Casino Win Rates

 

Best Slots/Video Poker in Las Vegas

Boulder Highway casinos

 

Best Table Games in Las Vegas

No Favorites

 

Best Sports/Race Books, Keno and Bingo in Las Vegas

Downtown and North Vegas

 

 

The Nevada Gaming Control Board (the Board) releases the casino win rates for various games in mid to late February but not in a user friendly fashion. We try to make it easier to make sense of the numbers. If you are not clear about win rates versus the casino edge or advantage over the players, please see our Gaming Analysis Details section. When casinos win more, it means you lose more.

For most Slot and Video Poker players, the best casinos are those along Boulder Highway which include Boulder Station, Arizona Charlie's (East), Sam's Town, Cannery East, etc. Casino executives indicate that video poker is about 2 full percentage points lower win rate for the casinos. If there is a slight difference between areas within Clark County it might be due to more video poker than slots in the mix.

However, the difference between the Boulder properties and those on the Strip and even Downtown seem large enough to conclude that Boulder is better. Actually, since the North Vegas casinos are also locals favorites, it might be more accurate to state that the Locals know best.

It is generally suspected that the stingiest or tightest machines are the small denomination games such as the Penny and Nickel machines and the progressive jackpots such as Megabucks. As the bet size increases, the machines are rumored to be looser or more generous. These rumors are generally true except for the locals casinos where higher denomination machines are not always looser.

 

The Board divides up Nevada by counties and by dollar segments.  There are 181 non-restricted (15 slots+) gaming entities in all of Clark County.  23 on the Strip have wins of $72M+ (which we have nicknamed the Big Strip).  Downtown has 20, North Vegas 12, and there are 34 gaming places up and down Boulder Highway (which we call Boulder). Lowest casino win rates for each denomination are in bold.

 

• Clark County is a large area encompassing Vegas, Downtown, etc.
• Nevada Gaming Control Board has multiple breakdowns but we only show 5.
• Other are the dime, 50 cents and $500 slots, etc. The Board does not release the win rates on this category to the public. What you see are our estimates.

Here are the win rates for the Clark County casinos for the table games which the Board includes with the room games but we break out separately. Note that some games that seem like a low casino advantage game can become much worse for the player if they have special side bets such as a 2 card combination in Blackjack or any progressive jackpot type of bet.

The Vegas casinos win at Baccarat and Blackjack is not that huge but otherwise really nail you at the table games (or else bettors chase high payoff very low probability bets in games such as craps). With proper play, Blackjack, Baccarat and Craps have a smaller advantage for the Vegas casinos--even better than video poker.  Since the rule differences slightly favor

 

Downtown casino win rate for Blackjack would be expected lower due to more player friendly rules but caliber of player, amount of cards dealt out (penetration), etc. can affect win rates.  We can't conclude that any particular area is better than another for table games.

 

Some games are not played on tables but take place in a room with other bettors. We don't consider these table games but a different category unlike the Nevada Gaming Control Board which lumps them in with table games.

Keno is one of the most favorable games for the casino but some bettors can't resist the lottery aspect. Race books in Vegas are roughly the same as the pari-mutuel parlors elsewhere in the U.S. although technically they have half the actual pari-mutuel take but charge for broadcast rights and other fees that make it seem similar to everywhere else.

 

See our Vegas Sports books discussion for more information about the multiple betting lines which make Downtown favorable for Sports bettors.  If you walk fast enough you can shop for better lines at the Downtown casinos.

A small casino edge exists against the sports bettors and for some sports (maybe not pro football anymore) knowledgeable gamblers can make a living off the casinos. However, the single game with the least amount of preparation and training needed for a tiny casino advantage is Bingo!

 

If you go to the Boulder Highway or North Las Vegas casinos, you could actually be playing with an expected edge although the game has a lottery aspect to it, that is, a few big winners and many who are only 1 (number) away. If you want to minimize losses with the least amount of work, grab your daubers!