Do Casinos Lease Slot Machines
By Megan Poinski
Megan@MarylandReporter.com
- Do Casinos Control Slot Machines
- Working Slot Machines For Sale
- Slots Machine For Sale Cheap
- How Casinos Control Slot Machines
- Do Casinos Buy Or Lease Slot Machines
Flexibility and cost savings are behind the state’s move to start leasing video slots for Maryland’s five casinos, Lottery Director Stephen Martino told the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday.
Maryland has kept tight reins on regulating its developing slots program. The state lottery is responsible for procuring and providing the video lottery terminals, the technical name for the machines, for all five planned casinos. In late 2010, when the existing casinos at Perryville and Ocean Downs opened, the state spent $99 million to purchase 1,825 slot machines.
With the first phase of the Arundel Mills casino set to open in June, the state last month acquired 4,719 machines to fill its rooms. Instead of purchasing the machines, the state is leasing them. The five-year contract for these machines, approved last month by the Board of Public Works, is for about $168 million.
Martino said that after the state’s first year with casinos, some lessons about costs and financial returns have been learned. One is rather glaring: all slot machines are not created equal.
“Designing a slots floor is an art, not a science,” Martino said. “At Perryville and Ocean Downs, it’s a question of supply and demand. Some machines are not doing well, and some are always busy.”
Popularity of games changes
Operating leases tend to be far more common for the average casino. These include slot machines, card shufflers, vehicles and land leases. While capital leases for slot machines used to be more common, practice has shifted to financed purchases and lease arrangements. Thanks for Watching HUGE WINS! I PLAY EVERY QUICK HIT SLOT MACHINE IN THE CASINO! Winning W/ SDGuy1234! However, providers are the ones who choose whether to or not to release payout percentages. They can’t accurately do this with slot machines at brick and mortar casinos, because providers feature different RTP options. One casino may order a slot at 93% payback, while the next orders it at 95% RTP. Slot Machines If you have planned to set up a casino at your place during a party, don’t forget to contact Casino parties LLC as they are the best in the industry today! With a moderate charge, they will surely set up the most real casino at your venue with several games like poker, roulette, and others. Casinos can loosen or tighten the slot machines with the flip of a switch. In actuality, the slot machines have a computer chip in them that determines the payback percentage. These are preset at the factory. In order for a casino to change the payback, they would have to change the chip.
Martino said that what people like in games and what is developing in gaming technology is always changing. When the state buys a slot machine, it has already invested in it. Even if the machine is not popular, the state either has to use it in a casino anyway, or spend money to convert it to a different sort of game.
With leased machines, the investment responsibility shifts substantially. Martino said that it is now up to the machine manufacturer to make sure that machines that are in the casinos are making money. The lottery will be asking that any machine not making at least 85% of that casino’s average revenue be replaced, he said.
“All casinos found a rare area of agreement on leasing machines,” Martino said. “We are able to shift the risk of product ownership to manufacturers, at no debt to the state.”
The leasing contract is between the state and eight video slots manufacturers: AGS Partners, Aristocrat Technologies, Bally Gaming, Diamond Game, IGT, KGM Gaming, Shuffle Master, and Spielo Gaming.
The life of the casino
All of these newly leased machines will literally be the life inside the Maryland Live! casino, under construction near Arundel Mills Mall. When it is fully completed, Martino said that it will be one of the nation’s largest casinos. The average Las Vegas Strip casino has about 2,200 machines. Maryland Live! will have more than twice as many.
The machines at the Arundel Mills casino and the two operating casinos in Perryville and Ocean Downs are all controlled by a master computer system that is run by the state. Martino said that Maryland’s arrangement is unique because many other states are not in charge of slots procurement.
While the state has more than 6,000 machines at its disposal, it will be seeking more slot machines in the near future, when the slots commission approves two pending casino licenses in Baltimore City and at Rocky Gap State Park. Martino said that it is likely that machines for those casinos will come through lease agreements as well.
“I can’t imagine why we would not do it,” he said.
Franchot still opposed
Comptroller Peter Franchot was unhappy with the leasing agreement back when it came before the Board of Public Works on Dec. 21, casting the sole dissenting vote. His disapproval had nothing to do with the machines being leased versus purchased. Franchot said he wished taxpayer dollars were not spent on slot machines at all.
“I remain disgusted by the fact that we as a state are holding on to this notion that slots are a solution to our fiscal situation,” Franchot said. “I am appalled that our citizens are forced to pay for these machines that will further enrich gambling companies.”
The state gets the largest share of slots revenues, receiving about half of the money the machines make for the Maryland Education Trust Fund. The casino operators receive a third of the revenues.
Return to player (RTP) is very important in regard to the long-term chances of winning with slots. RTP (a.k.a. payback) refers to how much slot machines are programmed to pay out in the long run.
Higher payback means that a game gives you a stronger chance of winning. Therefore, you’ll do well to know the RTP behind any game that you play.
You’ll discover that it’s really easy to find payout percentages for online slot machine games. A simple Google search will produce the RTP for most internet games.
Unfortunately, you’ll have a much tougher time figuring out the RTP of land-based machines. In fact, this information is rarely available.
Is there still a way for you to determine payout percentages for slot machines in brick-and-mortar casinos? I’ll answer this question by covering more on the difficulties of finding RTP for land-based slots and if it’s ultimately possible.
Why Isn’t RTP Available for Land-Based Slots?
Unlike with many online slots, you can’t just find the RTP for land-based slot machines through Google. Your efforts will turn up little to no results.
The problem with slots in brick-and-mortar casinos is that they don’t have uniform payback across every casino. Instead, game developers allow casinos to select payout percentages based on a list of options.
Here’s an example on how this works:
- WMS is offering Monopoly Party Train slot to Vegas casinos.
- They feature the following RTP options: 92.5%, 93.5%, and 94.5%.
- Caesars Palace orders this game at 93.5% payback.
- The Venetian orders Monopoly Party Train at 92.5% RTP.
- Treasure Island orders this slot at 94.5% RTP.
You can see the obvious challenge in trying to provide payback numbers for such games. A website could list Monopoly Party Train at 93.5% RTP, which is middle ground.
Most online slot providers differ because they offer their games at a uniform RTP across every casino. For example, Rival Gaming will feature Spy Game with 95.1% payback at each online casino it serves.
Some exceptions do exist in the online gambling world. RealTime Gaming (RTG), for instance, allows its casino clients to choose 91.5%, 95%, or 97.5% RTP for a given game.
You can’t find payout percentages for RTG games either. Nevertheless, you can still learn the payback for the vast majority of internet slots.
How Can You Figure out the RTP?
You won’t be able to find the exact payout percentages for most land-based slot machines. But you can at least get a good idea on the matter through a few different methods. Here are some ways to learn the RTP for brick-and-mortar casino slots.
Do Casinos Control Slot Machines
Make General Guesses Based on Coin Denominations
Casinos like to reward gamblers who are willing to risk more money per bet. Therefore, they order higher RTP for games with larger coin denominations.
Here’s an example on how this works:
- Penny slot machines = 88% to 90% RTP
- Nickel slot machines = 91% to 94% RTP
- Quarter slot machines = 93% to 95% RTP
- Dollar slot machines = 94% to 96% RTP
- $5 slot machines = 95% to 97% RTP
Penny slot machines are almost always the worst games with regard to payout percentages. Larger denominations ranging from a nickel to $5 are all closer in terms of payback.
Your theoretical losses will be higher on nickel games and up just because you’re betting more per spin. Nevertheless, you can still get more value per dollar wagered with the higher-denomination machines.
Read State Gaming Reports
Rather than making generalizations about coin sizes, you can always check out state gaming reports. These reports show the average payout percentages (or house edges) for each coin denomination within a given state’s casinos.
For example, you might look at a Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) release and see that dollar slot machines are offering 94.79% RTP on average.
Interestingly enough, the NGC reports specific payout information for Megabucks. This IGT product is the most popular slot in all the popular Las Vegas casinos and warrants more detailed info.
You won’t find the exact payout percentage for an individual game, but you’ll at least have a better guideline with these reports.
Email a Casino and Ask
One more option involves emailing a casino directly and asking them about their RTP for a specific slot machine.
The problem here is that customer service will often state that they don’t have this information available. But in certain cases, you may actually receive a real answer.
You shouldn’t count on this method majority of the time. It’s at least worth trying, though, if you’re desperate to find out the RTP for certain slots.
What to Avoid When Searching for Land-Based Slots Payback
You can see that there are a few different options for determining the payback for land-based slot machines. But there are also measures that you want to avoid on your payback-finding quest, including the following.
Relying on Signs Inside of Casinos
Many casinos hang signs above a bank of slot machines that will read something like, “Pays up to 99%.”
These signs are very effective at drawing players to slot machines. After all, who wouldn’t want to play a slot that only has a 1% house edge?
Unfortunately, these signs are also very misleading. Only one of the machines within the section has to offer 99% RTP.
The rest could pay as low as 90% RTP and still make the sign valid. Therefore, you can’t rely on much information that the casino supplies you with.
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Using One Good Session to Determine Quality Payback
Slots are extremely volatile games that may pay a lot one session, then offer very few prizes for the next five sessions. Therefore, you can never use any single outing to judge how a game pays.
Many gamblers still make this very mistake. They’ll have one hot session with a game and believe that it offers a high payout percentage.
It would be great if finding RTP for land-based slot machines was really this simple. The reality, though, is that it’s anything but.
Blindly Believing Ads for the “Loosest Slots”
I’ve seen plenty of ads for loose slot machines when driving on the interstate. These billboards suggest that a given casino features slots with high RTP or frequent payouts.
However, “loose” is a broad term that doesn’t really mean anything. State gaming laws don’t put parameters on what constitutes a loose game.
Casinos can make this claim, regardless of whether it’s true or not. That said, you should take any such advertisement with a grain of salt.
Conclusion
You may think negatively about land-based casinos upon being unable to find RTP for their slots. After all, you don’t have to spend much time at all finding payback for online slots.
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However, providers are the ones who choose whether to or not to release payout percentages. They can’t accurately do this with slot machines at brick and mortar casinos, because providers feature different RTP options.
One casino may order a slot at 93% payback, while the next orders it at 95% RTP. Developers are therefore unable to offer a uniform payout percentage for each slot.
The good news, though, is that you don’t have to give up hope. Instead, you have a few options for finding general RTP figures.
How Casinos Control Slot Machines
The easiest method is to make generalizations based on coin denominations. Simply put, the higher coin denominations usually offer better payback.
Do Casinos Buy Or Lease Slot Machines
You can also read state gaming reports. These releases show the average amount that each coin denomination pays out within a given state’s gambling venues.
Finally, you can always email a casino directly and ask about a specific game. You won’t get the desired answer most of the time, but it’s worth trying.
In summary, finding the RTP for an individual land-based slot is impossible in most cases. But you’ll still have a general idea on how much these slots pay by following the previously covered tips.