Ladbrokes Avalon Slot tournaments issue. Players getting uneven chances of winning!

[Jufo]

I have been participating in Ladbrokes' Avalon Slot Tournaments every day for one month now and each day I have paid 20$ to enter the tournament but I have never finished in the top 10 even though there are usually only 30-40 players each day (so I have entered 30 times, and never finished in the top quartile).

The problem is that when I play the tournament, no matter how fast I try to do the spins, I am always left with 6000 coins at least when the time runs out. I have a decent computer, a good Internet connection and I shut down all other programs when I start the tournament, and turn off the sounds, so I should be able to do the spins as fast as possible. However, every day I see that some players have managed to play much more coins in the same time period. They probably have faster Internet connections and better computers but this gives them unfair advantage because they have time to play more coins, therefore win more and rank higher on the winner list.

I did a test on a different computer than where I usually play and I was able to play at least 3000 more coins during the tournament when I had access to this fast computer and superfast Internet connection. Those 3000 coins quite often make the difference whether you place in the top 10 or not (therefore win or not).

I am taking this matter seriously because there is real money at stake and it is clear that players joining this tournament don't have equal chance of winning. I have played this tournament now for many weeks and I have gathered sufficient data to prove that players with faster Internet connections/better computers have clear advantage over other players.

I am expecting a full response from Ladbrokes (accredited here) regarding this issue!

-Jufo

[vinylweatherman]

Originally Posted by Jufo

I have been participating in Ladbrokes' Avalon Slot Tournaments every day for one month now and each day I have paid 20$ to enter the tournament but I have never finished in the top 10 even though there are usually only 30-40 players each day (so I have entered 30 times, and never finished in the top quartile).

The problem is that when I play the tournament, no matter how fast I try to do the spins, I am always left with 6000 coins at least when the time runs out. I have a decent computer, a good Internet connection and I shut down all other programs when I start the tournament, and turn off the sounds, so I should be able to do the spins as fast as possible. However, every day I see that some players have managed to play much more coins in the same time period. They probably have faster Internet connections and better computers but this gives them unfair advantage because they have time to play more coins, therefore win more and rank higher on the winner list.

I did a test on a different computer than where I usually play and I was able to play at least 3000 more coins during the tournament when I had access to this fast computer and superfast Internet connection. Those 3000 coins quite often make the difference whether you place in the top 10 or not (therefore win or not).

I am taking this matter seriously because there is real money at stake and it is clear that players joining this tournament don't have equal chance of winning. I have played this tournament now for many weeks and I have gathered sufficient data to prove that players with faster Internet connections/better computers have clear advantage over other players.

I am expecting a full response from Ladbrokes (accredited here) regarding this issue!

-Jufo

You won't get any sense out of support. This issue has been going on for ages, and MG just don't care

It came up soon after these tournaments were launched, and the only fix MG attempted made them SLOWER, not faster.
The obvious suggestion, making them limited to a set number of coins, and forget about time, has been thrown out by MG, yet this would ensure that ALL players would get the exact same chance, as they would all be able to finish all their coins. Players with slower PCs and/or connections would simply take longer.

Bonus rounds are the big problem, they run MUCH slower than normal play, and if you don't get any, you will manage to play many more coins.

[Jufo]

Originally Posted by vinylweatherman

You won't get any sense out of support. This issue has been going on for ages, and MG just don't care

Yeah, I noticed this, but it is so much more obvious in these Ladbrokes daily tournaments. I always ended up on 11th - 15th place (top 10 places get paid) and every day I noticed that some of those people in the top 10 (usually the same names) managed to play more coins in the same play time (without free spins).

All Jackpots is running Avalon tournaments too but they only give 5000 coins for 5 minutes instead of 25000. This gives everybody even chance to play all coins within those 5 minutes.

Well I learned the lesson: I ordered 10 Megabit Internet connection and I will upgrade my computer too (would have done it anyways). This is the only way I can quarantee I have a fighting chance in these tournaments. It is silly though that you will need to have a top notch system to be able to win.

[winbig]

Originally Posted by Jufo

Yeah, I noticed this, but it is so much more obvious in these Ladbrokes daily tournaments. I always ended up on 11th - 15th place (top 10 places get paid) and every day I noticed that some of those people in the top 10 (usually the same names) managed to play more coins in the same play time (without free spins).

All Jackpots is running Avalon tournaments too but they only give 5000 coins for 5 minutes instead of 25000. This gives everybody even chance to play all coins within those 5 minutes.

Well I learned the lesson: I ordered 10 Megabit Internet connection and I will upgrade my computer too (would have done it anyways). This is the only way I can quarantee I have a fighting chance in these tournaments. It is silly though that you will need to have a top notch system to be able to win.

Keep in mind that what you're really looking for is a faster upload connection. This new connection you're getting, is it 10mb each way? If so, you should be more than fine.

Any upload speed 1mb or above is sufficient. I think that's where you're currently lacking in speed. Of course it's going to go a lot slower if it takes a long time in between your clicking "spin" and it actually registering at their server.

[Jufo]

Originally Posted by winbig

Keep in mind that what you're really looking for is a faster upload connection. This new connection you're getting, is it 10mb each way? If so, you should be more than fine.

Any upload speed 1mb or above is sufficient. I think that's where you're currently lacking in speed. Of course it's going to go a lot slower if it takes a long time in between your clicking "spin" and it actually registering at their server.

Thanks for the details. Yes it is a 10Mbit/10Mbit cable connection. I think I have 2Mbit/1Mbit right now. I tried 10Mbit/10Mbit connection before on my dad's computer and the average spinning time was somewhat lower. My dad said that I am not allowed to gamble with his computer anymore so that's why I cannot play at his place

[winbig]

Originally Posted by Jufo

Thanks for the details. Yes it is a 10Mbit/10Mbit cable connection. I think I have 2Mbit/1Mbit right now. I tried 10Mbit/10Mbit connection before on my dad's computer and the average spinning time was somewhat lower. My dad said that I am not allowed to gamble with his computer anymore so that's why I cannot play at his place

Are you and your dad in the same neighborhood and using the same provider by chance?

The thing is, you may not notice an increase in speed for these tournaments if you guys live in different neighborhoods. Hopefully this works for you, but it's quite possible that there aren't as many people using the same Cable provider in your dad's neighborhood.

What happens with Cable connections is that when there are a lot of people in the same neighborhood using the same provider, things tend to get slow. Unlike DSL, Cable users share the bandwidth allocated to that specific area. At least with DSL, you only have to worry about distance and line noise.

If you REALLY wanted to be safe and have guaranteed speed, I would strongly suggest looking into a pure fiber connection. Those are lines dedicated to you, as well. I know here in the States on the east coast, Verizon offers Fiber connections (FIOS), and it's relatively inexpensive. It's around $50/month, for like 5mb/2mb, which is MORE than enough, because unlike Cable and DSL, Fiber connections are NOT Asynchronous. This basically means that if you're downloading at max bandwidth it will NOT affect your upload speed and vise versa.


Another way to look at it is that there's 2 tubes, and downloads go through one and uploads go through another.....



http://youtube.com/watch?v=f99PcP0aFNE

[Jufo]

Originally Posted by winbig

Are you and your dad in the same neighborhood and using the same provider by chance?

The thing is, you may not notice an increase in speed for these tournaments if you guys live in different neighborhoods. Hopefully this works for you, but it's quite possible that there aren't as many people using the same Cable provider in your dad's neighborhood.

What happens with Cable connections is that when there are a lot of people in the same neighborhood using the same provider, things tend to get slow. Unlike DSL, Cable users share the bandwidth allocated to that specific area. At least with DSL, you only have to worry about distance and line noise.

If you REALLY wanted to be safe and have guaranteed speed, I would strongly suggest looking into a pure fiber connection. Those are lines dedicated to you, as well. I know here in the States on the east coast, Verizon offers Fiber connections (FIOS), and it's relatively inexpensive. It's around $50/month, for like 5mb/2mb, which is MORE than enough, because unlike Cable and DSL, Fiber connections are NOT Asynchronous. This basically means that if you're downloading at max bandwidth it will NOT affect your upload speed at all and vise versa.

Oh I see... I live in different area than my dad and I think the Internet traffic is much higher here (student campus). Oh well, if this doesn't work I will downgrade my connection back to where it was. And of course these tournaments are not the only use I have for faster connection

EDIT: But certainly if I pay for 10Mbit connection it has to be faster than 2Mbit right? How is the bandwith shared between me and other households who use basic 2Mbit connection?

[vinylweatherman]

Originally Posted by Jufo

Oh I see... I live in different area than my dad and I think the Internet traffic is much higher here (student campus). Oh well, if this doesn't work I will downgrade my connection back to where it was. And of course these tournaments are not the only use I have for faster connection

EDIT: But certainly if I pay for 10Mbit connection it has to be faster than 2Mbit right? How is the bandwith shared between me and other households who use basic 2Mbit connection?

Err, no

It doesn't matter what you PAY for, their area capacity has to be able to cope, otherwise you are paying more for the same service.

MY internet connection has been steadily upgraded from 2 Mbit, through 4 Mbit, and is now 10Mbit (no price rise, just marketing malarkey from Virgin Media).

Does it make any difference, on the whole, NO!!!!

MPV tourneys run no faster at 10Mbit than they did at 2Mbit last year. Web browsing is no faster, the ONLY difference is during SOME downloads from big corporate portals, such as the BBC and Channel 4, who run TV "catch up" services.

The MAXIMUM speed you will EVER get is around 4 seconds per spin, under 100% ideal conditions, which with Microgaming means "probably never"

The MPV software is rigged to abort PCs that run VERY fast through FAST internet connections, and when this "rigging" is activated, you find 5 second delays automatically inserted into each spin before the server will send the result. This is only really noticable with a fast PC during a long sequence of naked spins (so easy to spot if affected).