Question of the Day - 26 February 2018

We packaged these questions together for obvious reasons; what they’re both asking is if a slot machine’s central-processing unit can make decisions based on variables of play.

Our answer is an unqualified, flat-out, no-ifs-ands-or-buts yes and no.

It’s true that with today’s technology, a slot machine is capable of determining if your players card is inserted, if you just hit a 4-of-a-kind, if you’re using free-play rather than money, or if your face matches your ID photo; at the same time, it could be programed to perform accurate quantum calculations, ascertain your resting heart rate and detect your blood alcohol concentration, and send Tweets to astronauts at the International Space Station.

In short, slot machines are run by computers; they can determine anything they’re programmed to determine.

All that established, the question is, do they know how, why, and with what you’re playing?

And the answer here is a definitive no. They’re not, by law, allowed to.

Nevada Gaming Regulation 14.040.2, regarding electronic gaming devices, states that they all “must use a random selection process to determine the outcome of each play of a game.”

According to Knock-Out Blackjack co-author Olaf Vancura in a new (as-yet untitled) book on gambling we’re publishing later this year, “Put succinctly, the outcome must be random. There is no way around this. Nothing is allowed to be contrived; nothing is allowed to be predictable. The casino itself doesn't know what will happen when a wager is made. The casino can't know.”

He goes on to explain that the outcome of any spin is an independent event, completely unrelated to any other spins, the amount bet, whether you have a players card inserted, whether you just hit a jackpot or the machine hasn’t paid off for 10 years, or what your playing style is (it can’t “help” you, at video poker for example, if you’re clueless about the proper strategy).  

“In summary,” Olaf writes, “slot machines must be random, with each possible outcome available each spin, with the probability of each possible symbol constant, and with no detectable pattern or dependency on previous game outcomes.”

And here’s more: “Myth: If a machine has just hit the jackpot, stop playing, because it won’t pay. Truth: The machine's next spin is completely unrelated to what just occurred. The machine's random selection algorithm has no recollection of past plays or their outcomes. In the United States, slot machines are not allowed to use so-called ‘reflex logic,’ where coin-in and coin-out [Editor’s Note: or free-play] are monitored and probabilities and/or pays are adjusted to target a prescribed hold percentage. This type of machine is strictly forbidden in this country."

Finally, as far as the slot club card having anything to do with the payouts, Olaf tells us, “It might be tempting to think slot machines work this way, but this, too, is strictly forbidden. Indeed, on slot machines, the ‘back-house’ system that tracks your slot play (via your players club card) provides no feedback to the slot machine having to do with outcome. More often than not, the back-house system and the slot machine manufacturer are two different companies sharing a well-known communication protocol known as the Slot Accounting System.”

So there it is, in plain, technical, and back-house terms: Yes, slot machines can. But no, they don’t.