Atlassino Academy · Slots · Lesson 12
No near miss: the draw decides, the screen shows
A jackpot symbol sits one row above the pay-line, and it feels like the machine almost paid. Here is what the technical rule says about the draw, the screen and the near miss.
The jackpot symbol stops one row above the pay-line, and it does it again on the next game. Is the machine doing that on purpose?
The short answer
Under the technical rule of the Buenos Aires Province for the slot machines of its bingo halls, the machine may not. For the machines of its casinos we found no equivalent rule published: the casino rule book, resolution 1452/12, has no such section. Once the machine has selected the outcome of a game, it may not make a second, variable decision that changes what the player sees, and it may not swap the selected loss for another kind of loss to stage a “near miss”. The rule forbids the staging, not the sight: a jackpot symbol can still land just off the pay-line when the draw itself selected that losing combination, and then it is a loss like any other.
Leoformer dealer · rules and maths
When a machine shows you the big symbol one row off the line, it feels like a message. The rule is written for exactly that feeling: it says the machine has no message to send, because it makes its choice first and only then shows it.
The order of a game: the draw, then the screen
A game on an electronic slot machine has 2 steps and nothing between them. First the random number generator selects the symbols or the result of the game; then the screen shows it. The selection has to be statistically independent of the games before it and unpredictable.
The generator selects
One outcome, out of every combination the game has, drawn independently of the games before it.
Nothing in between
No second decision that changes what the player is about to see.
The screen shows
The outcome that was selected, as it is.
The middle step is the one the rule is about: it has to stay empty.
At the start of every game, each possible permutation or combination of game elements, whether it pays or loses, has to be available to the random selection, unless the game describes it otherwise.
What the rule forbids
The rule has a name in two languages: “sin pérdida cercano”, in English “no near miss”. After the outcome of the game is selected, the machine will not make a variable secondary decision that affects the result shown to the player, such as the generator opting for a result where the game is lost. The game will not substitute a particular kind of loss to show the player: that would make it possible to simulate a “near-loss” scenario in which the odds of the jackpot symbol appearing on the pay-line are limited but it often appears above or below the line.
| The machine may not | The rule does not forbid |
|---|---|
| Make a second, variable decision after the outcome is selected, one that changes the result shown. | A jackpot symbol landing just off the pay-line when the draw itself selected that losing combination. |
| Swap the selected loss for another kind of loss in order to show a near miss. | A loss that looks close: it is shown as it is. |
| Leave combinations out of the draw, unless the game describes it otherwise. | A game whose own description says what its draw includes. |
Left column: what the machine may not do between the draw and the screen. Right column: what stays allowed, because it is not the machine doing anything.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
A near miss feels like progress, and it is a loss. It costs what any loss costs, and it does not make the next game pay. If a near miss makes you want one more game, that is the moment to look at the limit you set at home.
If the pull to get it back keeps coming, the lines below are there for exactly that.
If it stops being fun
If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. Minimum entry age: each province sets its own. Where we found the rule or regulator that sets it, we cite it on the page; those we found set it at 18. More on responsible gaming.
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If you are thinking about suicide, call 135 or 0800 345 1435 from anywhere in the country
What the rule does not say
The rule does not say a jackpot symbol can never land just off the pay-line. It says the machine may not arrange that sight by swapping a loss for another. When the draw itself selects such a losing combination, the screen shows it, and that is allowed.
For machines with spinning reels, the mathematical probability of a symbol appearing in a position has to be constant for any game outcome. So a symbol is no more likely to stop in one place than another because of what happened on the last game.
The rule says nothing about what a near miss does to a player, and neither does this page: it is a rule about what a machine may do, not about how it feels.
Why no game is owed anything
The generator runs in a continuous cycle in the background, between games and during play, at a speed the player cannot time, so no instant of pressing the button is better than another. After each game the generator changes: a new seed, a random clock, a delay, so that it does not start from the same value every time.
On a card game, cards drawn from a deck are used at once, under the rules of the game; the machine does not discard them because it is adapting to the player. Together these are why a streak of losses is not a debt: the machine owes nothing to the games before.
Practice: allowed or not
Level 1 describes something a machine does between the draw and the screen and asks whether the rule allows it. Level 2 gives a claim about a near miss and asks whether the rule supports it.
Nothing is bet here, and nothing is random. Each question is a set situation, and the answer comes from the rule quoted on this page.
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The practice table needs JavaScript. Here is one question from it, with the answer.
- The machine The generator selects a game that loses. The machine then swaps it for another losing combination that puts the jackpot symbol one row above the pay-line.
Is the machine allowed to do this under the rule?
- Allowed It is not allowed. The rule says the game will not substitute a particular kind of loss to show the player. That is how a near-loss scenario would be staged.
- Not allowed The rule says the game will not substitute a particular kind of loss to show the player. That is how a near-loss scenario would be staged.
- Allowed, because the player cannot tell the difference How hard something is to notice does not change the rule.
Between the selection of the outcome and the screen, the machine may do nothing that changes what the player sees. A losing combination that the draw selected is shown as it is; a loss swapped in to stage a near miss is not allowed.
- The claim A jackpot symbol just above the pay-line means the machine is close to paying.
Does the rule support this claim?
- Yes, the rule supports it The rule does not support it. A near miss is a loss that was selected like any other. The draws are independent, so nothing about the last game says anything about the next one.
- No, the rule does not support it A near miss is a loss that was selected like any other. The draws are independent, so nothing about the last game says anything about the next one.
- It feels true, and that is enough A feeling is not what the rule says, and the machine is built so that a feeling does not predict a game.
A near miss is a loss. The rule makes every game an independent draw and forbids staging, and that is all it says: it does not make a loss close to a payout, and it does not say a payout is near.
Every question in the practice run is worked out the same way: what the machine does, or what is claimed, is put through the rule quoted on this page, and the answer comes out of that, not out of anybody’s feeling.
How the practice run works
Where the questions come from. Every answer is worked out from the rule as it is written in section 4-2-1 and the points after it. The wrong answers are named mistakes: calling a staged loss allowed because it is still a loss, calling a sight forbidden because it looks staged, a feeling taken for a reason, and a hidden change taken for an allowed one.
One strip, and no rounds. Every square on the strip is one question of this lesson, and all of the squares are there from the start. Your first answer fills the square it belongs to; when the squares of one level are full, the next level begins by itself. Practising a question you got wrong turns its cross into “fixed in practice” and does not change the count, because only first answers count.
Your progress stays in this browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.
Check yourself
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Five quick ones. Pick an answer, then check it. No timer, no points: just whether it stuck.
Back to the question we opened with. No: the machine may not stage it. If the symbol stopped there, the draw selected a losing game that looks close, and the next game is another independent draw.
Where to go next, and further reading
18+ under each province’s rules · Play responsibly · the helplines are further up this page
Further reading
- Resolución 705/13: requisitos para máquinas electrónicas de juegos de azar · Instituto Provincial de Lotería y Casinos de la Provincia de Buenos AiresThe technical rules a machine must meet: independent random draws, no “near miss” tricks, a minimum payout set by law.
How it’s worked out
Rules, sources and hosts
Where the rule comes from. Everything on this page follows section 4-2 of resolution 705/13 of the Buenos Aires Province lottery and casino institute, the technical requirements for electronic gambling machines; the text of the resolution ties them to the bingo halls of provincial law 13.063. The rule book of the province’s casinos, resolution 1452/12, has a chapter on slot machines and no rule on near misses that we could find, so this page does not say that a casino machine is bound by the bingo-hall rule. A machine in another province may be bound by another rule, and nothing here says more than this one prints.
What is deliberately absent. The rule says nothing about how a near miss feels, or about whether it makes a player play longer, so this page does not either. It does not set a ceiling on how often a symbol may stop beside the pay-line, as other regulators do, and so no such number is given here. What a machine pays back, how often it pays and how a bonus round works are lessons 2.2, 2.3 and 2.6, and chasing a loss is lesson 10.3.
Our readings. We read “secondary decision” as any choice made after the generator has selected the outcome, whatever its trigger, and “substituting a kind of loss” as replacing the selected loss with another losing combination. The words in the questions, such as “swaps” or “keeps back”, are ours.
Sources. Every claim on this page carries a button with the sentence it rests on, in the resolution’s own Spanish, the publisher who wrote that sentence and the date we read it.
Hosts. Leo and Maya are illustrated characters. Their backstories, a former dealer and a former floor supervisor, are written for the course: neither is a real person, and neither speaks for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from their experience.
No promise. Knowing the rule does not change which numbers come up. It lets you read a near miss for what it is, a loss; nothing on this page says how a game or an evening would end.
No second decision
SIN PÉRDIDA CERCANO (EN INGLES NO NEAR MISS).Free translation: NO NEAR MISS (IN ENGLISH NO NEAR MISS).
Tras la selección del resultado de la partida, la máquina de juego no hará una decisión secundaria variable, que afecte el resultado mostrado al jugador; por ejemplo, el generador de números aleatorios opta por un resultado donde la partida se perderá.Free translation: After the game outcome has been selected, the gaming machine shall not make a variable secondary decision that affects the outcome shown to the player; for example, the random number generator opts for an outcome in which the game will be lost.
El juego no sustituirá un tipo particular de perdida para mostrársela al jugador, esto eliminaría la posibilidad de simular un escenario de "pérdida cercana" donde las probabilidades de que el símbolo correspondiente al premio mayor aparezca en la línea de pago están limitadas, pero frecuentemente aparecen encima o debajo de la línea de pago;Free translation: The game shall not substitute a particular type of loss to show to the player; this would eliminate the possibility of simulating a "near miss" scenario where the chances of the symbol corresponding to the top prize appearing on the pay line are limited, but it frequently appears above or below the pay line;
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
Independent draws
El uso de un generador de números aleatorios resultará en la selección de símbolos de la partida o la producción de resultados de las partidas. La selección deberá: * Ser estadísticamente independiente; * Cumplir con la distribución aleatoria deseada; * Pasar varias pruebas estadísticas reconocidas; * Ser impredecible.Free translation: The use of a random number generator shall result in the selection of the game's symbols or the production of the game's results. The selection shall: * Be statistically independent; * Meet the desired random distribution; * Pass several recognized statistical tests; * Be unpredictable.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
The generator keeps running
El generador de números aleatorios deberá funcionar en un ciclo continuo como fondo (background) entre las partidas y durante las jugadas a una velocidad, que no pueda ser cronometrada por el jugador.Free translation: The random number generator must operate in a continuous cycle in the background between games and during plays at a speed that cannot be timed by the player.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
A new seed after every game
Tras cada juego habrá un cambio aleatorio en el proceso del generador de números aleatorios (nueva semilla, reloj aleatorio, retraso, etc.).Free translation: After each game there shall be a random change in the random number generator process (new seed, random clock, delay, etc.).
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
Independent and unpredictable draws
El uso de un generador de números aleatorios resultará en la selección de símbolos de la partida o la producción de resultados de las partidas. La selección deberá: * Ser estadísticamente independiente; * Cumplir con la distribución aleatoria deseada; * Pasar varias pruebas estadísticas reconocidas; * Ser impredecible.Free translation: The use of a random number generator shall result in the selection of the game's symbols or the production of the game's results. The selection shall: * Be statistically independent; * Meet the desired random distribution; * Pass several recognized statistical tests; * Be unpredictable.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
Every outcome is open to the draw
Cada posible permutación o combinación de elementos de juego que produzcan resultados ganadores o perdedores deberán estar disponibles para la selección aleatoria al inicio de cada partida, a menos que se describa de otra manera en el juego;Free translation: Each possible permutation or combination of game elements that produce winning or losing outcomes must be available for random selection at the start of each game, unless otherwise described in the game;
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
No second decision
SIN PÉRDIDA CERCANO (EN INGLES NO NEAR MISS).Free translation: NO NEAR MISS (IN ENGLISH NO NEAR MISS).
Tras la selección del resultado de la partida, la máquina de juego no hará una decisión secundaria variable, que afecte el resultado mostrado al jugador; por ejemplo, el generador de números aleatorios opta por un resultado donde la partida se perderá.Free translation: After the game outcome has been selected, the gaming machine shall not make a variable secondary decision that affects the outcome shown to the player; for example, the random number generator opts for an outcome in which the game will be lost.
El juego no sustituirá un tipo particular de perdida para mostrársela al jugador, esto eliminaría la posibilidad de simular un escenario de "pérdida cercana" donde las probabilidades de que el símbolo correspondiente al premio mayor aparezca en la línea de pago están limitadas, pero frecuentemente aparecen encima o debajo de la línea de pago;Free translation: The game shall not substitute a particular type of loss to show to the player; this would eliminate the possibility of simulating a "near miss" scenario where the chances of the symbol corresponding to the top prize appearing on the pay line are limited, but it frequently appears above or below the pay line;
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
The same chance at every position
Para otros dispositivos de juego (tales como juegos de rodillos giratorios o juegos de rodillos giratorios por vídeo), la probabilidad matemática de que aparezca un símbolo en una posición para cualquier resultado de juego deberá ser constante.Free translation: For other gaming devices (such as spinning reel games or video spinning reel games), the mathematical probability of a symbol appearing in a position for any game outcome must be constant.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
The generator keeps running
El generador de números aleatorios deberá funcionar en un ciclo continuo como fondo (background) entre las partidas y durante las jugadas a una velocidad, que no pueda ser cronometrada por el jugador.Free translation: The random number generator must operate in a continuous cycle in the background between games and during plays at a speed that cannot be timed by the player.
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
A new seed after every game
Tras cada juego habrá un cambio aleatorio en el proceso del generador de números aleatorios (nueva semilla, reloj aleatorio, retraso, etc.).Free translation: After each game there shall be a random change in the random number generator process (new seed, random clock, delay, etc.).
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)
Cards are not withheld
A medida que se extraigan naipes de un mazo, inmediatamente serán utilizados según las Reglas de Juego (esto es, los naipes no serán descartados debido a una conducta de adaptación por parte de la máquina de juego).Free translation: As cards are drawn from a deck, they shall be used immediately according to the Rules of the Game (that is, cards shall not be discarded due to adaptive behavior on the part of the gaming machine).
Section Requisitos de la máquina de juego, software: reglas de juego, generador de números aleatorios, porcentajes de pago, juegos con bonificación (4-1 a 4-4)