Provably Fair Algorithms in Online Casinos: How Do They Work?
At CryptoGames, we pride ourselves on being as transparent as possible when it comes to our provably fair algorithms. In the world of online gambling, trust is a major concern for players and today we will look at the process we use to prove all your bets are fair. Unlike physical casinos where you can see the dealer shuffle the deck or spin the roulette wheel, online casinos rely on algorithms to determine game outcomes. This is where provably fair algorithms come in to play. These cryptographic methods allow players to verify that game results are fair and have not been manipulated by the casino in any way. By using hashing and random seeds, provably fair systems create a level playing field that ensures transparency and trust.
At its core, a provably fair system makes use of cryptographic hashing and random number generation. Below is a simplified version of the process:
- Before the game starts, the server produces a seed. This seed is hashed (encoded) using the SHA256 and shown to the player.
- The player provides their own seed and can change this at any time before the bet is placed
- When the player places their bet, the server’s original, unaltered seed is combined with the player’s seed and SHA512 hashed to produce the bet results
Once the game concludes, the casino reveals the original unaltered seed, allowing players to cross-check it with the hashed value. Since cryptographic hashes are one-way functions (meaning they cannot be reversed or altered without detection), this guarantees that the outcome was predetermined and not tampered with. CryptoGames provides all this information in the bet slip by clicking on the “Bet Verification” tab.
CryptoGames also provides verification tools at the bottom of the tab where users can check the fairness of their bets. For years now, leveraging cryptographic proofs, provably fair gaming is revolutionizing the online casino industry and gives players confidence that the odds they see are the odds they get.
Below we can follow this process through from start to finish:
Before the bet is placed
The information is given to the user under the Provably Fair tab.
At this point, the user can change their seed to anything they like with ether the randomize button, or typing their own.
The bet is placed
The dice bet is a direct result of the combined seeds provided before the bet is placed.
The Results
The unhashed seed is provided to the user after the bet so they can check the results using a third-party verified. The final result of the process was the following string:
“ed7e5b2fe07b484c1d55357aa8b6bdd8a994e42bd5f61efdb15b332b6e1208331bbf18ce3089db044e7f92369caa794f64b4533c1d496544761668cb74a60c92”
Using the tool provided (or any SHA512 hashing tool on the internet) we can produce the same result and prove the bet was fair.
Two seeds combined:
FyDHfGPDyNCrx5whQNSH9I7jhY8mUrVwirjvk7ErmIQ1F3aBTuniO5SOb3Wf4AArPTXSX8dc
SHA512 hash of this string:
ed7e5b2fe07b484c1d55357aa8b6bdd8a994e42bd5f61efdb15b332b6e1208331bbf18ce3089db044e7f92369caa794f64b4533c1d496544761668cb74a60c92
This string is then converted from hexadecimal values to decimal values to get the result of our bet as seen in the bottom part of the image below.
So, next time you try an online casino, look for games with provably fair mechanisms to ensure you’re playing on a truly fair platform.