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Slot Machines Around the World

United States

In the United States, the public and private availability of slot machines is highly regulated by state governments. Many states have established gaming control boards to regulate the possession and use of slot machines. Nevada is the only state that has no significant restrictions against slot machines both for public and private use. In New Jersey, slot machines are only allowed in hotel-casinos operated in Atlantic City. Several states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri) allow slot machines (as well as any casino-style gambling) only on licensed riverboats or permanently anchored barges. Delaware allows slot machines at three horse tracks, they are regulated by the state lottery commission. 

Native American casinos

Native American casinos located in reservations are not permitted to have slot machines unless the tribe first reaches a pact with the state in which it is located (per Indian Gaming Regulatory Act). Typically, a pact entitles the state to receive a percentage of the gross revenue from slot machines.

Slot machine classes

Some states have restrictions on the type (called "class") of slot machines that can be used in a casino or other gaming area. "Class III" (or "traditional") slot machines operate independently from a centralized computer system and a player's chance of winning any payout is the same with every play. Class III slots are most often seen in Nevada or Atlantic City and are sometimes referred to as "Vegas-style slots".

"Class II" slot machines (also known as "Video Lottery Terminals" or "VLTs") are connected to a centralized computer system that determines the outcome of each wager. In this way, Class II slot machines mimic scratch-off lottery tickets in that each machine has an equal chance of winning a series of limited prizes. Either class of slot machines may or may not have a player skill element.

Some Class II game characteristics

The player is playing against other players and competing for a common prize.
There is certain to be a winner in each game. The game continues until there is a winner.  In a given set there are a certain number of wins and loses. Once a certain combination has happened it cannot happen again until a new batch is initiated. This is most obvious in scratch card games that come in a pack. Once a card has been pulled those winning combinations cannot occur again until a new pack of cards is installed. One game is dependent on previous games.  The player must be an active participant. They must recognize events as they occur and must recognize when they have won and announce their winning. Bingo is an excellent example here.  All players play from the same set of numbers as they are announced.

Some Class III game characteristics: The player is playing against the house.
There is a very real possibility that the player may lose the game.  Each game is independent of previous games. Any possible outcome can occur in any game.  Wins are announced automatically.  In general a game must have all characteristics of a Class II game to be a Class II game. Any characteristic of a Class III game makes it a Class III game. The casino pays a fee to the state for each Class III game and can only purchase so many Class III licenses. There is no such restriction for Class II games. Class II games are not so nearly regulated by the state.

Slot clubs

Many American casinos offer free memberships in "slot clubs", which return a small percentage of the amount of money that is bet in the form of "comps" (complimentary food, drinks, hotel rooms, or merchandise), or sometimes as cash back (sometimes with a restriction that the cash be redeemed at a later date). These clubs require that players use a card that is inserted into the slot machine, to allow the casino to track the player's "action" (how much the player bets and for how long), which is often used to establish a level of play that may make a player eligible for additional comps. Comps or cash back from these clubs can make a significant difference in the maximum theoretical return when playing slot machines over a long period of time.

Australia

Slot machines in Australia are generally referred to as "poker machines" or "pokies", but are officially termed as Gaming Machines. Australia has seen changes in regulations leading to proliferation of gaming machine venues in various states, most notably New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Various bodies, including religious organisations and welfare groups, claim that this has increased levels of "problem gambling".

Australian-style gaming machines use video displays to simulate physical reels, usually five. These machines also have additional bonusing and second-screen features such as free games and bonus levels. They also allow for multiple lines (up to 50) or multiple ways (up to 243 ways) to be played. This higher level of complexity offers greater opportunity of rewards for players.

Gaming machines are found in casinos (approximately one in each major city) as well as pubs and clubs (usually sports, social, or RSL clubs). There are suggestions that this high level of accessibility may be linked to problem gambling; however, the precise nature of this link is still open to research [5]. The first Australian state to legalize this style of gambling was New South Wales in 1956 when they were made legal in all registered clubs in the state. They are also are found in casinos in the United States.

Laws governing gaming machines in Australia are controlled at the state level and as such, those laws vary between states. In the state of Queensland gaming machines in pubs and clubs must provide a return rate of 85% while machines located in casinos must provide a return rate of 90%. Most other states have similar provisions.

United Kingdom

Slot machines are usually known as fruit machines and AWP (Amusement with Prizes) in Britain. Fruit machines are commonly found in pubs, clubs, arcades, and some take-away food shops. These machines commonly have 3 or 6 reels with around 16 or 24 fruit symbols printed around them. These reels are spun, and if certain combinations of fruit appear, winnings are paid from the machine, or subgames are played. These are very similar to slot machines seen in casinos and elsewhere around the world, but the term "fruit machine" is usually applied to a type of machine more commonly found in pubs and arcades. These games have lots of extra features, trails and subgames with opportunities to win money, usually more than can be won from just the reels. However, the jackpots from these fruit machines are strictly limited.

Currently in the UK, the cost of an individual game may not exceed 50p. The maximum payout for an individual game depends on the type and the location of the machine, but is typically £25 in pubs where people under the age of 18 are not allowed entry. It is known for machines to payout multiple jackpots, one after the other (this is known as a streak) but each jackpot requires a new game to be played so as not to circumvent the maximum payout. The minimum payout percentage is 70% in Britain, with pubs often setting the payout at around 78%. Private members clubs are allowed "club machines", which have higher jackpots and are allowed to charge more per game.

These machines also operate in a different fashion to American slot machines; whereas slots are programmed to pay a percentage over the long-run, there is no reason why a jackpot cannot be paid straight after one has already been won - this is because over the long-run the percentage payout will be the same. However, in the UK, a fruit machine takes on an amount above its payout percentage before winning, so if a payout is 95%, a machine will make the player lose £10 before paying out £9.50. As such, it is sensible to watch for people playing these machines but not winning as the likelihood of a win increases. This, however, is called Sharking.

This type of fruit machine is popular across Europe (in the countries where they are legal), and very popular in countries such as the Czech Republic, Russia, and Ukraine.

It has been alleged by the Fairplay campaign that UK fruit machines employ fraudulent techniques in which gambles and chances which appear to be random are in fact pre-determined and cannot be affected by player choices.

"...at this point, you'll have gambled the win up to £25. However, the machine doesn't want you to gamble any further. If from the 5 you select "High", the machine will spin in a 3 and you'll lose. If, on the other hand, you select "Low", the machine will spin in a 9 and you'll lose..."

The claims centre around the emulation of fruit machine hardware on computers, which allow for the machine's RAM state to be saved at a particular point and replayed making a different choice. The fruit machine industry has hit back at the allegations. Currently the issue has supposedly been considered by the UK Gaming Board (now the Gambling Commission) and warning notices and possibly modifications are to be put in place, though it is unclear as to whether this has happened. This is in fact the law now in the UK, and all machines carry a warning notice informing the user that the machine may at times offer the player a choice in which they have no possible chance to win.

Japan

Japan has a relatively new involvement in slot machines, roughly since after the American occupation during the World War II era. Most machines can be found in Pachinko parlors and the adult sections of amusement arcades, known as game centers.

The machines are regulated with IC chips, and have six different levels changing the odds of a "777". The levels provide a rough outcome of between 90% to an astonishing 160% (200% if using skills). Indeed, the Japanese slot machines are "beatable". The parlor operators, naturally set most of the machines to collect money, but intentionally place a few paying machines on the floor so that there will at least someone winning, encouraging players on the losing machines to keep gambling.

Despite the many varieties of the machines, there are certain rules and regulations put forward by the "Security Electronics and Communication Technology Association", an affiliate of the National Police Association (NPA). For example, there must be three reels. Also, all reels must be accompanied by buttons which stop these reels, no more than 15 coins can be paid out per plays, credit meter cant go higher than 50, 3 coin maximum bet, etc.

Although a 15 coin payout may seem ridiculously low, the regulations allow "Big Bonus" (~400-->711 coins) and "Regular Bonus" modes (~110 coins) where these 15 coin payouts occur nearly continuously until the bonus mode finished. While the machine is in bonus mode, the player is entertained with special winning scenes on the LCD display, and energizing music is heard, payout after payout.

Three more unique features of Pachisuro machines are "Stock", "Renchan", and "Tenjoh". On many machines, when a bonus is awarded, it is kept in "Stock", and not immediately given to the player. Instead, the "Stock" is released when some future rare random event(s) occur. Many current games, after finishing a bonus round, set the probability to release additional stock very high for the first few games. As a result, a lucky player may get to play several bonus rounds in a row ( a "Renchan"), making payouts of 5000, even 10,000 coins possible! The lure of "Stock" waiting in the machine, and the possibility of "Renchan" tease the gambler to keep feeding the machine. To tease him further, there is a "Tenjoh", a maximum limit on the number of games between "Stock" release. For example, if the "Tenjoh" is 1500, and the number of games played since the last bonus is 1490, the player is guaranteed to release a bonus within just 10 games.

Because of the "Stock", "Renchan", and "Tenjoh" systems, it is possible to make money by simply playing machines on which someone has just lost a huge amount of money. This is called being a "hyena". They are easy to recognize, roaming the aisles for a "Kamo" ( "sucker" in English) to leave his machine.

In short, the regulations allowing "Stock", "Renchan", and "Tenjoh" has transformed the Pachisuro from a low-stakes form on entertainment just a few years back to the hard-core gambling it has become in 2006. Many people may be gambling more than they can afford, and they big payouts also lure unsavory "hyena" types into the gambling halls.

To address these social issues, a new regulation (Version 5.0) has been adopted in 2006 which caps the maximum amount of "Stock" a machine can hold to around 2000--3000 coins worth of bonus games. Moreover, all Pachisuro machines must be re-evaluated for regulation compliance every 3 three years. Version 4.0 came out in 2004, so that means all those machines with the up to 10000 coin payouts will be removed from service by 2007. Only time will tell how these changes will affect the Japanese Pachisuro industry.

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