Las Vegas Airport Slots Pay $1.1M in Jackpots in One Week

Article ByDavid Weir

January 26, 2024

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Posted in: Nevada Gambling News, US Casino News, US Gambling News

The slot machines at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas have certainly seemed more generous lately, with several big winners in 2023 and another $1 million already paid out by jackpot slots in January.

However, the rise in reported jackpots could just be the statistical result of increased play, as passenger visitations to Sin City’s airport have hit record numbers in recent months.

With a 9.4% rise in passengers compared to the previous year, nearly 53 million people passed through LAS by November 2023.

Recent Jackpot Wins

So far, 2024 has continued a good year for jackpot chasers in Las Vegas, with 2023 seeing more big ticket slot wins paid out than even the two years before the pandemic.

The slots at Las Vegas airport have been a staple of the facility since 1968, introducing the city’s gambling options to new visitors as soon as they step off the plane. Today, there are more than 1,000 machines across various sections of the airport.

This year, they have paid out a $1.03 million dollar win on January 12, and two smaller but still significant wins of $88 thousand and $18 thousand on January 18.

The airport also witnessed numerous significant jackpots in 2023, including two million-dollar wins within one month of each other in the middle of the year.

The first major jackpot of 2024 was a $1,031,199.36 win on the Wild Wild Buffalo slot machine from a $3 wager. The $18,000 jackpot was won from a $2 bet on the Checkered Flag version of Aristocrat’s Dollar Lightning Link video slot.

Comparison with Las Vegas Casinos

While airport slots are similar to those in Las Vegas casinos, they have historically offered lower returns to players.

Around 20 years ago, it was estimated that airport slots returned 85.02% to players, compared to 93.42% at the Palms, the highest in Las Vegas at the time. Although these figures are outdated, the general consensus remains that airport slots tend to be less favorable to players over time. Nevertheless, recent studies suggest that the gap in returns between airport and casino slots may have narrowed.

Although $12 million is nothing to be sniffed at, the Nevada casinos in Las Vegas and further afield do offer substantially larger jackpots on their slot games.

In 2023, a player won $12.1 million at Excalibur Hotel & Casino on a Megabucks machine, marking the third multimillion Megabucks jackpot of the year. In April 2023, one lucky player hit a $14 million jackpot at Atlantis Casino Resort and Spa in Reno. It was that city’s biggest slots jackpot win in history.

Another notable win of the year was a $1.185 million slot victory by race car driver Christy Georges-Barnett at Caesars Palace.

Airport Slots Popular

Meanwhile, Harry Reid International’s approximately 1,400 slot machines have now generated more than $1 billion in revenue since their installation, according to a press release.

However, a detailed breakdown of their specific earnings is not publicly available. The recent jackpot wins, including payouts in the hundreds of thousands and millions, highlight the potential for significant wins at airport slots, albeit with the understanding that they generally offer lower returns compared to casino equivalents.

Thanks to the magic of online slots, gamblers flying back home can continue their luck with progressive jackpot slots games. In legal U.S markets, BetMGM paid out one New Jersey online casinos customer a $3 million win in October 2023 as part of a record-breaking year for the operator’s jackpot payouts.