New Jersey to ease skill-based games regulation
Atlantic City casinos have turned their attention to skill-based games and new regulation is coming as several titles have been placed at Borgata and Tropicana.
US.- Skill-based games are starting to bloom within Atlantic City casinos and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) is already on the move to make changes to existing regulation. As the Borgata and Tropicana have introduced several GameCo titles, the DGE is seeking to ammend the current regulations to ease restrictions on some products.
According to a report by Online Poker Report (OPR), the return to player (RTP) minimum demanded in current legislation (83 percent) is about to be removed by the new document set to amend it: “Skill based games mean any Division approved casino or online game where the theoretical return to player (RTP) cannot be determined by a precise mathematical model based on chance, but is instead determined by player’s physical dexterity and/or mental ability. Such games are not required to achieve a minimum theoretical RTP. Skill based games are distinct from slot machine games that are expected to achieve a theoretical RTP of 83 percent.”
Existing regulation requires skill-based slot machines to “theoretically pay out a mathematically demonstrable percentage of all amounts wagered, which shall not be less than 83 percent for each wager available for play on the device” and states that “games which rely entirely on skill or do not utilise an RNG are not required to achieve a minimum theoretical hold percentage.”
The amendment-to-be reads: “Skill based games approved pursuant to this section shall be clearly identified through the use of a Division approved logo that inform the patron that the game is a skill based game, is not a slot machine, and does not offer a minimum RTP,” as quoted by OPR.
In case this draft gets approved, skill-based game developers wouldn’t have to include bonuses or other features in order to bring the RTP over 83 percent for all players and would allow all titles to payback zero percent to the player.
