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Genie's Gems is a five reel, five payline, and five
coin slot machine. The multiple paylines increase
your chances of winning. There are no wild symbols
and the maximum payout is 10,000 coins.
For every coin that you bet, you enable another
payline. You are paid out for winning combinations
on enabled paylines only.
Most modern slot
machines are designed to look and feel like the old mechanical models,
but they work on a complete different principle. The outcome of each
pull is actually controlled by a central computer inside the machine,
not by the motion of the reels.
The computer uses step
motors to turn each reel and stop it at the predetermined point. Step
motors are driven by short digital pulses of electricity controlled by
the computer, rather than the fluctuating electrical current that drives
an ordinary electric motor. These pulses move the motor a set increment,
or step, with great precision.
But even though the
computer tells the reels where to stop, the games are not pre-programmed
to pay out at a certain time. A random number generator at the heart of
the computer ensures that each pull has an equal shot at hitting the
jackpot.
Whenever the slot
machine is turned on, the random number generator is spitting out whole
numbers (typically between 1 and several billion) hundreds of times a
second. The instant you pull the arm back or press the button, the
computer records the next few numbers from the random number generator.
Then it feeds these numbers through a simple program to determine where
the reels should stop.
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You pull the handle or
press the button, and the computer records the next three numbers from
the random number generator. The first number is used to determine the
position of the first reel, the second number is used for the second
reel and the third number is used for the third reel. For this example,
let's say the first number is 123,456,789.
To determine the
position of the first reel, the computer divides the first random number
by a set value. Typically, slot machines divide by 32, 64,128, 256 or
512. In this example, we'll say the computer divides by 64.
When the computer
divides the random number by the set value, it records the remainder of
the quotient. In our example, it finds that 64 goes into 123,456,789 a
total of 1,929,012 times with a remainder of 21.
Obviously, the
remainder can't be more than 64 or less than 0, so there are only 64
possible end results of this calculation. The 64 possible values act as
stops on a large virtual reel.
Each of the 64 stops
on the virtual reel corresponds to one of the 22 stops on the actual
reel. The computer consults a table that tells it how far to move the
actual reel for a particular value on the virtual reel. Since there are
far more virtual stops than actual stops, some of the actual stops will
be linked to more than one virtual stop.
Computer systems have made slot machines a lot more adaptable, players
can simply press a button to play a game, rather than pull the handle.
For the manufacturers
and slot proprietors, one of the main advantages of the computer system
is that they can easily configure how often the machine pays out (how
loose or tight it is)
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An online slot operates in much the same manner as the machines found
in today's casinos. They're all reliant on a random number generator
(RNG). In the casino, the RNG is built into the machine; online, it's
written into the programming.
The number of "reels" and the number of coins a player inserts determines
the overall payback of any machine. In days gone by, randomness was limited
by physical technology. However, with computerized number generators
there's another fly in the ointment in that the programmer can write
the script for any payback percentage.
This might make a player wary of computerized and/or online slot machines
but the truth is, if the programmer creates a script that pays few winners,
players will either lose all their money or quit playing in frustration.
This leads to casino losses in the long run. Therefore, programs are
written to provide balanced outcomes based on a payback percentage.
Payback percentage is simply what the machine can be expected to return
to players in the long run. For example, a machine set at 96 percent
should return 96 cents out of every dollar. The house gets to keep 4
cents. This doesn't mean you will get 96 cents back for every dollar
you play. You might get less or more or you could hit the jackpot and
get much, much more than your dollar. What's important to understand
is the expression "long term."
The RNG is coordinated with the symbols on the machine to produce a
96 percent payback after thousands of thousands of tries. So, in essence,
your own payback percentage will depend on one thing and one thing only-luck.
Even if a program is set to pay 50 percent, if you are in the right place
at the right time, you could realize a profit.
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