{"id":259440,"date":"2023-02-13T10:02:37","date_gmt":"2023-02-13T16:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=259440"},"modified":"2023-02-13T15:39:43","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T21:39:43","slug":"las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Slots Have Become Stingier, But Not So You\u2019d Notice"},"content":{"rendered":"

New figures released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board have confirmed the perennial gambler\u2019s complaint to be true \u2013 kind of. Slots have<\/em> got tighter. But not in any way that you\u2019d notice, The Las Vegas Review-Journal<\/em> reports.<\/p>\n

\"Las
A customer plays the machines at Caesars Palace. Across the board, Nevada slots paid 0.02% less to gamblers in 2022 than the year prior. (Image: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s true that casinos won more from slots<\/a> statewide in 2022 when compared to 2021, $10 billion versus $9.2 billion, respectively. But the greater yield is mainly because more money was plowed into the machines last year, rather than casinos tinkering with their payout percentages.<\/p>\n

Gamblers funneled $139.8 billion into Nevada\u2019s slot machines in 2022, an 8% increase from 2021.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The payout percentages were indeed \u201ctighter,\u201d but only by a minuscule amount. For example, quarter slot machines retained 8.06% of all the money put into them in 2022, compared with 8.04% the year prior. The difference is small enough to be explained by inconsequential mathematical variance that\u2019s certainly imperceptible to the gambler.<\/p>\n

Theoretical Payouts<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Slot machines are typically programmed to pay out a “theoretical payout percentage,” or RTP (return to player). This varies among jurisdictions. For example, the minimum payout in Nevada is 75% by law. In New Jersey, it\u2019s 83%. The slot machine manufacturer sets the RTP in accordance with local regulations.<\/p>\n

\n

Casinos have finely balanced formulas that dictate how much their slots should yield over time, while returning enough to keep players interested. They order machines from the manufacturer accordingly, with preset payouts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Gaming Control Board must authorize the random number generators and game codes for each machine. Casinos cannot alter the machines.<\/p>\n

So why do casino-goers think there\u2019s a conspiracy<\/a> to make slots stingier?<\/p>\n

Patterns in Variance <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Maybe it\u2019s a way for gamblers to rationalize cold streaks, as the human brain is adept at finding patterns in randomness. Remember, a machine programmed to return 92% to the player won’t necessarily do so in the short term. It will reach its theoretical percentage payout after hundreds of thousands of spins. In the meantime, there are many ups and downs and variance swings.<\/p>\n

\n

The RTP is built into the game dynamics, but each spin is random, the result determined by random number generators when you hit the button. Likewise, betting on a series of coin flips gives you a 100% RTP, because it\u2019s a 50\/50 proposition. But you still might lose after 10 flips. You may even rationalize that you were cheated, though the toss was fair.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

And, of course, the RTP is redistributed to players unevenly. Much of it is returned to a lucky few in the form of big jackpot wins. But isn\u2019t that the point of slots in the first place?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New figures released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board have confirmed the perennial gambler\u2019s complaint to be true \u2013 kind of. Slots have got tighter. But not in any way that you\u2019d notice, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. It\u2019s true that casinos won more from slots statewide in 2022 when compared to 2021, $10 billion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":259441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81886,13592,69293],"tags":[84995],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLas Vegas Slots Have Got Stingier but Not So You\u2019d Notice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Las Vegas slots were 0.02% tighter than they were last year but it\u2019s nothing to right home about. Why do gamblers think slots are stingier?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Las Vegas Slots Have Got Stingier but Not So You\u2019d Notice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Las Vegas slots were 0.02% tighter than they were last year but it\u2019s nothing to right home about. Why do gamblers think slots are stingier?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-13T16:02:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-13T21:39:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/slots.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/\",\"name\":\"Las Vegas Slots Have Got Stingier but Not So You\u2019d Notice\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/slots.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-13T16:02:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-13T21:39:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Las Vegas slots were 0.02% tighter than they were last year but it\u2019s nothing to right home about. Why do gamblers think slots are stingier?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/slots.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/slots.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"A customer plays the machines at Caesars Palace. The stock is a prime candidate to shed its laggard ways. (Image: Getty)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Las Vegas\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Las Vegas Slots Have Become Stingier, But Not So You\u2019d Notice\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Las Vegas Slots Have Got Stingier but Not So You\u2019d Notice","description":"Las Vegas slots were 0.02% tighter than they were last year but it\u2019s nothing to right home about. Why do gamblers think slots are stingier?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Las Vegas Slots Have Got Stingier but Not So You\u2019d Notice","og_description":"Las Vegas slots were 0.02% tighter than they were last year but it\u2019s nothing to right home about. Why do gamblers think slots are stingier?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2023-02-13T16:02:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-13T21:39:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/slots.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/","name":"Las Vegas Slots Have Got Stingier but Not So You\u2019d Notice","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/slots.jpg","datePublished":"2023-02-13T16:02:37+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-13T21:39:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Las Vegas slots were 0.02% tighter than they were last year but it\u2019s nothing to right home about. Why do gamblers think slots are stingier?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/slots.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/slots.jpg","width":1600,"height":900,"caption":"A customer plays the machines at Caesars Palace. The stock is a prime candidate to shed its laggard ways. (Image: Getty)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas-slots-have-got-stingier-but-not-so-youd-notice\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Las Vegas","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/las-vegas\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Las Vegas Slots Have Become Stingier, But Not So You\u2019d Notice"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259440"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}