Years ago, it was generally known that the best slots were usually located in high-traffic areas - next to the main aisles or near the front entrance - where the greatest number of people would notice the flashing lights and ringing bells of a jackpot winner. Many old-time slot players remember that advice and still seek out machines in those locations. Times have changed, however.
Today, most slot managers place their loosest machines where the greatest number of slot players will see and hear them when they pay off. The idea is to motivate the serious slot players so they will keep feeding their machines in the hope that the next big jackpot will be theirs. Consequently, they locate the loose slots next to change booths, on elevated carousels, and anyplace in the center of the slot area where plenty of slot players will notice them when they pay off. Whenever loose slots are placed in a straight row of machines,

they are usually one of the first three machines from either end, and never in the middle.
However, not all machines in these locations will be loose because there are always far fewer loose slots than tight ones. In fact, a typical ratio is 5 to 10 percent loose, 30 to 40 percent tight, with the remainder being midrange. The best you can do is find the general area where most of the loose machines are likely to be.
Sometimes the managers also put a few loose slots within sight of the patrons in cafes and coffee shops (but not where the entrance line forms) to encourage players not to dally over their coffee, but to get back to their machines. Keep in mind, however, that tight slots always flank a loose slot, even though the machines appear to be identical. This is done to thwart those people who like to play two side-by-side machines simultaneously.

Avoid playing slot machines in places other than casinos. Machines located in stores, laundromats, restaurants, and airports are known to be poor payers.
It is almost as important to know where the tight machines are likely to be placed by the slot manager, so you can avoid them. Anywhere people stand in lines waiting to get into buffets or shows are prime locations for tight machines.

Those people will kill time by idly dropping coins into the machines without really expecting to win - and they won’t. Because many table-game players are distracted and annoyed by the constant clatter of coins, the areas surrounding the table games (especially baccarat and roulette) are populated with tight machines. The same is true of areas near the sports site. In fact, any location where the noise of slot machines would disturb nonslot players is apt to have predominately tight machines.

Finally, you must assume that all slot machines located outside of casinos, such as in convenience stores, grocery stores, laundromats, airports, bars, and restaurants, are very tight. In fact, they are probably the tightest machines in town. And remember you are nothing to worry if you play in an online casino!

Thus, the casino is charging you an average of 5 percent (over the long run) for the privilege of playing its machine. That is, for every dollar you risk, the casino keeps a nickel. That doesn’t sound too bad, but in many cases the charge can be 10 percent, or even 20 percent. The only thing that keeps this number from getting completely out of hand is the competition between casinos.

In the old days, by adjusting the number of symbols on the reels and by changing the payoff combinations, a slot machine could be made to pay back any desired percentage. Today, the payback is adjusted by changing a chip in the microprocessor, a procedure generally done at the slot machine factory.

The payback usually ranges from 80 percent to 99 percent, except in New Jersey where by law slots have to pay back at least 83 percent. Keep in mind that these numbers are long-term averages. Machines that are set to the lower end of the range are considered to be tight, while those at the upper end are liberal or loose.

In most major gaming jurisdictions, the average paybacks actually range from around 90 to 98 percent. Historically, the highest-paying machines have always been in Nevada, where Reno/Tahoe and North Las Vegas are usually the best, with downtown Las Vegas not far behind. The average paybacks on the Las Vegas strip run neck in neck with the smallest jurisdictions such as those in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Illinois. Atlantic City, taking advantage of the largest population center in the United States, trails behind by one or two points.

The average paybacks also vary according to the machine denomination. The more you are willing to risk, the more the casino is willing to give back. When a player switches to a higher denomination, the casino makes more money and can afford to give more of it back. The following chart shows the approximate average paybacks in Nevada for the year 2005 (rounded to the nearest point):

The penny and nickel games still have the poorest payback, but that is beginning to change. Even on the penny progressives - yes, they have penny progressives - a wager of three hundred to five hundred pennies ($3 to $5) is usually required to qualify for the top jackpot. Consequently, many casinos don’t treat these any differently than their other progressives.
Only a few years ago, the average for nickel payback was less than 90 percent. Penny and nickel machines have changed dramatically with the pro¬liferation of forty-five- and ninety-credit video games.

The average bet per spin on a forty-five-coin nickel game is over a dollar, which makes these games more profitable for the casino than the quarter machines. Consequently, some casinos have been raising the paybacks on nickel games higher than their quarter slots. And before long, it is expected that the average payback for nickel games will exceed the quarter, and maybe even the half-dollar machines.

Unlike video poker, however, there is no sure way to tell which slot machines are the best. The posted payout schedule on the machine is of little help without knowing how the microprocessor chip is programmed. Most players are not privy to this information.