Provably Fair Gaming: A Guide for Players who Care About Systems

You have most likely wondered whether things were fair, having spent at least some real time in competitive gaming. A matchmaking system that is imbalanced. RNG that never seems to go your way. These systems are opaque in most cases, meaning you’re expected to trust the developer without ever looking at how results are produced.

Probably fair gaming was created to solve that very issue.

What Is Provably Fair Gaming?

“Provably fair” refers to a cryptographic system used in crypto casino games that allows players to verify game results themselves, without relying on trust.

In conventional online casinos, internal Random Number Generators (RNGs) are used, where the RNGs are executed in private servers. Third-party audits of these systems are commonplace, and individual results cannot be checked by players themselves.

The provably fair system’s approach is different. They do not expect you to rely on trust, but offer a means of verifying how a result was produced once the round is finished.

How the System Works

Each provably fair round is based on three key components:

• Server seed: This seed is created by the platform. The platform provides a hash of this seed before the gameplay starts, a cryptographic fingerprint that demonstrates that this value has not been modified.
   
• Client seed: Can be created automatically, though it can be customized by the player. This provides some degree of control to the user over the randomness of the outcome.
   
• Nonce: A number that is updated with each bet, so that each round has a unique result.

These are then combined together using a cryptographic algorithm - usually HMAC-SHA256 to get the final output.

The original server seed is disclosed by the platform after gameplay. The result can be recreated using public tools with the help of a client seed and nonce. When it is a match, it proves that the result was obtained by the algorithm.

Why This Makes Sense to Gamers

The concept is simple to players accustomed to analysing systems.

It would be nice to have the option to see the very logic behind matchmaking, or confirm that all loot drops are indeed random. You might be able to prove the results yourself, rather than making assumptions.

Provably fair systems are closer to this level of transparency. Although in most instances it is not entirely open-source, the logic behind it is documented, and the inputs can be seen, and thus can be independently checked.

This is among the reasons why provably fair mechanics are embraced by a large number of live crypto casinos, especially those that are based on transparency and user trust.

What Provably Fair Systems Don’t Do

It’s important to understand the limits of the system.

The house advantage is not changed by provably fair systems. The odds and payouts are still built into the game at casinos. The system merely demonstrates that the outcomes are by the rules – not that they are fair or favorable.

Nor does it apply to all games. Most third-party games like slots by developers such as Pragmatic Play are based on certified RNGs, and are not provably fair.

Also, verification merely proves that the results have been produced in the right manner according to the inputs given. It does not mean that a platform can be trusted in other aspects like withdrawals or account practices. Just like any other online service, due diligence is important.

The Bigger Picture

The concept of gaming in general has been gravitating towards a more transparent format - replay data, more complex performance data and anti-cheat reporting. All these tools are aimed at the same purpose: to guarantee that players are aware of what actually happened.

Provably fair gaming is no exception. It provides the user with a chance to check the results instead of just accepting them.

It is not a perfect system and fails to eliminate all risks. However, it does bring about a degree of accountability which traditional systems tend to lack - and to players who are interested in the way systems operate, it is a significant move in the right direction.