Are all Indian casinos Class II?

John:

I hope you take the time to respond to my e-mail. I an the owner of two plinko machines approx. 30 years old and have no use for them.

Could you advise on how and where to sell them in the Toronto, Canada area?

Thank you,
Fern

Dear Fern:

I think your best bets would be eBay, Craigslist, or an ad in a local paper.

If anyone is interested in a Plinko machine, drop me a line (put Plinko) in the subject and I'll forward the message to you.

Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
John

I had a long discussion with my brother-in-law. I say that some Indian casinos are Class II, and others are Class III. He claims this is impossible since ALL Indian casinos are governed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and that is a federal requirement that they all work off "Bingo or Lotto" games, and serviced by one machine.

I thought that Class III meant they had individual "chips" that regulate their randomness. Please help . . . both of us are really convinced of our position. He claims Foxwoods, Turning Stone, and Mohegan Sun work off "bingo and lotto" programs. I say some do as in Florida, but some don't such as Ak-Chin, Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods, and Turning Stone.

Help us settle this once and for all.

Thank you,
John

Dear John,

You are right. Some Indian casinos have Class II games and some have Class III games.

Indian casinos are able to offer bingo, scratch-off tickets, and pull-tabs games as long as the state allows charities to run those games. A Class II gaming device just puts a slot machine front on one of these games. Class II games require a central server to determine the outcome of a spin. A Class II machine does not determine the result of a spin; it just displays it.

Class III machines, on the other hand, have RNG functions in their programming and they determine the results of their spins independently. Indian casinos can have Class III games if they negotiate a compact with the state. You may recall reading about compact negotiations between the state of Massachusetts and the state of California with the Indian casinos in those states a few years ago.

Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
John

John,

First, I enjoy reading your column. I just read a question regarding the Seneca Allegany casino on the slot machines not paying out especially since they built the new casino. I also have experienced the same problem.

Before the new casino was built I did very well on the slot machines, playing the $25 cent, 50 cent and dollar machines, more times than not I went home a winner. Since the new casino has opened I have visited the casino four times and have not went home a winner once, dropping around $3,000. At one dollar machine I put in a 100 dollar bill, bet the max every spin and out of 33 spins never won a penny.

While I am at a casino I look around to see if any machines are lit up as a winner, very seldom do I see any and my friends are saying the same thing. Also word has it that they have been fined twice for not paying out the correct percentage.

Needless to say I no longer patronize this casino.

Thanks,
Dave

Dear Dave:

Thanks for the kind words about my column.

The word may be that the casino was fined, but I Googled ["seneca allegany" fine] and there was nothing about the casino being fined on the first six pages of results.

The Tropicana in Atlantic City is currently fighting to renew its license. Many employees, former employees, patrons, and former patrons claim that the new owner made so many cuts in personnel that there aren't enough employees to keep the property clean and the place has become, well, a dump. I Googled [Tropicana license] and every hit in the first three pages was about the problems with the license renewal.

I have a hard time believing that the Seneca Allegany casino could have been fined twice and I couldn't find any mention of it on the first six pages of results returned by searching on Google.

Just as an aside, New Jersey law requires that all casinos be "first-class" properties. I use Steve Wynn's casinos as my standard for first class, and I don't think any of New Jersey's casinos (with the possible exception of the Borgata) qualify as first class.

You've done the best thing you could do. You voted with your bankroll and decided to play elsewhere. I also recommend that you write the casino a letter telling them what you've told me. I think it's just a coincidence that you and others have had a run of bad luck since the new casino opened. But if the casino did indeed lower paybacks, if enough regular players let management know that they noticed it and won't be coming back may make the casino raise the paybacks.

Best of luck in and out of the casinos,
John

Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert, at slotexpert@comcast.net. Because of the volume of mail I receive, I regret that I can't reply to every question.