The "engine" that actually allows a slot machine to operate is called the Random Number Generator, otherwise known as the RNG. This obviously applies to any online casino slots game that you can play. And it was makes it possible for you to play it.

The RNG is, in effect, a computer chip under which the machine operates. The "R" stands for "random," which means that the symbols that appear on the reels will do so at random. So there is no "predicting" what is going to happen based on patterns that have already appeared. Every spin is different, and no single spin affects subsequent spins. In that way it is rather foolish for anyone to claim they have a "system" that can beat the random nature of the game.

The RNG is a very complicated device that is always at work in slots games online, and the way it operates is that it selects a value that can be anywhere up to four billion and then basically translates that to a result that is going to be displayed on the reels.

The players does not necessarily need to know how the RNG works, other than to know that it does indeed generate the end result when the reels stop.

Each of the reels on a slots game online has a number of places which have the capacity to hold a symbol. In other words, it's where the reel can stop. Therefore, these places are known as physical stops. The physical machines themselves have a limited number of stops, but the virtual games can have an almost unlimited number.

Remember that the number of possible combinations a slot game can bring up is derived by multiplying the number of stops that are on each reel. If there are 20, for example, you would just multiply 20 by 20 by 20 and you would come up with 8,000 possible combinations. That number of combinations really explodes when you increase the number of reels too; for example, if you had five reels and 20 physical stops on each one, you would have 3.2 million possible combinations.

At that point, at least in theory, you would have a one in 3.2 million chance of any particular combination of symbols appearing on the reels. On a smaller scale, this is how the Daily Pick 3 lottery numbers come out. They selected one number, then another, and then still yet another. There are fewer possible combinations, and that is why there are usually a large number of winners of the Pick 3. If there are six lottery numbers being selected, on a wider scale; for example, from 1-50, then you are looking at much longer odds against anyone winning.

If you can imagine it, the possible numbers are being picked at warp speed. And to use layman's terms, the RNG is moving all the time, so it is not just possible, but entirely probable that if you waited just a fraction of a second before clicking the "Spin" button on the online casino slots game, you would have a different result.