Can You Explain Tribal Casinos' Video Poker Machines Based on Bingo?

I’ve read that Indian casinos offer a level of video poker that is based on the mathematics of bingo. Is there a simple explanation for that? I’ve seen these machines with the small bingo card visible on the machine.

Class III slot machines, the ones you see in commercial casinos, have random number generators in the software or hardware that runs them.

Class II slots, those in many tribal casinos, don't have RNG. Instead, they depend on an external system to determine their results. In games based on bingo, for example, the external system conducts a bingo drawing and sends the numbers drawn down to each machine being played. Each machine then looks at the pattern covered by the numbers drawn and makes the appropriate payout if the pattern is a winning one.

Historical horse racing machines operate on a similar principle. Instead of randomizing the outcome of a play like regular slot machines that use a random number generator, HHRs determine winners based on previously run horse races.

A machine's class is irrelevant for reel machines. A 93%-payback reel machine pays back 93% in the long run, whether it's RNG-, bingo-, or horse-race-based.

Finally, to get to your question about video poker, Class II VP machines are completely different from Class III video poker machines. Class II machines don't simulate dealing from a fair deck. Thus, you can't tell the long-term payback of a Class II video poker machine from its paytable. Likewise, strategy is useless on a Class II video poker machine, because your result is determined by drawing bingo balls, not cards from a fair deck.

Fact is, when you play a Class II video poker machine, you're not playing video poker. You're playing bingo.

The reason that Class II machines are based on bingo is simple. All federally recognized tribes can offer bingo, but not all are allowed, either by law or compact, to offer slots. Thus, only a machine game that's based on bingo is allowed, even if it looks like a slot or video poker machine.

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Donzack May-23-2024

Good answer

Looks worse than I thought.

Michael Brouman May-23-2024

class II vs class III

Is there a way to figure out if its one class or the other?

Kevin Lewis May-23-2024

But much worse...

Is a tribal casino not bound by that stricture and ostensibly allowed to offer "real" VP. The machines I've played in those circumstances over the years have had great paytables...and uniformly horrendous results. It became evident to me that these machines were programmed a la American Coin.

The thing is, the agency overseeing the tribe's casino is...the tribe. They can literally do whatever they want, within the loose strictures of whatever compact they operate under. And legal remedies for customers who feel they've been wronged? HA! Tribal court,,,

Only a fool would gamble in a tribal casino.

Donzack May-23-2024

Many moons

It’s been many moons since I played in an Indian casino. Never had worse results anywhere. But the locals in Wisconsin line up to get in.

Gregory May-23-2024

Not all Indian Casinos....

In Minnesota we have Class III machines.  All of our casinos are run by the Indian tribes. My understanding is that the machines have to pay by these rules: Video poker and video blackjack – 83% to 98%, slot machines – 80% to 95%, keno – 75% to 95%. As far as I can tell, most of them run toward the upper end, but that's not saying much. The state has no requirement for the tribes to report their numbers. The best VP I can find locally is 8-5 DDB. For some reason have a ton of One-Eyed-Jacks are wild machines here. At one time they had pay tables that exceeded 100% (100.28%). 
Somehow they were allowed for years, but they were all coin based. When those machines were retired, they were replaced with TITO machines with 96.97% pay tables.
Minnesota also restricted slots to "video slots". No "real" reels were allowed. In the last few years, I have see a small number of them appear on the gaming floor.  Of course they allow them, now that they are mostly extinct.

Mufasa Thedog May-23-2024

It doesn't matter

I have read that for bingo based VP, it doesn't matter what cards you hold, you will get the same result.  For example, if you are dealt a royal flush, and don't hold all of the cards, you will somehow end up with a royal after the draw.  Can somebody confirm this?

Kevin Lewis May-23-2024

Mufasa

Yes, it doesn't matter what cards you hold; you'll get the same result no matter what you do.

Question of the Day - 23 May 2024

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