Match sequence how does it work is it 100% random?

[spacejam0]

Hey guys
I was just wondering how the match sequence works. Is it 100% random or is it programmed in the machines favour?
Bearing in mind that pinballs were designed to make money I was thinking that you may not really have a one in ten chance of a match. If so hypothetically you could win 10 free games in a row or maybe even win a couple of free credits from a good score and still win another credit from a match which wouldn't be great for operators.
I ask the question because I play a fair bit of pinball and rarely get 2 matches in a row and also I rarely get a match after a great score.

[Austwide]

On the EM ones, the match score number goes up once each time (you can't see it though) you score a certain value ie a 1 or a 10 or a 100 depending on the machines lowest score counting reel. Pretty random but is a pattern but not rigged.


No idea on SS machines.

[Brk_oth]

In most electromechanical pinballs the match unit cycles downwards when the tens score unit moves upwards during gameplay (earlier EMs its linked to the ones score reel not tens, and in some both move upwards{this changes my next statement below}).
Interestingly, if you look at the numbers, it basically means you have a 50% chance of playing a game where you have a 2/10 chance in getting a match or a 50% chance of playing a game where you have 0/10 chance of winning a match - with the idea that it should average out to 10%. By looking at what the match was for the previous game you can figure out your chances of matching for the next single player game.
Some machines such as a lot of Williams EM's didn't set the match unit to be sequential, they followed a pattern 60 10 70 30 80 20 50 90 40 00.

Early solid state machines were very basic, they basically were just a random number, or some digitally replicated the above EM system.

"High Speed" (1986) introduced the options for an operator to adjust the match win percentage. Your chances of winning are affected by who is playing and when. There are absolutely heaps of variables that can affect the match chances... over time these algorithms have got more and more complex, but basically the machine will try to keep the match win percentage within a threshold, if too many games are being won then your chances are lowered, same with if not enough games are being won then your chances are increased... so its still a random number, but imagine its like picking a random number between 0-10 then if too many games are won you start picking a random number between 0-25, so there is now less chances of a match......  there are some interesting scenarios that can affect the chances of matching such as:  there is an extremely low chance to match if you win a free game by a high score... the match chances can increase the longer a machine is idle to try and grab more attention when someone finally plays it... scenarios such as if there are 2 players and 0 credits left then there is a much higher chance of one player matching to try to get the other player to drop another coin in.

[Pop Bumper Pete]

on my Gotlieb sure shot, the match unit advances 3 when the game is started, and then 1 move everytime 10 points is scored

[Quench]

On classic Bally/Stern solid state, once the game has powered up and enters attract mode it has a counter that advances by 10 every Zero Crossing cycle (100 times per second in countries with 50Hz mains power, or 120 times per second in countries with 60Hz mains power).
There are no other factors that manipulate the match counter, and it updates both in attract mode and in game.