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Ask the Slot Expert: How many RNGs in a multi-game machine?12 August 2015
And another variation on the same theme:
Technical information about how the RNG is implemented in a slot machine is very hard to come by. The RNG function is each manufacturer's intellectual property and they guard it very closely. RNG cheats have used technical information about how the RNG works to cheat machines in the past. The integrity of the RNG is crucial to the fair operation of the slot machine -- fair to the casino and fair to the player. In The Art of Intrusion, Kevin Mitnick describes how a group of cheats used knowledge of how the RNG operated to cheat video poker machines. The method of cheating they used led to the change in regulations that video poker machines could not choose all 10 cards that could be used for a hand at the beginning of the game on the deal. The program could choose only the five cards needed for the initial hand. The machine had to continue shuffling the electronic deck and the program could choose the replacement cards only when the draw button was pressed. The cheats started by cheating a Japanese-made machine. Then they turned their sights onto an American-made machine, but they found it was harder to cheat. The American machine used two random number generators to generate its results. Still, the programmers made a mistake in implementing the dual-RNG system and the cheats were able to crack the American machine too. Given that the same RNG function can be used for any game (it's up to the game program to decide if number stands for a Double Diamond or an ace of hearts), I think it's likely that the RNG function resides in the slot's operating system. This way, any game program needs only to call a function in the operating system to get a number from the RNG (which is called polling the RNG) and the game program doesn't have to implement or contain the RNG function's code. The same situation exists for computer programs. A Windows or Apple program doesn't contain the code to display dialog boxes or write to the disk. The operating system handles these tasks. The programs merely call the operating system functions to display dialog boxes and write to the disk. So, it's possible that there's only one RNG function in the operating system and every game program on the machine uses it. It's also possible that the RNG function could reside in each game program. The good news about my not being able to give a definitive answer is that it doesn't matter. Your chances of hitting any winning combination or being dealt any five-card hand are the same both ways. You don't hurt yourself if you switch games or denominations while you play. Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert™, at slotexpert@slotexpert.com. Because of the volume of mail I receive, I regret that I can't reply to every question.
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