LOOSEST SLOTS 2010
Our 17th annual survey of the best bets in the slot biz
by Frank Legato
Slot players have asked us thousands of questions over the years, but there is one that appears more than just about any other:
“Where are the loosest slots?”
Players are always looking for the loosest slots, meaning those with the highest overall payback percentage. Our magazines publish the payback percentage ranges of slot machines we feature, but that just reflects the range of theoretical payback percentages available to the casinos for a given game (that’s the expected return averaged over years).
There’s no way of knowing the exact payback program bought by the casinos for a given game,but there is a better way of predicting which casinos and which clusters of casinos offer the best returns to players: It’s called history.
The only way of really knowing who offers the loosest slots is to examine the stats—the actual portion of slot wagers that was returned to players over a given period. We measure it monthly with our slot payout charts. Naturally, the longer the period examined, the more accurate the numbers are likely to be. That’s why every year at this time, we gather recorded payback statistics from every casino in the country that reports such numbers publicly.
The numbers we show you are the inverse of numbers reported to the regulatory agencies as “slot hold”—that’s the portion of slot wagers held by the casinos as profit (or put another way, how much money was lost by slot players). We reverse the numbers to reveal the payback percentage, or the portion of wagers that was returned to players as jackpots.
It’s something Casino Player has been doing for a decade and a half, and it is something that changed the slot business. “Loose slots” became a badge of honor in the casino industry—a way to distinguish one property from another—thanks to our payout charts. That’s why you’ll see billboards in the coming weeks across which casinos will herald their Player Loosest Slots awards.
Since we started combining 12 months worth of statistics into our Loosest Slots awards in 1994, this spring issue of Casino Player has become one of the most closely watched of the year. It is, quite simply, the best snapshot of information available to ascertain the casinos and clusters of casinos that have been the most generous on the slot floor in the previous year.
As always, there are a few points we need to mention up front:
First, our report reflects only statistics that are available publicly. Many of the Native American jurisdictions and some lottery jurisdictions do not require casinos to publicly report their slot income statistics. If you don’t see your jurisdiction reflected in the Loosest Slots report, it is always for this reason. We can only report what is publicly available; casinos withhold any business information—such as slot income—as proprietary unless they are required by law to reveal it.
Secondly, you’ll notice that pennies aren’t listed as a separate denomination in our report. Although the majority of regulatory agencies are finally separating penny slots (in New Jersey, it’s penny and 2-cent) in the monthly reports, major markets including Mississippi and Iowa still start the denominations at the nickel slots and include pennies in an “Other Denominations” category.
We decided to focus on numbers available in every reporting jurisdiction, so our report starts with the nickel slots. However, in this age of multi-denomination machines, the most important number is the overall return to players, and our report gives you that.
This report logs the loosest slots for the year ending December 31, 2009, and presents those numbers as they are publicly revealed. Some jurisdictions separate the statistics by casino; others log statistics for casino areas. In Nevada, for instance, there are separate reports for Reno/Tahoe in the north, and seven parts of Clark County in the south—Las Vegas Strip, Downtown, Boulder Strip, Laughlin, North Las Vegas, Mesquite and Balance of County. (This last category includes prominent casinos such as the Palms and the Orleans, off the Las Vegas Strip.) Mississippi, Louisiana, Colorado and Quebec also report by region.
As usual, our Loosest Slots results were certified by the Ventnor, New Jersey, accounting firm Lavinsky, Horowitz & Pollard LLC.
And the Winners Are…
When it comes to loose slots, Reno is definitely on a roll. For the third straight year, the market with the loosest slots in the nation is Reno, Nevada. And Reno’s slots even got looser since last year—the total slot return went from 94.79 percent in 2008 to 95.11 percent last year.
Congratulations to Atlantis, the Peppermill, the Eldorado, the Grand Sierra, Fitzgeralds, the original Harrah’s, Silver Legacy and the other Reno properties for enabling the market to repeat its Loosest Slots crown.
Also the same as last year, the other two in the top three for Loosest Slots in America were other Nevada markets—the Boulder Strip casinos (Sam’s Town, Boulder Station, Arizona Charlie’s, Eastside Cannery, etc.) were right behind Reno in generosity, returning a combined 94.96 percent of slot wagers to players; and just behind that at 94.8 percent was the “Balance of County” market, which includes off-Strip Las Vegas casinos like Orleans and the Palms, and outlying areas such as Primm.
As in every year for the better part of a decade, the markets that list numbers for individual casinos are dominated by the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Illinois. The Casino Queen returned 94.31 percent of wagers to its players last year, which again easily tops the survey among individual casinos.
In Atlantic City, there was no surprise at the top of the survey: The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa takes its seventh straight Loosest Slots crown. That’s one Loosest Slots award for every year Borgata’s been in business.
Close behind, Trump Taj Mahal and the Atlantic City Hilton tied for second place at 91.46 percent, and Tropicana was right behind those two at 91.45 percent.
There were a few surprises elsewhere in this year’s survey: Indiana’s Loosest Slots winner is the Hoosier Park racino, which did not even place in the top three last year. Hoosier Park’s 92.03 percent return to players edged out Indiana Live! at 91.9 percent and Blue Chip casino (last year’s winner) at 91.77 percent.
Another new winner in the Midwest is the Isle Casino Hotel Waterloo, which takes the Loosest Slots crown for Iowa at 91.86 percent—barely edging out another Isle property, at Marquette, only two hundredths of a percent behind; and the Prairie Meadows racino in Altoona, a hundredth of a percent behind that.
Speaking of close contests, the two casinos of Connecticut continue their neck-and-neck competition in loose slots—this year, Mohegan Sun edges Foxwoods by a scant 91.65 percent to 91.35 percent.
Elsewhere were all repeat winners: Cripple Creek in Colorado; Lake Charles in Louisiana; the Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos; the President in Missouri; Lac Leamy in Quebec. These casinos have earned a virtually permanent spot at the top of our survey.
One last thing to remember before diving into our Loosest Slots stats: Payback percentage is important, but it is only one element that should be considered in your choice of casino. Consider the variety on the slot floor, whether you are comfortable, the service, the amenities… Most of all, play where you have fun.
But all other things equal, the most money given back to slot players is certainly a good measurement when picking where to play.
Congratulations to our winners, and kudos for making a more fair gamble one of your priorities.
Atlantic City
5¢
A.C. Hilton 92.56
Tropicana 91.30
Trump Taj Mahal 90.78
25¢
Trump Taj Mahal 92.04
Tropicana 91.93
Trump Marina 91.90
50¢
Trump Plaza 94.26
Showboat 92.93
Resorts 92.88
$1
Showboat 94.32
Resorts 93.67
Trump Taj Mahal 93.53
$5
Showboat 95.51
Trump Plaza 94.98
Trump Taj Mahal 94.85
Overall
Borgata 91.76
A.C. Hilton 91.46
Trump Taj Mahal 91.46
Colorado
5¢
Central City 93.82
Cripple Creek 93.47
Black Hawk 93.06
25¢
Cripple Creek 95.29
Central City 94.55
Black Hawk 94.08
$1
Central City 95.32
Cripple Creek 95.20
Black Hawk 94.64
$5
Cripple Creek 95.04
Black Hawk 95.00
Central City 94.62
Overall
Cripple Creek 93.86
Central City 93.59
Black Hawk 93.08
Connecticut
5¢
Foxwoods 90.34
Mohegan Sun 87.87
25¢
Foxwoods 91.64
Mohegan Sun 90.91
$1
Mohegan Sun 93.32
Foxwoods 92.86
$5
Foxwoods 94.30
Mohegan Sun 93.50
Overall
Mohegan Sun 91.65
Foxwoods 91.35
Illinois
5¢
Alton Belle 93.15
E. St. Louis 93.09
Rock Island 92.43
25¢
E. St. Louis 95.48
Alton Belle 94.92
Rock Island 94.54
$1
E. St. Louis 95.55
Alton Belle 94.79
Rock Island 94.39
$5
E. St. Louis 96.71
Elgin 95.92
Alton Belle 95.89
Overall
E. St. Louis 94.31
Alton Belle 92.99
Elgin 92.94
Indiana
5¢
Majestic Star I 94.94
Majestic Star II/Trump 93.05
French Lick 91.69
25¢
Belterra 94.08
Majestic Star I 93.78
Ameristar 93.42
$1
Majestic Star II/Trump 94.37
Majestic Star I 93.91
French Lick 93.63
$5
Hoosier Park 97.16
Indiana Live 96.97
Majestic Star II/Trump 96.64
Overall
Hoosier Park 92.03
Indiana Live 91.90
Blue Chip 91.77
Iowa
5¢
Riverside 94.19
Diamond Jo 94.08
Dubuque Greyhound Park & Casino 93.25
25¢
Dubuque Greyhound Park & Casino 94.62
Rhythm City 94.36
Diamond Jo Worth 94.27
$1
Argosy of Sioux City 95.11
Rhythm City 94.92
IOC Marquette 94.83
$5
Isle Of Capri Bettendorf 96.29
Rhythm City 95.84
Prairie Meadows 95.75
Overall
Waterloo 91.86
IOC Bettendorf 91.84
Prairie Meadows 91.83
Louisiana
5¢
New Orleans 90.93
Shreveport/Bossier 90.89
Baton Rouge 90.13
25¢
Baton Rouge 93.46
New Orleans 92.48
Lake Charles 92.25
$1
Lake Charles 93.98
New Orleans 93.90
Baton Rouge 93.85
$5
Lake Charles 94.75
Baton Rouge 94.43
New Orleans 94.16
Overall
Lake Charles 91.45
Baton Rouge 91.26
Shreveport/Bossier 91.18
Mississippi
5¢
South River Region 95.19
Coastal Region 93.10
North River Region 92.10
25¢
Coastal Region 94.55
South River Region 93.86
North River Region 93.78
$1
North River Region 94.76
Coastal Region 94.64
South River Region 94.19
$5
South River Region 95.64
North River Region 95.30
Coastal Region 95.29
Overall
Coastal Region 93.10
South River Region 92.65
North River Region 92.48
Missouri
5¢
Lumiere 94.20
Mark Twain 94.16
St. Charles 93.76
25¢
St. Jo Frontier 94.60
St. Charles 93.97
Lumiere 93.75
$1
President 95.80
Isle of Capri, K.C. 94.97
Argosy Riverside 93.91
$5
President 95.40
Argosy Riverside 94.96
St. Charles 94.85
Overall
President 91.80
Isle of Capri, Boonville 91.72
Mark Twain 91.68
Nevada
5¢
Mesquite 95.42
Boulder Strip 95.42
Balance of County 95.26
25¢
Boulder Strip 96.85
North Las Vegas 96.44
Balance of County 96.03
$1
North Las Vegas 96.95
Boulder Strip 96.51
Reno 96.21
$5
Boulder Strip 96.20
Reno 96.05
Mesquite 95.87
Overall
Reno 95.11
Boulder Strip 94.96
Balance of County 94.80
Quebec
5¢
Charlevoix 92.24
Lac-Leamy 91.08
Montreal 87.37
25¢
Lac-Leamy 92.30
Montreal 84.42
Charlevoix 73.39
$1
Lac-Leamy 94.77
Montreal 92.50
Charlevoix 8.69
$5
Charlevoix 96.83
Lac-Leamy 95.68
Montreal 94.64
Overall
Lac-Leamy 93.13
Montreal 92.47
Charlevoix 92.28
Our 17th annual survey of the best bets in the slot biz.
