Introduction to Massachusetts Slots Return-To-Player
A big concern for slots enthusiasts is if casinos are trying to “get back their lost gaming revenue” by reducing their return-to-player (RTP). But is that true, state-by-state? Let’s look closely at the Massachusetts Slots Return-To-Player for their casinos.
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Massachusetts Gaming Industry: An Overview
Massachusetts has three commercial casinos including two casino resorts and one slots parlor, as well as cruise ships with onboard casinos sailing from the Port of Boston to international destinations.
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Massachusetts gaming regulations define casino resorts as Category 1 and slots parlors as Category 2. Each casino category has a different income tax structure. For instance, the daily gross revenue tax for Category 1 resorts is 25% while it’s 40% for Category 2 slots parlors.
In 2011, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts created three gaming regions, each with a casino resort gaming license:
- Eastern Region A: This license went to MGM, who constructed a casino in downtown Springfield. It opened on August 24, 2018.
- Western Region B: This license went to Wynn Resorts, who constructed Encore Boston Harbor in Everett. It opened on June 23, 2019.
- Southeastern Region C: No license awarded.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (Mass Gaming) became law on November 22, 2011, when Governor Deval Patrick signed the Expanded Gaming Act.
Massachusetts Return Statistics for Slots
Massachusetts gaming regulations have set a minimum theoretical payout of 80% for gaming machines.
Monthly revenue reports for each casino are publicly available from Mass Gaming. These return statistics offer casino hold percentages as Slot Hold % and player win percentages as Slot Payout %.
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts three commercial casinos are:
- Encore Boston Harbor in Everett, 5 miles north of downtown Boston.
- MGM Springfield, 92 miles west of Boston and 26 miles north of Hartford, Connecticut.
- Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, 36 miles southwest of Boston and 22 miles northeast of Providence, Rhode Island.
Monthly Player Win Percentages
The return statistics for Massachusetts go back to June 2015 for Plainridge, August 2018 for MGM, and June 2019 for Encore. I’ve plotted below the monthly player win percentages at Massachusetts three casinos from the beginning of 2019 to the latest available.
Massachusetts three casinos have player win percentage from about 90.5% to nearly 93.5%. MGM and Encore have similar returns for 2021 and 2022 with a 1% range.
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However, during that same time, Plainridge has slowly increased its return and currently about 2.5% greater than both MGM and Encore, which is significant and worth consideration,
Summary of Massachusetts Slots Return-To-Player
Massachusetts three casinos carefully manage their player win percentage. Because returns are reported to the state of Massachusetts, savvy slots enthusiasts can choose between one casino for better return-to-player than the next.