Online Casinos and Random Slot
While some casino games have a skill element in the outcome, some casino games are purely based on chance. Because all online casino games are partially or completely driven by chance, all casino games rely on a random number generator, or RNG in the software that powers the game. The RNG is a mathematical application that does exactly what it says: generates a completely random number. Not all RNGs are the same, and they have to be tested extensively to ensure that the numbers they generate are really random slot online gambling games.
In some games, the use of an RNG has an obvious role. In European roulette, for example, the RNG generates a number from 1 to 37 (with 37 corresponding to “0”) on the roulette wheel. The RNG generates a number, the casino stops, and bets are paid or forfeited.
In craps, the RNG has to generate two random numbers simultaneously, and in single deck card games, the RNG has to generate a number from 1 to 52, with each of those numbers corresponding to a specific card. During a single deck card game, the RNG has to “remember” which cards it has already dealt with so that they won’t be dealt again. With multiple-deck games like online blackjack, the RNG has an even more complicated mathematical algorithm driving it.
Some RNGs require the user to specify an initial “seed” value, which itself varies randomly. Some of them use the time on a clock as a seed, so that there is no human intervention at all in the RNG. There are several RNGs that actually involve numerous RNGs running all at the same time, with one RNG picking from among the results, creating a sort of super-randomness for the calculations. Of course, these are very oversimplified ways of describing how RNGs work, but it gives you some ideas of the “brain” behind the many online casino games you enjoy.
To be deemed fair, numbers spit out by any RNG have to be unpredictable and unbiased. To make sure that this is the case, internet gaming platforms must be tested regularly by independent testing entities such as eCOGRA. The testing groups have to test the RNG algorithms over millions of hands of card games or millions of throws of dice to ensure that the numbers are unpredictable and unbiased.
In your online research about internet gambling, you may stumble across a person or site telling you that a certain slot machine has a “cycle” that is predictable enough that you can learn when it’s “due” for a jackpot, or that may want to sell you some sort of system for predicting hits. These ploys aren’t gambles at all: they’re just good ways to throw away your money. Save those hard-earned dollars for something else