I'm not a High Roller by any stretch of the imagination. I play slots mostly and when I do, it's usually just penny slots to pass time and/or hit some fun bonus games. Having said that, I wanted to ask about nickel or dollar slots. For those of you who gamble quite a bit more than me: do nickel and dollar slots actually pay out more on average than penny?
I don't know about the statistics, ill leave that for someone else who can explain it better than I, but I do know that since the introduction of penny slots, and then the huge explosion of these machines, I haven't had a winning trip since I started playing them. Seriously, lol. They hooked me in, line and sinker. When i first started going to Vegas, the lowest denomination slot was generally a quarter, and those were reel slots. Then I started seeing some two cent slots,then these damn penny slots. I usually play max bet on these which can be a small fortune. I don't know why I still play these. Before every trip, I tell myself to only play the nickel and up machines, but I get sucked in every time. BUT, I love these machines and have a blast. They are geniuses, those marketing people, simply geniuses.
This is something that's tracked and reported by the NGC on a monthly basis, and is definitely true: http://gaming.nv.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=8037 That's just the most recent month, and you have to bear in mind that it shows the actual winnings by the casino as opposed to the theoretical hold for each machine, but there are big jumps between 1-cent and everything else. Dr. Dave also did a study that included some of this data not too long ago; for 2009, the statewide win percentage on penny slots was 10.1%, while nickels and dollars were 6.96% and 5.26%. Of course, this is the actual data. There are going to be some people who find that they do better on penny machines, some people who swear by quarters, etc. But the general rule is that the lower the denomination, the higher the hold.
OK great, thanks for the info and feedback. I did surprisingly well over the last two trips on penny slots, but I'd always heard it was a losing proposition so I wanted to check into it. I do the same thing; max bet and hope for the best. My biggest issue is with all licensed games. They absolutely get me with those! Willy Wonka, Press Your Luck, Ferris Bueller, Monty Python... all stuff like that that I just cannot pass up! Money well spent on the part of the slot companies!
See, that's just it. Even with the many jackpots I win, even hand pays, i never come home a winner because they suck me in and I just play Till my money is gone. Well not really, but that's how it feels lol
The holds a a little skewed for because Video poker is part of the hold. You can see that the hold for 1 cent is over 10%. Then the number drops to 5-6% for nickels and quarters. I am sure this because of video poker. I am sure the hold on "slots" is in the 7-8% for nickels and quarters.