More and more people in the US have access to gambling. This is criticized by many communities but the fact that the government wants to earn money is more powerful than any other opinion, so gambling machines are getting as usual as snack vending machines. Also, different states keep legalizing gambling.
Today, we’ll tell you more about gambling machines in convenience stores. Are they legal? Are they fair? How much do businesses earn from them? We’ll tell you exactly what you want to know about these machines and give several important tips that would be important for those who want to play those machines.
Here’s what exactly we are going to cover:
- Who owns and operates slot machines in convenience stores?
- Can those slot machines trick you out of money with unfair RTP?
- How much do shops and authorities earn on gambling machines in stores?
- Should you avoid gambling in convenience stores?
Let’s get started!
Who owns slot machines in convenience stores?
You may think that the owner of the store owns these machines. They decide to buy and place those machines in their stores to earn more money. And it’s not completely true. You can’t buy a slot machine unless you are a specifically registered and licensed business. So, all slot machines belong to operators that own these machines, run them, repair them, and share risks with all other business parties involved in the scheme.
It’s not legal now in all US states to install a slot machine in a store. But several states have already made it legal. Also, some other states are about to legalize gambling in certain forms because they clearly see that states that have already done that earn quite a lot of money basically doing nothing.
So, here’s how it usually works:
- there is a company that buys and operates these machines, it also has the state-issued or federal license for this kind of business;
- this company makes sure that the software in a certain machine is authentic and that the RTP isn’t changed by any additional settings;
- also, this company repairs or replaces broken machines quickly to avoid losses because of malfunctioning gambling equipment;
- another party is the owner of the convenience store who wants to earn more and decides to install a couple of gambling machines;
- the store signs an agreement with the slot-machine operator and then the operator usually does all the job;
- at the end of each month, the convenience store owner just gets their revenue which is a part of the money earned by each machine;
- also, some part of the money goes to the operator and there is another piece of cake that goes to the government;
- if the machine loses money, the store owner and the operator usually cover those losses (but we haven’t heard of such cases yet).
Also, the business that decides to install some slot machines in the store is prone to some additional inspections. If the inspections find out that the slot machines are tricking money out of gamblers, the store will be in trouble. In most states, the fines are so heavy that the business owner will likely try to sell their business to pay the bill.
So, whenever you see a slot machine in a store or in a gas station, or in a bar, you may be sure that the machine is authentic and has the original software with a certain RTP provided by the developer. But it doesn’t mean that we recommend you play. Those machines will anyway win in the long run, so you need to be extremely lucky to win some money!
What’s with RTP in slot machines placed in convenience stores?
Not all machines have the same RTP. Legally, this is not stated, so companies may make it higher or lower depending on some circumstances. For example, in Las Vegas, each casino tries to comfort its clients and set high RTP to show their players that it’s easy to win. The competition is severe and they try to attract clients with high possibilities to get a big win.
In your local convenience store, things are different. They don’t care about competition and can set a lower RTP to earn more money. Since gambling machines are installed as part of the business, not as an entertainment add-on, they will want to make more money, so they will set the minimal possible RTP.
We believe the average RTP in convenience store slot machines will be about 75% which is really poor. Also, you should understand that this is a commercially counted RTP and the real return percentage is even worse – about 60%.
What does it mean? It means that about 60% of the money that each machine gets from you will go to the wins. The other 40% will be left by the machine as revenue. Dreadful numbers, to tell you the truth.
It doesn’t mean that you can’t win with such machines. It only means that your chances of winning are not even as high as in an average Las Vegas casino. And this is bad news. But the good news is that those machines are official, licensed and they won’t trick you out of money. The wins will still depend on your luck mostly.
Should you actually avoid gambling in convenience stores?
We can’t say that we recommend gambling in convenience stores. But we can’t also say that you should avoid it. If you want to spend 20 bucks and get some gambling emotions then why not take this risk? But if you inevitably want to win and build some winning strategy, then convenience store slot machines are certainly not for you.
The more you play, the more chances you have of losing money. Mathematics and statistics work here better than you think. If you play every day and spend 100 dollars daily, at the end of the month you will most likely find 1800 bucks in your pocket instead of the $3000 that was there before.
The RTP works just as it should work and takes about 40% of your money to form the revenue for the slot machine operator, government, and also store owner. Don’t forget about it the next time you put that dollar bill into such a machine.
How much do they earn on gambling machines in stores?
The eventual revenue depends on the number of people who play this machine monthly. Also, it depends on the average sum of money these people can use for gambling. So, every state and even every store will have different numbers. But we can look at average figures that are more or less the same all over the US.
Also, you should know that rules for taxing these businesses are different in various states, so we’ll take the average scheme where the government takes 30% of the money as tax, the operator charges another 30% for its services and the store owners keep 40% of the revenue. Please remember that these figures can differ according to your location.
Now, we should consider these important things:
- a single slot machine in Las Vegas, for example, earns about $220 of revenue a day;
- you may think gambling machines in stores earn less than that, but no, they don’t, they have fewer gamblers but lower RTP rate;
- on average, one gambling machine in a store can earn $200 to $300 of gross revenue a day which is approximately $6,000 to $9,000 of monthly revenue;
- given the government takes $1,800 to $2,700 a month and the same money goes to the operator, the store gets $2,400 to $3,600 a month from a single slot machine;
- of course, there are some expenses for cleaning and electricity bills, but those are almost negligible.
So, the revenues are not bad at all. When store owners get to know about such incomes, they start researching where they can sign this agreement and place those machines in their places. But it’s still not that easy. A lot of things influence the average revenue and also the store owner has to come through several inspections before they get permission to install gambling equipment.
Final thoughts
We’ve already told you that we can’t say whether it’s a good or a totally bad idea to gamble in convenience stores. Those slot machines are never fake, so they have a more or less decent RTP rate. But you get an even worse chance to win than in a Las Vegas casino. So, they are only worth your time if you just want to gamble and don’t care if you lose a couple of dollars.
If you are a store owner in a state where gambling is legal, consider having a couple of gambling machines that would give you some extra revenues without any serious effort on your side. This may be lucrative if there are no bars or other shops with gambling machines in your area.
We support gambling legalization across the country. But we also want that all those machines have higher RTPs. We believe it would be OK if they earned twice less money but gave more wins to players which would be totally fair.
