Wherever casino games are hosted online, they use random number generation (RNG) to mimic the randomness of real life. This ensures that the action in games like roulette is fair, using complex third-party programs that are also getting better over time. Here’s a brief explanation of how RNGs work and why it’s an important technology outside of the online casino.
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Random Number Generation in Casino Games
At its simplest, a random number generator is hardware or software that produces an unpredictable sequence. In casino games, it’s used to determine the outcome of chance events like dice throws, pulling from a card deck, or where the ball lands on a digital roulette wheel. All three are popular on iGaming sites, alongside live-streamed versions of real-life games. When a site hosts live roulette online, the results of a spin are unpredictable to the host and everybody in the audience. RNGs help recreate this effect in the digital world – current RNG technology is unpredictable by human beings.
Whether it’s a six-sided die or a 52-card deck, RNGs produce results while also considering other facets of the game. For example, you can’t pull the same card twice from the deck if that card is already in play. Fortunately, iGaming sites license rigorously tested third-party software that ensures randomness for their customers.
How RNGs Work
Creating random outputs is a lot more difficult than it sounds. After all, it’s hard to determine if something is truly random or just subject to a method that we can’t see. This has caused some thought leaders to determine that the concept of randomness, even in the real world, doesn’t really exist.
We use two primary ways to create randomness – the first relies on measuring a physical event that cannot be predicted. This is where hardware is used to analyse complicated processes like the decay of background radiation and other examples of natural entropy. By measuring this, hardware RNG happens upon an unforeseeable output that can be reliably used.
However, that’s impractical for a lot of industries that work with randomness. As such, most modern RNG is performed by software called pseudorandom number generators. These are computational algorithms that generally don’t rely on physical processes. The prefix ‘pseudo’ is used because, as a computer algorithm, it reaches its outcome using predictable processes. As humans, we just don’t have the processing power to see or determine what those outcomes will be, making it fully random for most intents and purposes.
Why RNG is Always Getting Better
The tech used in RNG software is constantly improving, including the third-party software used by iGaming sites. This is because RNG is used for a lot more than determining roulette spins. When a password manager generates a password, it uses RNG software to produce its outcome. RNG technology is also at the centre of many proofing mechanisms, particularly secure encryption responsible for developments like the blockchain. When a computer runs an algorithm, there is always some method to its madness. If unsecured, that method may be determined using rival software.
This is why RNG is important for cybersecurity, as computer scientists aim to produce results that are unpredictable to both humans and rival computer programs. As those RNG methods get more advanced, third-party RNG providers adopt useful improvements to guarantee that their games stay random and unbreakable. This means iGaming and other pedestrian uses of RNG technology benefit from continued research into randomness and better ways of creating it.