Regular readers of Flip The Switch know that inside modern Vegas-style slot machines is a random number generator, or RNG, which ensures that any outcome is possible at any moment. Where many players get confused is how a supposedly random outcome can mean certain things are possible.
Here’s some recent questions illustrating this confusion:
If they have no control over an outcome of a spin, then how are they able to offer double your odds of winning a bonus for a percentage more of your bet? How are they able to market something that they don’t have the ability to even offer if they have no control over it, or are they marketing a false product because if they don’t have control over the outcome they shouldn’t be able to sell you double your chances?
Justin H.
And
If wins are totally controlled by a RNG, how can machines post “must hit by X” or “higher bets – better chance” of winning. Doesn’t that mean something else is in the computer chips workings?
Mpk
The RNG is the RNG. It works randomly. But a slot can’t do absolutely anything. If a slot is designed to have a top jackpot of $10,000, a spin can’t award a $1,000,000 prize.
But I’ve somewhat answered the question in that descriptor – what a slot is designed to offer is the key. The RNG is random, but only within a finite and specific set of possible outcomes. Any one outcome can be selected on any spin, but it will be one of those outcomes.
So let’s look at it through that framing and go through the examples offered:
- If a game offers an increased chance of something happening for an increased bet, such as a more/better bonus chance, that means when toggled on the set of outcomes available are different, and feature more bonus trigger opportunities out of the totality of outcomes available.
- If a slot has a “must hit by” element, the RNG can either select when it will go off at the time of reset, which is often the scenario, or your chance of winning a bonus is part of the outcome that is presented when you press spin, with the extra caveat that if it isn’t awarded before hitting its top value, it’s automatically awarded.
- Similar to the higher bets more bonus chances, a higher bets, better odds of winning say, a progressive, simply means when you select a higher bet level, more of the possible outcomes include the ability to award that progressive.
This range of possible outcomes is also how slots can be designed to make money for the casino over time. To offer a simple example, let’s say there’s 1 million outcomes, and you’re able to bet $1 to achieve each of those 1 million exactly once. Let’s say the totality of what those outcomes pay back on a $1 wager is $900,000, that slot is designed to pay back 90% over time.
The reason this works is, statistically, if every outcome has a chance to occur with the same frequency, and the random number generator completes enough spins, over time it will get closer and closer to that distribution – every outcome will occur roughly the same number of times.
Of course, the reality is outcome 1 could be hit 4 times and outcome 2 2 times, so it will never be perfect, just like flipping a coin should average out over time, but there could be some differences here and there.
But the more spins that are completed, the more likely it will average out, and this is why the more we play casino games, the more likely it is we are going to lose, and the more likely those losses will fall in line with that expected house advantage of the games we play. (Ever wonder why a host encourages players to play for four hours? You have your answer.)
So it’s not about the randomness, it’s about the range of possible outcomes.
Have a question? Submit yours here!
Sometimes the RNG works in your favor. I hit one major and two grand jackpots within the space of 30 minutes recently. I was betting 2 cents, then 5 cents, then 1 cent. I like to change denom. I cashed out $7500, had a steak dinner and went home feeling pretty good.
Wow Dave, that’s quite a remarkable scenario to achieve in that time window! It certainly makes the steakhouse meal taste that much better when that happens!