Is Playing Online Slots Safe and Fair – Main Indicators
Slots are by far the most common type of online casino game. The typical casino site has hundreds or even thousands of them. These games are extremely popular, but are they fair? Let’s find out whether slots are rigged or not.
Most online slots are tested by independent organisations, proving their fairness. © livecart68, Pixabay
Why You Should Play Fair Online Casino Games
Nearly all of the games you can play at online casinos are fair. In other words, they’re developed by reputable, trustworthy providers, they perform as meant to, and they won’t try to scam or cheat you in any way.
When you play a fair game, there’s no bias at all, and you have the same chances of winning as any other player. You can rest assured that everything’s above board and nothing dodgy or untoward is going on.
Yes, statistically you’re more likely to lose than win, but that’s the nature of casino games. They’re designed to take money from players in the long run, which is how gambling companies stay in business. But they’re upfront and honest about it.
Most of the time, when you gamble online for real money, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. However, there may still be some games, including slots, that have been rigged in some way.
The good news is that it’s easy enough to avoid rigged slots and other games. So long as you’re sensible and know what to look out for, you should successfully avoid the dodgy slots and focus on the fair ones.
Do Online Slots Get Rigged?
Are online casino slots rigged? Nearly all of them are as fair and reliable as can be. However, there’s an extremely small number of slots that are rigged.
Most companies that operate in the gambling industry are genuine and honest. They want to develop a brand, attract players, earn a great reputation and make enough money to stay in business.
However, there will always be one or two companies that are only after one thing: money. They’re prepared to cheat and scam players to make quick money, and they don’t really care if they get shut down quickly.
What’s encouraging about online gambling is that it’s very heavily regulated. There are many companies that focus on making sure gambling is safe and secure for everyone involved, especially the player.
Regulatory authorities such as the UK Gambling Commission and the Malta Gaming Authority play a big role in promoting safe and fair gambling. They also help people avoid negative experiences.
There will always be a few companies that are in the industry for the wrong reasons. In other words, they want to make money by deceiving people. Rigging slots is an easy way for these companies to achieve their goals.
How to Tell If a Slot Has Been Rigged
It’s worth stressing that nearly every online slot game you’ll come across hasn’t been rigged in any way. It’s also worth pointing out that people who claim a game has been manipulated are often wrong.
You get some people who play an online slot and expect to win. When they don’t, they jump to the conclusion that the slot isn’t working properly and has been deliberately set up to rob them of their money.
The truth is they’ve just been unlucky, which is what happens to most people who gamble online for real money. The takeaway is that you shouldn’t automatically assume a slot’s been rigged just because someone who’s lost money says so.
So, how can online slots be rigged? The simple way is by not paying out as much as they should. This is where the key terms RTP and volatility come in.
RTP and Volatility
Every online slot has an RTP. This term stands for ‘return to player’ and is measured as a percentage. It represents how much of a player’s bets they should be paid back on average over long-term play.
The average RTP for online slots is 95% to 96%. If you spent €1,000,000 on a slot with an RTP of 96%, you would theoretically expect to receive close to €960,000 in winnings.
As for volatility, this refers to how often payouts are and how big they are. A low volatility slot tends to pay small sums of money quite often.
A highly volatile slot typically gives larger cash prizes but only once in a while. Medium volatility slots are somewhere in between low and high volatility ones.
You should easily find the RTP and volatility of an online slot. The information should be in the paytable or on the slot’s page on the casino site.
The slot’s page on its provider’s website should also display this information. This may be a red flag if you can’t find it anywhere; key details should be easily accessible to everyone.
This is another warning sign if the RTP is below average, e.g. 65%. Also, if you spin the reels many times and never win, this is a major cause for concern.
At the best slot sites, you should be able to find out all of a slot’s key facts and figures with ease. The best sites are honest about everything, including their games’ details and where everything comes from.
Random Number Generators
Another point worth mentioning is Random Number Generators (RNGs). These advanced pieces of software are used to ensure each outcome is completely random and independent of all other outcomes.
If you play a slot and notice there’s not much variation in the symbols that appear, there’s a chance that a Random Number Generator isn’t being used. This means the slot isn’t as fair as possible.
To give an example, let’s say you spin, and three K symbols land on reel 1 and three Q symbols land on reel 2. You spin a few more times, and on most of these spins, Ks and Qs fill the first two reels.
The chances of this happening naturally are incredibly slim. A random number generator isn’t being used; otherwise, this wouldn’t happen. When an irregular pattern is as noticeable as this, something dodgy is going on.
How to Avoid Rigged Slots
The good news is that avoiding rigged online slot games couldn’t be any easier. All you have to do is join casino sites with a licence from a reputable regulatory authority.
Thankfully, nearly all online casinos are fully licensed and tick all the right boxes regarding safety and security. Checking whether a casino has a licence or not is quick and simple.
When you’re at a casino’s website, scroll down to the bottom of any page, and you should see important links and some key information about the company operating the site. There should also be a mention of the licence provider.
There should be a short piece of text saying where the casino has obtained its licences from. Instead, there may be icons of the regulatory authority that has supplied the site with its licence.
If you can’t find information about licensing anywhere at all, it’s reasonable to assume the casino doesn’t have a licence. In this case, you should avoid signing up and choose a site that obviously is licensed instead.
To obtain a licence, a casino operator has to jump through many hoops, go through a series of stringent checks and provide key documents and data to prove it’s genuine and legitimate.
This is why sticking with licensed online casinos is the best way to avoid rigged slots. When it comes to acquiring games, honest, trustworthy companies don’t just choose games from any provider.
They carry out their own checks and have standards in place to ensure that the companies providing gaming content are genuine and aren’t going to deceive players in any way. Hosting rigged games would destroy a casino’s reputation.
Therefore, legitimate casino sites only host games that work properly and are from reputable providers. The games have reasonable RTPs, pay out as intended and use a Random Number Generator to ensure fair outcomes for everyone.
Summary
Are online slots rigged? The vast majority of them aren’t. Online casinos only accept safe and reliable games. They don’t host games they know have been rigged because it would be very bad for business.
Having said that, a very small number of slots have been set up to scam players. So long as you play at licensed casino sites, you should avoid these rigged slots and have a hassle-free online gambling experience.
