A Tokyo-based slot machine distributor is under...

A Tokyo-based slot machine distributor is under scrutiny by Nevada gaming officials for its “near-miss” devices that tempt gamblers to raise their bets as they appear to just miss a jackpot on each play. The 15,000 Universal Distributing video slots now in most Nevada casinos are programmed to show winning combinations on non-paying lines. If a player puts two coins in a five-line machine, those lines will come up with random spins, but the remaining three lines can be programmed to show a jackpot--thus the near-miss. The Nevada Gaming Commission is planning to review whether to allow Universal to retain the near-miss feature on its 15,000 machines among Nevada’s 100,000 slots. The near-miss machines have been banned in Atlantic City.