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Online gambling with cryptocurrency is here to stay. As its momentous upswing continues, many questions arise about the validity of the games and services that online crypto casinos offer. How can one ever be sure if the slot machine they’re playing uses a fair and balanced algorithm? How can you be certain the poker game you just played was against a fair AI opponent? As cryptocurrency gains popularity, the science behind how it works remains largely unknown to the general public. Some people may hear words like “blockchain” and know it has something to do with cryptocurrency but none of the details. Also, not all crypto casinos use blockchain-based games, but they can still be considered provably fair through other means. One thing stands out amidst all discussions of casino fairness:
The player/host trust relationship is of paramount importance to all fair online casinos.
What Does “Provably Fair” Mean?
Crypto casinos that provide gambling games “built” on top of a blockchain ensure immutability and transparency in their random number generation. This is because blockchain technology (the same technology Bitcoin is built upon) is a publicly viewable ledger of all transactions and cannot be spoofed, changed, altered, or manipulated in any way due to how blockchain and smart-contract cryptography works. It’s one of the major reasons why crypto casinos are so popular; some of the games and services they provide are corruption-proof and fair from the ground up.
True mathematically perfect random number generation is technically impossible. This is due to little inconveniences like the laws of physics and the unstoppable march of universal chaotic entropy shenanigans. However, algorithms based on blockchain technology are the next best thing. They allow provably fair crypto casinos to provide gambling games based on public and peer-reviewable random number generation to ensure they are as fair as humanly possible.
Reputation is Everything
The vast majority of crypto casinos have no reason to cheat the user by using unfair gambling games to their advantage. Betting games like cards, slot machines, and other RNG-based activities are already in their favor due to the house edge. While some users will always win big here and there, the casinos play the long game averages. They will always make money in the end. Why risk sullying their reputation by cheating when the market is flooded with other options for players? It would do more harm than good.
This is doubly true with games based on blockchain and smart contracts. Every crypto casino wants to show they are balanced and fair and will go out of their way to prove it. Of course, there are always outliers that will try something sneaky. So, it’s always best to do your due diligence by Googling the credentials of your chosen casino. Read reviews and look for them on social media, websites with top-10 lists like Coin Casinos, and other similar media sources. Chances are if the casino has a lot of publicity and popularity, it’s providing a fair service.
Client vs. Server Seeds and Hash Numbers
Other methods to provide proof of fairness can be found in comparing seeds. Every time a random number is used in a gambling game, the casino server and the client’s computer generate a seed. On the server side, this is called a hash since it’s encrypted. After the game, the client can decrypt the casino hash seed with various online calculators found by using a search engine. Then they can compare that with their client-side seed. If the numbers match up, nothing was altered during the game. Legitimate crypto casinos usually use a combination of encrypted hashes, blockchain technology, and smart contract platforms like Ethereum to ensure their patrons always get a fair shake of the dice.
