Perhaps the developer of the slot tracker app can assist? They are able to extract data from the casino to the game server so they may also be able to tell us what exactly is being passed from casino to games server
As far as the data goes there can be hundreds of variables sent back and fourth depending on how complex a game is. None of this data includes any personal information other than a player session ID which changes frequently. This can be said for all providers we have analysed.
The game that you see is just a display unit. When you press spin a set of data is sent to the server that includes your wager, your lines, your bet level (on some games), your round ID (a secure ID given to you when you authenticate / load the game) and some information about which game you are playing, country you reside in and the currency you are using. Some Casinos use a proxy in between this connection so your IP address would essentially be masked from the receiving server. The server receives this information and generates a set of random numbers for each element of the game.
These are then passed back to the game (display unit) and it does as instructed by the server.
If a provider or casino used outside variables such as IP addresses, account age or any other type of player controlled variable then they would open themselves up to huge manipulation. It wouldn't take long for someone to work out how to coin the system and rinse any casino. This would be extremely risky and in the long term no business with legs would use player information to manipulate future results when there is no need to whatsoever.
Each provider has to submit an audit of game play each quarter that includes a detailed analysis of play to the UKGC. These numbers are verified with casinos, payment processors and other related companies to guarantee a fair game.
The market has been changing in the past year. Flame Busters, Book of Dead, High Voltage, Bonanza, Jungle Spirit and a bunch of other popular new releases. Games are becoming increasingly more volatile which means a huge majority of the RTP usually ends up going to a handful of players. These are the games that people end up seeing videos of on YouTube and then chase themselves. The market is adjusting to what is getting more play time and that is
very infrequent monster hits rather than a varied session.
Another big issue that we are currently working on within Slot Tracker is in defining what RTP actually is. Many players believe RTP is (MONEY_OUT / MONEY_IN) x 100. Whilst for your personal interest this is correct, this is not entirely true when it comes to displaying an accurate RTP figure for a game based on an aggregate of spins using different bet levels. Take this as an example:
Player A does 10,000 spins on Game X at $1 and gets back $9,500. (95% RTP)
Player B does 1,000 spins on Game X at $5 and gets back $4,000. (80% RTP)
Most people would say the RTP of Game X was
((9,500 + 4,000) / 15,000) * 100 = 90%, however this is not the case. The actual RTP of Game X is
(95 + 80) / 2 = 87.5%.
Each spin is independent with a fixed probability. Therefore the correct way to work out RTP in the long term for a specific game is to do the (MONEY_OUT / MONEY_IN) x 100 math on every individual spin and then accumulate this figure and divide by the total number of spins. We call this figure SRP (Statistical Return to Player) and have been analysing it heavily.
In theory over enough time, with enough spins and all different bet levels the RTP and SRP figures SHOULD converge, but in the short term these figures can vary drastically and can very much impact your thoughts on a particular game, provider or casino.
We have now tracked over 3 million real money spins with Slot Tracker. I personally have over 110,000 spins tracked with an RTP of 91.35%. Nearly all of my play has been on games that advertise a 95-96% RTP. Do I think slots are rigged / changed / manipulated?
No. Most of my play has been on high volatile games and these are natural curves that these games produce.
Our system is monitoring slots, providers and casinos all of the time and anything that we find suspicious we will let the community know about. We also plan to do some posts in the near future with some game analysis. To do this we need a massive amount of spins to guarantee we can perform meaningful tests.
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