Welcome to the 21st century. The world is in flux. Fake news is everywhere. Conspiracy theories are the big talking point online.
While it might pale in comparison to the suggestions that NASA faked the moon landing, the earth is flat, or the notion that the British Royal Family are reptilian overlords, there's an ongoing online argument that online slots are rigged in favor of the house.
Naturally, this puts many people off trying their luck. However, it's simply not true. Slots are not rigged, and here's all the reasons why.
Casinos Have a Reputation to Protect
You might disagree with the assertion if you’re one who strongly believes businesses and big corporations only care about profit, and you’re not wrong. Virtually all online casinos are set up for the purpose of making a profit. However, a casino’s reputation is crucial to generating that profit because it hopes to gather as many customers as possible.
Consequently, no online casino wants to be known for taking people’s money with no winnings to show for it. Instead, they want to be known as a platform where players record big wins in order to attract other customers. Rigging the online slots in their favor definitely won’t help them do this.
So, the assertion that online slots aren’t rigged because casinos have a reputation to protect isn’t based on the premise that casino businesses are willing to hand out free wins to players. Instead, it is based on the premise that these casinos love to make plenty of money, and having a reputation for rigging their slots won’t help them with that goal.
Regulators are Watching
The online casino industry has experienced rapid growth in recent years due to technological development. The fact that the games are more engaging and accessible has also increased the amount of participants worldwide. Consequently, there has been a spike in problem gambling rates and cybercrimes.
In response, government regulatory bodies have been on high alert as they look to protect their citizens to the best of their abilities. Agencies like the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) and American Gaming Association (AGA) mandate that all online casinos operating within their respective borders obtain licenses before offering gambling services to their citizens.
Before obtaining these licenses, online casino operators must meet watertight regulations that emphasize fairness. Likewise, they must ensure operators provide access to third-party responsible gambling resources to ensure player safety. According to gambling expert, Vlad Grindu, this is why you should only play at licensed online slots listed by Techopedia, as these online slots clearly indicate their licenses on their websites.
Online Slots Rely on Certified Random Number Generators (RNGs)
RNGs are a good example of the standard requirements regulators ensure casino operators implement. These are computerized algorithms that determine the results of any slot spin. As a result, neither the online casino operator nor the player has control over the slot outcomes.
The theory that online slots are rigged rests heavily on the assumption that the operators have a way of producing results that ensure players do not win. However, that becomes impossible if an algorithm randomly generates the output of an online slot.
More so, regulators go a step further to test these algorithms for fairness and issue certificates to that effect.
Return-to-Player Ratio is Calculated Over Extended Periods
Losses can evoke the ugliest emotions. Although online slots may provide quick winnings, individuals can also encounter a losing streak within a short period. Such situations make many players wonder if the RTP ratio declared by the casino is true or made up.
For context, the RTP ratio of any game is a theoretical percentage of winnings a certain slot is expected to pay out based on the total amount wagered on the slot. This implies that an online slot with a 96% RTP will pay out $96 for all $100 wagered.
Does that mean players should win more often? Wrong!
The percentage is calculated based on a larger amount of bets placed on that machine. This amount is usually 10,000 to 100,000 times for compensated games and even up to a lifetime for other machines. As a result, some individuals may experience continuous winning streaks while others lose consecutively. However, the machine is expected to have paid out 96% of all amounts wagered.
Volatility Might be Responsible for Rare Winnings
Online slots pay differently.
Some pay out low winnings frequently, while others pay out high winnings, rarely. The online slot’s pay-out frequency and amount are collectively regarded as its volatility. It is a measure of how often and to what degree an online slot pays
Generally, online slots are categorized as either low, medium, or high volatility. For example, many gamblers who play at physical casinos believe that slot machines situated towards the entrance tend to have higher winning chances because the casinos want outsiders to hear people winning. On the other hand, slots located deeper in the casino tend to have fewer winning chances.
While that sounds very laughable, an understanding of volatility helps you understand that the online slots weren’t rigged even if such situations were presented.