• Pre Programmed Bcm
• Pre Programmed Definition
• How Are Slot Machines Programmed For Payout
• How To Use Slot Machines

Slot machines are programmed using Random Number Generator (RNG), which means slot machines are random and are games of luck. But, there is a way to win at slot machines, and here are 10 useful tips to help you win the game.The machines that are pre-programmed to pay out more often are known as loose slot machines. The machines are not programmed to pay out on pre-programmed stops of the reels. What the program in the machines does, conceptually, is ask the RNG for a random number after a player initiates a game. The odds for a particular slot machine are built into the program on the machine's computer chip. In most cases, the casino cannot change the odds on a machine without replacing this chip. Despite popular opinion, there is no way for the casino to instantly 'tighten up' a machine.

I don't know what rules are in place in Ontario so this may or may not apply to you, but everything I've read over the past few years indicate that your selection does make a difference, provided you are playing on a 'Class III' machine which is what is used in Las Vegas and most other casino's. Some districts use 'Class II' machines which are more like bingo and are also referred to as 'Video Lottery Terminals' in which case the results is predetermined. In this article a Williams Gaming VP said this about the 'Jackpot Party' game:

When Jackpot Party multi-tier progressive first started appearing in casinos in the Chicago area, Rob Bone, vice-president of marketing for WMS told me: 'Giving players a sense of control, and allowing them to determine what progressive they qualify for is a huge attribute of the game'.
'It is based purely upon what symbols and what presents the player picks to determine what progressive award they achieve,' he added.

Other articles I've read have also stated this.
(Edited to add, since you state the employer is 'Ontario Lottery and Gaming' I'd guess there is a pretty good chance that the games are Class II, in which case your friend is correct and your selections make no difference.)The Wizard answered that question in a video about slot machines he did for The American Casino Guide on YouTube. In Las Vegas, your choices do indeed make a difference, but I don't know about how they are programmed in Canada.
How Slot Machines Work
How to Win at SlotsMathExtremist (ME) would be perfect to address this. Unlike him, I have not worked directly for a slot maker. I can only go off of PARS sheets and what I've been told. That said, it is my understanding that in bonus rounds where to pick icons on the screen the player does indeed control his destiny. The game shuffles the prizes and you pick them, like on Deal or No Deal. It also may be that the game is continuously shuffling them until you do make a choice, much like the rest of the deck while the game is waiting for the player to discard. I'd be interested to hear what ME says on that.
Even if the players win is predetermined, the PARS sheets I've seen indicate that every prize has equal odds. So, mathematically, it wouldn't matter if the player had free will or not. All this is my answer for class III games. Class II slots (bingo based) would not allow for free will, because the outcome must be determined by the draw of the bingo balls.I'm not sure how the OLG does it. If the slots are centrally-determined virtual pull-tabs like they are in New York racinos or Washington tribal locations, then everything (not just the bonus round) is predetermined by the central computer managing the set of tickets. One thing you can ask your friend is whether the slot game gets its results from a remote server or whether it does a random determination within the machine. On the other hand, gaming regs usually don't address whether bonus round outcomes may be fully determined at the beginning of each play or whether the player's interaction must have something to do with it. There are 3 or 4 different ways to handle it, but basically all of them are mathematically equivalent. For example, a 12-spot pick-until-pop bonus can be evaluated by the average total value before 'collect' under random picking, or by a predetermined number of picks to reveal. It's actually easier from a coding standpoint to do the random method.Based on my 13 years of answering questions from gamblers, I can tell you that most slot players are not satisfied with the 'it doesn't matter,' or 'it can happen different ways' answer. Same as for video poker. It is true that it doesn't matter mathematically, but the players truly want to know if they are they are in control of their own destiny. Trust me, I've been asked this question for 13 years. I would love to have somebody say, 'I program these games for company X and here is how we do it...' The WMS quote seems to answer the question for WMS, but I'd love to hear from IGT, Ballys, Aristrocrat, or anybody else.
Also, as was mentioned, sometimes the games show you what was behind the unchosen prizes. I would call it lying if that information was not truthful. Maybe there isn't a regulation against it, but I would call it dishonest, at the least.I have some knowledge of OLG's operations, but more from a 30,000 foot level.
Their slots are Class III and do not operate any differently than any other Class III game. If the player isn't experiencing good bonus rounds, the player has to remember that bonus rounds are highly volatile. As well, the payouts on these games might be set in general to be low. OLG's payback on slot machines is not atypical from other jurisdictions.

I have some knowledge of OLG's operations, but more from a 30,000 foot level.
Their slots are Class III and do not operate any differently than any other Class III game.

I'm pretty sure I know what you mean, but just to be clear, Class III is an IGRA designation that's related to what's allowed/not-allowed in tribal locations without a state-tribal compact. Class III means anything that's not Class II or Class I, so unless a gaming machine is actually bingo-based, it's Class III even if it's centrally-determined. E.g. New York racino machines would still be Class III, but it doesn't matter because the racino isn't on tribal land, and it's state statutes and not the IGRA that controls there.
There have been some interesting court decisions on what is or isn't Class II. See Cabazon v NIGC: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14878425114969219817

Pre Programmed Bcm

Most modern slot machines are designed to look and feel like the old mechanical models, but they work on a completely different principle. The outcome of each pull is actually controlled by a central computer inside the machine, not by the motion of the reels.

The computer uses step motors to turn each reel and stop it at the predetermined point. Step motors are driven by short digital pulses of electricity controlled by the computer, rather than the fluctuating electrical current that drives an ordinary electric motor. These pulses move the motor a set increment, or step, with great precision (see Introduction To Step Motor Systems to find out more).

Pre Programmed Definition

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How Are Slot Machines Programmed For Payout

But even though the computer tells the reels where to stop, the games are not pre-programmed to pay out at a certain time. A random number generator at the heart of the computer ensures that each pull has an equal shot at hitting the jackpot.

How To Use Slot Machines

Whenever the slot machine is turned on, the random number generator is spitting out whole numbers (typically between 1 and several billion) hundreds of times a second. The instant you pull the arm back (or press the button), the computer records the next few numbers from the random number generator. Then it feeds these numbers through a simple program to determine where the reels should stop.

Here's how the complete process plays out in a typical three-reel machine.

• You pull the handle, and the computer records the next three numbers from the random number generator. The first number is used to determine the position of the first reel, the second number is used for the second reel and the third number is used for the third reel. For this example, let's say the first number is 123,456,789.
• To determine the position of the first reel, the computer divides the first random number by a set value. Typically, slot machines divide by 32, 64,128, 256 or 512. In this example, we'll say the computer divides by 64.
• When the computer divides the random number by the set value, it records the remainder of the quotient. In our example, it finds that 64 goes into 123,456,789 a total of 1,929,012 times with a remainder of 21.
• Obviously, the remainder can't be more than 64 or less than 0, so there are only 64 possible end results of this calculation. The 64 possible values act as stops on a large virtual reel.
• Each of the 64 stops on the virtual reel corresponds to one of the 22 stops on the actual reel. The computer consults a table that tells it how far to move the actual reel for a particular value on the virtual reel. Since there are far more virtual stops than actual stops, some of the actual stops will be linked to more than one virtual stop.

Computer systems have made slot machines a lot more adaptable. For example, players can now bet money straight from a credit account, rather than dropping coins in for every pull. Players can also keep track of their wins and losses more easily, as can the casinos. The operation is also simpler in modern machines -- if they want to, players can simply press a button to play a game, rather than pull the handle.

One of the main advantages of the computer system for machine manufacturers is that they can easily configure how often the machine pays out (how loose or tight it is). In the next section, we'll see how the computer program can be configured to change the slot machine's odds of hitting the jackpot.