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Best Online Casino Payouts: Integrity Of Software Provider And Operator Is Key
(ContentDesk) August 13, 2005 -- When it comes to online casinos, nearly all of them claim to have the highest payouts.Likewise, nearly all of them claim to have better payouts than the Vegas casinos, somewhere in the range of 97 percent to 99 percent.Gambling911.com sponsor www.winwardcasino.com is no exception. They boast a whopping 98 percent payout.But Gambling911.com's Founder and President, Christopher Costigan, was quoted in a Wall Street Journal piece that ran last month where he told the writer "There needs to be some kind of assurance that these games are fair, and that people are actually winning money from them." Easier said than done. Wall Street Journal Staff Reporter Serena NG wrote that On the Internet, the slot machines, blackjack and poker games that gamblers play are run by software programs that use random number generators to create different outcomes that can't be second-guessed Hantie Bouwer, a PricewaterhouseCoopers director in South Africa, was quoted in the article as saying that analyzing transaction data for randomness and verifying that winnings are paid out is not part of the audit process. But he went on to state that some online companies are hiring auditors to review their data and payout rations to help prove to customers that they are bona fide businesses. Bouwer's company does work for more than 100 online gaming brands, many of which belong to Microgaming.Gambling911.com, which is slowly delving into the business, features two brands: one a Real Time Gaming casino, the other a Parlay Entertainment Group casino. www.wizardofodds.com is a web site devoted to testing the validity of software firms. Their tests revealed that Real Time Gaming offered fair odds on its internet casino games. This, however, does not necessarily translate into actual payouts. While the software may be good, the individual licensees may not be. Casino Marlin, for example, was one of a handful of Real Time Gaming licensees that closed down leaving players high and dry a few years back. RTG has since worked hard to mend its soiled reputation by bringing on top notch licensees such as Bodog.com. This alone has catapulted Real Time Gaming's credibility in the world of software.Wizard of Odds also ranks Microgaming quite high as do most industry experts. Microgaming, in fact, is one of the few online gambling software providers with virtually zero backlashes in rogue licensees. The South African based company also uses the services of a major auditing firm, Price Waterhouse Cooper. Jacques Louw, Director of Global Risk Management Solutions at PwC, was asked by www.mpthrill.com how his firm calculates the payout percentages. Do they accurately reflect the percentage amount being paid back to players?"We calculate the percentage winnings to wagered amounts, and not the amounts paid back to clients," Louw told Mpthrill.com. "This means that the same dollar could be played through a number of times and only then be "re-called" by players. We are very confident that our calculations as published are correct."In regard to whether these figures assure players that the casino's bookkeeping is honest, Louw had this to say:"We have been very careful not to imply that we perform any review of the casinos or their financial results. However, we have performed various detailed reviews of casino backoffices, and have no reason to believe that any dishonesty exists. I want to assure you that my firm will resign immediately should there be any sign of dishonesty by any of our clients. Our reputation is worth much more than any fees any client could pay us." Louw also assured that neither Microgaming nor Boss Media (another software provider audited by Price Waterhouse Cooper) licensees can manipulate the numbers without his firm's knowledge."We download gigabytes of data every
month and run our own software against these files to calculate the published ratios. We also perform various other checks; for example, we reconcile independent financial information to these data log file figures in order to ensure that our figures are independently confirmed. Casinos are unable to manipulate these numbers without PwC's knowledge."Gambling911.com's Christopher Costigan feels comfortable enough dealing with the integrity of Winward Casino through a long-established relationship, not to mention this is one of the oldest online casinos in existence today, first appearing in 1998. Most gambling portals and industry information sites must rely on an operator's history for honesty, since so few actually engage in public auditing procedures.Still, Gambling911.com decided to approach Winward in regard to its "fair play" and any type of internal auditing process."Obviously I can't go in and test these online casinos myself," Costigan commented. "I would not even know where to start or what to look for. This is certainly not my area of expertise. So the one thing we have left to look at is the software provider itself and their overall reputation."In the case of Winward Casino, the software company is one Parlaygroup.com (www.parlaygroup.com) which is a publicly traded company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange."It is always a good sign when the company is publicly traded," Costigan acknowledged. "These organizations are usually held to a higher standard."Winward Casino spokesperson Mario Bollenger offered the following reassurances as they apply to his and payouts. "Our Random Number Generator has been independently tested and certified by Technical Systems Testing based in Vancouver, British Columbia." Bollenger recently told Gambling911.com. "Using mathematical and statistical analysis, TST concluded that our RNG distributes numbers with sufficient non-predictability, fair distribution and lack of bias to particular outcomes."He also asserted that Winward's payouts are better than most Las Vegas casinos and one of the highest overall payouts online according to Strictly Slots Magazine. "Winward Casino most popular games are its Video Bonus Slot Machines, and it many Video Poker Machines. Our Slot Machines for last month paid out over 98.7 percent."In the end, reputable operators realize that players will not stick around for long if they find the games to be rigged. "Gambler's just don't start playing and deposit $1,000, Bollenger said. "They usually start off with $100 test the site, and see if they like it. To get a customer and cheat him out of $100 besides unethical and prohibited, would make no business sense for an operator. Operator's need lots of volume. It costs operators too much to acquire a gambler to fix games in favor of the house."Gambling911.com will do its part to make sure those online casinos represented on its popular web site adhere to certain industry standards."In addition to Wizardofodds.com, we also look to Brian Bailey of www.casinomeister.com and our own syndicated columnist, Brian Cullingworth of INFOPOWA to guide us in selecting online casinos as advertisers," Costigan stated. "We won't touch an internet casino that is not willing to work with either of these individuals."About Gambling911.com:Gambling911.com is recognized as the worldwide leader in online gambling and sports betting information. As a portal begun in 2000 dedicated exclusively to covering internet gambling, the site has since expanded into various other arenas that have led to a tremendous surge in readership over the past year. Gambling911.com has been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, the Miami Herald, The Las Vegas Sun, The Hartford Courant and on Fox 6 Milwaukee as well as many other fine media outlets. For more information visit www.gambling911.com.
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