We are afraid you’ve been misinformed. "In Nevada, gaming licensees are allowed to adjust their machines’ payout percentages on their own," writes Karl Bennison, chief of the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s Enforcement division. "The programs used in the gaming devices have to be approved and they have to remain set within the allowable range for payback, which is no less than a theoretical payout of 75% of all amounts wagered. The Enforcement division checks machines' payback percentages as part of an investigation, and our Technology division conducts inspections at casinos to make sure machines are running approved software."
In Mississippi, according to the Web site of that state’s gaming commission, a slot machine "Must theoretically pay out a mathematically demonstrable percentage of all amounts wagered, which must not be less than eighty percent (80%) or greater than one hundred percent (100%) for each wager available for play on the device. Gaming devices that may be affected by player skill must meet this standard when using a method of play that will provide the greatest return to the player over a period of continuous play."
"Most of them [casinos] set the jackpot," said a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. "We have regulations that require at least an 85% payout," a number confirmed by Director of Communications Doug Harbach. Each machine is metered and grosses are counted as the amount played, less the amount paid out.
Slots are slightly looser in Atlantic City. "We have an 83% minimum return," said New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement spokeswoman Lisa Spengler. There are highly technical exemptions. If you’ve a high tolerance for regulatory verbiage read here: For instance, "Each game within-a-game shall satisfy the 83 percent minimum payout requirement independently of the of the metering of the primary slot machine game, and the meters for the primary slot machine game shall be inclusive of all game-within-a-game activity."
In Illinois, slot payouts can range from 70% and 100%. "We monitor it. That’s pretty much it," says Illinois Gaming Board spokesman Gene O’Shea. "If they’re going to change it, they have to let us know." And so forth.
Of course, tribal casinos are exempt from regulations such as these, because they sit on sovereign land, exempt from state regulation.
That’s just a random cross-section but we hope it answers your question satisfactorily.
