...the gaming devices go through extensive testing both statistically and functionally.
The short version is this: If the computers at your bank have a glitch that tells you there is $11M in your checking account, should they have to make good on that? Or do you chalk it up to error.
Typically the company manufacturing the gaming device will employ a third party to verify that statistically speaking all the pay tables are correct, that all wins stand a chance of coming up etc. Then the device is submitted to the Nevada gaming commission for approvals. One of the requirements for approval is that you provide them with a firmware listing and the information on where they can set breakpoints after the deal/draw/spin but before the results are processed. This allows them to manipulate the game outcomes and verify that the machine displays properly (e.g. doesn't hide a big winner by intentionally drawing a losing result)
There are generally multiple pay tables in each device. So the house can select whether they want a specific device to pay 89%, 92%, 94% etc. Identical devices sitting side by side can have different pay tables selected, though when I was involved the pay tables weren't changed very often.
Because of the large number of pay tables there are lots of combinations to test, but in general they are all well tested before the machine is approved by Nevada.
So my guess is that the bug was somewhere outside the actual game play code, and from the sounds of the size of the jackpot it may not have been a bug in the gaming device at all. It may have been a bug in the progressive controller (the system that links all the machines together so that they contribute to a common jackpot) or the central control system.
Believe it or not, that very simple looking poker/keno/9 line game is actually a very complex bit of software with extremely strict functional requirements. Some jurisdictions will take a machine being evaluated for approvals and hook it up to an outlet that is randomly switched on and off, put a bunch of credits in and let it play for several days. When not waiting for human input they can play hundreds to thousands of games every second. It has to play the games continuously and record all the outcomes properly, and it has to continue to do so no matter how many times the power is interrupted or where in the code it is executing at the time the power went away. All the while they can be standing there inserting bills or coins into the machine, even while the power is constantly cycling. If you get to the end of a few days of that and your accounting is off by a penny, you failed, you have to fix the bug and resubmit and pay another $5K to $50K to resubmit the device for approvals.
It's not always as simple as it seems, then when you throw in communication protocols and coordinating with a progressive controller and and a central control system, mistakes are possible.
I'm not sure I see it as a major problem. Sometimes there are glitches. The casinos can buy their central control systems from one place, their progressive controllers from another and their gaming devices from a dozen different manufacturers. Should they be held responsible for every glitch along the way? Is it any different than the bank computer glitch that puts millions in your checking account?
In the end, people should gamble for one reason and one reason only. Entertainment. It's like going to a movie or a Broadway show, you pay your $10 or you $100 or $1,000, you sit down and you watch the show. If you don't like how it ended, oh well, you *got* your entertainment. If it doesn't feel like it was worth the price of admission, don't go back again.
Do you really think that the scumbags involved in spamming are good citizens and abide by normal moral and ethical limits everywhere *except* when it comes to randomly harvesting e-mails to send fake viagra and penis enlarger ads to? You figure they're model citizens otherwise?
On the post: More Casinos Succeeding With The 'That Jackpot You Won Was Really A Computer Glitch' Claim
This sort of thing not unheard of even though...
The short version is this: If the computers at your bank have a glitch that tells you there is $11M in your checking account, should they have to make good on that? Or do you chalk it up to error.
Typically the company manufacturing the gaming device will employ a third party to verify that statistically speaking all the pay tables are correct, that all wins stand a chance of coming up etc. Then the device is submitted to the Nevada gaming commission for approvals. One of the requirements for approval is that you provide them with a firmware listing and the information on where they can set breakpoints after the deal/draw/spin but before the results are processed. This allows them to manipulate the game outcomes and verify that the machine displays properly (e.g. doesn't hide a big winner by intentionally drawing a losing result)
There are generally multiple pay tables in each device. So the house can select whether they want a specific device to pay 89%, 92%, 94% etc. Identical devices sitting side by side can have different pay tables selected, though when I was involved the pay tables weren't changed very often.
Because of the large number of pay tables there are lots of combinations to test, but in general they are all well tested before the machine is approved by Nevada.
So my guess is that the bug was somewhere outside the actual game play code, and from the sounds of the size of the jackpot it may not have been a bug in the gaming device at all. It may have been a bug in the progressive controller (the system that links all the machines together so that they contribute to a common jackpot) or the central control system.
Believe it or not, that very simple looking poker/keno/9 line game is actually a very complex bit of software with extremely strict functional requirements. Some jurisdictions will take a machine being evaluated for approvals and hook it up to an outlet that is randomly switched on and off, put a bunch of credits in and let it play for several days. When not waiting for human input they can play hundreds to thousands of games every second. It has to play the games continuously and record all the outcomes properly, and it has to continue to do so no matter how many times the power is interrupted or where in the code it is executing at the time the power went away. All the while they can be standing there inserting bills or coins into the machine, even while the power is constantly cycling. If you get to the end of a few days of that and your accounting is off by a penny, you failed, you have to fix the bug and resubmit and pay another $5K to $50K to resubmit the device for approvals.
It's not always as simple as it seems, then when you throw in communication protocols and coordinating with a progressive controller and and a central control system, mistakes are possible.
I'm not sure I see it as a major problem. Sometimes there are glitches. The casinos can buy their central control systems from one place, their progressive controllers from another and their gaming devices from a dozen different manufacturers. Should they be held responsible for every glitch along the way? Is it any different than the bank computer glitch that puts millions in your checking account?
In the end, people should gamble for one reason and one reason only. Entertainment. It's like going to a movie or a Broadway show, you pay your $10 or you $100 or $1,000, you sit down and you watch the show. If you don't like how it ended, oh well, you *got* your entertainment. If it doesn't feel like it was worth the price of admission, don't go back again.
On the post: Facebook Trying To Get Canadian Spammer To Pay Up
Re: Screwing ourselves by screwing ourselves.
Do you really think that the scumbags involved in spamming are good citizens and abide by normal moral and ethical limits everywhere *except* when it comes to randomly harvesting e-mails to send fake viagra and penis enlarger ads to? You figure they're model citizens otherwise?
Spammer's don't file tax returns. Example:
http://www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/solowayPlea.htm
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