulatory and technical requirements they rest on are published by: