Winner Pot

Only Play Slots in a Casino

The best places to play slots are in casinos frequented by locals. The casinos getting regular trade from persons who live in the area are usually the most competitive casinos around. It is important to only play slots in locales offering the most competitive paybacks. Knowing how even a couple of percent difference in slot paybacks can make a tremendous different in how much the casino takes or how much you can win.

The better paying slots are invariably located in casinos. You should never play slots where the slot machines are a sideline to the main business. These machines only get play from persons who are there for some other purpose. As a consequence, these machines usually have horrific odds. The philosophy behind setting the paybacks for these machines is that: "The players are only going to plunk few coins in anyway, so why not take advantage of them?"

What kinds of places have these machines? In the state of Nevada they are all over. You will find slots in airports, grocery stores, bars, Laundromats, convenience stores, gas stations, car washes, and assorted other places where the slots will gobble up your coins as fast as you drop them in.

In Nevada, the state does not mandate the minimum payback for slot machines. You will find slots paying as low as fifty or sixty percent in off-casino locations. If you do win a jackpot on these machines, you may have to wait for some time to get paid. The machines are usually placed by independent slot operators who split profits with establishments hosting the slots, and the cute little grocery store where you hit a jackpot has no means of paying off your jackpot. You may end up waiting for some time to receive your jackpot.

Find the Best Casino for Slot Play

Consider the most competitive city in the world, Las Vegas. Current paybacks for quarter machines average 92.4% on the Las Vegas strip. You will not find your best paying quarter slots in places like Caesars Palace, Mirage, Mandalay Bay, the Desert Inn, Bellagio or New York-New York. These places don't cater to locals. To some extent they resemble the slot machines offered at Las Vegas airport in that they are dealing with a captive audience and they have to be competitive only with other large strip casinos in order to have a steady and profitable slots clientele.

The second tier properties on the Las Vegas Strip will be far more competitive than the premier joints. Slots paybacks typically are better at Circus Circus, the Riviera, the Sahara and the Stardust.

Downtown is a more competitive environment than the Las Vegas Strip and the slot paybacks reflect this. The current payback on quarter machines averages 94.9%,2.5% higher than the strip. This makes the trip downtown worthwhile for slots players. You will find much better paybacks at the Stratosphere, Lady Luck, Fitzgeralds, Binion's Horseshoe and the Main Street Station. Here the mix of action received from locals as well as the ease of changing casinos, as each downtown joint is within walking distance, makes for a much better slot environment.

But downtown Las Vegas is still a tourist destination. If you want to find the really high paying quarter slots, you have got to go out to the suburbs. The Boulder Strip casinos are currently paying 95.8% on quarter play. The joints in North Las Vegas hold the record for payouts at a whooping average of 96.3% for quarter machines. Do you think you can find some 98% payback machines here? You bet you will.