How Random Number Generators Work on Slot Machines

March 5, 2008

We’ve all seen it happen if we have spent enough time in the casino. You go through your roll of quarters on a cold machines and then make your move hoping that your luck will change. Then some other patron steps up to the machine that you just left and starts pumping quarters in, only to hit a $10,000 jackpot in the first minute, leaving them incredibly happy and you scratching your head on how you could have been such an idiot to leave that machine. However, don’t let this fool you.

A lot of players falsely reason that if they had played just a couple more quarters then they would have ended up with the jackpot, but even if you would have sat in the same spot and kept pumping money into the machines then you would not have gotten the payout. Why you say? Because the results of a modern slot machine’s spin depend on exactly when the spin began.

The Random Number Generator (RGN) within the machine is constantly generating random numbers at a rate as high as a million per second. As soon as the lever is pulled (or the “Play” button pressed) the most recently generated random number is used to determine the outcome. Since results vary depending on exactly when the handle is yanked, an earlier or later pull by you would have created a completely different outcome. It isn’t preset in any order, but is constantly changing.

Consequently it is highly unlikely that you would have received the same result if you had played the additional quarters at that same machine. The only way you could have had the happy person’s money was for them to hand it over her seat at the end of the down pull while the reels were still spinning. Sure, it’s a pretty outrageous example, but I’m trying to drive home the point on how improbable the 10K was of being yours.

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How Random Number Generators Work on Slot Machines

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