Question of the Day - 05 December 2019

When that much money is on the line and someone is going to try to find a way. I thought any machine that had playing cards on it had to behave like a real deck. Is that not true

Entitled "Las Vegas: Deadly Jackpot." It was season 1, episode 10, 5 October 1999.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_City_Confidential_episodes

What about Indian casinos in CA or other states. There is almost no regulation there.  Most of the machines are the same as in Nevada, but with no one coming to check the chips or machines, what would stop them?  I would think that Caesars properties and the other large companies would not try to cheat, but places like Pachenga, or other single casinos, no one would ever know.

First of all, I didn't know people from India owned casinos in the USA so what are you talking about?  If Native Americans are your complaint then consider this.  All machines are State regulated to be Bingo or Pull Tab machines with slot or VP faces and have the same "win" rate as Bingo and Pull Tabs do.  Sort of like playing a Keno machine.  States that allow Las Vegas type machines always require a Las Vegas casino company to provide and regulate the slots and table games for the Reservation properties.  More often, being new to the industry, Native American casinos are the ones being cheated rather than cheating their customers.  As in any business, if you treat your customers badly it isn't long before you don't have any customers or at least not enough to keep you in business.  Every loser always wants to blame everyone but themselves.

They are called "INDIAN" casinos by the US government. Their very existence is protected and allowed by the 1988 federal law passed by Congress that is called the "INDIAN Gaming Regulatory Act", aka the IGRA.

In 1988 Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that was signed into law by President Ronald Reagan which kept tribal sovereignty to create casinos, but the states and Native American casino operators must be in Tribal-State compacts and the government retains some power to regulate the gaming. These compacts are used by states as a source of revenue agreed to by the Native American officials in exchange for being allowed to operate the casino. The tribes have the right to offer all classes of gaming (Class I, II and III gaming) except when the state itself do not permit that class or if the gaming clashes with federal law. 

I know this is a Q about VP, but I wanted to chime in about Indian/Native American. 1) When I am in OK or NM it seems like most natives call themselves and/or accept "Indian". And for those who claim to be politically correct, the Americas were named by and after an Italian explorer, so "Americans" is not what any of the natives ever called themselves either. So if you offended when they are called "Indians" you should be just as offended if you call them "Native Americans". They were natives here long before the Europeans decided to call this land America.

Whenever I get dealt three of a kind on the deal and do not get a four of a kind on the draw. The next hand has the card I needed in the deal. Seems like it happens 90% of the time like it is trying to show you that the card is in the deck.

... that gaming on sovereign lands in the United States is largely known as "tribal gaming." I endorse this term, if only to eliminate the pearl-clutching that exists among some of us when someone flubs the NA/Indian usage purity test.

That said. the idea that tribal gaming is somehow rife with underhanded business dealings and short-changing of players -- or that "one never knows ..." what they're getting into -- is inherently racist.

Derbycity123 --- if you believe that the hand after missing on a 3-of-a-kind contains the "needed" card 90% of the time, do I have a money-making deal for you!

Next time you're in Vegas, look me up. I will sit next to you and every time you miss on a 3-of-a-kind, we can make a bet.

If the next hand contains the special card, I will pay you $10. If it doesn't, you pay me $5. This only requires the card to be there half-the-time for you to break even --- which is far less than the 90% you postulate.

Let me know when you're ready. 

The EPROM can be altered by the operator of the machine--it's sometimes known as "firmware." The operator simply engages a subroutine and that is loaded onto the firmware.

The "nice" thing about this is that the subroutine is usually lost when the machine is powered down and/or reset.

Sometime in the 1990s (I don't remember when exactly), several sovereign tribes, including the Blackfoot and Shoshone, were found to be using those reprogrammable EPROMS in their machines. I investigated this myself because one of the most popular paytables--a two-joker machine--should have returned 108% if everything was on the up-and-up. I got suspicious when every time I was dealt both jokers, I wound up with the minimum possible--three of a kind. I don't know what the ultimate outcome of all this was, as the tribes were negotiating for state gaming compacts.

So the casinos probably won't mess with the machines, but "can't"? That's hopelessly naive.

The 'Video Poker' aspect of the VP machines in Washington are strictly for entertainment purposes only.

The cards you hold / discard have no bearing on what, if anything, you will win.  It's predetermined once you hit 'Play'.

If you are dealt a straight, you can throw all 5 cards away, and you will get dealt a straight again.  If you throw the 'wrong' cards away, the machine will ensure that you will get what it has already decided to pay you.

And there is no guarantee that you will get a Royal Flush...

@ Jackie
Thanks for the political correctness lesson, and letting me know I am a loser.  I'm, too old for the correctness game. I am sure no Native Americans were insulted.  And since I was born here, am I a native american, or just an american born citizen?  As for a casino that offers all classes of gaming, I had never heard that they must have a Las Vegas operator to run the casino.  I am curious to know where you found that regulation.  The reason I asked was to see if anyone here knew how, lets say in CA, the casino's are regulated.  Who comes to check the slots, or the shuffle machines, or VP to see if they are operating per manufacturers specs.  Is there a limit to house hold, like there is in NV, and what is it?  In FL, they have a gaming commission that polices the casinos and there is some house hold limit, like NV has (75% or 85%?).  That was the purpose of my question.  I was not implying that there is any cheating going on. 

The US government has an agency that is entitled the "Indian Health Service". They serve the American Indian population. Their website is www.ihs.gov. Read what it says on their homepage, especially at the top. The word Indian is used throughout the US government in treaties with Native Americans, agencies that deal with them and various other services. Nowadays some may not like the term Indian but it is an official classification.