What Are the Hold Percentages for Slot Machines around Nevada?

I like traveling around Nevada (coming from Boston, the wide open spaces are SO inviting) and playing slots (don't hate me). Are the hold percentages on the machines reported to the state? If so, can you tell me what jurisdictions have the lowest hold percentage? I'm guessing Laughlin is lowest, then some out of the way place like Carson City or Elko.

Yes, Nevada breaks out the hold percentages on slot machines by jurisdiction and what's more, the Center for Gaming Research at UNLV has compiled a list of the monthly and annual hold since 2004.

In the executive summary, the UNLV analysts write, "Slot hold has increased, on average, since 2004, and looking at the 11 largest (by revenue) reporting areas in Nevada, the geographic trend is clear: The Las Vegas Strip has a significantly higher hold than other reporting areas, followed by downtown Las Vegas, South Shore Lake Tahoe, and Laughlin. At the bottom of the scale, North Shore Lake Tahoe, the Boulder Strip, and Reno have progressively lower slot holds."

Here are the hold percentages averaged over the past 21 years:

Las Vegas Strip 7.57
Laughlin 7.41
Downtown Las Vegas 7.17
South Shore Lake Tahoe 6.89
Statewide 6.55
Elko 5.98
North Las Vegas 6.39
Mesquite 5.97
North Shore Lake Tahoe 5.61
Boulder Strip 5.64
Reno 5.21

And here are the average hold percentages for 2025:

Downtown Las Vegas 8.30
Laughlin 8.22
Strip 7.90
South Shore Lake Tahoe 7.71
North Las Vegas 7.50
Statewide 7.15
Mesquite 6.75
Boulder Strip 6.43
Elko 6.02
Reno 5.49
North Shore Lake Tahoe 5.43

You can see the trend of rising hold percentages, as well as the historic top three and bottom three-four. And you can read the most recent report here.

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Tim Soldan Feb-03-2026

Video Poker

Are video poker machines considered slots? And do the hold percentages on video poker machines match up with slots?

That Don Guy Feb-03-2026

I think this includes VP

The numbers appear to match the ones in the Nevada Gaming Commission's reports - where all machines, including VP, Video Keno, and Video Blackjack - are considered "slot machines."

The report is created every month, and includes numbers for a month, and the three-month and 12-month periods ending in that month, so to find a year's values, download the December report for that year.
The main page, where you can access data going back to 2004, is:
https://www.gaming.nv.gov/about-us/gaming-revenue-information-gri

Derick Feb-03-2026

slot hold

Guess Im better off playing slots on strip than downtown

Stewart Ethier Feb-03-2026

Compares with roulette

Looking at the long-term figures, Reno's 5.21% compares with double-zero roulette (5.26%) and the Strip's 7.57% compares with triple-zero roulette (7.69%).  Coincidentally, triple-zero roulette is becoming the roulette game of choice on the Strip.

Louis666 Feb-03-2026

Oter factors

 The numbers above don't show return by level of the machine.  Because slots hold percentages are lower as the denomination of the machine goes up it is possible that downtown has a higher hold because it has more low rollers then the strip. It is still possible that at any given denomination downtown slots still return more then the strip.

That Don Guy Feb-03-2026

re: Other Factors

That link I included in my earlier post does break it down by level. Note that "higher levels are looser" is not always true; there was a time when Megabucks machines were counted separately, and they tended to have the highest hold even though they were almost always dollar machines.
Here are the holds for 2025 by type for downtown:
Penny - 10.95%
Nickel - 5.80%
Quarter - 7.59%
Dollar - 5.93%
$5 - 7.26%
$25 - 8.01%
$100 - 6.83%
Multi-Denomination - 8.15%

Question of the Day - 03 February 2026

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