[amalcon]

Einstein's view was more or less that there is some state contained in each particle that determines its quantum effects. We do not, however, have access to that state, so we instead do all work with statistical approximations of that state. The statistical approximations encompass all unknown information, and thus "smooth it over".

He put forth this theory before the EPR experiments (he's the E); these experiments made that interpretation unlikely. Specifically, the EPR experiments showed that the state (if any) is probably non-local.