Hit the jackpot

Slot Denominations

"The rich get richer and the poor get poorer". This seems to be true for slot players as well as the rest of us. The lowly nickel slots generally offer the poorest payback percentages of any of the slots, and the $5 slots offer the highest.

Sifting through the information reported by state gaming regulatory agencies in Nevada, New Jersey, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, and Connecticut, we put together the following table. This table shows either the highest, or the average slot payback available, in each locale, with the machine types broken down by the size, or denomination of coins accepted.

Slot Paybacks Based on Size of Coins Accepted:

Location: 5-cent 25-cents $1 $5

Atlantic City N/A 91.7% 93.0% 96.4% Colorado 93.6% 94.4% 95.4% 96.8% Connecticut N/A 90.8% 92.4% 95.0% Nevada: Boulder Strip 92.9% 95.8% 96.4% 95.9% Downtown Vegas 91.8% 94.9% 95.1% 95.9% Las Vegas Strip 90.2% 92.4% 94.7% 95.5% Laughlin 90.2% 94.1% 95.4% 96.1% Lake Tahoe 91.8% 94.4% 95.6% 96.3% North Las Vegas 93.6% 96.3% 97.3% 96.3% Reno 94.2% 94.0% 96.0% 96.2% Illinois 93.6% 94.2% 95.9% 96.6% Iowa 92.5% 94.0% 95.8% 97.1% Mississippi: Coastal Region 91.0% 92.0% 94.1% 95.3% North River Region90.8% 90.9% 94.5% 95.8% South River Region91.9% 92.9% 95.3% 96.1% Indiana N/A 92.5% 94.7% 97.1% Missouri N/A 94.4% 96.3% 97.9%

If you are a nickel player, Atlantic City really doesn't seem to want your business, going by the statistics, and we have little information on paybacks for nickel machines, if any, in Atlantic City. In general, the lowly nickel player doesn't get a very decent payback. The best returns for the five-cent players are offered in Colorado, and in the casinos in North Las Vegas.

I really can't recommend that anyone play nickel slots other than for recreation. The paybacks are just too low.

Once you move up to quarter machines, the paybacks become very competitive. The East Coast machines offer the poorest paybacks, with Atlantic City paying an average return of 91.7% for quarter machines, and Connecticut paying only 90.8%. The North River Region in Mississippi is almost as bad, with paybacks for 25-cent slots averaging only 90.9%.

Iowa offers a competitive 94.0% payback for quarter play. Missouri and Colorado really want your business, and pay out 94.4 to quarter players.

If you are serious about playing on quarter machines, you will play in Las Vegas. North Las Vegas is your best bet, closely followed by the casinos on the Boulder Strip.

Dollar players get higher paybacks everywhere. The lowest paybacks of all reporting casinos are the Indian casinos in Connecticut with a payback of 90.8%. Connecticut casinos include Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun, both operated by Indian tribes. While these paybacks are the lowest in the country for casino jurisdictions which report their paybacks, remember that we are only showing information available from casinos which report their slot payback information. Most Indian casinos don't answer to anyone in terms of what their slots pay back and you can expect to find the lowest paybacks in every category of slots play in Indian operated casinos.

Dollar players get an even better deal than the quarter players. Even Connecticut pays out 92.4% for $1 play. North Las Vegas, again, leads the country with an average payback of 97.3% for $1 machines. Missouri wants your business, and is willing to pay for it, with an average payback of 96.3% for dollar play. All of the Nevada locales offer decent paybacks for dollar play, except the Las Vegas Strip, with its stingy 94.7% payback.

Five dollar players are not compensated very well, considering the higher risk they take. The highest reported paybacks are in Missouri, which pays 97.9%. Missouri is closely followed by Indiana and Iowa, which tie for second place, paying back 97.1% for five dollar slots.

My general recommendation is: Don't play either nickel or five dollar slots. Neither denomination pays back at a very good rate. I know the 97.9% payback for five dollar play in Missouri sounds tempting, but you can easily lose hundreds of dollars an hour playing five dollar slots, even with a higher payback.