Many players visit casinos in part because of the offers they receive. As such, the use of free play tends to be an important topic. So it’s not surprising we get this question from time to time:
Why do some slot machines not accept free play?
Sac J.
It’s not the most exciting answer, but there is a group of reasons for this. The answers revolve generally one around the economics of slot machines.
Free play is an expense the marketing department incurs to get your business. Meanwhile, certain slot machines (particularly those with wide area progressive jackpots) tend to have a cost to the casino beyond the purchase of a machine.
Often those big jackpots are available because of what’s called “participation” – the game maker shares in the revenue generated by the slot, part of which goes to the wide area progressive jackpot that can be awarded.
However, the casino has to pay that participation fee regardless of what is used, whether cash or free play. So some casinos just opt to exempt those machines from free play to avoid paying twice – to us players with the free play, and to the slot makers for the play you’re doing.
There are other financially connected reasons too – if you’re a player playing with free play, you’re taking up a spot that may be taken by a paying player. So sometimes casinos will purposely omit popular slots to avoid them being taken up in that form, and hopefully nudge you to a slower, less popular slot instead.
Sometimes the financially-focused people at the casino set rules that make sense to what they focus on, even as it’s less clear to us players. Fortunately free play is available on most slots, so you won’t have to hunt too far for a place to play.
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