marccarfi wrote:
Can somebody explain how a lottery based machine deals the cards.I
asume they don't use a 52 card deck?
Also a Class 3 machine?
I sometimes play at Empire casino at the yonkers raceway in
N.Y.They have a 10/7 Double bonus with a 5000 coin royal.And also a
bonus match card.If you get a winning hand and one of your cards
matches it you win a additional bonus which sometimes is pretty
hefty.I've been playing it using 10/7 strategy adjusted for the
extra 1000 coin payoff for the royal.I'm actually quite a bit
ahead adding up all my wins & losses.Is this just dumb luck or are
the extra payoffs and strategy helping?I'm guessing that this is a
lottery or bingo based machine even though I don't quite
understand what that means..If it were vegas style I figure the
payback would be over 110%.
I'll add generally to what's been offered. In my experience, there
are 3 principal forms of video poker offered in the US.
The first might be deemed as NV-compliant. These machines, whether in
NV or otherwise, meet the requirements necessary to be offered in LV.
These machines can reasonably be deemed as "fair" in offering an
electromechanical simulation of a deck of playing cards.
···
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The second is a primary electronic gaming offering in Indian gaming
casinos. These machines are offered under specifications defined by
the National Indian Gaming Commission and are generally referred to as
Type II machines. "Class II" means that it's an electronic extension
of "Class I" bingo games that represent one of only a few types of
gaming that can be offered outside of specific contracts between the
tribes and state authorities.
With Class II machines, you and other players in the casino in effect
are participating in an electronic bingo game, with a specific prize
awarded to the winner. Typically, a representation of a bingo card
will be displayed on the machine and you see a virtual game played
out. It's to be imagined that you are competing with only 1 or 2
other machines, yielding an appropriate "hit" rate.
For whomever is a winner in a particular game, a prize is distributed
to the machine. To effect awarding of that prize, cards are
distributed on the draw and deal that can form a hand paying that
prize amount.
Because a player exercises control over hold cards and might defeat
the formation of an intended winning hand, there's a secondary
mechanism to ensure the prize is awarded. In certain IGT Class II
machines, a "genie" may appear and turn over certain cards of the
final hand and replace them with new ones that form the pre-determined
winning hand.
It's to be noted that there's a "Class III" designation which is used
for all gaming equipment that doesn't meet this Class II
specification. It applies to ALL machines which aren't Class II. As
such, NV compliant machines are Class III. However, any non-bingo
engine based machine is deemed Class III, therefore the "Class III" is
not a guarantee of fairness and is a term best avoided (it's often
inaccurately used interchangably with "fair")
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Another Class III device is a lottery-based mechanism -- known as
video lottery terminals (VLT). These machines can be thought of as an
"pull tab" equivalent (a paper game in which you pull or scratch to
reveal a prize). Sometimes these machines are physically labeled "VLT".
Gaming terminals are connected to a central machine (determinant)
which randomly selects from a pool of predetermined prizes and losers.
When you play a hand, an outcome is distributed to your machine.
Similar to Class II, because a player can defeat the desired win via
their selection of draw cards, a secondary means of awarding a prize
is necessary.
The most often mentioned mechanism is a "Match Card". In the machines
I've seen of this type (WA State), a sixth card appears on the draw
above the fifth card of the final hand. If those two cards match, a
match card bonus is awarded. In this manner, the predetermined prize
can be awarded by the match card alone, or by awarding a bonus that
supplements a payout on a winning hand.
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A "lottery" designation in conjunction with a video poker offering
need not mean that the machines are VLT. It's reported that machines
in WVa, operated under auspices of the state lottery authority, are
Class III LV-compliant machines. A tell is that the paytables are
relatively poor. Where Class II or VLT equipment is involved,
paytables would typically represent 99%+ games (often 100%+) were they
LV-compliant.
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Your success playing a Match Card machine is fortunate, and most
likely runs against the odds. Class II and VLT machines can, of
course, be set to any desired return (the return is a function of the
composition of the predetermined prize pool distributed to the
machines, and not the paytables themselves). However, it's generally
reported that most authorities involved set returns in the 80% to low
90% range.
- Harry