Slot Machines are Tighter 

In this economy casinos have to do everything they can to keep some of that money that they used to give away from going out their doors. One way is to make the slot machines much tighter and therefore they are not faced with as many payouts. This saves them money and most people won’t ever realize it because they are used to not really winning.  

But according to Nevada regulators, the slot machines are not paying out what they used to. They are “tighter” which basically means that they have been set so that they don’t pay out as much which means a higher return for the state and its casinos. Over the past five years the payback has gotten tighter – but especially as of late. 

It may seem like a small amount, but payback percentages have gone from 94.8% to 93.8% - and when you are talking about millions of dollars this is a significant change. The most popular denomination machines have taken a big hit – while penny slot machines are coming out by the hundreds as more and more players are not interested in playing anything but. 

They say that the slot machines on the Strip are even worse than the ones that are seen on average throughout the state. Those numbers for slot machine revenue are based on the state as a whole – but really some are not seeing as drastic a change as the strip is. With penny slot machines accounting for 25% of the slot machine revenue out there – that is a big difference.