vpFREE2 Forums

hand-held gaming devices in Nevada?

#1

According to today's Wall Street Journal, Nevada lawmakers are about to
legalize held-held gaming devices. Apparently these devices would be about the
same size as a PDA and you could carry it around in public areas such as the
casino pool or restaurants (but presumably not to private areas such as your
hotel room). The legislation would allow this in casinos which have at least
100 slots and at least one other game - thus not in bars.

I find it hard to imagine a world in which gamblers are given these devices
and then left to wander around on their own -- wouldn't this lend itself to
some sort of attempts to cheat the devices? Also, how do you keep them out of
the hands of underaged children? And what happens when they are lost?

But according to this article - this legislation is about to be passed and
we will see these devices next year.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#2

I haven't read the article so all my comments are based on your message. That said...

It sounds as if they've considered the possibilities of both cheating and underage use by limiting the areas in which the machine will function to public areas, thus allowing them the usual monitoring of the user of the device via line of sight. I would guess that the device will utilize wireless networking technology (no doubt with advanced encryption) and will not function unless it is in constant contact with the network (the same type of LAN to which the current machines are connected, but without the advanced level of security/encryption). The areas in which the device will be able to contact the network can be carefully controlled by controlling the areas in which an acceptable signal is available.

Such an approach would allow users of the handheld devices to be watched in the same way that users of the machines now are and thus the current failsafes for preventing underage gamblers would be in place. Also, it would ensure that the users could also be watched for cheating. The device would obviously have to have tamper-proof capabilities built into it as well (e.g.: power off/on detection, detection of the device case being opened, etc) to prevent cheaters from accessing the internals of the device. Theft and subsequent cloning of the handheld unit may be a problem that will have to be addressed by the casinos but this problem is not insurmountable either.

···

----- Original Message -----
  From: misscraps@aol.com
  To: vpFREE@yahoogroups.com
  Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2005 12:28 PM
  Subject: [vpFREE] hand-held gaming devices in Nevada?

  According to today's Wall Street Journal, Nevada lawmakers are about to
  legalize held-held gaming devices. Apparently these devices would be about the
  same size as a PDA and you could carry it around in public areas such as the
  casino pool or restaurants (but presumably not to private areas such as your
  hotel room). The legislation would allow this in casinos which have at least
  100 slots and at least one other game - thus not in bars.

  I find it hard to imagine a world in which gamblers are given these devices
  and then left to wander around on their own -- wouldn't this lend itself to
  some sort of attempts to cheat the devices? Also, how do you keep them out of
  the hands of underaged children? And what happens when they are lost?

  But according to this article - this legislation is about to be passed and
  we will see these devices next year.

  [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

  vpFREE Links: http://members.cox.net/vpfree/Links.htm

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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

#3

Mopar Man wrote:

Such an approach would allow users of the handheld devices to be
watched in the same way that users of the machines now are and thus
the current failsafes for preventing underage gamblers would be in
place. The device would obviously have to have tamper-proof
capabilities built into it as well (e.g.: power off/on detection,
detection of the device case being opened, etc) to prevent cheaters
from accessing the internals of the device.

To further your speculations ... I'd expect that there'd be little or
no presence of a gaming mechanism in the device. Think of it as a
remote control to operate a centrally located machine (or equivalent).
Thus, there'd be about as much risk of tampering as there would be
that you might find a way to mess with your hotel room TV remote
control to access free View on Demand movies.

- H.

#4

Just another way to make money. I mean, all these people are
walking around the casino and have the nerve to not be constantly
putting money on a table or in a machine.
Why is this needed?
Will the games have the same odds?
We speak about preventing the user from cheating but what about the
house?
Who would want to do this when the real thing is in the same place?
I guess, I just do not get it.
There is hope though, this is the same Nevada legislature that was
smart enough not to pass a bill that would have given all of your
DMV information to a low paid, under trained, wannabe cop security
gaurd.
Victoria

--- In vpFREE@yahoogroups.com, "Harry Porter" <harry.porter@v...>
wrote:

Mopar Man wrote:
> Such an approach would allow users of the handheld devices to be
> watched in the same way that users of the machines now are and

thus

> the current failsafes for preventing underage gamblers would be

in

> place. The device would obviously have to have tamper-proof
> capabilities built into it as well (e.g.: power off/on

detection,

> detection of the device case being opened, etc) to prevent

cheaters

> from accessing the internals of the device.

To further your speculations ... I'd expect that there'd be little

or

no presence of a gaming mechanism in the device. Think of it as a
remote control to operate a centrally located machine (or

equivalent).

···

Thus, there'd be about as much risk of tampering as there would be
that you might find a way to mess with your hotel room TV remote
control to access free View on Demand movies.

- H.