Slots Payouts

Slots machine payout percentages are set at the factory. The manufacturer will offer a certain type of slots in various denominations in with a variety of payout percentages. For example, a casino might order 25 cent "Blazing 7's" slots with an 86.7% payback. Or it might order the same slots with an 89.5% payback percentage. The casino bases the payback percentage on several factors. In super competitive environments like Atlantic City or Las Vegas, where results are published frequently, a casino cannot afford to lag too far behind its competition. Therefore, it has to set its machines close to the level set by nearby competitors.

In general, lower denomination slots machines payout percentages are lower than the higher denomination machines. In other words, dollar machines are generally set to pay back a higher percentage than quarter and nickel machines.

Competitive gambling states like Nevada, New Jersey, and Mississippi pay back more than most other jurisdictions. In general, states where slots results are published, (for example: New Jersey, Nevada, Mississippi, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, and Quebec) invariably offer a higher payback to the player. The reverse is also true. Michigan and Ontario, for example, do not publish slots payback percentages. The only conclusion that can be reached is that these jurisdictions do not want to suffer an unfair comparison to Nevada and New Jersey. You can safely assume that states that do not publish payback percentages run paybacks between 75% and 85%.

Payout percentages vary from casino to casino and even from slots to slots within a particular casino. You will often see signs posted regarding the percentage of payout particularly at the dollar carousels. You might see as high as 98.2% payback, this does not mean that for every $100 you play you will get a return of $98.20. What it does mean is that over time (200,000 to 300,000 pulls), the machine will pay back the posted percentage. Calculated in all of this are the small wins and the jackpot wins. A player could put $500 into a dollar slots machine and get very little back, perhaps a hundred or two and even less. This does not mean the percentage payout is incorrect. It simply means that you have not experienced the 98.2% payback. The next player coming along may feed a few dollars into the slots machine and win a jackpot. In his case the payback far exceeded 98.2% posted on the carousel. Over a long period of time it all averages out to the posted percentage. Variations in payout percentage from casino to casino can vary widely. Generally speaking, penny and nickel slots have a lower payback percentage than quarter and dollar machines. The higher denomination slots pay back a higher percentage to the player.