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Poker machines are to some extent non-random. They can be tuned by the operator to set the rate at which they’ll pay out, some places will tune for better rates
by jon-wood 6y ago
Poker machines are to some extent non-random. They can be tuned by the operator to set the rate at which they’ll pay out, some places will tune for better rates in order to entice customers in, while others set them to essentially be black holes for money.
- kyteland 6y agoThese games are extremely random, by law. The card game itself is truly random, short of any unknown bugs that escaped testing by both the manufacturer and the regulators. The only thing that affects the payouts in a video poker game is the paytable, which is visible to the player up front and can't be changed while they're playing it, again by law. You can look up the expected value of each game online before putting any money in by the advertised paytable. Source: I've been a casino game mathematician for 20 years.
- disgruntledphd2 6y agoIncidentally, I would love to read some blog posts/articles about this stuff, if you've ever gotten around to writing them :)