Online casinos are famous for paying a much higher return than those on the Las Vegas Strip. Because the overhead costs of hosting online gambling is significantly less than that of running a giant hotel-resort along with a casino, Internet operators have been able to make a profit on a finer edge for the house. But rumors on how recession has changed Vegas business models led industry analysts to expect Vegas operators would be loosening slot machines.

However, a report in the Las Vegas Sun says that surveys indicate that slot players in Las Vegas think the casinos have actually tightened the machines, giving the house more of an advantage than ever. Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter, told the Sun that there are several ways to track slot payout settings.

Curtis asserts that, while slot settings are carefully concealed secrets, they mirror the payouts on video poker, which is clearly displayed on machines. Curtis said, “…we absolutely have witnessed a tightening of video poker payouts.”

While individual opinions may be far off the mark, Curtis’ newsletter surveyed over 2300 gamblers and found a large majority of them are experiencing tighter slots, with fewer and smaller payouts.

Also, numbers reported by the Nevada Gaming Control Board show a sharp decline in slot machine payouts from last year to this year. Curtis says the move by some players to cheaper slots accounts for some but not all of the drop.

Analysts had expected land casinos to seek to attract more customers by sending more people home talking of how loose the slots were, but instead corporate bean counters have apparently decided to squeeze every drop of blood from the body of the golden goose. Meanwhile numbers of US visitors to Internet gambling sites is on the rise, and online slots continue to be a bargain that pays more and draws return clientele.