Slots is the game of chance that is famous unlike any other game. Players often ask, what are the ways of winning at slots? Can you improve your chances? While wins can be achieved through knowing a few tips and tricks, players are most often reminded that slots are 100% random because they use the RNG. Luck happens to be the biggest factor when it comes to this famous casino game – play the best blackjack hands.
But can you cheat the slot RNG? Is the system really that infallible as they say it is? We look into the question in this article.
How does it work?
The RNG is a computer program that creates series of long, random numbers. The numbers usually go as long as 10 digits after the decimal and beyond that, so the variation of different numbers with the RNG is very complex. The outcome of every spin depends on the number that the RNG created at the exact moment when you hit “spin”.
There are 2 kinds of RNG: the True Random Number Generator (TRNG) and the Pseudorandom Number Generator (PRNG).
- TRNG is also called the Hardware RNG because it is used in land-based casinos. It is made of hardware/contains a chip/motherboard. These are practically impossible to cheat because to do that you would need to physically tamper with the chip, which is secured within a slot machine. No one can get to the TRNG chip in a land-based casino.
Back in the day, players would cheat slot machines with electromagnets. The mechanical machines that didn’t have a computerised RNGs were susceptible to this kind of practice. The True RNG cannot be affected by the same method. - The PRNG is a piece of secure software that determines random outcomes based on mathematical algorithms. This software is used in online slot games. But is it really fully secure?
Previous attempts at cheating the PRNG (online slots)
Theoretically, it is possible to predict the next spin if you know the algorithm of a specific PRNG as well as the number value of the previous spin. However, this information is kept secure and hidden from the players.
When developers create a PRNG program, it has to undergo checks and certifications. There is a handful of influential RNG auditing companies who do just that – they certify the PRNG as either fit, fair and secure for use in slot games or not.
After the RNG gets approved, it often goes through even further checks by a 3rd party company. In the end, if all works out for the developers, their PRNG will be branded as “fair, random and safe”.
Developers will put in maximum effort to make their PRNGs safe from hacking. Nevertheless, the hackers work tirelessly to find weak spots that could be tampered with.
- In the past, hackers have deciphered the algorithms used in PRNG’s, but their success was short-lived – the casinos respond quickly to this kind of situation and remove the affected games from circulation, releasing even more complex PRNG systems in response to hacking.
- Some hackers in the past have managed to access the “seed” of some PRNGs. The seed is a mechanic in the RNG systems that is the starting point of the whole operation. They were able to manipulate the outcomes of spins by altering the seed but once again, the casinos reacted quickly and resolved the breach.
- One Russian hacker has managed to reverse engineer specific RNGs and cheat multiple casinos. It was quite some time before anyone sussed what was happening. The hacker was soon arrested and his winnings forfeit.
Conclusion
While the slots RNG has been cheated multiple times in the past, it is becoming increasingly difficult to pull this stunt off. In response to every hacking attack, the casinos release more and more complex systems which would learn from the mistakes of the past.
Theoretically, it is possible to cheat the RNG but it requires the expertise of professionals. An average player won’t be able to tamper with the RNG in any way, be it in a land-based casino or online. However, we hope that luck comes to you without such methods! Follow us for more informative content and luck might smile on you.
