On a recent Facebook post related to one of our previous articles, a reader took issue with what we were saying. The conversation is illustrative of some of the confusion some players have around things, so we thought it was worth sharing here as well:
Answer this then, if the casino controls the payback then the whole RNG doesn’t apply because it’s not completely random. It has the payback selection affecting the RNG which in turns affects the spin. So no, it’s not as random as they want us to believe.
Loren H.
I replied:
The RNG’s role is to randomly select outcomes, but only within a range of outcomes available. A slot with a $10,000 top prize can’t pay $1 million. The purpose of that range is to ensure the expected payback over the long term. That doesn’t change the fact that on the next spin you could hit a jackpot – randomness is a critically important part of the process.
They weren’t convinced:
Then it’s not random. Sorry, can’t make that argument with me on that. There’s no proof to prove this claim. If it has an outside influence then it is not random – look up the definition.
Loren H.
The problem is Loren is confusing one element with another. I said in reply:
You’re conflating two topics. Having a payback setting is not the same as a random selection within the outcomes available. If you are sitting down at a slot you should expect to lose money in the long term, but every player who sits down and puts in $100 doesn’t get back $92 (or whatever payback percentage would indicate).
Here’s a simple parallel. The Craps table has various bets on the table. Each one is designed with payouts that, in the long term, win more money for the casino than it pays out. But the dice, which is how the outcomes are selected, still have a 1/36 chance of any individual combination coming out.
The fact that the payouts are going to make the house money over time doesn’t change the fact that the random selection can select any one of the available outcomes at any time.
But because we sometimes get called out on the word “random,” it’s helpful to know that it’s technically not random. Here’s one more post a bit confused on the terminology:
That’s why it’s a pseudo random generator. It’s random but the programming behind the scene weighs the outcome. Simple example of picking mini minor major grand, picture a bowl with 10,000 balls, 8,000 are mini balls, 1500 are minor balls, 450 are major balls and 50 are grand balls. Random picking of ball from the bowl but the chances are weighted.
Steven L.
I replied:
Actually “pseudo random” is the term because it’s not random by nature, but a human created algorithm (which can’t be truly random, but for the purposes of a slot machine gets the job done as needed). Any slot outcome can happen at any time.
So hopefully that helps clarify the purpose of the RNG and the range of outcomes, as well as the difference between random and pseudo-random! But we know it’s a bit complex, so if you’re unsure, share your questions in the comments and we’ll dive in deeper.
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