With the rise in popularity of online gambling, many players who have lost money start to wonder whether the online platform has cheated them. This is only natural and understandable, as it’s unpleasant to lose money playing your favourite online slots or roulette and suspect that the online casino isn’t being fair to you. But is the problem with the casino, or is it simply a case of bad luck on that particular day in that particular game? Let’s find out.
How can a player check the result of a game?
An increasing number of online casinos are using provably fair technology, which allows players to verify the fairness of the game’s outcome and ensure that the result has not been tampered with by the online casino itself. This mechanism has become an important part of online gaming, particularly for the Indian audience, where trust in the online platform is of paramount importance.
By playing slots, the Thimbles game demo or other casino games, players can verify the integrity of the platform before them.
How the provably fair mechanism works from the inside
Unlike standard online casinos, where a random number generator ensures fairness, players are able to see how the system works from the inside. This technology is based on cryptography. The system utilises three key elements:
- The server key is generated in advance by the platform itself, but it is hidden from the player, although the hash (i.e. the file converted into a unique string of characters) is published and made available to players in advance.
- The client key is generally created by the player or automatically and has a direct influence on the final result.
- The Nonse, also known as the round counter, is a unique number that does not repeat, and each new game is independent of the results of the previous one.
The combination of these elements results in a random outcome and prevents the result from being altered after the event has taken place without the hash value changing.
How to check the results
At the end of each round, the online casino reveals the server key, allowing players to compare this key with the hash that was initially made available. They can also use special calculators to recalculate the results, compare the data with the original figures, and if the data matches, the game was 100% fair. However, it is important to remember that just because an online platform uses provably fair technology does not mean that players will only win; no, that is not the case. This technology merely ensures the transparency and fairness of the game, and players can rest assured that they will not be cheated, as losing will simply mean bad luck.
How does this work in practice, in simple terms?
If we try to steer clear of cryptographic terminology and the like, in practice it works as follows.
A player chooses an online gaming platform, tops up their balance and enters a game, such as online slots. Once the bets have been placed, the online casino records the future result and encrypts it into a set of unique numbers (a server key combination), without revealing the full result to the player. After one or several rounds, the player can then check and compare the result themselves.
In short, the mechanism works as follows:
- Before the game, there is hidden information (the result itself).
- The game takes place; for example, a spin on an online slot machine does not produce a winning combination.
- Once the game is over, the hidden information is revealed to the player.
- The player compares the results before and after the game.
There are several reasons why this is convenient and is gaining popularity.
Players develop greater trust in the online platform, which leads to positive reviews and recommendations to other players (the player realises the game was fair, and the casino attracts a steady stream of new visitors).
Players can be completely confident in the outcome of the game and need not worry that the result has been tampered with, which has a positive effect both on players’ mood before the game and on their desire to prove to themselves that it is possible to win a large sum fairly and that the online casino will not, under any circumstances, tamper with the result to their disadvantage.
Increasingly, online platforms are opting for provably fair technology, as this demonstrates to players the truth that online casinos earn a percentage from each game, rather than through deception.
But the most important thing to remember is that, whether you’re playing in a physical casino in Goa or at home on your phone at an online casino, you need to know that every game involves a risk and even the most honest casino cannot guarantee a jackpot. Under no circumstances should you try to recoup your losses, as in most cases this will only worsen your financial situation. So play sensibly and don’t be afraid, as ‘provably fair’ is a guarantee of fair and transparent gaming.