Luckyirish

• Factoid: Twenty-five years ago 2 states had legalized gambling and 48 did not. Now 48 do and only 2 do not (Hawaii and Utah.)
• Factoid: Nevada gambling revenue was $1 billion in 1975 ...$10 billion in 2004 and is projected to be $15 billion in 2009.

Each casino in Las Vegas has a general mix of machine type, denominations, and jackpots. Generally speaking, the larger the casino, the more slot machines you’ll find. The MGM on The Strip offers 5,000 hotel rooms and almost as many slot machines. There are nearly 125,000 slots in Clark County, most of those in Las Vegas. Online Resource Summary: Nevada slot machine casino gambling currently consists of 163 casinos with 66 in Las Vegas including 24 casinos on The Strip. The remainder, including two tribal casinos, are throughout the state. The minimum theoretical payout limit for slot machines is 75% per gaming device. Return statistics are publicly available.

'Las Vegas was built for people who are really bad at math....' ...Penn Jillette (Penn & Teller, now at the Rio!)

'There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate: when he can't afford it and when he can.' ...Samuel Clemens, also known as 'Mark Twain' (1835-1910)

In the last decade, entertainment, shopping and fine dining have replaced gambling as the top attraction for visitors to Las Vegas. Many hotels get more than half of their revenue from non-gambling sources.

Although tourists no longer list gambling as the primary reason for their visit, almost all are willing to risk an average of $500 each trying to hit that elusive jackpot.

Nationwide, casino gambling is a $50 billion business. And 20 percent of that amount comes from just one state ...Nevada. One third of all Nevada general tax revenue comes from state gambling taxes.

The state of Nevada and casinos like to call it “gaming” since ”gambling” has such an negative ring to it. We agree. “Gaming” is a better word for the games of chance legally offered in Las Vegas. Games are played for entertainment. And this is how you should treat the money you risk in Las Vegas in hopes of hitting “The Big One.” Play for fun and the “possibility” that you might win. NEVER take Las Vegas gambling seriously.

Gambling laws in Nevada

Las Vegas gambling was legalized in 1931. The Nevada Gaming Commission and Control Board develops and administers all gaming regulations. Their website can make interesting reading. Casinos with more than 15 slot machines pay an annual tax of $250 on each one. There is also an additional monthly tax of up to 6.75% on gross gaming revenue ...a percentage that is the lowest in the U.S.

Anyone working as a gaming employee must be registered with the state and have a valid gaming work permit. This includes all casino workers except bartenders and cocktail waitresses.

You must be 21 to enter a casino, gamble ...or purchase or consume alcoholic beverages. If you look young carry a state-issued ID with photograph such as a driver’s license. Children are permitted in the casino public walkways but are not allowed to be near slot machines or gaming tables. You are allowed to carry open alcoholic beverage containers on the street, but not in a vehicle.

Taxes on gambling winnings

There are some things you should know if you are lucky enough to win. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires all casinos in certain instances to withhold federal taxes if you win over a certain amount. The percentage withheld ranges between 25 and 30 percent depending on how you won. Here is how it works.

If you had gambling winnings, the casino is required by the IRS Information Reporting rules to withhold 28% as income tax if you do not provide a documented TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number, that is, your Social Security Number.) We have heard of cases where it is withheld no matter what. The withholding tax is 30% if a foreign gambler. The tax rate is 25 percent if the amount is over $5,000 (except for non-resident aliens.)

When your winnings exceed a specified threshold and/or tax is withheld, the casino will give you an IRS Form W-2G showing the amount you won and the amount of tax withheld. Report (and take credit for the tax you paid) on your IRS Form 1040 tax return at the end of the year. (Only use Form 1040 if you had gambling winnings; you cannot use any other form.)

Generally, gambling winnings are reportable to the IRS if the amount paid is (a) $600 or more and (b) at least 300 times the amount of the wager. This requirement primarily applies to lotteries, sweepstakes and other big winnings from small bets. It does not apply to winnings from bingo, keno, and slot machines.

Casinos report gambling winnings for these games to the IRS when a player wins $1,200 or more from a bingo game or slot machine or if the proceeds are $1,500 or more from a keno game. When you exceed these amounts, the casino may withhold taxes and will provide you with IRS Form W-2G. They keep the original and give you two copies of the form. (If state income tax withholding is required on gambling winnings in your state, additional taxes may be withheld.)

The rules are different for table games (such as blackjack, baccarat, craps, roulette or other spinning wheel games.) Since Nevada casinos do not know the amount you started with, they are not able to determine how much you won (...your taxable gain.) As a result, federal law provides that there is no withholding or even reporting of table game wins to the IRS. It therefore follows that table game winners probably do not report their gambling profits to the IRS.

You not only pay taxes on gambling profits, but you can also claim gambling losses as an itemized deduction as well. But you must keep some kind of documentation (such as a diary or tickets) to substantiate the amount and nature of the losses. In any event, you cannot claim gambling losses that exceed your winnings.

Managing your money

Greed is the downfall of most players. The odds that you will win if you play long enough is statistically wrong ...as is; having doubled your money, you next try to quadruple the winnings (and end up losing it all.) Both concepts have built a lot of nice hotel-casinos in Las Vegas.

My system for managing gambling money is simple. I budget $100 a day which, according to statistics, is about average for Las Vegas visitors. If I am on a five day vacation, I put $100 in each of five dated envelopes ...a total of $500. I ration the money throughout the day and stop when I lose my hundred and do other things. I might stop when I double my allotment. In any event at the end of the day, I either am ahead or behind. If I am ahead, I put whatever portion of the $100 I have left (hopefully it is more than $100) back in the same dated envelope and place it in the room safe that hotels provide. Tomorrow I play with the money in following day’s envelope. The most you can lose is $100 on any given day ...or $500 for your trip. I am happy if I break even ...and you should be too. Once in a while I go home with “their” money. In recent years I have done better. I will tell you how later.

The bad news: There are no casino games or bets where the house does not have a clear advantage. The odds either favor the house ...or they get a commission. And if you are not familiar with basic information about the games you play or bets you make, you are just about a guaranteed loser. In short, casino owners are in business to make a profit. They did not build all those gorgeous hotels by giving away money.

The good news: The reality is that if you are lucky you can win ...and the drinks are free. But statistically the chances are against winning. So the cardinal rule is, over the long haul, whether playing the slots, table games, betting on sports or risking money on anything; you will probably lose. But some bets are better than others.

It is beyond the scope of this website to provide in depth strategy on how to gamble and win in Las Vegas. Many books have been written on the subject and - trust me - none work over the long haul ...or are illegal.

We will, however, cover the most popular games and things you should know as a beginner to have fun and minimize your loss ...and maybe make a few bucks.

Let the games begin

Blackjack (21) is either dealt by hand with one or two decks. Multiple Deck 21 is dealt from a box called “the shoe.” Everyone in Blackjack plays against the dealer. Roulette consists of a spinning wheel marked with numbers 1 through 36 (18 red, 18 black) and American Roulette has a green 0 and 00 ..a total of 38 possibilities. You win if your number, combination of numbers or color comes up. To play Keno, you select a minimum of 4 but no more than 10 numbers on a ticket between 1 and 80. Twenty of the 80 numbered balls are drawn and you win if all your selected numbers are chosen. Craps is a complicated dice game which we do not recommend for first-timers. There are many other table games (and variations) as well. More and more people are playing poker these days and we will also have a little to say about that later.

By far, however, the most prevalent pastime in Las Vegas is playing the slot machines ...and video poker. We will cover the games of chance and sports betting in this chapter ...which you should play, where you should play and the odds of winning.

NEXT PAGE: 10.2 SLOT MACHINES ...AND VIDEO POKER... ⇨

Slot machines are exciting because they offer quick entertainment and a large variety of themes. They also provide the chance to play for big jackpots and cool bonus features.

However, you may have the impression that slots are terrible with regard to return to player (RTP). Slot machines in land-based casinos especially get a bad rap for offering low payback.

But what’s the real story? Are land-based slots really this bad in terms of payout percentages?

I’m going to look at a recent gaming report from Nevada to get to the bottom of the matter. You’ll find that, for the most part, slot machines in brick-and-mortar casinos aren’t as bad as they appear on the surface.

Slots RTP Figures from Nevada Gaming Report

Las Vegas is essentially the slots capital of the world. This lone city features tens of thousands of slot machines.

But if you’re in Nevada, you don’t have to visit Vegas to enjoy slots. The Silver State features over 165,000 slot machines sprinkled throughout its borders.

That said, the annual Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) report is one of the best sources to gauge how well slot machines pay. The NGC releases reports every month that detail how much is bet on their slots and what casinos make off them.

They also release a report that sums up the casinos’ slots take for an entire year. This information provides a comprehensive look at how much slots are paying.

These reports divide slot machines up based on their coin denominations. You’ll find everything from penny slots to multi-denominational games on the NGC’s list.

Here’s a look at how Nevada slot machines pay by coin denomination:

• Penny slots – 90.0% RTP (10.0% house edge)
• Nickel slots – 94.39% RTP (5.61% house edge)
• Quarter slots – 92.83% RTP (7.17% house edge)
• Dollar slots – 93.61% RTP (6.39% house edge)
• $5 slots – 94.46% RTP (5.54% house edge)
• $25 slots – 95.14% RTP (4.86% house edge)
• $100 slots – 93.80% RTP (6.20% house edge)
• Megabucks – 86.88% RTP (13.12% house edge)
• Multi denomination – 94.74% RTP (5.26% house edge)

Numbers Show That Most Nevada Slots Offer Solid RTP

You can see that penny slot machines are by far the worst in terms of how much they pay. These games only offer 90% RTP, meaning they carry a 10% house edge.

You’re essentially losing $1 for every $10 bet on one of these games. Few casino games offer this bad of a deal.

In fact, Megabucks is the only entry on the NGC’s report that has worse payback than penny slot machines. Even still, Megabucks is a huge progressive slot machine that offers better RTP as its jackpot grows larger.

Many people choose penny slot machines under the guise that they’re playing a “cheap” game. The reality, though, is that these slots are anything but cheap when considering the house edge.

You should also realize that “penny” only refers to how these games require a penny per line. You’re often forced to play anywhere from 25 to 300 lines, which means a total bet ranging from $0.25 to $3.00.

Nickel slots offer the best value based on the NGV’s numbers. They pay back 94.39% and only cost $0.05 per line.

Of course, this bet size is 5 times the amount as a penny slot per line. But you also have to consider that the payback is 4.39% higher too.

Quarter slots rated the second lowest in terms of RTP, only offering a payout percentage of 92.83%. You’d be better off sticking to nickel games in this case.

Dollar slots didn’t pay much either, offering 93.61% RTP throughout 2018. You may not find it worth betting this much when considering the relatively low payback.

$5 and $25 slots paid well at 94.46% and 95.14% RTP, respectively. It’s no surprise that these games offer high payout percentages when considering that casinos like rewarding players for betting more.

What’s surprising, though, is that $100 slot machines only offered 93.80% RTP. But this low figure can possibly be explained by the fact that fewer people play these high-roller slots. They’re subject to more volatility as a result.

Multi-denominational slots had one of the best payout percentages at 94.76%. You should consider choosing these games in Nevada, based on how they both offer good RTP and allow you to select your bet size.

Comparing These Figures to Online Slots

You can see from the information above that most land-based slot machines in Nevada don’t offer completely terrible payback. Penny slots are the only ones that have extremely low RTP at 90%.

Meanwhile, some of the coin denominations like nickel (94.39% RTP), $5 (94.46%), and $25 (95.14% RTP) offered fair payback in 2018. You’re only facing around a 5% house edge with these games.

Unfortunately, most slots in brick-and-mortar casinos don’t measure up to what’s offered at gaming sites. Online casinos typically offer the best RTP and lowest stakes.

Most online slots at least have 95% payback, with many delivering even higher RTP than this. Referring back to the NGC report, only the $25 slots had over 95% RTP.

Therefore, online casinos offer the best chance of winning with slots. This is especially true when considering that you don’t have to bet as much to achieve high payback.

While many internet slots feature fixed paylines just like their land-based counterparts, they only require you to bet one cent per line. Going further, they still offer high payout percentages when you’re wagering a penny on each pay line.

Nevada slots, on the other hand, offer drastically lower RTP for penny games. You’re facing a 10% house edge on land-based penny machines, versus a 5% house advantage with online penny slots.

You can of course pick higher denominations at online casinos. Some high rollers prefer get extra action this way.

However, the beauty of online slots is that you don’t have to bet more just to win more. You can just play for low stakes and still expect the same payout percentages.

The main downside to internet slots, though, is that they don’t feature a real casino atmosphere. Brick-and-mortar venues, on the other hand, offer unique sights and sounds as players spin the reels.

You just can’t get this same experience while playing slots through your smartphone or PC. But the upside is that you can expect high RTP no matter if you’re betting a little or a lot on each line.

High Paying Online Slots Are Easier to Find

Another advantage to internet slots is that it’s easy to find the RTP for many games. You can look up online slots payout percentages through multiple ways:

• Look at the info/help screen.
• Google the game itself.
• Google the game provider to find their slots RTP list.
• Search for articles that cover “online slots with the best RTP.”

The first method is obviously the easiest, because you can simply visit the help screen to find the payout percentage. The only downside to this route is not all online slots providers list the RTP in the info section.

You can also google the game itself along with the word “RTP.” You should quickly find the payback using this technique.

Searching for a game’s provider (e.g. NetEnt or Rival Gaming) along with the word RTP is yet another effective route. This method will bring up pages that list RTP for many or all of a certain provider’s slots.

If you’re really serious about having the best chance to win, you can search for articles that discuss the industry’ highest-paying online slots. Mega Joker (99.0% RTP), Ugga Bugga (99.0%), and Blood Suckers (98.0%) are among the industry’s best-paying games.

Keep in mind that not all developers publicly list the RTP for their slot machines. Therefore, you won’t be able to find payout percentages on every single online game.

But the good news is that you can find payback for most internet slots. This fact makes it easy to learn your chances of winning when playing online.

How Can You Find the Best Playing Vegas Slot Machines?

The problem with searching for land-based slots RTP is that it’s never publicly available information. Therefore, the average gambler won’t be able to figure out the payback for an individual slot that they’re playing.

The reason for this situation is that casinos can order different pay schedules from providers. Therefore, a Plants vs. Zombies slot machine could offer 95% RTP at one casino and 93% RTP at the establishment next door.

Contrast this to online casinos, where developers typically offer the same payout percentages across all the casinos they supply. It therefore makes sense why you’ll have such an easy time finding RTP for online slots versus the land-based variety.

Megabucks is the only exception to the rule. This progressive slot brings in so much money for Nevada casinos that it’s routinely listed on their gaming reports along with its annual payback.

Coin denominations are the only thing you have to go off of when searching for payout percentages at brick-and-mortar casinos. You can look at state gaming reports, such as the NGC’s, to get a rough estimation on the RTP for a given game.

The one big drawback, though, is that these figures are merely RTP averages for each coin denomination. Just because nickel slots pay 94.39% across the board in Nevada doesn’t mean that the individual nickel game you play will offer the same RTP.

You also have to consider that these figures can change from year to year. Dollar slots might pay 95% in Nevada one year, because a few players hit big jackpots on these games and boosted their numbers. But the collective payout percentages could fall to 93% the following year if nobody wins big.

Still, knowing the average payout percentages for coin denominations is better than nothing. You should check out the gaming report for your state to get an idea on how much you can win with each type of game.

You Must Bet a Lot to Play Vegas Slots with High RTP

Referring back to the NGC report, you can see that your best chances of winning are with the higher denominations. $25 slots offered the best RTP last year at 95.14%, while $5 games also paid well at 94.46%.

Most casinos order higher payback for the larger denominations. They want to encourage players to wager more per spin, which is why they reward them with better RTP.

You have to decide whether it’s worth betting between $5 and $25 per round just to enjoy a higher payout percentage. After all, you’re going to lose more on average with these games, even when they’re offering the best RTP.

Here’s a comparison between dollar and $25 slots to illustrate this point:

• You play a $1 slot for 1,000 spins.
• 1 x 1,000 = $1,000 in bets
• The RTP is 6.39%.
• 1,000 x 0.0639 = $63.90 in theoretical losses with the dollar slot
• You play a $25 slot for 1,000 spins.
• 25 x 1,000 = $25,000 in bets
• The RTP is 4.86%.
• 25,000 x 0.0486 = $1,215 in theoretical losses with the $25 slot
• 1,215 – 63.90 = $1,151 fewer losses with the dollar game

Even though the $25 slot offers around 1.5% higher payback on average, it still costs much more to play. Unless you’re a high roller, you shouldn’t be playing these machines just for the better payback.

Luckily, Nevada offers some games with solid RTP that don’t cost a fortune to play. Nickel slots featured 94.39% RTP in 2018, while multi-denomination games paid 94.74%.

Based on these games, you can see where it’s possible to win a fair amount with cheaper Nevada slots. But you’ll need to bet more on average to attain the higher RTP.

Make Sure to Have a Bankroll Management Plan before Visiting Nevada

Playing slot machines in the Silver State isn’t cheap. These games don’t pay as much as online slots, and they normally feature lots of fixed paylines.

You want to have a good bankroll management plan going into any Nevada trip. Performing bankroll calculations beforehand helps you properly budget for your trip and avoid losing too much money.

Of course, the hope is that you win plenty of money. But this doesn’t normally happen unless you hit a huge payout or two. You should prepare as if you’re going to lose so that there are no surprises.

Here are variables to consider when setting up your slots bankroll management plan:

• Your bankroll amount
• Average bet size
• Losses per hour

The first variable is the most important, because you want to set aside an amount of money that’s strictly for slots. These funds shouldn’t be needed to pay bills or other expenses, given that you could potentially lose everything.

Your average bet size may change from session to session. However, this figure is simply an estimate of your average wager across the board.

Losses per hour is the toughest variable to estimate here. But you can simplify it by considering that the average slots player usually loses around 250 wagers per hour. This figure assumes that you don’t win any huge payouts and steadily lose money on a machine.

Once you have these three variables worked out, you can perform bankroll management calculations to estimate how long your funds will last.

Here’s an Example

• You have a $2,500 bankroll.
• Your average bet size is $1.
• You lose 250 bets ($250) per hour.
• 2,500 / 250 = 10
• Your bankroll will theoretically last for 10 hours.

Remember that this is only a theoretical figure on how long your bankroll will last. But it at least gives you a fair estimation on how far a certain amount of money will go with slot machines.

How Many Slot Machines Per Person In Nevada City

Don’t Expect to Get Many Slots Comps from Vegas Casinos

Some slots players think that they’re going to be showered with rewards when they visit Vegas and other Nevada casino destinations. However, slots comps aren’t what they used to be.

Following the Great American recession, many casinos began redirecting their focus. Rather than heavily concentrating on gambling, they began expanding their other entertainment options.

Nevada Slot Machines For Sale

Now, gaming establishments are also focused on their restaurants, nightclubs, shopping, and spas. They often feature comprehensive reward programs that comp players for spending money anywhere in the resort — not just on the gaming floor.

This means that gamblers are no longer the featured customer in Vegas. Instead, they’re just one of various types of customers that visit Sin City and other Nevada casino locations.

The average slots comp rate these days is 0.1%. This figure differs quite a bit from the 0.2% or 0.3% that many casinos offered in the past.

You may not think that this looks like a big difference. However, earning 2x or 3x less rewards has a big impact on your bottom line.

You should still make an effort to sign up for the player’s club at any Nevada Casino you visit. After all, it’s better to pick up some rewards than none. But you shouldn’t count on comps to help make up for lower payout percentages.

Conclusion

How Many Slot Machines Per Person In Nevada Caucus

Many gamblers have heard the stereotype that slot machines in land-based casinos pay poorly. They may have even developed this notion themselves after losing badly in a few sessions.

But the numbers show that not all land-based slots pay terribly. The nickel, $5, $25, and multi-denominational games all offered payback ranging between 94.39% and 95.14% last year.

These aren’t outstanding payout percentages, especially when compared to online slots. But they’re passable and show that games in land-based casinos can offer a decent chance to win.

However, you really want to watch out for penny slots in brick-and-mortar venues. These games only paid back 90.0% last year, showing that, unlike the name suggests, they’re far from cheap.

Even when you do find a land-based slot that pays well, you have to account for the increased wager size. Penny slot machines are supposed to be the cheapest games, yet they can cost anywhere from $0.25 to $3.00 to play. The costs only go up from here.

You can give yourself the absolute best chance of winning by playing online slots. These games offer higher RTP and lower minimum bets than brick-and-mortar games.

The only catch is that internet casinos don’t have the same atmosphere at land-based establishments. You therefore need to weigh whether winning or all-around entertainment is more important.

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No matter where you play, though, it’s wise to come up with a bankroll management plan. Doing so gives you a solid idea on how long your bankroll will last.

Nevada Slot Machine Law

In summary, slot machines are all about having fun. But it never hurts to also know your odds of winning, whether in Nevada or beyond.