Pseudorandom is the best answer as said by
Hi there. Opinions may vary, but the fact is that the RNG generates pseudorandom numbers that are statistically indistinguishable from truly random ones.
By “truly random,” I mean processes with no cause, dependency, or correlation — like radioactive decay, which simply happens and can’t be predicted.
An RNG just produces numbers that turn into images on your screen — regardless of whether you win or lose, play with your right or left hand, in a good casino or a bad one, in a new slot or an old one.
It has no memory and no emotions. Its only function is to generate “random” numbers.
If you’re curious, I’ve written a detailed longread about this topic — the link’s in my profile.
When slots and fruit machines are real, physical then assuming they aren't rigged some way they are true to their claimed odds, to as precise as the makers make them. And of course they were much more basic pre internet and 2000. They've continued to evolve (In regular casinos in London there are no true slots, they're all computers)
billion said it right too and to add, slots are networked now so adjustments are made ever quicker. I have noticed when staff reset machines and open them up the menu screen, accounting is one of the options... Wouldn't it be great to be a fly on the wall? I believe the games are adjusted quite often, as billion said depending on the bank...
Programmed randomness is far from random but continues to evolve that it's ever harder to foil, if you play old videogames and older slot and fruit machines they were far more predictable as their Rand() was simpler. I'm not sure it applies and I doubt it does or even if it did most slots now are min 5x3 games so that's a heck of a lot of permutations so little use to be aware of this but take for example the Dreamcast port of Virtua Fighter 3tb, when there's no data saved you always face the same sequence of foes, this is also true for my old mp3 player when you shuffle tracks, it always shuffles into a particular order despite hundreds of songs.
My hunch is with slots the results are predetermined (As described with my 2 examples of older devices using random functions), how so is up for debate. People think the wager affects the outcome too, I used to think it's totally independent but a veteran slots player made a good point, of course it is they want to make money. If slots were more favourable to bigger bets that would be against the interest of the makers and establishments. I'll give a 3rd old example of predictable randomness, an online game Tactics Arena Online a turn based boardgame, non magic attacks were determined by luck if they hit as with Dungeons and dragons etc... However many players sussed out when hits hit or miss somehow to the point the devs just display ingame when it will hit, think it was they did such an amateur job with randomising that you simply tally how often the attacks miss out of 10 so if the chance of a hit was 2/10 and there's been near 10misses.... Again with slots though where the jackpot is often 2000-1 in pay, 90% ish for house edge (Online slots have higher RTPs, 92% is usually the highest in a casino!) it's humanely improbable to second guess games to a reliable level. (Besides progressive games where there is a ceiling the bonus/jackpot must drop)... Note also such 'predictable' games often have a shorter shelf life in casinos!
P.S. Coins are not even chance, one side is grams heavier or fractons of grams. Again how useful that is may be very small. I was told by an architect it's near impossible to make an unbiased roulette wheel, that may be so but it would be very fine margins & the casinos would be aware if a table or game is losing them money, ever more so now with how fast communications move and how sharply things are tracked.
Easiest games to predict are card games albeit you're not allowed to card count and it's not easy anyway with 6-8decks. Simply as the odds of results are on the condition 'without replacement', narrowing down results very much. That is not the case with roulette and slots (Besides progressive features and jackpots, e.g. every 10th spin a feature occurs or must be hit by £x)
I came across an interesting case of a guy dubbed the claw machine king from China, he has won so many toys from those awfully rigged machines he donates them as he's run out of space in his flat. How is he such a serial winner? He observes machines, he can tell which ones are rigged and which might let you win. Can he bring that expertise into slots I wonder?
So to conclude and apologies for this ramble albeit all gamblers have their own rant re luck, the randomness of games isn't as random as people think, just as AI isn't real intelligence or the physics in games isn't 100% true to real physics but the difference shrinks every generation, as Casino Hates Winners says (indistinguishable from the truth).
That is why slots keeps getting more complex, long gone are the days when it was 1 row when people made thousands off them as they sussed them out etc... That all said for some reason I do find slots the most fun form of gambling though it's reputedly the most dangerous and biggest earner for casinos! Also the more basic games tend to be the least volatile, no frills games no bonuses (Usually fruit games), yes they are all games of luck but slot games do vary incredibly, at least short term some really are better than others on average.
