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The Random Number Generator

The Random Number Generator (or RNG) is what makes the slot machines run. Not fully having a good grasp on how the slot machine works will not benefit you. Each slot machine contains a microprocessor inside the machine. This microprocessor, similar to a personal computer, runs a program. This program is the RNG. What does RNG do? It generates the numbers that go along with the slot machine’s symbols on the reels.

The RNG is always working at fractions of a second to continuously pick out numbers at random (or chance). The Random Number Generator creates a value of almost any number (excluding negatives) and then translates a certain group of numbers to match up with the symbols on the reels. Therefore, each spins produces a result that is directly related to the number picked by the RNG. When you slip a coin into the slot or activate the spin button, this number is generated.

The Random Number Generator is like a computer program. A series of instructions for generating the numbers, called an algorithm or formula, is used by the RNG. Slot machines contain many virtual stops permitted by the micro processing technology. There are numerous amounts of combinations that can come about, and each full set of combinations (possible spin outcomes) is called a cycle. However, don’t let this fool you into thinking the slot machine has "cycles" of winning and losing. Each possible combination doesn’t come up once and then it starts a new cycle; no, that isn’t how it works.

The Random Number Generator will randomly select a number associated with a space (or symbol) in the reel, to create a final combination. A symbol on one of the reels can come up once, twice, multiple times, or not at all throughout multiple plays. It doesn’t matter to the RNG. It won’t pick each space on the reel an equal number of times; that’s what makes it all random! It is similar to picking a number out of a hat. Although, instead of keeping the number out of the hat and picking again, the number is put back into the hat, and you randomly choose again. The second time, you might pick that same number, or you might not.

Have you ever seen someone leave a slot machine and the next player comes up to immediately win a jackpot? You might have wondered, had that first player stayed just a tad longer, he or she would have won the jackpot instead! There is a good chance that would not have happened. Also, the first player didn’t make it "easier" for the second player to win. Why? It’s in the timing; meaning, whenever a player hits that button on the slot machine to get the results, it’s still all random. Remember, the RNG selects number randomly, and numbers are chosen at a small fraction of a second. How likely is it that the first player would have hit the button at the exact same millisecond that the second player did? Obviously, it isn’t very likely.