NYC's Aqueduct is highest grossing slots

Resorts World Casino generated nearly $630 million in revenue over the last 12 months from electronic slot machines, more than the slots at any of the 12 casinos in Atlantic City or at Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. The average income from an electronic slot machine is more than $370 a day, compared with $169 for slots on the Strip in Las Vegas.

The success of the casino, the only one in the five boroughs of New York, suggests that no matter how luxurious the accommodations or exciting the entertainment, nothing appeals more to gamblers than a casino that is nearby.

NYTimes.

Heh, I don't know why I had this thought first, but I hope they turn down the sound on those machines, otherwise that must be one hell of racket going on all day.

Quote: FleaStiff

Resorts World Casino generated nearly $630 million in revenue over the last 12 months from electronic slot machines, more than the slots at any of the 12 casinos in Atlantic City or at Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. The average income from an electronic slot machine is more than $370 a day, compared with $169 for slots on the Strip in Las Vegas.

The success of the casino, the only one in the five boroughs of New York, suggests that no matter how luxurious the accommodations or exciting the entertainment, nothing appeals more to gamblers than a casino that is nearby.

Well, Pennsylvania and New York are controlling the number of slot machines to produce those kind of per machine numbers. It makes it much easier to tax at a huge rate. I would modify the above conclusion to say "slot players" instead of "gamblers".

Pennsylvania 26,785 slots earned an average of $255.24 per day per machine last year, but the 1600 slots at Sugarhouse in downtown Philadelphia made $328.49 per day per machine. The PA state gambling tax on these machines is 55%, and it is 60% in NY.

Slot revenue in the state of Pennsylvania is $1.37 per household per day. If it was spread evenly, it would probably be dwarfed by money spent on candy. Clearly some of the revenue is coming from New Jersey and Ohio (but much of the out of state gambler's money is spent on table games and poker).

In contrast just the Vegas strip has 46,981 machines with 35,990 of them in the 23 major casinos. While the $169 quoted in the article is accurate it is really $90 per machine day at the small casinos and $192 at the major casinos. The state of Nevada taxes these machines at less than 7%.

In contrast the 4,525 slot machines at aqueduct in a city of over 8 million is pretty insignificant. The projections were for well over $400 per machine day.

Quote: pacomartin

I would modify the above conclusion to say "slot players" instead of "gamblers".

Yes, quite true. Then again, for many casinos gamblers are slot players. For years Slots of Fun had only its token craps table. All of those very profitable Dottys have only slot machines. I understand that originally slots were looked down upon by the real gamblers that built Vegas and Reno but never quite looked down upon by the green eye shade types. Now slots are no longer something a man's wife or bimbo does while he plays craps. Slots are often the major profit center of a casino.

Tax rates: I doubt there is much difference between fifty-five and sixty percent, but there is a hell of a whopping difference between those numbers and seven percent taxation. We will see what this means for growth although the 55 and 60 percent states seem to want casino growth to be mainly a legislature issue.

As far as I know those machines at Aqueduct are VLT machines . Video Lottery Terminqals. Same goes for all the RACINOS in the State of New York. It`s a lottery like scratch off tickets.

I think those are known as class 3 ... but the question is do slot players really know or care?

I drive by Aqueduct (50 minutes away) to get to AC (3.5 hours away) because they are VLTs, and because we enjoy the whole experience of dining, gaming, drinking, service and a free room. Also, it's always so damn crowded(why they yield so much per machine per day). And if you don't like the clientele in Ballys AC (discussed recently) you are certainly not going to like what you find at Aqueduct or Yonkers, especially on the 1st of the month when the free money arrives in the mail.

Quote: NickyDim

I drive by Aqueduct (50 minutes away) to get to AC (3.5 hours away) because they are VLTs, and because we enjoy the whole experience of dining, gaming, drinking, service and a free room.

In ten years NY gamblers may be ignorant of such things.

Quote: NickyDim

And if you don't like the clientele in Ballys AC (discussed recently) you are certainly not going to like what you find at Aqueduct or Yonkers, especially on the 1st of the month when the free money arrives in the mail.

So if the dregs of society remain in NYC then AC might boom again, just as OTB relieved bookies of those nuisance two-dollar bettors.

In order to make $370 per day if a machine is played steadily for 24 hours you have to make an average of $15.417 per hour. Assuming a 5% win rate that is $308.33 played per hour or $0.085648 per second or $0.428 every 5 seconds.

Now most penny slot players playing 15 lines times 3 cents per line are playing 45 cents every 5 seconds. So it is not an extraordinary amount of play. And there are many slot players putting much more than that.

So basically we are saying that the slot machines are not sitting empty most of the time (like they are in Vegas).

Quote: pacomartin

So basically we are saying that the slot machines are not sitting empty most of the time (as they are in Vegas).

Okay. Why do slot machines in Vegas sit empty most of the time? Insufficient visitors, over supply of machines, a radical difference between customers in Vegas and customers in NYC?

Quote: FleaStiff

Okay. Why do slot machines in Vegas sit empty most of the time? Insufficient visitors, over supply of machines, a radical difference between customers in Vegas and customers in NYC?

All of the above. Not to mention that there are other, non-gambling activities available in Vegas.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Not to mention that there are other, non-gambling activities available in Vegas.

So it remains to be seen if the recent trend towards Nightclubs, Dayclubs, Beachclubs, Restaurants, Ferris Wheels, etc. is wise or not. Perhaps its a way to segregate out the Hedonists from the cheap, compulsive slot pullers. The Hedonists may not gamble all that much but at least they have the money to do so from time to time.

Resorts World NYC is closed 4am-8am,
Open twenty hours a day...

But I agree with the above point about revenue.
Machines are VLT, you might as well be telling most players its a BLT,
blank stare, return to machine.
Can't really say there are not other things to do in NYC,
maybe just not in ozone park, queens

Quote: FleaStiff

I think those are known as class 3 ... but the question is do slot players really know or care?

Mrs and I went to a NY casino, and I can't explain it other than to say that the machines feel different. It was a few years ago, and we didn't go back, so I can't be more helpful. They didn't feel as random, I guess. I know it's just the difference in where and how the result is calculated, but it felt different, and at the time we weren't really aware that they were class 3 machines.

Quote: Mosca

at the time we weren't really aware that they were class 3 machines.

I think you mean Class II. Class III machines are the truly random ones, like what you would find in Vegas, AC, Biloxi, and Connecticut.

Quote: JB

I think you mean Class II. Class III machines are the truly random ones, like what you would find in Vegas, AC, Biloxi, and Connecticut.

Class II is an Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) distinction. It refers to EGM games based on bingo and which are allowed to be played in Native American casinos without a tribal-state compact. Class III is defined as everything other than Class II (or Class I, which is ceremonial gaming for little or no value). Notably, video pull-tab games are Class III according to the District Court decision in Cabazon v. NIGA (1993).

The point is, a state government doesn't need to be concerned with the language in the IGRA. State legislatures (and sometimes, by proxy, state gaming commissions) get to make their own rules for what's allowed and what's not.

I recognize it's a common misconception that VLT = Class II, but "Class II" has a specific Federal definition while what constitutes a "VLT" is defined on a state-by-state basis. Not all VLTs are based on a central-determinant system (e.g. Oregon).

Quote: FleaStiff

Okay. Why do slot machines in Vegas sit empty most of the time? Insufficient visitors, over supply of machines, a radical difference between customers in Vegas and customers in NYC?

The number of machines in Nevada is not controlled by regulation, only by business finance. You can buy as many machines as you want, as long as you think it is cost effective. So Clark County has 61.5K machines that brought in $2.507 billion in the last 12 months (ending Aug 31, 2012). The Nevada casinos are highly competitive and they don't want to miss a busy weekend, or to scare away customers who can't find the machine they want.

Pennsylvania regulated the number of slot machines permitted in the state by law. The casinos are protected largely from competing with each other by the mandatory distances. With 26.8K machines, they brought in $2.477 billion in the last fiscal year (ending June 30, 2012). But that figure won't change radically year over year. The previous year there were 26.4K machines at the end of the year that brought in $2.347 billion. The slightly smaller revenue is primarily because Sugar House wasn't open for the first 10 weeks of the year, and Valley Forge only opened this year.

The casinos in PA are much more motivated to develop table games and poker where the tax rate is radically lower.

Quote: FleaStiff

Okay. Why do slot machines in Vegas sit empty most of the time? Insufficient visitors, over supply of machines, a radical difference between customers in Vegas and customers in NYC?

Because in all of NYC there are roughly 4,500 slots....for 8 MILLION people....there are 45,000 slots in vegas....so you'd need 80 million people to have the same ratio. Of course NY is busier per machine.