Algorithms Used in Casinos

Most online and offline casinos use algorithms that are based on pseudorandom number generators. These generators create sequences of numbers that approximate the properties of sequences of truly random numbers. For example, when you roll a cubical die, you generate a truly random number because this number is completely impossible to predict. Computer algorithms are called pseudo-random because they need a number to get started. The resulting sequence in some form depends on that number and isn’t, therefore, truly random.

These algorithms are widely used not only in casino games but also in other electronic games, in scientific simulations and even cryptography.

Some other algorithms use hardware number generators, which are also true random number generators. The difference between a pseudo-random and random generator is the true random generators use numbers that they obtain as a result of a physical process, not just computer software. Such devices often use low-level random noise signals such as thermal. In theory, thermal signals, signals obtained using the photoelectric effect or using a beam splitter, are completely unpredictable.

A true random number generator typically has some kind of hardware that converts a physical event that cannot be predicted or forecasted into a digital signal. An amplifier or an electric circuit then amplifies the signal, brings it up to a measurable level and converts it into a number, typically a binary digit. The generator can obtain information from a sequence of physical events and in this way creates a series of truly random numbers.

The main application for such devices is cryptography, where the goal is to send and receive secure data. Random number generators have a lot in common with casino games because they often use devices that utilize the coin flipping, dice rolling and roulette wheels. The theory of dynamic system and chaos theory explain why these games have elements of unpredictability in them and thus generate truly random numbers.