By John Robison
One of the questions I'm asked most often is - 'how is it possible for a slot machine to be a random device and for a machine to also pay back a certain percentage of the money played throughit?' If the results are truly random, people argue, then the payback should be random too.
The RNG technology is based on mathematical algorithms that produce random numbers. Starting from a special digit called ‘seed’, the random number generator starts performing a series of mathematical operations, practically at light speed, and lands on unique number sequences that determine when the reels of a virtual slot machine will stop. Slot makers therefore make the machines completely random, because they couldn't sell them otherwise. (Many jurisdictions actually test the games to make sure they're properly random before the games can be put on the floor. That includes Nevada.).
Despite the fact that this governor function does not exist and in all jurisdictions whose regulations I’m familiar with, it is possible for the results on slot machines to be determined atrandom and for machines to have specific payback percentages.
It’s difficult to reconcile the fact that results on slot machines are random and for us to be able to know what will happen overall on amachine. Let me illustrate how this is possible with my RWB Ping Pong Ball Game.
Suppose I have a basket that contains 100 ping pong balls. Eighty ping pong balls are white, 15 are blue, and five are red. You draw a ball at random from the basket. There’s acover on the basket, so you can’t tell what color ball you’re drawing. Also, you can’t tell the balls apart, so you’re no more likely to draw one ball over any other. After you drawthe ball, you record the color and put the ball back in the basket.
As you repeat this action, you will find that the percentage of draws that were red balls gets closer and closer to 80%, the percentage of draws that were blue balls gets closer and closer to15%, and the percentage of draws that were red balls gets closer and closer to 5%.
We know that this will happen because you draw the balls at random and each ball is equally likely to be drawn by you. But it is not equally likely that you will draw any particularcolor. Eighty percent of the balls are white, so we expect 80% of your draws to be white. Similarly for the blue and red balls.
Even though you drew the balls completely at random, the distribution of colors you recorded will match the distribution of colors in the total population of ping pong balls in thebasket. Random does not mean that everything is completely unpredictable and unknowable.
Now let’s make the game more interesting. You have to pay me $1 each time you want to draw. When you draw a white ball, I keep the dollar. When you draw a blue ball, I return your dollar.And when you draw a red ball, I pay you $16. A nice payoff for drawing the red ball.
Looking at this game from my perspective, I have a 15% chance of paying you $1 and a 5% chance of paying you $16. Calculating this out, we have 0.15(1) + 0.05(16) = 0.15 + 0.80 =0.95. On the average, then, for every $1 you give me to play, I will return 95 cents to you.
The RWB Ping Pong Ball Game is just like a 95% payback slot machine. Even though the outcomes in both games are chosen completely at random, each pays back 95% of the money played in the longrun.
A slot machine works very much like the RWB Ping Pong Ball Game. Conceptually, there is a basket of ping pong balls for each reel. But instead of having different colors on theballs, these balls have symbols representing the different symbols on the reels on them. Some symbols appear on more balls than other symbols.
Let’s set up a basket of ping pong balls for a reel from a real Double Diamond slot machine. Even though there are 22 symbols and blanks on the reel, our basket will have 72 ping pongballs in it. Having more balls in the basket than we have stops on the reel allows us to alter the probability of landing any particular symbol on the payline from what it appears to befrom counting the number of times it appears on the reel and dividing by 22.
The reel has 11 blanks on it, but I’m going to put 31 blank ping pong balls in the basket. Half the stops on the physical reel are blanks, but slightly less than half the ping pong ballsare blank, so it’s actually a little less likely than it appears for a blank to land on the payline on this reel. There’s only one cherry on the reel, but I’m going to put two ping pongballs with cherries in the basket.
All of the other symbols – single bar, double bars, triple bars, 7, and Double Diamond – appear twice on the reel, but the number of ping pong balls with each symbol in the basket is 25,4, 6, 2, and 2, respectively. We need about 6.5 ping pong balls with each of these symbols in the basket to have the probability of drawing a ping pong ball carrying the symbol be thesame as what appears to be the probability of having the symbol land on the payline from looking at the reel, so you can see how different the true probabilities are from what the reel makesyou think they are.
Just as with the RWB Ping Pong Ball Game, the more you play this Double Diamond machine, the closer the distribution of symbols landing on the payline will get to the distribution of ping pongballs with each symbol in the basket.
Even though it sounds like random should mean completely unpredictable, the only thing we can't predict is what color ping pong ball you'll draw next or what symbols will appear on the paylinenext. Because we know the distribution of ping pong balls in our basket and the casino knows the distribution of symbols on the slot machine's reels, we can predict -- no, more than predict, wecan calculate with near certainty -- how much my game and how much a slot machine will pay back in the long run.
![Are Slot Machines Really Random Are Slot Machines Really Random](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ylrKJ4XqYnY/maxresdefault.jpg)
The only reason we can't be dead certain of how much a machine will actually pay back is because the outcome of each game is truly chosen at random and there is no function forcing the paybackto a particular number. But given enough draws or spins, my RWB Ping Pong Ball game and a 95% payback slot machine will both pay back very, very, very close to 95%.
To sum up, there's no attempt in the programming of a machine to force it to a particular payback percentage. There’s no need to. Random sampling from a known population takes care ofit automatically.
Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert™, at [email protected].
Because of the volume of mail he receives, John regrets that he can't reply to every question. Old las vegas slots free.
Because of the volume of mail he receives, John regrets that he can't reply to every question. Old las vegas slots free.
Of all the casino games in the world, slots are arguably the first you’d think of. We bet that an image of Las Vegas has just popped up in your mind, with rows and rows of slot machines. Everyone there wants to know if the slots are hot or cold, if they’re on the verge of victory, or if they have a chance of winning.
The whole reason why randomness is important when playing slots is because of the premise that absolutely anyone can be a winner! Slots are the ultimate game of chance. They are what you see in all the movies — coins practically flooding out onto the winner’s lap. And we all have that one friend who knows a guy that knows another guy who gave up playing slots, only for the person who went in after him to win the money.
You just have to be there at the right time, and the loot is yours. That’s precisely why slots work like a charm and have remained so popular after all this time Key to winning slot machines.
Now, believe it or not, slots are a science, and so is making sure they’re actually random. If we’re talking about physical slot machines, physical mechanisms are used to assure fair gameplay. The online slot machines use software to ensure the very same thing.
We’re going to explain how slot machines work in the following passages, and hopefully leave no stone unturned. If you’re impatient to get started, check out our list of best online slots for real money to begin playing. If you’re still a bit apprehensive, read on to understand the most popular casino offer in the world better.
So How Do Slot Machines Work?
Slot machines games have come a long way since the one-armed bandit days of yore. They work through different mechanisms, depending on whether the slot is a real or virtual.
Land-based casinos will still have actual slot machines, while virtual casinos will boast their digital versions. Online casinos have virtual slots that employ what’s known as a Random Number Generator, and a lot of them also have progressive jackpots.
But let’s start from the beginning.
From Land-Based Bandit-With-One-Arm to Online Star
The classic slot machine used to take up half the room and was an ornate, clunky thing. It had a lever sticking out, and the player would sit on the stool and pull it. But first, one had to feed the behemoth with coins to make it spin. At first, these machines had three reels with just a handful of symbols on them, and there was traditionally only one payline — 3 identical symbols aligned.
The game was so popular it seemed as though casinos were built around it! Of course, as technology developed, the love of slots remained steadfast, and people began making video slots. Suddenly, casinos all over the world had versions of video slots and video poker, and game machines that had a screen in general. The concept was more or less the same, but the machines themselves got smaller and more elegant.
Finally, all the world went online, and so did casinos and their favorite game — slots.
Online slots use, as we’ve mentioned, a generator that, well, generates random numbers. It is a piece of software that is absolutely necessary to assure unbiased gameplay. You then click on the virtual lever and hope and pray your symbols align.
Since everything is online, it frees casinos and slot manufacturers from all the land-based restraints, like the number of reels. There can be as many virtual reels as the software company likes. It’s really more of a design issue at this point. Likewise, the number of symbols on the reels is also potentially endless, since the virtual reels don’t actually spin — it’s merely a simulation.
This has also made the proliferation of slots possible, with most online casinos boasting hundreds of virtual slot options.
Virtual slot design is more sophisticated and the options more abundant, like ways of winning, for instance. Before, only the classic three cherries in the middle meant you got some cash, but now there are multiple ways to win. Virtual slots have also gotten a fun makeover by ways of in-game bonuses like Multipliers, as well as features like Scatters and Wilds. To quickly clarify, Scatters trigger in-game bonuses no matter where they’ve (obviously) scattered on the reels. And Wilds are like a Joker in a card game, meaning they can stand in for the symbol you’re missing to make a winning combo. An example of an in-game bonus would be spins you get for free or a Multiplier that will, logically, let you multiply the amount you’ve won.
The paylines have become more intricate and inclusive, and manufacturers can pretty much pick any alignment to be a winning one. From a single payline of the original one-armed bandits to maybe five with video slots, there are 243 or more paylines in a typical online slot today.
This is all a lot of jargon, so let’s break it down a bit more.
Some Typical Slot Jargon You Ought to Know
We’ve already strewn the text with some slang phrases, but we’ll really get into the nitty-gritty of them here. They can all help you understand how slots work and what the hallmarks of randomness are so you can keep a lookout for them.
So, we need to understand what RTP, RNG, and slot volatility is.
The RTP
RTP is something the prospective player really needs to understand because it’s directly linked to your bankroll. The letters stand for “Return to Player,” which refers to the money you can expect to get back over time. Many often refer to it as the payback percentage.
To make it crystal clear, we’ll give you a quick example. Say you choose a slot with a payback percentage of 80%. Technically, it means you’ll get $0.80 for every $1 invested, but it’s not exactly something to count on. For one, the calculation is made on the assumption the player will be at it a really long time, so it’s an elusive long-term potential return. And secondly, you’d be naive to ever choose a slot that offers an 80% payback because that’s a rip-off.
The RTP really ought to be above 92% for any gambling enthusiast to think it fair, and many have even higher standards. Some aficionados will only play if the slot promises a 96% or even 97% RTP, so do keep that in mind.
As a side note, you might want to keep one more thing in mind. Some manufacturers can make the program liable to alteration by the casino. This means that the casino may be allowed to set its own RTP, which isn’t fixed to the game. So keep an eye on that, too.
Understanding the Random Number Generator
This piece of technology is precisely what allows the game to get the combinations of symbols to randomly pop up on the wheels. The RNG, for short, is what keeps everything running smoothly and fairly. So, if you choose to play online, make sure that the casino you’re playing at is using this program, and that all their games run based on it.
Knowing that there’s a software that keeps things random doesn’t increase your odds of winning. It does, however, assure you that you’re getting to play a fair game.
The Volatility
The rule is that if the slot is highly volatile, it pays a lot but seldom. If the volatility is low, you’re paid out often, but it’s nothing to brag home about. Playing high-volatility slots can turn into an endurance challenge, and you’ll need to stockpile your cash before you set out on that venture. The low-volatility ones offer quick rewards and fewer hours playing.
Very often, slots with progressive jackpots are highly volatile, because the point is to get the money to add up before it’s cashed out. It’s just as random as a standard, random jackpot, but those are usually linked to low-volatility games.
How to Check if a Slot is Random?
Well, unless you’re a casino inspector or the slot is severely corrupted, you can’t exactly check that for yourself as a player. What you can do is to educate yourself on the concepts of RTP, volatility, and RNG to know that you’ve picked a safe slot.
Again, remember that nothing can increase your chances of winning, because slots are the ultimate game of chance. If the slot you’re playing is at a secure venue, you’ll know the machine is inspected and/or the program is not rigged.
How To Win At Slot Machines
And remember that slots are to be played in the long run, if you want to do it properly.