Breaking the slot code again

Yes, we all know that. I was simply pointing out that the casinos don't need to ask permission to change a machine's return, and the same rules apply to both slots and VP.

There used to be a regulation wherein a GCB rep had to be notified whenever a hardware chip was replaced; back then, that was the only way to reprogram a machine. But even then, all the casinos had to do was submit a list of the machines that had been modified; there was no requirement for witnessing the change.

There was also the very, very rare "surprise inspection," wherein a GCB rep would pick a machine and remove the chip for off-site inspection. They can't do such a thing now, because when a machine is powered down, the programming disappears. It's still on the firmware, but the rep would have to dismantle the machine and take away the motherboard to examine it.

there are 2 ways to change the return percentages : in the settings you choose a different return percentage, and that must be authorized by the control board. We know all that. And I am sure no casino would intentionally reduce or increace these percentages deliberately without notification.   However, there is another method: Ram Clear! So when a game has been played for several weeks and the jackpot is about to become "overdue" then if a machine has ben reset (ram clear) it begins all over again. In essence, the jackpot could grow much higher or hit on a different machine because technically the machine with "ram clear zero" would start from scratch. And that, in a way, is also affecting the return percentages of a particular machine.

I don't understand why that would make any difference on a slot machine. 

The odds of the RNG hitting are the odds of the RNG hitting.

It doesn't matter if that RNG has been running for one minute, or one day, or a year, or ten years. The odds are always the same. "The dice have no memory" 

I think Boris is saying that the bonuses can be reset to their starting point. But I'm pretty sure that that's one thing the casinos CAN'T do, any more than they can wipe out a posted progressive jackpot.

Boris is incorrect when he says that the casinos can't alter the base payout percentage of a slot without notifying the GCB. 

There is no such thing as an "overdue" slot jackpot. The odds against it are the same for the first spin or the 45,672,158th spin. That logical/methematical fallacy is popular because there ARE a great number of events in human experience that are indeed increasingly likely to occur as they become more and more "overdue," like the Yellowstone caldera erupting or your cat pooping. But the difference with a slot jackpot is that there is no causation for a random event, by definition.

The ram clear resets the machine, but the bonusses will not be reset to zero. The jackpot parameters are the same, and the odds of hitting anything are the same.   However, it still makes a big difference if the day before the ram clear is being done a high volume play has been going on. You know the swings. After somebody put in a substantial amount of money and played for several hours, then something eventually will be paid out again. How sure are you about the mechanism of the random number generator? Is the machine picking just one random number for the outcome of the next hand or has it sveral (hundreds, thousands) of spins predetermined? 

When a casino has to execute a Ram Clear, the memory of the most recent hands is gone. The game starts in manufacturor's settings. Game 1 begins.  Not for instance 25'000 hands in a row and not one single big hit. That's then the superstitious of us (me included) would believe that something big has to be returned soon. (Which probably could happen). But if you ram clear, that superstition is useless. Everything that happened before has absolutely no relenvance and the memory has been deleted.

add-on: if it wouldn't affect the game , why would the casino have to notify the control board about such activities and explain the reason for the ram clear? think about.

The superstition you speak of is just superstition. 

The RNG does not remember previous spins. Another part of the machine does log all spins and that does not get cleared from a reset. 

Think of it this way. The roulette wheel itself has no memory of the previous spin, many tables will keep track of the previous x number of spins and put it on a display board but it means nothing. 

The RNG is not running a script of pre-programmed results. The machine does not know whether spin 100 is a winner,  or 101,  or spin 5,025. Etc.

This is my understanding of how the RNG works: When the machine is on, whether being played or not, the RNG is constantly cycling random numbers. Thousands of combinations every microsecond.

At the exact instant someone pushes the button the RNG pauses and issues that number. The computer then consults a chart to determine whether or not that is a winner and then displays the symbols on the screen or wheels accordingly. 

The chance of a "big hit" is the same on every spin, whether it's been two seconds, three weeks, or forty-eight years since the last "RAM clear." The results don't accumulate in any way, and don't affect future outcomes in any way, just like a die that rolls a two 11,543,777 times in a row has a 1 in 6 probability of rolling a two the next time.

The reason for ANY Board notification requirement is that such modifications can and have been used by the casinos to cheat, so the rules are meant to discourage that. 

I hear/read these sort of questions from smart people ALL the time, and I think it's because true randomness is hard for the human brain to comprehend. We want--we CRAVE--causation (and proof thereof) for EVERYTHING that happens, and certainly for everything we do. But there is no causation for whatever happens in your next slot spin. Many people find that deeply unsettling, so they look for it and often "find" it. My daughter's pet turtle died, and I hit the Megablortch the very next day. The gods were obviously ensuring that I could buy her a new turtle. That kind of thing