Pokies and Slot Machine Information

National Gaming Machine Standards update

February 13, 2006 on 2:17 pm | In Slot machine overviews |

A previous article here presented an overview of the National Gaming Machine Standards.

Pokies Standards Article

The standards exist ostensibly to ensure pokies are run fairly. In the words of the Queensland State Government:

“In this regard, all gambling legislation was amended in late 2000 to incorporate an overarching community protection objective to provide that, on balance, the State and community as a whole, benefit from the conduct of gambling”

Well there is no doubt the state is benefiting - it’s raking in hundreds of millions of dollars in tax every year from gaming machines.

The other point of the standards is to provide a framework such that gaming machines are operationally the same from state to state around the country. Where regulations are different in each state, the costs of manufacturing slot machines will increase:

“Currently we have to provide up to 27 versions of the same gaming machines to fit within the requirements of every state and territory”

Gambling Licences Article

Its always the case that where costs are made artificially high through differing regulatory regimes, the end user - the slot player in this case - will ultimately wear the cost.

Thus the gaming machine standards were created. The reasoning behind the standards appears to have been weakened by the creation of appendixes to the Gaming Standards - each state or territory is able to add specific extra regulations in appendixes. We’ll have a look at some of the Queensland, Australia appendix details:

Qld Office of Gaming Regulation

Note: we’re not picking on Qld here - they simply have a very well laid out and informative web site. Most other states also have appendixes.

Page 2: Q1.1.b “Game features deemed to be likely to mislead players will be prohibited. For example: where a game feature appears to involve physical skill.”

On the surface this would seem to make the games a bit boring - but the goal is laudable - tricky games don’t deserve to make the grade. Manufacturers seem to be doing an excellent job of making games despite this restriction.

Page 3: Q1.1.f “Free game features will be subject to close regulatory scrutiny. For example: Queensland subjects games with more than 25 free games to greater scrutiny.”

This explains the low number of possible free spins you’ll find on most machines. 15-20 free spins seems fairly common.

Page 7: Q3.1 “Games must operate independently of previous game play outcomes.”

This clause is consistent with slot machine math - it means you can possibly spin up three of the highest possible pays in a row. Or they could be a million spins apart.

Page 8: Q3.15. “Game features that increase the speed of play will not be permitted.”

This makes economic sense for the player - the faster reels on a slot machine spin, the faster you will lose your money.

Page 10: Q3.34. “The time between the start of a play and the end of a play must be at least 3 seconds.

Another clause which limits speed of play. Try timing a slot machine spin next time you’re at a casino in Qld - if its less than three seconds then frown menacingly at the machine to let it know its in breach of the regulations.

Page 17: Q4.1.10. “Depiction of currency on artwork is not permitted.”

There are slot games in Qld which appear to defy this clause. They are older machines, perhaps their existence before the introduction of these standards allows them to continue to exist.

Its time the states and territories had their appendixes out! Uniform standards can’t be that difficult to agree on without adding extras for different jurisdictions. It would mean reduced costs for slot manufacturers, reduced time and cost for approving machines - and hopefully reduced costs for you, the pokies player.

Note: all assessments above are opinions only, and should be treated as such. This blog makes no guarantee that opinions are factually correct.