Hacker News Reader

Ah, so if I run a casino and come up with some new kind of game I can’t just offer it? Rather I have to get approval and perhaps some regulation is formulated just for that game?

That would certainly answer my root question.

Sorry if this is naïve — I don’t really know how gambling laws work at all.

View on HN

Games are very heavily regulated. You have to get approval, and there is a process for submitting the rules for a new game and getting it approved. Often it's the game makers who do this (and they sell the tables to the casinos for a license fee). It's easiest when it's a game that's very similar to an existing one.

Every casino jurisdiction is different, (and in the US, many native American casinos are regulated by a gaming authority that is part of the same tribal nation, so it is a bit circular) but almost all require a thorough review of any new game's rules and equipment, and usually also require third-party certification of the game's theoretical odds.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com