RNGs flirt with eternity
20 October 2006
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
When does the random number generator stop and
determine your outcome on a slot machine? Is it
with the first coin, or when the player spins
the reels? I've always wondered this because you
hear of players who didn't insert the maximum
coin amount, and then missed getting the big
jackpot. Kenny H.
The stop time of the random number generator,
Kenny, is set by the individual maker of the
machine. Some it's when the first coin is
inserted, others the moment the player hits the
button that spins the reels. I believe the
largest such manufacturer, IGT, triggers theirs
by the initiation of the reel spin. Assuming IGT
does this, it is highly unlikely that a player
would have stopped the RNG at exactly the
nanosecond needed to display the mega-jackpot
combination on the screen if he had inserted the
maximum coin amount, versus playing short. In
that blink of an eye before inserting coin
three, then hitting the button, the RGN would
have cycled through thousands more combinations,
so the player who hit the jackpot with one or
two coins played, would almost certainly not
have hit it with the maximum coins inserted.
Dear Mark,
When I play draw poker at home, I have gotten a
royal flush, and yet, I have never received one
in the casino playing video poker. Are the odds
the same, or does the casino make it tougher to
receive one to keep its doors open? Willy H.
The odds of hitting a royal flush on a
Jacks-or-better video poker machine are
identical to the odds with a hand-shuffled deck
at the kitchen table, approximately 40,000 to
one. Yet that doesn't mean Willy Wonder is
guaranteed to hit a royal if he plays 40,000
hands. You could instantly hit a royal in 10
hands or 100,000 hands, or never see or hold
one.
Take my Mom for example. She was a 20-year VP
aficionada before she passed --I'm wondering out
loud if the casino upstairs offers 9/6
machines-- but never hit a royal. My dad, who
seldom if ever plays video poker, has hit two.
The casino's advantage in video poker is in
adjusting the payout for different poker hands
in relation to the odds of making each hand, not
in making it tougher for you to hit big in their
house than it is at home.
Dear Mark,
There was this real frisky blond just across
from me at the craps table, and she was wearing
this blouse that became sort of semi see-through
at certain angles of the overhead lights, and I
was distracted and lost big. Isn't that against
the law? Gurth T.
Good to hear from you again, Gurth.
Your question reminds me of the woman who
complained to Dear Abby of all the violence,
nudity, fowl (sic) language, and sex on her VCR.
Gaming commissions have contemplated banning
"Distractive behavior" from time to time over
the decades, but are still happily researching
the matter. Two things you could do in
self-defense: 1) Keep your head down and only
make smart wagers like a pass line bet with odds
or placing the 6 or 8 (you shouldn't lose big
with those wagers even against a magical
blouse), or 2) Have your -- or someone's -- wife
with you; women are born experts in protecting
their men from such visual assaults.
My accountant (sort of a gaming historian) would
like to know just where the casino is that
causes you this trouble.
Gambling Wisdom of the Week: "As a lifelong
poker player, I can't believe the underhanded
way this new bill restricting online poker was
passed through Congress. What does Internet
poker have to do with the Safe Port Bill? We
Texans don't like this kind of trickery. Texas
is a state where you can see an enemy coming, a
friend is a friend, and you look someone
straight in the eyes." -- Living poker legend
Doyle Brunson
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