The million dollar question: are online casinos rigged? And what is the meaning of RNG? The answer deserves some further study.
The presence of microprocessors in slot machines or in Video Poker not only makes possible 3D audio, all those sparkling lights and the movement of the reels in the machine or the distribution of cards on video, but they also serve to manage something called Random Numbers Generator, abbreviated to RNG.
Using this algorithm, all online gambling games that rely on mere luck (from card games like Blackjack to table games like Roulette, from classic games like Craps, to Keno which is a variant of Bingo), they are able to produce in every split second that passes a random number that is associated with what you see on the screen.
The RNG software creates an infinite and continuous loop of number combinations through thousands and thousands of number passes and chooses the results at random. The reels of the slot machines are programmed to stop on any combination of numbers that the Random Number Generator has chosen at that time and which is assigned before the reels stop on the screen.
The RNG also activates “virtual wheels” as opposed to current wheels. These reels have multiple virtual symbols. This allows even more simultaneous combinations and greatly increases the player’s chances of winning.
The RNG, in effect, pre-selects the result of each spin of the slot machine, making the action of spinning the reels only a visual formality. Before you push the button or pull a crank, the machine ‘knows’ whether you will win or lose. But is it a bad thing? Not at all.
Of course the machines are programmed to stop more on losing combinations than on the others. It is how the casino makes its money and it is something that players understand perfectly. But since everything is “random” sometimes it also allows winning combinations. It certainly reduces the likelihood that the result can be manipulated by internal or external sources.
The results are based on a specifically adjusted long-term payment schedule. This means that the casino is aware of how much they make from each machine in the long run even if the short term results are left to luck. This ensures the profitability of the company and lately the possibility to stay on the market. At the same time, it offers to Clients the reasonable chance to make small or big wins, but, again, only luck and pure mathematical combinations are in charge of creating those chances, without human intervention.
Besides being essential to the development and advancement of slot machines, the RNG is therefore the mechanism that oversees ALL online casino games.
But every player always has the same question in mind: are these algorithms, these software, safe? Don’t they fool me?
The short answer is NO, they don’t fool you. All legal and government licensed casinos must pass stringent tests to operate. One of these test is managed by specialized companies that test and certify the functioning of these algorithms. Without passing this test, no official authorisation is given to the Casino. This is the most secure way available to confirm that the games cannot be modified or that the algorithm has been created to work in favour of the online casino.
Thanks to these tests we are sure that the code has not been manipulated in any way and that the result is actually random. The game therefore truly becomes a matter of luck. Which is what everyone expects!