Game of Chance

A game of chance is one whose result is decided predominantly by a random process rather than by player decisions. Slots, roulette, baccarat, bingo and lotteries are the standard examples: online they are driven by a certified random number generator, on a casino floor by a wheel, dice, ball or shuffled shoe. Usually the only choices left to the player are how much to stake and when to stop. Because the mathematics is fixed in advance, no betting pattern, timing or system changes the expected result, and each round is independent of the last — a wheel that has landed on red six times is no more likely to show black on the seventh. Most gambling regulation is built around this category, and it is where the house edge is at its most visible.