Computers have issues. They restart, software can have bugs, and issues can crop up. When it comes to online gambling, like in-person counterparts, scenarios can occur that raise player questions:
I watched a video of you playing BetMGM online, and in two different occasions you went to spin and it got stuck in the spin, you had to exit the game and go to another one. However, each time it still lowered your balance, so you paid for the spin, but never completed it. Does the system eventually give you back the money for your spin, or does it complete the spin at some point, and if it does that, what if you won a bonus, but weren’t there to play it?
Mike K.
If you think about how a traditional Vegas-style slot works, once you place a wager the outcome is known pretty much instantly thanks to the Random Number Generator (RNG), and the reels take some X seconds to show you the outcome. Regulated online slots function similarly.
So, in the case of Brian’s spins, the spin was recorded, it just never was able to show the final (in this case losing) outcome. If it had been a winning spin, his balance would have reflected that too.
There are occasions when online slot wagers made from a computer fail to reach the server and register the wager. In those cases, you don’t spend the money, as it were, because the wager was never completed and registered. Usually an error will come up on the screen confirming this, but if there was a refresh or reset or something else, that may be why your balance doesn’t change.
When it comes to bonuses, there’s generally regulations governing this and how it works. Generally speaking with online slots in regulated markets, you have a certain window of time to go back into the game and resume the bonus, whether from the beginning or a bonus in progress, whichever the situation will be.
If the window of time given to return to the bonus expires, it will be played out in the background, and the amount won added to your balance. This is the same as if a slot were to reboot, a power outage were to occur, with the exception of the time limit. The machines will reboot and resume whenever such a scenario is possible (the power is back, machine turned back on, etc.).
In the case of a predetermined bonus, it’s possible they could work differently, since the final bonus win has already been determined, but we haven’t encountered a scenario like this yet. But basically, if your wager triggered a bonus, you don’t lose that bonus because of a glitch.
