The Reel Story
Experienced Member
- Joined
- May 5, 2019
- Location
- United Kingdom
Ok, I see this term thrown about a lot, so I'm really interested to see what people thing it means when they say it. So before you read on, please answer the poll.
Right, let's get in to it.
Pre-determined does NOT mean 'rigged' or 'not random'. All it means is that the result is generated up front (still random and still using an RNG) before it is shown to the player.
In the example of slots, it is very common practice to generate the result of a spin and the results of ALL of the free spins, retriggers etc, all up front. It's computationally very efficient and it means you don't need to do requests to the server for every spin (which is slower and possibly unreliable such as on a mobile connection).
Note that a 'spin' in a slot is generally everything from the point you place the bet (your stake is taken) to the point that your winnings are credited. So a 'spin' that includes a bonus round, or 10 free spins etc, would still be one 'spin' as there is only one debit and one credit involved. This is why it is ok to generate that whole thing up front, because it all leads to that one payment at the end where you get your winnings.
The only time that something cannot be fully pre-generated (my preferred term to pre-determined) is when there is an actual choice. Not a fake choice (like a picking bonus) but an actual choice, like which bonus round to choose on Danger! High Voltage, or whether to gamble or walk away on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. In these instances, you can't generate any results further than the choice, because then the player would have an advantage of knowing which choice was best
Right, now, let's talk about picking bonuses. Picking bonuses are nearly always pre-generated. It doesn't matter what 'thing' you click, you will still get the result that was randomly chosen for you. This is standard practice, is legal and is all fine. HOWEVER, there is an instance that, while legal, I believe is disingenuous. This is when the odds presented to you are NOT the same as the odds of getting the actual result. Let's take Temple of Treasure Megaways as an example. When you click 'random' on the bonus selection, you get to select the number of spins (High, Med, Low) and the number of minimum megaways (also High, Med or Low). They give you 3 boxes to select from for each. This would indicate that you have a 1 in 3 chance of selecting the high result on each, however, those are NOT the odds. The odds of getting high on both are vastly lower (because those results often end up with big wins).
Same deal if you have a wheel with 5 even segments, and one of them says 'JACKPOT'. The odds of getting the Jackpot are NOT 1 in 5. Like I said, this is legal, but disingenuous, so I'm not a fan of it.
Ok, hopefully that explains some things. Please shout with questions
Right, let's get in to it.
Pre-determined does NOT mean 'rigged' or 'not random'. All it means is that the result is generated up front (still random and still using an RNG) before it is shown to the player.
In the example of slots, it is very common practice to generate the result of a spin and the results of ALL of the free spins, retriggers etc, all up front. It's computationally very efficient and it means you don't need to do requests to the server for every spin (which is slower and possibly unreliable such as on a mobile connection).
Note that a 'spin' in a slot is generally everything from the point you place the bet (your stake is taken) to the point that your winnings are credited. So a 'spin' that includes a bonus round, or 10 free spins etc, would still be one 'spin' as there is only one debit and one credit involved. This is why it is ok to generate that whole thing up front, because it all leads to that one payment at the end where you get your winnings.
The only time that something cannot be fully pre-generated (my preferred term to pre-determined) is when there is an actual choice. Not a fake choice (like a picking bonus) but an actual choice, like which bonus round to choose on Danger! High Voltage, or whether to gamble or walk away on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. In these instances, you can't generate any results further than the choice, because then the player would have an advantage of knowing which choice was best
Right, now, let's talk about picking bonuses. Picking bonuses are nearly always pre-generated. It doesn't matter what 'thing' you click, you will still get the result that was randomly chosen for you. This is standard practice, is legal and is all fine. HOWEVER, there is an instance that, while legal, I believe is disingenuous. This is when the odds presented to you are NOT the same as the odds of getting the actual result. Let's take Temple of Treasure Megaways as an example. When you click 'random' on the bonus selection, you get to select the number of spins (High, Med, Low) and the number of minimum megaways (also High, Med or Low). They give you 3 boxes to select from for each. This would indicate that you have a 1 in 3 chance of selecting the high result on each, however, those are NOT the odds. The odds of getting high on both are vastly lower (because those results often end up with big wins).
Same deal if you have a wheel with 5 even segments, and one of them says 'JACKPOT'. The odds of getting the Jackpot are NOT 1 in 5. Like I said, this is legal, but disingenuous, so I'm not a fan of it.
Ok, hopefully that explains some things. Please shout with questions