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Understanding the RNG

You’re an experienced reader of SlotsData.com, so you probably grasp the concept of a RNG and what it does by now. This intelligent little microchip is embedded in the guts of your favorite slot machine, coming up with numbers. Whether someone is playing or not, the RNG generates numbers – thousands and thousands of numbers a second, in fact. These numbers translate to outcomes on the device: either losses, wins, or jackpots, in descending order of likelihood. When you activate a slot game by pulling the lever or pushing the button, the RNG captures the number that was “up” at the precise moment you triggered the device, and “tells” the machine what the result was. The very end result of this invisible process, almost like an afterthought, is the combination of symbols that is displayed on the reels.

How exactly does the number produced by the RNG translate to a “real life” result on your slot game? Well, here’s something you probably didn’t know: there are between four and five BILLION possible results of the RNG. Because no slot device has that many symbols on the reel (online slot machines that are video-based notwithstanding!), different outcomes of the game are assigned different numerical ranges. Most of these ranges will be losses. If there were only 100 numbers, for example, maybe all numbers between 50 and 55 would be winners.

The programming of a slot device is extraordinarily complex. Understanding it won’t make you any more likely to win – otherwise, we’d all be poring over slot machine operating manuals! It might, however, give you something to ponder while you are playing!

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