There are two different types of slot machines, class II and class III. There is a big difference with each classification of slot machine in the way that they operate. You may have played class II slot machines at one casino and class III slot machines at a different casino and never realized the difference.
Class III machines are also known as “Vegas Style” slots. These can be found in all your large regulated markets (e.g., Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Reno, etcetera.) The way these machines work is with a Random Number Generator or RNG.
A RNG is supposed to be a program that comes as close as humanly possible to choosing numbers randomly. Theoretically, any program created by a human cannot be completely random, but it’s suppose to be as close as we can get.
Thousands of numbers are being generated inside the machine, even when the machine isn’t being played. The split second you hit that spin button a number is generated, and that number represents certain symbols on the screen. Whether or not you will win has already been determined when you hit the button, the symbols are just for entertainment purposes.
This brings up a common fallacy about RNG slot machines. If you are playing at a slot machine and get up, and a minute later someone sits down and hits the jackpot on the machine you were playing, it’s highly unlikely you would have hit the jackpot if you kept playing. You would have had to hit the spin button at the exact same millisecond as the person who won.
Another significant feature of RNG machines is that on each spin you have the possibility of hitting the jackpot. You are no more likely to hit the jackpot on one spin than another. That means if I just hit the jackpot, on my next spin I have the same exact chance of hitting the jackpot as I did on the previous spin. All those theories about machines being “due to hit” are fallacies as well.
This doesn’t mean that the slot machines are not programmed to payback a certain percentage, they are. Each jurisdiction is different, but usually the lowest they can go by law is an 80% payback. However, even though they are programmed to payback a certain percentage over a large number of spins, the wins are not predetermined.
Another misconception has to do with the “near miss.” Many believe that if they get a “near miss” to the jackpot, the machine is going to hit the jackpot soon. The number sequence for the jackpot and the “near miss” that was received may be thousands of numbers away. The machine is no more likely to hit the jackpot after the “near miss,” than if you didn’t get a “near miss,” the odds remain the same.
Most of the information I’ve discussed so far only pertains to class III, “Vegas Style” slot machines. Class II machines are totally different. Class II machines are called Virtual Lottery Terminals or VLT’s.
Class II machines are usually found on Indian gaming reservations and racinos. Racinos are places that allow class II slot machines and they also have a live horsetrack attached to it.
Class II machines are preprogrammed, so I believe these machines cause much of the confusion and many of the misconceptions that people believe about slot machines.
Think of it like a scratch off lottery ticket. The tickets are sold and there are a certain number of winning tickets. The same holds true for Class II machines. They are programmed to pay off at certain times.
Class II machines are based around the game of bingo. On many you will see a little bingo card in the corner. For some reason, in the places that have class II machines, bingo is legal but regular slot machines are not. So the slot machine manufacturers came up with ways to get around it.
If you are a video poker player NEVER play class II machines. More on that at another time, but video poker no longer becomes a game of skill on class II machines.
When you are researching a casino find out what class machines they offer. I would advise you to play on RNG machines whenever possible. The fact that it is completely random takes away many of the conspiracies.