Are slots rigged or Just math at work?

[sotelorene]

Have you ever had a time in the casino where you started strong on slots, maybe even felt like you were on a roll for a while, then suddenly hit a losing streak that wiped out everything? I’ve noticed that no matter how good the start is, I almost always end up losing it all in the end.

That kind of pattern makes me wonder, are these games secretly rigged, or is this just how slots work because of the RTP (return to player), which is usually around 97% or even lower?

When you’re stuck in a losing streak, it really makes you doubt if it’s only bad luck, or if the system is built so you can never walk away ahead.
What do you guys think? Is it pure probability catching up with you, or do casinos tweak the games to make sure you lose eventually?

Whenever something like this happen, it is normal to think this way because we are human and the way things are going currently I won't doubt if you said it is been rigged but then I still believe in luck and once it is not your time it is not your time and what you need to do at this moment is to always stay away so that you don't make so much loss that will make you feel the system is rigged. There are times you will make a lot of profit from slot and you will begin to wonder sometimes if you are dreaming or something but that is pure definition of luck. I don't play slots but I will suggest you stop playing whenever you have made profit and then the system start turning against you.

[Odohu]

I don't believe that slot games are rigged but it is so designed that the house have the advantage. In other words, slots are not programmed in a way that users will win them easily but in a way that the casinos owners will have advantage so they can remain in the business. Anyone playing slot already have this in mind and is willing to accept that risk, since hitting the jackpot is a very tempting offer.

[blomen]

I'm not much of a slots fan, but even so, I can tell you that this is the most common thing in the world that happens in all casinos... it has nothing to do with rigging against you; it's just the RNG algorithm working to give the house an edge... a 96% RTP doesn't mean you'll have a 96% return in a session. In fact, you need to understand that over millions of rounds, this will just be an expected average, but that in the short term (a few dozen rounds), this result varies greatly. That's why anyone can go through these long periods of losses or sometimes great "luck" streaks in a row... it's not cheating!

Define a strategy, time and bankroll limits, bet less during those moments of bad luck, or stop playing and leave it for another day... it's easier than blaming the casino!

people generally find this very difficult to understand because i think most of them can't bear losing money, even a small amount, or can't accept it. however, even when you're having a really bad run on the slots, someone else is winning huge amounts of money, even if it's just a little bit. you could have been in their place, and they could have been in yours. it has nothing to do with cheating or you doing something wrong. it's just luck.

additionally, almost every slot player has winning streaks, and none of them think, “why am i winning right now?” when they're winning. you only realize you're gambling when you lose. when you're winning, everything seems great.

[Pi-network314159]

Have you ever had a time in the casino where you started strong on slots, maybe even felt like you were on a roll for a while, then suddenly hit a losing streak that wiped out everything? I’ve noticed that no matter how good the start is, I almost always end up losing it all in the end.

Yeah that's actually true, sometimes it feels like we are on a wining streak but suddenly we found out we are on a long losing streak that make us wonder if this game is rigged to favour the house only. But However I believe that the machine is programmed in a way that the probability to win the house is slim, making it impossible to win. And this makes me believe that it may be true that the system was designed to favour the house and not gamblers.

That kind of pattern makes me wonder, are these games secretly rigged, or is this just how slots work because of the RTP (return to player), which is usually around 97% or even lower?

I am force to believe that these games are secretly rigged. Because if it was not design to secretly rigged players, then how come majority of gamblers are losers. Gambling is like placeing a bowl  100meters in front of you and you are expected to throw stone inside and win. And the possibility to get it Wrighy is slim or hard.

[Crypto Library]

Hard to discuss about the fairness of the slot because it’s source code is close source. There’s no way for us to verify how the result generates unlike provably fair games that result is verifiable through blockchain.

You can only measure the RTP if correct through playing bunch number of spins which is very hard to do unless you have huge bankroll to avoid being bust.

Slot games nowadays is more on trust basis which is why it’s important to choose trusted providers.

It may sound harsh, but it is true that most game providers are closed-source and therefore cannot be publicly verified. If we see big game providers like Pragmatic Play and Microgaming providing closed source games, we trust them because they are regulated in jurisdictions like Europe and America. So from this point of view, if we play games from such game providers, we have to play based on trust.

But as far as I know, there are also open-source games in big reputable casinos like Stake, bc.game, which can be verified based on cryptography. If someone thinks that other closed source games providers can be rigged, then they can choose open source games.

[Cantsay]

Don’t stop playing, you’ll eventually win… but my answer here is math. You’re just overthinking because you lost. If you were on a winning streak, you wouldn’t even care about asking the math behind it, you’d probably think you can beat the system.

It’s normal to start questioning things when you lose, but that’s fine.

In time you’ll understand how it really works.

It’s normal if just few persons are experiencing, but it becomes more concerning when more than 80% of gamblers start to experience the same thing over and over again. So to me, I’ll say this is more than just maths, I think some systems might have been rigged because it’s not normal for the same pattern to keep happening and we’d keep turning a blind eye on it because we want to believe it’s all normal and just a mathematical trick.

We keep think it’s maths and one day the odds are going to favour us but after months and years of consistent playing we still don’t get any different results.

[Distinctin]

My suspicion is that, slot games are configured to give wins at the start of signing newly into the casino and later on take em back if the gambler continues playing.

Several persons has claimed they got lucky at the beginning, it could be beginners luck, I dont know. But if this is true, players will go against the rules by creating multiple accounts to gamble for the sake of having that beginners luck.

I bet all gambling casino games are configured to give us a winning start, which will made us think that we can be extra lucky and make instant profits with gambling, but after several wins, losses start to appear until we end up losing them all. That’s when we realize that we have no hold with gambling casinos, the house will always be the winner and gained the biggest profits.

Beginner’s luck is real, but it can’t guarantee us winning all the time. That’s the reason why mostly lose than win particularly in slots where it’s clearly luck and chance based.

[Bitcoin Smith]

Have you ever had a time in the casino where you started strong on slots, maybe even felt like you were on a roll for a while, then suddenly hit a losing streak that wiped out everything? I’ve noticed that no matter how good the start is, I almost always end up losing it all in the end.

That kind of pattern makes me wonder, are these games secretly rigged, or is this just how slots work because of the RTP (return to player), which is usually around 97% or even lower?

When you’re stuck in a losing streak, it really makes you doubt if it’s only bad luck, or if the system is built so you can never walk away ahead.
What do you guys think? Is it pure probability catching up with you, or do casinos tweak the games to make sure you lose eventually?

We are living in illusion or at least that is how our brain interpret those things while the reality is we only win big in few spins and others are just a complete bust but in slot the one win is capable of giving big rewards that can even come closer to 5x of your deposit on an average and when we hit that number our greedy mind wakes up and want more but in slots along with bonus feature if you are not winning big bombs then your wallet will be drained very fast.

[DaNNy001]

Every casino game is programmed for the house to be in profit but each of these games have their level of house edge...in slots games the house edge is quite high compared to other games that's why it seems like it's difficult to win after trying out multiple spins...it's been designed to be in favour of the house, this is the reason why a lot of people think it's rigged because no matter what you do you can't win

[mirakal]

Slots is not rigged, not at all. It just happens that our luck never stays long on our side. That is why after short wins, losses come. Now, if we're too greedy and thinking there are more winning bets we can get, that surely ends up losing everything.

If we have been gambling for quite some time, I'm certain that we know how gambling works. It does not just happen in slots but also in other games. Why? That is how gambling is meant to be. We can't duel in a game of luck, nor say it is manipulated because we know that luck has never been with us forever.

[lionheart78]

What do you guys think? Is it pure probability catching up with you, or do casinos tweak the games to make sure you lose eventually?

I notice this when a player only plays a single slot throughout his gambling session.  I can't call it rigged since there is no proof about it and I can't support such statement with strong evidence, and I incline to think that it is designed as that.

So I believe to avoid this kind of experience, we should not stay too long in one game, make use of the variety of slot games available on the platform and compare the results.  I personally have a good result using this kind of method but I do not know if it will work for you.

[o48o]

Have you ever had a time in the casino where you started strong on slots, maybe even felt like you were on a roll for a while, then suddenly hit a losing streak that wiped out everything? I’ve noticed that no matter how good the start is, I almost always end up losing it all in the end.

That kind of pattern makes me wonder, are these games secretly rigged, or is this just how slots work because of the RTP (return to player), which is usually around 97% or even lower?

When you’re stuck in a losing streak, it really makes you doubt if it’s only bad luck, or if the system is built so you can never walk away ahead.
What do you guys think? Is it pure probability catching up with you, or do casinos tweak the games to make sure you lose eventually?

Well why are you surprised of that? Longer you play, higher the change of you losing it is.

You make a kind of good example by talking about "feeling it". Thing is, that humans don't naturally understand or "feel" the concept of randomness.
Good example of this is that when music players like spotify actually used random playing, people complained that it wasn't random, because it didn't feel random. It sometimes kept playing same songs, so people thought it was broken, and funny thing about that is that with real randomness there's a change that same song could play many times in a row. It's not usual, but it's how randomness work.

When people see dots in random order, they don't accept that they are random, if they form clusters. Even though that happens sometimes with randomness.

[Moreno233]

It is extremely difficult to say if slots are rigged or not because you have no way of verifying apart from relying on the reports of the regulators. This is why I think it is a waste of time worrying about slots being rigged or not. Slot may appear hard but people still win big in it and if it were obviously rigged, I don't think there is anyone that will win it. If you feel that slots are rigged and therefore not favourable to you, there are many other casino games you can try.

[Makus]

Have you ever had a time in the casino where you started strong on slots, maybe even felt like you were on a roll for a while, then suddenly hit a losing streak that wiped out everything? I’ve noticed that no matter how good the start is, I almost always end up losing it all in the end.

That kind of pattern makes me wonder, are these games secretly rigged, or is this just how slots work because of the RTP (return to player), which is usually around 97% or even lower?

When you’re stuck in a losing streak, it really makes you doubt if it’s only bad luck, or if the system is built so you can never walk away ahead.
What do you guys think? Is it pure probability catching up with you, or do casinos tweak the games to make sure you lose eventually?

Sometimes questions like this is kinda funny put it sometimes feels so, when the casino just start giving you a losing strike after a win series. It's kinda tempting to think so but most casinos don't. I don't  know about all of them but it wouldn't  be great if casino cheat on games that they claim is probably fair. Well if we gamble with what we can afford  to lose we wouldn't  be too concerned about casino cheating. The ball is in our court to choose either gambling with discipline  of gambling base on your emotions with may be driven by greed.

[lovesmayfamilis]

My suspicion is that, slot games are configured to give wins at the start of signing newly into the casino and later on take em back if the gambler continues playing.

Several persons has claimed they got lucky at the beginning, it could be beginners luck, I dont know. But if this is true, players will go against the rules by creating multiple accounts to gamble for the sake of having that beginners luck.

That's exactly what happened to me. I was quite surprised by the ease of winning, but later everything fell into place, as it seems. I think the casino is interested in players continuing to play, and such methods are designed to make the player leave more money, because they already have experience of winning. Demo games behave in the same way, but after you start playing with your own money, the casino is ahead again. By the way, you are right that the first wins motivate players to cheat, but I think that now it is already quite difficult to do, since the casino's anti-fraud has become very strong and multi-accounts are detected quite quickly.

[XXKK-Exchange]

That’s pretty much how slots are designed to feel. The RTP (say 95–97%) doesn’t mean you’ll get that percentage back every session—it’s calculated over millions of spins. In the short run you can be way up or way down, but the longer you play, the closer you drift toward the house edge.

Casinos don’t need to secretly rig slots, the math already guarantees they win in the long term. The ‘hot start then slow drain’ pattern you noticed is super common because our brains remember the exciting wins and feel the losses more painfully. The only real way to walk away ahead is literally to… walk away while you’re ahead. 😅

[memehunter]

My suspicion is that, slot games are configured to give wins at the start of signing newly into the casino and later on take em back if the gambler continues playing.

Several persons has claimed they got lucky at the beginning, it could be beginners luck, I dont know. But if this is true, players will go against the rules by creating multiple accounts to gamble for the sake of having that beginners luck.

That's exactly what happened to me. I was quite surprised by the ease of winning, but later everything fell into place, as it seems. I think the casino is interested in players continuing to play, and such methods are designed to make the player leave more money, because they already have experience of winning. Demo games behave in the same way, but after you start playing with your own money, the casino is ahead again. By the way, you are right that the first wins motivate players to cheat, but I think that now it is already quite difficult to do, since the casino's anti-fraud has become very strong and multi-accounts are detected quite quickly.

The easiest way out is to apply provable fairness to slots just like dice. I create a topic:  Why Online Slots Are Not Provably fair? sometimes back and it was locked by mods. I did a thread on meta also regarding that lock: Why my topic is locked?. After reading some of the replies there I am inclined to believe that there is more to the story than just variance.   

[₿itcoin]

I’m not aware that there’s an RTP audit on slot games. Can you drop here your reference on how to see if the RTP was verified and who verified it.

All that you mention above is correct. RTP can only be proven on huge number of bets.

Many slot players forgot about the variance on the game especially on short term gaming on slot games that usually just balance the game to stick on the RTP.

Pragmatic play's RTP & RNG is audited by GLI every year,
also some other test-house audited those RTP & RNG, you could ping their support if you dont see updated certificate/logo in footer page.

yeah reputable provider & casino survey their RTP & RNG annually. you will find many trusted independent test houses like iTech Labs, GLI, eCOGRA, BMM who vouch for RNG & provide RTP/output audit with massive sample simulations. Also well known regulator UKGC force their client to lodged test sample with game register. you will find who actually audited your games rtp & rng in casino or providers footer page or about page. if you dont see certificate or signed logo in footer page then it is patchy , imo. also you could check via the lab certificate lookup or the regulators approved test house list.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Have you ever had a time in the casino where you started strong on slots, maybe even felt like you were on a roll for a while, then suddenly hit a losing streak that wiped out everything? I’ve noticed that no matter how good the start is, I almost always end up losing it all in the end.

That kind of pattern makes me wonder, are these games secretly rigged, or is this just how slots work because of the RTP (return to player), which is usually around 97% or even lower?

When you’re stuck in a losing streak, it really makes you doubt if it’s only bad luck, or if the system is built so you can never walk away ahead.
What do you guys think? Is it pure probability catching up with you, or do casinos tweak the games to make sure you lose eventually?

I honestly have thought about this a couple of times in the past, it's majorly one of the reasons I stopped or rather, reduced significantly how frequently I play slot games, my thought actually is that maybe slot games are not actually rigged to favor the casino, but the game providers and casinos working hand in hand set the chances of winning so low that it's almost impossible to play the game and end up winning and profiting in the long run.

Slot games are interesting to play, but with the way almost every player end up with the very same experience, I do not doubt or blame any one for accusing the casino and game providers of rigging the game, i am just imagining a scenario where the 97% RTP is actually the casinos chances of winning while the remaining 3% is the gamblers chances of winning, with such a stats, it pretty impossible for any gambler to end up winning and remaining in profit from slot game, it will someone with a great amount of luck to make anything off the game.

[fruktik]

Gambling casinos are certainly designed to give us a good start so that players will be more motivated to increase their bets. Later in the end, the casino will find ways to get back those winnings because as always, casinos should be the one winning in the end. For me, there’s a definite pattern in gambling, but one thing is certain, the casino should always gain an edge over its players.

Slots aren’t rigged, but it’s always the casino should be winning in the end. Even pros are aware of this, losses are just inevitable when gambling.

There are casinos with a high percentage of winnings. It does not always happen that players lose. There are cases when a person can get a very large win. I myself have witnessed such moments. I myself managed to win a solid amount of money, which is comparable to a year's salary.

Naturally, casino owners will not be left without profit. With the help of small amounts, they will be able to recoup everything and make a profit.