Ever since those first online casinos started popping up in the mid-1990s, there has always been a devoted faction of sceptics claiming that the games are rigged and can’t be trusted.
Most of the time, I’ve found that these baseless comments are often made by people who have never played on these websites and have no intention of ever doing so, or they have been made by players who simply got unlucky and didn’t win.
They haven’t conducted any research, and their claims are untrue, harming the industry, just as these false allegations would affect any industry.
There are many ways in which the iGaming industry and the market-leading software providers that supply digital entertainment content to these sites ensure fairness in the outcomes of their results, which I will be discussing on this page.
My aim is to dispel any misleading rumours you may have heard about websites offering unfair results in the fruit machines, traditional favourites, scratchcards and other similar content available on that site, which may have prevented you from playing.
Here is everything you need to know.
How do software providers and content development studios ensure fairness in their games?
I was always interested in knowing how the online fruit machines I played produced the outcomes each time I hit the spin button and whether those results were fair, so I conducted my own basic research and due diligence into the companies that specialise in crafting this unique digital content.
One of the things I immediately discovered is how open and transparent the industry is in maintaining its integrity for ensuring fairness.
Before a software provider can supply any of its content to a fully licensed and regulated real money gambling site, the operator of that company will be put through extensive background checks. In-depth analysis and investigations will also be carried out to ensure the company is legitimate.
The content they create, and the systems, processes, and technology they use to produce the outcomes/results, such as Random Number Generators (RNGs), will be carefully tested for fairness to ensure people like me who play them are getting a fair service.
If everything checks out, and it successfully applies for a license to supply its content to trusted sites across the world, it can then start supplying its software to sites that want to host them.
I’ve also discovered that one or more internationally accredited online casino testing agencies will conduct further ongoing analysis and testing.
Some of the most notable non-profit organisations that have been keeping users safe in this way for over ten years and work closely with the mid/top-tier licensing and regulatory authorities include the following:
- eCommerce Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA)
- GamingLaboratory International
- Technical Systems Testing (TS)
- Quinel Ltd
- iTech Global Pty Limited
- BMM Testlabs
- Global Lab Limited
What are RNGs?
RNGs are essentially highly sophisticated mathematical algorithm programs that are used to produce the outcomes/results we receive each time we play computer-generated content on sites with roulette, fruit machines, scratchies, Slingo, poker, blackjack, roulette, craps, baccarat, etc.
I learned that the pre-determined results produced by the frequently tested RNGs are designed to produce fair and realistic results that mimic real life and they must have no discernible patterns.
This is why you will find that your favourite fruitys, or whatever your favourite titles are, have RTP% (return to player) payout rates and will typically pay back, on average, anywhere from 92.00% to 98.00% for, let’s say, every $/€/£100 wagered.
For example, if an online fruity has an average 96.88% RTP payout rate, and people spend $/€/£100 combined on that game, theoretically speaking, those same users should receive $/€/£96.88 back in winnings.
It doesn’t mean that if you spend $/€/£100 on one game with a 96.88 RTP payout rate that you are guaranteed to win at least $/€/£96.88 back in winnings. It doesn’t work like that. There could be hundreds of people all playing the same fruity as you.
You may only spend $/€/£2.00, get lucky, and win $/€/£500 or more, whereas someone else might spend $/€/£100 on that same fruity and win nothing. RNGs are tested regularly.
The average payout rates are also monitored using their own testing systems, and the results are published online for anyone to check, which, as I mentioned above, enhances transparency, ensures fairness, and fosters a sense of trust in the industry.
Final thoughts
Now that I’ve explained in a nutshell how online fruitys and other similar content produce the outcomes you receive, you should have a better understanding of how approved testing organisations test all gambling products before they are released to the market.
Additionally, frequent, ongoing fairness tests will be carried out to ensure they continue to produce fair results to achieve the designed RTP payout rates.
This should put your mind at ease if you are ever in doubt about how fair the services you receive are when you next log in to play at your favourite sites.
The only digital content/software that cannot be trusted for fairness that may have been tampered with is the type that nobody has ever heard of. It will be unlicensed and untested.
This type of dodgy software can only ever be found on rogue/unlicensed and unregulated sites, and the best advice I will give is to avoid these sites at all costs.
