Brian Christopher regularly uses the phrase, “It’s All About Timing” when he talks about when the slot will offer a big win or a bonus. So one player asked what is a fair follow-up question:
I’m just curious how you actually know it’s about timing? Was this something you learned from slot developers?
Judi
The phrase comes from how Vegas-style slot machines work. Vegas-style slots, sometimes known as Class 3 machines, are the traditional ones you see on casino floors in places like Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and most other major commercial casinos.
The key to the function of these machines lies with something called a Random Number Generator (RNG), which is employed to ensure randomness among the various outcomes of a slot machine.
Nevada regulations require the RNG to generate at least 100 numbers per second, but they often work much harder than that, to ensure that it really comes down to the exact microsecond you hit that spin button.
So the function of the slot machines, along with the regulations that govern them, largely influence the use of that phrase. When you change your timing, you’re hitting that button at a different time than you otherwise may have.
Of course, we’ll never know if that made the outcome better, worse or the same as what ultimately happened, but it is an accurate reflection of what’s going on.
This is one reason why you shouldn’t get too upset if you get off a machine and someone else sits down and wins big right away – there’s no guarantee you would have hit spin on the machine at the exact same microsecond they would have – that’d be some feat, in fact.
While human emotion tends to be connected to the concept of gambling, it helps to remind ourselves that it will simply be a scenario of whether you hit the button at that right moment or not, and if not, perhaps your timing will improve next time.
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