VLTs are the poor man’s slot machine, used primarily by casinos that can’t get full-blown slot machines for their establishments because slots are prohibited by law where they are or in their particular type of establishment.
Ohio has four casinos (which use slot machines) and seven racinos, which employ VLTs. One of those tracks is Thistledown Racino, which is co-owned by Caesars Entertainment. Company spokesman Gary Thompson writes, "VLTs and slots are exactly the same in terms of games, odds and outcomes. VLTs, however, are controlled by a central system the state controls and where it can, if it wants to do so, shut down a VLT machine or machines. Slots, on the other hand, may be controlled by a central system that gaming regulators (not the state per se) approve, but the casinos determine whether a machine or machines need(s) to be shut down, either because of regulatory concerns or machine malfunction."
The Ohio Gaming Commission’s director of communications, Tama Davis, further explained that VLTs cannot offer video poker and are mandated by Buckeye State law to pay out no less than 85% of coin-in. Although the games are centralized, not stand-alone, you are still playing against the house, not against other players. The central server allows the state to monitor game play, helping it to collect its share of the kitty, according to Ohio Lottery Commission Public Information Officer Marie Kilbane.
Gambling author Basil Nestor differentiates between slots and VLTs by focusing on the role of the random number generator, which can produce millions of combinations on the virtual reels of a slot. By contrast, a VLT displays a mock lottery card. "The video reels spin and reveal results consistent with whatever is on the ticket. In other versions, the machine plays a virtual bingo game. It receives a bingo card from a central computer, and various linked terminals play the bingo game to conclusion. Then the video reels spin and reveal results consistent with whatever occurred in the bingo game," Nestor writes.
He adds that VLTs are usually found in markets where there is little completion and, consequently, tend to be tighter: "Generally, the payback on these machines is somewhere between 85 percent and 92 percent," so it’s definitely not a good play if you’re looking for value in your gambling experience.
Incidentally, electronic-gaming machines in Class II tribal casinos are also termed VLTs, although they operate somewhat differently. Instead of a random number generator, the outcome of play is determined by (again) a bingo- or lottery-like game programmed into the central computer system. However, players are competing against one another, not playing against the house. This had led to much controversy and litigation between Native American tribes and states without casino gambling.
To the states, the VLTs look, play and pay like slot machines, while tribes maintain that – since the pay is pari-mutuel their VLTs are nothing like slots. Courts have tended to side with the tribes. As gaming attorneys Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier and Andrew D. Lynch write, "There is no ‘bright line test’ as to what constitutes a Class II gaming device and what constitutes a Class III gaming device. With technology rapidly evolving, the distinction between the two is becoming more and more blurred."
