Slots at McCarran Airport

I haven't seen any statistics about payouts at the airport slots. From casual observation on a number of times through (before we moved to Las Vegas) we seemed to have more luck ourselves and saw more other lucky people. Whether it is coincidence or not, it seems logical that machines would be set to higher payoffs there, since people arriving here are likely to consider themselves on the start of a lucky streak, a good attitude adjuster, and people leaving after leaving with less than they came with might leave in a better frame of mind when winning on their last try. (Sort of like having a terrific 18th hole after a lousy golf round - makes you want to come back.)

Just our thoughts, but wonder if there might be some validity to them.

According to the Wizard's own (admittedly dated) survey, the airport slots are the worst in town.

Take from that what you will. :^)

There are many schools of thought going on here.

For example, in a casino, it make sense to have the slots near the strip entrance rigged to pay and make a lot of noise to draw in other customers. On the other hand, having the loose machines there, may make too easy for a bettor to make a hit and run.

Similarly, the slots near the buffet may be rigged to pay to encourage people to finish eating and get back to work. On the other hand, it may pay less, since people may throw a quarter in while on line to get in. Think captive audience.


At the airport, you also have a captive audience. Most people playing are waiting to board an outbound flight.


Your theory about getting people off on a hot streak sounds interesting, but ask yourself this question: What does the owner of the airport slots care about a gambler's activity in the casinos?

I mean, that would be a logical idea only if the airport slots are run/owned by the LV Visitors Bureau or Chamber of Commerce, or even the airport itself. Something tells me it's a private concession. I.E. They pay rent to the airport, etc.

I stand by my survey linked to above that the slots at the airport are the tightest in the city. Captive audience + no competition = tight slots. I also have found that the theory that slots are loose by the doors, and tight were people are likely to linger, is just myth. My testing showed slots of a given denomination are set consistently throughout the casino. Some casinos seem to scatter some loose ones around randomly.

Your idea about loose slots at the airport does make sense. It might have been a logical solution when they wrote the request for proposals. But the county auctioned off the rights to the highest bidder for this contract. So the slots are the tightest in town.

The man that owns the slot concession is Michael Gaughan who owns the South Point Hotel and Casino.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong (as always), but in 91-92, when I did the survey, the airport slot concession was held by the owners of Terrible's.

Wikipedia says it's currently Michael Gaughan. It doesn't say when any transfer of ownership occurred.

i always thought that the machines at the airport were tight also. but i'm surprised when i see both the quarter and dollar wheel of fortunes hit the progressive jackpot at the airport, and almost as much as in the casinos. i've also personally hit the 1000 point, $200.00 on the .25 cent wheel of fortune while just waiting for my better half go into the ladies room. i've also hit things like five 5's on dueces wild while killing time, and seen someone make over $1,200 hitting various jackpots on one 777 slot within just 15 minutes! he kept hitting 7's of various kinds!. and none of these happen after spending hours on the machines like in the casino.

i'm not saying machines at the airport aren't tight, but i do see them hit.

Quote: inap

....i've also hit things like five 5's on dueces wild...

A card machine should hit exactly as often, no matter where it's located. But the pay table is probably lower.

Maybe the other slots are rigged to win more often, but pay less? Is that even possible? If so, that would give the illusion of a loose machine, while retaining more profit for the owner.

Quote: Wizard

Captive audience + no competition = tight slots.

Precisely. Perhaps if the airport authority had sold the slot concession to the Chamber of Commerce there might be some sort of 'welcome to Vegas where you can really win' attitude of loose slots, perhaps not. Remember the money in Vegas is made at the hotels, bars, clubs and casinos, its not made at the airport. Why should airport slots be enticingly loose? Oh I'm sure they comply with all laws and regulations but the concession-owner knows no one is ever going to come back just to sit at the airport and feed quarters in all day long!

The video poker is also very stingy at the airport. As I recall, they are set to the lowest settings available, returning about 97% with optimal strategy.

One should never judge the looseness of slots or video poker from short sittings or how often big jackpots are hit. Those are both functions of variance and volume of play. For video poker, just look at the pay tables. For slots, also look at the video poker tables, which are highly correlated to how generous or stingy the slots are.

not to beat a dead horse because a totally agree that the games at the airport are tight, and on top of that there's no 'players card' for comps or cash backs etc. but it's just been my observation that there seems to be quite a few jackpot type hits for what appears to me to be actually low volume of play. i noticed that almost none of the machines are being played on the arrival side because everyone is rushing to get to the casino, and very few play on the departure side probably because most of them already lost all the money and are going home broke, or are depressed. i wonder what the percentage of 'jackpot' type hits to hours played actually occure at the airport compared to a casino. i know there are alot of variables to consider, but again, just relating my observations based on what little time i try to spend at the airport.

as george wallace says, "i be thinking". (or something like that) :)

I would also have to imagine that supermarket and gas station slot machines pay just as bad, if not worse, if the video poker pay tables are any indication.

i have said this on other threads but I just played 90 minutes of slots during a layover and won $85 in profit. I put in a $20 eight times and hit the bonus wheel before I ground through my $20 each time.

Perhaps this new owner has made them looser? Why not? He'll still be making a profit and entices people to gamble while they are waiting instead of reading a book or something "productive"

In 2005, my ran off the plane and won $1200 at an airport slot. It was
gone 2 hours later, needless to say.

I'm actually four for four as Nevada airports in the last two months even with stingy pay tables. $500 in DDB, two sets of 4 deuces for $250 and another 4 aces win for $200.

Quote: pacomartin

The man that owns the slot concession is Michael Gaughan who owns the South Point Hotel and Casino.

Southpoint is also known as Sweat Point for its generous attitude to card counters at even a five dollar table! As well as its generous attitude towards craps players with its 2x odds. And of course, its overall attitude throughout the casino of we don't sing, we don't dance and we don't chat! You put money in the little circle and we deal cards to you, you want conversation, go get it elsewhere.

Given the attitude at Sweat Point towards anyone who bets higher when the deck is favorable to them or who tries to chat with a dealer, just how generous should one expect his airport slot concession to be?

Oh, don't get me wrong. SouthPoint is well lit, has no party pit, has no 6:5 BJ at all, has large, clean rooms and is overall a well-run casino aimed at the middle-aged, middle-class types who are there to gamble. It has several good aspects to it. Its just that generosity is not likely to be high on its list. When it "loosened" ten percent of its slot machines with newly installed chips, it sure got alot of milelage on the publicity so the real value was the "sizzle" not the "steak". Given all this I would expect the slot area at the airport to be actually consistent with its reputation as the lowest in town but still well within the range of what would be termed a fair gamble rather than some rip-off slot joint that sticks to the legal minimum of 75 percent. I'm sure his stats are fair, just not generous or impressive. He has a captive audience and waiting for a rental car clerk is a frustrating experience so having the slots nearby can be very profitable for him, but there simply is no slot club or anything approaching a relationship with the customer. Zillions of impulsive people are passing through. So why set the machines high?

Does anyone know in what category the Gaming Board lists his slot concession?

Quote: FleaStiff

Does anyone know in what category the Gaming Board lists his slot concession?

If you're referring to just the airport, it's lumped in with the strip casinos.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

If you're referring to just the airport, it's lumped in with the strip casinos.

Wow. I sure didn't know that. I wonder how much it alters certain stats about casino win rate and stuff like that?

I mean if the Airport Slot Concession is lumped in with Strip Casinos then these various win percentages categorized as The Strip, The Boulder Strip, Downtown and North Las Vegas might have some problems. We know there are so few licensees in North Las Vegas that if one slot machine sneezes, the statistics can jump either way. The Strip casinos was, to me anyway, a category that included some upscale mega resorts as well as decidedly downscale places such as Circus Circus and The Riviera. However, I never knew the stats reported for The Strip automatically included this known Low Value, the Airport Slot Concession. Now I don't know if the figures are significantly shifted because of this. After all it is just one reporting point, but it seems to have emotional impact and the figures just might be significant.

I wonder if we took the casino win rate for various slot denominations and re-cast the figures kicking out all airport results, would we get something extremely different or only mildly so?

Quote: FleaStiff

Wow. I sure didn't know that.

Ya gotta pay more attention.

I'm sure I read that in some thread here, probably in one of Paco's posts.

For the record, on a purely geographical standpoint, it does make sense that the airport is part of the strip. Particularly since some casinos that are thought of as off-strip are also tabulated as being part of the strip numbers. I.E. Unless I'm mistaken, Hard Rock and Palms are in the strip totals too.

Paco, care to confirm?

>For the record, on a purely geographical standpoint, it does make sense that the airport is part of the strip.
Okay, but what is the numerical impact on "The Stats" of including the perennial lowest payout place on those Strip Casino Win Rate figures?

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And, as I recall, the place is upfront about comps at a lower rate for VP than for other slots. So I'd say that overall its a fair and honest gamble but not generous or tolerating people who raise their betting levels. That 2x at craps is revealing. I would think his airport slots are quite low but not hideously so.
Consider the Blackjack... its ALL 3:2 at South Point but they back off counters at even a low minimum table.
Frankly, a no-chat place has a certain attraction. I'm not saying its evil. 6:5 is evil.

I just think his airport slots are a special case and I'd wonder if they should be yanked out of the figures for the overall stats.

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Airport Video Poker (at the machines I won money at that I took pictures of):

Deuces: 1-2-2-3-4-10-15-25-200-800 $250 (.25) (Airport) - Return is 94.82%. Win $250
DDB: 1-1-3-4-5-6-50-80-160-160-400-50-800 $500 (.25) Airport -- 94.66%. Won $500
Super Bonus Deuces wild: 1-2-2-3-4-6-8-20-160-200-400-800 $250 (.25) Airport - Return is 95.61%. Won $250

Not 85%, but certainly not anything close to 100%.

Quote: boymimbo

Airport Video Poker: Not 85%, but certainly not anything close to 100%.

So maybe those with precise data can chime in and show other Strip properties rates on these types of VP machines but it looks like its just a few percentage points off from what might be expected. So no real gouging going on at least as regards Video Poker machines.

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VPfree2.com has odds for all casinos. 98.01 Bonus Poker seems to be the best consistent bet on the strip. There's some $1 99.54% JOB at the Cosmopolitan. But otherwise not much going on.

Quote: gofaster87

Why should they be yanked out of the stats? The Tropicana, along with a few other strip properties, has the equivalent, if not worse, vp pay tables. Im sure the slots are on par for percentage with other small casinos.

Perhaps I've given undue strength to the persistent rumors about how bad the slots at the airport are. Its sort of like that "Never take insurance" that everyone parrots in Vegas. It doesn't mean they really know precisely how bad it is or why it is bad, its merely something they've heard and feel comfortable parroting. Well, I've heard, quite often, that the airport slot concession is bad. Now I certainly will admit that if its not much different than The Tropicana or The Riviera then there is indeed no good reason for dropping it from the stats.

I just don't think of the airport slots as " a strip casino " and IF the slots are an extreme outlier then kicking them out of the stats "average" might make sense, but only IF. No matter how bad the slots are at the airport, if they approximate what they are at some other casinos, then they should indeed stay in the stats.