How do Connecticut’s casinos stack up against casinos in other states?

Those of us who try our luck on the slots at Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun hope the next pull of the lever will be life changing. But what are the odds you’ll really walk away with cash?

Connecticut’s two tribal casinos rank in the middle of the pack in terms of slot payouts when compared with other states around the country.

Valkyrie Slots

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Valkyrie Slot Machine Windsor Locks

According to the Connecticut Gaming Commission, Foxwoods' slot payout average is 91.85 percent. Mohegan Sun pays back at a rate of 91.71 percent. That means Connecticut has the eighth-highest payout rate of the 20 states requiring casinos to report.

The best payout percentage by state is in neighboring New York. The Empire State, with its nine reporting casinos, pays back 93.75 percent. Resorts World in Queens, New York, pays the highest returns, at 95.05 percent.

Valkyries Slot Machine

The second state by average is Nevada, at 93.54 percent. West Virginia is at the bottom of the list, with an average of 89.12 percent payback.

1. NEW YORK – 93.75 percent
2. NEVADA – 93.54 percent
3. COLORADO – 92.85 percent
4. MISSISSIPPI – 92.77 percent
5. FLORIDA – 92.46 percent
6. DELAWARE – 92.36 percent
7. **KENTUCKY– 92.06 percent
8. *CONNECTICUT – 91.77 percent
9. NEW JERSEY – 91.41 percent
10. SOUTH DAKOTA – 91.36 percent
11. ILLINOIS – 91.00 percent
12. RHODE ISLAND – 90.88 percent
13. LOUISIANA – 90.74 percent
14. INDIANA – 90.71 percent
15. IOWA – 90.69 percent
16. MAINE – 90.68 percent
17. MISSOURI – 90.64 percent
18. OHIO – 90.34 percent
19. PENNSYLVANIA – 90.16 percent
20. WEST VIRGINIA – 89.72 percent

Percentages for include slots, blackjack, keno and video poker unless otherwise noted.
*Only slot machines
**Historical Horse Wagering

It’s not an exact science. Most states include video poker, Keno and video blackjack in their percentages, which tend to give better odds. Connecticut is the only state to include only slots. States like Nevada and Louisiana report area averages, not individual casinos. Other states, like New York and Florida, exempt tribes from reporting.

The NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters sorted through slot revenue reports submitted to gaming, lottery and racing commissions for all reporting states. The Troubleshooters found that the areas with more competition tend to pay out higher averages.

Also, the lower the denomination, the lower the payback. Penny slots at both Connecticut casinos pay lower than 90 percent and receive almost half the total money wagered. The highest payouts at Foxwoods are the multi-denomination machines. They pay out 95.77 percent. Mohegan Sun’s $10 machines return 96.96 percent.

Foxwoods: July 2014 - May 2015

• $0.01: 89.34 percent
• $0.02: 90.83 percent
• $0.05: 90.40 percent
• $0.25: 92.06 percent
• $0.50: 91.47 percent
• $1.00: 93.50 percent
• $2.00: 93.34 percent
• $5.00: 93.96 percent
• $10.00: 94.70 percent
• $25.00: 94.25 percent
• $100.00: 95.56 percent
• Multi-Denomination: 95.77 percent
• Total: 91.85 percent

Mohegan Sun: July 2014 - May 2015

• $0.0025: 85.84 percent
• $0.005: 85.45 percent
• $0.01: 88.93 percent
• $0.02: 89.21 percent
• $0.05: 88.39 percent
• $0.25: 91.64 percent
• $0.50: 91.94 percent
• $1.00: 93.04 percent
• $2.00: 96.62 percent
• $5.00: 93.82 percent
• $10.00: 96.96 percent
• $25.00: 95.38 percent
• $100.00: 93.85 percent
• Multi-Denomination: 95.19 percent
• Total: 91.71 percent

Mohegan Sun president Bobby Soper argues his casino is as competitive as any around the country. He points out the economy and amount of free play credits they give to entice bettors plays a big part in keeping them from being even higher on the list.

'There are certainly a higher percentage of penny machines and nickel machines than previous,' said Soper. 'That across the board, across the industry is going to drive hold percentage.'

This investigation comes at a time when Connecticut is exploring the option of allowing Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun to jointly operate a third state casino, off tribal land, north of Hartford.

Locations being considered include the Enfield Square Mall, the Bradley Off-Track Betting property in Windsor Locks and the former Showcase Cinemas property in East Windsor.

The legislature approved the right for tribes to consider proposals from towns willing to host a satellite casino. Soper expects its cost could save thousands of jobs in the state and cost close to $300 million. It will include slots, table games and a poker room.

Soper hopes to see it as close to the Connecticut border as possible. Just 5 miles from the border, MGM is building a $1 billion resort casino in Springfield. A spokesman for MGM estimates its slot payouts will be in the mid-90 percent.

State Sen. John Kissel believes casino expansion is bad policy. He argues a casino in his area of North Central Connecticut will not stop people, especially high-end gamblers, from traveling to Springfield.

'They’re aware of payouts and they’re going to travel,' said Kissel, a Republican from Enfield. 'If Massachusetts is better than Connecticut, all the high-end gamblers are going to Massachusetts and the people that are struggling to just make ends meet are going to end up in North Central Connecticut.'

In Connecticut, the tribes are required to pay 25 percent of all slot revenue to the state. They don’t need to pay anything on table games. The state has received nearly $7 billion total since Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods opened in the 1990s.

💻 Provider	High5
📅 Release Date	2013
📱 Devices	Desktop, Mobile
🔥 RTP	94.9%
📊 Volatility	High
🎰 Available at	Playamo

There are many mythology-themed slots out there, portraying every God and famous hero that can be found in the legends across the world. It’s been proven though that the main part of this category is represented by male characters. Statistics also say that those willing to play for real money, mostly are male players and having a female character in the plot is bound to catch their eye. High5 gaming software operator thought to combine these two traits and create a pokie centered on the Valkyrie Queen.

As Valkyrie Queen High5 demo can reveal right from the start, the beautiful warrior is coming from the Norse mythology, a collection of legends often set aside in favor of the more colorful tales from Greek or Oriental mythologies. The game, however, presents artistic imagery, an interesting main character to focus the gameplay on and some surprises that bring a plus into the bank account along the way.

Valkyrie Queen Pokie Game Review

Let’s start by mentioning that the access to this slot doesn’t depend on paying any admission fee, the providers made it possible for Valkyrie Queen to play online, free. Now that we got that concern out of the way, we can carry on with detailing the technical aspects of the game.

It presents a classic display of 5 reels with 3 lines. The novelty that this pokie brings along refers to the fact that it doesn’t present a number of paylines, but it rather mentions a number of winning ways. Probably, having a number of 243 winning ways sounds like a shocker, and that is the exact reaction that the software operators aimed for. Also, activating all the 243 ways to win is optional, depending on the amount to pay for each bet. The range greatly varies from 0.01 to 3 coins. This means that while low rollers aren’t going to activate a whole lot of possibilities, there will be some high-limit gamblers which are sure to feel attracted to such an idea.

Another aspect worth mentioning, this video slot has a return to player ratio of 94.9%, which can be considered the rather high value in the case of a slot machine. Thus, the premises for large amount winnings are already set in place. When it comes to the easiness of getting access to the game, most mobile devices, especially those running Android and iOS software, can offer the untainted experience of playing Valkyrie Queen.

Valkyrie Queen Features

After taking a walk through the technical specifications, this section is focusing on the gambling part of the game. There are a couple of interesting ways to get your hands on the jackpots that any self-respecting gambler aims at:

• Standard winning combinations
• The wild symbol and a special feature
• Free spins bonus

Standard winning combinations

Valkyrie Queen pokie has a number of symbols that are specific to the chose theme of the slot and, as any player rapidly finds out, some of these symbols go on to create more valuable combinations than others, as seen below:

• The playing cards symbols of 5, K and A make the least powerful combos, paying out up to 40 coins, when in a group of 5
• The sailing Viking ships and the flying Pegasus go for a maximum value of 150 coins
• The queen’s hammer values up to 300 coins
• The highest paying symbol is, of course, the Valkyrie Queen herself, offering a reward of 500 golden coins

The wild symbol and a special feature

The words written in gold ”Valkyrie Queen” represent the wild symbol, which goes on to creating winning combinations when it replaces any other needed sign on the reels. The special feature that the game presents to its players is the Tumbling Reels option. This means that whenever a win is registered, the signs that have created the named combo, disappear and they are replaced by other randomly generated symbols. The number of winning combination becomes theoretically infinite. Surely, the winning streak eventually ends, but even so, its chances at receiving high amounts, increase.

Free spins bonus

Valkyrie Queen also has a scatter symbol, the hawk. This appears only on the three middle reels, and if it lands on each of the three reels in the same spin, it gives out 10 free spins. There are no additional multipliers during these rounds, but they can always be retriggered, for up to 5 extra times in a row.

Valkyrie Queen Plot

The Valkyrie Queen slot is consistent with the chosen theme, using a rather simple but elegant background and symbols that recall the mythological prowess of the warrior queen: the war hammer, the flying Pegasus, the battleships sailing to war and the iconic image of the Valkyrie. Also, there is a simple soundtrack, with specific sounds during the spins and when a winning combo happens.

The way High5 chose to depict this theme wasn’t using the fanciful visual effects, or thrilling background sounds that some of the newer games make use of and the outcome is a very well-received pokie. It just gets to show the online casinos’ predisposition towards solid and dependable slots, instead of the flashy imagery that often covers up a lack of substance.

Conclusion

Valkyrie Queen online slot isn’t an overly complicated slot, although the feature of Tumbling Reels is not a trait that one might find at every other game. It offers solid gameplay, with enough surprises to keep gamblers going and sufficient visual effects to prevent it from becoming dull. A good experience and one that is bound to bring a couple extra money in payers’ pockets.

Last Update: 2020.08.06