Can Casinos Adjust Slot Machines?

 

There are thousands of online slots like the ones you will find on onlineslotsx.com. When gamblers talk, the burning question is always about whether or not casinos can adjust the settings of slot machines. There is really no concrete answer to this, so the safest answer is yes and no.

Casinos can make adjustments to the slot machines if they are also the ones that developed it. But if the slot machine comes from the library of a game developer, like Netent, Playson, Big Time Gaming, and others, the casino cannot make changes because these games run on the developer’s platform. The only thing that a casino management can do is to offer free spins, but nothing more than that.

To be able to answer this question, you need to look at different perspectives, but never from a perspective of cheating. You see, casinos and game developers are businesses, and they need to make money. They can change the payout ratio of slot machines but only if they are compliant to the legal expectations, among other things.

 

A Background on Legal Requirements

State laws require stand-alone slot machines to work using a software called Random Number Generator. This software is the thing that is responsible for ensuring that the slot machines produce random results. Many players argue that this can be controlled.

This, of course, is not true. Casinos and game developers will lose their licence if they do this. Besides, it will not be called a random number generator, RNG, if it can be controlled. Many countries also impose a rule that casinos cannot change the odds of slot machines at will, as this does not constitute fair gaming practices. Many countries and states have clear laws on the range of the payback odds of these one-armed bandits, and the casinos and game operators have to comply.

In short, the RNG cannot be controlled, but the odds can be controlled. And these odds are controlled by the government, not the casino operators. There is a limit to how low or how high the winning odds can be, and the slot machine operators are required to submit reports to the government.

Casinos Do Not Have to Do This

All casino games are designed to give the house a winning edge. Casinos have no reason to adjust the way slot machines work, and it is a myth when people say that some slots pay more on the weekend or when there are few people playing them.

As we mentioned, the casinos and game developers can adjust the odds, but not the results. How does this work? Think of a coin with two sides. The odds of winning are 50/50. That is how a game of coin toss is designed. If the game developer creates a game where a player has to choose one among three choices, such as red, black, and white, the odds now decrease to 33% because only one colour will come out.

Slot machines are built this way. The developer knows what all the possible combinations are, and how likely they are to appear. From these statistics, they design a prize matrix that will still make the odds in favour of the house. Think of lottery, too. For the millions of possible combinations, the player has a very little chance of landing six digits in the proper order to win a jackpot.

Summary

Casinos can adjust slot machines, but they may not, and they should not. They will violate legal expectations if they do this, and it does not make sense because the games were already designed in their favour. What they can do is to design games where the odds are better for them than the player.