He said some of the shuffles and some of the deals and draws are not totally random. Then I explained to him that unlike slots, the video poker games must choose from a random shuffle of 52 cards. He said the idea is to try to be in the right place at the right time to catch the machine when it does deliver a win. So I asked him why he played if he didn't think the machines were completely random? When I questioned him about it, he said he knew people who worked in the casinos and they told him the machines are not completely random. The machines can be rigged, by altering just a few hands to keep them 'within tolerance' of expected randomness. Then this regular made a couple of points, saying: Quickly the discussion turned to 'lucky machines' and machines that 'aren't completely random.' We exchanged greetings, and I told him I finally hit a royal after 170,000 hands. I played some video poker last night and one of the regulars at Rincon was sitting next to me.
