Gambling regulations vary by market, including what’s allowed and where they’re allowed. Today’s question specifically links to Nevada, so we’ll be focused on that, but there’s some things to think about in here for everyone:
If you suspect a machine(s) payout percentage has been lowered beyond the legal threshold, what would be the next move? The machine(s) in question are from a convenience store here in Vegas.
Jonathan
Let’s start with the specific answer to your question. Then we’ll tackle why we tagged this a Casino Myth.
Your best bet for any complaints that may require an investigation is to reach out to the entity that oversees and regulates them. In a state like Nevada, gambling machines, including those in gas stations, fall under the jurisdiction of the state’s gaming commission. In other states, it might fall under the lottery, for instance, so your complaint should be submitted to the governing body who oversees them and has the best way to .
Now for the part about why we’ve placed it in this category.
It’s important to know what to expect in Nevada. Nevada’s regulations require that slot machines, over the long term, pay back at least 75 percent. That number is low compared to other jurisdictions (New Jersey sets their floor at 83 percent, for example).
It’s also low compared to what most modern slots and gaming devices are designed to pay out. Most machines have a floor of at least 85 percent, and some are even higher than that. A convenience store can’t set a machine below the minimum it’s designed to offer.
All gaming machines that are offered in Nevada, including ones in convenience stores, taverns and grocery stores, go through third party lab testing that affirms that these minimums are met, and the settings designed by the game maker are accurate to what they will pay back once active, before they’re allowed to be offered to any establishment offering gambling. So the commission will also ensure the games are fair and meet their design criteria.
The long term payback also means that on an individual session your results could be well above or well below that number. If you had a bad run, that doesn’t mean it’s not doing what it’s designed to do. We’d all be pretty bored if every time we put in $100, it gave us back, say, $90. So slots can pay big prizes and they can have dry runs, but in the long term they’ll approach their designed payback. The more spins taken, the closer it’ll approach that number mathematically.
Now, there are states where gray market machines exist in places like gas stations and convenience stores. Some are dubbed “games of skill” and in some states regulations have popped up around then while in others, to date, they have not. Regardless of location, expected return to player percentages are not publicly shared, so a player won’t know necessarily what a machine is set to offer.
But in the case of Nevada, you’re in perhaps the most regulated and best regulated state in the U.S. when it comes to what’s allowed. If you submit a complaint, we would expect the gaming commission would find a legal machine, set to a legal payback option, that likely well exceeds their 75 percent minimum.
The penalties for going around the gaming commission in any way are pretty hefty, and facilities aren’t interested in doing so for a few extra bucks when they could lose a very helpful revenue stream.
But the good news is if you’re concerned, there is a way to report your concern, and at least you can have piece of mind at that point. But we’ve had multiple people claim this state or that has gambling that purposely skirts payback minimums and would rather “pay the fine,” and every time we look into it we find no proof of this.
So that’s why we place this question into our myths category – oftentimes it’s a player seeking a solution for their bad luck, when oftentimes that’s all it works out to be. And if you don’t trust the machines you’re playing, it may be worthwhile to not play it, and divert your entertainment budget into something you find more enjoyable.
