What about the games themselves?

All of the above leads into answering the question of whether online casino GAMES are rigged or not. We’ve established that the casinos themselves stand to lose a significant amount of money if they are not operating above board and in a legitimate manner. But what about the games?

Not a lot of people realise this, but the games you play are not actually at the casino you’re playing with. Online and mobile casinos are merely portals that give players access to the actual games – and these are housed on secure servers run by the games providers themselves.

What this means is that the games providers, and by extension the games themselves,  also need to be legit so that they don’t lose money. And they are also scrutinised and investigated by industry bodies and authorities who will not hesitate to shut them down if they are not playing fair.

One of the biggest differences between land-based casinos and online casinos, and a major factor in the rigging question, is the actual operation of the games. Land-based casinos have equipment (wheels, decks of cards, physical slot machines, etc.) that can be accessed by humans and tampered with. Online gambling venues do not. Everything online is run by software and this actually makes online casino games even fairer than land-based ones.

Because of the RNG.

What exactly is the RNG?

RNG stands for Random Number Generator and it’s the software that makes certain that you casino game is relying on pure chance.

RNGs are algorithms that produce sequences of random numbers, millions of them every second. The casino game software uses these randomly generated numbers to tell the game what actions to fulfil. For example, when you hit the spin button on an online slots game, the RNG tells the reels where and when to stop. Or, when you’re playing a game of video blackjack, the RNG tells the game which cards have been dealt.

There is no way to predict what number sequence the RNG will produce and therefore no way to influence an online casino game.

In a legit, licensed online casino. (Yes, we are harping on about this but it truly is one of the most frustrating aspects of our work – the number of players who blame a rigged game or casino and then ‘suddenly’ realise they’re playing at an unlicensed operator.)

Why don’t I win more on my non-rigged online casino game?

House edge. It’s as simple as that. You know the saying “the house always wins”? It’s true. It’s a fact. It’s why every land-based casino looks like an entertainment palace with the most eye-popping décor and extravagant fittings. It’s because – shock and horror – casinos are a business and their business is making money. For themselves, not for you.

How do they make their money? By using their house edge, the mathematical advantage that they have over the player. Some games, like roulette or slots, have extravagant house edges. Some games , like blackjack, have tiny house edges. But all casino games, online or land-based, have a house edge.

It’s perfectly legal. It changes from casino to casino and game to game. And it’s why these businesses make so much money!

Gambling and gambling games have some very clever people operating in the background (like super-clever actuary type people) who work out exactly how much a game can pay out to entice players versus how much it needs to bring in to be profitable.

It’s why those stories of gamblers hitting the big jackpots are such big news – and so rare!