Oklahoma Slot Machine Payout Laws
Introduction to Washington Slot Machine Casino Gambling in 2020
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Washington slot machine casino gambling consists of 31 tribal casinos with a unique type of electronic player terminal based on scratch tickets controlled by a state-wide Tribal Lottery System (TLS).
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All state-tribal compacts set a minimum theoretical payout limit. However, no return statistics are publicly available.
This post continues my weekly State-By-State Slot Machine Casino Gambling Series, an online resource dedicated to guiding slot machine casino gambler to success. Now in its third year, each weekly post reviews slots gambling in a single U.S. state, territory, or federal district.
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Relevant Legal Statutes on Gambling in Washington*
The minimum legal gambling age in Washington depends upon the gambling activity:
- Land-Based Casinos: 18/21 depending upon the casino
- Poker Rooms: 18
- Bingo: 18
- Lottery: 18
- Pari-Mutuel Wagering: 18
Washington’s player terminals at tribal casinos are based on the lottery’s scratch ticket games in electronic form. This unique form of slot machines makes Washington slot machines unique in the U.S. All other U.S.-based lottery terminals are based on draw lotteries, not from lotteries other game: scratch tickets.
Twenty-nine tribes originally negotiated tribal-state compacts to offer gambling at tribal casinos. However, the state and these tribes could not agree whether Vegas-style slot machines should be legal in Washington.
Scratch-based gaming machines resulted from early negotiations of these gaming compacts. This impasse resolution led to creating a secondary lottery system for player terminals at tribal casinos. The state lottery was a model for the TLS.
Draw-based terminals create tickets at the time of the bet using random number generators (RNGs). However, scratch-based terminals know in advance the result of each wager. Put another way, the outcome of each bet is pre-determined and do not require an RNG.
Another technical difference between lottery draw tickets and scratch tickets is how many of them can exist. For example, there are as many draw tickets as players are willing to buy. However, lotteries create only a limited number of scratch tickets but, hopefully, enough for a busy night at a Washington tribal casino.
All negotiated tribal-state compacts also have other legal restrictions for their scratch-based terminal-style slot machines. These limits have been expanding over time as part of this state’s dynamic gaming industry. The requirements are:
- Allows replaying of credits won
- No handles
- No mechanical spinning wheels
- A minimum payout return (see below)
- $5 maximum wager on 85% on VLTs
- $20 maximum wager on 15% of VLTs
- Cap of 2,500 VLT machines per tribe
*The purpose of this section is to inform the public of state gambling laws and how the laws might apply to various forms of gaming. It is not legal advice.
Slot Machine Private Ownership in Washington
It is legal to own a slot machine privately in the state of Washington if it is 25 years old or older.
Gaming Control Board in Washington
The gaming control board is the Washington State Gambling Commission offering licensing, regulation, and enforcement of certain aspects of the gaming industry in Washington. Their regulatory responsibilities primarily include testing and approving new electronic gaming machines.
Further, each tribe with a casino in Washington has a tribal gaming agency (TGA). Agents of a TGA are the primary regulators at tribal casinos. At all times, at least one TGA agent must be on duty at a tribal casino.
Casinos in Washington
There are 31 American Indian tribal casinos and multiple cruise ships based in the state of Washington.
The largest casino in Washington is Muckleshoot Casino with 3,125 electronic gaming terminals.
The second-largest casino is Ilani Casino Resort with 2,500 electronic gaming terminals.
Commercial Casinos in Washington
The state of Washington has no commercial casinos with slot machines.
Tribal Casinos in Washington
The state of Washington has 31 tribal casinos:
- Angel of the Winds Casino Resort in Arlington, 50 miles north of Seattle
- BJ’s Bingo & Gaming in Fife near Tacoma
- Chewelah Casino in Chewelah, 50 miles north of Spokane
- Coulee Dam Casino in Coulee Dam, 40 miles north of Seattle, owned by 12 Tribes Colville Casinos
- Elwha River Casino in Port Angeles, 70 miles northwest of Seattle
- Emerald Queen Casino & Hotel (EQC) in Fife near Tacoma
- Emerald Queen Casino (EQC) I-5 in Tacoma
- Ilani Casino Resort in Ridgefield, 25 miles north of Portland near the border to Oregon
- Kalispel Casino in Cusick, 53 miles north of Spokane
- Little Creek Casino Resort in Shelton, 23 miles north of Olympia
- Lucky Dog Casino in Skokomish, 23 miles north of Olympia
- Lucky Eagle Casino & Hotel in Rochester, 26 miles south of Olympia
- Mill Bay Casino in Manson, 200 miles northeast of Seattle on the north shore of Lake Chelan, owned by 12 Tribes Colville Casinos
- Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn, 20 miles south of Seattle
- Nooksack Northwood Casino in Lynden, 14 miles north of Bellingham
- Northern Quest Resort & Casino in Airway Heights, 10 miles west of Spokane
- The Point Casino in Kingston, 18 miles west of Seattle via Bainbridge Ferry
- Quil Ceda Creek Nightclub & Casino in Quil Ceda Village, 30 miles north of Seattle
- Quinault Beach Resort and Casino in Ocean Shores, 90 miles west of Tacoma
- Red Wind Casino in Olympia
- 7 Cedars Casino in Sequim, 70 miles northwest of Seattle by ferry
- Shoalwater Bay Casino in Tokeland, 75 miles southwest of Olympia
- Silver Reef Casino Resort in Ferndale, 17 miles north of Bellingham
- Skagit Valley Casino Resort in Bow, 75 miles north of Seattle
- Snoqualmie Casino in Snoqualmie, 30 miles east of Seattle
- Spokane Tribe Casino in Airway Heights, 9 miles west of Spokane
- Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort in Suquamish, 15 miles west of Seattle via Bainbridge Ferry
- Swinomish Casino & Lodge in Anacortes, 70 miles north of Seattle
- Tulalip Casino in Quil Ceda Village, 30 miles north of Seattle
- 12 Tribes Casino in Omak, 165 miles northeast of Seattle, owned by 12 Tribes Colville Casinos
- Yakama Legends Casino in Toppenish, 20 miles south of Yakama
Other Gambling Establishments
As an alternative to enjoying Washington slot machine casino gambling, consider exploring casino options in a nearby state. Bordering Washington is:
- North: The Canadian Province of British Columbia
- East: Idaho Slots
- South: Oregon Slots
- West: The Pacific Ocean
Each of the links above will take you to my blog for that neighboring U.S. state to Washington.
Our Washington Slots Facebook Group
Are you interested in sharing and learning with other slots enthusiasts in Washington? If so, join our Washington slots community on Facebook. All you’ll need is a Facebook profile to join this closed Facebook Group freely.
There, you’ll be able to privately share your slots experiences as well as chat with players about slots gambling in Washington. Join us!
Payout Returns in Washington
The TLS directly controls the results of Washington’s unique terminal-style slot machines. TLS’ central computer system provides the outcome of each bet made on each terminal at the time of the wager. This off-site control extends to any bonus rounds.
All tribal-state compacts in Washington established a minimum theoretical payout of 75% for slot machines. Further, no return statistics for slots are available to the public.
Summary of Washington Slot Machine Casino Gambling in 2020
Washington slot machine casino gambling consists of 31 tribal casinos with electronic scratch ticket video player terminal slot machines. The state-run Tribal Lottery System (TLS) controls the results of all bets offsite from the tribal casinos.
Tribal-state compacts have set a minimum theoretical payout of 75% for their unique terminal-style electronic slot machines. No return statistics are available to the public.
Annual Progress in Washington Slot Machine Casino Gambling
Over the last year, Tulalip Resort Casino with its 2,400 gaming machines has dropped from second largest casino to third largest, replaced by Ilani Casino Resort with its 2,500 gaming machines.
Further, two tribal casinos have opened within the last year, including Kalispel Casino in Cusick located 53 miles north of Spokane and Spokane Tribe Casino located in Airway Heights a few miles west of Spokane.
Related Articles from Professor Slots
Other State-By-State Articles from Professor Slots
- Previous: Virginia Slot Machine Casino Gambling
- Next: West Virginia Slot Machine Casino Gambling
Have fun, be safe, and make good choices!
By Jon H. Friedl, Jr. Ph.D., President
Jon Friedl, LLC
Some people might want to know how to find the payout percentage on a slot machine. Sadly, it’s not something that’s printed on most games — at least not here in the United States.
This post is for them.
Understanding this topic involves some rudimentary understanding of probability as it relates to casino gambling. You’ll need to understand three separate concepts thoroughly:
- Payback percentage
- House edge
- Return to player
This post explains each of those in enough detail that even a beginner should understand what they mean.
Some Basic Facts Related to Probability, the House Edge, Payback Percentage, and Return to Player
Probability is the branch of mathematics that deals with how likely an event is to happen. If you want to measure how likely you are to win a jackpot on a slot machine, probability is the way to figure that out.
But the word also refers directly to that likelihood.
In other words, if I say the probability of getting heads when I flip a coin is 50%, I’m not talking about that branch of mathematics. I’m talking about the actual statistical likelihood of that event.
You should understand a few things about probability in general.
Probability is always a number between 0 and 1. An event with a probability of 0 will never happen, and an event with a probability of 1 will always happen. The closer to 1 the probability is, the more likely the event is to happen.
Probability can be expressed multiple ways. It can be expressed as a fraction, a decimal, a percentage, or as odds. The probability of getting heads on a coin flip can be expressed as 1/2, 0.5, 50%, or 1 to 1.
An event’s probability is the number of ways it can happen divided by the total number of possible outcomes. When you’re discussing a coin toss, you have two possible outcomes. Only one of those is heads. That makes the probability 1/2.
The probability that an event will occur added to the probability that an event won’t occur always equals 1. Therefore, if you know the probability that something will happen, you also automatically know the probability that it won’t happen, and vice versa.
The house edge is a statistical measure of how much the house expects to win (on average, over the long run) from every bet you make on a game. The house edge is a theoretical number that accounts for the probability of winning versus the probability of losing AND the payout if you win.
All casino games carry a house edge. In the short run, it doesn’t matter much, but in the long run, it’s the most important thing.
If I say a game has a house edge of 4%, this means that over time, you should average a loss of $4 for every $100 you bet on the game. This is a long run statistical average, though. In the short run, you’re unlikely to see results that mirror the house edge.
The return to player and the payback percentage are the same thing. Some writers use one to refer to the statistical expectation and the other to refer to the actual results, but most writers use these terms interchangeably.
The payback percentage added to the house edge always equals 100%. The payback percentage is the amount of each bet that you get back, and the house edge is the amount of each bet that the casino wins. Again, these numbers are on average over the long run.
A game with a 4% house edge has a 96% payback percentage.
In the United States, slot machine payback percentages are impossible to calculate and not posted on gambling machines. To calculate the house edge or the payback percentage for a casino game, you need two pieces of data:
- The probability of winning
- The amount of money you’ll win (the payoff)
Slot machines include their payouts on their pay tables, but they don’t include the probability of achieving any of the winning outcomes.
In some countries, the payback percentage is posted on the machines, but not in the United States.
To make things even worse for a slot machine player, the random number generator program can be set differently even if the slot machine is identical to the one next to it. You could be playing The Big Lebowski slots at Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma, and your buddy could be playing the identical machine right next to you.
Oklahoma Slot Machine Payout Laws
The payback percentage on his machine might be 94%, and the payback percentage on your machine might only be 88%.
The difference comes from how the probabilities are weighted for each symbol. On one game, the bars might show up 1/4 of the time, but on the next, they might only come up 1/8 of the time.
This has an obvious effect on the payback percentage.
The payback percentage would be easy to calculate if you knew the probabilities. The payback percentage is just the total expected value of all the possible outcomes on the machine.
Let’s assume you have 1000 possible reel combinations. Let’s also assume that if you got each of those in order, from 1 to 1000, you’d win 900 coins.
The payback percentage for that game would be 90%.
You’d put 1000 coins in, and you’d have 900 coins left after a statistically perfect sampling of 1000 spins.
If you knew the payback percentage and house edge for a slot machine game, you could predict your theoretical cost of playing that game per hour in the long run. You’d only need to multiply the numbers of bets you made per hour by the size of those bets. Then you’d multiply that by the house edge to get your predicted loss.
Most slots players make 600 spins per hour. Let’s assume you’re playing on a dollar machine and betting three coins on every spin, or $3 per spin. You’re putting $1,800 per hour into action.
If the slot machine had a 90% payback percentage, you’d lose $180 per hour on that machine. You’d have $1,800 at the start of the hour and $1,620 at the end of the hour — assuming you saw statistically predicted results.
In the real world, though, where you’d be seeing short-term results, you’d see some hours where you won and some hours where you lost. If you played long enough, the Law of Large Numbers would ensure that you’d eventually see the statistically predicted results.
But in the long run, the math will ensure that the casino will win a net profit.
How You Could Calculate a Payback Percentage Based on Actual Results
Of course, you have some data that you can directly observe when you’re playing slot machines.
But tracking this data and calculating the payback percentage on a specific session can add to your enjoyment of any slot machine game. It can make you more mindful because you’ll be paying more attention to what’s happening.
Here’s how to do it.
Oklahoma Slot Machine Payout Laws Chart
Start by tracking how many spins you’re making per hour. This is easy to do, but it takes more effort than you might think. It might help to get one of those clicky things people use to count stuff with. You will probably also need a stopwatch of some kind. I just use the timer function on my phone.
Make a note (mental is fine) of how much you’re betting per spin. It helps to bet the same amount.
Also note how much money you started with so that you can calculate how much you’ve won or lost. The slot machine will convert your money into credits. The easiest thing to do is to keep up with how many credits you had at the beginning of the session and again at the end of the session.
Now, let’s do the math using a hypothetical 45-minute session.
I made 300 spins in 45 minutes. I was betting $3 per spin, and I started with $600.
After my playing session, I had $500 left. At times I was up, and at times I was down.
But my net loss was $100. (My starting bankroll was $600, and I finished with $500.)
Over 300 spins, that means I lost an average per spin of 33 cents. $100 in losses divided by 300 spins is 33.33 cents per spin.
How much was I betting per spin?
Since I was playing a $1 machine, and my max bet was three coins, I was risking $3 per spin.
33 cents is 11% of $3, which means my actual loss was 11%. The machine paid back 89% for the session.
Does this mean that the payback percentage for the machine is 89%?
Probably not.
In the scheme of things, 450 spins is a small sample size. To have any confidence in your statistics, you really need to have at least 5,000 spins under your belt.
Even then, depending on how volatile the game is, your actual results might be wildly different from the mathematically expected payback percentage.
Here’s another example that will prove that point.
My friend Leo went to the Winstar last weekend and played the $5 slots. He started with $3,000, and when he left, he had $4,800, which means he had an $1,800 profit for the day.
He played for seven hours.
I’ve watched Leo play. He’s slow, but not much slower than average. He makes about 500 spins per hour.
This means that he made about 3,500 spins.
$1,800 in winnings divided by 3,500 spins is an average win of 51 cents per spin.
Since he was betting $5 per spin, his return was 10.3%.
His actual return for the trip on that slot machine was 110.3%.
I have friends who design slot machines for a living — more than one, in fact. They’ll be happy to tell anyone who asks that the algorithm is never set up to have a payback percentage of more than 100%.
What About the Casinos That Advertise a Specific Payback Percentage?
Some casinos advertise a specific payback percentage. This is almost always stated as an “up to” number.
So you might see an ad for a casino that says, “Payback percentages up to 98%!”
They’re almost certainly telling the truth, too. They probably have one slot machine in their casino that has a payback percentage of 98%. Of course, it isn’t labeled, so you don’t know which one it is.
And in the short run, which is what you’re going to be playing in as an individual gambler, there’s not much difference between a 98% payback percentage and a 92% payback percentage. You could walk away a winner or a loser at either setting.
Also, keep in mind that the games aren’t designed to tighten up after a win and loosen up after a lot of losing spins. That’s not how it works at all.
The machines are designed to allow you to win a certain specific percentage of the time because of the probability. Then there’s an average amount that you’ll win based on the payout for the specific combination of symbols that you hit.
But every spin of the reels on a slot machine is an independent event. You can hit a jackpot on a spin, and your probability of hitting the jackpot on the next spin hasn’t changed at all.
What About the Denominations and Location Reports I See Advertised on the Internet?
You’ll find websites like Strictly Slots and American Casino Guide which post payback percentages for specific denominations and specific casinos. These are AVERAGES.
These averages have little bearing on the machine that you’re sitting in front of.
For example,
you might be looking at a casino that reports an average payback percentage of 94% on its dollar slot machines. That casino might have half their machines paying off at 90% and the other half paying off at 98%.
And you won’t be able to differentiate between the two because the hit ratio might be the same from one of those machines to another.
What Do Hit Ratio and Volatility Have to Do With It?
The hit ratio is the percentage of time that you can expect to hit a winning combination on a slot machine. Something like 30% isn’t unusual, but it can vary 10% or more in either direction. The casinos want you to a hit a winning combination often enough that you won’t lose interest in playing the game.
But hit ratio is only part of the equation. The average size of the prize amounts is also important. Volatility takes this into account. A game that hits less often but has higher average prize amounts might have the same payback percentage as a game that hits more often but with lower payouts.
Either way, in the short run, it will be all but impossible to discover this number, too.
If you wanted to, you could track how many spins resulted in wins for you and calculate the percentage, but you’re facing the same obstacle you are with the overall payback percentage of the machine.
You just don’t know what it’s programmed to accomplish in the long run.
Online Slot Machines
Some online casinos post the payback percentages for their slot machine games. I think this information is of limited use, but I also think it’s fairer to the gambler than not providing them with that information.
After all, table games are transparent. You can calculate the house edge for any casino table game there is because they all use random number generators with known quantities — cards, dice, and wheels.
There’s been a push to label food, both at the grocery store and at restaurants, with nutritional information that includes caloric amounts.
Requiring casinos to provide similar information about their gambling machines only makes sense.
We’ll see if it ever happens, though.
Conclusion
You can’t find the payout percentage on a slot machine — at least not in the United States.
I’ve heard that you can get this information on slot machines in Europe, but I’ve never seen an actual photograph of this kind of labeling.
You can, though, have some fun calculating actual payback percentages in the short run. This at least gives you something to keep track of while you’re playing slots, which is honestly one of the more mindless activities in the casino.