Are Slot Machines Rigged?

21 December 2024

By Jerry Stickman

From Josh

Stickman,

I recently saw something on a website with a question about slot machines being rigged so that a gambler could not win in the long run. I read the complete question and it was referring to Indian casinos. The guy submitting the question said something about the gambler on the machine next to him having the exact same results with the same wins and losses in the same sequence over several spins.

I do not play in Indian casinos, but I find that observation ridiculous. If that were the case, other gamblers – many of them - would certainly notice the same thing and either report the casino to authorities or stop gambling there.

Since I never play at Indian casinos, I do not care what happens there. I think I know what your answer will be, but I will ask the question anyway. Are the slots in non-Indian casinos (Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Tunica, etc.) rigged so gamblers cannot win in the long run?

Josh

Hello Josh,

First of all, I cannot imagine any casino of any type that would have slots that show the same series of results anywhere else in the casino, much less on two machines that were next to each other. Apparently, however, it happened.

More to your point, the games in some Indian casinos are driven by a different algorithm. In some jurisdictions, Indian casinos are allowed to only have what are called “Class II” games.

Originally, Indian casinos were only allowed to have bingo games. These were called Class I games.

As Indian casinos became more popular, they wanted to be more like the “big boys” with slot machines. The answer was to allow machines that looked and acted like slots in the major non-Indian venues, with the stipulation that they were really bingo games “under the hood.” A central computer runs the entire set of machines, playing bingo card after bingo card. The results are translated to symbols on the reels that pay what the bingo card would pay.

Las Vegas style slots work differently. Each machine has a built-in Random Number Generator (RNG). Put simply, the numbers that are generated are translated into the symbols that appear on the reels. The player is paid according to the symbols that appear. The numbers generated by the RNG are technically not random, since they are generated by a programmed algorithm, but they are close enough to be treated as random.

Does using an RNG translate into a player being able to win in the long run? Absolutely not – sorry. Not all symbols on the reels will appear with the same frequency. This can be accomplished by the reels having different frequency of occurrences for the different symbols, or by having the translation process translate a different number of times into the various symbols. Those that appear less often would be required to generate a winning hand how infrequently they would appear would dictate which combination is paid at a higher rate.

Either way, machine developers know that in the long run, the machine will pay out less than the what the odds of the winning lines say.

To directly answer your question, you will lose playing slots in the long run. The games are, indeed, rigged to favor the casino by short-paying based on the odds of the winning hands.

As always, may all your wins be swift and large, and your losses be slow and small.

Jerry “Stickman”

Jerry “Stickman” is an expert in craps, blackjack and video poker and advantage slot machine play. He is a regular contributor to top gaming magazines and 888casino.com. He authored the video poker section of “Everything Casino Poker: Get the Edge at Video Poker, Texas Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, and Pai Gow Poker!” You can contact Jerry “Stickman” at stickmanjerryg@gmail.com
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