Introduction to Las Vegas Visit
In June of 2019, 3.6 million people visited Las Vegas. Perhaps you were one of them? Or maybe you've yet to have your first Las Vegas visit. Whether you're a frequent traveler to Las Vegas or a newbie, you want to be better prepared at playing slots in Las Vegas.
Good for you! Preparation is key. A little can go a long way, especially when it comes to your hard-won cash. In this post, I'll start with seven secrets to winning on slots during your Las Vegas visit.
MyVEGAS is a FREE app sponsored by MGM Resorts that lets you earn points that can be redeemed for free stuff in Las Vegas and other cities. There are two main myVEGAS apps: slots and blackjack. Either app earns you rewards but most people choose to play the myVEGAS slots. Elements like the slot themes, graphics, and jackpots are the least important to consider when you want to pick a slot machine. The most important tip to win at slots is to pick the games with the highest RTP. Loose slots are Slot machines with above-average pay outs. It's a fact that Las Vegas Slots differ in their payouts. Generally the odds of wining any prize on Las Vegas Slot Machines are approximately 1 in 5. However the odds to wining a top prize on a red, white and blue slot machine, for example, are only 1 in 373,248. Believe in slots myths about cold and hot machines. Look for extra slot bonuses and casino comps. Play traditional slots with minimum features. Study paytables and choose slots with the highest payouts. Play at first slot machine you find at a casino. Relax and have fun when playing slots. Get frustrated or angered when you lose a spin. Slot machine fans certainly already know the very entertaining Vegas slot machines.These are those slot machines, where You can win a huge amount just in seconds.However, it does make a difference how do You play on Vegas slot machines.
This article has the following sections:
- Introduction to Las Vegas Visit
- Nevada Payout Return Limits
- Know Your Nevada Gaming Stats
- Check the Most Recent Payout Return Statistics
- The Many Wonderful Las Vegas Gambling Podcasts
- Downtown Versus the Strip
- When to Visit and When Not to Visit
- Candidate Winning Slot Machines in Las Vegas
- Summary of Las Vegas Visit
Keep Reading … or Listen Instead!
This audio contains commentary not found anywhere else!
Subscribe to my Professor Slots podcast: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Gaana | Stitcher | Pandora | iHeart Radio | Tune-In | SoundCloud | RadioPublic | Android | RSS and wherever else you find podcasts!
1. Nevada Payout Return Limits
Nevada state gaming regulation #14 places a minimum legal limit on payout returns for slot machines. This minimum payout limit is 75%. Further, this lower limit applies per wager.
'All gaming devices must: Theoretically pay out a mathematically demonstrable percentage of all amounts wagered, which must not be less than 75 percent for each wager available for play on the device.'
Regulation 14.040: Minimum standards for gaming devicesWhat does this 75% minimum mean? Does it mean the player gets back 75 cents if they make a $1 bet on a slot machine? No, it doesn't.
What it means is that the statistical average is at least a 75% return over many, many bets. The additional use of the words 'per wager' in Regulation 14 means the slot machine must never be set less than an average 75% return.
For example, an unscrupulous casino operator might set a slot machine to have a 70% return for some time, then later set the payout return to 80% for an equal number of bets. Such a setup would also result in an average 75% return over both periods combined, but wouldn't meet Nevada's legal requirement.
Another close examination of the regulation shows something missing, which is well worth noting. What's missing? There's no mention of a maximum legal limit, which some states have put in place.
Without an upper legal limit on payout returns, casino operators in Nevada can offer the occasional slot machine which, on average, wins. Of course, casinos would lose money on slot machines set up this way. But, there are still good business reasons to do so.
I go over these reasons in How to Win at Slots in Older Casinos Built Before 2012. Suffice to say now, Nevada gaming regulations make doing so legal. Two questions naturally follow:
- Do Las Vegas casinos set up the occasional slot machine to be winners?
- How can a slots player find these winning slot machines?
The answer to the first question is yes. Casinos often decide to set up an occasional slot machine to win for promotional purposes. It's a silent casino promotion because casinos choose to do this on slot machines situated to be easily visible to passersby.
It's also worth noting that, like any business activity, it's on a careful budget. Casinos can't afford to do this often because, like everyone else, they are on a budget. But they do it. I know because I've found them before.
Later in this post, I'll share some recent experiences from my fan base regarding candidate winning slot machines in Las Vegas for your consideration. But knowing they exist, and why they exist, is a necessary first step to finding them.
2. Know Your Nevada Gaming Stats
The Nevada Gaming Control Board and the Nevada Gaming Commission regulate the gaming industry in Las Vegas. This state gaming commission's website is both thorough and comprehensive. The site offers several useful resources, but let's consider the other side of payout returns: Actual payout statistics.
Legal limits and reported statistics are like the difference between a plan of attack and an actual battle. Remember the adage, 'No plan survives contact with the enemy.' Or, in more normal circumstances, having a budget isn't the same as paying bills.
In terms of slots gameplay, we know that Nevada gaming regulations have set a minimum payout return limit of 75% per wager on their gaming machines. That's the law. But what happened? How did it work out in the real world?
Some states, including Nevada, do more than define a theoretical payout return limit. Nevada provides comprehensive payout return statistics. Each year, I review these actual statistics in Nevada Slot Machine Casino Gambling.
Rather than repeat myself fully, I'll point you toward the Payout Returns in Nevada section of the Nevada post just mentioned. For now, I'll say Nevada provides actual payout return statistics by:
- State region, including Downtown Las Vegas versus the Strip
- Slot machine denomination, including most common amounts but also multi-denomination, Megabucks, and other
- Duration, including the current month, last 3 months, and last 12 months
- Casino revenue range, including all casinos, over $1B, $1B to $12B, etc.
While past statistics never predict future behavior, a truism from the study of statistics, we can look at the available actuals to see if we can spot business trends.
Maybe, just perhaps, we can find a slot machine denomination with the best odds of winning last week. And perhaps they still have high odds this week. Lost vegas slot.
Why? Because, in general, casinos are businesses as described and slots aren't table card games. The odds of winning at table card games can't change unless someone cheats or the game rules change.
Slot machines are electronic devices. Yes, they have random number generators – but RNGs are adjustable as a tool by the casino operator trying to control their financial performance metrics finely.
3. Check the Most Recent Payout Return Statistics
Before your next trip to Las Vegas to play slot machines, visit the Nevada Gaming Commission's website. Under Statistics & Publications, you'll find an entry for Gaming Revenue Report with PDF files available for download.
At the time of this writing, the most recently available monthly gaming revenue report from Nevada is for June 2019. These reports include the gaming statistics for slot machines, table games, and sports betting. Further, the left-most columns are for the most recent month with the remaining columns for a combined three months and twelve months.
Page 1 is a state-wide summary. Since we are discussing a Las Vegas visit, we need to find two specific state regions in the report: Downtown Las Vegas and Las Vegas Strip. Both are situated in Clark County.
The gaming revenue statistics for downtown Las Vegas begins on page 8:
- Page 8: All downtown Las Vegas casinos combined
- Page 9: Downtown Las Vegas casinos with over $1 million in gaming revenue
- Page 10: Downtown Las Vegas casinos with $1 million to $12 million in gaming revenue (none currently exist)
- Page 11: Downtown Las Vegas casinos with over $12 million in gaming revenue
The gaming revenue statistics for the Las Vegas Strip are on pages 12 through 17:
- Page 12: All Las Vegas Strip Area casinos
- Page 13: Las Vegas Strip casinos with over $1 million in gaming revenue
- Page 14: Las Vegas Strip casinos with $1 million to $12 million in gaming revenue (none currently exist)
- Page 15: Las Vegas Strip casinos with $12 million to $36 million in gaming revenue
- Page 16: Las Vegas Strip casinos with $36 million to $72 million in gaming revenue
- Page 17: Las Vegas Strip casinos with over $72 million in gaming revenue
Since the format is common on all these pages, let's review how to read and understand one of them: Page 8 – All Downtown Las Vegas Area casinos combined. The current month columns are:
- Number of Locations
- Number of Units
- Win Amount in 1000s of dollars
- Percent Change from the last month
- Win Percent
Note that Nevada reports the Win Percent for the casino, not the player. In most other states, this percentage is the casino hold percentage or Hold%. Subtracting it from 100% provides the percentage of winnings retained by the player. Further, negative numbers are in parenthesis.
The lowest casino Win Percent, i.e., highest player return, in June 2019 was the $25 denomination slot machine with a negative 7.57 Win%. There were nine of these slot machines at three locations with an overall monthly player return of 107.57%
Why so high? Quite likely, someone won big on one of these $25 denomination slot machines. That big jackpot pushed up the overall monthly average on all nine machines with this denomination in the downtown area.
Looking on the same line under the 3-month entry, it was 100% minus 4.77% equals 95.23%. The 12-month average was even smaller, at 92.44%. This abrupt change indicates playing $25 denomination in downtown Las Vegas is not the advantage it might otherwise appear.
Otherwise, slot machine denominations with the highest-to-lowest player returns for June 2019 in all casinos in the downtown Las Vegas area were:
- Multi-denomination: 100% minus 5.44% equals 94.56% return to the player
- 25-cent quarter slots: 100% minus 5.49% equals 94.51% return to the player
- 1-dollar slots: 100% minus 5.59% equals 94.41% return to the player
- 5-cent nickel slots: 100% minus 5.75% equals 94.25% return to the player
- 5-dollar slots: 100% minus 7.49% equals 92.51% return to the player
- 1-cent penny slots: 100% minus 11.03% equals 88.97% return to the player
- Megabucks: 100% minus 14.02% equals 85.98% return to the player
I understand that this is a lot of statistics. But consider what we learned even with this simple research of statistics from downtown Las Vegas casinos for June 2019:
- The worst payout returns are on Megabucks
- The second-lowest payout return is from penny slots
- The third-lowest payout return is from $5 and $25 slot machines
- The best returns, all very similar, are nickel slots, dollar slots, quarter slots, and multi-denominational slot machines
A further detailed analysis would be to perform the same straightforward payout return study on downtown Las Vegas casinos separated into three ranges of gaming revenue.
I'll save this further analysis for another time. We'd need to run down the monthly gaming revenue for each casino, likely from their casino operator's financial reports filed with the Security Exchange Commission.
4. The Many Wonderful Las Vegas Gambling Podcasts
So far, I've talked about gaming regulations and gaming revenue reports available from the state of Nevada. These topics were based on official information from the government. But, that's not everything we have. There are also people like you.
More specifically, there are people like you that have enjoyed Las Vegas so much that they started a podcast about it. There are more than a few such Las Vegas gambling podcasts. In preparation for your next Las Vegas visit, start listening to them to learn a lot of tips and tricks from these Las Vegas experts.
Each show is more-or-less available anywhere you find podcasts. Some shows are former or current radio shows which distribute as a podcast so, again, look for them wherever you find podcasts.
If you've never listened to a podcast before, you might wonder how to start doing so. Here's how. There are a selection of podcast apps and services on this webpage. It's on the right side if you're at a computer or at the end if you're on a mobile device.
Those linked images go to my podcast show at those sites. After subscribing to my show, of course, use their search tool to find any of the following podcast show names:
- Five Hundy by Midnight
- Vegas Never Sleeps
- 360 Vegas
- You Can Bet on That
- Gambling with an Edge
- Vegas Confessions Podcast
- Vital Vegas
The longest-running Las Vegas gambling podcast is Five Hundy by Midnight: The Original Las Vegas Podcast. They've been at it since January of 2005 providing weekly episodes since then. At the time of this writing, they are up to episode #702. The hosts are relatively focused on Las Vegas news stories.
Vegas Never Sleeps by Steven Maggi is a former radio show now distributed as a podcast. He's been broadcasting since 2008. His show is mostly thoughtful interviews with various Las Vegas entertainers and others. I was one of those other interviewees in March of 2018.
360 Vegas is a popular podcast about all things Las Vegas. They also host an annual meetup called 360 Vegas Vacation. The 2019 event, Twitter hashtag #360VV9, is on September 1-3, 2019. At the time of this writing, it's still about a month away.
Gambling Podcast: You Can Bet on That, a podcast for the recreational gambler, is hosted by Mark and Dr. Mike. They have great chemistry and produce a fun and friendly show. While they are physically located in San Diego, they are so near Las Vegas and visit so often that they often talk about it.
Gambling with an Edge is a weekly live radio show in Las Vegas found afterward as podcast episodes. It's hosted by Bob Dancer and Richard Munchkin of video poker fame. They interview professional gamblers, authors, and casinos insiders.
Vegas Confessions Podcast is all about the casino and gambling lifestyle. The three hosts are often in Las Vegas. They cover Las Vegas topics as well as gambling superstitions, casino games, food reviews, trip reports, and more.
Last but certainly not least is Vital Vegas by Scott Roeben. His blog, twitter feed, and podcast are incredible. He loves Las Vegas. Here you'll find essential Las Vegas news, tips, deals, and (as he says) WTF. In my opinion, out of all the Las Vegas podcasts I mention here, pick Vital Vegas. You won't regret it.
None of these podcasts have paid me to promote them in this blog. I like to listen to them and thought you might find them useful in preparing for your Las Vegas visit.
Rather than repeat myself fully, I'll point you toward the Payout Returns in Nevada section of the Nevada post just mentioned. For now, I'll say Nevada provides actual payout return statistics by:
- State region, including Downtown Las Vegas versus the Strip
- Slot machine denomination, including most common amounts but also multi-denomination, Megabucks, and other
- Duration, including the current month, last 3 months, and last 12 months
- Casino revenue range, including all casinos, over $1B, $1B to $12B, etc.
While past statistics never predict future behavior, a truism from the study of statistics, we can look at the available actuals to see if we can spot business trends.
Maybe, just perhaps, we can find a slot machine denomination with the best odds of winning last week. And perhaps they still have high odds this week. Lost vegas slot.
Why? Because, in general, casinos are businesses as described and slots aren't table card games. The odds of winning at table card games can't change unless someone cheats or the game rules change.
Slot machines are electronic devices. Yes, they have random number generators – but RNGs are adjustable as a tool by the casino operator trying to control their financial performance metrics finely.
3. Check the Most Recent Payout Return Statistics
Before your next trip to Las Vegas to play slot machines, visit the Nevada Gaming Commission's website. Under Statistics & Publications, you'll find an entry for Gaming Revenue Report with PDF files available for download.
At the time of this writing, the most recently available monthly gaming revenue report from Nevada is for June 2019. These reports include the gaming statistics for slot machines, table games, and sports betting. Further, the left-most columns are for the most recent month with the remaining columns for a combined three months and twelve months.
Page 1 is a state-wide summary. Since we are discussing a Las Vegas visit, we need to find two specific state regions in the report: Downtown Las Vegas and Las Vegas Strip. Both are situated in Clark County.
The gaming revenue statistics for downtown Las Vegas begins on page 8:
- Page 8: All downtown Las Vegas casinos combined
- Page 9: Downtown Las Vegas casinos with over $1 million in gaming revenue
- Page 10: Downtown Las Vegas casinos with $1 million to $12 million in gaming revenue (none currently exist)
- Page 11: Downtown Las Vegas casinos with over $12 million in gaming revenue
The gaming revenue statistics for the Las Vegas Strip are on pages 12 through 17:
- Page 12: All Las Vegas Strip Area casinos
- Page 13: Las Vegas Strip casinos with over $1 million in gaming revenue
- Page 14: Las Vegas Strip casinos with $1 million to $12 million in gaming revenue (none currently exist)
- Page 15: Las Vegas Strip casinos with $12 million to $36 million in gaming revenue
- Page 16: Las Vegas Strip casinos with $36 million to $72 million in gaming revenue
- Page 17: Las Vegas Strip casinos with over $72 million in gaming revenue
Since the format is common on all these pages, let's review how to read and understand one of them: Page 8 – All Downtown Las Vegas Area casinos combined. The current month columns are:
- Number of Locations
- Number of Units
- Win Amount in 1000s of dollars
- Percent Change from the last month
- Win Percent
Note that Nevada reports the Win Percent for the casino, not the player. In most other states, this percentage is the casino hold percentage or Hold%. Subtracting it from 100% provides the percentage of winnings retained by the player. Further, negative numbers are in parenthesis.
The lowest casino Win Percent, i.e., highest player return, in June 2019 was the $25 denomination slot machine with a negative 7.57 Win%. There were nine of these slot machines at three locations with an overall monthly player return of 107.57%
Why so high? Quite likely, someone won big on one of these $25 denomination slot machines. That big jackpot pushed up the overall monthly average on all nine machines with this denomination in the downtown area.
Looking on the same line under the 3-month entry, it was 100% minus 4.77% equals 95.23%. The 12-month average was even smaller, at 92.44%. This abrupt change indicates playing $25 denomination in downtown Las Vegas is not the advantage it might otherwise appear.
Otherwise, slot machine denominations with the highest-to-lowest player returns for June 2019 in all casinos in the downtown Las Vegas area were:
- Multi-denomination: 100% minus 5.44% equals 94.56% return to the player
- 25-cent quarter slots: 100% minus 5.49% equals 94.51% return to the player
- 1-dollar slots: 100% minus 5.59% equals 94.41% return to the player
- 5-cent nickel slots: 100% minus 5.75% equals 94.25% return to the player
- 5-dollar slots: 100% minus 7.49% equals 92.51% return to the player
- 1-cent penny slots: 100% minus 11.03% equals 88.97% return to the player
- Megabucks: 100% minus 14.02% equals 85.98% return to the player
I understand that this is a lot of statistics. But consider what we learned even with this simple research of statistics from downtown Las Vegas casinos for June 2019:
- The worst payout returns are on Megabucks
- The second-lowest payout return is from penny slots
- The third-lowest payout return is from $5 and $25 slot machines
- The best returns, all very similar, are nickel slots, dollar slots, quarter slots, and multi-denominational slot machines
A further detailed analysis would be to perform the same straightforward payout return study on downtown Las Vegas casinos separated into three ranges of gaming revenue.
I'll save this further analysis for another time. We'd need to run down the monthly gaming revenue for each casino, likely from their casino operator's financial reports filed with the Security Exchange Commission.
4. The Many Wonderful Las Vegas Gambling Podcasts
So far, I've talked about gaming regulations and gaming revenue reports available from the state of Nevada. These topics were based on official information from the government. But, that's not everything we have. There are also people like you.
More specifically, there are people like you that have enjoyed Las Vegas so much that they started a podcast about it. There are more than a few such Las Vegas gambling podcasts. In preparation for your next Las Vegas visit, start listening to them to learn a lot of tips and tricks from these Las Vegas experts.
Each show is more-or-less available anywhere you find podcasts. Some shows are former or current radio shows which distribute as a podcast so, again, look for them wherever you find podcasts.
If you've never listened to a podcast before, you might wonder how to start doing so. Here's how. There are a selection of podcast apps and services on this webpage. It's on the right side if you're at a computer or at the end if you're on a mobile device.
Those linked images go to my podcast show at those sites. After subscribing to my show, of course, use their search tool to find any of the following podcast show names:
- Five Hundy by Midnight
- Vegas Never Sleeps
- 360 Vegas
- You Can Bet on That
- Gambling with an Edge
- Vegas Confessions Podcast
- Vital Vegas
The longest-running Las Vegas gambling podcast is Five Hundy by Midnight: The Original Las Vegas Podcast. They've been at it since January of 2005 providing weekly episodes since then. At the time of this writing, they are up to episode #702. The hosts are relatively focused on Las Vegas news stories.
Vegas Never Sleeps by Steven Maggi is a former radio show now distributed as a podcast. He's been broadcasting since 2008. His show is mostly thoughtful interviews with various Las Vegas entertainers and others. I was one of those other interviewees in March of 2018.
360 Vegas is a popular podcast about all things Las Vegas. They also host an annual meetup called 360 Vegas Vacation. The 2019 event, Twitter hashtag #360VV9, is on September 1-3, 2019. At the time of this writing, it's still about a month away.
Gambling Podcast: You Can Bet on That, a podcast for the recreational gambler, is hosted by Mark and Dr. Mike. They have great chemistry and produce a fun and friendly show. While they are physically located in San Diego, they are so near Las Vegas and visit so often that they often talk about it.
Gambling with an Edge is a weekly live radio show in Las Vegas found afterward as podcast episodes. It's hosted by Bob Dancer and Richard Munchkin of video poker fame. They interview professional gamblers, authors, and casinos insiders.
Vegas Confessions Podcast is all about the casino and gambling lifestyle. The three hosts are often in Las Vegas. They cover Las Vegas topics as well as gambling superstitions, casino games, food reviews, trip reports, and more.
Last but certainly not least is Vital Vegas by Scott Roeben. His blog, twitter feed, and podcast are incredible. He loves Las Vegas. Here you'll find essential Las Vegas news, tips, deals, and (as he says) WTF. In my opinion, out of all the Las Vegas podcasts I mention here, pick Vital Vegas. You won't regret it.
None of these podcasts have paid me to promote them in this blog. I like to listen to them and thought you might find them useful in preparing for your Las Vegas visit.
I should further note that this is not a comprehensive list of Las Vegas podcasts. For instance, I haven't yet listened to the Faces and Aces Las Vegas podcast. Again, the podcasts listed are merely those I have discovered and enjoyed over time.
5. Downtown Versus the Strip
Las Vegas is famous for the Strip with its world-famous mega-resorts, shops, five-star dining options, and entertainment venues. But there is also the smaller and lesser-known historic downtown Las Vegas with its venerable casinos, museums, and zip line.
Comparing the Strip to Downtown is like comparing apples and oranges. Each location is a unique experience with different options. At a high level, I could perhaps best describe Downtown as where many locals go while the Strip is where out-of-towners tend to be.
How do I know this? Because of reported gaming revenue for the two areas. For 2018, the Las Vegas Strip had $6.6 billion in annual gaming revenue. Also for 2018, Downtown Las Vegas had less than 10% of that annual gaming revenue or $650 million.
The Strip has big casinos, big acts, and big everything else. Again, it's world-famous and hardly a secret. Downtown Las Vegas is known as Old Vegas or merely Fremont Street. For many visitors, Old Vegas is the secret worth sharing.
Old Vegas is more than one secret. It is perhaps as many as 15 secrets, all by itself. In advance of your Las Vegas visit, consider reviewing this post from The Crazy Tourist, 15 Best Things to Do in Downtown Las Vegas.
If you are staying on or slightly off the Las Vegas Strip but want to visit downtown Las Vegas or vice versa, how do you get there? How far apart are they?
Downtown and the Strip are about two to five miles apart. With light traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard, it takes 15 to 20 minutes to drive from mid-Strip to the Fremont Street Experience. This time applies to driving your car, or taking a rental, including finding a spot to park.
Otherwise, there's taking the bus, walking, rideshare services like Uber and Lyft, and taking a taxi. It's a two-mile walk from the Stratosphere on the north end of the Strip.
6. When to Visit and When Not to Visit
Whether you visit the Las Vegas Strip, downtown Las Vegas, or both, winning at slots in Las Vegas means considering when to visit. This question has to do with the number of visitors in Las Vegas at any given time.
In 2018, over 42 million people visited Las Vegas. In June of 2019, 3.9 million people visited according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau. Only 514,000 visitors, about 13% of the monthly visitors, were visiting in June to attend a conference.
Per month, most visitors are in March at less than 3.8 million while the least visitors were in February at 3.2 million individuals. Conference attendance is meager during December.
What I'm trying to do here by digging into these statistics isn't to examine the number of visitors in a month or a year in the city of Las Vegas. What I'm trying to dig into relates to experiences my fanbase has been having when visiting Las Vegas.
What happens to them? Whether they are on the Strip or Downtown, they have been reporting that they win at slots on weekdays and lose playing slots on weekends.
Why? I can explain why, and touched on why above, but it hardly matters. This pattern exists, whatever its cause. And I want that you should know about it when planning your Las Vegas visit.
I touched on why this is above, about casinos being a business with fine control over their payout return statistics for slots. This control is now daily due to technological advances in casino operating systems. At most modern casinos, central computers control slot machine odds of winning.
As I have mentioned elsewhere, casino operators have been seeing an unprecedented number of casino visitors. To manage such large groups, casino operators needed to automate their casinos. Doing so allowed them to reduce their workforce while also providing them the ability to achieve their daily financial performance metrics. The isle casino free play.
Both changes resulted in significantly reduced operating costs. However, automation means casinos can quickly adjust the odds of winning on all their slot machines. When would they need to do this?
It's a business decision. Casino operators universally decrease the odds of winning on slots machines during the weekends when hotels have higher occupancy. To keep some balance, they'll also increase the odds of winning on slots during weekdays.
Nevada gaming regulations require a monthly revenue report from each casino. That's a monthly report. Even if it was a weekly report, this difference in weekday and weekend payout returns is unnoticeable.
Both a weekly and monthly report shows the payout return average over their respective periods. Only a daily report would show the casino's behavior of changing slot machine odds within a week.
But the Nevada gaming regulations don't show daily gaming revenue reports. No state does. So, casino operators can do this without breaking any laws.
Based on experiences shared by my audience, there are lower odds of winning on slot machines starting by 10 a.m. on Friday through around sunrise on Monday morning. Further, the same reduction occurs on significant holidays or whenever Las Vegas has more extensive than usual crowds of visitors.
Please plan your Las Vegas visit accordingly, especially when choosing which day or days you plan on playing slot machines while there. In general, if there's a crowd then be very cautious about risking your bankroll.
7. Candidate Winning Slot Machines in Las Vegas
Scott Roeben first mentioned the best slot machine I know about in Las Vegas. He runs the Vital Vegas blog, Twitter feed, and podcast. This slot machine is in Four Queens in downtown Las Vegas over by the cashier's cage.
Scott posted a photo of this 'Old Faithful' slot machine on Twitter along with its general area within the casino. It's a 2-credit, $5 denomination Progressive Wheel of Fortune machine.
Being a $5 denomination slot machine, it's high-limit. I don't recommend playing high-limit slots unless you can afford the relatively large bankroll required to make 100 to 120 bets of $10 each. Don't ever bet with any amount of money you can't afford to lose.
Remember, winning by luck isn't something with which I can help you or anyone else. Instead, winning because you have an excellent plan is something with which I can and do help.
Bonus Secret
Thanks for reading so far into this rather long post with so much statistics. You deserve a reward. And so here it is.
Less than two months ago, audience member James reported from the Four Queens Casino in downtown Las Vegas. Based on his experiences, they've set up their slot machines to provide a quick win or 'taste' followed by no wins.
The advantage play to use in response to this casino setup is what I call my 'Five Pull' approach. For slot machines there, make only five bets before moving to another slot machine. If you win anything at all, move on without making any remaining bets.
Optionally, if you can, try to play slot machines not played for at least a few minutes or longer. Of course, finding an idle slot machine isn't possible on busy nights at the casino.
I explain this specific winning strategy in detail in my blog article Winning Strategy 1: Only Win Immediately.
Summary of Las Vegas Visit
In June of 2019, 3.6 million people visited Las Vegas. Next month, you might be one of them. Whether you're a frequent traveler to Las Vegas or a newbie, this post helps you be better prepared for playing slots in Las Vegas.
When it comes to winning with slots at someplace you're not as familiar with as your local casino, preparation with a little thought is the key to a successful trip.
Join our Nevada slots community, a private and closed Facebook Group, for more advice from fellow lovers of slots and Las Vegas.
Have a great Las Vegas visit and let us know how it goes!
Related Articles from Professor Slots
Other Articles from Professor Slots
- Previous: Online Resource: A State-By-State Slot Machine Casino Gambling Series
- Next: Why You Need to Start a Recreational Gambling Podcast
Have fun, be safe, and make good choices!
By Jon H. Friedl, Jr. Ph.D., President
Jon Friedl, LLC
The first pit stop in Las Vegas for most visitors is usually a casino. Whether you are an experienced player on the casino floor or just starting, slot machines are the most profitable and entertaining games available.
Slot machines have proven to be popular among players time and time again. Casinos and other entertainment facilities are profiting tremendously from the revenues collected from slots.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board reports that the Las Vegas Strip contained over 160,000 slot machines in 40 different locations in 2019, generating revenues reaching almost $270 million per month.
While these numbers are beneficial to the establishments and their operators, slot machines are also known to be the most profitable game in a casino for the user.
Slot machines, on average, have an RTP, or return to player, between 75% and 98%; in other words, for every dollar a player spends, the slot machine will yield about 75 to 98 cents right into their pocket.
Even with the high RTP and revenue, Las Vegas and other cities famous for their casinos fill their halls with slot machines because anyone can press a button.
Commitment is never a priority; the player can put down a small individual bet. A poker face is never required, neither is real skill, to win big.
However, research is still encouraged to profit off of slot machines at the highest level, such as reading on user experience on specific games and reading the RTP at each Las Vegas casino.
Return to player is perhaps the most critical factor in picking the best slot to play in Vegas. The higher the RTP percentage, the more likely the slot will payout.
An amateur way to discover a slot's RTP percentage is to test it with a bet. If a slot claims to have a 94% payout, then after a $100 bet, the payback would equate to about $94. While this may seem straightforward, this method does not fit every player.
Checking message boards and online threads, as well as comparison sites containing slots reviews, are a great way to find the best slots in Vegas. Notable websites encourage players to share their experiences with slot machines; most of their reviews focus on the amount of cash they get to keep after playing.
Another tip to finding one of the better slots offered in Las Vegas is to look for promotions. By signing up to the casino's player's club, customers can access unique games, receive free slot plays, and gain eligibility to have freebies on their next visit.
Benefits are significant, especially when the rounds on the slot machines are free, increasing the already high payout.
The most profitable slots are coined as 'loose slots' because they pay out the most amount of money to the player and are thus very desirable among customers.
A feature of profitable slot machines called 'progressive jackpots' has become a popular way to transform a couple of hundred bucks to millions.
Progressive jackpots offer prize money compared to the national lottery games, which can easily make a millionaire in a single evening.
According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the dollar slots pay back an average of 95% of receipts, 25 cent slots payout 93% on average, and 5 cent slots give back 90% to the players.
The payout from slots at the downtown or other off-Strip locations is one or two percent higher than those on the Strip. Hotel-casinos frequented by locals, such as Sam's Town, pay better than the tourist hotels in the city. Nevada residents well know that fact when they consider which facilities contain the best slots in Vegas.
Moreover, the newer and more luxurious hotels are known for having the overall poorest RTP percentages.
Some of those hotels include the Bellagio, Venetian, Mandalay Bay, and the new Wynn Las Vegas. Since the amenities of these hotels are off the charts, slot machines do not have to be the most profitable asset (at least to the player).
However, some of these lavish hotels offer great prizes and entertainment that makes a higher payout from the slot machine. The Bellagio, for example, provides a slot tournament with 2,300 games as options. From jackpots and progressive features, the Bellagio slot machines can grow small bets into millions.
Generally, the best slots in Vegas are located in the older properties of the North Strip.
Slot machines may look flashy and modern, especially themed slots, but that does not mean they have the highest payout. The more traditional and old-looking games may be a better money's worth.
Much like the endorphin rush of a 'win,' a good-looking slot machine can trick the brain chemistry into wagering more money than intended. With that in mind, a simple-looking slot should be considered to help players gamble responsibly and win big.
Recent Las Vegas Slot Winners
Rather than always playing Star Wars or Avengers slot machines, players should have an eye out for the more dated and less appealing slot machines available on the casino floor. Many of them have substantial RTP rates and have stood the test of time.
One of these seemingly unappreciated slots is housed in Slots-a-Fun at Circus Circus Casino in Las Vegas. The selection includes classics, such as 'Double Diamond' and 'Red, White, and Blue.' Although they are not the flashiest, they are the best slots in Vegas.
Slots-a-Fun is a classic and exclusive casino that incorporates slot machines paired with an arcade, pool tables, bowling, and other forms of entertainment. Their slots have been proven time and time again as the machines to make the next big Vegas winner.
Free 3 reel slots for fun. As mentioned before, these slots are not located conveniently for the tourists on the Strip. A general rule of thumb to follow: the more touristy the casino, the lower the payback on the slot machines.
While the Las Vegas Strip has a win percentage of about 8%, the slots in Reno and Boulder have a more generous casino wins of around 5%.
Some of the casinos located in Reno, Boulder, and North Vegas include Eastside Cannery, Sunset Station, M Resort, Jerry's Nugget, Texas Station, and Boulder Station.
Geographical location should not be the only consideration when looking for great slots. Some veteran gamblers and websites claim that corners within a specific casino itself have some of the better slot machines.
High traffic areas, such as near elevators, a front desk, aisles, showrooms, registration areas, etc., contain the loosest slots in the casino.
Some people do not even have to go to a casino to access a slot machine. An entertainment facility is perhaps the unrivaled source to use for the best slots in Vegas.
Airports, convenience stores, and grocery stores are the first locations to avoid playing slot machines. Even though the majority are in clean and well-run establishments, they do not offer significant returns with their slot machines.
What these three different places have in common is that under Nevada law the slot machines in airports, convenience stores, and grocery stores are entirely controlled by large corporations.
With that in mind, it should not be surprising that the slot machines in these facilities provide a much lower payout percentage than the typical slot found in a Las Vegas casino.
Even though convenience store owners can obtain a lease or purchase of slot machines, the Nevada law changed in favor of larger corporations having control over the slots and their payouts.
Nevada grocery stores are the only place that can legally provide slot machines because they have leased the space through a larger company. Although they can offer marginally better odds than the former two, grocery stores should still be avoided when it comes to slot machines.
The loosest slot machines in the past 12 months have been Megabucks and penny slots. Megabucks had the tightest slots at over 11% casino win percentage. Penny slots are the most popular denomination, even though their win percentage is not the most generous.
Megabucks offers some of the best slots in Vegas with the highest winnings. In 2014, a man playing a Megabucks slot machine in Rampart Casino hit a $14 million jackpot after playing for five minutes on a $20 bill when the slot paid off.
This payout is not the only one from a Megabucks machine. Megabucks has produced life-changing jackpots for multiple players for over two decades.
Their slogan markets the casino's accomplishments perfectly: 'Dream big. Win big'. Even with players only spending a $1 for a spin, there is always a chance of the jackpot prize of $10 million.
How To Beat Vegas Slots
In addition to Megabucks and Slots-a-Fun, there are plenty of casinos offering some of the best slots available in Las Vegas.
Many websites report O'Shea's, Stardust, and older casinos located on the north side of the Strip as the places to visit for great and profitable slot machine winnings.
The casino nearest to offering the loosest slots in Las Vegas is Palms resort, which has an average game payout percentage of about 94%.
Lower payout slot machines also have distinct locations on the casino floor. Some of those include the leading slot machine on the floor, those near the table games, and close to the poker room. Since all of these areas have too much action, either from different games or other slots, the RTP does not have to be too high.
Furthermore, it is better to be aware of which specific slot machines should be avoided. The reason behind it is the exact opposite as to why the already mentioned slots are the best: the worst slots have a low percentage of payback.
Several slots have unfortunately been added to the universal list of worst slots found in Las Vegas, such as Wish Upon a Jackpot by Blueprint Gaming, Adventures in Wonderland by Ash Gaming, and King Kong by Cryptologic due to their low RTP.
Different software companies specializing in slot machines have reputations that reflect off of the RTP's. While some developments have been mentioned before for their low percentage payback, others are renowned for their slots having high RTP rates.
Playtech is one of the more famous software companies that develop successful and popular slot machines located in Las Vegas casinos. Games created by this company include: Goblin's Cave, Ugga Bugga, and Ocean Princess. All offer reputable and above-average percentage payouts.
Vegas Slot Tips
Other software companies known for distributing slots with high paybacks are Barcrest, WMS, and NetEnt.
Winning At Slots Vegas
In addition to Palms Casino and Resort, there are other casinos in Las Vegas that have multiple slots maintaining an above-average payout.
Fitzgerald's Casino and Hotel has established a favorable reputation for offering the loosest slots in downtown Las Vegas. Ranked regularly, the machines in Fitzgerald's that are given the best paybacks include reel, penny, and progressive slots.
Slot machines are incredibly entertaining, easy, and a great reason to visit a Las Vegas casino.
Although research is essential, in-depth research is not necessary unless you are wagering a significant amount of money. Specific slot machines should be sought out to cash in millions, which has been proven to be possible within five minutes of playing.
The different themes, bonuses, promotions, and prizes, prevent slot machines from ever becoming boring. For some lucky few, a slot will transform a single $5 bill to $5 million or more than that colossal amount.
With the press of a button, a slot machine can make an average player into a millionaire, or give the customer an affordable and responsible amount of fun on the Las Vegas casino floor.
With some of these tips that differentiate the better slots in Las Vegas, slot machines can become more of a calculated game than intended.
Overall, Vegas is the numero uno destination to play slots in the United States. The key is to be wise and risk only as much as you can afford to lose.
It is essential to ask around and try some old slots that have a proven track record of wins. Don't just be impressed with design and wager money in the excitement!
