Random Name Picker is a free web-based tool that allows you to pick random name using Spin Wheel and Slot Machine. It is simple and easy and can be customize by changing the names. Jan 27, 2009 My students enjoy the random name picker (thanks TonyVincent.info). After you customize the random name picker, it becomes an instant student-engagement generator as well. The random name picker is called a fruit machine, but resembles a slot machine. It can also be viewed as a typewriter, if you wish.
By John Robison
One of the questions I'm asked most often is - 'how is it possible for a slot machine to be a random device and for a machine to also pay back a certain percentage of the money played through it?' If the results are truly random, people argue, then the payback should be random too.
Despite the fact that this governor function does not exist and in all jurisdictions whose regulations I’m familiar with, it is possible for the results on slot machines to be determined at random and for machines to have specific payback percentages.
It’s difficult to reconcile the fact that results on slot machines are random and for us to be able to know what will happen overall on a machine. Let me illustrate how this is possible with my RWB Ping Pong Ball Game.
Suppose I have a basket that contains 100 ping pong balls. Eighty ping pong balls are white, 15 are blue, and five are red. You draw a ball at random from the basket. There’s a cover on the basket, so you can’t tell what color ball you’re drawing. Also, you can’t tell the balls apart, so you’re no more likely to draw one ball over any other. After you draw the ball, you record the color and put the ball back in the basket.
As you repeat this action, you will find that the percentage of draws that were red balls gets closer and closer to 80%, the percentage of draws that were blue balls gets closer and closer to 15%, and the percentage of draws that were red balls gets closer and closer to 5%.
We know that this will happen because you draw the balls at random and each ball is equally likely to be drawn by you. But it is not equally likely that you will draw any particular color. Eighty percent of the balls are white, so we expect 80% of your draws to be white. Similarly for the blue and red balls.
Even though you drew the balls completely at random, the distribution of colors you recorded will match the distribution of colors in the total population of ping pong balls in the basket. Random does not mean that everything is completely unpredictable and unknowable.
Now let’s make the game more interesting. You have to pay me $1 each time you want to draw. When you draw a white ball, I keep the dollar. When you draw a blue ball, I return your dollar. And when you draw a red ball, I pay you $16. A nice payoff for drawing the red ball.
Looking at this game from my perspective, I have a 15% chance of paying you $1 and a 5% chance of paying you $16. Calculating this out, we have 0.15(1) + 0.05(16) = 0.15 + 0.80 = 0.95. On the average, then, for every $1 you give me to play, I will return 95 cents to you.
The RWB Ping Pong Ball Game is just like a 95% payback slot machine. Even though the outcomes in both games are chosen completely at random, each pays back 95% of the money played in the long run.
A slot machine works very much like the RWB Ping Pong Ball Game. Conceptually, there is a basket of ping pong balls for each reel. But instead of having different colors on the balls, these balls have symbols representing the different symbols on the reels on them. Some symbols appear on more balls than other symbols.
Let’s set up a basket of ping pong balls for a reel from a real Double Diamond slot machine. Even though there are 22 symbols and blanks on the reel, our basket will have 72 ping pong balls in it. Having more balls in the basket than we have stops on the reel allows us to alter the probability of landing any particular symbol on the payline from what it appears to be from counting the number of times it appears on the reel and dividing by 22.
The reel has 11 blanks on it, but I’m going to put 31 blank ping pong balls in the basket. Half the stops on the physical reel are blanks, but slightly less than half the ping pong balls are blank, so it’s actually a little less likely than it appears for a blank to land on the payline on this reel. There’s only one cherry on the reel, but I’m going to put two ping pong balls with cherries in the basket.
All of the other symbols – single bar, double bars, triple bars, 7, and Double Diamond – appear twice on the reel, but the number of ping pong balls with each symbol in the basket is 25, 4, 6, 2, and 2, respectively. We need about 6.5 ping pong balls with each of these symbols in the basket to have the probability of drawing a ping pong ball carrying the symbol be the same as what appears to be the probability of having the symbol land on the payline from looking at the reel, so you can see how different the true probabilities are from what the reel makes you think they are.
Just as with the RWB Ping Pong Ball Game, the more you play this Double Diamond machine, the closer the distribution of symbols landing on the payline will get to the distribution of ping pong balls with each symbol in the basket.
Even though it sounds like random should mean completely unpredictable, the only thing we can't predict is what color ping pong ball you'll draw next or what symbols will appear on the payline next. Because we know the distribution of ping pong balls in our basket and the casino knows the distribution of symbols on the slot machine's reels, we can predict -- no, more than predict, we can calculate with near certainty -- how much my game and how much a slot machine will pay back in the long run.
The only reason we can't be dead certain of how much a machine will actually pay back is because the outcome of each game is truly chosen at random and there is no function forcing the payback to a particular number. But given enough draws or spins, my RWB Ping Pong Ball game and a 95% payback slot machine will both pay back very, very, very close to 95%.
To sum up, there's no attempt in the programming of a machine to force it to a particular payback percentage. There’s no need to. Random sampling from a known population takes care of it automatically.
Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert™, at slotexpert@slotexpert.com.
Because of the volume of mail he receives, John regrets that he can't reply to every question.
Slot machines are run by the RNG – random number generator.
They are not the following:
- programmed to pay out after a certain time
- susceptible to karma, magic, rabbit foots or human caresses
- able to be switched from winning to losing in a secret room somewhere in the casino
- things that work differently if you hit them harder
- games that can be timed to win – quick play, rhythmic play, slow play, etc…
Matter of fact, a slot machine is one of the most superstitious forms of recreation that exists. You can buy books and systems that are “fool-proof” to help you win at slots (sure, fool-proof…lol). There are many people out there who will tell you they ALWAYS win at slots – and then offer to sell you a bridge somewhere. I even had a stranger next to me (no lie) tell me all you had to do is figure out what denomination of bet the slot machine is “programmed” to payout the most and you will win every time!
The fact is, slot machines are run by the RNG – random number generator. Let’s look at more misconceptions:
1. Slot machines have patterns that can be analyzed and predicted. WRONG! The RNG creates millions of random numbers in an instant. There is just no way that a human (or even a computer for that matter) can predict what pattern will appear next.
2. When somebody wins a slot machine jackpot, it will be a long time before the jackpot comes up again. WRONG! Jackpots have been known to repeat on the same machine. Slot machine payout percentages are measured for the long term – that equates to millions and millions of plays. What this means is the payout percentage does not apply in the short term. So after one jackpot, the odds of another hitting is about the same.
3. If you use your slot club card the machine will pay back less. (Paranoia strikes again) – WRONG! In my opinion, this is the most damaging myth of them all. There is no link between the card reader and the RNG. By not using you player’s card you are denying yourself valuable comps and sometimes cash back from the casino. And, no, it doesn’t keep track if your winning so they can hit that famous and fictitious switch upstairs.
Speaking of that switch
4. Casinos can loosen or tighten the slot machines with the flip of a switch. Couldn’t be more WRONG! The slot machines have a computer chip in them that determines the pay back percentage. These are preset at the factory. In order for a casino to change the pay back, they would have to change the chip. In most jurisdictions there is paper work that has to be filled and submitted to the Casino Control Commission for each machine if the chip is changed. It is time consuming and the chips are very expensive. For this reason, it is more economical to decide on the pay back percentages before purchasing the machines and having the factory ship them with the proper chip.
Random Name Word Picker Slot Machine
5. If someone plays a slot machine for days on end, the machine will pay out very soon. WRONG! – Yet another misconception. There is no guarantee of this. The payout percentages are based in lots and lots (and we do mean lots) of plays or spins. If you play a machine for a few days, your odds of making the jackpot are the same as yon the day you started. Of course, you and your cohorts could keep playing at it indefinitely, but you’d have to have big money for it.
6. If someone wins the jackpot, the previous player could have won it if only they had stayed on. WRONG! For that to happen, the last player would have had to play in the exact same way at the exact time as the winner – impossible. Again, slots use the Random Number Generator. Everything is random and a split-second makes all the difference in the result.
7. A machine that has not been paying is due to hit. WRONG! There is no way to determine if a machine is due to hit. Each spin is a random occurrence and has no bearing on what has happened previously. Don’t ever play more than you should because it will be devastating to your bankroll if you do.
8. If a slot machine is paying out heavily, one should keep playing during this “winning streak.”
WRONG AGAIN! There is no such thing as a winning streak in slots, or even blackjack or roulette for that matter. All games of chance are random. If you win three consecutive games, that in no way influences the next game or any other. If you toss a coin four times and heads comes up each time, the chances of either heads or tails appearing in the fifth toss is still 50/50! Truth is, if you keep playing during your supposed “winning streak,” you will only end up losing! So quit while you’re ahead.
9. Pulling the handle beats pressing the button. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. This makes no difference whatsoever. Pressing a button and pulling a lever both result in exactly the same result. All you are ever doing is sending a small electrical trigger to start the game, so it doesn’t matter how it’s done, you’ll still get the same result.
One thing is certain. Slot machines are recreational. Remember three correct assumptions:
1) The casinos usually don’t disclose the odds on individual machines, so you can’t really be an informed player.
2) Whatever those undisclosed odds are, they’re usually bad — far worse than table games like craps, baccarat, and blackjack.
3) Slot machines are usually played much faster than table games, so they suck away your money much more quickly.
So, play informed by knowing the games you play for the most enjoyable recreation possible. Here are some things you can believe:
- Progressive slots will pay lower to compensate for the high jackpot.
- Max play on some slots can raise the payout possibilities – other machines? It doesn’t matter.
- Know how the bonuses work. This includes the awareness of possible denominations.
- Play all lines – whether it is lowest bet per line or Max play.
That’s all for now.
Binbin