SpadeClub's Random Number Generator
When games involving cards, dice, or other instruments of chance are played on a computer, it is vital that the electronic shuffles and die rolls are just as fair and random as the real-world versions. SpadeClub includes sophisticated facilities for random number generation and card shuffling to ensure fairness. This technology has been tested and validated by multiple, strict gaming jurisdictions around the world.
TRUE RANDOMNESS
To be truly random, any random number generation algorithm must be based on completely random starting data; otherwise, the sequence of numbers is vulnerable to being predicted using mathematical attacks.
The random starting, or "seed", data must be:
- Large enough to ensure that every possible shuffled deck can be produced. There are approximately 80 million trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion (sometimes also called 80000 vigintillion) ways that a deck can be shuffled. That's an eight with 67 zeros after it! For a computer to do this, it needs at least 226 bits of seed data. SpadeClub uses 19,968 bits of seed data.
- Truly random. The seed data cannot come from anything predictable, like the time or the date. SpadeClub uses truly random data ("entropy") that comes from the physical world outside of the CPU, and not from software.
MULTIPLE RANDOM NUMBER GENERATORS AND OUTPUT PROTECTION
SpadeClub uses the proven Mersenne Twister random number generator. This algorithm has been time-tested and validated by mathematicians worldwide.
No algorithm is perfect, though, and it has been claimed that the output of the Mersenne Twister can be predicted if an attacker can see a long enough sequence of values that come from the generator. Therefore, SpadeClub insures that none of the random numbers produced by the generator are ever exposed; they are used internally only, so getting hold of a long sequence from the generator is not possible.
Further, to ensure the tightest possible security, SpadeClub uses a second, completely independent source of randomness in addition to the Mersenne Twister. These two sources are combined to ensure that a contiguous sequence of numbers from the random number generator is never used, even internally.
USING RANDOM NUMBERS PROPERLY
A high-quality random number generator is useless unless the numbers are used properly. One particular error can make half of the cards .000001% more likely to be dealt than the other half. SpadeClub uses validated mathematics and shuffling algorithms to ensure that every card is exactly equally likely to be dealt as any other, every time.
