Coin-In

Coin-in is the total amount players wager on a slot or electronic gaming machine over a period, counted before any winnings are paid back out.

Definition

Coin-in is the slots and electronic-gaming-machine (EGM) name for handle: the aggregate value of every wager placed on a machine over a defined period, counted whether each spin wins or loses. It is a turnover figure, not a revenue one — because players continually re-stake winning credits, coin-in is typically far larger than the cash actually inserted (sometimes called the coin drop) or the machine's net win. Subtracting coin-out (the credits paid back to players) from coin-in gives the machine's win, the slots equivalent of gross gaming revenue, whereas multiplying coin-in by the game's theoretical hold gives its theoretical win. The same volume concept is called handle in sports betting and, in most European betting markets, turnover.

Worked example

Imagine a penny slot with a 96% RTP — a theoretical hold of 4% — on which players spin a total of 500,000 in credits over a week; that 500,000 is the coin-in. The machine pays back 480,000 in coin-out, so its win is 500,000 − 480,000 = 20,000, which is 4% of coin-in, exactly its theoretical hold. If a single player loaded just 50 in cash and kept re-betting winnings, they alone might generate several thousand in coin-in — which is why coin-in dwarfs the money physically inserted. A coin-in index then benchmarks one machine against the floor: a unit doing 500,000 against a floor average of 400,000 indexes at 1.25, meaning it attracts 25% more volume than the typical machine.

Why it matters

Coin-in is the workhorse volume metric of the slot floor: it drives theoretical win, feeds player-tracking and loyalty-point accrual, and — divided across days or machines — underpins performance measures such as coin-in per unit and the coin-in index that tell operators which games and denominations to keep. Analysts and journalists should treat it exactly like handle: it counts recycled credits, so it overstates what players actually spent and must never be read as revenue or as a measure of player loss. For regulators, coin-in is the base against which a machine's theoretical hold and realised payout percentage are checked.

Further reading

Authoritative references for business & metrics — regulators, standards bodies and primary sources. Independent, not affiliated.

• UK Gambling Commission — Industry statisticsgamblingcommission.gov.uk
• Nevada Gaming Control Board — Gaming Revenue Informationgaming.nv.gov
• European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) — EU marketegba.eu

Note: "Coin-in" predates cashless play and persists on ticket-in/ticket-out and cashless machines even though no physical coins move — it simply means total credits wagered. Floor terminology is easy to conflate: coin-in (total wagered), coin drop or "drop" (currency and tickets actually inserted), and win or net win (coin-in minus coin-out) are distinct figures, and exact definitions and the coin-in index's comparison group can differ by operator, jurisdiction, and reporting standard.