The fairness of online casino gaming is largely down to one thing – the casino’s random number generator (RNG) software. Despite the great range of casino bonus, cutting-edge games and awesome graphics – do you really know exactly how the payouts work, and whether they’re fair?

The chances are you don’t – but it’s vital to know that your chosen casino has a top-notch payout system in operation.

To put it simply – an RNG is the brains of every casino game on the web, be it video poker, a slot machine or bingo. Now, I’m sure you already know that it’s a computer controlling the numbers out there in cyberspace, but how does it all work when you hit a jackpot, or walk away angry at your lack of gaming success?

When you load-up a casino game on the web, you link into the casino’s gaming server. Casino servers have powerful microchips, not dissimilar to the one’s inside the computer you’re sat at now. The microchip powers the specific RNG software to produce a constant flow of random numbers – even when you’re asleep that RNG is firing all night long – by the millisecond!

For example, online slot machines generally produce random numbers between Zero and 4 Billion, with each number linking in to a specific slot icon or feature. The RNG value (essentially the outcome of your wager) is locked-in either when you select the coin or click to spin the reels, depending on the machine and casino. Casino card games such as video poker and classic table games use RNG software to shuffle the pack, while slot games assign random numbers to every icon on the reels.

Random number generation software is constructed using extremely complex algorithms – something that’s probably light years beyond the mathematical capacity of you or I. The good news is that reputable online casinos are regulated by the Casino Control Board, who have the technology needed to analyse the RNG software used by each casino.

I know what you’re probably thinking – all this technical jargon is great, but simply put – what does it all mean to you and your casino gaming?

Well – firstly, let’s say your favourite online slot machine has 3 reels containing 20 icons each. You may not have thought about this, but a 20 icon reel means a maximum of 2000 different combinations every time you spin the reels (20 x 20 x20 = 8000). The sum of the combos is known as the machine’s ‘Spin Cycle’. The fairness of a casino game (i.e. its RNG software) can be judged by playing millions of spins/plays and analysing the results to see if an fair number of the 8000 different combinations are returned.

However, because a genuine RNG is indeed truly random – you can expect volatile gaming sessions. For example, if you play a session with 100 spins this evening – you may end up £20 up. However, have a game right now and maybe your bank may end up down £10. Nevertheless, if you stick with a casino game for a long period of time (for example, 100,000 spins) there’s a big chance that the RNG will even itself out and you’ll end up with payouts in the region of 95-98.5%, at good casinos. Because random number generators flicker at incredible speeds, you need to literally click the button at exactly the right time to hit the big time jackpot and become rich!

As a consequence of random number generation, there are some gamers who propose it’s possible to use strategies to beat the casino. For example, one common casino trick is to quit a slot game when you’ve hit a target profit, potentially meaning you’ll avoid the inevitable run when the RNG turns against you. However, trying to predict a RNG may be a little harder!

With table games like poker and blackjack, although the random numbers are used to power random pack shuffles rather than assign icon values – the RNG concept remains very similar to slot gaming. However, once the random nature of the shuffle has been implemented, you’re able to use skill and strategy to analyse the pack and get a potential edge.

The best RNG technology produces average casino payouts in the ’95-98.5% zone ’ – but you’ll find some casinos with hot months where their random number generation went crazy and paid out over 100%! With many casinos offering fully-verified payouts from auditors such as Pricewaterhouse Coopers, you never have to worry about unscrupulous casinos ever again.