While some casino games have a skill element within the outcome, some casino games are purely based upon chance. Because all trusted online casino gambling site casino games are partly or completely driven by chance, all casino games count on a random number generator, or RNG in the software that powers the game. The RNG is a mathematical application that does precisely what it says: generates a totally random number. Not all RNGs are exactly the same, and they have to be tested extensively to make certain that the numbers they generate actually are random.

In some games, the usage of an RNG has an obvious role. In European roulette, one example is the RNG generates a number from 1 to 37 (with 37 corresponding to “0”) on the roulette wheel. The RNG generates a number, the casino stops, and bets are paid or forfeited.

In craps, the RNG has to generate two random numbers simultaneously, and in single deck card games, the RNG has to generate a number from 1 to 52, with each of those numbers corresponding to a particular card. During just one deck card game, the RNG has to “remember” which cards it has already dealt so that they will not be dealt again. With multiple-deck games like online blackjack, the RNG has an much more complicated mathematical algorithm driving it.

Some RNGs require the user to specify an initial “seed” value, which itself varies randomly. A number of them use the time on a clock as a seed, so that there is absolutely no human intervention at all within the RNG. You can find some RNGs that basically involve numerous RNGs running all at the same time, with one RNG picking from among the results, creating a sort of super-randomness to the calculation. Bear in mind, they are very oversimplified ways of describing how RNGs work, but it gives you some notion of the “brain” behind the many online casino games you enjoy.

To be deemed as fair, numbers spit out by any RNG have to be unpredictable and unbiased. To ensure that this is the case, internet gaming platforms have to be tested regularly by independent testing entities like eCOGRA. The testing groups have to test the RNG algorithms over millions of hands of card games or millions of throws of dice to be certain that the numbers are unpredictable and unbiased.

In your online research about internet gambling, you might stumble across someone or site telling you that the specific slot machine has a “cycle” that is predictable enough which you can learn when it’s “due” for a jackpot, or which will want to sell you some sort of system for predicting hits. These ploys aren’t gambles at all: they’re just good ways to throw away your money. Save those hard-earned dollars for something else!