While some casino games have a skill element within the outcome, some casino games are purely determined by chance. Because all online casino games are partly or completely driven by chance, all casino games rely on a random number generator, or RNG in the software that powers the game. The RNG is a mathematical application that does exactly what it says: generates a totally random number. Not all RNGs are the same, and they have to be tested extensively to guarantee that the numbers they generate really are random.

In some games, the utilization of an RNG has an obvious role. In European roulette, for example, the RNG generates a number from 1 to 37 (with 37 corresponding to “0”) on the roulette wheel. The RNG generates a number, the casino stops, and bets are paid or forfeited.

In craps, the RNG has to generate two random numbers simultaneously, as well as in single deck card games, the RNG has to generate a number from 1 to 52, with each of those numbers corresponding to a particular card. During just one deck card game, the RNG must “remember” which cards it has already dealt so that they won’t be dealt again. With multiple-deck games like online blackjack, the RNG has an even more complicated mathematical algorithm driving it.

Some RNGs require the user to specify an initial “seed” value, which itself varies randomly. A number of them use the time on a clock as a seed, to ensure that there isn’t any human intervention at all within the RNG. You’ll find some RNGs that basically involve numerous RNGs running all at the same time, with one RNG picking from among the results, creating a sort of super-randomness to the calculation. Bear in mind, these are very oversimplified ways of describing how RNGs work, but it gives you some notion of the “brain” behind the many online casino games you enjoy.

To be deemed as fair, numbers spit out by any RNG have to be unpredictable and unbiased. To make certain that this is the situation, internet gaming platforms have to be tested regularly by independent testing entities like eCOGRA. The testing groups have to test the RNG algorithms over millions of hands of card games or millions of throws of dice to guarantee that the numbers are unpredictable and unbiased.

Within your online gambling agency research about internet gambling, you may stumble across a person or site telling you that the specific slot machine has a “cycle” which is predictable enough that you can learn when it’s “due” for a jackpot, or that will want to sell you some sort of system for predicting hits. These ploys aren’t gambles at all: they are just good ways to throw away your hard earned money. Save those hard-earned dollars for something else!