Best Time To Go To Casino And Win Rating: 5,7/10 5885 reviews

Has anybody since the introduction of server based control of slot machines tracked the best day and time to play slots for greatest payout. This last year I have unofficially noticed slots appear to pay better on Friday and Saturday night and aweful on Friday morning and all day Sunday/Monday. We go to the casino to eat about once every two months or so, and when we go, we usually bring a little extra cash (often $5 or $10) to play in the machines. In general, we lose or break even, but we have won (and walked out) often enough that, over the course of three years, we’re up by about $25. What is hard, though, is finding slot machines with the best payouts. After all, no one likes to go into a casino and lose $100 on the slots in 30 minutes. The goal is to win, or at least make your money last longer. Thanks to increased competition in gambling hubs like Las Vegas, Reno, and Atlantic City, casino operators are battling for.

When you visit a casino, all the action appears to be happening at the tables. But when it comes to ease of play and popularity, slots come out on top. In fact, casinos dedicate roughly 80% of their gaming floor to slots. Only 20% is for table games.

The reason? Slots are more popular and account for more revenue than all other gambling sources combined. And for good reason. Playing a slot machine doesn’t require any gambling knowledge. On top of that, you can bet as little as $0.01.

What slots and table games have in common, however, is the enforcement of a withholding tax. If you’re one of the millions who visits Las Vegas annually, you need to remember that your winnings could be subject to a 30% withholding tax by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Fortunately, Refund Management Services (RMS) can help you reclaim a portion or all of your withheld winnings.

Finding the Loosest Slots in Las Vegas

It’s not hard to find a slot machine in Nevada. In fact, there are over 490,000 slots and gaming machines in Clark County alone (the county where you find Las Vegas). And they’re not just located in casinos. You can find slot machines in the airport, gas stations, and convenience stores.

What is hard, though, is finding slot machines with the best payouts. After all, no one likes to go into a casino and lose $100 on the slots in 30 minutes. The goal is to win, or at least make your money last longer.

Thanks to increased competition in gambling hubs like Las Vegas, Reno, and Atlantic City, casino operators are battling for customers. To keep customers coming back, many casinos are increasing the number of jackpots at their slot machines.

All slot machines work on a payback percentage that the casinos can set. They can make a slot machine tight or loose. Loose slot machines increase the chances of a player hitting a payout. This creates excitement and helps keep players in their seats on the gambling floor.

Time

For slots aficionados, it’s all about finding the loose machines. Not surprisingly, casinos do not advertise which machines are loose or the payout percentages of individual machines.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t do a little digging and find out which kinds of slot machines have the biggest win percentages. It turns out, you need to spend money to make money in Las Vegas.

Best Slots to Play in Las Vegas

Statistics from the Nevada Gaming Control Board show which slots offer the best payouts in the order of the denomination played. In June 2016 in Clark County, Megabucks progressive slots posted the worst win percentage at 85.15%.1

What that means is, for every $100 you spend, you can expect to win $85.15. Megabucks progressive slots generally have the worst win percentage because the huge jackpot outweighs the bad odds.

The best win percentages came from high-roller slots. Slots that accept denominations of $5, $25, and $100 returned 94.05%, 94.97%, and 94.35%, respectively. While you can lose your money faster with high-roller slots, the payout percentages are always better (on all slots regardless of the denomination) if you get the maximum amount on each spin.

The most fruitful games, when it comes to odds and cost, are the nickel and quarter slots. In June, nickel slots had a win percentage of 94.2% while quarter slots paid back 93.06%. Next to Megabucks, penny slots have the worst win percentage, returning 88.83%.

Casinos with the Most Slots in Las Vegas

The Orleans Hotel and Casino

The Orleans is a Mardi Gras-themed casino hotel located a few minutes west of the Strip. The casino floor covers 137,000 square feet and has over 2,600 slot machines. There is also a high-limit slot salon.2

The casino also has over 60 table games and a 35-table poker room. You can also find a seat in the 125-person race and sports book with 13 betting windows.

MGM Grand Las Vegas

The MGM Grand is located at the south end of the Strip. It’s easy to spot the MGM Grand casino—it’s a massive emerald-coloured complex with a 45-foot bronze lion out front.

The MGM Grand covers over 170,000 square feet and has 3,000 slot machines (with denominations ranging from $0.01 to $1,000. There are also around 200 table games, a 24-hour poker room, and a race and sports book.3

Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall

Sam’s is a sprawling casino resort 10 km east of the Strip. The 120,000-square-foot casino is spread out over three floors where you’ll find over 3,100 slot machines, 50 table games, an 11-table poker room, a 570-seat bingo room, and a 60-screen race and sports book.4

Casino Slot Winnings Subject to 30% Withholding Tax

Non-U.S. residents who win a significant amount of money playing the slots at any casino or gaming facility in the United States are subject to a 30% withholding tax by the IRS.

In the U.S., winnings from casino games and other games of chance (racetrack, game show) are considered income. If you win $2,000 playing the slots, the casino will pay you $1,400. The IRS keeps the rest. But if you live in a country like Canada, which has signed a U.S. tax treaty, you may be eligible for a refund.

There are a number of countries that currently do not have a U.S. tax treaty. However, if you reside in any of the following countries, you could still be eligible for a refund: Australia, Bahrain, Barbados, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait, Mexico, Malaysia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, and the U.A.E.

To see if you meet the criteria and are eligible to get some or all of your withholding tax back, contact RMS.

RMS, the Easiest Way to Get Your 30% Withholding Tax Back

If you’ve visited the U.S. and had 30% of your casino winnings held back by the IRS, Refund Management Services (RMS) can help you reclaim a portion or all of your taxable winnings.

Founded by a Canadian chartered accountant, RMS is Canada’s most reliable and experienced gaming and casino tax refund provider. Over the years, RMS has helped thousands of people around the world recover taxes on their U.S. gaming wins. We’ve also never been refused an eligible refund.

Only RMS has the One Simple StepTM process with an easy online form to fill out. After you complete the form, our customer service agents take care of the rest, processing and submitting it to the IRS. It can take a minimum of one year for the IRS to review the claim and for RMS to receive the refund.

Contact RMS today by calling our toll-free number at 1-855-860-2610 or by e-mailing us at [email protected].

Sources:

1. “June Gaming Revenue Report,” Nevada Gaming Control Board web site; http://gaming.nv.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=11262.
2. “Play,” The Orleans Hotel and Casino web site; http://www.orleanscasino.com/play.
3. “Casino,” MGM Grand Las Vegas web site; https://www.mgmgrand.com/en/casino.html.
4. “Play,” Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall web site; http://www.samstownlv.com/play.

likeplayingcrapsandbj
Has anybody since the introduction of server based control of slot machines tracked the best day and time to play slots for greatest payout. This last year I have unofficially noticed slots appear to pay better on Friday and Saturday night and aweful on Friday morning and all day Sunday/Monday. My understanding is slots machines are now controlled via a main server and not individual chips manually inserted/replaced by slot tech. My theory played out again this last weekend with some good wins Friday and Saturday night and aweful on Friday morning and all day Sunday/Monday. I keep thinking the casinos are trying to encourage play when people come to town and take the money back on Sunday and Monday before they leave.
Wizard
Administrator
*sigh*
I doesn't matter what time of day, or day of the week you play.
It's not whether you win or lose; it's whether or not you had a good bet.
miplet

*sigh*
I doesn't matter what time of day, or day of the week you play.


April 31st from noon to 6pm is when I prefere. Haven't had a losing sesion since I turned 21. ;+)
“Man Babes” #AxelFabulous
Ibeatyouraces
deleted
likeplayingcrapsandbj
My understanding from a slot manager in Reno is the casino industry had gone to server based slot payout. The random luck of hitting that machine with a chip ready to payout is gone. The casino slot payout % is controlled via server according to NV state law. The days of waiting for a slot tech to change the chip(50/50 it is a payout chip are gone).
MathExtremist

*sigh*
I doesn't matter what time of day, or day of the week you play.


That's only true under the assumption that the casino doesn't dynamically change their floor on a schedule as the OP said. At least two major gaming manufacturers, IGT and Bally, have systems that allow precisely that to happen -- and at least the Aria is totally set up for that technology. On-the-fly floor mix changes is one of the benefits of server-based gaming. The question is 'if that's implemented, what's the schedule?'.
To my knowledge, most casinos have not implemented server-based gaming in this level of detail. It's still very much a turn-the-key process.
'In my own case, when it seemed to me after a long illness that death was close at hand, I found no little solace in playing constantly at dice.' -- Girolamo Cardano, 1563
Wizard
Administrator
It is my understanding that even with server-based slots, the casino would have to fax in a report for every machine they change the return on every time they do it. That would be a lot of paperwork to tighten and loosen the slots on a daily and weekly basis.
Even if we ignore that issue, it wouldn't be good business to loosen and tighten slots according to the hour or day. For any given casino there is going to be some optimal return to set the slots at, according to denomination. Same as any other game. Make the machines too tight on a busy night, with a captive audience, and you may make more money temporarily. However, you'll create ill will among all the players who lost, and they will be less likely to return.
It's not whether you win or lose; it's whether or not you had a good bet.
MathExtremist
I'm pretty sure the regulations support, or are being reworked to support, electronic update submissions. It doesn't make sense to have high speed changes on the floor when you can't get them across to the state in high speed.
That said, I'm not sure I agree that it's not good business. It's very commonplace in other industries to charge different fees for the same services at different times. Lunch always costs less than dinner. Even in table games, you can find a $5 table mid-day Thursday but not Saturday evening. Other than changing the game entirely, the two levers the casino has are denom and edge. Most slot games are multi-denom, so that leaves only edge. In my mind, taking a multi-line penny machine from 92% to 90% on a Saturday evening isn't much different than taking a dice table from $5 to $10. Casino games have different EVs based on location, why not time?
'In my own case, when it seemed to me after a long illness that death was close at hand, I found no little solace in playing constantly at dice.' -- Girolamo Cardano, 1563
likeplayingcrapsandbj

Best Time To Go To Casino And Win Slot Machines

'Casino games have different EVs based on location, why not time?'
I always thought different EV's based on slot location was a myth because of the random assigment of the chip. I don't know.
MathExtremist

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I mean downtown vs. Strip vs. airport. But there's nothing random about which EEPROM goes into which machine. Those are all specifically identified on the floorplan.

Best Time To Go To Casino And Win Sweepstakes

'In my own case, when it seemed to me after a long illness that death was close at hand, I found no little solace in playing constantly at dice.' -- Girolamo Cardano, 1563