Several gamblers who had been playing until nearly midnight included several passengers who had recently gotten off a Delta Airlines flight. Although they arrived from different destinations, they shared the same hopes. “Lady Luck will once again visit her D gate in Terminal 3.''
But she did not come to the Wheel of Fortune machine, which teases passersby with promises of at least six figures. A defeated woman stood up defeated.
“The luck is all yours,” she told travelers waiting their turn.
Most people don't travel to Las Vegas to gamble at the airport, but Harry Reid's slots tempt travelers to make one last bet before boarding, like moths to a neon flame. The odds aren't great, but if you win, it doesn't change the story.
“With people leaving town, this is really a Hail Mary,” said Scott Loben, a journalist and founder of local news blog Vital Vegas. “They usually use their last $100 or something to win after getting beaten up in a casino. … It's a last hope.”
Harry Reid Airport is one of only two airports in the country with slot machines (the other is Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Nevada, and Chicago could be the third). Although the exact number of slots varies, Heidi Hayes, the airport's program manager, said she has more than 1,000 slots scattered throughout the Las Vegas airport before and after security. They're as ubiquitous as the city's gas stations and grocery stores, glowing and circling just a few steps away from the gate, or tucked away in a smoke-free gaming lounge near a TSA checkpoint. Masu. Just a part of the scenery.
Hayes said he didn't have statistics on how many travelers play, but said airport games are “very popular” among nearly 60 million travelers a year. The machines have generated more than $1 billion in revenue for airports to date, according to a 2022 news release from Michael Ghosn's Airport Slots Concession Co., which has operated airport slots since the mid-1980s. . Gaming revenue from casinos in the state totaled $15.5 billion in 2023.
Per Nevada law, you must be 21 years of age or older to play. According to the law of averages, you probably can't win.
In recent years, most of the annual gross revenue (approximately $34.4 million out of $39.8 million) has been paid to the airport, which is said to have contributed to reducing airport operating costs.
“Overall, people will lose the opportunity to play slot machines,” said David G. Schwartz, a gaming historian and associate professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “However, it is possible for individuals to win prizes in any session, especially if there is a large progressive jackpot.”
Airport slots have a progressive jackpot appeal, which means the machine is part of a larger slot network. The longer you play without winning, the bigger the pot becomes. If you hit the jackpot with the blessings of the random number generator gods, you won't just win the money that's in the supplying machine, you'll win a pool of many machines.
Traveler won in June $1.3 million Play Wheel of Fortune “Triple Double Emerald” at Terminal 1 Esplanade. About a month later, someone had an accident. $1,286,324 jackpot I'm playing Wheel of Fortune in Terminal 3. In September, woman from texas He won a $643,435 jackpot at the Wheel of Fortune branded game located near Gate A in Terminal 1. A month later, a traveler said, $2.50 bet Wheel of Fortune “Double Gold Gold Spin Slot” for $347,993.85.
Hayes said the highest jackpot ever won was $3.9 million in 2005. As you might have guessed, it was on the Wheel of Fortune machine.
Schwartz said the same regulations apply to slots, so travelers are just as likely to win big or lose big at the airport than on the Strip. And many people are taking their money home. Like Ivana Ng, who still remembers betting $1 and paying $10 in 2015. Or like Candace Wright of New Orleans, who walked away with a profit of $3.85 in 2021, almost enough to buy a bottle of water at Hudson News.
But anecdotally, airport slots have the worst odds for players in the city, Loben said.
“Slots on the Strip are considered pretty tough,” Loben said. This is a gaming term that means the payout potential is lower compared to off-strip or suburban “loose” slots. “But the airport is like the next level.”
There is no data to support this sentiment, just folklore.
“There's a law here that regulates gaming that says you can't keep more than 25 percent of the money you receive on the slots,” Roben said. “I suspect that the airport is the narrowest it is legally allowed to be.''
big vegas jackpots on slots happens frequently That's true for casinos on the Strip, but Roven said the deals are even bigger once they get to the airport because of their reputation.
On Tuesday night, a passenger passing through Harry Reid asked a slot attendant for a tip. Her station (part bank, part hostess stand) sat next to the winning Wheel of Fortune machine on Monday. The day the windfall happened, she wasn't working, but the winner probably got her money doubled because she played the 7 credit button or she played the 10 credit button. Told. The traveler asked her if this machine was particularly lucky.
“If so, then yeah, you know what I mean?” she said as the machine ate another stake.
Second big jackpot win in a month!💰 Another lucky player became a millionaire yesterday at LAS. At Terminal 3 he won $1,286,324 playing Wheel of Fortune.
🤑👀 pic.twitter.com/j8cDs4SAYw— Harry Reid International Airport (@LASairport) July 25, 2023
Three slot brands, Wheel of Fortune, Megabucks and Wild Wild Buffalo, have networks in Las Vegas and Nevada, and in some cases multiple states, so “we're seeing some really big wins,” Loben said. ” is a slot brand. He said he tends to stay away from such machines and advises his friends to do the same because even if the prize is large, the odds of winning a fortune are low.
“I'd rather win $500 than $1 million,” said Robben, who gambles several days a week.
Still, despite his better judgment, Robben says he sometimes plays airport slots for fun while picking up friends on an incoming flight. As far as his memory goes, he never made a dime in the process.
“Gamblers are always optimistic,” Roben said. “We don’t necessarily care if the odds are more or less against us.”
Furthermore, he added, “Luck always trumps math.”
