Introduction to Pennsylvania Slot Machine Casino Gambling in 2019
- What Is Payout On Slot Machines Without
- What Is The Payout On Slot Machines
- What Is Payout On Slot Machines 2017
- Which Slot Machines Pay Out The Most
- Casino Slot Payouts By State
What Is Payout On Slot Machines Without
Pennsylvania slot machine casino gambling consists of twelve casinos, including four standalone casinos, two casino resorts, and six racetrack racinos. Two more locations have state legislature approval, including a standalone casino and a racino, but neither have yet to open.
How Slot Machines Work. In one of the simplest designs, a jackpot is detected by measuring the depth of notches in the discs that drive the reels. For simplicity's sake, we'll look at this sort of payout system in a bare-bones slot machine. The machine only accepts one kind of coin, and there is only one winning combination of images. Slot machines have a preset payout percentage. A slot machine with a 97% pay-back percentage will pay out 97%, that does not mean that if you play $100. You will get back $97. When someone sees a.
What Is The Payout On Slot Machines
Pennsylvania law has both minimum and maximum theoretical payout return limits. Actual payout return statistics are available online at the state gaming commission.
This post continues the weekly series Online Resource: A State-By-State Slot Machine Casino Gambling Series, an online resource dedicated to guiding slot machine casino gambling enthusiasts to success. Each weekly post reviews slots gambling in a single U.S. state, territory, or the federal district.
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Relevant Legal Statutes on Gambling in Pennsylvania*
The minimum legal gambling age in Pennsylvania depends upon the gambling activity:
- Land-Based Casinos: 21
- Poker Rooms: 21
- Bingo: 18
- Lottery: 18
- Pari-Mutuel Wagering: 18
The Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act passed in 2004, legalizing slot machines at fourteen locations beginning in 2006. Of these, to date, one standalone casino and one racetrack racino have yet to open
Since July 2010, casinos in Pennsylvania can operate table games. In October 2017, the state legislature legalized casino gambling at truck stops, airports, and online. The bill also authorized ten new satellite casinos with some location restrictions
Casino operators may operate a gambling parlor at any of Pennsylvania’s international and regional airports, assuming successful agreements with the airport authority. No airport gaming parlors or satellite casinos have yet to open.
Satellite casinos of existing casino operators must be within 25 miles of their existing Pennsylvania casino. Further, local municipalities may prohibit such a casino. These satellite casino licenses allow up to 750 slot machines and 50 table games
The racinos and standalone casinos can have up to 5,000 slot machines and 250 table games, while casino resorts can have up to 600 slot machines and 50 table games. Truck stops approved by their county may have up to 5 slot machines.
To gamble within either casino resort, players must be a guest of that casino resort. Put another way, the gaming floors within the casino resorts are not open to the public.
*The purpose of this section is to inform the public of state gambling laws and how the laws apply to various forms of gambling. This information is not intended to provide legal advice.
Slot Machine Private Ownership in Pennsylvania
It is legal to privately own a slot machine in the state of Pennsylvania if it is 25 years old or older.
Gaming Control Board in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) is the state gaming commission. The PGCB is responsible for overseeing slot machines and casino gambling in the state. Two other state gaming commissions are responsible for the state lottery and charitable gaming.
Casinos in Pennsylvania
There are two casino resorts, four standalone casinos, and six racetrack racinos in Pennsylvania
The largest casino in Pennsylvania is Parx Casino and Racing having 3,300 gaming machines and 180 table games.
The second largest casino is Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem having 3,000 gaming machines and 200 table games.
List of Casinos in Pennsylvania
The two casino resorts in Pennsylvania are:
- Lady Luck Nemacolin in Farmington located 69 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
- Valley Forge Convention Center Casino in King of Prussia located 21 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
The four standalone casinos in Pennsylvania are:
- Mount Airy Resort & Casino in Mount Pocono located 31 miles southeast of Scranton.
- Rivers Casino in downtown Pittsburgh.
- Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem in Bethlehem located 58 miles north of Philadelphia.
- Sugar House Casino located 3 miles northeast of downtown Philadelphia.
What Is Payout On Slot Machines 2017
The six pari-mutuel racetrack racinos in Pennsylvania are:
- Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino & Racetrack in Chester located 18 miles southwest of Philadelphia.
- Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course in Grantville located 17 miles northeast of Harrisburg.
- The Meadows Racetrack & Casino in Washington located 26 miles south-southwest of Pittsburgh.
- Mohegan Sun Pocono in Wilkes-Barre located 15 miles southwest of Scranton.
- Parx Casino and Racing in Bensalem located 19 miles northeast of Philadelphia.
- Presque Isle Downs & Casino in Erie located 126 miles north of Pittsburgh.
List of Tribal Casinos in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has no federally-recognized American Indian tribes. During the 1700s, colonial expansion displaced the six original tribes of Pennsylvania. Only the Eastern Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania remains
American Indian tribes once native to Pennsylvania ended up on tribal reservations in Oklahoma. Therefore, Pennsylvania has no tribal casinos.
Other Gambling Establishments
As an alternative to enjoying Pennsylvania slot machine casino gambling, consider exploring casino options in a nearby state. Pennsylvania is bordered by:
- North: New York Slots and Lake Erie
- East: New Jersey Slots
- South: Delaware Slots, Maryland Slots, and West Virginia Slots
- West: Ohio Slots
Each of the links above will take you to my state-specific blog for that neighboring state to Pennsylvania.
Payout Returns in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania law requires gaming machines to return a minimum payout of 85% per state statute section 461a.7 on slot machine minimum design standards. Further, it states a maximum payout return limit which may not equal or exceed 100%. Both legal restrictions apply to any single play.
Monthly payout return statistics are publicly available for each gaming facility, although the player win% comes from dividing payouts by wagers.
For March 2019, the payout returns for slots only, from highest to lowest, are:
- Valley Forge: 90.83%
- Parx: 90.58%
- Mount Airy: 90.32%
- The Meadows: 90.21%
- Sands Bethlehem: 90.14%
- Rivers: 89.96%
- Sugar House: 89.88%
- Mohegan Sun: 89.74%
- Harrah’s Philadelphia: 89.73%
- Nemacolin: 89.39
- Penn National: 89.32%
- Presque Isle: 89.27%
Our Pennsylvania Slots Facebook Group
Are you interested in sharing and learning with other slots enthusiasts in Pennsylvania? If so, join our new Pennsylvania slots community on Facebook. All you’ll need is a Facebook profile to freely join this closed Facebook Group.
There, you’ll be able to privately share your slots experiences as well as chat with players about slots gambling in or near Pennsylvania. Come join us!
Summary of Pennsylvania Slot Machine Casino Gambling in 2019
Pennsylvania slot machine casino gambling consists of twelve casinos, including four standalone casinos, two casino resorts, and six racetrack racinos. Other locations soon to be available include casino gambling at truck stops, airports, satellite casinos, and online.
Pennsylvania law has an 85% minimum and a up to 100% maximum for theoretical payout return limits. Monthly payout return statistics for each casino are available online at the state gaming commission.
Annual Progress in Pennsylvania Slot Machine Casino Gambling
In the last year, a delayed opening occurred for the last of the standalone casinos approved in 2004.
Archive: Pennsylvania Slot Machine Casino Gambling in 2018
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Have fun, be safe, and make good choices!
By Jon H. Friedl, Jr. Ph.D., President
Jon Friedl, LLC
Which Slot Machines Pay Out The Most
There are dozens of different payout systems used in slot machines. In one of the simplest designs, a jackpot is detected by measuring the depth of notches in the discs that drive the reels. For simplicity's sake, we'll look at this sort of payout system in a bare-bones slot machine. The machine only accepts one kind of coin, and there is only one winning combination of images.
When you put a coin in this machine, it falls into a transparent case. The bottom of the case is a movable shutter that is connected to a metal linkage, as you can see in the diagram. Normally, the linkage holds the shutter closed. But when the machine hits the jackpot, the third stopper shifts the linkage up, opening the shutter so the coins fall out of the machine.
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Casino Slot Payouts By State
Each of the three discs has notches for each stop position of the reel. The notch for the jackpot stop is deeper than the other stops. Consequently, when the first reel lands on the jackpot stop, the first stopper moves farther to the left than it would for any other stopper. If the second reel stops on the jackpot as well, the second stopper also moves farther left. Same goes for the third reel and stopper.
But if only the second reel stops on the jackpot, the second stopper will not move all the way into the notch. The first stopper has a catch that keeps the second stopper from moving past it. The second stopper, in turn, has a catch that holds the third stopper back. For the third stopper to lock all the way into the jackpot notch, then, the first and second reels would have to have landed on the jackpot image. When this happens, the shutter opens to dump all of the coins that have been played since the last jackpot.
Typically, slot machines will have more elaborate versions of this design in order to pay out partially on certain combinations of images and pay out completely on the jackpot combination.
In another popular system used in some electrical machines, the discs have a series of metal contacts attached to them. When the reels stop, one of the contacts engages a stationary contact wired to a circuit board. In this way, every stop on each reel will close a different switch in the electrical system. Certain combinations of closed switches (jackpot winners) will configure the machine's electrical circuit to operate the payout mechanism.
A more advanced system uses photoelectric cells (also known as photo diodes), devices that generate a current when exposed to light, to detect the position. In this system, a series of holes are drilled through the rotating discs, all around their outer edges. The photo diode is positioned on one side of the disc, and a light source is positioned on the other side. As the disc turns, the light shines through the holes onto the photo diode. The pattern of holes in the disc causes the photo diode to generate a similar pattern of pulses of electricity. Based on this pattern, an electronic circuit can determine the position of the reel.
Newer slot machines use computers instead of gears. We'll take a look at those next.