Casinos Can Mess With Slots And We Don't Care, But Here's A Better Idea
A study by Anthony Lucas and A.K. Singh found that slot players don't care about the percentage of their money they get back from the machines. Casinos make up to 80% of the revenue from slots. The House Edge And Play Time: Do Industry Heuristics Fairly Describe This Relationship was published in the UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal. It's a study that caught the attention of casino executives around the world.
According to the study, the higher the casino’s take on an individual slot machine, a gambler spends twice as much time with a slot that pays out 95% vs. one that does at a 90%. The research shows that lowering the payout will not result in players playing less, but will result with casinos winning more. The worst part about the slot experience is the opaque, bordering on blacked-out, nature of the payouts.
Casinos should educate their customers about the expected payback of playing slots. It's an open secret that sportsbooks are courting America’s sports bettors to become America's casino gamblers. The industry should be better and tell people up front what the payout is. This would attract casual players. The current system is not working. There are some games with 98%+ paybacks but smaller big wins. Other games have less than 90% payoff but with big jackpots. They should advertise the difference. If they do, they would gain more customers. i.e. more casual gamers.