Penny slots are simply defined as slot machines that can be played at 1 cent per line although have evolved to often require a minimum number of lines that must be played per spin. Instead of costing the minimum you’d expect, as we would have seen in the past, players will be wagering 25c, 40c or 50c per spin.
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.
How Do Penny Slot Machines Work Videos
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.
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.
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.
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.
The easiest method is to make generalizations based on coin denominations. Simply put, the higher coin denominations usually offer better payback.
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.
Penny slots are simply defined as slot machines that can be played at 1 cent per line although have evolved to often require a minimum number of lines that must be played per spin. Instead of costing the minimum you’d expect, as we would have seen in the past, players will be wagering 25c, 40c or 50c per spin.
How do penny slots work?
Penny slots work almost exactly as you’d imagine – you pop a penny into the slot, pull the lever (or press the button) and the reels will spin. Make the correct combination of symbols and you’ll win a prize – simple right?
But go into any casino or play any online slot and it won’t take long to realize that it’s far from the truth. In the majority of casinos, you’ll find that you can’t get away with 1c in the penny slot section, shocking, I know.
Instead, you’ll find yourself having to wager 50 or 100 credits on the pennies so you’re still betting a dollar a spin. Sneaky.
The payline problem
The confusion with penny slots comes with the paylines and how they have evolved from the very first slots.
Where once there would be a single payline in which three matching symbols across the reels would allow for a prize, we now see several different paylines available in the slot.
From zigzags to trapeziums, there’s plenty of different paylines that you’ll be able to win with, all of which can be found in the paytable alongside how much you’ll win by bagging them.
So instead of a single simple play, you’ll be offered to wager on all available paylines, often with multiple credits on each line. A typical slot machine nowadays will include between 25 and 30 paylines per slot and if you’re wanting to win the biggest jackpots, you’re going to have to wager on the lot of them.
The paylines dictate the different prizes, bonuses, free spins and multipliers and must span the length of the reels so it’s vital to the game that they’re up to scratch, so it’s one of the first areas that designers consider when building a new game.
Depending on where you’re playing and what the machine allows, you might be able to choose the number of paylines that you’re wagering per spin (free slots) or be confined to the predefined setting on the machine (fixed). Regardless, it’s important to go ahead and check what you’re actually betting…
What you’re actually betting
So we now know that you’re not actually going to be betting 1c at a time, but really, why would you?
For a casino, taking 1c bets is a terrible business model and for a player, that’s not exactly going to be super stimulating. It might be a blessing in disguise that the limits for the penny slots are a little higher – although a name change wouldn’t go amiss.
Typically, you’ll be betting on every line for at least a single credit, instead of a single payline for a dollar like you may expect. For example, if you’re betting 5 credits a line on 20 lines in a 5 reel slot you’ll be wagering 100 credits (or $1.00) per spin.
You’re not betting a penny, but it’s much more interesting.
Not all slots require to you bet the maximum. Brick and mortar casinos might be difficult when it comes to finding cheaper slots, but head online and you’ll see plenty of minimum spins sitting at 25 (for 5 cents) so you can pop a penny on each payline without worry.
Shop around and you’ll have no problem finding slots with low minimum wagers.
Differences between penny slots and free slots
When it comes to defining free slot machines, you’ll get mixed messages depending on who you ask, simply because it can mean one of two things.
Free to play slots
The first definition is the one that most of us think of when something’s free – as in they’re free to play slot machines. That means that there’s no real money on the line and, more than likely, no real money to win.
Granted there’s the odd exception to the rule with free slot spins available when playing penny stocks as well as being available in several new player bonuses – but you’ll rarely get something for nothing.
You can play free slots all over the web and with a variety of applications for mobile and tablet.
Free vs. fixed slots
Not the free slot you were thinking? The other form can be identified with its ability to choose the number of paylines that you’d like to run with during a game – the number of paylines chosen is ‘free’.
The opposite of this is where the number of paylines is fixed, meaning that you can’t change the number and must play the listed paylines.
When playing in most brick-and-mortar casinos, you’ll find the majority of penny slots take the fixed approach, letting you wager $1, $2 or $3 etc. at a time, depending on the machine.
However, when playing online you’re often free to set the exact number of paylines that you’d like for the spins that follow.
Unfortunately, you do have to pay for these though, although you’ll be getting much more control over your wagering.
Penny slots mistakes
Free Penny Slot Machines
Penny slots may seem pretty simple to understand and play, it’s one of the biggest reasons that they’re so popular, but that doesn’t mean that the machines don’t see their fair share of mistakes each and every day.
By making sure that you’re on top of the information, familiar with the terms and conditions and informed on strategy, you can make sure you’re not making any rookie mistakes when playing penny slots.
Ignoring bankroll management
By far the biggest mistake that we see with players on the penny slots is the total neglect of bankroll management during play.
They’re called ‘penny’ slots for a reason and it’s not because of their low-cost, low-risk nature, but as a marketing technique to make players think that they’re barely wagering.
If you’re going to fall for it and keep on putting pennies into the machine, that’s mistake number 1.
Instead of ignoring how much you’re putting into the machines you should manage your bankroll to know when enough is enough.
By taking out and setting aside a certain amount of money purely for gambling you can be sure that you’re not delving into your funds that are needed for more important things.
You can use your gambling money on rent, but don’t use your rent money for gambling.
Failing to find the slots’ return to player (RTP)
The slots return to player (RTP) is the figure telling you, the player, how much of a percentage you should expect back in the long run for each wager.
Of course, the figure you’ll find is an average so you won’t be bang on the money each time, but it’s a good ballpark figure to know before taking a seat at the slots.
You should look for those with the highest RTP (100% is the maximum, but you’ll never find one with the value) for the best returns whilst you’re playing.
If you’re going to gamble, you might as well do it with the best odds, right?
Only playing the big-time progressive jackpots
With the big-time progressive jackpots showing the biggest rewards, it’s no surprise that it’s always tempting to get involved with the progressive jackpots.
Only play these though and that’s another big mistake of the penny slots if you’re in it for the long run that is anyway. The jackpot that you’re eyeing up to win comes from the players, just like you, that are chasing big money.
The more that play, the more money that goes in, the more players lose for just one lucky player to win big.
If you’re playing for the smaller jackpots you’ll be in a much better standing at the end of the day, providing that nobody wins the big one at the end.
Not betting the maximum
If you’re not checking out the terms and conditions before playing, you might stand to be leaving money on the table if you’re lucky enough to bag a jackpot.
Slot Machines How They Work
Some casinos, both brick-and-mortar and online, have requirements making grand prizes unavailable unless you’re betting the maximum on the spin you win with, so it’s important to always bet the maximum when chasing the big prizes.
There’s nothing worse than thinking you’ve bagged a big pot of cash only to have your success pulled away from the limit you’ve set yourself.
It may sound backward, but the odds of winning stay the same, it’s just the numbers that sit a little bigger.
Failing to know when enough is enough
Perhaps the biggest problem that comes with playing penny stocks is their addictive nature that prevents players from being able to stop and recognize when enough is enough.
It’s hardly a surprise that so many struggle to put the pennies down, especially once you consider the amount of time and effort that goes into developing the slot machine to have that exact effect.
Everything from the way it feels, the way it looks and the way it sounds is not an accident, it’s all precisely engineered to keep the mind focused on spinning the reels.
It’s more vital than ever with the popularity in online slots to know when enough is enough and when to head home or turn off your smartphone for the night. There’s no reason not to stop before your bankroll does – just make sure that you’re keeping it in mind when playing.
Can you win a lot of money on penny slots
One of the questions we hear all the time when it comes to penny slots is whether or not you can win a lot of money with them and the simple answer? Yes.
Plenty of people have won big when playing penny slots with countless stories from friends, family and around the web (including numerous on Reddit) all telling tales of big wins from minimal bets in the casino.
Some penny slots are linked to the huge progressive jackpots that often get the better of our temptations (and our bankroll) that boast truly lucrative prizes for those willing to play and to win.
With grand prizes in tens or hundreds of thousands, it’s easy to understand why people love to play to the penny slots.
But don’t let this give you tunnel vision, as previously mentioned these jackpots are usually restricted to those wagering the maximum amount on each spin so it’s important to check out the rules before pulling the lever. You don’t want to miss out on a life-changing prize because you jumped the gun.
Does Vegas have penny slots?
If you’re looking to play penny slots in a brick-and-mortar casino you won’t find anywhere better than the fabulous Las Vegas strip to hedge your bets.
Every single casino throughout vegas has penny slots, in fact, you’ll probably have a harder time avoiding them than you would be finding a place to play.
In a typical casino, the idea is to build a gaming floor that draws as much revenue from players as possible with the use of games, entertainment, and hospitality and there’s nothing quite like the penny slot for maximizing revenue.
The average spin of the reels on the penny slots takes as little as 6 seconds, meaning that each player is running through 10 spins per minute. If we say that each wager is a respectable 50c, you’re looking at $300 per hour that players are sinking into the machine.
Granted that there are wins to be taken into account throughout the game, perhaps at 95% payout, but when you consider that there are 1000+ slots available to run 24 hours per day in most casinos, it soon adds up. There’s no wonder that there are so many slots throughout Vegas…