Ask the Slot Expert: Pump up the volume -- and payback?

Last week in a column about whether the volume setting on a slot machine affects its "winnability" (Spoiler Alert: It doesn't.), I used the following excerpt from the page turner entitled Technical Standards for Gaming Devices and Associated Equipment: Standard 1 Integrity of Gaming Devices.

The RNG and random selection process must be impervious to influences from outside the device, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic interference, electro-static interference, and radio frequency interference.

The text contains the phrase "outside the device". Wouldn't the volume control be considered inside the device and, thus, not covered by this standard?

It depends on what the "device" is. If the device is the whole slot machine, then we can't consider the volume control to be outside of the device. If the machine has a hardware-based Random Number Generator (RNG), then we could consider the device to be the hardware generating the numbers and the volume control is outside of that device.

What might the regulators have had in mind when they wrote this standard? A long time ago (in a casino far, far away), casino management bought a wonderful new walkie-talkie system. The system worked perfectly except for one small problem. Whenever attendants keyed their mics near a machine, some machines would spit out a coin. (Hey, I said this was a long time ago.) This example doesn't involve the RNG, but nevertheless it shows that these machines were not impervious to some form of outside interference.

You may have seen clips of a poor, unsuspecting slot machine sitting in the middle of an insulated test room getting hit by artificial lightning evoking the image of Tesla sitting in the middle of his lab surrounded by lightning -- though I don't think that Tesla wanted to get hit and the purpose of the slot test is to hit it and see if the machine continues operating properly.

Let's keep looking in the regulations for text that more clearly prohibits volume level-induced changes in payback. Perhaps the next paragraph in the document will help us.

A gaming device must use appropriate communication protocols to protect the random number generator and random selection process from influence by associated equipment or other devices which is conducting data communications with the gaming device.

Now the question is whether the phrase "conducting data communications" applies to just other devices or to associated equipment too. The singular verb "is" would indicate that the phrase applies to "associated equipment or other devices". The word "which", however, introduces a non-restrictive clause and the clause isn't necessary in the sentence.

Is the volume control associated equipment covered by this regulation even though it's not involved with data communication with the machine? Or can we consider the volume level set by the player to be data communicated to the device (which it is) and have the statement apply that way?

It's my column (and I'll cry it I want to), so I'm going to use an interpretation that works best for me. I'm going to use the spirit of the regulation: The slot machine must take steps to ensure that nothing influences the RNG and that machine displays the result determined by the RNG.

The regulations used to have text prohibiting secondary decisions -- that is, altering the result determined by the RNG.

[All gaming devices] must display an accurate representation of the game outcome. After selection of the game outcome, the gaming device must not make a variable secondary decision which affects the result shown to the player.

I found the proposal to remove this text in the same proposal that removed the enumeration of multiple factors that could be used to determine if a game theme is prohibited because the theme is based on intellectual property that is intended for use or consumption by children. The proposal left in place succinctly stated the requirement that "a gaming device...must not use a theme that is derived from or based on a product that is currently and primarily intended or marketed for use by persons under 21 years of age."

I'm disappointed that I can't find text that explicitly prohibits the RNG from using volume level, use of a player card, and some other outside influences. The text probably wouldn't have swayed the conspiracy theorists anyway.

I did find text that prohibits the "use of a static seed upon initialization."

RNG algorithms need a starting value, the seed. It performs some mathematical operations on the seed and produces a number. That number is used in the next iteration of the algorithm.

The seed is frequently based on the current time. Thirty years ago, the Montreal Casino used a computer to draw its keno numbers. The computer was shut down each night and turned on again each morning.

Do you remember when you used to have to buy a Real-Time Clock board for your computer so you didn't have to manually set the time when you turned it on? Well, for whatever reason, Montreal Casino's keno computer didn't have that board. The same seed value was used in its RNG each morning. The same set of numbers was drawn each morning.

Someone noticed and picked 19 out of 20 numbers three times. He was paid the $600,000 he had won after investigators determined that he wasn't cheating. The casino was asleep at the wheel.

One other thing to consider is that the RNG merely generates numbers and it has no idea what symbols those numbers represent. It has no idea whether a number maps to a blank or a Megabucks symbol. It has no way to generate results that are more favorable to the player.

And one more thing to consider. Casinos will let players decrease the house edge, but they don't make it easy. You have to learn how to be a count cards, control dice, or play high-paying video poker correctly. Why would a casino make winning more as easy as pumping up the volume?

Perhaps all is not lost with finding a regulation that prohibits volume-payback interaction. The following text is item 2 in the minimum standards for gaming devices section of Regulation 14.

Once a game is initiated by a player on a gaming device, the rules of play for that game, including the probability and award of a game outcome, cannot be changed. In the event the game or rules of play for the game, including probability and award of a game outcome, change between games during a gaming session, notice of the change must be prominently displayed to the player.

You may have seen a machine display a message indicating that something has changed when you change denominations or the number of credits bet.

If changing the volume did change something in the determination of the results, the machine would have to tell you. The only thing I've ever seen when I've changed the volume level on a machine is a change in the number of volume bars lit.

If you would like to see more non-smoking areas on slot floors in Las Vegas, please sign my petition on change.org.

Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert™, at slotexpert@slotexpert.com.

Copyright © John Robison. Slot Expert and Ask the Slot Expert are trademarks of John Robison.

Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert™, at slotexpert@slotexpert.com. Because of the volume of mail I receive, I regret that I can't reply to every question.

Copyright © John Robison. Slot Expert and Ask the Slot Expert are trademarks of John Robison.