With every consecutive loss that occurs, the same question comes to mind. Is this game fixed? Is this casino preventing winning combinations from occurring? It is a normal response when the actual cash keeps evaporating and there is no decent combination appearing on the screen.
However, the truth is much less exciting and more mathematical. Online casinos do not have to cheat to make profits. The advantage is already incorporated within the system. The issue is that the crucial elements are hidden away within programming and mathematical formulas that the average gambler would never bother to read.
It looks like luck to the typical NZ player. It is probability and volume for the operator. The only way to understand what is being produced on the screen is to know how games are designed and what can be verified from the outside.
A critical component at the heart of every online pokie, roulette wheel, and card shoe is the Random Number Generator. Often abbreviated as RNG, this is a form of software that generates a series of numbers with no pattern that can be predicted.
When the spin button is clicked, the game uses the number from that particular flow and determines the result for the game. The wheels that spin on the screen tend to be mostly for show. The outcome has already been determined at the moment the button is clicked.
In pokies, this number is translated to specific positions on each reel. In roulette, this number is translated to one position on the roulette wheel. In blackjack and baccarat, this number is translated to the next card in play from the virtual shoe. This is done with absolute rigidity and does not vary depending on recent luck.
This is why hot and cold streaks can be so misleading. The RNG lacks any kind of memory. It does not know that a bonus has failed to trigger for the last hour or that the jackpot was won last week. Groups of wins and losses occur as a natural result of clustering within randomness.
It is assumed by many players that the casino can tighten and loosen the game at any time. In contemporary online casinos this is hardly possible.
Usually, casinos are platform-based. For instance, they may contract game providers such as Pragmatic Play, NetEnt, and Microgaming. The game software is housed on servers belonging to the suppliers. The casino domain is basically for account management and advertising.
The game suppliers have their licences and reputations as well. For every bet that is made via their software, they take a share regardless of the outcome. It is not in their best interest to tamper with one casino’s version of the game. Once certified, that is the version delivered to all partners. The casino does not obtain any access to the game source code or the RNG either.
Nobody should just take a casino or a provider on trust. In a regulated environment, casinos must demonstrate that their games play fairly. That is handled by testing labs.
eCOGRA, iTech Labs, and GLI examine game code and pummel it with massive amounts of simulated gameplay. They verify that the numbers follow a true random process, the actual payoffs correspond with the pay table, and the return to player is consistent with what is declared.
As players, the information may seem abstract, so here is what matters and what the auditors really sign off on:
After the testing is finished, the labs issue the certificate and the testing report. This should be available on the casino platform. The logo at the end of the page should link to a page with the operator and provider names and a statement that the RNG and payouts were tested.
The key statistic here is the Return To Player, otherwise known as RTP. This is the percentage anticipated over a very long play cycle that a particular game is meant to return to the player. A pokie machine with 96% return would be expected to return approximately 96 dollars for every 100 dollars played.
Volatility is the form that the payback takes. Low volatility slots pay out lower amounts more regularly. High volatility slots pay out less frequently but with much larger hits if they do. Two slot machines can share the same audited return to player percentage at 96 percent, and one can be gentle while the other is brutal because of different volatility profiles.
Usually the perception of fairness is shaped by a misunderstanding of volatility. A player may select a high volatility game with a small budget and, after observing forty minutes of dead spins, may conclude that the game is rigged. It is doing what is expected.
Fair is not smooth. It means that overall averages are truthful and each spin has the proper chance of hitting a feature trigger or a line win. Volatility matching is much more important than obsessing over the RNG when deciding bet size and playing session length.
Players from New Zealand mostly prefer online casinos from other countries due to limited platforms available. It is therefore important to distinguish between platforms that are properly regulated and those that merely operate online without meaningful oversight.
A reliable operator prominently displays its licence number at the bottom, usually linking to the licensing body’s page. It provides a list of game suppliers within the lobby. It provides game help screens with details on return to player percentage. It features certification logos such as eCOGRA and iTech Labs that allow one to click through to certifications.
Flags to be wary of usually come in clusters. There may be a lack of any licence, or a generic mention of some governing body that cannot be traced. Games may be available with no provider named, and RTP is missing from the rulebook altogether. The laboratory logos may simply be static images which lead nowhere. Withdrawals may sit pending and require additional documents repeatedly, especially after big winnings.
None of these behaviours is evidence on its own that the RNG is rigged, but cumulatively they make a clear point. A casino that is unwilling to be open about its regulation, game providers and testing is essentially taking advantage of the fact that the vast majority of players do not verify any such information.
A typical gambler cannot review code and perform personal lab tests, but some small details do make a great difference. Checking licences and lab seals takes seconds. Searching for RTP within a pokie game help page is simple. Playing games from known developers instead of in-house titles is a good start.
Online casino games can never feel as fair as a coin toss, with the house edge intentionally included and sessions sometimes being tough due to variance. In this respect, fairness can be understood as having honest game rules and terms and conditions, truthful game odds, and third-party validation that the game works as intended.
For NZ gamblers who care about this, the aim is not to discover a magic lucky casino. It is to use the part of the industry that is willing to show its workings, and then play within limits that make sense given the maths humming away in the background.
For our Slotnite review, we counted: 78 software providers supplying the site with casino games. Slotnite has only been online since 2019. However, the operator of the online casino is much more experienced: White Hat Gaming Limited. Dozens of casino portals belong to the White Hat association. Slotnite is equally convincing with its slots and […]
The splendid country of New Zealand has always been wonderfully open and acceptive of new things and cultures. That is one of the things that makes it a dreamland for many wanderlusts. If you’re wondering about how to behave on live casino sites in New Zealand – then keep reading, as that’s exactly what this […]
There is something about land-based casinos that brings out the social butterfly in us all. Is it the bustling sounds of pokie machines? The warm and welcoming smiles of the croupiers? Or is it the ambience of it all? You are in for a treat if you are eager to try your luck at a […]
