THE RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR (RNG)
Most players have a hard time accepting this, but the outcome on a slot machine is completely random. The RNG is always working, even when you aren’t playing, picking thousands of three-number combinations per second. The moment you pull that lever or press the spin button, the RNG almost instantly determines the outcome.
Here’s another way of understanding how a video slots machine works. Imagine that the slot machine is a post office with 1,000 separate mail slots, each with its own envelope. Most of those envelopes are empty - they’re losers. Some have a little bit of money, a few have a lot of money, and one has a big jackpot. When you pull the lever, the RNG picks one of those envelopes at random and simply displays the results via the reels (while the machine turns over the contents of the envelope, which is usually nothing).
When a customer hits the button again, the RNG picks another random number, and game play continues. That’s a gross oversimplification about what’s happening, but you get the idea. Some machines have only a few hundred “envelopes” (or possible reel combinations), whereas others have thousands. But eventually, if it gets played enough, the RNG will eventually go through all the combinations at least once.
The most common misconception about slot machines always surfaces when someone hits it big on a machine that another person has just abandoned. The previous player always says, “I was just playing that machine! I should’ve played it a little longer, and I would’ve hit!” Although this is possible, it’s pretty unlikely. Remember, the RNG is constantly selecting thousands of different combinations per second. So unless you pressed the spin button at precisely the same split-second as the other person, you wouldn’t have won.
