By John Robison
With that, the Tennessee Sports Gaming Act became the law of the state on May 25, 2019. Mobile sports betting via licensed operators became legal. Even so, Lee said, “Let me be clear: Any future efforts to expand gambling or introduce casinos in Tennessee will assure my veto.” Top Online Poker Sites in Tennessee. Casino Night Events, the nation's #1 company casino party experts, offers professional casino events in the state of Tennessee and all it's major cities. Casino Night Events, the nation's #1 company casino party experts, offers professional casino events in the state of Tennessee and all it's major cities.
One of the questions I'm asked most often is - 'how is it possible for a slot machine to be a random device and for a machine to also pay back a certain percentage of the money played through it?' If the results are truly random, people argue, then the payback should be random too.
Despite the fact that this governor function does not exist and in all jurisdictions whose regulations I’m familiar with, it is possible for the results on slot machines to be determined at random and for machines to have specific payback percentages.
It’s difficult to reconcile the fact that results on slot machines are random and for us to be able to know what will happen overall on a machine. Let me illustrate how this is possible with my RWB Ping Pong Ball Game.
Suppose I have a basket that contains 100 ping pong balls. Eighty ping pong balls are white, 15 are blue, and five are red. You draw a ball at random from the basket. There’s a cover on the basket, so you can’t tell what color ball you’re drawing. Also, you can’t tell the balls apart, so you’re no more likely to draw one ball over any other. After you draw the ball, you record the color and put the ball back in the basket.
As you repeat this action, you will find that the percentage of draws that were red balls gets closer and closer to 80%, the percentage of draws that were blue balls gets closer and closer to 15%, and the percentage of draws that were red balls gets closer and closer to 5%.
We know that this will happen because you draw the balls at random and each ball is equally likely to be drawn by you. But it is not equally likely that you will draw any particular color. Eighty percent of the balls are white, so we expect 80% of your draws to be white. Similarly for the blue and red balls.
Even though you drew the balls completely at random, the distribution of colors you recorded will match the distribution of colors in the total population of ping pong balls in the basket. Random does not mean that everything is completely unpredictable and unknowable.
Now let’s make the game more interesting. You have to pay me $1 each time you want to draw. When you draw a white ball, I keep the dollar. When you draw a blue ball, I return your dollar. And when you draw a red ball, I pay you $16. A nice payoff for drawing the red ball.
Looking at this game from my perspective, I have a 15% chance of paying you $1 and a 5% chance of paying you $16. Calculating this out, we have 0.15(1) + 0.05(16) = 0.15 + 0.80 = 0.95. On the average, then, for every $1 you give me to play, I will return 95 cents to you.
The RWB Ping Pong Ball Game is just like a 95% payback slot machine. Even though the outcomes in both games are chosen completely at random, each pays back 95% of the money played in the long run.
A slot machine works very much like the RWB Ping Pong Ball Game. Conceptually, there is a basket of ping pong balls for each reel. But instead of having different colors on the balls, these balls have symbols representing the different symbols on the reels on them. Some symbols appear on more balls than other symbols.
Let’s set up a basket of ping pong balls for a reel from a real Double Diamond slot machine. Even though there are 22 symbols and blanks on the reel, our basket will have 72 ping pong balls in it. Having more balls in the basket than we have stops on the reel allows us to alter the probability of landing any particular symbol on the payline from what it appears to be from counting the number of times it appears on the reel and dividing by 22.
The reel has 11 blanks on it, but I’m going to put 31 blank ping pong balls in the basket. Half the stops on the physical reel are blanks, but slightly less than half the ping pong balls are blank, so it’s actually a little less likely than it appears for a blank to land on the payline on this reel. There’s only one cherry on the reel, but I’m going to put two ping pong balls with cherries in the basket.
All of the other symbols – single bar, double bars, triple bars, 7, and Double Diamond – appear twice on the reel, but the number of ping pong balls with each symbol in the basket is 25, 4, 6, 2, and 2, respectively. We need about 6.5 ping pong balls with each of these symbols in the basket to have the probability of drawing a ping pong ball carrying the symbol be the same as what appears to be the probability of having the symbol land on the payline from looking at the reel, so you can see how different the true probabilities are from what the reel makes you think they are.
Just as with the RWB Ping Pong Ball Game, the more you play this Double Diamond machine, the closer the distribution of symbols landing on the payline will get to the distribution of ping pong balls with each symbol in the basket.
Even though it sounds like random should mean completely unpredictable, the only thing we can't predict is what color ping pong ball you'll draw next or what symbols will appear on the payline next. Because we know the distribution of ping pong balls in our basket and the casino knows the distribution of symbols on the slot machine's reels, we can predict -- no, more than predict, we can calculate with near certainty -- how much my game and how much a slot machine will pay back in the long run.
The only reason we can't be dead certain of how much a machine will actually pay back is because the outcome of each game is truly chosen at random and there is no function forcing the payback to a particular number. But given enough draws or spins, my RWB Ping Pong Ball game and a 95% payback slot machine will both pay back very, very, very close to 95%.
To sum up, there's no attempt in the programming of a machine to force it to a particular payback percentage. There’s no need to. Random sampling from a known population takes care of it automatically.
Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert™, at slotexpert@slotexpert.com.
Because of the volume of mail he receives, John regrets that he can't reply to every question.
An Overview Of The Gambling Laws In The State Of Tennessee
Tennessee is not a gambling-friendly State, and outlaws almost every form of gambling except for a lottery and very limited charity bingo and raffle games. For most residents, the best gambling opportunities lie across State borders. Each year millions of Tennessee residents visit the casinos and poker rooms of neighboring States such as Mississippi. This article gives you an overview of the gambling laws in the State of Tennessee.
First up below you’ll find a history of gambling in Tennessee, this is short and gives a fast-paced overview of the current situation. After that I have gone through each of the common forms of gambling, highlighting their current legal status. Next you will find excerpts from the statutes themselves, along with a timeline of legal events. Finally, there is a summary and look towards the future at the bottom of this page.
Tennessee Gambling Laws – A Brief History
The fastest way to describe the gambling history in this State is to say that they started as an anti-gambling State, and nothing much has changed since!
This does not give credit for a flourishing horse racing scene at the end of the 1800’s, a blanket ban on betting (even pari-mutuel pools) finally killed this off in 1906.
It would be almost 100 years of underground gambling and casino trips across State borders before the first carve-out under Tennessee law.
In 2003 a lottery was made legal in a referendum, with the first draw taking place in 2004. This is named an ‘education’ lottery, to highlight the cause it supports. As you might expect in a State with so few other options, this is extremely popular.
It took flooding in 2010 before the next carve-out was created – for charity bingo and lottery events. These are limited and licensed, and strictly for good causes.
There is some poker history in Tennessee, though not involving playing of games. Chris Moneymaker, who started the poker boom after winning the World Series Main Event in 2003 after winning an online satellite, is a resident here. Poker is seen as illegal under Tennessee law, which was backed up by the attorney general in 2005 in a statement covering poker tournaments. There is little chance that this State will regulate online poker, even if this proves to be a success in other States.
What Forms Of Gambling Are Legal?
Casino Gaming: No, there are no casinos in this State, either state or tribal owned. To enjoy casinos many residents cross over State borders, particularly to Mississippi.
Online Casinos: No, this is considered to be covered by the broad legislation which focuses on an ‘element of chance’.
Live Poker: No, there are no poker rooms and social games are not carved out under Tennessee law. A recent statement from the State Attorney General declared poker tournaments to contravene the existing statutes.
Electronic Casino Machines Legality Tn 2017
Online Poker: No, it is thought extremely unlikely that online poker games will be regulated in this State.
Sports Betting: No, there are no racetracks and not even pari-mutuel betting is permitted here.
Lottery Betting: Yes, this State has an ‘education lottery’ which includes both draws and scratch-off cards.
Bingo Games: Yes, limited charity bingo and raffle games are permitted under strict license.
Tennessee Gambling Laws – Statutes And Legal Timeline
The statutes which underpin the hugely restrictive regime in TN are outlined here. There are two major factors in play. First of all, the ‘any element of chance’ wording – which rules out poker and any other game involving both skill and chance outcomes. Second, promoting or hosting gambling will get you in a lot of trouble in Tennessee, this is also shown below.
Here is the part about promotion:
“(a) A person commits an offense who knowingly induces or aids another to engage in gambling, and:(1) Intends to derive or derives an economic benefit other than personal winnings from the gambling; or
(2) Participates in the gambling and has, other than by virtue of skill or luck, a lesser risk of losing or greater chance of winning than one (1) or more of the other participants.” (From 39-17-504)
Below is a timeline of some legal events in the Gambling history of Tennessee:
1906: Betting on horse races outlawed, killing off the previously successful racing industry.
2003: Education Lottery goes live, as implied in the name, profits from this go towards educational development uses.
2005: Attorney General gives an opinion that poker tournaments are covered under the current laws, even when nobody is taking a profit from hosting the games.
2010: Charity bingo and raffles allowed. This followed flooding in many areas, and was thought of as a quick way to raise funds. Licensees are strictly regulated and the prize amounts small.
Tennessee Gambling Laws – Summary And A Look To The Future
Tennessee is one of the dry States as far as gambling opportunities go, and the government appears to be happy with the situation. You’ll find law enforcement keen to bust illegal games here and the only real options lie in adjacent States or via longer trips to Vegas or Atlantic City.
There is little hope that Tennessee would join any group of States regulating online poker based on the current political climate.
Useful Resources:
Summary Of Statutes
Attorney General Opinion On Texas Holdem
Electronic Casino Machines Legality Tn Free
- http://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/op/2005/op/op159.pdf
Statutes