A Slot I Had Just Left Hits Jackpot.

Dear Mark,
After going through two rolls of quarters, I got up from a cold machine and moved one machine over. A lady then started playing on the machine I had just left hits a $10,000 jackpot on her first three quarters. Was I a day late and a dollar short? Del E.

Not even a second late and six bits short. Most players, Del, falsely reason; "If I had played just three more quarters, that $10,000 jackpot would have been mine." But even gluing your hopeful fanny to that same machine's stool would not have given you that $10,000 jackpot. Why? Because the results of a modern slot machine's spin depend on exactly when the spin began.

The Random Number Generator (RGN) within the machine is constantly generating random numbers at a rate as high as a million per second. As soon as the lever is pulled (or the "Play" button pressed) the most recently generated random number is used to determine the outcome. Since results vary depending on exactly when the handle is yanked, an earlier or later pull by you would have created a completely different outcome.
Consequently, Del, it is highly unlikely that you would have received the same result if you had played three additional quarters. The only way you could have had the happy lady's booty was for her to say to you, "It's all yours, Buster" at the end of the down pull, and she gives you her seat while the reels were still spinning. Sure, it's corny example, but I'm trying to drive home the point on how improbable the 10K was of being yours.

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