The Random Number Generator (RNG) is at the heart of the modern online gambling industry and is prevalent in all online games, blackjack included. The RNG’s purpose is to ensure random, i.e. unpredictable outcomes, guaranteeing fairness for everyone involved.

Blackjack is by far the only casino game where players can turn the tables in their favor through the implementation of advantage play techniques such as card counting. This is possible because blackjack is a game of dependent events, meaning that previous outcomes affect the odds of future outcomes. Players use the knowledge of past cards dealt to make better informed playing decisions about the hands to follow.

Is this the case in online blackjack variations that run on RNGs, though? Rather than having a human dealer to shuffle and randomize the card order, online blackjack uses algorithms and mathematical formulas to ensure each card that appears on the virtual felt is dealt at random. This prevents the games from showing bias toward the dealer or the player.

For years, gambling buffs have speculated as to whether or not such games are truly random and unbeatable. Some swear by the unpredictability of randomly generated online blackjack while others believe the games are exploitable.

• Blackjack casino machines might not be as trustworthy of players as it is to play with a real dealer, but that doesn’t mean that the machines are rigged. They do provide you with similar odds to what you’d expect a dealer blackjack game to provide you with (they’re almost the same, in fact, but machines.
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• Its an easy answer. BJ is rigged in the house's favor from the get-go. The house wins 49% of hands, player wins 42.5%, and 8.5% of hands are pushed (playing perfect basic strategy). It should be obvious that the dealer winning 7.5 more hands out of every 100 is huge.
• Casino games are already 'rigged' so no. Would they intentionally skew results harder, possibly but no real incentive as people would certainly figure it out and stop playing and the casino would potentially face penalties from relevant gaming com.

Check the table’s blackjack rules. Before you start playing at a table, it’s important to find out how you will be paid for a blackjack. If you get a natural blackjack, a 21 on the first two cards dealt to you, a table may pay you 3:2, which is $3 for every $2 wagered. Others will pay you less, such as 6:5, and should be avoided.

Here at SuperCasinoSites, we give you the full lowdown on all you need to know about Random Number Generators in online blackjack as well as an answer to the question are such games beatable or not.

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The RNG and How It Works?

The RNG made its entry into the gambling industry as a new way to operate slots. Slot machines previously had physical reels that rotated to determine which symbols would eventually appear and potentially create winning combinations.

Slots gradually developed into more complicated games with multiple paylines and special features. The need to introduce a new way of ensuring random outcomes arose. Physical space was limited on old-fashioned reels and did not allow for the ever-increasing number of symbols and winning combinations in advanced slots.

It is this need that led to the introduction of the Random Number Generator. The RNG is a built-in program that relies on mathematical computations to generate fully random events. Frequently implemented in scientific simulations, it also found its way into the gambling industry with the rise of online casinos.

The RNG can be used to simulate random independent events such as the roll of the dice, the spin of a roulette wheel or the flip of a coin. In the context of online blackjack, the RNG shuffles the cards, ensuring every single hand is randomly dealt and has an unpredictable result.

The software achieves this by generating lengthy strings of random numbers. It has no knowledge of previous results and lacks a predictable pattern. The implementation of RNGs is essential when it comes to ensuring fair and unbiased online casino games, whether it is blackjack, roulette, slots or any other game with an element of chance. They are also used in brick-and-mortar venues for electronic roulette and blackjack, keno, and video poker.

True Random and Pseudo-Random Number Generators

There are several types of RNGs, the first one being the True Random Number Generator (TRNG) which relies on some external input to spit out random results. The TRNG is significantly more expensive to maintain. It is mostly used in the field of cryptography where its main purpose is to spew random cryptographic keys to transfer data safely.

The vast majority of online casinos rely on the so-called Pseudo-Random Number Generators (PRNG). Unlike the TRNG, the PRNG is deterministic and uses complex algorithms to produce unpredictable results in casino games like blackjack. Let’s have a more detailed look at the differences between these two main types of RNG.

One-to-One Comparison between TRNGs and PRNGs

Qualities	PRNGs	TRNGs
Level of efficiency	High efficiency	Poorer efficiency and fewer numbers produced
Deterministic or non-deterministic	Deterministic	Non-deterministic
Periodic or non-periodic	Periodic	Non-periodic
Suitable applications	Modeling and Simulation	Data encryption, random sampling, casino games, draws, and lotteries

True Random Number Generators (TRNG)

TRNGs rely on different natural phenomena or external sources to produce random numbers. To use a simple example, suppose you place 1,000 microphones in multiple noisy areas worldwide. You can use their combined sound output for the purpose of randomization. The TRNG will use these obviously unpredictable random sounds and translate them into strings of numbers.

This type of RNG lacks a computer algorithm to make computations, which means the numbers its spews are indeed an unpredictably jumbled mess. The TRNG extracts random numbers from physical phenomena such as the movements of a computer mouse, keystrokes, radiation waves, and atmospheric noise.

TRNGs are also known as Hardware Random Number Generators because they use hardware transducers to transform certain aspects of physical phenomena into electrical signals. This physical output is then converted into random digital numbers with the help of analog-to-digital conversion systems.

There are many ways to achieve absolute randomness but most TRNGs usually rely on external sources such as radiation waves. One great example is the HotBits service which creates random numbers by timing the decay of consecutive radioactive pairs, an inherently unpredictable process. This information is detected and fed into a computer straight from a Geiger–Müller tube.

Atmospheric noise can also be used for this purpose and so can background noises like those in office buildings or laboratories. In the second case, you will have to watch closely for discernible patterns as those can hurt randomness.

Another cool example of a highly functional TRNG is Silicon Graphics’ lavarand generator. It extracted random data from snapshots of the shapes made by the floating material in lava lamps. The data was then used to produce truly unpredictable seeds for a Pseudo-Random Number Generator.

Regardless of what physical phenomenon is implemented for the generation, the TRNG is non-deterministic, which means the number sequences it produces cannot be recreated, intentionally repeated, or predicted in any way.

With that said, certain number sequences can repeat themselves several times but this repetition happens entirely by chance. As for efficiency, TRNGs often lack in this department. Unlike PRNG, they require more time to generate numbers.

Pseudo-Random Number Generators (PRNG)

Many online blackjack variations run on the so-called Pseudo-Random Number Generators (PRNGs) to give randomness a kick. Rather than relying on completely unpredictable physical phenomena, the PRNG uses complex algorithms and computations based on a predetermined set of rules.

The difference here is that the PRNG does not necessarily require an external input to produce random outcomes. All they require is a fixed algorithm and seed numbers to kick off the process of random number generation. Each random number corresponds to a particular card value and suit.

The PRNG is highly efficient at its task because it is capable of producing very long strings of numbers every millisecond. Unlike TRNGs, the PRNG is deterministic, which is to say it can reproduce a specific number sequence at a later date if need be. It is also periodic in the sense that number sequences, no matter how chaotic they appear to be, will sooner or later start to repeat themselves.

It makes sense this periodicity is an undesirable trait in the context of online gambling games such as blackjack. It takes away from the unpredictability of the hands’ outcomes. This renders online blackjack games theoretically exploitable.

In practice, though, the period of repetition of sophisticated casino PRNGs is extremely long and involves billions of hands. This fact alone prevents players from detecting any patterns in the outcomes whatsoever.

The casino software communicates with the PRNG each time it must reproduce a random result. The PRNG then generates a number and feeds it back to the software. Each number is related to a potential outcome or card value and the software displays it accordingly.

Assume, for instance, you are playing blackjack in a landbased casino and you choose to hit. The dealer will simply draw the next card from the top of the deck or shoe. This is not what happens in online blackjack since here cards are not dealt from a “real” shoe.

The casino software would simply instruct the PRNG to generate an arbitrary number, which will determine the value of the card you are dealt next. This process repeats itself after every single hand. Once you finish a round, the discards are reintroduced back into the virtual shoe and reshuffled. In essence, you are always playing from a fresh and therefore, neutral shoe.

The table below is a one-to-one comparison between Pseudo and True Random Number Generators.

Measures Taken to Ensure Fairness in RNG-Based Blackjack Games

Online blackjack utilizes Random Number Generators in place of dealers, which causes some players to question the authenticity of the games. Are they rigged in favor of the house or not? One typical scenario is when a player goes through several hundred hands, loses half or the majority of them, and quickly jumps to the conclusion the game is rigged. It seems the virtual dealer always manages to outdraw them no matter what upcard they show.

The trouble is this scenario is not all that uncommon in gambling, even if you play games like blackjack which combine elements of skill, strategy, and chance. The above-mentioned reasoning is a classic case of confirmation bias.

Us humans have the tendency to look for, interpret and sift out information in a way that reinforces our prior individual beliefs. Some players’ line of thinking is “I am losing a hand after hand so the game most definitely is rigged against me!”. However, a sample size of several hundred or thousand blackjack hands is hardly sufficient when it comes to drawing any such conclusions.

We would like to point out honesty and fair play are not something you should worry about if you play blackjack at reputable, licensed, and properly regulated online casinos. Here is why:

Tests and Evaluations of the RNGs

Tests and evaluations of the RNGs used in blackjack games are performed regularly to make sure the software works efficiently. The available blackjack variations undergo frequent audits by third-party testing companies like eCOGRA, Gaming Laboratories International or Technical Systems Testing.

These are all independent auditors to prevent any conflict of interest. The audits assess the games’ RNGs, using sample sizes that involve millions of blackjack hands. This is the only way to determine whether the outcomes of a given game add up to its built-in payout percentage or not.

Certificate From the Testing Agency

Once an online casino passes the audits successfully, it is granted a certificate from the testing agency to post on its website. This badge of approval indicates the blackjack variations, along with all other available games, are random and therefore, fair. Moreover, online gambling operators are expected to report the results of these audits, along with their games’ payout percentages, to their regulators. If something is amiss, the casino faces serious repercussions.

Randomness in the Blackjack Games

Finally, randomness is of utmost importance for casino operators as well. It preserves the integrity of the blackjack games and ensures the casino generates sufficient expected value to continue operating. Remember you are already playing against the house at a small disadvantage, roughly 0.50% in blackjack games with more favorable rules.

There is no need for online casino operators to cheat you and risk losing their licenses in the process. They have already secured their cut from the virtual blackjack tables thanks to the built-in house edge. Casinos face a heavy financial penalization and license suspension if an audit determines their blackjack games are rigged.

The Attributes of Exploitable Blackjack Games

Digital Blackjack Rigged Poker

Now that you have understood what the RNG is and how it is implemented in online card games, we shall return to our original question, namely “Can you beat the RNG in online blackjack?”. And more particularly, is this feat achievable through the implementation of techniques like card counting. To answer this question, we must first examine the attributes of profitable, i.e. beatable, blackjack games.

Favorable House Rules

To begin with, you need to find blackjack variations with favorable rules that reduce the house edge enough so you can beat the game. Some of the things you need to consider in advance include the payouts for blackjacks, the number of decks, and the doubling and splitting rules.

The more liberal the rules are, the lower the house edge becomes. The rules of some variants are poor enough to render the games unbeatable. Other rules like Late Surrender are favorable to players and decrease the casino advantage.

Games that offer reduced payouts of 6 to 5 for blackjacks have considerably higher house edges and should be avoided at all costs. Luckily, the majority of online blackjack variations pay for naturals at standard odds of 3 to 2.

Good Penetration

The second attribute of beatable games is good enough deck penetration. For the uninitiated, the term designates how deep the dealer would deal into the shoe before reshuffling the cards. The deeper the penetration, the more information a card counter gets as to what cards remain to be dealt.

The main issue with RNG-based blackjack is that it gives advantage players no penetration whatsoever. This renders techniques like card counting completely useless. RNG blackjack is equivalent to live-dealer games where Continuous Shuffling Machines (CSMs) are used. The software automatically reintroduces the discards into the shoe and reshuffles everything after every single hand. This is an instant put-off for versed blackjack players.

It is impossible to beat a game where the cards are shuffled after each round. To use card counting to your advantage, you need good enough penetration. An example of adequate penetration is a six-deck game where the dealer shows you around five decks before reaching the shuffle card.

With RNG-based games, you start each round from a neutral, newly reshuffled shoe. Respectively, you base your playing decisions on limited information since you only get to see the cards dealt to your hand and the upcard of the virtual dealer. The best you can do against the RNG is stick to perfect basic strategy, in which case, you are still playing an unbeatable game with negative EV.

Hands Played per Hour

Speed is a double-edged sword when it comes to online blackjack. RNG games play at an exceptionally fast speed, which may appeal to players who prefer greater dynamics. Since you play against the software, there are no other players at the virtual table to slow you down while making their decisions.

The main trouble here is this increased dynamics can be extremely costly in the long run because you end up playing significantly more hands per hour than you would in a traditional landbased casino. There is no natural pause in the game for reshuffling, either. The RNG knows no rest, tirelessly reshuffling the virtual shoe round after round.

Consequently, you play a greater number of hands at a disadvantage, which ultimately causes you to lose more money to the house edge in the long term. Each result is unpredictable and entirely independent from the rest. Every round starts from a neutral shoe that favors neither the player nor the virtual dealer.

Digital Blackjack Rigged Play

You can benefit from playing more hands per hour only if you count cards in a game with decent penetration and this is not something RNG-based blackjack offers. Here, the more you play, the bigger your hourly losses will get.

Conclusion

Some players assume that Pseudo-Random Number Generators (PRNG) in online blackjack are beatable due to their determinism and periodicity. They reason such games are exploitable because sooner or later the sequence of numbers will begin to repeat itself.

While it is theoretically possible to use this “pseudo” randomness to your advantage, very few people are capable of achieving it in practice. The algorithms in RNG-based blackjack are simply way too sophisticated so predicting the outcomes of the hands borders on the impossible. Furthermore, the software undergoes regular audits. Rigged or hackable blackjack games will never slip through the net during testing.

One of the biggest fears casino players have is being cheated by the casino.

I’ve talked to dozens of live casino players who constantly talk about how they’ve been cheated by the casino. This number is low compared to the number of online players who claim they’ve been cheated by an Internet casino.

The only question I get more than is online blackjack rigged is if online poker is rigged?

Of course it’s an entirely different subject for another day, but I feel a lot safer playing blackjack than poker when it comes to being cheated.

On this page I cover many of the common cheating claims, show you a few ways that cheating could actually occur, a few real issues online blackjack players may face, and discuss a few individual casinos.

As I explain in greater detail below, the best way to know you’re playing a fair game and not being cheated is play at an established and trusted online casino. Ones with a long track record of honest play and customer service are the place you want to play.

The two I can recommend off the top of my head are Guts Casino live blackjack and 5 Dimes real dealer blackjack. Both of these companies have been offering online gambling for years and I’ve played at both of them for real money in the past.

So, is blackjack rigged at casinos?

Claims of Cheating

The same arguments and claims are made about live dealer blackjack as video blackjack. So the following claims are in reference to both of the following questions.

Is video blackjack rigged?

Is live dealer blackjack rigged?

The most frequent claim that I read about blackjack being rigged is that a player has lost 5 straight hands, or 7 straight hands, or 10 straight hands. The person complaining states that the game must be rigged because they lost so many straight hands as if that fact alone proved something.

What these players don’t seem to understand is how probabilities and statistics work.

While you won’t lose 10 hands in a row very often, it can and will happen. Just because something is rare doesn’t mean that when it happened the casino is cheating or the game is rigged.

The odds of losing 8 hands in a row are only 1 in 173 so you’ll have long losing streaks.

On the other side you’ll occasionally have long winning streaks too. But most players quickly forget the winning streaks and scream bloody murder when the casino wins a few hands in a row.

The next complaint I see kind of falls under the same type of thing. Players say that a certain casino’s blackjack game is tighter than others and if the player gets a good hand like a pair of face cards the dealer gets the same hand or a blackjack more often than normal.

The funny thing is I’ve seen a player complain that casino A is tighter than casino B and then seen a different player complain that casino B was tighter than casino A.

The fact is these complainers are simply making statements based on guesses and what they think they see over a few hundred hands at best.

What you never see is anyone that has actually tracked the hundreds of thousands of hands needed to make a real determination of blackjack cheating.

I believe there are two reasons for this. The first reason is the general player is too lazy to actually do the work required to track that many hands. The second reason is if anyone does track the hands they find out that the games are in actuality fair so they stop complaining.

How It Could Happen

The easiest way for an online casino to rig a live dealer blackjack game is by removing some aces or face cards from the shoe.

Because most live dealer games use a 6 or 8 deck shoe and don’t go pat 50% penetration it’d be quite difficult for the average player to determine this was happening.

But a player who took the time to track enough hands would be able to see it in the statistics eventually. I’d want at least 25,000 hands to start making any accusations, and 100,000 would be better.

The only other feasible way is to use a stacked shoe, but the problem with this is in most games they have no way of knowing for sure how many seats will be filled at any time throughout the shoe. With a stacked shoe the casino needs to know how many players will be playing each round, and even then the players don’t always make the same decisions so it alters the outcomes.

Why It Doesn’t Happen

Of course I can’t guarantee that you’ll never find an online casino that cheats or a live dealer blackjack game that bends the rules, but for the most part it just doesn’t happen with the best online casinos.

If an online casino or blackjack game is caught cheating it will cost the company millions of dollars, even if they can stay in business.

The news of a casino caught cheating will spread like wildfire through the Internet community and players will never trust the casino again.

Online blackjack games don’t have to cheat in order to turn a long term profit.

Even the blackjack games that have the lowest house edge have a half percent edge over the player. And the only way a player can play at the lowest house edge is by playing perfect strategy.

Most blackjack players don’t use perfect strategy, so they give the house an additional edge.

Digital Blackjack Rigged Game

I don’t have the exact numbers that online blackjack games operate at profit wise, but even if it’s as low as 1% overall they make money hand over fist. And the truth is that the overall house edge is probably closer to 2% than 1%.

Here’s an example to show just how profitable online blackjack is with a fair game.

If the average live dealer table has five players each betting an average of $25 per hand and the game deals 50 hands per hour the total amount wagered on the table per hour is $6,250. At 1% this is an hourly profit of $62.50 per table.

But the numbers in the example are quite conservative.

If the edge is 2% the hourly profit is $125. If the average wager is $50 with a 2% edge the profit is $250.

Remember this example just covers live dealer play. While some live dealers can deal more than 50 hands per hour, if you play on one of the software driven blackjack games you can easily play 100 hands per hour or more.

The other thing that most online blackjack players do is keep playing until they lose their entire deposit. While this is simply the average house edge grinding their bankroll down, it’s what makes blackjack even more profitable for the casino.

Most players who have a decent run and get ahead at the blackjack tables keep playing and eventually the percentages catch up with them.

In the short run the casino house edge at any blackjack table fluctuates a great deal, but as long as the casino has a big enough bankroll to ride out the short term they’re guaranteed a profit unless players figure out a way to alter the odds.

Some players can gain an edge against the casino in live play in a land based casino, but they can’t while playing live dealer blackjack online.

So is online blackjack rigged?

The bottom line is the casinos have no reason to cheat online blackjack players. In the long term it’s more profitable to deal a fair game than run the risk of being caught cheating.

I want to finish this section with a quote from a Bodog representative about blackjack.

“At the end of the day all Casino games, Blackjack included, have a house edge. We have no reason to alter the game in anyway. All you need to do is walk down the strip in Vegas and you have all the proof you need that offering a fair and honest game of Blackjack is just simply good business.”

Individual Casinos

Digital Blackjack Rigged Against

Over the past several months I’ve received questions about different online casinos. These questions include the following.

Is Bovada blackjack rigged or is Bodog rigged?

Digital Blackjack Rigged Games

Is MyVegas blackjack rigged or is BetOnline blackjack rigged?

For the same reasons I’ve already covered above I don’t believe any of these casinos offer rigged blackjack games or any other games.

I don’t have as much personal experience with the second pair as with Bodog and Bovada, but I trust all of their blackjack games 100%. My personal experience with the Bodog brands is so good that I’ve played for real money with them for over 10 years and will continue to do so.

Real Problems

As you can see you don’t have to worry about live dealer blackjack games being rigged as long as you play at established and trusted online casinos.

A few real problems blackjack players face is the ability to get money into and out of online casinos. Of course this depends a great deal on where you live, but it’s always nice to feel safe in the thought you can easily and safely take your money out of the casino when you hit a nice win.

If you can open a popular online wallet like Skrill or Neteller it’s the best way to quickly and safely move money around with online casinos. If you can’t, have a conversation with the support department before you make a deposit to find out the best way for players in your country to make a withdrawal.

August 10, 2011 - Offer valid as of date published. T&Cs apply.