We recently shared some links to where to find slot payouts on various state websites. It can be confusing to navigate at times, and we try to help where we can:
I live in Illinois and in our town of about 20k people we have almost 15 slot cafes (they each can only have 6 machines). There is a casino (Hollywood Casino) about 45 mins away from us. Are the payouts, etc, the same at slot cafes as in the actual casinos? Are they state regulated the same? I’ve tried to look it up online, but I can’t find the answer. My husband and I go to our cafes every Friday and Saturday nights,winning small or losing it all :) Thank you in advance.
Nicole L.
In the case of Illinois, the data for both casinos and the video gaming terminals (those in cafes) are published, albeit in separate sections, on the site. The VGT data is actually more transparent – it gives you the wagered and paid numbers, meaning you can calculate the payback percentage for a given time period. The numbers for the casinos aren’t as clear.
But yes, both are regulated in this case by the state of Illinois. The VGTs in the most recent month available (May 2024 as of when this post was written) was 91% – pretty well in line with casino paybacks. So we’d venture they’re pretty similar.
This is good, as there’s other states where gray area machines, unregulated skill-based games and so on exist, which are often found in locations similar to where VGT machines are found in Illinois, and so there’s nothing reliable out there to know what to expect from them relative to any other options out there.
You’re in a state that’s well regulated, and the VGTs are reasonable payouts relative to casino ones. So your cafe trips are just fine and we hope you’re having fun!
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