Ever since the 1980s, casinos have discovered that they make more profits off their slot machines than they do from their table games. This is just as true of online casinos as it is of land-based gambling halls. In Las Vegas, where free drinks and loyalty rewards have long been used as inducements for slot play, the latest promotional craze is bragging about payback rates. Where are the biggest jackpots being hit? Who can offer the best slot machine odds?
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If you listen to Las Vegas locals, they say never play the slots at casinos that line Las Vegas Boulevard. “Strictly for tourists,” they will tell you. Then, they’ll point downtown where many of the city’s oldest casinos are grouped within easy walking distance from one another and add, “The best payouts are along Fremont Street.”
Las Vegas Odds and Atlantic City Casinos have a stone cold Minimum RTP or “Theoretical Return to Player” percentage, which dictates that no slot machine is allowed, under scrutiny of regulation and penalty of law, to fall below that set minimum. Answer 1 of 11: Myself and my partner have booked a a trip to Vegas for 4 nights. I enjoy playing blackjack whereas he enjoys the slot machines. Can anyone recommend a casino which we'll both enjoy with good odds for blackjack?
But what do the actual numbers say? Is Vegas street wisdom to be believed? And what to make of claims made by casinos themselves? Who really has the loosest slots in town?
Downtown vs. the Strip
Overall, slots generate nearly 60% of Nevada’s annual gaming revenues and almost twice as much as table games. The Nevada Gaming Control Board breaks down its Las Vegas slot statistics in two major tourist areas: downtown and the Strip. Additionally, there is a large locals market, which reports of gaming revenue classify as the Boulder Strip and North Las Vegas areas.
In the full fiscal year between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012, the payback percentages for all slots in Clark County were 93.51%. By area, the downtown paid back 93.47% and the Strip returned 92.62%, so there is a certain ring of truth to the locals’ claim. However, what goes unsaid is that North Las Vegas slots returned 93.91% and the Boulder Strip slots paid back 94.76%, so the best advice is to avoid the tourist areas and play where the locals play.
Compared to fiscal 2011, all of the areas except the Boulder Strip showed a slight reduction in paybacks in 2012. Slots located along Boulder Highway paid out exactly the same year on year; they include the machines of such popular casinos as Sam’s Town, Arizona Charlie’s, and Boulder Station, to name a few.
Odds by Slot Type
The Gaming Control Board statistics also indicate which slots pay out the best in order of the denomination of credit played. In fiscal 2012, Megabucks progressive slots showed the worst payback percentage overall, just 87.16%. However, the appeal of a massive jackpot obviously outweighs the poor odds during hard economic times, as Megabucks revenues rose 59% versus fiscal 2011—the biggest gain among all types of slots.
At the other end of the spectrum, the very best payback percentages came from high roller slots. Those accepting denominations of $5, $25 and $100 returned 94.67%, 96.52% and 96.30%, respectively—proving once again that it takes money to make money.
For those whose champagne tastes come with beer budgets, the most fruitful games are on the nickel and quarter slots, which also include video poker machines of those denominations. Fully 94.48% of all 25¢ wagers were returned in fiscal 2012. Coming in right behind were nickel slots, paying back 94.40%.
Many slot players enjoy multi-denomination slots, which were a reasonably good bet in 2012 with a 94.65% payback rate. Meanwhile, dollar machines were not bad performers, yielding a 94.42% return of the cash invested. Much less favorable to players were penny machines, returning just 89.33%—the worst bet other than Megabucks.
What About Other Games
If slots aren’t your cup of tea, and you much prefer real money blackjack, then visit our dedicated page to online blackjack. United States Blackjack typically affords better odds than the slots, especially if players are willing to learn card counting. Bet your real money wisely with the tips you garner from reading legitimatecasino.com.
Who’s Really #1?
For those looking for a specific casino to frequent or a certain machine offering the very best slot odds, it is hard to separate the hoopla from the reality. The Gaming Control Board statistics do not reveal the results casino by casino or machine by machine. And the claims made by the casinos themselves have to be taken with a grain of salt.
For example, in 2010 the Palms Casino Resort launched a massive advertising campaign based upon the results of an “independent survey by the Las Vegas Advisor (that) indicates Palms’ slots and video poker returns are better than the average payback percentages in Nevada.” Their claim was that Palms’ slots were “28.278 percent looser than Clark County and 36.856 percent looser than the Strip.”
Not to be outdone, in 2011 the downtown’s El Cortez Casino shot back with advertising claiming that their slots were “39% looser than the Strip,” implying looser than the Palms’ slots by inference. Most lists of “hot slots” in Las Vegas mention the two properties as #1 and #2, but with three Megabucks jackpots awarded since 2004, perhaps the Palms deserves a slight edge. The El Cortez has paid no Megabucks winners to date.
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Casinos in Las Vegas are required to report their gaming win to include slot hold percentage (amount they win from players) to the Nevada Gaming Control Board. With 2018 behind us, the Board recently reported their gaming win statistics for the past year which we will break down below. This data should assist us in identifying where we can find the loosest slots in Las Vegas!
We will be looking at all “non-restricted” locations (essentially the big casinos) and their data from the past year (Jan 1, 2018 – Dec 31, 2018).
The reporting we’re looking at doesn’t drill down to the individual casino level, rather, groupings of casinos by geography. We’ll help you identify the casinos in each reporting zone that have machines featuring a lower casino win percentage (or hold) so you can play where your money will last.
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As a matter of housekeeping, casino slot “win percentage” is defined as the % of the total amountwagered by the player that the casino held as profit. For instance, a 7% casino win percentage means the casino, on average, kept 7 cents of every dollar bet on slot machines.
Example: A player put $10 into a slot machine and made his money last for a bit playing a total of $100 in spins before losing it all. The total amount wagered by the player was $100 and the casino won, or held, $10 resulting in a 10% casino win rate.
Now we get down to brass tacks. Where will we find the loosest slots in and around Vegas in 2019? Slot machines in the North Las Vegas and the Boulder reporting areas tended to be looser than those on the Strip and on Fremont with a 6.58% and 5.81% casino win percentage respectively.
If chasing slots that pay out is more important than being in Vegas, the slots in Reno offered a player friendly casino win rate of only 5.45% in 2018.
Since the area immediately surrounding Las Vegas is divvied up in to separate reporting areas, it can be difficult to know which casinos fall into which.
Casinos in the looser Boulder reporting area include: Sam’s Town, Eastside Cannery, Arizona Charlie’s, Boulder Station, Sunset Station, M Resort, Fiesta Henderson and Green Valley Ranch.
Casinos in the looser North Las Vegas include: Jerry’s Nugget, Silver Nugget, The Cannery, Fiesta Hotel and Casino, Texas Station, Cannery and Aliante.
It’s clear from the chart above that the more popular an area is with tourists, the tighter the slots get. Slots on the Las Vegas Strip had a win percentage of 8.12% and Downtown Las Vegas was only slightly better at 7.64%.
It’s also interesting that slots on the Strip and Downtown have gotten continuously tighter over time – 2018 was no exception. Slots on the Strip held 8.12% of money in 2018 vs. 8.04% in 2017. In the year 2000, slots on the Las Vegas Strip held only 6.02%. We’re going the wrong direction!
The same tightening trend is apparent Downtown as slots held 7.64% in 2018 vs 7.34% in 2017. Looking back to the year 2000, slots Downtown held only 5.33%.
Was there a specific denomination of slot that rewarded players more regularly in 2018? It won’t likely surprise you that higher denominations are looser than smaller.
Megabucks were by far the tightest slots in Vegas at an astounding 13.12% casino win percentage. Penny slots, the most popular denomination with gamblers, were not overly generous at a 10% casino win rate.
Best Odds In Vegas Slots
One mistake I see many gamblers make is playing $1, $2, $3, or more per pull on a penny slot. If you are wagering that much per pull anyway, play a larger denomination to improve your chances of winning.
We hope this helps you find slots that pay out in and around Las Vegas! Just remember, it’s better to get off the beaten path and play larger denominations when it makes sense.
Odds Of Winning Slot Machines In Las Vegas
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