Algorithms — The Backbone of Casino Gaming

What you need to know about algorithms is that they represent a calculated flux that goes on by itself. It’s a mathematical model that keeps working in the background of any activity that defines and makes sure that its decisions follow a logic of computation.

Since these mathematical models represent a sequence that must reinstate and refresh itself by starting from a seed, it creates a sense of predictability, keeping control in the hands of those who are in change of this algorithm.

They are all around us, influencing the way we think, monetizing attention, and keeping the world spinning in a constant flux that takes what represents us and gives it back to us. Algorithms represent a continuous process that takes data and uses it to extract results.

Why Are Algorithms So Important In Such A Specialized Context Like Gambling?

Online gambling has digitalized to an amazing degree, proving that the idea of turning towards the waves of the internet was a natural choice for an undeniable move. The market growth of online gambling is proven by all the metrics that we think of and use.

However, the highly interesting part of this process must be the system of porting gambling practices into the digital realm. Video transmission of a mechanical game was important, but creating a game from scratch from a digital standpoint was something else and definitely more impressive.

This is how algorithms entered the industry, mimicking the mechanical randomness of analog games of luck. The development of algorithms and their implementation made room for a slew of solutions that turned these mechanisms into digital realities.

RNG – Making Games Provably Fair

The Random Number Generator is the solution that stands at the root of every solution that online gambling has been doing its best to implement.

In fact, we can say that it’s what provides the online casino industry with the legitimacy to operate legally, giving it the regulatory legs that it needs to make itself viable in the world of entertainment. As such, a provable RNG model is, without buts and ifs, the standard minimum requirement for any game that wants to see the light of the market.

An RNG model is an algorithm in itself. It’s a mathematical model whose complexity generates random numbers, themselves turning into results. Such an algorithm generates the results that inform how a digital game goes on.

Each game producer creates an algorithm with a seed, and it’s the only one that has the key to how the RNG model functions. By generating random results, it has the complexity that negates any attempt to crack the code and predict results. Since it achieves true randomness, it succeeds in mimicking random-turning slot reels, roulettes, and card draws.

Once the producer creates a mathematical model that it’s confident in, the algorithm becomes the subject of testing.

It goes to an accredited testing lab, which runs the algorithm very extensively in order to see if it can detect patterns and if there is any form of predictability. Names like eCOGRA, iTech Labs, and NMi are trustworthy testing entities that can ensure that any would-be game deserves to be on the market.

Naturally, a game producer must have the accreditation of these testing authorities if it is to receive the licenses that it needs in order to collaborate with online casino brands, especially in tightly regulated markets. As such, the solidity and unpredictability of an RNG model is more than essential.

SSL & TLS — Making Things Safe

SSL and TLS encryption protocols are those that keep websites safe. They protect data in real-time, which is a requirement by default on the internet. However, the stakes are much higher when a website houses financial data, such as bank account credentials and other elements that are native to payment.

From what the internet appears to dictate, the SSL (Secure Socket Layer) type of algorithm is already relatively outdated, and the TLS (Transport Layer Security) has become the norm that is at the root of every online casino platform with modern, up-to-standard solutions.

Since the TLS is a cryptographic protocol, one of its methodologies is to encrypt a random number with the public key of a server that the online casino belongs to.

Since the server and the user use a random number as a key to a session, that session operates with that key only during that session. As a result, your device, the one that requested a session key after assessing the digital certificate of encryption, communicates with the server and establishes a private connection.

As you can see, the random number at the root of the cryptographic protocol is the result of an algorithm that generates it, making sure that a connection is safe. This is a standard and vital safety protocol that most online casinos use, as observed by SlotsCalendar in its database of such brands.

RTP & Payout

Payout algorithms are those that you can find in both a game’s and a casino’s system. They’re both important rates that the industry calls the Return To Player. They are percentages that you will find next to any other data that appears next to a game.

The RTP is, in fact, a protocol that dictates the agreement between the player and the house. In order to pay for its operations and hope to be profitable, an online casino retains a house edge. For every $100 invested, a 96% RTP means that you should expect 96% of your money to return to you over the course of a standard game session in which results are neutral. The $4 remaining is what the house retains for its services.

This RTP level is, basically, what to expect a normal gaming session to yield by default. Naturally, randomness is such that online casinos can always yield results that are disadvantageous to the house. However, their algorithms have a built-in mechanism that retains that small percentage as their profitability edge.

Conclusion

Regardless of where and how you see algorithms in online gambling, they are ever-present and undeniably represent the backbone of any digital casino operation.

However, gaming online should always be about having fun rather than stressing over numbers, so always remember to play responsibly!