If you want to play slot machines in America, there’s nowhere quite like Las Vegas. Home to some of the biggest and best casinos in the world, let alone in the United States, Las Vegas is virtually synonymous with gambling.

And yet, many players who finally make it out to Vegas are overwhelmed by the sheer number of machines. How is a newbie in this town supposed to know which Vegas slot machines are the best and where to play them?

That’s why I’m here! I’ve been to Vegas a few times, but I’ve also spun the reels in lots of casinos across the states, in the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia, and at The Hippodrome Casino in London, so I know my way around most land-based slot machines.

From all of the slots that I have played and researched for this post, these are the top slots in Vegas. If you’re in Sin City, make sure you check these out.

The Top Five Slot Machines in Las Vegas

Before I give you the lowdown on each of the top five slots in Vegas, there are a few things you should understand. These are concepts which experienced slots players will already be familiar with, so it’s been written with beginner players in mind. Still, even if you’ve spun the reels more times than you can remember, this could be a good refresher for you.

The Bellagio's award winning casino is a marriage of style and function, beautiful in its fixtures, and bountiful in action. This stylish casino in the thick of the famous Las Vegas strip offers a wide variety of games, from slots, to poker to table games. Electronic Tables, Reel, Video Reel, Video Poker, Roulette, Linked Progressives. Over 2,900+ of the newest, most in-demand slot games available. A newly reimagined High Limit room with 48 exclusive games.

• RTP – This is the payback rate of a slot machine. It’s an acronym for “Return to Player.” For example, a slot with an RTP of 96% generally pays back $0.96 out of every $1 wagered on it.
• Volatility – This determines how frequently a slot machine will pay and how big the wins are likely to be when it does. Low volatility slots pay smaller wins more often, and high volatility slots pay larger wins after longer losing streaks. Here’s a more in-depth article on slot volatility and variance if you’re interested in learning more about these concepts.
• Progressive Jackpot – Most of you will already know that a jackpot is the biggest win a machine can pay. A progressive jackpot is a collective jackpot often contributed to by multiple casinos. For example, every spin on Megabucks slot (which you’ll hear about below) contributes to the Megabucks progressive jackpot. This is why these jackpots can grow so huge.

Now, let’s shift focus and look at some of the best slot machines in Las Vegas.

• Arguably the most famous casino in Las Vegas, the Bellagio has 2,300 gaming machines including slots and video poker games. Several of its machines offer progressive jackpots, and it also hosts regular slots tournaments with prizes worth up to $2 million.
• Bellagio contains 2, 450 total gaming machines. These machine games are; Anchor's Wheel of Gold, 600 Dollar Slot machines, 116 Five Dollar Slot machines, 6 Five Hundred Dollar Slot machines, 64 Half Dollar Slot machines, 16 Hundred Dollar Slot machines, IGT Addams Family, 337 Nickel Slot machines, 67 Penny Slot machines, 681 quarter slot.
• The Math of Casino Slot Machines. For every dollar you wager in a slot machine, you will lose 100% - Payback% of that dollar. For example, you're at Bellagio playing the $1 Double Diamond slot, wagering Two Credits ($2) per spin.

1. Wheel of Fortune

The first Wheel of Fortune slot was released way back in 1966, and they’ve been a player favorite ever since. You’ll find them in most of the top Las Vegas casinos.

There are two dozen Wheel of Fortune slot machines, and which one(s) you’ll have access to depends on the casino you play at. They all have larger than average jackpots, though, and players are attracted to the money-wheel features.

Bellagio Slot Machine List Price

Just like in the TV game show, you can access a bonus round which gives you the chance to spin a money wheel for cash prizes. If you’re lucky, a Wheel of Fortune slot machine will rain money down on you. These slots have made instant millionaires out of many hundreds of people over the years.

2. Triple Red Hot 7s

Some players don’t like lots of fancy bonus rounds and extra features, they just want to spin the reels, attempt to win jackpots, and enjoy themselves.

If this describes you, Triple Red Hot 7s is for you. It’s an incredibly simple game with an old-school feel. It has three reels and is a high-volatility machine, meaning the wins tend to be explosive when they do come.

That’s not to say that this slot has absolutely no features. It does dish out free games, and some variants have game multipliers which can triple wins. Ask the casino attendant if they offer Triple Red Hot 7s and get started spinning ASAP.

3. Double Jackpot

One of Bally Technologies’ best slot machines, this one will also appeal to players who enjoy classic slot games. You’ll see all the familiar fruit machine symbols on the reels, like cherries, bells, bars, and 7s which can appear as singles, doubles, or triple 7 combos.

Double Jackpot slot can pay big wins. Five Double Jackpot game symbols across the reels pay 50,000. Just landing a Double Jackpot symbol in a regular winning combination can win you multipliers of up to 16x.

This is a simple, no-frills slot machine. You just need to sit, spin, and hopefully win. It’s a Vegas casino favorite!

4. The Monte Carlo

There’s no doubt that the Monte Carlo slot machine is one of the most interesting looking slots ever created. These machines stand taller than the average person, and since you’ll be sitting down to play it at most Vegas casinos, they seem huge.

Monte Carlo slots offer free spins and multipliers, but the main feature of these slots is the roulette wheel above the reels. If you land a Monte Carlo Spin symbol, you’ll get a spin on it. Each pocket has different win amounts in it, and one of them will award the Super Jackpot if you’re lucky.

This unique blend of slot machine crossed with roulette has made this one of the most popular land-based games of all time. I strongly suggest you check it out. Don’t expect to enter the roulette wheel feature too often, and do walk away if you experience a big win.

5. Megabucks

Now we come to the slot machine of all Vegas slot machines, the one that could change your life forever. Before I begin, let me whet your appetite with some of the biggest Megabucks jackpots of all time.

• In 1998, a retired flight attendant played $300 on Megabucks at Palace Station and won $27.5 million.
• Elmer Sherwin, a WWII airman, won $4.6 million on Megabucks at the Mirage in 1989. Lady Luck visited him a second time when he won $21.1 million playing the same slot machine at the Cannery Casino a couple of decades later.
• A 25-year-old software engineer from Los Angeles won the biggest Megabucks jackpot to date when he scooped $39.7 million at the Excalibur in 2003.

You can read about more Megabucks slot jackpots here.

You can expect some free spins during gameplay, but look out for the Megabucks symbols. They can award multipliers of up to x5, and if you’re lucky enough to get them straight across a payline, you can win the Megabucks progressive jackpot. It’s this jackpot that made the above players filthy rich in a few seconds flat.

Where to Play the Best Las Vegas Slot Machines

This article wouldn’t be complete without an overview of which Las Vegas casinos are best for slots players. There’s no doubt that you’ll have plenty of choice in Las Vegas, but you’ll find that these casinos offer the best slots in town.

The Bellagio

Arguably the most famous casino in Las Vegas, the Bellagio has 2,300 gaming machines including slots and video poker games. Several of its machines offer progressive jackpots, and it also hosts regular slots tournaments with prizes worth up to $2 million.

MGM Grand

With 2,500 slot machines spread across this massive casino, this could be considered a slot player’s paradise. The MGM Grand offers popular machines like Heidi’s BeerHaus, 88 Fortunes, and Frogger: Get Hoppin’. You can play penny slots for $0.01 per spin, or you can wager up to $1,000 per spin on some of the MGM high limit slots.

Bellagio Slot Machines

Treasure Island

Another slots mecca, Treasure Island has 2,200 electronic gaming machines to choose from. Many of these are slot machines, but they also include video poker and keno. Visit the Link Lounge to play 80 progressive jackpot slots for a chance to win the biggest jackpots in Vegas.

Caesars Palace

This casino is associated with Las Vegas in the minds of many tourists. It has a massive floor boasting thousands of gaming machines, including some of the best Vegas slots as well as video poker and keno. If you’re looking for a particular game, the Caesars Palace website has a cool tool called the Slot Finder. Check it out if you ever find yourself in this Las Vegas casino.

Mandalay Bay

No, I’m not being paid by MGM Resorts to promote its casinos, several of which are on this list. They just happen to be some of the best casinos in Las Vegas, so I had to include them here. Mandalay Bay offers thousands of machines including The Goonies, Sphinx 4D, Texas Tea Pinball, and lots of others. Several of the slots listed above are available here including Wheel of Fortune, Monte Carlo, and Megabucks.

How to Win Slots in Vegas

I know you’re in Vegas to have some fun first and foremost, but wouldn’t it be awesome if you could come home with a massive jackpot, too? I can’t provide you with any surefire way to win Vegas slot machines, but I can give you a few pointers on how to win more often.

Forget Finding Loose Slots

When I first started playing slot machines, I wasted lots of time trying to find loose slot machines. What’s a loose slot machine? The idea is that it’s a machine that’s ready to pay anytime.

Slots players have different methods for finding loose slot machines. Some believe in playing after observing another player spin the reels for a long time without success. Others believe in playing a test amount of $10 or $20, and if they’re breaking events, they think this is a signal that the slot may pay soon.

I don’t believe in loose slots. I know that modern slot machines are controlled by Random Number Generators. The machine will not pay until the algorithm spits out the right number at the right time. There’s absolutely no telling when that might be, so just sit down, spin, and have some fun! If Lady Luck arrives, she arrives, and if not, there’s nothing you can do about it.

Don’t Play Progressive Slots at the Start

I know that most of the top Vegas slots I mentioned above are progressive jackpot games. I also know that the temptation of a Megabucks jackpot can be too much to turn away from. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t play progressive jackpot slots in Las Vegas, I’m just saying not to play them at the start of the night.

The chances of winning a progressive jackpot are slim, millions to one at best. Add to this that these slots have a notoriously low payback percentage, and playing them from the outset is the best way to blow your bankroll.

What I prefer to do is play low volatility slots which pay smaller amounts more frequently. It’s even better if they have a high RTP. Once I’m playing with house money and have safely tucked my starting bankroll back into my wallet, I switch to the progressive jackpot slots.

If I lose, it doesn’t matter. It was never my money until I cashed it out anyhow. That’s the mindset you have to have if you want to win in Vegas.

Trust Your Intuition

This is the one tip on this list that I can’t quantify. While I base the others on a hard-won understanding of how Las Vegas slot machines work, this tip is more mysterious, yet countless slots players will attest to its truth.

Sometimes, for some unexplained reason, you just get a feeling about certain slots. You can just know for sure this isn’t your lucky machine, and other times, a seemingly random slot can grab your attention out of nowhere, and lo and behold, you scoop a massive jackpot.

Some players think this is Lady Luck guiding them, while others attempt to understand this intuition as the subconscious mind processing data you aren’t aware of. I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s real. Trust your intuition when you play slots in Vegas!

Now you know the best slot machines in Las Vegas and where to play them. With these top slots tips, you’ll have a better chance of winning. Good luck, and enjoy Las Vegas!

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The Bellagio's award winning casino is a marriage of style and function, beautiful in its fixtures, and bountiful in action.

This stylish casino in the thick of the famous Las Vegas strip offers a wide variety of games, from slots, to poker to table games. The Bellagio even plays host to the famous World Poker Tour which has grown in popularity throughout the last few years.

Since its opening in the last quarter of 1998 the Bellagio has seen tremendous growth in its popularity. It has an Italian theme that carries through the entire resort and a gorgeous fountain display to music that occurs at the front of the property.

The Bellagio offers 40 poker tables in a seven thousand square foot poker room. They have two high stakes areas including the extravagant “Bobby's Room”.

This was named in honor of Bobby Baldwin who won the World Series of Poker in the late 70’s. This room is available all day and all night and includes meal service you can enjoy at your table, along with free drinks in a smoke free environment. But there is more than that available.

There are eight 32” television monitors, 11 42” plasma screens, safes for your belongings, a music system that utilizes the latest in technology and a full service cashier cage. The walls are lined with pictures of past tournaments and poker themed art work.

If table games are more your style, the Bellagio will not let you down. You can sit down at a table and play baccarat, black jack, roulette, craps, pai gow, pai gow poker, 3 card poker, or let it ride, to name a few.

All the typical table games you would expect to see at a casino the Bellagio provides.

Perhaps you are more into slots? If so then the Bellagio has nearly 2,500 slot machines. Both reels and video poker machines have progressives and jackpots that regularly exceed a million dollars!

There are slots to suit any budget from a penny bet all the way to a grand! Novices to high rollers will enjoy the selection. If you want something unique, there are games only available at MGM Mirage properties.

Bellagio's payback percentage on slots has been consistently higher than the Las Vegas strip average since 2005. In fact it was nearly 3% higher than the rest of the casinos on the strip during the beginning of 2009! But the action really heats up during their slot tournaments.

These events feature live entertainment, the Bellagio's famous cuisine, and prizes ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.

The Bellagio also offers a 5,600 square foot race and sports book featuring 150 state-of-the-art screens including 32 sports bar flat screens, 99 individual racing monitors and one large racing screen, and other various screens placed throughout. The race book area has the capability to post up to 25 tracks per day and offers a non-smoking section.

But if you are looking for the ultimate high stakes experience, you need to visit Club Privé. As an exclusive high limit lounge Club Privé offers and unsurpassed combination of seclusion and amenities to satisfy the most discriminating player.

The MGM/Mirage Player's Club card allows you to earn valuable rewards as you play in the casino. You can earn rewards by playing slots and table games, including cash, complimentary rooms and invitations to special events. You can earn and use your rewards at 11 different casinos in and out of Las Vegas.

The Bellagio is a must stop for anyone who desires to game in a luxurious and inviting environment. Whatever you gaming tastes the Bellagio has exactly what you are looking for surrounded by style, class and excellent service.