How random are these websites ?

theGoingStick · How random are these websites ?

I've been playing a bit of blackjack tonight, just purely for entertainment to kill some time. But I was playing the bank and it got 3 black jacks in a row.

Now I don't mind losing but the odds for that to happen must be astronomical. This is one of the reasons I only play these games once in a blue moon, I believe they're fixed just like fruit machines.

alansouthcoast

I used to think the odds on something like this happening were incredible. Now i am of the opinion that whatever the odds of getting Blackjack are for one game, they stay the same no matter how many games one plays. Logically speaking, the odds are no more for game two, than they are for game one, each game been random and not contingent upon the result of previous games.

An easy test for my theory is to spin a coin, logic says its evens to land on heads or tails, no matter how often you flip the coin, there are still only two possible outcomes. The law of averages may well end up with an equal number of results, but it is just as likely to do this after ten games as 100 games, there will always be just the two outcomes, and each holding an equal chance.

jennywales

There was a very interesting programme about all this on Radio 4 recently, but I'm afraid it may be too late for a replay! It was about probability theory.

theGoingStick

I understand that each throw of the dice is a totally new event and therefore the outcome should be random, but when it comes to gambling the house usually has an advantage, whether it be the green number in roulette or the bank in blackjack.

I used to play blackjack a lot and I've never seen the same player get 3 blackjacks in a row. It led me to think how easy it would be for a program to generate a favourable draw for the computer and a bad draw for the punter and just use the old excuse that it was luck.

alansouthcoast

I know in Vegas the Nevada gaming board test the machines, to make sure the computer isnt fixed. I dont know if there are any such controls on internet blackjack ect.

The house edge on roulette comes from an odds bias, as against a wheel bias. I think the dealers egde in Blackjack is the player has to go first, and maybe the payout odds are in the dealers favour too. If the player cant stick below a certain number, he will bust more often than the dealer, since the dealer doesnt have to play every card. The dealer has no edge from the actual cards dealt.

One scam i read about internet poker, was a group of guys, all with cell phones, using the same online poker room, and fleecing anyone else who joined in. I think they got caught and served some time.

Papa 3

The use of the phrase "Law of Averages" has always puzzled me because there is a clear calculation for averages Total/occurences = average of occurence, and in coin flipping it has got to be 50-50. I think the theory of probability should be used instead, I can't explain that too well but the following makes interesting reading.

http://www.probabilitytheory.info/topics/the_law_of_large_numbers.htm

alansouthcoast

Thanks for the link Papa. i will read it later.

Gorg_George

Very interesting reading indeed, thanks Papa.