Gambling Computers & Trust

I see people playing video poker and I wonder at the amount of trust
and faith they have in machines and people.  A long time ago my
cousins and I had a friendly little game of poker -- they were
cheating.  When I found out I felt hurt and betrayed, and I pretty
much quit gambling (for money).

Now I'm a computer programmer --  Do you know what the first rule
of computer science is?  Simple rule ... The machine does what it is
told to do.  Every computer programmer learns how to modify code ...
re-write, cut out parts, add in parts.  What the industry calls
hacking. It is a [fun]demental part of learning the craft.  A small
change in a number, or a parameter, or an equation and the computer
will act differently.  I (and I suspect most other programmers) have
modified games to play differently then they were intended to.  For
instance I changed a basic poker game so the player could bet more
then he had.  Once I even hacked a Yahtzee game so it would give me
(and only me) a Yahtzee any time I threw all five dice on the third
throw.

Now when playing with a deck of cards and real people ... players
can watch as they are shuffled, cut, dealt off the top, and even
check to make sure they are unmarked.  Any gambler understands that
all these procedures are in place to make the game fair.

Computers are so different!  There are no cards being randomly
selected.  There are only mathematical equations that select
numbers from arrays of other numbers.  Not only that but the machine
operates in millionths of a second, far faster then the eye can
follow.  As a programmer I know a machine could be designed to deal
cards randomly.  The people sitting at the little poker boxes have
made the assumption that all poker machines are thus designed.

What astounding faith these people have!  Or perhaps they don't
realize how easy it would be to have machine change the odds -- in
effect have the machine cheat.  Take my word for it, or better yet
ask any high school computer student, any teacher, any hobbyist ...
they will tell you "yes it is possible to make the machine change
the odds".

When I mention this to my gambling friends they always have trouble
accepting it.  Sometimes they say "It has to be fair because the
penalties would be so severe if they were caught".

At this point we have passed the concept of faith and entered the
realm of fanatasy.  There is no way to get caught!  No one would
ever notice if the computer were programmed never to deal a full
house of fives over threes ... or a royal flush in hearts.  It is
a machine -- it does as it is told!  If the programmer tells it not
to deal four threes on tuesday mornings it won't.  Subtle changes
in the computer code (which is kept secret) could tilt the odds
a fraction more toward the house.  A fraction multiplied over
millions of hands.

No ... I don't have any proof!  Then again I don't need any,
remember I'm not a gambler.  I would never accuse the state of
being greedy. I wouldn't even suggest that if a scandal were
discovered it would have to be covered up.  We all know the state
could easily afford masses of people deciding not to lose money
in crooked poker games.

Same goes for the indian's casinos ... they operate with independent
nation/tribal status.  They would never hire programming companies
promising "slightly better then house odds" or "just a trifle more
bang for the buck".

Alright no more sarcasm.  I do know business, I do know computers,
I do know people and greed.  Knowing these things makes it clear to
me that faith is a wonderful thing, and it will be a cold day in
hell when I put my money in one of those gambling machines.  In
fact I might even offer to play my cousins a few friendly games of
Yahtzee -- for say a buck a point.