| Updated: October 2, 2024Slots are the most popular gambling game, generating as much as 70% of the casino operators’ revenue worldwide. Slot machines have been around for over a century now and have undergone many changes since they first emerged. The invention of the microchip completely changed the way slots play and pay.
The early machines were purely mechanical and relied on physical strips of symbols called reels. After the player inserted credits into the coin slit and pulled the lever, the reels were spun. Mechanical machines featured fewer symbols because space on the physical reels was limited.
The modern slots we play today utilize virtual reels with unlimited space. This allows for the addition of a higher number of symbols, which in turn increases the number of possible combinations, allowing slot developers to experiment with different odds, volatility, and payback percentages. The outcomes of the spins are determined by microchips that produce fair results based on random number generation.
Pseudo vs. True Random Number Generators
There are two types of Random Number Generators but those used in most modern slots (and online casino games in general) are pseudo RNGs. The unique thing about the pseudo RNG is that it creates an output, i.e. an outcome, without using external data. It relies solely on a complex algorithm, a set of predetermined constants, and a seed. The seed number is of extreme importance here because it defines the starting point when the RNG generates a string of random numbers.
True Random Number Generators (also known as Hardware Random Number Generators) are capable of producing results that are indeed unpredictable. This type of RNG does not rely on seed values because the results it yields are never derived from repeatable algorithms.
Seed numbers are necessary in this case because computer programs are incapable of generating truly random numbers. They rely on a set of specific rules, i.e. algorithms, to mimic randomness. As complex as these algorithms are, they still follow a pattern. Thus, a sequence of random numbers can be reproduced if one knows the initial seed value.
Rather, it derives random numbers from digitized images of naturally occurring phenomena, such as atmospheric and thermal noise or the decay of radioactive elements. Any source of natural entropy will do.
The pseudo RNG uses mathematics but there is nothing random about mathematic calculations. A given input would inevitably produce the same output. Moreover, the random number sequence is bound to repeat itself after a certain number of trials, which makes it easier for gaming auditors to inspect the slots for fairness.
One of the main reasons why true RNGs are superior to their pseudo counterparts is that the former are insusceptible to hacking. Since no repeatable algorithms are involved here, a hacker would be unable to predict future numbers even if they manage to figure out one number.
This is not to say that a slot player can discern this pattern and deduce when it is about to repeat. The RNG spews seeds every millisecond. It normally takes one or two numbers it has generated last and uses them as part of a mathematical operation to produce a new random result.
With that in mind, true RNGs are more costly from the casinos' perspective. Like all material objects, hardware components are subject to entropy. They tend to wear and tear over time and therefore are more expensive to maintain.
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Can You Beat the Random Number Generator in Slots?
Another commonly asked question is whether players can beat a slot’s Random Number Generator. The short answer is this is technically possible, although very few people can actually achieve it.
As we previously explained, some slots use pseudo Random Number Generators which rely on mathematical algorithms to produce unpredictable outcomes. This makes them susceptible to the attacks of hackers, but of course one needs to be a genius in the field of computer programming to succeed.
Nevada Regulator's Employee Reprograms the RNG Russian Hackers Unpuzzle Secret of the RNGNevada Regulator's Employee Reprograms the RNG
There are two cases of people beating the slot RNG that come to mind. The first one involved a programmer by the name of Ronald Harris who worked for the Nevada Gaming Control Board and took advantage of his position in the early 1990s.
Harris was tasked with analyzing the software of slot machines across Las Vegas casinos for flaws. Being an expert in his field, it did not take him long to see the machines could be tampered with so that they generate consistent winnings.
As an employee of the local regulator, Harris was privy to the confidential code used to reprogram the RNGs of slots. He decided to reprogram machines so that they paid out certain amounts of money when coins were inserted in a specific order. One of the insertion sequences he used was 3 coins on the first spin, 2 coins on of the second and third spins, 1 coin on the fourth spin, 6 coins on the fifth spin, and then 5 coins on the sixth spin.
This sequence ensured substantial wins. The only trouble was Harris was not allowed to gamble at all because he was employed by the Nevada regulator. To circumvent this obstacle, Harris decided to get in touch with a close friend of his who had recently lost his job.
The task of Reid McNeal, the friend in question, was to insert coins into certain machines in the same order Harris had specified. The profits the two generated were divided evenly. Things quickly took off for the scammers, so much so that they moved their operations to Atlantic City to avoid detection.
They were winning decent amounts at the time but greed took its toll on them. In 1995, Harris decided to transition from slots to keno machines. The managers of Atlantic City’s Bally Park Place Hotel and Casino grew suspicious after his partner won $100,000 at keno with an investment of as little as $100.
This stint earned Harris a jail sentence of seven years but he was released on good behavior after serving two years only. He was also added to the black book of the Nevada Gaming Control Board and was prohibited from entering a Nevada casino ever again.
Russian Hackers Unpuzzle Secret of the RNG
In June 2014, the accountants of St. Louis’ Lumière Place Casino noticed several of their slot machines behaved rather strangely. The slots in question had returned more money than was expected of them in just two days. No large jackpots had hit during those two days, either.
Since the machines relied on a complex predetermined code that does not change from day to day, the only possible explanation for this oddity was that someone had cheated.
After careful examination of surveillance footage, the casino management spotted a man who behaved strangely although he did not fit the typical profile of a slot cheater. The man in question was 37-year-old Russian Murat Bliev, who operated as part of a larger group of cheats.
Bliev would hold his mobile phone close to the machine’s screen and then would get up seemingly ready to leave. He would come back several minutes later to try his luck one last time. For one reason or another, his decision to return always paid off well. He managed to extract around $21,000 from the casino in just two days.
After an extensive investigation by the Missouri Gaming Commission, it was established that other gambling establishments were also cheated similarly but by different people, who operated as a crew in casinos across the United States, Europe, and Macau.
Bliev and one of his associates were eventually detained and confessed to the whole scheme. After Russia outlawed gambling in 2008, many casinos in the country started to sell their gaming equipment to whoever was willing to buy it. This is how some slot machines manufactured by Aristocrat ended up in the hands of the hacker group Bliev was working for.
The hackers carefully examined the slots and succeeded in reverse-engineering their Random Number Generators. This knowledge of the machines’ code enabled them to identify patterns in the outcomes and use this information to their advantage.
The way it worked was the group’s associates were sent to scan the casino floors for particular machines. They would then record several dozens of spins and upload them to the crew in Saint Petersburg.
The crew analyzed the results to identify current spin patterns and establish the optimal moment when the odds were tipped in favor of the player. Then they would relay a list of timing markers to their partners’ phones. A special, custom-designed mobile app was used for this purpose. The player’s phone would start vibrating a fraction of a second before they had to press the button for the winning spin.
While this approach was not effective 100% of the time, it still allowed the players to pocket abnormally high payouts. To avoid detection, a scammer would extract only around $1,000 at a time from each hacked machine. Nevertheless, a group of four associates still managed to rake in weekly profits of around $250,000.