As players trust casinos with their money, it is fair to wonder whether the odds of winning are fair. To get it out of the way, online casinos and physical casinos always have the odds in their favour, as is reflected by the negative RTP and house edge of the games.
Still, this value determines the long term payouts – casino players wager money in hope that their favourite games will hand them a big win here and there, despite the overall odds pointing to a loss of funds.
What safeguards players from rigged games is the Random Number Generator, a computer software system that ensures that the games operate randomly, or in other words based on luck. Let’s see what the RNG is all about and why it is important in pokies and other casino games.
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How do RNGs Operate at Online Casinos?
Random Number Generators are software systems, which create a sequence of symbols and numbers that are impossible to predict, and are therefore random. Nonetheless, as these systems operate in a programmed fashion, they are not True Random Number Generators, rather Pseudo Random Number Generators (PRNG). All online casinos and physical casinos operate with pokies games that employ a PRNG (online) or an HRNG (offline).
The difference between a PRNG and TRNG is that the latter is truly random, while PRNGs are determined by the software system they run on
To be honest, this is the best system online casinos can use to establish games that are rigged by a set percentage in their favour, yet still random per spin. Developers achieve the above by manipulating the seed, which is a fixed number that runs the algorithm itself. Hardware random number generators operate in the exact same fashion for physical casinos.
RNGs are used in all casino games, just not in the same form. The randomness in blackjack comes from shuffling cards, in dice games from the roll, and in roulette from the spinning wheel. All casino games have an edge that is predetermined, as RNG based games like slot machines.
3rd Party Software Testing Bodies
Although a PRNG exists in slots and casino games, this does not necessarily mean that fair game is taking place. Owners of the above can rig the software system to operate more in their favour. This is a common occurrence on the following types of websites:
- Casinos with pirated games
- Unlicensed casinos
- Casinos operating in grey markets
- Not on Gamstop casinos
- Blacklisted casinos
From the above, you can understand that the PRNG is actually a safety measure that can establish a fair relationship between players and gambling platforms. If it operates as it should, then players are aware of the RTP of the games and gamble hoping for a lucky hit. To protect players and stop online casinos from cheating, several licensing bodies and 3rd party authorities have been established in the past 20 years. All licensed gambling sites have to pay a hefty fee to highlight that they meet the standards of the independent authorities, including the fair use of RNG and edge in their games.
But these authorities only review their licensees once a year, which created the need for additional bodies to monitor online casinos’ operations. These include:
- Independent iGaming affiliate sites
- TST/GLI
- ECOGRA
- Verisign
- Gaming Associates
- BMM Labs
The above allow casinos to feature their seals of approval after passing their tests and benchmarks, which should be enough to put even the most skeptical players at ease.
RNG vs RTP
Now, you should have a pretty solid understanding of the role of RNG in pokies and casino games online. We also briefly touched upon the RTP, which is the edge that the game has in favour of the casino site. To establish this, game manufacturers manipulate the seed number of the RNG to be rigged by a certain extend.
Still, the house edge should not discourage you from playing casino games since this figure is calculated over millions or billions of rounds on the same game. You can consider it to pick superior pokies, but do not think of it as a determining factor.
Where does Luck Come Into Play?
Picking up from the above point, the PRNGs provide players with an almost fair chance at landing a win during any point of the game. It is true, that the maximum payout from a pokie comes out in 1:5,000,000,000 spins on average – especially if it is higher than 20,000x or a lucrative progressive jackpot. However, the randomness of these games makes winning almost as likely as losing.
As long as you play on a fair, legal and officially tested online casino, your chances of winning are legit
It all comes down to luck, primarily thanks to advanced math and technology that have provided us with Pseudo Random Number Generators.
So, is there a 100% Winning Pokies Strategy?
As with all human creations, there is room for error. Most players could not even dream of rigging the casino RNG, but an advanced hacker could potentially do it. There are reports of players cracking the code, who ended up in prison as a result.
In essence, as all software systems are programmed by humans, they can as easily get hacked by someone else with similar or better understanding. Nonetheless, online casinos, and the highlighted testing authorities, ensure that such errors do not slip by them.
Which Casino Games use RNG Software?
Pokies machines employ either PRNG or HRNG depending on their setting. Land-based casino games do not require the use of a random software programme since they are random by nature. However, when playing keno, blackjack, poker, roulette, wheel games and pretty much any not live dealer casino game, a PRNG will determine the outcome of every round.
- About the Author
- Affiliate Disclosure
Michael has reviewed and verified all information on this page. Having worked in the iGaming industry for over 8 years, he is the most capable person to help you navigate online casinos, pokies, and the Australian gambling landscape.
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