Cherokee Video Poker Reliability

Until I read this year's American Casino Guide, I hadn't thought to ask this question. Basically, I would like to know if pay tables of video poker at Cherokee mean anything.

Here's why I ask. The casino guide makes clear in its Cherokee summary that the tribe does not have to tell anyone the payout percentage of individual machines or machines as a group other than the fact that all machines must return between 83% and 98%. Elsewhere in the ACG, the video poker author warns that returns on video poker on non-regulated land do not necessarily follow Nevada rules and that the technology exists to reduce certain hand probabilities and payouts.

Cherokee features "Raffle Wheels" and "skill-based" machines that require a decision in a two-part process for reel slots. Is it possible their video poker machines are not "normal" video poker machines with "normal" payouts?

A couple of years back, Bob Dancer wrote about his trip to Cherokee and reported no irregularities or debate, but that does not necessarily rule out what I'm asking.

Any thoughts?

I assume you're referring to the original Harrah's Cherokee near Asheville, NC and not Harrah's Cherokee Valley River.

So redietz, my thoughts are: yes, I believe they are legit Class III video poker machines. I have colleagues in NC who like to play Ultimate X, Super Times Pay DDB on their newly installed IGT machines. I can't seem to recall any Class II machines offering any extra-coin VP variants, and most Class II machines will have a "genie" or "match card" feature, which these new IGT machines don't have.

Much of the video poker at Harrah's Cherokee is unplayable anyways (6/5 JoB, 7/5 DDB etc.), and you can only find full-pay games (e.g. NSU Deuces) in the $5 denomination and up.

Thanks, nerakil. Much appreciated.

If a player "believes" or "expects" that machines are unbiased then that should never be good enough for anyone who only plays or wants to play in a fair environment.

Dancer would report Hitler as legit if his after-the-fact reporting on it enhanced his business in any way. Without documented proof from the state or even the tribe, there's no way to logically trust any Indian casino anywhere. If you remember correctly, Dancer, Jean Scott and maybe one other "guru" have consistently claimed foreign registered cruise ship casinos to be on the up & up simply because they've attached their names to certain cruise dates, despite having no regulation whatsoever. They in fact are no more trustworthy than online gambling sites.

The poorest of the poor pay tables, although having nothing at all to do with being "playable" or not, are common at many tribal casinos. And it is not beyond their mindset or capabilities to syphon gamblers' money even faster via altered machines, if they so choose.