The Department of Revenue today called a report of slot machine payouts by Clyde Barrows, a professor at UMASS Dartmouth, completely inaccurate.
“It is clear he does not understand the payout structure at Rhode Island’s video slot machine venues,” said Gary Sasse, Director for the Department of Revenue, the agency which oversees the Rhode Island Lottery. “Rhode Island’s slot machine payouts average 92 percent, in line with other gaming venues Barrows studies, and is considered the industry standard.”
Gerald Aubin, Director of the Rhode Island Lottery echoed Sasse’s comments, “The consequences of publishing and promoting such a tragically flawed study are considerable.”
Professor Barrows did not contact the Rhode Island Lottery to collect data for his analysis on how the Lottery reports payout. Below is a schedule showing payout percentages of video slot machines in Rhode Island.
| VIDEO LOTTERY TERMINAL PAYOUT PERCENTAGES | ||
| GAME DENOMINATION |
AVERAGE* PAYOUT PERCENTAGE |
MAXIMUM ALLOWED PAYOUT PERCENTAGE |
|
$0.01 Reel $0.02 Reel $0.03 Reel $0.05 Poker $0.05 Reel $0.10 Poker $0.10 Reel $0.20 Poker $0.20 Reel $0.25 Blackjack $0.25 Keno $0.25 Poker $0.25 Reel $0.50 Blackjack $0.50 Keno $0.50 Poker $0.50 Reel $1.00 Blackjack $1.00 Keno $1.00 Poker $1.00 Reel $5.00 Poker $5.00 Reel $5.00 Blackjack $10.00 Blackjack $10.00 Reel $25.00 Blackjack $25.00 Reel $100.00 Blackjack |
90.09% 92.37% 88.63% 93.18% 91.62% 90.28% 89.24% 95.81% 91.21% 98.53% 92.78% 93.11% 87.54% 99.15% 93.56% 94.76% 92.80% 99.27% 96.62% 94.17% 96.08% 95.96% 97.17% 97.68% 98.31% 95.90% 99.45% 98.45% 97.72% |
92.9% 92.9% 92.9% 95.0% 92.9% 95.0% 92.9% 95.0% 92.9% 99.1% 92.0% 95.0% 92.9% 99.1% 94.0% 96.5% 94.0% 99.1% 96.0% 98.0% 96.0% 98.0% 98.0% 99.1% 99.1% 98.0% 99.1% 98.0% 99.1% |
*Average Payout Percentages FY08