In the early 1800s, a man by the name of Charles Babbage proposed a machine that could be programmed to generate random numbers. What he created was known as the Analytical Engine – or, more famously, the computer.
In 1882, a Frenchman by the name of Émile Baudry published a paper in which he detailed how random numbers can be generated using a roulette wheel. The paper is now considered one of the foundational works in modern probability theory.
So is lightning roulette definitely a random number generator? It’s difficult to say for certain, as there’s no way to verify whether or not the roulette wheel is truly generating random numbers. However, there are several factors that suggest that it is. First and foremost, roulette wheels are actually quite random – they tend to fluctuate between different numbers quite a bit. This means that even if someone is able to predict which numbers will be rolled next, it’s still unlikely that they’ll be able to predict the exact number that will be pulled out.
Second, roulette wheels are actually quite sensitive to small changes in input. If someone were to tamper with the roulette wheel – for instance, by spinning it faster or slower – then they would likely be able to affect the outcome of the game. Finally, there’s actually evidence suggesting that roulette wheels are actually quite good at generating random numbers. A study published in 2006 found that the average player has only a 50-percent chance of winning any given Roulette game – even if they know all of the details about the game (which, admittedly, most players don’t).
So while it’s impossible to determine with certainty whether or not lightning roulette is truly a random number generator, there are several factors that suggest that it might be. In light of this information, it’s probably safest to assume that it is.
