Understanding Fairplay Audits.

You may already be aware, and if not will be pleased to know, that all reputable online casinos are assessed by auditors who ensure that their games adhere to fair-gaming. These auditors are well established with solid reputations who gain nothing from making false reports. These audits are essential for any online casino, both because they are usually filed under a jurisdiction that demands this of them in order to receive their licence, and also because they wish to attract customers and fairness of play is essential for that purpose. One of the best known, and most widely used, is eCOGRA, and the results of their audits are usually to be found on the home page of the relevant online casino.

If you are new to online gambling then be sure to look at these reports and understand the implications that they have summarised for your benefit.

Three different sets of certification are issued by eCOGRA to the casinos that they audit. Firstly, there is the initial certificate, awarded following satisfactory completion of the first audit. This certifies that the games are fair and operating according to the prerequisites necessary to pass the audit. eCOGRA are scrupulous in their dealings and always give an unbiased report, they ensure that casinos have appropriate deposit and withdrawal systems and that the casinos are operating with honesty.

The next certificate relates to the casinos RNG, or Random Number Generator. Random Number Generators are used by casinos to ensure that their games produce results in a randomised fashion, thus presenting the games as statistically similar to as it were played in real life. eCOGRA issue separated certificates for the different games that the casinos have which use RGN’s, such as blackjack, roulette and video poker. Each certificate relates to a six month period of gaming, during that six month period, each game is analysed and tested to ensure that they are operating in a randomised manner; the analysis is based on various statistical tests. The certificates pertaining to RNG’s are basically telling the player that each card, each spin of the wheel, each etc, has the same chances of being selected.

However, the most important certificate is that which is called the Percentage Payout Review. eCOGRA undertakes these audits on a monthly basis. The report publishes the average percentage of payouts per game in various categories. eCOGRA place the following on every report: "The figures reflect the percentage of total player unit winnings to the total unit amount wagered by the players in the month under review." And the different categories under which the data is presented are as follows: all games, poker games, slot games, and table games. Each of these categories is equally important, and as such will subsequently be discussed in turn.

Firstly we need to clarify that the figures are THE actual averages of the percentage payouts taken over the period of a month. They are not a reflection of stipulation or statistical projections, and as such may not reflect the pay-outs that the odds may dictate for the game, in other words; imagine that there was a game of heads and tails, the payout odds are even, so you would expect to see a 2:1 payout ratio if the only bet available was heads to win, however, as you know, although statistically there is a 50-50 chance of throwing heads on each flip, it is still possible to flip heads many times in a row, so statistics are not a perfect predictions of reality, only what the outcome should equate to over an average number of throws. Thus, what pure statistics would say the percentage pay-outs will be, will not actually be a true reflection of what happens.

That being said, the on such games where the player only needs to place the bet, and has no requirement for skill, the average payouts should not be too far out from what is theoretically possible, e.g. although it is possible to flip a coin a have it land heads up 100 times in a row, it is highly unlikely and would be an exceptionally rare occurrence indeed.

At Platinum Play Casino, for example, the average percentage payout for their slot machines was audited at 95.6% during September 2009, meaning that for each $100 that was played through their slot machines, $95.60 was returned to the players and $4.40 was kept by the casino. Because slot machines operate on the heads/tale principle, where no skill is involved, at the said casino, the average percentage payout should always be hovering near to this mark- although they will change slightly, and occasionally seem a lot lower or higher than average, though that will be rare.

For the audit purposes the poker games are the video poker games. In September 2009 the average percentage payout found by eCOGRA was 99.51%. This is slightly different in terms of statistics than the slot machines and therefore needs elaborating further. For the perfect poker player, that one who makes the best decisions at all times, then they will be receiving a greater payout that the percentage stipulated, and players who are very bad at poker will be receiving a lower payout than that stipulated. In other words, skill is a factor, and so a player should not expect to receive the 99.51% back if they are not very good, the average player should expect exactly 99.51% and the good player slightly more.

The table games are the hardest to fathom in terms of the auditor reports. These games usually include roulette, craps and blackjack. Games like roulette and craps require very little, if any, skill, just an understanding of the rules and so the player has very little role in determining the average pay-out percentage. However, blackjack, where the players’ choices make a huge difference to the game, play a large role in deciding what the average pay-out ration would be. Because all these games are amalgamated into one figure for the purposes of the audit, it is of little use to determining anything about the average pay-out for individual games.

Our best advice therefore is to make regular checks on the auditor’s reports for any online casino that you are playing at. And make sure that they have the relevant initial certifications before registering and depositing money- this will help to keep you safe when gambling online.

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