Are Online Slots Rigged?

Random Number Generators

All regulated and licenced online casino sites are subject to independent checks and constant governance by the UKGC or other gambling bodies. As part of their testing, online slots are checked for their RTP calculations and RNG software to ensure that no player or casino itself has an unfair advantage over the others. Since all of the slot machines are governed by random number generators and built according to a guaranteed percentage payout over an unspecified duration of time, there is little movement to manipulate the system without facing huge fines or getting caught and losing your reputation.

The code isn’t owned by the casinos

When asking ‘are online slots rigged’, the finger of blame is intentionally laid at the food of the online casinos themselves. That being said, many of the slot machines featured on the websites are also available to play at other online slots sites as they aren’t owned by the individual casino themselves. For example, major slot providers like NetEnt and BluePrint, lease their slot machines to numerous sites for licensed usage. This means that while the casinos can lower the RTP (Return to Player) in some instances, most follow the guidelines set by the provider and have no access to the code to manipulate the spins or bonus rounds. The only alternative to this is when larger casinos offer in-house created games as well, albeit these sites tend to be well-established and more trustworthy to begin with.

Limited stakes and misinformation

Sometimes when a slot machine doesn’t offer a high stake option, players are quick to label the online slots rigged, but in fact it is often a much simpler solution. For example, Megaways slots and xWays variants are higher volatility with larger payouts, therefore the maximum bet is often restricted due to the high potential win amounts. In return, the win ratios are often lower to compensate for the larger prizes on offer. While this may be frustrating for some players who want to place large stake bets, it doesn’t mean that the online slots machines are rigged, purely that the limits are set by the casinos and providers to keep the playing fields fair.

Bonuses and Jackpots

All slot machines tend to offer a variation on a bonus round – be it free spins to custom pick’n’choose prizes, however their frequency is nothing to do with the amount you stake or even the number of times you spin. These are also subjective to the RTP and RNG calculations we spoke about earlier and there is no outside influence that can be placed on them. This is the same when it comes to Jackpot slots as the bigger and ‘more promoted’ jackpots that run into the millions – on slot machines like Mega Moolah Jackpot Slot – tend to be split over lots of individual casinos and managed by the providers themselves. Each player, at each casino, then has a small part of their bet attributed to the jackpot count itself, thereby meaning that the RTP of the slot is slightly lower, to adjust for the eventual big payday that one lucky punter will get their hands on.

So there you have it, the age-old question of ‘are online slots rigged’ may still be a doubt in some of your minds, but hopefully we’ve done enough to convince the majority of you that no matter which of the thousands of online slots you choose, they really are legitimate in most instances.