What's this about "spread of randomness"? keenman55 seems to be
saying that results could purposely be biased to make a machine
appear looser than it really is. Sorry, but any such bias (even to
make the machine "catch up" with its rated payback) would not be
random, and it would clearly violate Nevada gaming regulation 14.040
2(b), which states:
"For gaming devices that are representative of live gambling games,
the mathematical probability of a symbol or other element appearing
in a game outcome must be equal to the mathematical probability of
that symbol or element occurring in the live gambling game. For other
gaming devices, the mathematical probability of a symbol appearing in
a position in any game outcome must be constant."
In other words, each play must be random and unbiased, with no
consideration of the machine's history. Also, since video poker is
representative of a live gambling game, each unseen card must have
equal probability of appearing at any time.
I'll agree with keenman55 that the program in a VP machine could be
made to do whatever the programmer desires, but if it violates that
regulation (which that "spread of randomness" would do), then a
Nevada casino or machine manufacturer would be at risk of losing its
license.
And, BTW, I probably have more programming experience than anyone
else in this forum. I started programming computers in 1957, I had my
own personal computer in 1965, and I've been working with random
number generator programs since 1969. That "spread of randomness" is
simply a natural characteristic of random numbers.
You can generate random numbers any way you like, and the human mind
will think it sees a pattern that can be used to predict the future.
Ever wonder why the casinos allow baccarat, roulette and craps
players to take notes? Some casinos even supply special note paper to
baccarat players. Those players think they can win by following
patterns, but the casinos know they can't because the games are
random.
Dan
keenman55 wrote:
ยทยทยท
Not trying to split hairs here, but I think that tampering is too
strong a term. What I think, and this is based on many years of
programming experience, (including embedded programming in computer
circuitry), is that computers can be programmed to respond to various
conditions. And in the case of VP machines, I believe they can be
programmed to be tighter or looser and do so COMPLETELY in the context
of legality. Perhaps a better phrase for tighter or looser is the
"spread of randomness" can be adjusted up or down to return more good
hands or less good hands. As far as I'm concerned all a pay table
tells me is that, should I win, I will win more or less based on the
pay table. It doesn't tell me a thing about the frequency of winning
at a particular machine.Like everyone on this forum, I play VP because I enjoy it. I just
happen to enjoy it more when I win. When I have an experience like I
just had out in LV, where I lose and lose and lose again and it
happens all over the place, my sense tells me something's changed. My
opinion is that casinos are a business and like all businesses want to
make a profit. In lean economic times when there are fewer people
coming to LV, they become more stingy. In better times, like the 90's
they are less so. And I believe there is a statistical standard
deviation for tightness and looseness that they can use to legally
affect a VP machines performance. Perhaps the issue is "what's legal?"
in the context of tightness or looseness? Does it mean returning 10
winning hands out of 100 when it previously was, say, 30?
--
Dan Paymar, author of the book, "Video Poker - Optimum Play"
Editor and Publisher of "Video Poker Times" newsletter
Web site at http://www.OptimumPlay.com
"Chance favors the prepared mind."
-- Louis Pasteur
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