Perhaps the best slots tip that you’ll ever receive is to look at payback since this determines how much money you stand to win over the long term. However, just because you find the payback for a certain game does not mean that you can always expect the same payout percentage across the board.
Why is this the Case?
Slots manufacturers cater to each casino by creating different programs for their games. For example, the popular IGT-developed Cleopatra Slots has multiple programs, with each featuring a different payout percentage.
Some casinos want to make more back over the long haul from certain games. And so slots manufacturers can make this happen by offering a program with tighter payback. This is why if you were to hunt for information on slots payback at specific casinos, you’d see lots of variation. Here’s an example of what we mean from an old survey that the WizardofOdds did for nickel slots.
Online Slots tend to be More Consistent
The above advice heavily applies to land-based casinos, where players must travel to reach different places. So if you’re at the Venetian (Las Vegas) and looking for better slots payback at the Palms Casino, you’ll have to travel 10 minutes. Some might make this journey, while others will avoid the hassle and just stay put.
Online slots, on the other hand, are of a different nature because your travel is done with mouse clicks – not wading through heavy Vegas traffic. For this reason, you tend to see more-consistent payback among the same online slots games. Furthermore, it’s much easier to find payout percentages for online slots games. Contrast this to a land-based casino, where payback information for each specific machine isn’t so readily available – even with heavy research.