How do Computers pick Random?

I don't want specifics, just theory on how computers, the solid, fact machines pick random numbers.
Thanks!

 

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One of the real old-school ways is to go through digits in Pi.

 

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The fact is they aren't truly random. To generate one, a computer need a "seed" number - often times that's something like the number of elapsed seconds today per the system clock. Then that seed is fed into an algorithm (a fixed-formula program) that generates the "random" output by performing calculations on the seed number.

 

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/dev/random ftw.

 

If you've got cash to burn, there's also this.

 

Awesome topic.

If you know the seed numbers of a certain VLT(video lottery terminal) or one armed bandit...you can really fk up a casino.

it's the biggest flaw in gambling right now.

 

That's not exactly random (Although where you stop might be, however you could imply that depending on the length of digits that creates the range increases the level of processing power required to create an outcome, so it still generates certain finite ranges lessening the "random")

PI to me is a bit like a Public Key used in Encryption, it's there to help decode the universe as a standard

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Naw.

Casinos have a number of advantages.

1. There are laws that protect them from exploitation by smart programmers, especially in gaming meccas like Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Macao.
2. They have lucrative contracts with the producers of machines that require them to guard their "secrets" or the end of a contract. Those secrets are ensured through high security, as well as the "addition" of their employees-with-access to lists of those banned from casinos.
3. A person who defrauds a casino not only risks running up against well funded law enforcement (who's budget comes totally from subsidies from lucrative casinos) but the casinos themselves who historically have a dirty track record of dealing with those who fuck them over.
4. Casinos have a "if you win too much. . . " policy that will get you black listed in short order if you are even suspected of shady dealings.

~String

 

Believe me I ran into the "if you win too much..." policy once. Fucking assholes I was on a roll and NOT cheating.

 

My Mathcad & Mathematica software both have 15 or more pseudo-random number generators. One size does not fit all.

I am fairly sure that a Web search would result in your finding quite a few algorithms for generating pseudo-random numbers.

The simplest ones use a formula like the following.

NextNumber = A*LastNumber + B, where A & B are suitable constants.​

A simple algorithm like the above has a lot of flaws & should not be used for critical applications.