Who Tests Fairness of Online Casino Games

Last updated: August 29, 2022

Given how many crooks are among online gambling entrepreneurs, it would be silly of us (online casino players) to take their word on such an important matter as the fairness of online casino games. Moreover, gambling commissions around the world feel the same way and require online casino games to be tested before an online casino gets a license.

As you may have concluded, fairness tests would not be possible without some independent third-party company that has personnel with required technical skills. And, what is most important, such a company must have an impeccable reputation in the industry.

In this article we are going to talk about:

• what components of online casino games (both slots and other games) are tested

• what companies are in charge (including their contact info)

What do fairness tests include?

Every online casino game (both slots and classic casino games), in order to be deemed as a fair one, must meet these criteria:

• All outcomes of the game must be distributed randomly.

• An online casino must not have an opportunity to affect outcomes of the game after it has been approved.

Therefore, the job of casino games testing companies is to make sure that both above-mentioned statements are true. But how do they ensure it?

Speaking about the randomness of outcomes, as we all know, each online casino game has some RTP (return to player) percentage, which is a crucial part of it. So to say, testing companies need to establish whether claimed RTP is correct or not. For example, an online slot has a theoretical RTP of 97%. A testing company usually makes millions of spins in this slot and compares the result with theoretical RTP. And if they match, then such game is good to go and can be served to online casino players.

After that, a fairness testing company need to ensure that randomness stays intact after the game has been approved and become accessible to online casino players. I won’t dive too deep into this topic since it is quite a geeky one, but everything comes down to ensuring that RNG (random number generator) software is implemented in a proper way and separated from online casinos’ web servers so that they can not affect RNG.

Hence, fairness tests can be divided into these groups:

• Pre-license tests. These tests are performed before an online casino game enters the market.

• Tests of existing games, which ensure that a particular online casino game is fair at any moment in time.

Now, as you have gotten some general idea about how fairness tests are conducted, let’s talk about the companies which perform them.

The most reliable casino games testing companies

eCOGRA (eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance)

Official website: www.ecogra.org

Email: [email protected] [email protected]

Telephone: +44 20 7887 1480

Address: 2/F Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6BD, United Kingdom

eCOGRA definitely stands out among other testing companies as being the most reputable one. You probably have come across many online casinos having eCOGRA seal on their websites.

That happens because eCOGRA is an accredited testing agency in many gambling jurisdictions, including the most reliable gambling commissions, such as UK, Alderney, Isle of Man and many many others.

iTech Labs

Official website: itechlabs.com

Email: infoATitechlabs.com.au

Telephone: +61 (0)3 9561 9955

Address: 24/40 Montclair Ave, Glen Waverley, Melbourne, VIC 3150, Australia

iTech Labs is an Australian company that has been operating since 2004. However, since then, it has become an international company having offices in Spain and Italy as well. During this period of time iTech Labs has acquired a strong reputation in the online gambling industry, and many online casino games (all kinds of casino games as they claim on their website) have been tested by their team.

GLI (Gaming Laboratories International)

Official website: gaminglabs.com

Email: fill out a form here(https://gaminglabs.com/contact/)

Telephone: +1-732-942-3999

Address: 600 Airport Road, Lakewood, New Jersey, 08701 USA

GLI is a well-established company with 30 years history of success and offices in all continents around the world. GLI claims that more than 475 gambling operators and regulators have resorted to their testing services, which is quite an impressive result, I would say.

GLI’s team is solely focused on gaming tests and have acquired a lot of experience in this field.

BMM Testlabs

Official website: bmm.com

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: +1 702 407 2420

Address: 815 Pilot Road, Suite G, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

BMM Testlabs is an international testing company with offices in 13 countries around the world and headquarters in the USA. It has been providing the gambling industry with its services since 1981, and we can consider it to be a pioneer in fairness testing.

So to speak, whenever you see BMM Testlabs seal, be sure that casino games were tested according to highest standards.

NMi

Official website: www.nmi.nl

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: +31 88 636 2332

Address: Thijsseweg 11, 2629 JA Delft The Netherlands

NMi is a European based company with laboratories in the UK and Germany, and headquarters in the Netherlands. It performs tests on a very wide range of products, including online casino games.

It is fair to notice, that making the online gambling tests is not the main specialty of NMi. However, it has a lot of trust in online gambling as well, since it has been operating more than 30 years without any reputational issues.

Gaming Associates

Official website: www.gamingassociates.eu

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: +61 2 8320 0560

Address: Unit 4.19 29-31 Lexington Drive, Bella Vista NSW 2153, Australia

Gaming Associates is a company with offices in Australia and the UK, and it is mainly focused on gambling software tests. It has been known since the 1990s as a trustworthy body.

SQS (Software Quality Systems) Group

Official website: www.sqs.es

Email: [email protected]

Telephone: +34 94 480 46 17

Address: 7-11 Moorgate London, EC2R 6AF United Kingdom

SQS is a company with offices in Europe (Spain, Belgium, Poland). It provides many services pertaining to cybersecurity, including testing of fairness of online casino games.

TST (Technical Systems Testing)

Contact them via GLI channels

TST had merged with GLI back in 2010. However, TST has been operating under its own brand. The company is well known for making a fairness test for both online and land-based casinos since 1993.

Why we can trust their tests?

• They are companies with decades of successful work behind.

• They are situated in countries with reliable law enforcement systems. Any cheating with test’s results in a fraud according to the laws of these countries. Hence, if any forging took place, there is a high risk for them to be prosecuted and convicted as a result.

Are online casinos fair?

Online casinos often raise fair doubts among players. There are quite a few reasons for this, but the main one is the fear of running into scammers. It should be noted right away that the fears of this part of users are often justified. Other casino customers, especially beginners, do not even realize that in search of a top slot club they may run into the so-called duplicate casino site. Simply put - a fraudulent site. At first glance, he does not cause any doubt - the same design, the same slot machines, the same promotional offers. And now in the case of winning, the customer has questions:

• "Why did the slot machine abruptly stop giving out winnings when it was always in surplus?"

• "Why is the slot machine working intermittently?"

• "Why do I get thrown out of the game when I win big?"

The answer to all these questions, although simple, is not very pleasant - the user is caught in a scam casino. There is no point in trying to win at such an establishment, especially a large sum of money, nor is there any point in fighting them - such establishments are not subject to any jurisdiction.

Experienced players over the years have learned to identify the casinos from decent operators, as well as the ones that should be avoided. In fact, it's very easy to understand - just study what measures a casino takes to provide exceptionally trustworthy games. The main way to prove their integrity is to be licensed. It confirms the operator's commitment to providing services in accordance with generally accepted regulations.

There is also a less trivial way to find out if the software offered in the casino library is certified. The certification for the RNG used in the games must be from an independent and reputable testing laboratory. There are several such services in iGaming, including eCogra, iTechLabs, BMM Gaming, etc. This guarantees players a truly random combination in any slot machine presented on the site. There are no exceptions in this case, as the operator submits a request to the lab to check the entire gaming library. Only in this case, you should have confidence that all the falls in the casino games are random, which means the operator is honestly fulfilling its obligations to its customers.