What's the Difference Between Class II Gaming and Class III Gaming?
Class II gaming machines are the only types of slot machine games
available in the state of Oklahoma, which is close to where I live.
These are different from Class III gaming machines, which are the more
common types of slots that you'd find in places like Las Vegas.
The main difference is that a Class II machine works on a bingo based mechanism, while a Class III machine works on a random number generator based mechanism (RNG for short).
Class II Games
A Class II slot machine does not generate its own results. They're connected to a "system controller" which basically does a bingo drawing every time a slot player spins the reels and then feeds the results to the slot machine. Obviously it's not a standard bingo game that draws numbered letters like "B1" and "O71". The numbers are set up on a grid though, just like a regular bingo game, and the patterns on the grid correspond to the payout patterns for the slot game.
One thing that's interesting about a Class II slot machine is that a winning pattern will cause the reels to land in a winning combination, but a losing pattern will cause the reels to land randomly in any non-winning combination.
Class III Games
Class III slot machine games are far more common throughout the country, especially in popular gambling destinations like Las Vegas. These slots use a random number generator to determine their results. This RNG (short for random number generator) is a tiny computer that is constantly generating random numbers. When you hit the "spin" button on the slot machine, the random number that is "active" on the exact millisecond that the processor receives your bet determines the outcome of the spin.
These RNG type slot machines can be set to have any type of payout percentages allowed by the applicable gaming commission's regulations. (Most gaming commissions require a certain minimum payout percentage on the machines in a casino under their jurisdiction.)
Differences in Class II and Class III Slot Games
So the difference in the two types of games is pretty much indistinguishable from a player perspective. It's a behind-the-scenes type difference. But it was something I was curious about, because I keep seeing it referred to when I read about gambling in Oklahoma in particular, so I researched it and wrote a quick article about it.
Slot Machines Home