The software has been "doctored" by Microgaming. They did it over one weekend last year, but so far refuse to admit anything.
If MG had NOT done this, I WOULD NOT be able to demonstrate these oddities now would I
I have posted again and again about what MG did, but no-one seems bothered, least of all the various MG reps who prefer not to comment.
Oddly enough, my discovery was due to the fact that when the new lobby was introduced, I found I could not use anywhere NEAR as many coins as everybody else, and at the same time MG casinos would repeatedly crash my PC on exit, but ONLY with the new lobby that featured the tournaments.
I concluded it must be a fault with my PC, since all casino support reps told me nothing was being reported by anyone else. They lied, loads of players were having problems, but it was too late, I had investigated and found my own solution. I ended up buying an new, and very fast, PC because MG would only say it had to be my fault. It wasn't though, and when I set up the new PC, and copied over the fix for the MG bug, I found I had a "super fix", they had added together.
MG responded by introducing a "rationer" to suppress fast PCs, but all it did was to screw up the tournament software, leading to the constant run of complaints that we have now. I have achieved this DESPITE this "rationer", not BECAUSE of it, and this is because it affects EVERYBODY.
Perhaps one reason behind it is down to lack of capacity on the servers running the tournaments, although I can't see why, considering how much more play takes place in the normal casino compared to the tournaments.
Try playing the same slot, Loaded, in fun mode, giving yourself the same number of coins, 75,000 - and see how fast you can manually play them off at max bet. You would expect it to be similar to when playing the tournament, but it isn't - it will be much faster. Without this "rationing" introduced by MG, then EVERYBODY would get what they paid for, and end up with little or no coins. Funnily enough, that is how the weekender USED to be, EVERYBODY was at, or near, zero coins, but it seems MG didn't like that, and put a stop to it with Loaded weekenders.
MG are also getting a hold in excess of 95% on these, but again keep quiet about this. When rebuys were introduced, it alowed far more to be spent on each tournament, yet the prize fund remained unaltered. This means that for every doubling of the amount staked, the return to players is halved, since no proportions of the extra stakes is returned through prizes. If a tournament looks like having so few players that some of this gets given back through less stake than prizes, then it is cancelled. The "free" tournaments are not free either, unless you are content never to win anything. They are a gimmick to make it look like the casino is giving away something for nothing, and there have been quite a few reports that the prizes from "free" tournaments end up as bonus, not cash, even though bonus funds CANNOT be wagered in the tournaments.