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This may be jurisdiction dependant, but in the UK, the small prize fruit machine style games you find in pubs are required by law to payout a fixed percentage o

This may be jurisdiction dependant, but in the UK, the small prize fruit machine style games you find in pubs are required by law to payout a fixed percentage of their income over time. I believe it's 70%, but I think there are variations and exceptions to the rule. So if £1000 is paid in during the day, the machine by law must pay out at least £700 in prizes. This is not allowed to be fully random, the odds of each game are not independent because they must by law ensure the minimum payout. It's semi-common knowledge that the way to win at these machines is to watch them until you have seen someone else have a long losing streak, then take your turn when they leave as the machine is now 'behind' and overdue a payout.

morgante 4y ago
You're right, this actually does vary by jurisdiction. I looked into and was quite surprised that the UK allows something called "compensated game control" to adjust the odds dynamically so the observed payout matches the expected one. [0] Nevada has the opposite rule: machines must only incorporate chance when paying out and the theoretical payout is what the gaming commission analyzes. They can't dynamically adjust odds to favor a preferred payout. [1] [0] https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/authorities/guide/page/la-bulletin-august-2020-feature-article https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/authorities/guide/page... [1] https://gaming.nv.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=4548 https://gaming.nv.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=4...