Technologies behind the Slots
Gone are the days of the old reels and lever found in the first slot machines. Today, there is much science behind every slot machine you see in Vegas. Here are some of them:
The Random Number Generator (RNG)
If you think that reels and levers you watch and pull down in slots have something to do with your odds, you're wrong. They are just displays to entertain you; and even more so, they are just tributes to the old slot machines. Behind the screens and the buttons is a computer software called the RNG or the Random Number Generator. They are programs that randomly pick the results of whatever it is on the reel or screen. The odds are actually programmed to be random so that whatever comes out on the reel would be nothing more than virtual.
This software is continuously picking up numbers at random with a rate of many millions per second. When you pull the lever or push the button, the number that coincides to the numbers that the software is currently running at will come up. What comes out of the reel then depends on the software and at the moment the player hits the slot. Pushed a microsecond later, another set of numbers come out.
Machines that Work Together
If you think all slot machines are independent of each other, you're wrong. Computers as they are now, they work together as a network. They are linked together so that they could give away one jackpot at a particular time. So no two large jackpots occur at the same time. Every slot machine is alive in a way that it contributes an amount for the big jackpot prize, which is won, for example, by a player that gets a royal straight flush in a poker slot. Sometimes even slot machines are all connected even though they are spread in several casino establishments. These slot machines are rented instead of owned. Usually, they are operated by a single slot machine maker and they pay for the big prize. An example of this type of slot network is Megabucks of Nevada. This slot machine network gives as much $10,000,000 to the very lucky winner.
The Close-But-No-Cigar Programming
Slot machines are programmed in a way that most results in combinations that almost are jackpots. For example, when a win requires a combo of 5-5-5, the non-winning but close result would display 5-5-(non-5). The player who gets this would then think they almost got the win. Consequently, this would tempt them to try one more game. This type of programming is frequently banned in the United States.