The licensing of casinos in the UK is a way that fairness is guaranteed for players. The UK Gambling Commission oversees all operators running an online gambling business.
Their industry-standard guidelines are a regulatory framework that monitors all aspects of games whose outcomes are produced by a random number generator.
It essentially means that the game fairness at legal UK Casinos, whether they are 10£ or 50p minimum deposit platforms or even no-deposit gambling sites, is transparent and can be explored by players. All online casino sites have a link to a page about game fairness, which can be found in the footer area.
This outlines that they have been checked for fairness, but what exactly is the information addressed on the page, and is it worthwhile checking out?
The Purpose of Fairness Checking
The UK Gambling Commission requires gambling businesses to have their games checked. The software and the gameplay being provided are both rigorously tested by approved test houses. This is why it is crucial to only play at licensed casinos because of the level of player protection that they offer.
Players will know that any game on the site has passed the checks and balances that the UKGC has in place. It’s also not just a one-and-done deal either, because operators aren’t checked just to get the initial operating licence, they are constantly monitored for overall game fairness.
Game Fairness Pages
Visit an online casino, click on their Game Fairness page and you will see a lot of standard information. The main point of the information explains that the outcome of the games on the site (except for Live Dealer games) have their outcomes determined by a Random Number Generator.
Importantly as well, the page will explain that those games have indeed been tested and given the green light by independent compliance testers, as per the requirements set out by the regulators.
What Independent Regulators Check
Independent regulars check many different aspects of a casino game, including the overall functionality of a slot, the user interface and the display of it. Transactions, i.e. the acceptance of stake and the payouts given by a machine, also come under heavy scrutiny as do the stated rules to ensure that they are clear for the player to understand.
Checks will also be done on the mathematics involved in a game, notably the Return To Player percentage (RTP). This is a key component of a game because it determines how much of every 100 put in, the machine will pay out, which essentially translates into the house edge. An RTP of 97% means a 3% house edge, i.e. they keep 3 out of 100 played on the machine.
The RTP is a theoretical number to reflect the expected return to players from the total money bet on it, from numerous game plays, typically several hundred thousand. For the purpose of game fairness, a game’s stated RTP is continuously checked to make sure that it’s hitting the numbers.
Why Games May Get Paused
If you happen to log on and see that your favourite slot is not available, the reason why is explained on the Game Fairness page as well. Because both RNG and live dealer games are constantly monitored, alerts are sent out if there is a problem with the expected Return To Player.
While that is sorted out through an investigation, the game will be unavailable. In most situations, for Game Fairness, any bets that were made on the affected game will simply be voided.
This is important because it means that the operator won’t pay out any winnings and that they won’t retain any losses from the malfunctioning game. This is usually clearly stated on the Game Fairness page, along with a statement saying that they won’t benefit from any malfunction.
As a further step, the operator will reach out to any affected customers, with a full explanation of what has happened and then the steps taken for resolution.
Important Links
More useful pieces of information that can be found on the Game Fairness page of an online casino are through links to listed RTPs. If a player is therefore curious about the RTP for a particular slot, or maybe Lotto, or Virtuals then they can be explored for transparency.
In Conclusion
Game Fairness is a big part of the experience that players get at online casinos.
It is worth checking for this page because it does offer peace of mind, as knowing you are playing at a site that is licensed and regulated, ensures that you are getting fair experiences.
