Question of the Day - 14 January 2025

This isn't an easy question to answer. All generalizations about slots are false, including this one.

So we turned to an authority on the bandits that we know, Casino Life magazine contributor Victor Royer. 

“The average cost of a standard slot machine is somewhere between $14,000 and about $18,000," he tells us. "But everything depends on everything else and that means that like in every other world of products for sale, it depends on the product itself, the brand name, the manufacturer, the various features — and numerous other factors that influence the actual final cost. 

“For machines that are among the for-sale models, the prices quoted above are usually the standard. But i'ts not unusual for some of them to bring $24,000 or even more, depending on the popularity of that particular brand, model, or theme. 

“Most slot manufacturers these days prefer to produce participation games, meaning they share in the revenue that these games generate. As with some premium products, these are usually leased. This guarantees a specific level of income for the manufacturer per product. 

“They can also include combinations of lease and participation, but many of these contracts are enacted on a confidential basis. Ergo, the actual figures and numbers aren't necessarily available to the public. But these are generally the parameters.

“If a casino buys a slot machine, it usually looks for the product to produce at least $200 a day in revenue. This means a revenue of approximately $6,000 per month per machine. Consequently, if the machine costs $14,000, it would take the casino 10 weeks to recoup that revenue. The same ratio applies to the other games, depending on their costs.

“For participation machines, there's no cost to the casino. The manufacturer installs the game, then casino and manufacturer share in the revenue, based on an agreed-upon percentage. That split is usually 30 percent for the casino and 70 percent for the manufacturer. But that's not necessarily always so. These days, many agreements are 50-50 and sometimes the agreements heavily favor the casino. Again, it all depends on many of the factors I have stated earlier.”