By: “Vegas Vic” - Victor H Royer
A while back I read an article from the February 2, 2012, issue of The Press of Atlantic City – which you can find at this link: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/trump-casinos-fined-for-slot-machine-mix-up/article_810c3168-4de4-11e1-aa2a-001871e3ce6c.html
In reference to this, I also read a post in a forum, which referred to the apparent “rigging” of slot machines in casinos, and that – the writer posits – casinos “fixing” slots as part of normal operations, because no one will fine them the “millions of dollars”, or cause them to lose their gaming license.
So, which is true? Are casinos “fixing” their slots, or not? Can this happen? Does it?
Let’s first start by understanding a big difference between “fixing” a slot machine, and “forgetting to file paperwork for approvals.” Also, let’s understand the difference between Atlantic City casino operations, and the governmental approval process, and those everywhere else, notably Nevada (and just about every other gaming jurisdiction whose regulatory bodies are modeled after those in Nevada).
Atlantic City is something else. Many of their procedures there are different from every other gaming jurisdiction, as are the various filing and bureaucratic procedures. When a company does business throughout the United States, all of their “approval” processes are usually done the same way as they are in Nevada. So, the filing of proper certifications for slots is usually fairly routine, with, of course, some exceptions for regionalism.
When that same company does the same business in Atlantic City, those procedures are anything but the same, smooth, or familiar. Atlantic City seems to do everything differently. Why? Ask the State Legislature. They are the ones who drafted the rules for the Division of Gaming Enforcement, the body that regulates Atlantic City casinos. If you think the Sopranos had a messy family, they were the epitome of efficiency compared to the way government works in New Jersey, or the way the Division of Gaming Enforcement works in Atlantic City.
Bottom line?
It’s easy to forget the paperwork, or to file the wrong paperwork, or to make a mistake in that paperwork, or in those bureaucratic procedures, when you’re dealing with Atlantic City regulatory agencies. Neither of the two casinos in question did anything “underhanded” or somehow “fixed” anything. This whole situation is much ado about nothing (sorry, Bill ShakeDude).
The truth?
No casino – let me repeat that for those who seem to be intellectually underdeveloped – NO casino can, or will, or ever does – today, in the 21st century – rig, fix, manipulate, or somehow seek to alter any gambling game, machine or device in order to somehow profit illicitly from such actions. None. Never. Ever. Period.
If you don’t understand this, then the only solution I have for you is: Don’t go to a casino.
This is no rocket science.
If you are a casino operator, and your company makes over $1 billion per month, or even one that makes a paltry $50 million per month (a mom-and-pop casino for sure), then why would you ever risk that income in order to rig a slot machine to make an extra $182,000 over three years?
In Nevada, if your casino did that, and it was proven to be so, your company would be blacklisted faster than a dose of salts after a bean burrito. The point is this: No one who knows anything about the casino business would ever say things like this, as those posted in that forum. It’s simply and plainly not true, cannot happed, would not happen.
But, CAN it happen? Yes, it can – however ….
It would be very, very complicated, it would take collusion among several high-level casino employees, technicians, slot regulators and at least one member of the Gaming Control Board. Theoretically, it IS possible. In reality, nothing of the kind. Why? Same argument as above. If you had a choice of making $1 billion per month from your business, OR rigging a slot machine in order to make $182,000 in 3-years! – which would you choose? Human stupidity notwithstanding, it ain’t gonna happen. At least not this way.
Has it happened in the past? Yes, absolutely. But that was long, long ago, and the world of today is about as different from that world as a quill pen is from an iPad.
Bottom line?
No casino in the United States will cheat you. It’s just not financially viable to do that.
However, if you travel on cruise ships, or play in casinos outside of the United States, well, then the whole thing is up to you. No one can tell what happens there. Cruise ships outside of the 12-mile limit are not subject to any regulations. Neither are most casinos outside of the United States. But that, my friends, is a story for another time.
