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Slots in the United States are regulated by gaming board commissions where they are legal. The rules applied by the commissions are active for those slot machines being used for profit by casinos, and private slots machines are also restricted by said rules. Of the 50, Nevada is the only state that doesn’t heavily restrict the use of
slot machines, either privately or for public use. New Jersey, contrarily, permit slot machines in Atlantic City owned and operated casino-hotels. There are a few states that include Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois that permit slots, and indeed gambling at all, on licensed boats and barges that are anchored permanently. Until Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Mississippi had comparable laws, but casinos are now allowed to be on the mainland within maximum distance requirements of the sea. Delaware has gambling only on three horse racing tracks found in the state, and they are closely monitored by the state lottery commission.
Though the lands appropriated to Native Americans may offer casinos, and often do, slots are not permitted on Native American reservations unless an agreement has been reached between the tribe and the state in which it is located. When and if an agreement is reached, it usually includes the stipulation that the state will receive a portion of profits earned from the slots.
Australians love their slot machines. The most popular game in Australia is called Queen of the Nile, and is manufactured by Aristocrat. So popular, in fact, that it has started to make a crossover and grow in appeal here in the states. Common names in Australia for slots include “poker machines,” “video poker,” and “pokies” though they are officially recognized as Gaming Machines. Changes in regulation have resulted in a growth of slots in numerous states throughout the continent, especially Victoria, Queensland, and New South Wales. Between 2002 and 2003, slot machine monies accounted for more than half the $4 million dollar gambling profits gathered by state governments. The Australian Productivity Commission relayed in 1999 that there were almost 180,000 poker machines present in the country, and more than half were located in New South Wales. At the time, this translated as Australia boasted 21% of all the slots in the world. Per capita, Australia contained five times as many gambling machines as the United States. Huge successes and the strong presence of machines also led to the establishment of religious organizations, and welfare groups, battling the onslaught on “problem gambling.”
The machines found in Australia use video screens to represent wheels, usually totaling 5 reels. Many games also boast additional bonus features, and second screen features like free games and additional levels of play. They allow for many lines (maximum 50) or various ways (up to 243) for the game to be played. In Australia, gaming machines can be found in casinos, of which there are at least one in each major city across the country. They are also popular in clubs (social or sport) and bars. Some suggest that the open availability of the machines may be correlated to the problem gambling, but it is still under research. The year 1956 began the trend of availability, when the state New South Wales legalized machine gambling in registered bars and clubs.
The regulations vary from state to state, and because of this, laws can vary between regions. The state of Queensland has a minimum payout requirement of 85% in bars and clubs, while those located in a casino must payout at 90%. Many states are similar in this fashion.
In Britain, slot machines are referred to as Fruit Machines, Bandits, and AWP (Amusement with Prizes). Fruit machines (referring back to the popular symbols on classic machines) are often found not only in bars and clubs, as in Australia, but also in arcades and some take-away food shops. Many of these machines host 3 to 6 reels with anywhere from 16 to 24 symbols printed on them. When the reels finish spinning, when winning combos are hit, cash prizes are distributed, or bonus games are awarded. These machines are remarkably similar to those found in other parts of the world, save for the term “fruit machine” typically is used when referring to those found in pubs or arcades. These have typically more bonuses, games, features, trails and subgames with additional opportunities to win money- and more money than could be won from the reels alone. The overall jackpots, however, are strictly limited. One of the original terms for these is “Didlers.”
Other perks unique to British Fruit Machines include the following; many of these are not on random basis, some can even be activated at will:
• A player can hold one or more of the reels from a previous spin, preventing it from turning with the others and instead holding its symbols.
• A player may have the option of so many number nudges, or the ability to turn a reel a single step.
Currently, the cost of an individual turn on a game, meaning a single random spin of all reels, and incorporating any resulting bonuses, cannot exceed 50 pence. There is also a maximum payout, usually around 35 pounds in bars where the minimum age requirement to enter is 18 years of age. The machines can payout after sequential games (aka a streak) but a new game is required to be played for a jackpot so as to not violate the max payout. The minimum nationally in Britain is 70%, with many bars setting the payout to at least 78%. Private clubs are allowed to charge more per game, but also offer higher jackpot standards.
Japanese slots vary quite a lot from slots found in other parts of the world. These types of slots are decendants of the traditional game Pachinko, now known as pachisuro. Slot machines as we know then are relatively new to the country and can be found in pachinko parlors, and the adult areas of arcades, also known as game centers.
The games are regulated with software chips, and have six different levels of changing the odds in winning a combination, such as 7-7-7. The levels make available anywhere from a 90% to a 160% return, 200% is possible if skill is taken into account. Contrary to slots around the rest of the world, Japanese slots are “beatable.” The parlor regulators will set most of the machines on the floor to collect more money than they payout, but will deliberately set a few to pay large amounts, encouraging others to continue playing in hopes of a jackpot.
There are, however, blanket rules and regulations for machines in the nation, enforced by the Security Electronics and Communication Technology Association, affiliated with the National Police Association. For instance, there must be at least 3 reels. Machine must have buttons that stop the reels. No more than 15 coins can be paid out per plays. The credit meter maxs out at 50. Some have 3 coin max bets. And the list goes on.
Despite the 15 coin payout rule, the law does allow for “Big Bonus”es where coins can payout anywhere from 400 to 711; or a “Regular Bonus” mode that permits coins payouts up to 110. When the machine is in one of these bonus modes, the player can receive payout after payout, whilst celebratory music is played and graphics on the screen entertain the gambler.
There are a few other differences between what we know as slot machines and Pachisuro machines, such as tenjo, stock, and Renchan features. Stock is when enough money has been played to earn a player a bonus, but the bonus has not been hit yet. The machine added the bonus option to be won back into the game, and the longer the game continues without a bonus win, the higher the stock gets. The higher the stock, the longer the resulting Renchan, when the gambler gets to play several bonus rounds in a row, resulting in wins of 5,000, even 10,000 coins! These features often keep players playing, since they know that most machines have a tenjo programmed in. A tenjo is a maximum number of games that can be played before a stock releases, and bonuses are awarded. So in Japan, it is reality, that the longer you play, the closer to a win you are getting. If the tenjo is set at 1500 games, and you’ve played 1490, you know you are within a minimum of 10 games of winning!
Because of these last three features, it is possible to make a huge amount of money by continuing play on a machine that has taken a lot of money from a previous player. This strategy is called being a “hyena.” Hyenas are relatively easy to recognize in Japan, seen roaming the slot aisles, waiting for a “kamo” (a “sucker”) to leave his machine. These features have also elevated slot gambling in Japan from the low-stakes entertainment and game that it was, to the hard-core gambling it’s become. Problem gambling has been identified in Japan, and slot halls are tempting locales for hyena types.
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