Best Vegas Slot Machine Payouts

Las Vegas is home to 160,000+ slot machines. People who don’t gamble or visit Vegas much don’t realize how much variety exists among these tens of thousands of games. Thanks to strict regulatory work, we know that the return to player percentage of Vegas slots ranges from 78% to almost 99%. Whether you’re an advantage gambler or not, you should recognize that some Vegas slot machines are designed to take more of your money and at a faster pace than others. In the industry, this is referred to as a machine’s “tightness” or “looseness.”

Slot Payouts by Casino / City / State The following information was gathered by the various Gaming Commissions controlling their casinos within their jurisdiction. Casinos constantly add and remove slot machines, trying new slot variations, therefore, the following information is presented as a guide only because these numbers change slightly. Slot Machine With Twister - Slot Machine Payouts - What is the Best Payout Slot Machine? Generally, the best slots in Vegas Payout located in the older properties of the North Strip. Slot machines may look flashy and modern, especially Nevada slots, but that does not mean they have the highest payout. It’s easy to find slot machines with payout percentages that are as high as 99%, which is quite hard to find in real-life casinos. With regards to payout percentages, it has everything to do with how the slot machines are designed. As if that is not enough, game developers and casinos do not publish numbers of certain pokies. Now we come to the slot machine of all Vegas slot machines, the one that could change your life forever. Before I begin, let me whet your appetite with some of the biggest Megabucks jackpots of all time. In 1998, a retired flight attendant played $300 on Megabucks at Palace Station and won $27.5 million. To find a loose slot machine at a casino, start by trying machines that are in high-traffic areas, since these tend to have better payouts. Next, check the payout percentage of the machine you’re playing on, either in the help menu or online, because a higher percentage means a higher likelihood you’ll win.

The loosest slots in Vegas in 2021 (and probably 2022) are at off-Strip casinos and casinos in North Las Vegas, at places like Fiesta Henderson or Sam’s Town near the Boulder Strip. Some slots at these off-Strip spots in Las Vegas are similar in theoretical return percentage to the more traditionally player-friendly slot games in Reno, some are even better than the average Reno machine.

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In this post, I’ll prove everything I just said with specific statistics, showing you how to find the loosest slots in Las Vegas in 2021. And let’s be honest, this information isn’t likely to change much in 2022, either.

What Are Loose Slots (In Vegas or Anywhere Else)?

A slot is loose if its theoretical return to player is high relative to other machines. RTP is measured as a theoretical percentage representing how much of a player’s money will be paid back out in winnings. The RTP tells you how much you stand to lose over a given period of time.

Loose slots have higher percentages.

Tight slots have lower percentages.

Loose vs. Tight Slots in Vegas Example

Let’s look an example:

50 Lions slot machines by Aristocrat are popular on Vegas casino floors. This is a 5-reel and 3-row video slot with all the modern features players like, with bonuses, wild symbols, a scatter symbol, but nothing too much in terms of video cut scenes or complex side bets or bonus games. It’s accessible to a huge number of players and that’s why you can find it on lots of different gaming floors.

The standard issue game of 50 Lions has an RTP of 94.71%.

That doesn’t mean that every version you find in Vegas has that same RTP – casinos are allowed to alter games to change the theoretical return percentage. This is done mainly by changing the pay tables in subtle ways or by actually changing the programming of the game itself.

This means that playing 50 Lions slots at the Peppermill Reno will be a totally different experience than playing at The Venetian on the Vegas Strip.

In fact, there could be as much as a 10% difference between that game at The Venetian and the game at the Peppermill.

Does RTP Really Affect a Slot Machine’s Play?

I think this question really means “Will I notice any difference between two games with different RTPs?”

Maybe, maybe not.

You have to take RTP numbers with a Vegas-sized grain of salt. That’s because these numbers only become true when you consider them over an infinite period of time. In the short-term, you will not see exactly 97% of your money paid back when you play a slot with a 97% RTP for an hour or two. In fact, the shorter amount of time you play, the less a game is like its posted RTP figure.

That’s because these numbers are calculated for an infinite bankroll used for an infinite amount of time.

But don’t ignore RTP.

It’s the best (meaning the most scientific) way we have of quantifying a slot’s relative return to the player. We also like it because in most places where gambling is legal, operators are required to report RTP figures for all their games. This is true in Las Vegas and the rest of Nevada’s gambling areas.

Where Are the Loosest Slots in Las Vegas in 2021 and 2022?

Okay, now that you’re an expert on the meaning of RTP in slot play, let’s help you zero in on the slots with the best RTP figures in the entire city of Las Vegas.

For starters, it’s important to know the average RTP figures for various slot game denominations on the Strip. Here’s a quick guide to the most common:

$0.01 Slot Machines – 88.38%
$0.05 Slot Machines – 91.64%
$0.25 Slot Machines – 89.35%
$1 Slot Machines – 92.43%

If you’re looking for loose Vegas slots on the Strip in 2021 and 2022, head for either the nickel slots or the more expensive $1 games, mostly found in the high limit area.

Let’s compare those figures to the same ones for North Las Vegas:

$0.01 Slot Machines – 90.88%
$0.05 Slot Machines – 95.29%
$0.25 Slot Machines – 96.41%
$1 Slot Machines – 95.39%

Obviously, every denomination offers a better RTP in North Vegas than their companion machines on the Strip. Will players notice the difference on penny slots?

Maybe not, but the higher the denomination of the machine, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to tell that you’re playing on a machine with a better theoretical return percentage.

The final set of numbers shows the theoretical return for games on the Boulder Strip:

$0.01 Slot Machines – 90.38%
$0.05 Slot Machines – 96.21%
$0.25 Slot Machines – 96.13%
$1 Slot Machines – 96.13%

Notice that some denominations are technically higher in the Boulder area than in North Vegas, while others are the opposite.

It’s not clear to me that you’ll notice much difference in a typical session of slot play, but some bettors really like to play on the best possible machines they can.

Where Are the Tightest Slots in Las Vegas in 2021 and 2022?

As a fun exercise, and as a cautionary tale for advantage gamblers looking to avoid tight slots, let’s take a quick look at the casinos with the tightest slots in Sin City.

Take note that all five of these are located prominently on the Vegas Strip.

The Venetian currently holds the title of Tight Slot Champion, with an average RTP across all their slots of 86.66%. That’s lower than the average slot RTP for the city of Las Vegas, which is right at 93%. It’s even lower than the overall RTP average for the Strip, which is 91.47%. About the only place you can play slot machines with a lower RTP average than the Venetian is the airport, where the average return is just over 85%.

The Bellagio is an icon, a gorgeous symbol of Vegas excess and American wealth. It’s also home to some really bad slots, in terms of RTP – the average slot machine here has a RTP of 87.42%. Sure, you can play at 2,300 different machines, among the biggest variety in the world, but you’re paying a small price for that privilege.

You should visit Caesars Palace for the Bacchanal Buffet, the world-class resort and amenities, and its poker room, which is among the best in the world. You should not visit if you’re looking for slots with low RTP figures, since the average here is 88.87%.

Mandalay Bay and its gold-plated windows give off a heck of a Vegas vibe. The average slot RTP here is 89.05%, well below average even for a Strip property.

The Mirage is a new entry to this list, and offers a similar product to Mandalay Bay, down to the average RTP on their slot machines. In 2020, the Mirage tightened up even more, producing a slot RTP average of 89.3%, middling at best for the Vegas Strip, where the tightness of the slots is a well-known thing.

Conclusion

In my experience, two kinds of people are looking for “loose slots.”

You’re either an advantage gambler looking for the mythical 98.8% layout of 50 Lions so you can squeeze every penny out of the casino, or you’re a newcomer who thinks you can find a magical slot that will guarantee winnings. To the first kind of gambler, I say “Carry on.” Using the information in this post, and a little bit of time on Google, you can easily find out where the slots are loose and tight in Las Vegas in 2021. And 2022 looks to be much the same – it’s unlikely that looser slots are on the horizon as soon as next year.

If you’re the type who believes that they can find a slot machine so loose that it guarantees a payday, a word of warning. Slot machines are literally designed to take your money, and the manufacturers and gaming providers advertise this information publicly. Gambling is entertainment, with a fun and distracting game that gives you the chance to win a little bit of prize money. There’s no sure-thing in Las Vegas – not on the Strip, not in the North, and not in the airport gate.

If you want to find loose slots because it will increase the value of your entertainment budget, use the tools here to do just that. If you’re looking for loose slots as part of your retirement strategy, please understand that all gambling entails risk. Play for fun, not for profit.

Casinos across Nevada are required to report revenue figures to the Nevada Gaming Control Board to include what percentage of wagers they held as profit on slot games. A nerdy annual tradition of ours is to dig into that real-world data from the previous year to help our readers find the loosest slots in Las Vegas.

Unfortunately, the data we have access to isn’t granular enough to tell us how loose or tight slots were at individual casinos. Rather, the reporting will highlight groups of casinos based on where they are located (ie The Strip, Downtown, Boulder, etc). We’ll make sure to point out what casinos reside in zones identified as having looser slots.

As a matter of housekeeping, casino slot “win percentage” is defined as the percentage of the total amountwagered by the player that the casino held as profit. For instance, a 10% casino win percentage means the casino, on average, kept 10 cents of every dollar wagered on slot machines.

Example: A player put $20 into a slot machine and made her money last for a while playing a total of $200 in spins before losing it all. The total amount wagered by the player was $200 and the casino won, or held, $20 resulting in a 10% casino win percentage.

Now that we cleared that up, lets dig into where you can find slots that are more apt to pay out around Las Vegas.

Where you play matters. The graph below details casino slot win percentages by area, which lumps together all slot denominations. You can quickly surmise that casinos in tourist centers hold a larger percentage of slot play as profit.

As evidenced above, the best places around Las Vegas to play slots are the Boulder Area (6.10% casino win percentage) and North Las Vegas (7.24% win percentage).

In an abnormal twist, slots were slightly tighter in 2020 downtown (8.24% win percentage) than on the Strip (7.95% win percentage). Historically, slots downtown have been reliably looser than those found on the Strip.

In another rare twist, Slots on the Las Vegas Strip loosened slightly year over year in 2020 vs. 2019 (8.16% in 2019 vs. 7.95% in 2020), while slots downtown tightened by a slight margin (7.78% in 2019 vs. 8.24% in 2020).

Keep in mind that video poker also figures into these slot statistics. Lower casino win percentages away from the Strip are in part, but not completely, due to better video poker pay tables offered by establishments away from tourist centers.

Where to Find the Loosest Penny Slots in Vegas

Since penny slots are the most popular denomination with players, we also broke down where the loosest penny slots in Vegas can be found by region. Since the data below looks exclusively at the penny denomination, it’s untainted by video poker and thus provides a clearer window into where looser slots can be found across Las Vegas.

Clearly, there is again a correlation between an area being “touristy” and higher slot hold rates. Downtown and Strip penny slots came in as the tightest with casino win percentages of 11.26% and 11.45% respectively.

Best Payout Casinos In Vegas

Similar to our previous data set that looked at all denominations, penny slots more apt to pay out can be found in the Boulder (9.61% win rate) and North Las Vegas (9.71% win rate) areas.

So, What Las Vegas Casinos Have Looser Slots?

Although most players aren’t typically able to tell the difference between a “tight” or a “loose” slot, the data suggests getting away from the Strip and Fremont Street will give you a slightly better chance of winning.

Casinos that fall into the looser Boulder and North Las Vegas reporting zones are broken down below. Note that these aren’t the most scenic areas, but if winning is more important to you than bright lights, fountains, and celebrity chef restaurants then order up an Uber and make the trip.

Casinos in the Boulder Area: Sam’s Town, Eastside Cannery, Arizona Charlie’s, Boulder Station, Sunset Station, M Resort, Fiesta Henderson and Green Valley Ranch.

Casinos in the North Las Vegas Area: Jerry’s Nugget, Silver Nugget, The Cannery, Fiesta Hotel and Casino, Texas Station, Cannery, and Aliante.

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The Denomination You Play Matters

Slot Payouts In Vegas 2017

Slot denominations also play a role in finding lose machines which is demonstrated by the statewide data below. In 2020, penny slots were the tightest variety of slot in Nevada by a large margin with a 9.74% win percentage, with quarters coming in a distant second place at a 7.31% win percentage.

Although the above data is slightly “polluted” by video poker at the quarter denomination and up, the view is still beneficial to demonstrate the poor bet penny slots are comparatively. It is also interesting to note the correlation between denominations and how loose or tight machines are. Generally speaking, the higher the denomination, the looser the slot.

If you’re a penny slot player that plays 75 cents per spin or more, you would likely give yourself a better chance of winning by playing the same bet on a higher denomination machine. We would also recommend that penny slot players brush up on their video poker skills as the returns are more favorable in comparison.

While looking at the numbers is a fun exercise, ultimately, the random number generator could select you as the next big winner anywhere. Good luck, and hopefully our breakdown of 2020 slot data will help you on your quest in finding the loosest slots in Vegas!

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