What Are Nevada Taverns?
Nevada is a unique gambling state. It is one of only five without a state lottery. However, nearly every other form of gambling is legal. While most casino states restrict these properties to certain cities or bodies of water, Nevada allows gaming establishments to operate nearly anywhere with proper zoning. This includes tavern gaming.
Types of Nevada Tavern Casinos
While a handful of Nevada taverns have the same type of gaming license as a full-service casino, known as nonrestricted, most bars have restricted licenses. This allows for up to 15 slot machines. If another licensee is too close, an urban license is required, which lowers the count to five machines.
Tavern machines are usually identical to those found on casino bartops. They are mostly Game Kings with a handful of Aristocrat Buffalo bartops.
A company called Dotty’s pushed the limits of this concept around 2010. Instead of putting machines on bartops, Dotty’s created small slot floors. These are essentially mini-casinos that do not resemble taverns. Food is usually not served at Dotty’s and its related brands. After several legal battles, municipalities lost that fight.
Most tavern gaming establishments have players clubs, just like casinos. Players earn slot points and receive mailers with weekly or monthly free play. If the tavern is related to casinos, points may be used at both. The mailer offers are usually separate between taverns and casinos.
Friendly Environments
In most cases, taverns where machines are installed in the bar are social in the same ways casino bars are. It is a place where people socialize and cheer for each other against the house, while often watching sporting events like the Vegas Golden Knights games.
Locals taverns can be even friendlier than casinos. These are usually in neighborhoods. A core group of regulars frequents these joints. They get to know each other and may even be neighbors and have kids in the same schools.
Drink Service Is Usually Quick
Gaming taverns usually have few customers outside the slot action. This means the bartender can be attentive to players. Drinks are refilled quickly.
Since Nevada taverns have a core group of players, bartenders get to know their customers well. Their drinks are often served as soon as the player arrives.
However, service can be slow during times when winners are getting paid, especially if it triggers a W-2G. That is because the bartender is also the cashier. While some taverns still handpay all winners, modern ones and those owned by large companies use the same ticket-in, ticket-out technology as casinos. Players may move between machines with their tickets and only need the bartender when cashing out.
Happy Hours Are Often the Best in Town
Gaming is supposed to be ancillary to the tavern. In reality, gambling tends to be 90% of total revenues. However, gaming taverns at least pretend to be a typical bar. Happy hours often run twice a day, once during the afternoon rush hour, and another during the graveyard shift to draw swing shift, casino employees.
The deals are often exceptional. PT’s and its related brands give people 50% off drinks from 5pm to 7pm and midnight to 2am daily. This makes all drinks about $3 or $4 at my local PT’s. I usually order a $4 Grey Goose during Happy hour. My wife’s wine is $3.50 per glass.
Most taverns have food. For some licensees, it is required. Food specials like half-price pizza and $5 to $7 appetizers are common during happy hour.
Tavern Games Are Usually Worse Than Casinos
Convenience usually comes with a price, and Nevada taverns are no different. Just like the corner gas station is usually a worse value than the big-box store, the same can be said of neighborhood taverns when compared to locals casinos.
Bartop video poker at locals casinos often returns 99%. Typical options include 8/5 Bonus Poker (99.17%), 9/6 Double Double Bonus (98.98%), and 15/9 Deuces Wild (98.91%). Some even have full-pay Jacks or Better (99.54%).
You won’t find any of those paytables at Nevada taverns. The best traditional video poker game I have found at a Nevada tavern in recent years is 7/5 Bonus Poker (98.01%). That is rare. The typical tavern Bonus Poker paytable is 6/5 (96.87%). Bonus Poker is still usually the best single-line game, regardless of its paytable. You may also find that the 6/5 paytable on Ultimate X at a tavern, which gets it a little above 98%. However, that game requires learning a difficult strategy.
Keno is also available at taverns. The paytables are usually worse by several percentage points compared to locals casinos. Slots are presumably equally tight.
Promotions Sometimes Make Up for It
While the paytables are usually terrible at taverns, promotions make up for some of it. Common ones include winning free play when hitting a royal flush or quads with the card of the day. Other players using their card also win free play with this promotion. The card of the day is a specific one in the deck.
Some casinos do wheel spins. Prizes ranging from $5 to $1000, with lower payouts weighted. Small operators make all 13 cards qualify during slow shifts to entice more action. That adds almost 1.5%.to the return, putting a game like 7/5 Bonus Poker closer to full-pay Jacks or Better.
Taverns Are Often Very Smoky
If you dislike cigarette smoke, you will hate most Nevada taverns. They are far smokier than casinos due to small spaces with poor ventilation.
Playing Often at Taverns Can Be a Bankroll Killer
Taverns are not good places to gamble. The poor odds will eat up your bankroll several times faster than games at locals casinos will. It is the equivalent of gambling on the Strip, when most locals would never do that. Take advantage of the great happy hours, and maybe drop by occasionally to try your luck, but don’t substitute casino action for tavern games.
