When is Spin Determined?

There is an age old question from many slot machine players where they are trying to beat the machine, so they want to know at what point specifically the Random Number Generator decides whether or not it is a winning spin. Not that they have any control over this, nor if they push the button a certain way will they be able to make it spin the way they want, but it doesn’t stop them from asking.

A recent column in the paper had someone asking that same question. Although unable to recollect the name of the columnist except that it was John something or other, the answer he gave was spot on. The question came from a gentleman who wanted to know how does the RNG make the selection of the spin outcome? He wanted to know if it was when you pushed the bet button, or when you pulled the handle, etc. He wanted to know what part of the process of playing a slot machine ended in someone winning the big bucks.

John talked a little about the history of slot machines and how wins used to be determined. He said that once the current spin was done, the slot machine would automatically choose the next result. The slot machine would then wait for someone to play and they would see the choice that they had made. However, this made the slot machines more prone to being tampered with and cheaters could figure out who would win when.

However, slot machine manufacturers got smarter about their machines and changed when the outcome was programmed in. Instead of it sitting in there, now it is determined once the commitment to the spin has been pressed. This could be pulling the handle or pressing the Spin, Bet Max, or Repeat Bet buttons. It will not be determined until that happens.

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