Slot machines are the most popular games in any casino, but a lot of people don’t have a clear understanding of how they work. In fact, some people have an out-and-out misunderstanding of how they work, while others are more than willing to take advantage of the gambling public’s ignorance in such matters. - More than 9,000 electronic gaming machines are currently in circulation in Virginia. But state lawmakers have said the machines will be banned next year. WinStar World Casino and Resort is home to the largest collection of electronic games anywhere on the planet. As you might expect, the World’s Biggest Casino’s selection of electronic games simply cannot be beat. There are more than 9,000 electronic gaming machines in circulation in Virginia that legislators maintain they will ban next year after they collect tax revenue to support coronavirus relief efforts.

• Electronic Gambling Machines
• Electronic Gambling Machines History
• Electronic Gaming Machines For Sale
• How Do Electronic Gambling Machines Work

Slots has been a thing for eons. Over the decades, it has simply evolved and changed in form. But at its core, the gambling basics have remained unchanged. In the past decade or two, the industry has experienced many ‘tech upgrades’ that have increased the number of punters in the world. Today, you don’t have to take a trip down to Las Vegas. All you need is a steady internet connection an online casino you trust and you are set.

Speaking of casinos, (land-based or online), there are two types of slot machines they feature; Class III and Class II. The two slots machines operate differently. The Class II slot machines are common in slots parlors. They are attached to Native American Casinos or horse racing tracks. Owing to improved tech tools, Class II slot machines have become more sophisticated. So much so that casual punters have a hard time telling them apart from Class III slot machines.

But you are in luck. In this piece, we shall scrape off the confusion by explaining the basics and answering some common questions related to Class II slot machines.

So, let’s get to it.

What Exactly Are Class II Slot Machines?

It’s simple. The Class II slot machines are designed to replicate Class III slot machines while remaining within the confines of the regulatory guidelines. The Class system is clearly stated and defined in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act by the Federal Government. The Act defines all Class II games as bingo regardless of whether computer, electronic or any other tech gadgets are used with it and if it is played in the same room with bingo or any games similar to bingo.

The immediate consequence of this regulatory Act was that the high stake bingo games were legalized. Yes, the bingo games held in halls were super popular at some point. But with time, as developers sought to upgrade their gaming experience, they leaned towards a casino-like environment and experience. Though they managed to incorporate Class III casinos in some of their gaming options, they were met with a lot of resistance and legal issues.

It was during this time that Class II slot machines were designed. Since their inception, key players in the industry have been working around the clock to replicate Class III machine experience in Class II jurisdictions. Engineers have been contracted to build in-house systems while slot manufacturers were brought on board to create games that would run on the designed systems

How do they Work?

Electronic Gambling Machines

It’s true, aside from the LED bingo card which displays your card patterns for every spin; it’s really hard to differentiate the Class II from the Class III. The big part of the difference lies in how the game operates. So let’s peep under the hood and see how Class II slots machines are designed to meet legal requirements of being a bingo game.

First, there is usually a 20-millisecond window. Any person that presses the ‘Play’ button during this window enters into a common draw. For this draw to run there needs to be a minimum of two players (there is no maximum number). If there are only two players, one of them will get the winning pattern.

So here’s what happens when a video or slot poker is brought into the picture. Designers extrapolate odds of specific bingo games to video or slot games’ results that have similar odds. Usually, there are extra algorithmic processes that are in play which help to determine the outcomes but usually, the end results are similar – you pull the machine handle and the reels spin.

From the moment you pull the handle to the millisecond before they stop, you become one of the participants in a multiplayer bingo game. The results of the bingo game are ‘reported’ by the reels when they halt. If you are lucky, you’ll win some cash. So now if you think about it, you’ll have had a Las Vegas slot machine experience while in the background, the machine meets all the requirements which make it legal in Class II slot machine jurisdictions – areas where bingo is legal but RNG machines are not.

Now, most casinos that run the Class II slot machines claim that their odds are similar to those of Class III machines. This is how they explain it – it’s more like a scratch-off lottery card. But instead of scratching you’ll be pulling a handle.

Electronic Gambling Machines History

And though this analogy is close to the real thing, it’s not quite accurate.

What do Class II Slots Look Like?

While they look extremely similar to Class III machines, the main way in determining if it is a Class II machine is to look on the display for a bingo table. It will look quite obvious and will indicate that the machine is using bingo logic rather than the typical RNG of a Class III machine.

Here’s an example below – notice that there is a bingo table located at the bottom right of the display.

Should You Play Class II Slot Games?

This is a really good question. And believe it or not, it’s pretty common. But despite this, its answer is not straight forward. But here’s something that will help you make that decision.

Gambling experts insist that Class II games are similar to lottery scratch tickets than Class II machines. You see, with lottery scratch tickets, the prize is determined before the printing of the tickets. Class II games may have shorter realization times but unfortunately, they aren’t random. The moment you pull the slot handle, the outcome of whether you have won or not and what prize you have won has already been made. The reels are only there to deliver the news.

Why do Casinos Prefer Class II Slot Machines?

Why is it that modern casinos seem to have a mix of Class II and Class III slot machines and games? And why is it that even with the mix, they are skewed towards class II games?

Well, first, the IGRA granted casinos self-regulating powers when it came to Class II games. However, with Class III games, they must be officially undergo rigorous testing through third parties and approved goverment organizations. This is to ensure that the randomness and reliability of the machine is deemed fair.

Second, casinos don’t have to pay taxes on the revenues generated from the Class II games. But on the Class III games, they are obligated to pay taxes.

Thirdly, the odds on winning in a Class II game are worse because you are put against a large pool of players to win instead of relying on RNG.

There you have it. Everything you need to make an informed decision. Hopefully, after reading this Class II and Class III slot machines don’t confuse you anymore. So with that go have a ‘happily ever after’ gambling experience.

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For the purposes of organizing our detailed reviews of various slots games, we’ve organized this section of our site according to which companies design and manufacture which games. Slot machineproviders like IGT have been around for decades and serve both the land-based and online casino markets. Others, like Realtime Gaming, have been around for less than a decade and only serve theInternet market.

Clicking on the links to the providers’ pages will take you to the information page on that company. That page will include a list of the games that company provides. On this page, we providebrief overviews of each company, including a couple of examples of well-known games that each company produces.

We’ve done our best to make this section as comprehensive as possible, but there are literally thousands of slots games available. If we’ve left out a provider or a game that you feel is worthyof conclusion here, please use the information on our “contact us” page to let us know.

Ainsworth Game Technology is an Australian company that’s been in business for 20+ years. The company is named after its founder, Len Ainsworth. The company is publicly listed under the codeAGI on the Australian stock market. They have headquarters in Newington, Sydney, Australia. We offer detailed reviews of their most famous games, including Dragon Lines, Eaglebucks, and GrandDragon.

Amatic Industries is an international designer and manufacturer of slot machines games found in casinos all over the world. They’ve been in business since 1993. They offer more than just slots,though—they’re also one of the leading designers of electronic roulette games. The company has won multiple industry awards, including “Most Stylish Gaming Machine” at the Irish Gaming Show andthe Golden Dice Award at ICE. We offer comprehensive reviews of some of their best-love titles, including Admiral Nelson, Cool Diamonds, Eye of Ra, Lucky Coin and Wolf Moon.

Amaya Gaming is best-known as the Internet juggernaut which bought PokerStars, making them the largest online poker provider in the world. It also catapulted them into the leading position oflargest publicly traded gambling company in the world. They do work in partnership with other companies—for example, their partnership with Aristocrat enables players to play some of the mostfamous Australian poker machines (pokies) online. Some of their more popular slot machine games include Casinomeister, Forrest Gump, Jenga, Superman, and The Flash.

Aristocrat Gaming Technology is another publicly traded company based out of Australia. (What can we say? Slot machines are really popular in that country, even if they call them “pokies”instead of “slots”.) The company was founded in 1953. They have licenses to operate in 240 different jurisdictions in 90 different countries throughout the world. Some of their better-knowngames include 50 Lions, Zorro, Sons of Anarchy, The Walking Dead, and Dumb and Dumber, among many others.

Ash Gaming has been in business since 2002 and focuses on providing specific games to specific clients, especially those in the sports betting industry who want to expand their offerings totheir player base. They also focus primarily on the Internet market. They don’t have the most extensive list of games in the industry, but some of their games are popular, including Alice inWonderland, Life of Brian, Nostradamus, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

Electronic Gaming Machines For Sale

Bally Technologies is one of the oldest and best-known companies on this list. They’ve been in business since 1968, and they offer a huge range of games. If the name sounds familiar, it’sbecause the company is large enough to be involved in multiple aspects of the business. At one time, they were also popular providers of regular video games and pinball machines. They also havea casino in Las Vegas. They have a number of lucrative licensing deals, and they design and manufacture some of the following slot machines: Betty Boop, Double Dragon, Ducky Dynasty, Grease,Pawn Stars, Titanic, and ZZ Top.

Barcrest Gaming is a UK company that’s been providing gambling machines to businesses since 1968. They were acquired by IGT in the late 1990s but were then sold to Scientific Games in 2011.Both IGT and Scientific Games saw the wisdom in letting the brand continue under its own name, which it still does. You’ll find pages on our site providing complete game details for thefollowing games: Crown Gems, Rainbow Riches, Thai Flower, and Wipeout.

Betsoft Gaming is famous for their innovative and impressive 3D gaming products available on the Internet. We try to be as objective as possible when writing about any company on this site.Spend some time here, and you’ll see that we rarely “toot a company’s horn”, as it were. But the games from this provider are so much more impressive than anything else on the market that it’shard to not brag on them at least a little bit. They focus more on Internet gaming than land-based casino games. Some of the games from Betsoft Gaming that we especially enjoy include: AfterNight Falls, A Night in Paris, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Good Girl Bad Girl, and Greedy Goblins. You’ll find more of their games listed on our page devoted exclusively to their company.

How Do Electronic Gambling Machines Work

Blueprint Gaming is a provider of gaming machines to the UK market, but they’re actually owned by a German company, the Gauselmann Group. They focus on creating games for Internet and mobilegamblers. They have multiple unusual licenses, including slots with the following themes: Austin Powers, Bejeweled, Chuzzle, Peggle, Plants vs Zombies, and Zuma. You can read about any of thoseindividual games here on our site, as well as find more details about Blueprint Gaming on their corporate profile page here.