Nevada approves skill-based gambling regulations

The regulation change came out of the passage of Senate Bill 9 in the spring, which called on gaming regulators to adopt rules governing features.

Initiated by the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM), Senate Bill 9 allows for variable-payback percentages in slot machines to enhance the player experience by bringing true skill-based gaming, arcade-game elements, hybrid games and other unique features and technologies to the casino floor for the first time.

Variable-payback percentages would, for example, give all players a base game with an 88 percent payback, but if you’re particularly skilled at shooting down enemy planes in the bonus round or outracing your friends in a road rally, you could boost your payback to 98 percent, with the blended overall payback selected by operators falling somewhere in the middle. For the first time, players will know they can have a material financial impact on the outcome of the game.

The regulations create three different game categories: traditional chance-based games, skill games and hybrid games.

As reported this week by Las Vegas Sun, former state legislator and commissioner Randolph Townsend lauded the process as a good example of private sector gaming licensees identifying a demand from their customers.

Slot machines in the United States are now based on chance.

"The next wave of people aren't going to stand there and play slots," had said Greg Giuffria in a July statement, who with his son is developing a line of what look like console video games with joysticks and controllers but allow betting. "The industry has to change or disappear."

Regulators and gaming industry insiders hope to have the new games on casino floors by the end of the year.