As Brian Christopher says, “It’s All About Timing.” Or is it?
You talk about timing all the time right now; timing is crucial. What about the theory of tricking the machine into being a new player like once your money is out putting more in or cashing out and then putting cash in, if that makes sense. Like if I go and win and cash out and then put another hundred dollars in does the machine think it’s like a new player? I understand the random number generator but does it have any effect?
Robert B.
The notion of new money going into a machine or being cashed out of a machine doesn’t have any impact, because previous spins (or any other activity, for that matter) have no impact on what comes next. That’s the entire point of the random number generator – any outcome can be possible on the next spin.
So slots don’t keep track of things like sessions – they just keep a basic accounting of each spin, the amount wagered and the amount paid out. This allows for aggregate stats to be calculated to make sure that over time a slot’s approaching its expected return to player (RTP) over its lifetime, for instance.
The players card system is a separate system, and can take those records as they’re happening and assign them to a specific player when a card is in the machine. But the machine works identically if a casino doesn’t install a players card system at all, or if a player opts to play without a card.
So the idea of new money or new players isn’t something the machine has awareness of – it just records the outcome that happens at the time you press the button – and hence Brian’s point of it’s all about timing.
We also should more generally just note the interesting concept of tricking a machine – machines aren’t human and a cash in/cash out version of “look over there” isn’t going to do anything to it. But it’s also not programmed to be influenced by anything we do as players – stopping the reels, cashing tickets out and putting new money in, slapping the buttons or knocking the screens.
No external influence will change how the machine determines the next spin, which is the random number generator and mapping the various numbers to various outcomes on the reels. This includes no external influence by the casino – they can’t do anything to influence the machine either, other than set the return to player they wish the machine to offer in the long run. They can’t influence a big win or a jackpot and its timing any more than we can.
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