Spin the roulette wheel

Another important term to understand here is independent outcomes. Being independent has nothing to do with successfully ditching your loser boyfriend in the keno lounge. In gambling, independent refers to events (such as roulette spins or dice throws) that aren’t affected by any previous results. Craps and roulette casino games are great examples. The dice and roulette table ball don’t have a tiny brain inside, so each new throw or spin is independent of all previous turns. In other words, the dice or ball doesn’t know what numbers are running hot or cold, so the probability of outcome for each and every spin is exactly the same.

Slot machines are also independent. Recent jackpots do not change the likelihood of the same combination coming up again. If your che nces of lining up three cherries are 5,000 to 1 and you just hit the jackpot, the three cherries have exactly the same chances of appearing on the very next spin.