Bill Velek wrote:
NRS465.075Use of device for calculating probabilities.
It is unlawful for any person at a licensed gaming
establishment to use, or possess with the intent to use,
any device to assist:
1.In projecting the outcome of the game;
2.In keeping track of the cards played;
3.In analyzing the probability of the occurrence of
an event relating to the game; or
4.In analyzing the strategy for playing or betting to
be used in the game, except as permitted by the commission.
(Added to NRS by 1985, 970)Looking at item 4, that seems to me to include 'strategy
cards' unless they are 'permitted by the commission'. I
could not find the term 'device' in the definitions of the
Nevada Statutes, so maybe a chart is not a device. I
don't know.
I suspect that this addition to the regulations was prompted by the
growing prevalence of card counting at the blackjack tables. It
reminds me of the anecdote (possibly a myth) of two university
students who concocted a device designed to assist in card counting.
The microcomputer was concealed in their shoes. The user fed it the
rank of the cards played (probably using an advanced strategy that
had been developed at that time) by tapping his toes. It would then
send a very small jolt or tap to their body when the card shoe was
prime. After
a period of time the device shorted out from sweat and they made a
quick retreat from the table - with smoke visibly discharged from his
shoe!
My point is that the statute was not likely to have been written with
video poker machines in mind. However, I'm sure it has been flexibly
applied both to slot machine play and video poker since. The wording
is sufficiently vague especially, as you note, regarding the
definition of a device.
This statute has been the basis by which some vp players have been
somewhat paranoid about use of a basic calculator or PDA in the
casino, especially since WinPoker can now be loaded on some handheld
devices. Similar concern has also extended to strategy card use,
although I don't recall an incident in which a casino told a patron to
put their cards away.
The situation has moved beyond paranoia into the surreal lately.
You'll recall Michael Shackleford's slot-payback survey that was
conducted last spring in cooperation with Las Vegas Advisor. There is
a report of at least one vp player using a notebook to track his
win/loss who was told by a casino employee to ditch it, presumably
because the casino was very displeased with the report on their slot
machine returns and had taken their own paranoia to the extreme. I
suspect that they felt justified in making this demand by virtue of
this statute (a very liberal application of the term "device").
- Harry
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