The payback percentage—also known as the payout percentage or return to player—is the amount of money deposited into a slot machine that is eventually paid back to the customer. This percentage is not determined in weeks or months, but rather over the life of the machine. The House Edge at Slots. Each gaming jurisdiction requires all slot machines to be registered and all slot manufacturers must submit their programming and math charts to the state gaming office, such as the Nevada Gaming Control Board. While the state may only require a minimum payback of 86-percent, most video poker and slot machines pay more. The Britney Spears slot machine begins play as a 5-reel, 6-row video game. Prizes are paid from left to right except for Scatters. 60 pay lines afford many opportunities to win prizes butsome of the pay lines are only active during the bonus features.

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.

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

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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.

Return to player (RTP) is one of the most-important concepts to slots players. Payback determines how much the average player wins from a slot machine.

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A slots game with 95% RTP, for example, would theoretically deliver $0.95 back for every $1 wagered. A slot machine with 88% payback would only offer $0.88 for each dollar wagered.

Gamblers want to know slots’ RTP for obvious reasons. Knowing a machine’s payout percentage provides an indication on your long-term odds of winning.

But one of the most-common fears is that casinos can simply change slots odds whenever they feel like it. Many gamblers are convinced that casinos alter RTP for a variety of reasons, whether it’s to lower payback during busy hours or simply earn more overall profits.

This fear seems valid when considering that players don’t see the inner workings of slot machines. But are casinos really able to alter payback on a whim?

I’m going to discuss this matter by looking at how casinos change RTP, common beliefs on the subject and casino limitations in controlling payback.

Slot machine RTP is determined by the pay table and how often each prize is programmed to hit.

The pay schedule shows how many credits each symbol combination delivers. The pay table only tells so much, though, and doesn’t show how often each payout is programmed hit.

A random number generator (RNG) ultimately determines which symbol combinations come up on each spin. Contrary to common opinion, the RNG does not determine payback.

Instead, this program merely cycles through different symbol combinations to determine the results of your spin. The RNG is more likely to include symbols that have a higher number of stops.

An RNG has no recollection of what happens on your previous spins. Instead, its main job is to come up with random results.

Again, icons with many stops will be chosen by the RNG more frequently than other symbols.

Casinos don’t need to worry about programming payout percentages — this is the game developer’s job. Instead, they simply consider what RTP they want to order for a given game.

Providers give land-based casinos a number of options to choose from when ordering payback.

Here’s an example:

• MGM Grand wants to order Aristocrat’s Game of Thrones.
• Aristocrat offers RTP choices of 88.0%, 90.0%, 92.0%, and 94.0%.
• MGM selects the version with 92.0% payback.

Online slots developers usually offer a uniform RTP for any game that they produce. Internet casinos that license their slots are then forced to use the provider’s chosen payout percentage.

But a minority of online slots providers do let casinos choose from preset RTP amounts (covered later).

How casinos change payout percentages depends upon the style of game. Payback for most land-based slot machines is determined by the EPROM chip located inside.

A gambling establishment can alter a machine’s RTP as long as they have the EPROM chip, which is sometimes the case. Theoretically, any casino that has these chips can change payback whenever they like.

The catch, though, is that many gambling jurisdictions require the casinos to report when they alter a game’s RTP. This process requires that a casino manager spends time filling out paperwork.

Some slot machines operate on downloadable software, which comes from a central server. In these cases, the casino doesn’t have to open a game and change a chip.

Instead, they can simply download the software to alter RTP. But just as with replacing an EPROM chip, casinos need to follow their jurisdiction’s guidelines when changing server-based payout percentages.

For starters, gambling venues can’t make these changes when somebody is playing a machine. Furthermore, they have to wait a certain amount of time before altering any game settings.

What’s the Common Belief about Casinos Changing Slots Payback?

Some slots players believe that casino owners and management can change RTP across the board by simply flipping a switch. This theory has been furthered propelled bythe rise of video slots.

Very few land-based slot machines operate on mechanical reels and levers these days. Instead, casinos mainly feature video slots that run through software programs.

Of course, gamblers’ fears are only magnified when dealing with online casinos. These websites are headquartered far away from most players, leading to concerns that internet casinos can do anything they want to slots payback without anybody knowing.

But what else beyond suspected greed leads players to believe that casinos will cheat them through lower RTP?

A driving force behind conspiracy theories is how slot machines are the streakiest casino game. Most slots only see players win around 20-40% of their spins, even with every payline activated.

Such low hit frequency leads gamblers to experience long losing streaks. In turn, these cold streaks cause players to theorize that casinos have changed RTP.

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What’s the Real Story Behind Casinos’ Ability to Alter RTP?

Contrary to what some players believe, casinos don’t simply alter payout percentages whenever they feel like winning more money. Instead, gambling venues must go through the proper channels.

Earlier I covered how many jurisdictions require casinos to submit paperwork before changing the EPROM chip inside a slot machine.

Not only does an important employee waste time filling out paperwork and sending it to the local gambling control commission, but the casino must also pay for another EPROM chip. These chips are expensive, meaning it’s not economically viable to continue changing RTP.

Of course, server-based slot machines can be altered faster without opening machines. But there are deterrents from doing this as well.

Some Las Vegas slot machines are so popular that they have people standing off to the side waiting to play. Therefore, casinos can’t change RTP for these games until things slow down in the middle of the night.

More importantly, gambling establishments don’t like tying up games and preventing people from playing. This creates another situation where it doesn’t make economic sense to put games down for maintenance just to constantly change payback.

Casino employees’ time is valuable, especially with regard to managers. It would be a waste of resources and manpower to alter RTP from machine to machine.

Of course, none of this subsides fears that online casinos can change payout percentages as they please. But gaming sites face roadblocks in this regard too.

In fewer cases, online casinos can choose from different RTP options just like land-based establishments. Realtime Gaming (RTG) commonly does this by offering their clients payout percentages ranging from 91.0% to 97.5%.

Casinos must decide on the chosen payback when ordering a certain game. They can’t, however, ask RTG to change payout percentages back and forth every day.

RTG allows gaming sites to choose from different payout percentages due to the various bonuses offered through their software setup. RTG offers total casino packages where they handle the bonuses, games, and more. Clients have some flexibility here and can either choose high bonuses with low slots RTP or vice versa.

In any case, you can see that there’s nothing nefarious going on with the average online casino and game provider. This is especially true when considering that many slots developers and casinos undergo third-party auditing to ensure that their games offer fair and random results.

Is there Any Truth to the Idea That Casinos Can Change Payback with a Switch?

Earlier I mentioned how some players believe that casinos can merely flip a switch to change all of their slot machines’ RTP.

I dismiss this idea, because casinos need to go through the proper channels to change payback. But is there any shred of truth to the switch-flipping concept?

A 2006 New York Times piece offers evidence that it’s possible for casinos to quickly change RTP for many different games.

This article revolves around a Treasure Island casino executive named Justin Beltram, who discusses how his casino was undergoing a technology experiment at the time.

The piece reads that “with a few clicks of his mouse” Beltram can reprogram the “denominations required to play, payback percentages, even game themes” for all of Treasure Island’s 1,790 slot machines.

Much of the article deals with how easy it is to change settings in server-based slots versus the EPROM-chip games. Beltram notes that he could change a game’s settings within “20 seconds” using this technology, compared to the lengthy and complicated process of opening machines to alter settings.

The executive also squashed the notion that his casino would abuse this power to win more money from players. Beltram insists that such practices would be bad for business and possibly lead to trouble with gaming regulators.

David G. Schwartz, director for UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research, did express concerns about casinos changing payback through servers. “Let’s say you’re playing at 2 and you’re doing great and you come back at 6 and the pay tables have changed,” explains Schwartz.

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While this is a valid concern, lowering odds and causing players to lose more is counterproductive to business. Nobody wants to play at a casino where they think that the odds are stacked against them.

Overall, the article suggests that while it’s possible for casinos to quickly change slots payback with server technology, this concept is more about meeting customer demands than anything.

Long story short, casino managers don’t have time to sit in their back office and switch RTP every time that they see somebody winning. Casinos already have the edge over players, and it’s not worth the time or repercussions to con gamblers.

The thought that casinos instantaneously change all of their slots payback is only one misbelief regarding the subject. Here are a few more myths surrounding how casinos handle slots RTP.

Slots Payback Happens on a Cycle

Some gamblers are convinced that slots payout percentages happen on a cycle. This idea stems from the belief that slot machines are programmed to offer payouts at specific intervals.

Here’s an example of how one might conceptualize this:

• Jackpot pays exactly once every 1 million spins.
• 1,000-coin prize pays every 250,000 spins.
• 500-coin prize pays every 50,000 spins.
• 100-coin prize pays every 10,000 spins.
• 50-coin prize pays every 5,000 spins.
• 5-coin prize pays every 50 spins.
• 1-coin prize pays every 10 spins.

Players who believe that slot machines work like this often think that they can win a jackpot by playing at the right point. They look for a jackpot that hasn’t been won in a while and start playing in hopes that the game is nearing the end of its payout cycle.

But slots results are determined by an RNG, which has no recollection of previous payouts and merely continues generating random results.

Jackpots and other payouts are programmed with specific odds. Certain jackpots may very well be programmed to pay every 1 million spins on average.

But the key is that this prize doesn’t have to pay out after exactly 1 million rounds. Instead, the jackpot can hit at 500k spins or 2 million spins.

Casinos Change RTP during the Day and Night

Another common slots myth is that casinos alter payout percentages throughout the day. This theory is based on the logic that slot machines are more generous during the less-busy day hours and tighter during the busier evening hours.

It makes sense to believe that casinos would tighten payback when they have more slots customers. Doing so would enable them to earn far more profits.

If a slot has a 5% house edge, this means that casinos are winning a nickel for every dollar wagered by players. Assuming a gambler bets $600 per hour, the casino is making $30 on average (600 x 0.05).

The last thing a gambling establishment wants to do is lower payback and discourage people from playing during busy hours.

Many gamblers already become suspicious that payback has changed when they go through cold streaks. Casinos don’t want to add fuel to this fire by actually altering RTP just to increase an advantage that they already have.

Native American Casinos can Do Whatever They Want

I’ve covered the limitations facing gaming sites and commercial land-based casinos when altering slots payout percentages. But what about Native American casinos?

Some slots players believe that US tribal casinos can do whatever they want, because they’re located on sovereign ground. The reality, though, is that Native American casinos don’t have as much free rein as people think.

These casinos must comply with gambling regulations set forth by the tribe’s gambling commission. These standards are defined by negotiations between tribes and the state where they’re located.

Once the state and tribe come to an agreement, the pact must be approved by the US Department of the Interior.

Contrary to some players’ opinions, Native American gambling venues don’t make rules as they go and change slots payback whenever. Instead, they too have regulations that are discussed and approved by multiple parties.

Many gamblers picture casinos fiendishly lowering slots RTP to maximize their profits. But these theories are the result of misunderstandings about how the gambling industry works.

Most land-based and online casinos operate in jurisdictions that impose restrictions on alerting payout percentages. Some jurisdictions go as far as to require paperwork every time that casinos want to change RTP.

In other cases, gambling venues can quickly change payback through server technology. Even this comes with restrictions, though, including a machine being down while the casino changes payback.

You can generally assume that most land-based slot machines offer anywhere from 88% to 95% RTP. Penny and nickel slots comprise the lower end, while quarter denominations and above constitute the higher end.

Online slots usually deliver between 95% and 97% payback. You can google individual slots or game providers to research online payout percentages.

You have little reason to fear casinos lowering RTP to a ridiculously small percentage. They have too much at stake if they’re caught, and gambling jurisdictions have rules against doing so.