Chicago Sun-Times

CASINO NOTE

- Don’t random number generators on the slots really generate two numbers, then pick one? That’s not random if when it generates a winner and a loser, it can still pick the loser. John Grochowski is a local free-lance writer.

Rivers Casino in Des Plaines will sponsor the casino tent with roulette, blackjack and craps at OfficeMax’s Green Tie Ball, the 21st annual charity event hosted by the nonprofit organizati­on Chicago Gateway Green. The gala opens at 8:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at A. Finkl and Sons, 2011 N. Southport. Tickets are $135 in advance or $175 at the door, or $250 for VIP tickets that include a 6:30 p.m. reception. Visit greentieba­ll.eventbrite.com. machine it has to pay out a certain percentage. They set the odds of the game so that repeated play will lead naturally to that percentage.

That’s called a “secondary decision,” and it’s not legal in commercial casinos in the United States. Early computeriz­ed slots manufactur­ed by Universal selected an outcome from a pool of all possible winning outcomes, along with a weighted number of losers. If it was a winner, that specific result was shown on the reels. If it was a loser, then a secondary decision was made to show what losing combinatio­n to show on the reels. Nothing in that program was cheating players or changing the odds. Winning combinatio­ns were not rejected in favor of losers. Nonetheles­s, Nevada banned secondary decisions. Other gaming jurisdicti­ons followed suit.

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