Atlassino Academy · Slots · Lesson 9
Electronic table games
Some tables run on terminals: the same games, read off a screen instead of a sign. What the rule book says a screen must show before your first bet.
You sit down where a table used to be. In front of you there is a screen, and beside the seat there is no little sign. What does the rule book say that screen has to show you before your first bet, and what does it keep for itself?
The short answer
Before your first bet the screen has to put in front of you what each result pays, the rules of the game and the commissions. A terminal that plays a game you know, roulette or blackjack or poker, has to keep the odds of the live game unless its paytable shows otherwise. And the system keeps a record of the last five hands, which the rule gives as a way to settle disputes and does not describe as a statement for you. None of it says anything about the round to come.
- What each result paysOn the screen, before you bet
- The rules of the gameOn the screen, before you bet
- The commissions the house takesOn the screen, before you bet
- Whether prizes are counted in credits or in currencyOn the screen, and it has to say which
Leoformer dealer · rules and maths
I dealt at a table for years, and then the table went. The seats around it came back as screens, and people sat down at them the way you sit down at a bus stop — fast, and without reading anything.
Everything my little sign used to say is still there. It is one layer further in, behind a button somebody has to press, and nobody is standing in front of it to tell you that you have not pressed it.
What an electronic table is
The rule book calls it an electronic table game system: a central server, a player interface and the screen elements, working together to simulate a table game. Its rules apply when the game runs without an operator beyond the start of the game, and then the system itself accepts the credits, collects the bets and pays what is owed. From the moment you load credits, you bet by touching the glass.
A credit is a count, not an amount of money: what one credit is worth was set inside the machine, and turning credits into money is the arithmetic of lesson 2.1.
RouletteBets open
- Minimum, per bet1 unit
- Wheel0
- Straight up35 to 1
- Credits120
An example screen, drawn by our code: no casino’s artwork and no product’s interface.
- The headThe name of the game, and whether betting is open. At a live table the same words run across the head of the little sign.
- The linesThe smallest bet, what a result pays, what the house takes on a hand. Each is a figure that belongs to this screen and to no other.
- CreditsWhat your money is counted in until you cash out.
- The buttonsThe paytable and the rules of the game sit behind them, and pressing them costs nothing and starts no round.
Everything the little sign said, one layer in
The rule is that the player has all the information about the payouts at their disposal before committing to a bet. The banner or screen has to set out accurately the rules of the game, the game profile and the list of commissions, and what the player will be paid for a result that pays. It also has to say clearly whether prizes are counted in units of denomination, in currency or in some other unit. At a live table the same information is split between a small sign, the cloth and a person. At a screen it is in one place, and free to read while you are still standing up.
One line on a screen decides the price of the seat rather than the shape of the game, and it is easy to walk straight past, because the commission line does not look like a price.
- BankerCommission takenWhether the bank hand pays a commissionTwo baccarat screens in one building can differ in the commission line and in nothing else at all.
Underneath the lines sit two rules about the odds. A terminal that plays a game you can recognise has to show the same odds as the live game, unless the paytable shows otherwise. And it has to pay, in theory, at least the percentage fixed by the law over the life of the game, bonus games included.
What the terminal keeps, and what it shows
When a terminal uses a random number generator, the draws have to be statistically independent and unpredictable. Whatever a screen shows of finished rounds, nothing in it is about the round to come: each round stands on its own.
Two further rules keep the terminal from steering a round. After the result has been picked it may not make a second, variable decision that changes the result you are shown. And where it deals cards, the cards drawn are used at once under the rules of the game: it may not discard them out of “adaptive” behaviour.
What the system does keep is a record: the data to rebuild the last five games or hands in full, with the credits at the start, the bet, the credits won, the credits paid and the final result. The rule gives its reason, which is settling disputes between players, or between a player and the house. For ordinary machines the same document asks for the last ten games, retrievable with a key or another secure method that is not available to the player.
Nothing we read puts either record on your own screen, so what you staked two rounds ago is a number to keep yourself. Losing track of it is the ordinary way an evening gets away from someone.
Who runs the game
The rules describe a terminal that runs without an operator beyond starting the game. That is a description of a kind of system, not of every seat you will meet, and it does not tell you whether a person is standing behind a particular screen. 14 of the 35 casinos we list name an electronic table on their own website. What the quoted words give is the name of the game. They do not say whether a person is standing behind the screen, so that is a question for the room.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
At a live table something interrupts you every few minutes whether you want it or not, and half the people who leave on time leave because the shoe ran out and they took the hint.
At a screen the hint never comes. So name the round you are going to stand up on before you sit down.
If it stops being fun
If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. Minimum entry age: each province sets its own. Where we found the rule or regulator that sets it, we cite it on the page; those we found set it at 18. More on responsible gaming.
Show all provinces
If you are thinking about suicide, call 135 or 0800 345 1435 from anywhere in the country
Practice: read the screen
Two levels. Nothing here spins, nothing is staked and there is no balance: a screen has no decisions left in it once the bet is down, so the practice stops where the round starts. Level 1 puts one line of a screen in front of you and asks what that line decides — 4 moments. Level 2 is the one decision the screen never makes for you, and it is not scored.
Every square on the strip below is one of the scored moments, and they are all there from the start. Only your first answer on each one counts, and when the squares are full the second level begins by itself.
Lesson done
Review my mistakes (0)
Progress stays in this browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
The practice table needs JavaScript. Here is one moment from it, with the answer.
Level 1
RouletteBets open
- Minimum, per bet1 unitthis line
- Straight up35 to 1
- Credits120
An example screen, drawn by our code: no casino’s artwork and no product’s interface.
What does the highlighted line decide?
The answer: The least this screen takes for one bet.
The smallest bet belongs to the screen in front of you. Read the line before you put anything down, because the smallest bet is what decides whether your bet is taken at all.
Level 2
RouletteReady for the next round
An example screen, drawn by our code: no casino’s artwork and no product’s interface.
The round is over and the screen is ready for the next one. What happens now?
The answer: You name the round you will stand up on, and stand up on it.
There is no scoring here and no right answer. A live table has a rhythm you cannot argue with: the shuffle, the change of dealer, the minutes it takes to pay the person beside you. A terminal that runs without an operator has none of those, so the pause has to come from you.
Every moment works the same way: a screen, one question about it, and an answer that comes from the screen or from what the casino publishes about that game.
How the practice works
Where the answers come from. On level 1 the answer is in the screen itself: a line says what it says. Level 2 has no right answer and no squares.
What the screens are. Ours, drawn by code. No casino’s artwork, no product’s interface, no logos. Every amount on them is an invented example, not a figure from a casino.
One strip, no rounds. Every square is one moment, and they are all there from the start. Your first answer fills the square; practising a mistake turns a cross into “fixed in practice” and does not change the count. Progress stays in this browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
Check yourself
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Five quick ones. Pick an answer, then check it. No timer, no points: just whether it stuck.
Back to the question we opened with. What each result pays, the rules of the game and the commissions are on the screen, and readable before you put anything down. What the system keeps for itself is a record for disputes, and the number of rounds you have left is a count you keep.
Where to check this
18+ under each province’s rules · Play responsibly · the helplines for every province are at the end of this page
Further reading
- Resolución 705/13: requisitos para máquinas electrónicas de juegos de azar · Instituto Provincial de Lotería y Casinos de la Provincia de Buenos AiresThe technical rules a machine must meet: independent random draws, no “near miss” tricks, a minimum payout set by law.
- Resolución 00296-P/2023: Reglamento de Salas Tragamonedas · Instituto de Juegos y Casinos de Jujuy (InProJuy)Jujuy’s slot-room rules: a theoretical return of at least 90 %, and what a machine must display.
- PAR sheets, probabilities, and slot machine play · Kevin Harrigan and Mike Dixon, Journal of Gambling Issues (2009)What a manufacturer’s PAR sheet says about a machine: how often it pays, how much the payback swings, and the several versions of one game.
- Key terms relating to live return to player performance monitoring of games of chance · UK Gambling CommissionA regulator’s definition of volatility: the standard deviation of the game, and what “very large but rare” and “small and often” prizes mean.
How it’s worked out
Sources, numbers and hosts
Where this happens. Every screen on this page is a terminal standing on the floor of a casino you can walk into. A live-dealer game you join from home is a different thing under a different book of rules. This page also prices no bets: what a roulette or baccarat bet costs belongs to the tracks of those games. What is here is the screen, and the minute before you touch it.
Sources. One document, quoted where it is used with its section and the date we read it: the technical rules for electronic gaming machines of the lottery institute of the province of Buenos Aires (Resolution 705/13), section 5 on electronic table game systems and, for ordinary machines, sections 4-2 and 4-15. The text of the resolution ties it to the halls run under Ley 13.063. We read no rules for electronic tables from any other province.
Numbers. The counts of casinos count quotes: a casino is counted when its own published words name an electronic table, never when our summary of them does. The amounts on the example screens are invented.
What is deliberately missing. How fast one of these screens runs, and who deals at any seat in Argentina. No source we read publishes rounds an hour for an electronic table, and none of the casinos we list publishes who deals at one, so this page says nothing about the pace of one, and works out no cost per hour from it.
Hosts. Leo and Maya are illustrated characters. Their backstories, a former dealer and a former floor supervisor, are written for the course: neither is a real person, and neither speaks for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from their experience.
No promise. Reading a screen makes the price of a seat known before you sit at it. It does not make the seat cheap, and nothing on this page says an evening at one is a good idea for you.
The odds of the live game
A menos que la tabla de pagos muestre lo contrario, cuando el ETGS juegue un juego reconocible como el Póquer, el Blackjack , la Ruleta , etc., las mismas probabilidades asociadas al juego en vivo serán evidentes en el juego simulado.Free translation: Unless the pay table shows otherwise, when the ETGS plays a recognizable game such as Poker, Blackjack, Roulette, etc., the same odds associated with the live game shall be evident in the simulated game.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
What has to be on the screen before a bet
El jugador deberá disponer de toda la información relacionada con las mesas con pago antes de comprometerse a apostar.Free translation: The player must have available all the information related to the tables with payouts before committing to bet.
Se debe comunicar claramente por medio de una pancarta o un display de video la información del juego, que expondrá de manera precisa las reglas del juego, el perfil del juego y la lista (recaudación) de comisiones, y lo que se le pagará al jugador cuando gane un premio específico.Free translation: The game information must be clearly communicated by means of a banner or a video display, which shall set out precisely the rules of the game, the game profile and the list (revenue) of commissions, and what the player will be paid when winning a specific prize.
La pancarta o display de video indicará claramente si los premios son designados en unidades por denominación, moneda, u otra unidad.Free translation: The banner or video display shall clearly indicate whether prizes are designated in units by denomination, currency, or another unit.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
The record the system keeps
Con el propósito de resolver disputas entre jugadores o entre jugadores y la banca, el ETGS deberá conservar el historial de datos del juego. Este historial deberá proporcionar toda la información requerida para reconstruir en su totalidad las últimas cinco partidas/manos que se jugaron.Free translation: For the purpose of resolving disputes between players or between players and the bank, the ETGS must keep the game data history. This history must provide all the information required to fully reconstruct the last five games/hands that were played.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
A result picked before it is shown
Después de la selección del resultado del juego, los ETGS no tomarán una decisión secundaria de variable que afecte el resultado mostrado al jugador.Free translation: After the game outcome has been selected, ETGS shall not make a variable secondary decision that affects the outcome shown to the player.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
What an electronic table game system is
Un ETGS (Sistema de Juego de Mesa Electrónico) es el funcionamiento colectivo de la combinación de un servidor central, la interfaz de un jugador y todos los elementos de interfaz, para la simulación electrónica de las operaciones de un juego de mesa.Free translation: An ETGS (Electronic Table Game System) is the collective operation of the combination of a central server, a player interface and all the interface elements, for the electronic simulation of the operations of a table game.
Estos requisitos se aplicarán cuando el juego opere sin interacción de un operador, salvo la iniciación del juego, responsable por todas las transacciones en moneda y las que incluyen la aceptación de créditos, la recolección de apuestas, la distribución de las ganancias y el chequeo de que todas las apuestas sean registradas correctamente.Free translation: These requirements shall apply when the game operates without interaction of an operator, except for starting the game, the operator being responsible for all currency transactions and those that include the acceptance of credits, the collection of bets, the distribution of winnings and the checking that all bets are correctly recorded.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
Everything shown before the bet
El jugador deberá disponer de toda la información relacionada con las mesas con pago antes de comprometerse a apostar.Free translation: The player must have available all the information related to the tables with payouts before committing to bet.
Se debe comunicar claramente por medio de una pancarta o un display de video la información del juego, que expondrá de manera precisa las reglas del juego, el perfil del juego y la lista (recaudación) de comisiones, y lo que se le pagará al jugador cuando gane un premio específico.Free translation: The game information must be clearly communicated by means of a banner or a video display, which shall set out precisely the rules of the game, the game profile and the list (revenue) of commissions, and what the player will be paid when winning a specific prize.
La pancarta o display de video indicará claramente si los premios son designados en unidades por denominación, moneda, u otra unidad.Free translation: The banner or video display shall clearly indicate whether prizes are designated in units by denomination, currency, or another unit.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
The odds of the live game
A menos que la tabla de pagos muestre lo contrario, cuando el ETGS juegue un juego reconocible como el Póquer, el Blackjack , la Ruleta , etc., las mismas probabilidades asociadas al juego en vivo serán evidentes en el juego simulado.Free translation: Unless the pay table shows otherwise, when the ETGS plays a recognizable game such as Poker, Blackjack, Roulette, etc., the same odds associated with the live game shall be evident in the simulated game.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
The minimum return of an electronic table
Cada Sistema de Juego de Mesa Electrónico pagará teóricamente el porcentaje determinado por la Ley N º 13.063 durante la vida útil del juego, incluidos los juegos de bonificación.Free translation: Each Electronic Table Game System shall theoretically pay the percentage determined by Law N º 13.063 over the useful life of the game, including bonus games.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
What the draws of an electronic table must be
sólo se aplican a ETGS que utilizan un RNG, los que tendrán que: * Ser estadísticamente independientes; * Ajustarse a la distribución aleatoria deseada; * Pasar diversas pruebas estadísticas reconocidas; * Ser impredecibles.Free translation: apply only to ETGS that use an RNG, which shall have to: * Be statistically independent; * Conform to the desired random distribution; * Pass various recognized statistical tests; * Be unpredictable.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
Each round stands on its own
El uso de un generador de números aleatorios resultará en la selección de símbolos de la partida o la producción de resultados de las partidas. La selección deberá: * Ser estadísticamente independiente; * Cumplir con la distribución aleatoria deseada; * Pasar varias pruebas estadísticas reconocidas; * Ser impredecible.Free translation: The use of a random number generator shall result in the selection of the game's symbols or the production of the game's results. The selection shall: * Be statistically independent; * Meet the desired random distribution; * Pass several recognized statistical tests; * Be unpredictable.
El juego no deberá ajustar la probabilidad de que ocurra una bonificación, basándose en el historial de premios obtenidos en partidas previas (esto es, los juegos no adaptarán su ganancia teórica al jugador basándose en pagos previos);Free translation: The game must not adjust the probability of a bonus occurring based on the history of prizes obtained in previous games (that is, games shall not adapt their theoretical gain to the player based on previous payouts);
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
A result picked before it is shown
Después de la selección del resultado del juego, los ETGS no tomarán una decisión secundaria de variable que afecte el resultado mostrado al jugador.Free translation: After the game outcome has been selected, ETGS shall not make a variable secondary decision that affects the outcome shown to the player.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
Cards are not discarded to adapt
Los naipes extraídos de la baraja serán empleados de inmediato de acuerdo con las Reglas del Juego (es decir, el ETGS no descartará los naipes por comportamiento de adaptación).Free translation: Cards drawn from the deck shall be used immediately in accordance with the Rules of the Game (that is, the ETGS shall not discard cards due to adaptive behavior).
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
The record the system keeps
Con el propósito de resolver disputas entre jugadores o entre jugadores y la banca, el ETGS deberá conservar el historial de datos del juego. Este historial deberá proporcionar toda la información requerida para reconstruir en su totalidad las últimas cinco partidas/manos que se jugaron.Free translation: For the purpose of resolving disputes between players or between players and the bank, the ETGS must keep the game data history. This history must provide all the information required to fully reconstruct the last five games/hands that were played.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
Ten games, kept for the technician
La información sobre las últimas diez (10) partidas, como mínimo, podrá recuperarse siempre al accionar una llave de interruptor externa que resulte adecuada u otro método seguro que no esté disponible para el jugador.Free translation: Information on the last ten (10) games, at a minimum, may always be retrieved by operating a suitable external switch key or another secure method that is not available to the player.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
An electronic table named by a room