Blockchain in the Online Casino Industry
Cryptocurrencies in the online gambling industry have a mixed reception. Some projects see no future in the technology, while others appreciate the anonymity, financial independence, and fixed fees that cryptocurrency systems offer. This technology brings a level of accountability and immutability to the blockchain registry, which is already making the gambling industry more transparent.
For enthusiasts who value both the innovation of cryptocurrency and the excitement of gambling, exploring Wanted Win casino no deposit bonus codes can provide a safe and enticing entry point into the world of online betting. This integration of modern technology enhances user experience and trust, marking a significant shift in how online gambling platforms operate.
Why do some casinos cheat players?
Gambling brings their organisers huge revenues. So, according to Casino.com, the total profit of the online gambling industry in 2017 exceeded $50 billion.
According to American journalist Paul Wilson, 60% of the gambling software market is occupied by three game providers: Playtech, Microgaming and Net Entertainment. Online casino owners don’t usually buy the software. They rent it for $11,000-$12,000 per month plus royalties of up to 45% of earnings.
Legal support for the project is also expensive. A licence to operate an online casino in Antigua and Barbuda costs $100,000. In other jurisdictions, the rates are lower, but annual renewal may be required.
There is a risk that the owners of such projects will go to any lengths to recoup their investment. They do this, as a rule, at the expense of players.
How online casinos cheat players
Traditional casinos always have an advantage over the player — the so-called house edge, thanks to which the casino makes money. In reality, the house edge is a statistical bias in favour of the casino. In the long run, the casino will win more than it loses, but the players still have a chance to make a profit.
Large gambling establishments use legal tricks: free alcohol to dull the attention, involving the player in long games, etc. Blatant cheating like roulette with a magnet, deck manipulation or dice weighting is too serious a reputational risk for such a business.
There are many more opportunities for cheating in online casinos, and it is much harder to catch cheaters by the hand. Cheating in this field is divided into two groups:
1. Impossible to win.
2. It is impossible to get the winnings.
Let’s consider these approaches in more detail.
Can’t win
All operations related to the issuing of cards or the movement of the reel take place on the platform side. The player does not see how the roulette is spinning or the dice are rolling, he only observes the result. And if the algorithms responsible for generating pseudo-random numbers are opaque, the player is left wondering how the game provider has cheated.
Honest online casinos use certified software that can be trusted. Some platforms use proprietary software that can alter the results of a game series. In other words, a vulnerability is created in the algorithm that increases the casino’s chances of winning.
Imagine flipping an ordinary coin. Not counting the edge, the coin can fall heads or tails up, and the probability of both events is 50%. This does not mean that if you flip the coin 10 times, you will get 5 eagles and 5 tails. It means that the more you flip the coin, the closer your results will be to this distribution: 50% eagle, 50% tails. That’s how probabilities work.
Now imagine it’s a virtual coin that the casino “flips” for you. If the algorithm is honest, the distribution will remain the same: 50/50. However, the casino can arbitrarily change the probabilities and make 700 heads and 300 tails out of 1000 tosses. The same principle works with roulette, cards, dice and other games. One of the few ways to avoid these shenanigans is to check the maths behind the game. This is not possible at traditional online casinos.
They won’t give the money back
Once a user has transferred money to a gaming platform, it is under the full control of the casino. Unfortunately, online casino owners are not always willing to sacrifice profits for fairness.
Exit-scam is the simplest tactic to cheat players. At first, scammers set up an online casino and start accepting bets. For a while, this casino works and sometimes even pays out small winnings to lure more players. Then the scammers stop giving out money, but continue to accept bets and deposits until their audience suspects something wrong. After collecting enough funds the casino creators close the site and disappear, leaving players with empty accounts.
An unscrupulous online casino can prevent a player from withdrawing money from the platform, even without committing blatantly illegal actions. For example, fictitious “technical problems” may occur on the casino’s side when trying to withdraw a large sum of money. In addition, the online casino operator may simply put large withdrawal fees. These approaches are designed to ensure that the player will get tired of waiting for the withdrawal of money, he will change his mind about taking it and just keep playing.
An example of a more subtle approach to fraud is the non-obvious terms of the public offer, which an inexperienced player may violate without knowing it. For example, although the age of majority in most countries is 18 or 21, a casino may introduce its own age requirements for players. Or the obstacle to withdrawal will be the allegedly inappropriate citizenship, wrong bank and so on. In the extreme case, the agreement may say something like “the casino is not obliged to pay winnings, thank you for your trust”, anyway, most players will not read abstruse legal texts.
Referral programme is another opportunity for scammers. Suppose an online casino promises users 20% of the money won by their referrals. Users bring new players, they win money, but instead of 20%, the casino gives only 10% or nothing at all. This tactic is called “shaving”. In order to notice in time that the casino is cheating with referral bonuses, the player will have to manually check the game history of their referrals, count their winnings and compare the results with their bonuses.
How can blockchain protect players?
Blockchain makes the entire gameplay and algorithms “under the bonnet” transparent: transactions and actions of both the player and the casino are displayed in an immutable public registry.
It won’t let you keep your winnings
The decentralised nature of blockchain will prevent a casino operator from manipulating players’ money and hiding their financial status. If funds are stored in a smart contract, payouts will be automatic and casino owners will not be able to prevent this. In addition, blockchain will allow any player to check if the casino is able to pay out the jackpot and if other players have received their money.
It will not allow cheating algorithms
In traditional online casinos, most of the in-game information is hidden from the user. Consequently, the results are not immune to manipulation. Online platforms that use blockchain to guarantee fair play are coming up with clear ways to ensure transparency.
For example, TruePlay, a blockchain solutions provider and Fairspin partner, uses its own “Integrity Control” technology, with which the user can check whether someone has made changes to the algorithm that produces game results.
In practice, this looks as follows:
- The algorithm generates a sequence of pseudo-random numbers. It will set the outcome in the upcoming game. For example, for roulette it is a sequence of numbers that will fall out on the reel, and for dice — a sequence of values that will fall out on the dice.N(N-1)/2
- The sequence goes into a temporary storage where the player cannot just look.
- A special service generates a hash of the entire sequence and writes it to the blockchain.
- When the game starts, the algorithm retrieves the results from the storage and enters the game. The player sees the ball hit a certain roulette cell or certain cards being dealt.
- At the end of the session, the player can review all the pre-generated results of the series in the temporary storage and see if they match his observations.
As a result, the user can make sure that the casino has not interfered with the algorithms and sets of values according to which cards are dealt or numbers on the dice come up.