Facts and myths

A venue does not know when a poker machine or jackpot will go off. The software that is used to generate poker machines and jackpot prizes is based on a complex mathematical random number generator that ensures that prizes are awarded at random.

For deterministic jackpots, these must go off before reaching a certain level. However, knowing precisely when the jackpot will go off is still random. Obviously, when a jackpot gets close to that prescribed level there is the knowledge that it will go off soon. However, deterministic jackpots are strictly monitored and controlled.

Poker machines are designed to pay out randomly. They follow no set pattern and there is no way to predict the outcome of the game. There is no technique, no combination of button pushes, no change in bet amounts that will have any effect.

Venues do not know when a poker machine is going to pay out due to the randomness of each spin. This means there is no such thing as a ‘hot’ poker machine. The Return to Player (RTP) variations allowed for games in clubs and hotels are from 85% to 92% and for casinos it is 85% or higher. Poker machine games are programmed with multiple variations but there are strict conditions on when they can be changed. Sites are permitted a change once per month and all games with the same name and same denomination must have the same variation.

It is impossible for players to control the outcome of a game. The outcome of each spin is determined as soon as players hit the play button.

What you win on each play is not dependent on previous plays. The game will not compensate you with a big win if you have had lots of small losses. The results from previous plays are not used to determine future results. Your chance of winning a prize is the same for each play and your chance does not increase the longer you play.

The chances of winning are always the same. The number of past wins and losses has nothing to do with when the next payout will come. All payouts are random – there is no pattern even if it looks like there is one.

There is no such thing as near misses. The symbols are just pictures that are displayed randomly during play. They are absolutely no indication that the machine is about to pay out.

In Queensland clubs and hotels, poker machines are programmed to return between 85% and 92% to players.

An 85% return means that for every dollar bet on a machine, around 85 cents is returned to the gambler. This return is likely to be achieved over the life of the machine, usually 3–4 years. You cannot expect to receive 85 cents for every dollar you bet in a single gaming session. The money you place in the poker machine is the cost of the entertainment.

All venues are independently monitored through licensed operators. These licensed monitoring operators (LMOs) ensure that all poker machines are operating as expected by verifying that the software running in a poker machine is the approved software and that all meters which keep track of game behaviour (e.g. turnover, total wins etc.) all add up correctly. Thus any manipulation by a venue on a piece of software to modify its behaviour would be caught by the LMO.

A poker machine’s hardware and software are tested against National Standards, which stipulate the technical requirements for an EGM to operate in Queensland. This information, along with other minimum technical requirements, can be obtained from the Office of Liquor and Gaming and Regulation website.

All poker machine’s hardware, software, artwork and mathematics are tested by the Office of Liquor and Gaming and Regulation’s Technical Unit or Licensed Testing Facility Operators (LTFOs). All testing is done against relevant National Standards and technical requirements for security, integrity and fairness. As a result rejection rates of products due to issues discovered during testing is frequently high, which would indicate that issues are caught on a regular basis before being sold into the Queensland marketplace.

Each outcome of a spin is randomly generated by a computerised Random Number Generator.  Each spin is independent of previous spins, and the poker machine does not remember what happened in the last game. It all happens by chance.