14
MAY 1, 2017
S moke S ignals
Oregon offers Vegas-style gaming
video poker machine.
“On a tab machine,
they (the casino)
can have it win or
lottery games and pull
they can have it lose
tab player terminals.
whenever they want
According to the
to,” says LoRiggio in
Washington Gambling
a telephone interview
Commission, each play-
from Las Vegas. “On
er terminal in a casino
a tab machine they
has to be connected to
can make the edge
a central computer sys-
anything they want.
tem that distributes pre-
They can have a 15
determined outcomes.
percent edge or an 18
“Most players are un-
percent edge if they
aware how Washington
want to.”
casino player terminal
By edge, LoRiggio
games operate,” says
is talking about the
the sign posted at Spirit
amount of money a
Mountain Casino. “The
casino keeps on av-
games look the same,
erage from a player.
but in truth they are
He said if the edge is
not. The slot vendors
14 percent, then the
have worked hard to
house keeps $14 from
make the Scratch Ticket
every $100 that goes
Lottery/Pull Tab Players
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
in the casino. If the
Terminals (Washington)
look just like their Classic These informational signs are on display at Spirit Mountain Casino. They point out the differences between edge is 3 percent then
the house keeps $3 for
Vegas slot machine (Ore- Spirit Mountain Casino and gaming in Oregon vs. gaming in Washington state’s 28 Tribal casinos.
every $100.
gon) counterparts.”
According to gaming expert Jerry
offered in Oregon, are the result of
players Las Vegas-style slot ma-
Spirit Mountain Casino Market-
Stickman of Casino City Times,
a random number generator while
chines and Washington Tribes
ing Director Shawna Ridgebear
the edge can be determined for
outcomes on slot machines offered
extend video “scratch” ticket ter-
says guests that she and Dillon
Las Vegas-style slot machines by
north of the Columbia River are the
minals to their guests via compacts
have talked to on the casino floor
comparing the odds of the hand and
result of a pattern from an electron-
with the state.
are surprised when they learn the
its corresponding payoff. The sum
ic bingo game.
Oregon is home to nine Tribal
differences in how the slot ma-
result is subtracted from 100 and
In essence, Oregon gamers are
casinos and there are 28 Tribal
chines operate.
you know the house edge.
playing against the house and
casinos in Washington, including
“As we have been putting the
Stickman says this cannot be
in Washington they are playing
the new Cowlitz venue. Washing-
signage out on the casino floor
done with video terminals because
against other players who are also
ton Tribes have compacts with
we are getting the same response
the odds of completing the game
playing that particular game. Each
the state that allow them to have
back from our guests that are quite
are not random because they are
spin of the wheel on a Washington
table games as well as electronic
honestly shocked when they hear
determined by a central server.
casino video slot machine is a sep-
“scratch” ticket games, which use
the difference,” Ridgebear says.
Steve Bourie, author of the “Amer-
arate bingo drawing along with the
a finite number of tickets with a
“The most common immediate
ican Casino Guide,” says a random
other players playing that particu-
predetermined number of winning
response is, ‘Is that true?’ It seems
number generator is a computer
lar game at that time.
and losing pulls.
so shocking. We will stop and talk
chip that stops instantly when a
The classes of games offered at
By compact, video “scratch” ticket
to guests who are seeing this infor-
player pushes the “spin” button and
Tribal casinos are defined in the
terminals have a high limit bet of
mation for the first time and they
displays the result of that “spin” on
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of
$20. Washington Tribes are not
are shocked.”
the reel in front of them.
1988.
required to release outcome in-
The difference is important since
“This means when you see the
Odds for a Las Vegas-style video
formation on their video terminal
slot machines traditionally supply
reel spinning the actual results
poker game are determined on a 52-
machines.
casinos with a majority of their
have already been determined by
card deck. The odds for a Washing-
The differences get technical, but
revenue.
the RNG,” Bourie says. “Reels don’t
ton casino video poker game come
they do affect the gaming experi-
even have to spin in reality to show
from patterns on a bingo card.
ence for casino customers.
Oregon offers
you what you have won or lost.”
Player strategy and skill do not
Final outcomes on Las Ve-
Vegas-style gaming
Bourie says game manufacturers
exist for Washington casino ma-
gas-style slot machines, which are
Tribal casinos in Oregon offer
install the chip and it controls the
chines as the outcomes are pre-
percentage of how much a particu-
determined by the pattern of the
lar machine pays out in winnings.
bingo game and nothing a player
The range varies from a low of
does influences the result.
about 85 percent to a high of about
Take video poker for example.
98 percent. The higher the denom-
Professional gambler Dom LoRig-
ination of the machine, the higher
gio owns Golden Touch in Las
percentage it is set to pay back.
Vegas and teaches gaming sem-
Bourie says penny machines are
inars there and in Atlantic City,
usually set in the range of 87 per-
Memphis and Shreveport, La. He
cent to 90 percent and that $25 slot
is considered one of the best pro-
machines will pay back at a 95- to
fessional gamblers, ranked eighth
98-percent rate.
best ever by Listverse.
When asked if his option were
LoRiggio, who is from New York
to drive 40 minutes southwest of
City and has been a professional
his home to play Las Vegas-style
gambler for more than 40 years,
machines or 15 minutes north to
says there really is a difference in
play the other machines, LoRiggio
the machines and players know it.
responded quickly.
LoRiggio says video poker ma-
“I’m going to go to the (Vegas-style
chines are highly regulated and in
machines),” LoRiggio says. “Why?
Nevada they have to produce by
Because I’m a knowledgeable play-
law a royal flush at least once every
er. Anybody with some knowledge
42,000 spins. Vegas-style machines
is going to want to play where the
can hit back-to-back “royals” – al-
casino has the lowest edge against
beit very rarely – because they are
the player. I’m going to drive more
coming from a random number gen-
than 40 miles. I’ll drive an hour
erator. A player cannot hit back-to-
and a half to a game that has better
back jackpots on a predetermined
edge for me.”
Ad created by George Valdez
outcome from a Washington casino
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