Slot Machines Near Me In 2021 How To Find Slots In The United States

How do I find slot machines near me?

This isn’t a hypothetical question. I travel a lot for work and with family and friends. If I get an urge to play slot machines, I need to be able to find slot games near me no matter where I am. Over the years, I’ve learned how to find slot machine games pretty much anywhere in the United States. I may have to think outside the box or look in some less-familiar places. Sometimes I have to travel a bit outside the planned route to satisfy my slot jones. Other times I have to give up the search and stick to online slot games.

Whether I’m enjoying a casino slot near me or relaxing and playing slots at one of my favorite offshore gambling sites, I’m confident that I can literally always find slots in my area.

This post is dedicated to sharing the methods I use to find slot games near me wherever in the country I find myself. My goal is to teach people how they can find their favorite games close enough to plan a quick trip.

My roulette near me post has been popular, so I hope this post about slots near me will be, too.

How Near Is Near?
I want to start by addressing the elephant in the room – what do I mean by “near me?”

To me, a slot machine is “near me” if I can drive to it in less than four hours. I’ve come to that definition after years of bouncing off to play slots across a state line or a few counties over. I don’t mind gassing up the truck and burning up the road for two or three hours to play slots near me.

Your definition of near is likely to be different. I’m a Texan. I’m used to driving a few hours to see friends. And I don’t mind a long drive to a specific restaurant. Dallas, Austin/San Antonio, and Houston form a nice little triangle. And each of the legs is about 4 hours of driving. It’s no big deal go to Dallas for a day. A weekend trip to Austin to see some bands is easy too.

Some slot machine fans may not have easy access to a car, so they’ll be depending on buses, trains, Uber, or whatever to shuffle around to their favorite slot games. That certainly puts a limit on how near a game has to be to you to be considered nearby.

For my search today, I’m looking for slot machines near me that I want to play, either because I’m interested in them, or they offer a really high RTP or whatever reason. If I find a game at a casino within four hours of wherever I am, I’m going to consider that near.

Slot Machines Near Me in the US in 2021
In some ways, I’m lucky because I live in Texas in the year 2021. If I were a slot machine fanatic in the 1970s, I’d have far fewer options in terms of slot games near me.

Texas borders Louisiana, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. These three states have myriad gambling choices. And they’re mostly tribal casino properties.

Oklahoma is always a good choice. The WinStar properties in Oklahoma are fun, offering a decent simulacrum of Vegas-style gambling. I love the Oklahoma casinos’ focus on machine gaming – as a slots guy, Oklahoma-style gambling suits me well. The WinStar in Thackerville hosts 8,500 slot and video poker games, way more than one slots guy like me could ever need.

But as I’m writing this post, I happen to be in Houston visiting some friends and melting in the summer humidity. Thackerville is right at 5 hours away, which is a little further than I like to travel to play slots. If it comes down to it, and I can’t find anywhere else to go, I might put a run to Oklahoma together.

The good news for anyone in the Houston area – southwest Louisiana is home to several casinos with slots. Near me? Two and a half hours by car, maybe a little less if I make good time headed east on I-10.

Examples of Slot Machines Near Me in the Lake Charles Area
Once I get to the Lake Charles area, I’ll have my pick of excellent casinos, each of which is home to games I love playing.

L’Auberge is as swanky as it gets with an amazing pool and top-notch amenities. Operated by Penn National Gaming, it doesn’t have as much of an emphasis on machine gaming as other casinos in the area, but a library of 1,600+ games is plenty for me. I really like their buffet – it’s called Drago’s Seafood Buffet and it’s always got a ridiculous selection of local seafood for $20 a person.

Golden Nugget Lake Charles is a little more Vegas-corny, but the laid-back atmosphere is sometimes perfect, and they have 2,000 slot and video poker games, the most in the region. I can’t find the Sons of Anarchy slot games anywhere else around Lake Charles – if I want to play that game, maybe I’ll stick to the Nugget.

Isle of Capri is the smallest and the oldest-looking spot nearby, and they only have 800 or so slot games, but if I’m not into the overcrowding and high-energy of L’Auberge or the Nugget, I’ll find the Pac-Man slots at Isle of Capri and have a blast. I like how Isle of Capri’s live performers are piped into the casino floor so you can watch while you play. It sounds cheesy, but you’ll see what I mean when you go.

My Favorite Unconventional Slot Machines
What if I didn’t want to drive five hours round-trip to play a few hours of slot games?

It’s easy to imagine this scenario. Maybe I’m not feeling well and don’t want to spend all day driving. Maybe my car is on the fritz, and I just can’t make the drive. Or maybe I don’t have all day to spend driving.

In Texas, and in many other parts of the country, I have another option.

Gas station slots.

If you’ve traveled much across our fair land, you’ve probably seen what look like slot machines lined up against the far wall. They have flashing lights, spinning digital reels, bonus rounds, and payouts. They look like slot machines and act like slot machines. But they aren’t technically slot machines.

Most unconventional slot machine games are technically skill games. The designers of these games, gambling companies like Ortiz Gaming, design them to comply with state gaming laws. When a game has an element of skill, such as a memory round, it can technically be classified as something other than a slot. You may call them Class III games, or you may call them skill slots, or whatever.

I don’t often play these games. In Texas, it’s not totally clear to me that all of these games are legal. Nor does it seem right to take a ticket up to the gas station clerk and get paid in cash from the register. There’s something seedy about the experience.

But if I really want to engage in some slot action, and there’s no casinos near enough to me, I don’t mind cashing in for $50 or so and plying a little Class III slot machine.

What I Do if No Slot Machines Exist Near Me
I’ve found myself in several slot machine dead zones.

Visiting Utah and want to gamble?

I hope you like bingo and skill machine games, because that’s pretty much all you’re going to find. In a legal capacity anyway.

Hawaii is much the same. Don’t get a hankering for slot play while vacationing in Hawaii. You’ll have literally no options for thousands of miles.

When I can’t find a slot machine near me, I turn to the most obvious alternative.

The Nearest Slot Machine to Me is Always Online
The Internet is the greatest thing to happen to slot players since video slots were invented.

I don’t really need to drive five hours up to Oklahoma anymore to play slots. Southwest Louisiana, despite its unsung beauty and delicious local foods, isn’t a required part of my life anymore. I can literally pick up my phone or open my laptop and play slot machines within minutes.

We’re not talking about the Internet slots your dad played, either. Modern online slot casinos have everything you’d find in brick & mortar spaces – progressives, bonuses, traditional games, licensed slots, and every other feature slot players are looking for.

Are there downsides to play slots online?

That depends on the type of player you are. If you just really enjoy the casino atmosphere, you’re not going to replicate that in your living room. However, slot play really lends itself to Web-based casinos. No live dealer is required. And the way you play slots in a casino is very similar to the way you play a video game.

If my car exploded and my feet fell off and the Texas-Louisiana border shut down, I could still play mobile slots or Web-based slot machines on my laptop and fulfill my need to spin reels.

Conclusion
You got an inside look today at my own process for finding slot machines near me.

I can’t really help you win more often at slot machine games. That’s up to you and your betting strategy. But I can make it easier for you to find the games you love to play.

Just do what I did.