Buy casino slot machines
All You Need to Know About Buying Used Slot Machines
You might be wondering, can I buy a slot machine for my home? Before I wrote this guide to buying used slot machines, I had the same question. I always thought it would cool to buy a real money slot machine or video poker machine for our house. Slot machines have come a long way, and its rich history is apparent in the older slot machines that graced the huge and popular casino halls of yesteryears, as well as the more recent ones that call the current casino establishments their home. This is why having a piece of history is such a great prospect.
So I started researching how to buy gaming machines.
I quickly learned that buying a used slot machine in the United States is a lot more complicated than you might think.
Not only do you have to locate the right slot machine for sale and pay for expensive shipping costs, but youll also need to know whether it is illegal or not to own a slot machine in your state.
The last thing you need is to have local and state law enforcement show up to confiscate your gaming machine and assess a stiff fineor worse, threaten a jail sentence.
Is It Legal to Own a Slot Machine?
In the US, its not the federal government that determines if you can own a slot machine, its the state where you reside. So besides the price and availability of gaming machines, potential buyers should know the gaming laws of their home state.
Below is a list of states according to the type of slot machine ownership laws they have passed. This should make it easy to browse and find out whether your state allows you to own the gaming machine of your dreams.
Slot Machine Laws by State*
STATE | LEGAL STATUS | LEGAL REFERENCE |
Alaska | ALL LEGAL | Alaska Statutes – Section |
Arizona | ALL LEGAL | Arizona Revised Statutes – |
Arkansas | ALL LEGAL | N/A |
Kentucky | ALL LEGAL | Kentucky Revised Statutes |
Maine | ALL LEGAL | Maine Revised Statutes Title 17A – Chapter 39 |
Minnesota | ALL LEGAL | Minnesota Statutes and Criminal Laws |
Nevada | ALL LEGAL | N/A |
Ohio | ALL LEGAL | Ohio Revised Code |
Rhode Island | ALL LEGAL | Rhode Island General Laws |
Texas | ALL LEGAL | Texas Statutes Chapter 47 |
Utah | ALL LEGAL | N/A |
Virginia | ALL LEGAL | N/A |
West Virginia | ALL LEGAL | N/A |
California | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | California Penal Code |
Colorado | MACHINES MANUFACTURED PRE – | Colorado Revised Statutes |
Delaware | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | 28 Delaware |
Florida | MACHINES 20 YEARS OR OLDER | Florida Statutes |
Georgia | MACHINES MANUFACTURED PRE – | Georgia Code Title 16, Sec. |
Idaho | MACHINES MANUFACTURED PRE – | Idaho Statutes Title 18, |
Illinois | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | Illinois Compiled Statutes 5/ |
Iowa | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | Iowa Code |
Kansas | MACHINES MANUFACTURED PRE – | Kansas Statutes |
Louisiana | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | Louisiana Title |
Maryland | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | Maryland Code Article B |
Massachusetts | MACHINES 30 YEARS OR OLDER | Massachusetts General Laws Ch. , Sec. 5A |
Michigan | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | Michigan Compiled Statutes |
Mississippi | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | Mississippi Code |
Missouri | MACHINES 30 YEARS OR OLDER | Missouri Revised Statutes & |
Montana | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | Montana State Code |
New Hampshire | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | New Hampshire Revised Statutes |
New Jersey | MACHINES MANUFACTURED PRE – | New Jersey Statute 2C |
New York | MACHINES 30 YEARS OR OLDER | New York Consolidated Laws |
North Carolina | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | North Carolina General Statutes |
North Dakota | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | North Dakota Century Code |
Oklahoma | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | Oklahoma State Statutes |
Oregon | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | Oregon Revised Statutes |
Pennsylvania | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes |
South Dakota | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | South Dakota Codified Laws |
Vermont | MACHINES MANUFACTURED PRE – | Vermont Statutes Title 13, Ch. 51, Sec. |
Washington | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | Revised Code of Washington |
Washington, DC | MACHINES MANUFACTURED PRE – | District of Columbia |
Wyoming | MACHINES 25 YEARS OR OLDER | Wyoming Statute |
Alabama | PROHIBITED | AL Code Section 13A, Chapter 12, Article 2 |
Connecticut | PROHIBITED | Connecticut Chapter , Section a |
Hawaii | PROHIBITED | Hawaii Statutes § |
Indiana | PROHIBITED | Indiana Code |
Nebraska | PROHIBITED | Nebraska Revised Statutes Section |
New Mexico | PROHIBITED | NM Gaming Control Bd. v. Ten Gaming Devices |
South Carolina | PROHIBITED | South Carolina Code § |
Tennessee | PROHIBITED | Tennessee Code § |
Wisconsin | PROHIBITED | Wisconsin Statutes Chapter |
Where to Buy Slot Machines Online
Now comes the fun part: buying your first slot machine. Finding a used slot machine vendor online is the easy part. With a minimal amount of research, gaming memorabilia collectors can find countless places to buy used slot machines.
Slot Machine Resellers
- Slot Machines Unlimited
- Gamblers Oasis
- Slot Machines USA
- Old Time Slots
- LA Slot MacBrights.,
- Brights Antique Slot Machines
- San Diego Antique Slot Machines
- Wee Chin Electric Machinery Inc.
Auction Sites
Those who dont want to shop at outlets they are not familiar with can try the biggest online markets. While Amazon does not seem to have many casino slot machines for sale, eBay is a gold mine for Antique slots.
eBays list of used slot machines includes categories like Antique, Bally, Glass, IGT, Jennings, Video, and Vintage. The Antique Coin Slot Machines page contains everything from spare parts for $6 to full antique machines ranging into the thousands of dollars.
NOTE: The Vintage Slot Machines listings on eBay include a lot of knick-knack items from the first half of the 20th century. Make sure you understand the size of these items you buy because many tiny replica machines are on sale online. If a machine is $10, its probably a toy.
For those who want to experience playing the latest slot games at the comfort of their homes and without breaking the bank, they should check out the latest online casino games created by reputable online casino game developers. Players can pick and choose from a huge library of online slots that have decent paylines and huge payouts. They also have a free version to help players determine if that online slot game caters to their liking, and if it does, they can experience the real version of the game and win real money.
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Where it legal to own slot machines in the United States?
Given that the United States of America has given its states power over their respective territories, most gambling laws are handled at the state level. And states rights are often championed by local citizens. That is good for the people of the country because it keeps corrupting power out of a relatively few hands. But it is terrible when it comes to trying to understand the gambling laws state-by-state.
States Where Owning Slots Is Illegal
In 9 different U.S. states, it is illegal to own slot machines. Many of the states listed are anti-gambling bastions. Hawaii is one of two states which ban all forms of gambling, along with Utah. It is no surprise to see a comprehensive ban in the Hawaiian Islands. Southern states like Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina tend to enact laws based on socially conservative values, so one should not be surprised to see a ban on private slot machine ownership there. Nebraska is a red state, and Wisconsin is currently the home of Gov. Scott Walker, so both lean conservative at the moment, too.
Connecticut is a gambling-friendly state, known for its two massive tribal gaming casinos: Foxwoods Resort and Mohegan Sun. Connecticut might have anti-ownership laws for slot machines to protect their native gambling industry.
- Alabama
- Connecticut
- Hawaii
- Indiana
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Wisconsin
If you are residing in the aforementioned states listed above, acquiring slots might be challenging. One way to sate that gambling itch is to use online casino game options. This includes online slot games that you can play anytime and at any device that has internet connectivity.
Explore and Enjoy the Best Online Slot Games Here
States Where Owning Slots Is Legal
In the following 12 U.S. states, it is legal to own any type of slot machine. No restriction exists on owning slots at all. As readers can tell from the lists further down the page, restrictions usually exist on the age of the gaming machine. The idea is to allow vintage gaming machine aficionados to own older slots. At the same time, gamblers who want to own the latest, cutting-edge electronic slot machines often cannot make those purchases legally.
The twelve states listed below have no such restrictions. It might not seem strange to see that Nevada has no such limits since Las Vegas and Reno are gambling-friendly. What might seem odd is to see Utah, where all gambling is illegal, has no such restrictions. Texas and Arkansas, which hardly are gaming capitals, also have no limits. Kentucky, which usually features its horse racing industry over casino gambling, does not ban the ownership of slots.
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Minnesota
- Nevada
- Ohio
- Rhode Island
- Texas
- Utah
- West Virginia
States Where Slot Machines Must Be 25 Years Old
Seventeen states have a law that states that slot machines owned by private non-licensed citizens must be 25 years old or older. Note: that does not mean the owner has to be 25 or older. It means the gaming machine must be a quarter of a century old. The idea is the machine must be an older make or model, so the collectors of the machine are likely to want vintage slot machines for the sake of nostalgia.
When many of these laws were written, the year rule meant that owners would be collecting mechanical slot machines, instead of the EGMs used in casinos these days. Note that several of the states listed are gaming-heavy states: California, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and the state of Washington. Some simply tend to have liberal laws.
- California
- Delaware
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- South Dakota
- Washington (state)
- Virginia
- Wyoming
What Is Allowed Older Machines Can Be Bought
A handful of states also stipulate that a gaming machine must be a certain age, but have arbitrary time frames besides 25 years. Below is a list of seven U.S. states with time stipulations in the laws. Next to each state is the age a gaming machine must be before it can be purchased.
- Florida – 20 Years Old
- Illinois 20
- Massachusetts – 30 Years Old
- Missouri 30
- New York 30
- Georgia – 50 Years Old
- Idaho 50
Legal to Own Year Stipulation
Five states and the District of Columbia take a slightly different approach to the states, which set a time limitation on slot machine purchases. In the following states, a slot machine has to have been manufactured before a particular year to be legal. In most of those cases, the machine has to have been built in the s or s (the Golden Age of slot machines). In those cases, the people who buy such machines are likely to be collectors of rare items.
In the case of Colorado, a slot machine has to have been produced before to be legally purchased. The early-to-mid s is when slot machines stopped being built with mechanical reels and instead were designed as electronic game boxes with microchips and video screens. Therefore, Colorado gaming law restricts sales to vintage machines with mechanical reels.
- New Jersey Before
- Pennsylvania Before
- Kansas Before
- Washington DC Before
- Vermont Before
- Colorado Before
Conclusion
This should give you a basic understanding of the places you can buy used slot machines online, how much youll have to pay to have them delivered, and whether it is legal to own such a fun device in your part of the USA. I recommend that those who live in places where slot machines are illegal should avoid any chance of breaking the law. You dont want to have to explain how your vintage slot machine collection is not used for profit. Even if you convince the authorities that they dont need to arrest you, they might confiscate your expensive used slot machine.