Casinos have always been deeply concerned about their credibility. Throughout their long history, discredited casinos lost their clients, if players felt they were being cheated they would go play elsewhere. Having said that, casino play has always involved money, and where there is money changing hands, nefarious activity is never far behind. Players have always tried to cheat casinos, and casinos have used sinister methods to relieve players of their money. And casino play has made the transition to an online format with a continuation of this relationship.
However, the evolution of online technical capabilities means that the drive for casino fairplay and fraud prevention has also received a shot in the arm. Independent auditors and stringent licencing in many jurisdictions are becoming expected of any reputable casino site. Software development pressures are making the software more secure and tampering is no longer possible, especially with the top brands literally banking on their reputation.
The Fair Play Element
Online casino companies lease or purchase their casino software from a limited number of credible sources. The expectations are in a situation of casino fair play and devoid of fraud, that players enjoying casino play online will be able to play the slots and table games at exactly the same level of risk as at their brick and mortar counterparts. And not slanted in favour of the casino.
The measure of casino software fair play is based upon the random number generation. At an online casino, every shuffle of the cards, whirl of the roulette wheel, roll of the dice or spin of the reels should be based on being completely random, and not favouring anyone. The problem has always been random number generation is technically not possible with a computer that runs on a specified program. Computers therefore use what is called a pseudo random number generator, or PRNG. If the random number generator uses acceptable algorithms that can be monitored and evaluated and its level of randomness is sufficiently close to true random as to make no difference, then it is deemed to be fair.
The Software Developers
The better software companies, such as Microgaming, Amaya, Playtech, IGT and Realtime Gaming have PRNGs that are independently audited, and take pride in establishing themselves as providers of fair play. The licencing requirements for casinos too require that the random number generator has been certified by an independent third-party. The third-party auditors scrutinise the RNG source code and run statistical tests to ensure that the generator behaves randomly. Reputable casino sites include these details prominently on their site.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Another monitoring option that is becoming highly acceptable is being used by many of the Bitcoin casino today. Upon signing in at the casino site, the player and the casino exchange encrypted random number initiation codes. After play has been concluded, the casino sends the player the decryption code and the player can check himself that every card shuffle, dice roll and round of roulette was as random as it could be.
Players can in these ways be sure that casino fair play is improving and fraud is being limited. The best monitoring system may just be the players themselves, and this is becoming possible.