Why are slot machines illegal but card games legal in California?
Question by Sweet n Sour: Why are slot machines illegal but card games legal in California?
Both are 100% chance for example nobody can predict what hand they’re going to get in a card game, as the cards are shuffled (unless it’s rigged). So why the double standard between the games? Is a slot machine more “chance” than the Lotto which is legal?
Best answer:
Answer by GamblingMaster
poker is more a skill game, while slots are pure gambling, you dont have any decision there, only choose lines and press bet button.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
6 Responses to “Why are slot machines illegal but card games legal in California?”
Leave a Reply
Frankly speaking, gambling laws are very skewed in California. The only reason that might be said in favor of this is that generally card games are skill based ones and mathematical / probabilistic calculations come into play. But in case of Slot machines strategies don’t work and is 100% luck based. This might be the reason of such skewed law.
UIGEA is another skewed law that restricts Online Gambling through restricting payment processors. To know more on UIGEA http://hubpages.com/hub/uigea-and-internet-freedom
I’ve read that games of chance such as slot machines are illegal and poker or other card games may utilize skill so it makes them legal. As for the lotto I think that its categorized differently so maybe that’s why its legal.
Who told you that slot machines are illegal in California, there not.
The only weird gambling law in California is that craps and roulette must be played with cards rather than dice or the ball bearing but I think that that’s some what understandable.
Overall if you look at the big picture, internet gambling (be it in Slots,Poker or Blackjack) is legal in US simply because there is no such law which prohibits gambling.
The main laws are directed towards US banks and financial institutions and not towards players or any game in particular.
Slot machines are controlled by the casino. They can program them to pay out frequently, once and a while, or not at all. They are not truly games of chance, since the results can be altered. On a busy day, you’re much more likely to see a machine pay out than on a slow day…not because of more usage, but because the casino doesn’t want to waste big payoffs on a small crowd…the advertising benefit is greatly lessened. The machine already “knows” if you are a winner before you even spin the reel.
Card games are strictly monitored in casinos. I don’t think they “fix” them, though certainly they keep an eye on the players to make sure there is no “card counting” or other suspicious activity going on. You are never watched so closely as in a casino.
Slot machines have the worst odds of any game in the casino. The house edge is 17% (only because there’s a law that made that the maximum edge casinos are allowed to have), as compared to <2% for some games. My own feeling is, so what if old people are forced to do other things besides rot their minds pulling a lever all day?
I don’t know if the lotto’s edge is worse than slots, my guess is yes (and even if it’s not, it would take many lifetimes for you to achieve the true edge, instead of the -99.xx% you’ll experience in your lifetime). But the funds of the lottery go to actual people (the winners), and to services for the elderly. Not to some greedy casino. So I guess that’s why the double-standard is allowed.