Best Time Of Day To Play Slot Machines In Vegas

Slot machines have proven to be popular among players time and time again. Casinos and other entertainment facilities are profiting tremendously from the revenues collected from slots. The Nevada Gaming Control Board reports that the Las Vegas Strip contained over 160,000 slot machines in 40 different locations in 2019, generating revenues.

Las Vegas slot machines are known by a variety of names around the world. Slot machines in Australia are generally referred to as video poker, poker machines or pokies. In Japan it is known as pachisuro. In Britain, they are usually known as Fruit machines, Bandits and AWP (Amusement with Prizes)

Traditional slot machines are coin-operated machines with three or more reels, which spin when a lever on the side of the machine is pulled.

Las Vegas slot machines which are considered modern slot machines are designed to look and feel like the old mechanical models, but they work on a completely different principle. The outcome of each pull is actually controlled by a central computer inside the machine, not by the motion of the reels.

The positions the reels will come to rest on are chosen by a Random Number Generator (RNG) contained in the machine's software. The RNG is constantly generating random numbers, at a rate of hundreds or maybe thousands per second. As soon as the lever is pulled or the 'Play' button is pressed, the most recent random number is used to determine the result. This means that the result varies depending on exactly when the game is played. A fraction of a second earlier or later, and the result would be different.

What does all this mean, you ask? It means,
Las Vegas slot machines have one of the worst House Advantage. That means the odds are always in the slot machine's favor.
There is no reward for playing longer. Each play is an independent event with the same odds of winning or losing as every other play on that game.
Persistence doesn't pay off. The result of your previous play or series of plays doesn't determine what happens on your next play.
There is no way to tell which slots are wining machines. Slots are never 'due for a win' and they don't 'go cold' after a win.
The location of the slot machine, whether it's on the Strip, off the Strip or Downtown affects the outcome of a game.

Now, here is the news you don't to hear. There is really no strategy to out smart the slot machine. However what we can show you are some wining tips on playing slot machines.

One of the questions visitors to Las Vegas ask is, where are the loose slots. Loose slots are Slot machines with above-average pay outs.

It's a fact that Las Vegas Slots differ in their payouts. Generally the odds of wining any prize on Las Vegas Slot Machines are approximately 1 in 5. However the odds to wining a top prize on a red, white and blue slot machine, for example, are only 1 in 373,248.

Some slot games pay smaller prizes more frequently and offer more bonus games (Loose Slots). Other machines pay out more often in the middle and top prize categories. It's important to mention that the chances of winning smaller prizes on slots are greater than the chances of winning top prizes.

Tips for Wining Big on Slot Machines

Use your Player's club card
Play two-coin, three reel, one payline slot machines.
Stay away from three-coin machines unless they are progressive machines.
Don't play more than one machine at a time.
Always play the maximum coins.
Always play machines that show double up symbols.
Don't play nickel slot machines. (check the house advantage here)

The Slot Expert's Guide to Winning at Slots

The Best Number of Coins to Play in Slots

Type of MachineRules and Reasons
ProgressivesPlay maximum coins.
If you play don't play maximumcoins, you're only increasing the jackpot for someone else with nochance of winning it yourself.
Straight MultipliersPlay one coin at a time.
The payback and hitfrequency are the same regardless of the number of coins you play.
Bonus MultipliersPlay one coin at a time.
The chances of hitting apayout with a bonus are so small, it's not worth the extra risk.
Buy-A-PaysPlay maximum coins.
The increase in payback andhit frequency purchased by the additional coins can turn a terriblemachine into a good one.
HybridsPlay just enough coins to activate all winningcombinations.
Extra coins are rarely worth playing in amultiplier, and hybrids are multipliers when you're in themultiplying section of the paytable.
Hidden Buy-A-PaysPlay maximum coins.
The feature activated by playing the last coin frequently makes the last coin pay back over100%.
MultilinesPlay one coin or maximum coins.
Play maximum coinsif having winning combinations land on paylines you didn't activatebothers you, otherwise play one coin.
Multicoin/MultilinesPlay one coin each on as many lines as you like.
Play one coin on each line if having winning combinations land onpaylines you didn't activate bothers you, otherwise play one coin.If there's a Hidden Buy-A-Pay, play enough coins to activate it.

Source: John Robison - www.Robison.CasinoCityTimes.com

Slots Machines House Advantage and Expected Lose

House AdvantageFor Every $100 bet, the player can expect to lose
Penny Slots8%-12%$8 - $12
Nickel Slots6%-12%$6 - $12
Quarter Slots5%-10%$5 -$10
Dollar Slots2.5%-6%$2.50 -$6

Take a different twist on the increasingly popular game of poker and play your favorite video reel games at most Las Vegas Casinos. Choose from the hottest Vegas video reel games and slot machines. You'll find all your favorites, plus progressives and video poker in a wide range of denominations. Video poker provides all the strategy of poker but at your own pace.

Did you know...
The largest Las Vegas slot machine jackpot ever, was paid on a Megabucks machine at the Excalibur Hotel, for $39,713,982.25 on March 21, 2003. More Las Vegas Facts.

Do you know ... your chances of hitting a winning combination are the same on every spin.

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.

Best Time Of Day To Play Slot Machines In Las Vegas

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

Best Time Of Day To Play Slot Machines In Vegas Poker

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
'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.
Vegas
MathExtremist
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 Of Day To Play Slot Machines In Vegas Las Vegas

'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