[ Home ]

[ Slots News ]

VLTs Are Not Slot Machines Either!

Recently, we discussed the fact that video Bingo devices are, strictly speaking, not slot machines. Today, we’ll debunk another commonly-mistaken confusion between gambling devices. This has to do with Video Lottery Terminals, or VLTs. These machines are more and more frequently being installed in the place of old-school lottery stations where players would pencil in their selections or scratch off a ticket. On one hand, VLTs are little more than a glorified version of a scratch-off ticket. On the other, these devices do have a Random Number Generator (RNG), the same microprocessor that generates slot machine outcomes.

The big difference, however, is that, unlike fruit machines, VLTs do not have their own, individual RNG inserted into each one. These terminals are operated by one central RNG, generating results from the central lottery headquarters, usually of the state. These machines are all linked together based around the same lottery. The distinction between lottery games and, say, a progressive jackpot slot all but disappears when you consider that, like a progressive, the sum of a lottery goes up with each play. The main difference, however, is that lottery game operators have the power to manipulate a game in progress. Casino operators may not tamper with the computer chips running a slot machine. The state gaming authority must be present or at least contacted any time the RNG in a slot machine is to be intervened-upon.

This difference is a big one, and is the main reason why VLTs are Class II machines (like Bingo machines) for the purpose of gambling enforcement. Pokies are Class III machines, and subject to different, and much stricter regulations.

Back to September 2008 Archive.