Tight Slots vs. Loose Slots

Slot players are always searching for machines that pay off more than others. These machines are known as 'loose' machines, and casinos that offer machines that pay off more than those in other casinos are known as loose casinos.

In the U.S., gaming regulatory agencies in various jurisdictions publish what is known as the casino 'win' on various slot machines. The casino win is the percentage of money deposited in the slot machines retained by the casino as profit (although it is not really profit, since it does not include rent, electric costs, employee salaries, and other costs of doing business . Some agencies identify the individual casinos, while others only name the specific regions. By turning these numbers around, you can identify the 'payback percentage,' or the percentage of money returned to the player for the money played.

For instance, if a casino 'win' is 10 percent, the payback percentage is 90 percent; if the casino win is 12 percent, the payback percentage is 88 percent, and so on.

Most jurisdictions have a minimum payback percentage that every machine must reach. Most machines pay back much more than the minimum percentage, however, since competition forces them to try to retain customers through higher paybacks.

Tight machines, on the other hand, are those that don't pay out as frequently as other machines.

The exact definition of 'loose' and 'tight' is very subjective. One machine may be loose for a short amount of time for a particular player, and tight during a different period for another player.

Casinos set the win percentage of each machine as a function of the win percentage for the entire casino. Stated elementally, if a casino wants to establish a 10 percent win percentage on its 200 slot machines, it could set 100 for a 15 percent win percentage, and the other 100 machines for a five percent win percentage. Over the long run, therefore, the machines will produce an overall 10 percent win. Of course, the machines are more likely to be set at graduated percentages so that each machine may be no more than two or three percent different from another. And the win percentage will be balanced for play, since some machines get played more than others because of their locations or style.

In most cases, casinos will direct the manufacturers of the slot machines to install the computer chip that establishes the payback percentage for that particular machine. Only rarely will the casino adjust the payback percentage while the machine is already installed on the casino floor.

But remember, even if you could identify the exact payback percentage of a particular machine, there is no guarantee that you would win over the short term. The payback percentage is programmed into the machine to be effective over thousands and millions of plays. A machine that pays back 100 percent, for instance, would simply allow the player to break even over the long run. Depending upon the machine's program, it might pay back a large jackpot once, while limiting other paybacks to small, infrequent hits. So you can never tell when a machine is ready to pay off. Should the machine not pay off for several hours, there is no guarantee that it will begin to pay off any time soon.

The payback percentage of machines generally increases with the denomination. Five-cent machines usually carry the worst payback for the player, with the $1 and above machines giving the players the best chance. The reason for this is that it takes many nickels for the casino to make a substantial profit, while it takes only a few dollars to earn a comparable amount. The casino also wants to encourage higher denomination players to play more dollars, and a higher payback percentage will help to accomplish that goal.

Even with a high payback percentage, however, the casino advantage will eventually grind down even the best player. The higher the payback percentage, the longer you can play, and the better chance you have of hitting a jackpot that will make you a winner. Even the difference of a few percentage points in the payback percentage can make a big difference. Stretching your money is the key to becoming a winner.