After great feedback received in the first part of this article, I will continue developing an explanation about the science behind a slot machine and the components that make them work.
In the previous points, I had been answering some questions: Can a slot machine be tampered with? What about randomness? Where does the math come in? What are the probabilities of winning on a slot machine? Now, we will continue touching other interesting subjects.
WHAT ABOUT THE GUARANTEED RETURN TO PLAYERS?
Like any other, the gaming industry is first and foremost a business. In this business, users are offered the expectation of winning prizes by chance, and, of course, profit is expected. Which we can all agree is the fundamental purpose of any business. Slot machines and games of chance are mathematically designed to guarantee a level of profit for the operator, and it must also guarantee winning to players, who would stay away from the casinos if they never award any prizes.
This delicate balance between those two variables is calculated as follow:
a) The theoretical payback percent or return to players (RTP) is the percent of coins played that are expected to be paid out by the slot machine over the game cycle. This translates to how much money has been awarded by the game when it completes on a number of spins that theoretically covers all the possible combinations that can be obtained.
b) The theoretical hold percent is the theoretical percent of coins played that are retained by the slot game and considered profit for the operators.
When we provide these definitions, it is important to clarify that when we talk about “money awarded by the game” it does not refer to the money actually collected by one player. If a game of chance has a return percentage of, for example, 80%, it does not mean that it guarantees that you will get back at least 80% of the money that was invested to play. In fact, you could bet USD 100 and lose it all. You could win a big jackpot and not collect the winnings to continue playing, and it’s very possible that you’ll end up losing most or all the money won.
This return percentage means that 80% of the money wagered by a large number of players over many spins will go towards paying out prizes that some of these players will win. If we go back to the example of the coin flip of the first part of this article, which is probably the easiest way to establish the comparison to calculating an RTP, there are two ways that can be used for this calculation, however, both ways will provide the same value:
THE REQUIREMENT FOR MINIMUM RETURN TO PLAYER
Because the return to player is a theoretically calculated number, manufacturers of slot games can design games of chance with any return percentage, inclusive even higher than 100%. But as a protective measure for the gambling community and with a better understanding of the importance of responsible gaming, each jurisdiction where gaming is regulated establishes, among other things, a minimum return percentage that each slot game must guarantee. For example, in the state of Nevada, the minimum return percentage for slot machines is 75%; in State casinos in Kansas, the minimum return percentage is 87%, while in Singapore, it is 90%.
Let’s now debunk a few myths:
- “The slot machines have a well-defined payment cycle”
FALSE. All outcomes have the same probability and there shall be no confusion of all possible combinations with the payment cycle. Each events/game play is completely independent from past outcomes.
- “The longer I play, the higher my chances of winning are”
FALSE. The number of game sessions does not increase the odds of winning. It may happen that a slot machine with high volatility requires a longer session than others to award a grand prize.
- “There are slot games that pay more than others”
FALSE. Typically, in casinos, all games are configured with the same or similar return percentage (RTP). The differences between the hit frequency of a game and its volatility can create the player’s perception that one machine pays more than another.
- “There are hot and cold slot machines”
FALSE. The Random Number Generator (RNG) ensures the independence of each event. There is no relationship between one game and the next.
- “The machine has already paid; it will not pay again”
FALSE. All possible outcomes are available at all times.
- “The machines pay at a certain time during the day”
FALSE. In practice, the games can run for days without a winning combination being generated, or it could award frequent jackpot hits in a short period of time.
IN CONCLUSION, TAKE A LOOK AT THE RETURN PERCENTAGE
Slot machines are not mysterious elements that hold hidden secrets. Before a gaming machine is assembled, there are several steps to ensure that they are designed to behave in a way that is not completely predictable, but is statistically known and acts regardless of the external factors.
The gaming sector is very particular, as it advertises “luck or chance” on one hand, but on the other, a mathematical basis of game design rules the behavior of the industry. Players should inquire about the return percentage installed when playing any slot game and take this as a parameter to decide whether to play a game or not. At the end of the day, there is a mathematical design that gives the casino operators a slight advantage, because “the house always wins.”
References: https://www.aussiecasinos.com/games/slots