Behind the Casino
Games at licensed online casinos are all tested for fairness by auditors.
Though it doesn’t mean you won’t occasionally run into the occasional cold streak.
But that is not a casino con.
No, it is just part of the randomness of the results, and something that is really unavoidable.
The bottom line is that casinos do not rig their games.
The titles you play at licensed online casinos all come fully tested.
Each game has its metrics and requirements, setting the stage for how their RNGs should work.
A few aspects of these RNGs, however, are universal in all games.
No game is designed so that the casino loses money.
This is achieved by calibrating thealgorithms with the payout structure.
This creates thehouse edge, which is always present in every casino game.
RTP, orReturn to Player, is a theoretical percentage of how much a game pays out.
The RTP is always below 100%.
Each game may have a special algorithm,payout and odds.
And these are designed to benefit the house.
Some games may use multiple card decks, whereas others have only a single deck.
But for each of these table games, the RNGs work powerfully to ensure the games are fair.
RNGs here don’t shuffle the cards once and then allow for a certain amount of deck penetration.
The card decks are shuffled after each round, completely randomising every game.
This eliminates any chance forcard counting in blackjack.
In this scenario, many blackjack experts raise their stakes and play more aggressively.
Forblackjack players, if you are counting cards then you generally avoid RNG blackjack table games.
Near misses in slotscan have a similar psychological effect on players as winning.
It is meant to trigger a rush of dopamine andstimulate playersto keep gaming.
But as for whether the outcomes themselves are intentional, the lines are a little blurred.
For however many winning combinations there are in slots, there are many more near miss scenarios.
Roulette
Online roulette uses RNGs to determine where the ball will land on a wheel.
Arguably, it could be even more fair than real roulette.
In RNG roulette there are no faulty or old tables that may be compromised or have little biases.
Also, there have beenscandals in real roulettewhere players have been able topredict where the ball will land.
All virtual games, or the ones you play against the computer at casinos, run on RNGs.
They randomise the throw of a dice.
Or the possible symbols hiding in a scratchcard.
Are RNGs Really Random?
If we are being extremely accurate, no, RNGs are not fully random.
They arepseudo random, meaning they are intended to mimic randomness and create patterns that are impossible to predict.
The sequence is created using a mathematical formula.
So no, RNGs are not random.
And these cycles are tremendously long.
Say you wanted to keep playing until the cycle eventually reached the end and started again.
Or, you could be playing for 10 rounds in a row without hitting a single payline.
Or a partial payline, for that matter.
Takestraight bets in Roulette.
You could play 37 rounds and still not land your number.
In another case, you could land your number 3 times in 37 rounds.
This deviation of the actual results in proportion to the probability is calledvariance.
Or, you win 4 hands ofbaccarat Player Bets(around 44% winning chance) in a row.
However, this is all theory.
One of the classicgambler’s fallaciesis to assume that you are due a win.
Because, say, the roulette ball landed on black 5 times in a row.
But that is not the case.
Theodds on red or blackis always 48.6% for either.
This is because there is a 2.7% chance of the ball landing on the green Zero.
Winning streaks or losing streaks are just statistical anomalies.
And this same outlook is needed when analysing RNG games.
That’s fair enough.
But rest assured, the fairness is still there.
Independent labs like eCOGRA, iTech Labs, and GLI rigorously test these games to ensure everything checks out.
These auditors dont work for the casinos.
They exist to protect players and double-check the maths behind the games checks out.
That is the part of gambling that stimulates us and makes the games entertaining.
Don’t fall for any gambler’s fallacies or use gambling as a means of making quick money.
Because it doesn’t, these games are intended for entertainment purposes only.
Daniel has been writing about casinos and sports betting since 2021.
