Introduction to Iowa Slot Machine Casino Gambling in 2019. Iowa slot machine casino gambling consists of 16 riverboat casinos, four tribal casinos, and three pari-mutuel racetracks with slot machines. Payout return minimum and maximum limits have been legally set for four tribal casinos, but none exist for the 19 commercial casinos.
Introduction to Iowa Slot Machine Casino Gambling in 2019
Iowa slot machine casino gambling consists of 16 riverboat casinos, four tribal casinos, and three pari-mutuel racetracks with slot machines.
Payout return minimum and maximum limits have been legally set for four tribal casinos, but none exist for the 19 commercial casinos. However, payout return statistics are available for these commercial casinos.
This post continues my weekly State-By-State Slot Machine Casino Gambling Series, an online resource dedicated to guiding slot machine casino gambler to success. Now in its third year, each weekly post reviews slots gambling in a single U.S. state, territory, or federal district.
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Relevant Legal Statutes on Gambling in Iowa*
The minimum legal gambling age in Iowa does not depend upon the gambling activity:
- Land-Based Casinos: 21
- Poker Rooms: 21
- Bingo: 21
- Lottery: 21
- Pari-Mutuel Wagering: 21
Iowa has had a steady progress toward various forms of legalized gambling, sometimes the first state in the nation to offer them via constitutional amendments. This timeline includes:
- 1972: Games of change such as bingo and raffles
- 1983: Pari-mutuel wagering at racetracks
- 1985: State lottery
- 1989: Excursion boat gambling approved
- 1991: Riverboat gambling boats opened (first in the nation)
- 1992: Tribal-state compacts approved for tribal casinos
- 1994: Slot machines allowed at pari-mutuel wagering sites
- 2004: Permanent mooring of riverboat casinos allowed
- 2005: Many new licenses granted for new riverboat casinos
Iowa is at the forefront of the gambling industry with regards to legalized gambling. It was the first state to legalize riverboat casinos. Also, they were the first to legally allow both slot machines and table games at pari-mutuel racetrack facilities. By doing so, they created the first so-called racinos.
In mid-2017, the IRGC requested gaming market analysis studies from two independent contracting companies. These comprehensive Iowa gaming market studies became publicly available in October 2017.
The negotiated and approved tribal-state gaming compacts for Iowa’s three federally-recognized tribes is available at Indian Gaming Compacts within the Indian Affairs Division of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
*The purpose of this section is to inform the public of state gambling laws and how the laws might apply to various forms of gaming. It is not legal advice.
Slot Machine Private Ownership in Iowa
In Iowa, it is legal to own a slot machine privately if it is 25 years of age or older.
Gaming Control Board in Iowa
The Iowa legislature created the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) with the passing of the Pari-Mutuel Wagering Act of May 1983. The IRGC administers this Act and the Exclusive Boat Gambling Act of 1989, which legalized riverboat casinos.
Casinos in Iowa
There are 16 riverboat casinos, four American Indian tribal casinos, and three pari-mutuel wagering racinos in Iowa.
The largest casino in Iowa is Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino with 1,682 gaming machines and 50 table games.
The second-largest casino is Ameristar Casino Hotel Council Bluffs with 1,526 gaming machines and 26 table games.
Commercial Casinos in Iowa
There are 19 commercial casinos in Iowa, including the following riverboat casinos and pari-mutuel wagering racetracks with slot machines:
- Ameristar Casino Hotel Council Bluffs located 132 miles west of Des Moines.
- Casino Queen Marquette located 131 miles northwest of Davenport near the Wisconsin border.
- Catfish Bend Casino in Burlington located 78 miles southwest of Des Moines near the Illinois border.
- Diamond Jo Casino Dubuque located 72 miles north of Davenport near the Illinois border.
- Diamond Jo Worth Casino in Northwood located 135 miles north of Des Moines near the Minnesota border.
- Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort in Larchwood located 291 miles northwest of Des Moines near the northwest corner of Minnesota.
- Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City located 200 miles northwest of Des Moines near the Nebraska border.
- Harrah’s Casino & Hotel Council Bluffs located 133 miles west of Des Moines.
- Horseshoe Casino Council Bluffs, a pari-mutuel racetrack racino, located 131 miles west of Des Moines.
- Isle Casino Hotel Bettendorf located 54 miles northwest of Cedar Rapids.
- Isle of Capri Casino Waterloo located 30 miles west of Des Moines.
- Lakeside Hotel Casino in Osceola located 48 miles south of Des Moines.
- Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino, a pari-mutuel racetrack racino, in Altoona located 11 miles west of Des Moines.
- Q Casino, a pari-mutuel racetrack racino, in Dubuque located 73 miles north of Davenport.
- Rhythm City Casino Resort in Davenport.
- Riverside Casino and Golf Resort located 39 miles south of Cedar Rapids.
- Wild Rose Casino – Jefferson located 65 miles northwest of Des Moines.
- Wild Rose Casino and Resort Clinton located 37 miles northeast of Davenport near the Illinois border.
- Wild Rose Casino and Resort Emmetsburg located 165 miles northwest of Des Moines.
Tribal Casinos in Iowa
The three tribal casinos in Iowa are:
- Blackbird Bend Casino in Onawa located 35 miles southeast of Sioux City near the Nebraska border.
- Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel in Tama located 64 miles northeast of Des Moines.
- WinnaVegas Casino Resort in Sloan located 27 miles south of Sioux City near the Nebraska border.
Other Gambling Establishments
As an alternative to enjoying Iowa slot machine casino gambling, consider exploring casino options in a nearby state. Bordering Iowa is:
- North: Minnesota Slots
- East: Wisconsin Slots and Illinois Slots
- South: Missouri Slots
- West: Nebraska Slots and South Dakota Slots
Each of the links above will take you to my blog for that neighboring U.S. state to Iowa.
Our Iowa Slots Facebook Group
Are you interested in sharing and learning with other slots enthusiasts in Iowa? If so, join our new Iowa slots community on Facebook. All you’ll need is a Facebook profile to join this closed Facebook Group freely.
There, you’ll be able to privately share your slots experiences as well as chat with players about slots gambling in Iowa. Join us!
Payout Returns in Iowa
No payout return statistics are available from Iowa’s tribal casinos. However, both minimum and maximum theoretical payout limits exist. These limits are 80% and 99%, respectively, over the expected lifetime of the device.
No legal limits exist for theoretical payout returns on slot machines for Iowa’s commercial casinos. However, the IRGC makes return statistics available at Casino Payback Percentages. This one-page PDF document provides an average payout return for each casino for the last three months.
For the last three months ending in November 2019, the highest return went to Prairie Meadows at 91.8%. This casino’s player’s win percentage was a full point higher than the next casino return. Lakeside Casino had the lowest player’s win percentage at 89.0%.
The IRGC also makes return statistics for commercial casinos available at Gaming Revenue Reports. Here, monthly hold percentages are available by both casino and slot machine denomination as Slot Revenue Percentage. Remember, convert this casino hold% to player win% by subtracting it from 100%.
Summary of Iowa Slot Machine Casino Gambling in 2019
Iowa slot machine casino gambling consists of 23 commercial and tribal casinos including pari-mutuel racetracks with slot machines.
Theoretical payout limits are 80% and 99% at the four tribal casinos, but no theoretical limits exist for the commercial casinos. However, monthly payout return statistics are available for each commercial casino and slot machine denomination.
Annual Progress in Iowa Slot Machine Casino Gambling
In the last year, Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel fell from the second-largest casino in Iowa to the fourth-largest. Both the Horseshoe and Ameristar casinos in Council Bluffs have surpassed Meskwaki Bingo.
Related Articles from Professor Slots
Other State-By-State Articles from Professor Slots
- Previous: Indiana Slot Machine Casino Gambling
- Next: Kansas Slot Machine Casino Gambling
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Have fun, be safe, and make good choices!
By Jon H. Friedl, Jr. Ph.D., President
Jon Friedl, LLC
It’s impossible to predict if a slot machine will pay out at a specific moment; anyone claiming otherwise either doesn’t understand how slot machines work or they work as a casino promoter.
If it were possible to identify precisely when a slot machine is about to pay, then the casinos would lose money, and we are all aware of the fact that it usually doesn’t happen. Internet gaming establishments are well-oiled machines built to provide you with entertainment in exchange for money.
However, don’t close this article just yet. The fact that there is no foolproof way to win money on slot machines every time doesn’t mean that it is impossible.
As you probably already know, the odds included in slot machine games are based on the mathematical probability. So, if you learn how those odds work, you might be able to use these findings to your advantage and make some profit.
What we’re actually saying here is that with a good strategy in play and a decent understanding of how to recognize (or at least assume) when a particular slot is about to pay out, you can increase your chances of winning.
We’ve done our homework and poured over countless slot machine tips and tricks in order to learn how to recognize the moment when a slot machine is about to pay out. After a lot of digging, we were able to create a list that shows the most effective strategies you can implement to overcome the ‘randomness’ of slot machines.
Play Only Slots With the Biggest Payouts
This piece of advice seems rather obvious but bare with us for a moment. Everyone who has played in either a brick-and-mortar or an online casino is familiar with the phrase ‘house edge’. For those who have heard about this term but aren’t quite sure what it means, we’ll try to clear things up a bit.
The term ‘house edge’ refers to the mathematical advantage that the gaming establishment has over players. This advantage results in a guaranteed percentage that is returned to the online casino over time. In other words, casinos always beat the players in the long run since the odds are stacked in their favor. You must have heard about the phrase ‘the house always wins’? Well, the house in this phrase is a casino, and you can see for yourself why it always wins.
However, don’t fall into despair yet as all is not lost.
Although the odds are stacked against players, it’s still possible to win. In fact, every slot machine has a theoretical return to player based on statistics which is called the RTP (Return to Player).
The average RTP for most slot games is somewhere between 90–96 percent. Therefore, every slot game that has the RTP over 96% is always a good option. A couple of percentage points difference may seem meaningless, but trust us — it makes a lot of difference over thousands of spins. For those reasons, it’s always a good idea to do a little digging before you start spinning the reels.
How to Find the RTP of a Slot Game?
Finding out the RTP of a particular slot game is quite easy. There are plenty of websites which review online casinos and write about their game selection, as well as their respective RTP’s.
Simply put, you stand a better chance with the higher RTP slot games. This particularly is the case when you’re playing through bonus spins.
Entertainment vs Big Wins?
This factor is almost as important as the RTP when it comes to choosing an online slot game. Volatility, sometimes called variance, in slot games measures how often and how much you can expect to win during your playing sessions.
Higher volatility slots usually feature long dry strakes with occasional big wins. Since the payouts are substantially higher with high volatility slots, you might sometimes end up clicking the Spin button relentlessly, only to watch your bankroll dwindle. However, when everything lines up perfectly… boom! You’ve hit the jackpot that made the long dry spell worth it! One of the best high volatility slot games is the Book of Ra, created by Novomatic.
On the opposite side of the coin are the low volatility games where payouts are much more frequent but more much smaller. We are not saying that large wins are impossible with these games — far from it. It’s just when they do happen, they are not on the same scale as the ones available with the high volatility games.
It’s really up to the player and his preferences — if you prefer playing games where little wins pop up every couple of spins, then go for the low volatility games. On the other hand, if you are hoping for making the big bucks and are willing to take necessary risks, then we recommend high volatility games.
Online casino platforms aren’t quite eager to hand out the information about the game’s volatility, but it becomes obvious after playing it for a certain time. There isn’t such a thing as a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ volatility — it’s just a question of gambling style and personal preference.
Use the Bonuses in Your Favor
One way to put up a fight against the house edge is by taking advantage of the bonuses. As most of you probably already know, the majority of casino sites offer free spins/free money/ bonuses as incentives to lure new customers. Those bonuses can prove beneficial and turn the odds in your favor.
Of course, don’t expect that the bonuses will last forever. But while they last, you can definitely make the most out of them and clean up some easy cash. On that note, there is no reason why you shouldn’t search around and take advantage of different promotions.
Slot Machines FAQ
Below we’ve answered some of the most frequent slot-related questions. We know that slot machines pose a mystery, and we’ll help you unravel it.
Is gambling on a slot machine really random?
Yes, it is. All slot machines in all online casinos operate by using the RNG, a computer-run program that randomly chooses numbers. A reliable RNG generates numbers that are not related to each other in any way, thus ensuring that your games are fair and random. All types of bonus rounds are predetermined by algorithms, regardless of which slot game you play.
Are slot machines really streaky?
Yes, slot machines are streaky, and they tend to get cold and/or hot. But it’s all the same for you as you have no way of predicting when a slot machine will become hot or cold. These patterns that happen from time to time look like streaks of bad luck or good luck, but they are not based on anything — that’s just the nature of random events.
How can I find a slot machine that suits my gambling style?
It depends on your preferences — if you’re up for cheap entertainment, you should find games that allow a cheap max bet.
If you’re looking to win a massive jackpot, you should concentrate on progressive games and games that feature lots of bonus rounds. These games have high volatility, which means that payouts don’t happen very often, but when they do, they are substantially bigger.
Big Payouts On Slot Machines
If you just want to have a good time and money isn’t an issue, look for the latest developments. These games feature plots and characters from popular TV shows, movies, sports, and so on, and offer bonus rounds and other fun extras.
Is there a strategy I could implement to increase my chances of hitting the jackpot?
Slot Payouts By Casino
Unfortunately, there isn’t. All possible outcomes are controlled by a Random Number Generator and there is no betting amount or a specific strategy that will make it more or less likely for you to hit the jackpot. However, have in mind that in most online casinos (and land-based for that matter) you have to bet max in order to qualify for the slot jackpot payouts.
What’s a good strategy for playing slot machines?
Before you start spinning the reels, find out the payout percentage of the selected slot machine — don’t play anything that has the RTP below 95 percent. If you are a high roller, go for the high volatile games and chase the main jackpot. Make the most out of the available casino bonuses — they can increase your winning chances by providing extra spins. Avoid the latest licensed slots if possible because, according to various sources, they are more likely to feature fewer payouts.
The fact that matters is that you can’t use some special skill to outsmart a slot machine and change the payout percentage of it. But you can try certain strategies that can maximize your chances of winning.