Best casinos for slots on Strip?

My wife and her sister love to play slots and I stay away from them. Where do you serious slot players suggest I send them to have their best shot at winning (or losing the least) on the Strip? We will be staying downtown and the strip for my wife's birthday next month. We know the machines downtown but it would be nice to suggest a place they might have a better chance at on the Strip.

This is not easy to answer. Everyone on this site probably has their own opinions and those opinions will contradict anothers opinion. For me, I do well at Ceasar's properties (Harrahs, Planet Hollywood and Ceasar's to be exact). I do not do well at MGM, NYNY, or Paris. I have done OK at Venetian and Palazzo (others will tell you to steer clear of those). It all is about where you are comfortable playing and if you are hitting. So casino hopping may be the way to go. Good luck!

Jennifer

It's a difficult question to answer definitively because the public published data isn't broken out by casino in Nevada, only by area. If you put a gun to my head, I'd say Casino Royale, but that would strictly be a guess. If you must play slots for serious money on the Strip, I would suggest either finding a machine that has a guaranteed payout percentage listed, or just pick the one you like the best for other reasons.

I would suggest they look for their favorite machines and play what feels right. To answer your question, I don't feel there's any place that gives you a better chance over another.

The publicly published information about machines lists over and over again a higher overall return in Downtown LV versus the Strip! And so saying that there is a better chance to win on the Strip versus Downtown is contradicted by the published information.

But having said that, it could be that smaller places (maybe like Casino Royale or Hooters or Terribles -- which is near the Strip) which are not majorly corporately owned ones could offer a better slot machine return than the ones owned by the MGM-Mirage-Mandalay Bay Group or Caesars Entertainment (formerly Harrah's) Connected casinos.

I mention this because it is possible that these smaller casinos do not have as high of an overhead to deal with than the bigger places do and so maybe they can more afford putting out at least some machines with a higher percentage return.

RecVPPlayer

To help put things into perspective, in June, I lost the most playing slots and VP, some of it optimal pay, at Sunset Station and GVR. I had more luck playing at Caesars than any strip property. The friend I traveled with also lost at the local places and did the best playing at Caesars. We both lost at Bally's. I also lost at PHo and Bellagio, broke even at MGM Grand, and won $1 and change at M. My experience doesn't mirror any statistics so I recommend playing one's favorite machines at locations that feel right.

The best thing I can say about strip slots is don't play the slots on the strip. I know that answer is not the answer you were seeking, but it is the best advice I can give you if you really want a chance to win. Granted, one could get lucky but don't count on it.

If I wanted to lose money on slots I'd stay in CT at our casinos instead of spending $$ on Vegas Strip. RecVpPlayer is right - just with slots in consideration, go elsewhere. But if you like the Strip for everything else it offers, just enjoy and expect to take finacial lumps.

Where are you staying?
Play there and get the slot club benefits (comps) for your play.
That's the only sure thing there is.