Is Sigma Derby Electro-Mechanical or Run by a Computer?

About Sigma Derby. We wondered if any advantage players have ever tried to beat this game. Seems the results of an electro-mechanical machine could be predicted over time? Is there an early version of an RNG that controls the game and the payouts?

Mechanical slot machines, even if they had some electrical components, were operated with springs and tension mechanisms, stoppers and kickers, a governor, a trigger and release mechanism, and the like. They were certainly prior to any computer chips in the operating system.

Sigma Derby is something of a combination. The horses are, obviously, mechanical devices that run on a track, but the system that controls the horses and the outcome of the races is electronic, complete with a random number generator. The results are predetermined by the RNG before the race even starts and the mechanics do exactly what the electronics tell them.

In other words, Sigma Derby is a very fancy modern slot machine.

Michael Shackleford, the Wizard of Odds, reports that he once designed a Sigma Derby-type game for an internet casino. He randomly determined a power rating for each horse, then set commensurate odds, with the probability of winning proportional to the rating. He believes Sigma did something similar.

In terms of this question, he says, "If there's a weakness, it would be in a random number generator with a short cycle. My best guess is that even given the age of Sigma Derby, it's good enough for the purpose it was designed for."

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Comments

Bob Aug-29-2024

Missing info

You omitted the name of the game in the question, it was mentioned in the answer, and yesterday's preview, but todays question appears Truncated

Randall Ward Aug-29-2024

problems

no name, and the email goes to a dead link. But I got the info anyway

Jeffrey Small Aug-29-2024

Good Luck

Always had good luck with the Sigma Derby.  Hadn't played it for a few years--played the game at the D last year and again won a big bucket of quarters.  Of course the game makes you work hard for your money--you have to keep pumping in quarters!  Played the new version of the Sigma Derby as well--that game takes dollars instead of quarters; easier to play but harder to win!  Where do the games go when they are no longer used as gambling devises?  Found one on the Boardwalk in Wildwood New Jersey.  It payed tokens that you could use to play the other games!

jay Aug-29-2024

Whos got the space

I own several 40year old slots (1980's vintage) and a video poker - being a fan of old electronics I even have them all connected to a linked progressive and display cool messages. As this is just for fun - I run them on tokens and have a coin rolling machine. Interesting enough if you put out a bucket of coins people play for 2 min then walk away. No sense of gain or loss. Give them a roll of coins and an empty coin bucket they play their roll and come back looking for more. I convert my pool table to be a craps table OR roulette for parties. Then it doubles as a poker table with a overlay. Never enough space for all. I even have the electronics to display the last 12 numbers played on roulette. I use a LCD picture frame with mock pictures of friends holding a giant fake cheque. 

While it would be cool to have one of the old derby machines added to the collection and a labor of love to keep it working. I can't fathom someone having the space to dedicate to a huge Sigma machine.

Hoppy Aug-29-2024

Re:Missing info

If it were exsected,it appears to have been put back.

Jon Anderson Aug-29-2024

derby

my wife and i both loved playing this game at the sands waaaay back when...we always had fun with it win or lose...seemed to always have a good crowd playing or cheering each race...
good memories indeed...

Question of the Day - 29 August 2024

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