Tourney's at 7Sultans

[binshakindown]

Over the last couple months I have been playing some of the tourney's at 7Sultans. I like the fact that there is usually a five minute play time (unless the continue feature is enabled to allow you to extend your playing time by a few minutes for a couple bucks). I have been playing the free tourney's since they are free and also gives me a chance to check them out with zero player risk (but if time is money then disregard last half of sentence).

First question: If you also enjoy playing these tourney's I am referring to, is it common for your first spin at the start of the tourney to hang and spin away, eating up about 20 to 35 seconds of the five minute play time?

Second question: Does this same thing happen again about three minutes into the tourney? Does it sometimes make you rejoin the tourney and when you do get back in there is only a minute left?

I e-mailed fortune and they were very polite and offered some suggestions. These included, re-installation of the software, and that I should check my connection. I re-installed, but basically same thing happens. I had the same result with two different high speed internet providers. So that is unlikely.

I may still try these tourneys with some real cash, but I am wary in that I may not get the playtime that I purchase. I really don't want to pay to find out either.

 

[cpdnd31]

Same thing happened to me.

I was playing at villento casino same thing kept happing to me, that and other wierd things I just stopped playing there and went to another casino.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Over the last couple months I have been playing some of the tourney's at 7Sultans. I like the fact that there is usually a five minute play time (unless the continue feature is enabled to allow you to extend your playing time by a few minutes for a couple bucks). I have been playing the free tourney's since they are free and also gives me a chance to check them out with zero player risk (but if time is money then disregard last half of sentence).

First question: If you also enjoy playing these tourney's I am referring to, is it common for your first spin at the start of the tourney to hang and spin away, eating up about 20 to 35 seconds of the five minute play time?

Second question: Does this same thing happen again about three minutes into the tourney? Does it sometimes make you rejoin the tourney and when you do get back in there is only a minute left?

I e-mailed fortune and they were very polite and offered some suggestions. These included, re-installation of the software, and that I should check my connection. I re-installed, but basically same thing happens. I had the same result with two different high speed internet providers. So that is unlikely.

I may still try these tourneys with some real cash, but I am wary in that I may not get the playtime that I purchase. I really don't want to pay to find out either.

This bull$h1t is pretty standard for these MG tournaments. It has NOTHING to do with YOUR internet, NOR anything to do with the software at YOUR end. A polite reply, but polite BS is still BS.

Some have found that leaving it for a while between loading up the tournament, and making the first spin, can often cure that first spin lag. Lag in the rest of the tournament is caused by the result not getting back to your PC from the server.

It seems the tournament servers have even WORSE availability than the casino servers. The big problem with being booted, or suffering lag, is that the TIME still manages to count down perfectly, but you cannot play properly.

MGS are not interested in these concerns. All MY complaints have been stonewalled by MGS. The most recent related to the festive tournament at 32Red. I was booted half way through the first time, and booted after 3 SPINS the second. 32Red have raised this directly with MGS, but this has made no progress, just like the last time, and the time before, and the time before that, and so on. MGS are a brick wall, they simply will not address this issue. Since many of the tournaments are NOT free, and even the free ones have paid continues & rebuys, this stonewalling is unacceptable. EVERY TIME, the answer is ALWAYS that it is the fault of the PLAYER'S hardware, software, PC, ISP, etc.
I don't believe a word of this, because one weekend a couple of years ago, MGS did an update and there was a MASSIVE worsening in the performance of the tournament software, although we got some new slots, and a few tweaks elsewhere. This worsening has NEVER reversed, even though circumstances surrounding MY software, internet speed, all vary constantly.
This was about a factor of 10 worsening in average play through speed, this simply CANNOT be explained away by these internet connectivity variations. There were NO changes to MY end, yet one week fast, and the next week, around 10x SLOWER, and it has varied little since that change.

The slots in the casino itself are NOT AFFECTED, they play just as fast as they always have done, and the tournament slots are the SAME games (apart from special tournament logo), yet they play MUCH slower, and keep on booting and lagging far more than is experienced in the main casino.

 

[binshakindown]

So in other words,

just keep playing the free tourneys and avoid paying money for them since you won't get the play time you paid for. Thanks for the input.i

 

[AussieDave]

32Red have raised this directly with MGS, but this has made no progress, just like the last time, and the time before, and the time before that, and so on. MGS are a brick wall

<derail>
Using this as an example... And knowing Pat and the lads at 32red, I can unequivocally state that I'm sure they know nothing about what MGS does (tweaks) to their software. I use this as a reference to the iffy slots play that most of us have experienced from a range of MG powered casinos.

Sorry to derail the thread with this, but when Pat or Ed have contacted MGS about a software glitch and they get stonewalled, I'm sure everyone else is too. MGS are a law unto themselves.
</derail>

Back to topic...I've found turning all sounds off in the options helps or just mute the speaker icon - top right corner game panel ;-)

Cheers
T

 

[kmay87]

I've found the temporary answer is to not start the tournament the second it begins.

You'll get the pop up messages asking if you wish to be taken to the slot, then the timer etc, but if you ignore all these and join a minimum of 30 seconds after it has begun, usually the problem becomes infrequent.

This MG bug has virtually stopped me from playing all tournaments. I always played the free ones and then decided to try a few of the buy in ones. But with lagging and booting becoming more common, it's no real wonder why fewer are taking part in them.

 

[pmhcfc]

I've found the temporary answer is to not start the tournament the second it begins.

You'll get the pop up messages asking if you wish to be taken to the slot, then the timer etc, but if you ignore all these and join a minimum of 30 seconds after it has begun, usually the problem becomes infrequent.

This MG bug has virtually stopped me from playing all tournaments. I always played the free ones and then decided to try a few of the buy in ones. But with lagging and booting becoming more common, it's no real wonder why fewer are taking part in them.

I couldnt agree more with this post...The only way I cured the lag problem was (as is suggested above) not to hit spin as soon as the torny starts...even delaying for 10 seconds cured the problem for me....I still get booted from time to time though. I wouldn't take the chance and pay for a torny though...It seems as though if you're going to hit the top five, you get your big win in the first two mins of play anyway.

Having said that, I never have a problem with playing the blackjack torny's - for free. Have managed two wins and a second in my last five (free) tornys at blackjack.

 

[binshakindown]

Strange but

delaying play does seem to make the difference between playing smoothly and timing out. I played several free ones today and restrained from starting when the count down ended for about 25 to 45 seconds. Not one problem (well I didn't win). I wonder why the CS at 7 Sultans put it back on me and failed to let me know about this. One can only wonder that if CS told everyone to do this, would the timeouts occur 25 to 45 seconds into the game?

Anyway thanks for all the responses.

 

[unicorn40]

It does that to me too.....I found for some reason it only happens to me when theres over 1000 ppl. in the tourney though and i click right at the start. I wait a bit too before i start because of it...

 

[vinylweatherman]

<derail>
Using this as an example... And knowing Pat and the lads at 32red, I can unequivocally state that I'm sure they know nothing about what MGS does (tweaks) to their software. I use this as a reference to the iffy slots play that most of us have experienced from a range of MG powered casinos.

Sorry to derail the thread with this, but when Pat or Ed have contacted MGS about a software glitch and they get stonewalled, I'm sure everyone else is too. MGS are a law unto themselves.
</derail>

Back to topic...I've found turning all sounds off in the options helps or just mute the speaker icon - top right corner game panel ;-)

Cheers
T

This is as far as it goes, if MGS stonewall 32Red, there is no way players are going to get a better chance at resolution, except perhaps by sending a letter to MGS from their lawyer

delaying play does seem to make the difference between playing smoothly and timing out. I played several free ones today and restrained from starting when the count down ended for about 25 to 45 seconds. Not one problem (well I didn't win). I wonder why the CS at 7 Sultans put it back on me and failed to let me know about this. One can only wonder that if CS told everyone to do this, would the timeouts occur 25 to 45 seconds into the game?

Anyway thanks for all the responses.

CS are just giving the canned responses. The standard response to a problem NOT listed as a known issue is probably "blame the player's kit", so they will send a string of replies all intended to solve the most likely player-end issues. This includes reinstalling the casino, switching off firewalls and other security software, changing ISP to a "better one".

One or two players have mentioned in the past that they have spent a fair bit upgrading their kit, only to find the MGS tournaments are just as slow on their new Cray III supercomputer as they were on their old Amstrad (Slight exaggeration).

Since some tournaments run over a few days, even with 4000+ players, they cannot possibly ALL be playing at once & clogging up the server. MGS must be using pretty low specification servers for these tournaments, and higher specification ones for the casinos, where the majority of money is wagered, and profits made.

I have noticed variation in the frequency of being "booted", but the slow speed of the tournament games is PERMANENT, even if you are playing when almost no-one else is. When they first came out, the tournament games were MUCH MUCH faster, and the slowing was NOT a gradual process as would be expected as more casinos enrolled, and more players played, it all went bad over one particular weekend.
I remember that particular weekend caused such a fuss that the then Weekender tournament was extended by an extra 2 days because so many players had problems getting it to work. Clearly, MGS KNEW this was a fault at "their end", otherwise they would never have allowed this extention, but now MGS are in denial, and take a hard line approach of never dealing with this themselves, but leaving it up to the individual casinos to try to help players with the canned replies for indeterminate problems.

A deep investigation would require access to traffic and server data that only MGS have, as this would at least identify the route of the individual components of a tournament session, plus the load on the tournament servers. MGS will also know the bandwidth allocated to the tournament servers by the ISP THEY, MGS, have selected to provide the service.
Any one player at best can only analyze his own traffic, but making this analysis live will ruin his chances in the tournament. This could only be tried on the free ones of little worth, but these may have so few players that the problems will be less evident.

 

[ballysdb]

Wow, I thought it was just me! I also got the email explaining how to uninstall. It did nothing to fix the problem.

I have played the blackjack tourneys and when it should begin, I am not taken to my table. When it fianlly does take me to the table they are already 1 or 2 hands into it.

 

[ballysdb]

Oh I forgot, they also boot me out with a minute left.

 

[Rusty]

It is not just the tournaments that have long spins (not lag)
7Sultans are cheats plain and simple.
Their returns are possibly the lowest on the net and I still have not had my stats from them despite multiple requests,
Safe to say they are dismal.

I just made Two deposits to try the new slots and here is another quirk at this cheating Casino, it is impossible to hit a feature within the first 100 spins of playing a slot, for me at least.
This may be just because the payouts are set so low rather them actually being rigged.

Here are the results of my last free spin rounds on the new slots and they all took well over 100 spins to hit.

Galaxy Grab= Zero (10 spinsx3)
Stunt Pilot= 60p (17 Free spinsx2)
Mayan Princess=1.60 (20 Free spinsx2)
Lucky Eggsplorer No Free spins won

Add to that the fact that I went around 600 spins on Galaxy Grab trying to hit a bonus round and all but 1 payed X15 or less and you get the picture.
All this at a Casino I had already complained about, doh!
Still it is the only MG left on my PC

So yeah stick to the free tournies and don't fall for the rebuy.
By the way I played a tournie and it took nearly 2 mins of the 5 on One spin, way to go

 

[vinylweatherman]

It is not just the tournaments that have long spins (not lag)
7Sultans are cheats plain and simple.
Their returns are possibly the lowest on the net and I still have not had my stats from them despite multiple requests,
Safe to say they are dismal.

I just made Two deposits to try the new slots and here is another quirk at this cheating Casino, it is impossible to hit a feature within the first 100 spins of playing a slot, for me at least.
This may be just because the payouts are set so low rather them actually being rigged.

Here are the results of my last free spin rounds on the new slots and they all took well over 100 spins to hit.

Galaxy Grab= Zero (10 spinsx3)
Stunt Pilot= 60p (17 Free spinsx2)
Mayan Princess=1.60 (20 Free spinsx2)
Lucky Eggsplorer No Free spins won

Add to that the fact that I went around 600 spins on Galaxy Grab trying to hit a bonus round and all but 1 payed X15 or less and you get the picture.
All this at a Casino I had already complained about, doh!
Still it is the only MG left on my PC

So yeah stick to the free tournies and don't fall for the rebuy.
By the way I played a tournie and it took nearly 2 mins of the 5 on One spin, way to go

There is lag as well, look at the status lights. When the lobby is waiting on the result from the server, there is a display of progressing status lights that continue until the lobby receives the result. All the while, the reels will just be spinning away, so it is easy to just think it is a long spin. There is a similar set of status lights when waiting to be logged in to a casino. Sometimes they are virtually unoticeable.

The MG tournaments misbehave in ALL the casinos, not just 7 Sultans.

 

[Rusty]

Yeah I know the tournaments do badly at all MG and that is the servers being overloaded but all the slots go in and out of a "lag" every few minutes as well but it is different.
When I said not lag I mean it is not a connection issue IMO.
There is something odd about it because the spins that keep looping do so for around the same amount of time and the periods it continues for are also about the same as are the intervals in-between where the game plays normally.
Why is it I can load a different game up and it plays fine?
It is definitely not disconnects (too short) just the game failing to display the result. (surely it is more likely the lobby receives the result and then the game animates and displays that result unless you know better) >You can quit any number of games mid spin but the result will always be logged.
I am sure it is some kind of technical issue rather than just a busy server or poor connection despite what those little coloured bars say.


Interestingly, because it is a similar issue, I had to delete all traces of the original Casino install to download the new games because it took over 30 minutes to get to 80% of Stunt Pilot alone and then it decided to start again
At first I just tried an uninstall/reinstall but had the same problem.
If I did not know better or how to fix it I could have put that down to connection issues too but that was not the case.

I assume the bods at MGS do not know what the issue is either otherwise they would have fixed it surely because it makes the games almost unbearably slow.
Also this never used to happen before all the updates to the software, sure there was the very occasional disconnect or lag spike but nothing like it is now.

I call 7Sultans cheats because their returns are so obviously not as advertised and they are unresponsive, I did not mean they rig the games and that causes this weird spin. I should of made that clearer.
(mischief on) Then again something causes it.

 

[chuchu59]

I dont dare call 7 Sultans a cheat but for one reason or another I never managed to hit the cashout button. I played slots, Baccarat, paigow poker and a host of table games and never managed to reach 2x my deposit though I have made more than a dozen deposits. In fact, rarely do I get above my starting balance. Guess I will have to call them tight.

 

[Rusty]

I dont dare call 7 Sultans a cheat but for one reason or another I never managed to hit the cashout button. I played slots, Baccarat, paigow poker and a host of table games and never managed to reach 2x my deposit though I have made more than a dozen deposits. In fact, rarely do I get above my starting balance. Guess I will have to call them tight.

Very considered as always ChuChu

 

[LOOKAWAY]

Hi, I get the same shit as everyone else, sometimes you just lose connection, It happens. You just cross your toes it's not in a major tourn, or one paid for.

Now I have been playing the Royal Vegas tourns where you get 20 min's of play time, no continues. I have been kicked out of every single one they have had, normally around the 9 min mark. Today in the 15k tourn I got kicked out after just six minutes. There is definitely a bug going about and I think now I will re-install. Shame as they give out some great free tourns.

PS, Rusty that new space slot took nearly an hour to load at royal joker the other night, other casino's in seconds. Didn't like the game that much, free spins were crap! Maybe you can up your bets for the last three bonus rounds, spin the first four out at 0.01- one line.

 

[Rusty]

Hi, I get the same shit as everyone else, sometimes you just lose connection, It happens. You just cross your toes it's not in a major tourn, or one paid for.

Now I have been playing the Royal Vegas tourns where you get 20 min's of play time, no continues. I have been kicked out of every single one they have had, normally around the 9 min mark. Today in the 15k tourn I got kicked out after just six minutes. There is definitely a bug going about and I think now I will re-install. Shame as they give out some great free tourns.

PS, Rusty that new space slot took nearly an hour to load at royal joker the other night, other casino's in seconds. Didn't like the game that much, free spins were crap! Maybe you can up your bets for the last three bonus rounds, spin the first four out at 0.01- one line.

I like the slot and played through all the bonus rounds.
Don't up your bet for the later bonus rounds they pay no better than the others.
As for the loading taking forever at some Casinos, it is another MG bug.
The only thing you can do is as I did, uninstall the Casino and then manually delete the left over files in C:\MicroGaming\Casino just right click the offending Casinos folder and delete.
When you reinstall it should work ok but it may need to download all the other games again.

 

[binshakindown]

Well I have tried everything

suggested and none of them work 100%. I will say that a delayed entry into the tourney seems to have the best result. When I used to real play at 7Sultans about a year ago (haven't recently, unless playing with cash won in tourney), I would get the lag, spinning wheels after playing for a while. Simply changing games always fixed the problem. No way to check that out in tourney mode since they usually only offer one, free 5 to 20 minute game at any one time.

I think the reason they haven't fixed the problem is that they have never heard of this before. Reasoning suggests that since they don't know that their software is actually working against the casinos (I would deposit real cash to play tourney if working right), they can't fix it. How can you fix something you don't know is broken. This is the only thing that makes any sense. Therefore, I propose that we help them out and let them know. Anyone know how to do that?

 

[pmhcfc]

I think the reason they haven't fixed the problem is that they have never heard of this before. Reasoning suggests that since they don't know that their software is actually working against the casinos (I would deposit real cash to play tourney if working right), they can't fix it. How can you fix something you don't know is broken. This is the only thing that makes any sense. Therefore, I propose that we help them out and let them know. Anyone know how to do that?

Er, they have- or at least they should have. I filed a complaint about it and the casino I did it through swore blind they put it to MG and MG came back stating no other player has a problem and in regard to my complaint, they blamed my ISP/computer!

 

[vinylweatherman]

suggested and none of them work 100%. I will say that a delayed entry into the tourney seems to have the best result. When I used to real play at 7Sultans about a year ago (haven't recently, unless playing with cash won in tourney), I would get the lag, spinning wheels after playing for a while. Simply changing games always fixed the problem. No way to check that out in tourney mode since they usually only offer one, free 5 to 20 minute game at any one time.

I think the reason they haven't fixed the problem is that they have never heard of this before. Reasoning suggests that since they don't know that their software is actually working against the casinos (I would deposit real cash to play tourney if working right), they can't fix it. How can you fix something you don't know is broken. This is the only thing that makes any sense. Therefore, I propose that we help them out and let them know. Anyone know how to do that?

Microgaming KNOW FULL WELL about this issue I have PERSONALLY reported it a number of times over the last 2 years, most recent being around Christmas through 32Red. MGS "stonewalled" this latest report, as they have the others. They consider it OUR problem, being down to OUR PC, or OUR ISP, and will not even investigate the possibility it is at their end.

I encountered a similar issue some 3 years ago, and after a YEAR of "stonewalling" by MGS I was able to PROVE it was an MGS lobby "bug" by using "hooks" in the software, and a utility called "Dependency walker" to trace each step of the execution. This proved that there was an "infinite loop" in the new games update process, which manifested as the lobby repeatedly launching, disappearing, launching, disappearing ad nauseum. I submitted this evidence via 32Red, and MGS conceded that they ALREADY KNEW of the issue, and had already developed the "MGS Repair Utility" and deployed it through FL. This is pretty damning evidence for MGS denying issues through one part of the organisation, yet another part KNOWS of an issue, and may even have developed a fix.
It is quite possible we have the same situation here, they KNOW it's a bug at their end, but until they can solve it, they are denying everything, perhaps because of PR (their software is supposed to be "world leading" after all), and leaving us poor players trying to solve a problem we cannot, and maybe even WASTING OUR MONEY, through buying new kit, upgrading RAM and graphics, or forking out for superfast broadband, all on the mistaken assumption this will make a difference.

 

[funeral979]

I have been going back and forth with Rich Reels as I put in money for several rebuys, and then was booted out with almost 2 minutes left and could not reenter. This is the reply I got:

Thank you for the email.

Chris, we are disappointed to notice that you are experiencing problems when it comes to your participation in tournaments. From what you have described, our technicians have advised that this usually occurs due to a lapse/glitch in internet connection from time to time. Please note that even if the lapse was for half a second it will still affect the connectivity. The problem unfortunately does not lie on our sides but rather the issue is isolated to your computer alone. If I may suggest, please contact your Internet Service Provider to enquire the connectivity of your internet.

We have however escalated this matter, with the screenshots sent in by you, to our technical department. We will contact you via email as soon as we receive any feedback from them regarding your tournament query.

Should you require any further information please feel free to contact our 24/7 helpdesk and we will gladly assist you.

Wishing you a great Easter weekend!

 

[gloria460]

It is most definitely a mcg problem. The tourneys in platinum play have all stopped letting players enter. I'm #5 in the freeroll Monday mania with a prize pool of 7.5k and if I maintain that position I will get 250...I was #2 and that spot earned 750 but of course I couldn't hold it.

I just now tried to get back in to check my status and low and behold you cannot reenter or rebuy...nothing works...it just sits there when you double click on the tourney...I contacted live chat and they stated the technicians are working on it and it should be restored shortly. I hope that this doesn't mean they are going to hold it over for another day. I might drop even further.

 

[binshakindown]

"We have however escalated this matter, with the screenshots sent in by you, to our technical department. We will contact you via email as soon as we receive any feedback from them regarding your tournament query.

Should you require any further information please feel free to contact our 24/7 helpdesk and we will gladly assist you.

Wishing you a great Easter weekend!"

That is exactly the reason I brought this whole tourney problem question up. What if you don't get the tourney time you paid for. I also see they didn't say they would prorate a refund to you. Although I'm sure it is only a couple bucks, it is your couple bucks and no one else (that is until you spend it of course). Even if the game only kick you out, or lags for 10, 15, or 50 seconds, that is still time that you purchased, no one elses. You see, IMO since you buy a "continue" or "rebuy" in the tourney's and time is a condition of the bet, then getting anything less than the time paid for is, well, a flat out rip off?

If this is the case, then I think MG might not know about it. Why I say? It is hard enough for the casinos to convince folks that the software is not rigged. Okay, so then why would casinos use software that people can see is obviously short changing them? I am not talking about random generated patterns like the ones similar to a losing streak, I am talking about the software's blatant confiscation of allocated time. Blame it on my 8 megabit high speed cable connection or even my 7 megabit DSL connection, or even my 10-month old computer that will render 3D graphics better than what most gamers have ever seen. Heck you even need to reinstall the casino software.

I guess I should quit complaining 'cause it is not like anyone is forcing me to play there. I just wonder how much play time has been paid for and not played due to the timeout errors (dollars per hour per casino using MG software). Then, IMO if it is less than say some arbitrary amount, like $100 dollars an hour maybe this would not be considered rougish behavior? I know there will be some who say that the casinos refund them their lost play time, but if you made that claim every time it happened you would probably get listed as a "timeout tourney abuser" (I just made that up). What about the people who just don't have the time to deal with the lost time complaint or worse, folks who might complain, but don't get refunded since they couldn't prove their lost time to the casino. Am I way off base here?

 

[funeral979]

Yes, it is only a couple of bucks, but still, it is MY money. And that minute or so cost me a prize.

After a few exchanged emails they would not give me anything and stood by their decision.

I had a similar situation occur last week, and they did elect to give me a $20 comp while they 'looked into it'

Actually I have these situations occur on almost a daily basis, but I got tired of not complaining

 

[Rusty]

There are some very good points raised in previous posts, particularly the fact that when you buy in to a tournament you are paying for a set amount of time.

Obviously if some people are getting less time than they paid for because of faulty MGS software they are not getting their monies worth and perhaps more importantly all the players that enter are not playing on a level playing field since some will suffer more than others and this means the tournaments are not fair.

Curiously there is a very simple fix to all this which MGS have failed to implement.
That fix is to make the tournaments over a set amount of spins at a set stake rather than timed.
This would mean that the speed of your PC or connection, any disconnects or MG bugs would not influence the result.
Similarly add ons could be so many spins per Buck.

Perhaps that just makes too much sense though.

 

[vinylweatherman]

MGS always say it simply CANNOT be at their end, but where is their analysis. It is EQUALLY valid for us to say it simply CANNOT be at OUR end, and in THIS case, our ISP's will BACK US UP (even though they will simply be giving MGS a "canned response"). IF our ISP admits it is THEIR fault, they will have to compensate us, so they will blame MGS. This evens out the playing field somewhat, since rather than an individual against a big company, you will have ISP vs MGS, fighting over who is responsible for a problem that MIGHT land the ISP with a fine from the regulator here in the UK at least.

Whilst MGS blame OUR end, the INFORMATION WE WOULD NEED to sort out "our end" is something MGS WILL NOT RELEASE, therefore, no matter where the problem lies, it HAS to be down to MGS to investigate, and provide a SPECIFIC solution, such as tell us what are the best internet settings to use for our connection. It is actually possible to "tune" a broadband connection, although without specifics it is merely trial and error, with different technical experts giving different advice. There MAY be something that can be done to tune a broadband connection to work best with the MGS lobby, but this might be at the expense of other things.

Bitrate is NOT the issue though, since only small packets of data are exchanged between client & server when actually playing in a tournament. I have found the "lapses" are FAR to "regular" to be the result of a RANDOM process, which connection drop outs and packet losses are, and there seems to me to be a pretty DIRECT causal relationship between player action and tournament malfunction, which points strongly to a software "bug".

The most obvious is the one where delaying for a while before taking the first spin prevents the first spin lag. Pretty obvious too is where the TOURNAMENTS are unavailable in the lobby, but you are CONNECTED TO THE CASINO, and can play "normal" games. In THIS case, you KNOW the problem lies between the CASINO server, and ITS connection onward to the tournaments, which is very much THEIR END.

I have noticed that despite various heated discussions of MGS tournaments, there is nothing but a DEAFENING SILENCE from the MGS reps here, yet they often leap in to other threads that are a generalised "bitch & moan", particularly when it is THEIR casino being highlighted. The SAME deafening silence is all we hear back from MGS when a complaint is made.

I hope that one day an MGS casino with lobby tournaments gets a proper UK license, as their current stance of NOT adhering to "malfunction voids play" in tournaments would NOT be legal for a CONSUMER contract, and they would have to refund the price paid if players did not receive what they had paid for, and could not have it "reset".

In the mean time, the more we bitch about this, the less money MGS are going to make from these, and players not familiar with forums will perhaps stumble upon the fact that they have been "fobbed off" into believing they are alone in having these problems.

 

[binshakindown]

Well even after re-installing my

operating system, and the casino I got kicked out again twice today. I can't understand this crap. In fact, it is so frustrating that I feel like I will always play the free tourney's for free and I will never deposit real cash. In fact, I'm am frustrated enough that I don't think I will deposit anymore at any MG software based casino. They won't miss me I'm sure. One last attempt : Can anyone tell me how to pass on this software problem to MG?

 

[Tengil]

operating system, and the casino I got kicked out again twice today. I can't understand this crap. In fact, it is so frustrating that I feel like I will always play the free tourney's for free and I will never deposit real cash. In fact, I'm am frustrated enough that I don't think I will deposit anymore at any MG software based casino. They won't miss me I'm sure. One last attempt : Can anyone tell me how to pass on this software problem to MG?

Hire a lawyer and let him contact them on your behalf that you want all your money lost because of their faulty product reimbursed. Edit: Thats the only way to get a response from MG.

The only problem is that the costs would greatly exceed the possible refund.
And Im pretty sure MG has covered their ass.

If you know a lawyer that would do this for free try it, would like to see MGs response.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Hire a lawyer and let him contact them on your behalf that you want all your money lost because of their faulty product reimbursed. Edit: Thats the only way to get a response from MG.

The only problem is that the costs would greatly exceed the possible refund.
And Im pretty sure MG has covered their ass.

If you know a lawyer that would do this for free try it, would like to see MGs response.

The only way to get MG to respond is find an exploit that screws over THE CASINO, rather than the PLAYER.

There WAS an exploit due to a blunder by MGS in 2006, and they fixed this bloody quick, and bloody quietly, rather than pretending it was down to the player's PC, ISP, or whatever. NO WAY did they allow this to linger for 2 years or more as they have the tournaments.

I bet if an error created a situation where the timer froze, and the coins were never spent (but play & winnings continued) cropped up, MGS would be all action, and would not blame the internet.

MGS seem to be basing their case on the premise that THEIR software is perfect, but this is disproved by cases of player advantage bugs, which MGS are prepared to admit to (to operators), and fix. They cannot, therefore, argue a different premise just because a problem is to the disadvantage of players, and does not affect the bottom line of either the casinos or MGS.

I actually know that MGS are hiding something about these tournaments, as when they first came out, I did indeed stumble upon an exploit, which made the tournaments play far better than they do now. Funnily enough, MGS took a different view, that it was NOT player's ISP's, and so they introduced an update to fix them back to "crap", and it was at this point that we started seeing all these problems of being booted, lagging, not being able to get in.

The exploit was a simple addition of a single parameter in the registry key that was present in "normal" Tomb Raider, but absent in "Tournament" Tomb Raider. Making both registry keys' data match resulted in "Tournament" Tomb raider playing just as good as "Normal" Tomb Raider. The MGS fix "back to crap" firstly re-downloaded all the tournament games, and reset everything. They also did something at the server end to disable any such future exploit, and so the tournament server is having to do a lot more processing than simply firing out the results from each spin request. I suspect this extra work has come at the cost of the ability of the server to cope with the increasing number of tournaments.

Interestingly, my success at "fixing the problems due to my ISP", and giving out to a few other Casinomeister members, got the attention of MGS who realised they had a problem (exploit). I only found the exploit because of a severe problem at Royal Vegas, and was told it was my PC, so I fixed it

 

[binshakindown]

Not to change the thread,

but since MG isn't interested in player concerns when it comes to tourney's, are there other casinos that have decent slots tourney's? I know about 3Dice and they are hard to beat, but any others?

 

[Rusty]

A little Birdie told me that RTG are looking to introduce tournies into their software as well as some new concept slots.

MGS on the other hand are looking to evolve the multi-player experience beyond tournament play.

I have heard a little more detail about these projects but won't post it here as it is currently just hearsay.

 

[vinylweatherman]

A little Birdie told me that RTG are looking to introduce tournies into their software as well as some new concept slots.

MGS on the other hand are looking to evolve the multi-player experience beyond tournament play.

I have heard a little more detail about these projects but won't post it here as it is currently just hearsay.

They had this in 2005 The River Belle multiplayer casino, later withdrawn, going the same way as the BelleRock buddy.

Given the problems with the CURRENT multi-player options, this is surely the LAST thing they should be introducing at the moment.

 

[chjr1973]

Same thing here.

First time poster here and long time reader/player..

I just wanted to add my 2cents to this thread. I played three Tourney's today at 7Sultans and was booted each time AND never could get back in to any of them, so I guess it's my connection...LOL

These Tourney's seem to have gotten much worse over the last few months, at least for me.

Thanks to all for the interesting reading over the last few years..

C

 

[chjr1973]

Tried a test...

I realize that most readers here probably don't play the tourneys a lot, or maybe they do..anyway today I tried a little test with the tourneys at 7 Sultans. Me, my sister and brother all have accounts there. My sister is over 300 miles away and my brother is about 50 miles away. We finally all got together on the phone and all entered the same free tourney this morning.

About 3 minutes in....bang! All three of us got the dreaded.."wheels spinning for ever" and the timer kept counting. Then we were all booted back to the games view screen. We all looked under the "my tournaments" tab and all three said the same thing...you are not registered for any tournaments.

So, three different pc's. Three different internet connections and three different accounts all booted at the same exact time.

Sorry to rant about this, but this IS an MGS/7 Sultans problem without a doubt, no matter what they tell us.

C

 

[miket2112]

This has happened to me as well. Not just once, but many times. seems to happen on the smaller $50, 5 minute tournaments though. Same thing, about 3 min into the tourney and booted. The only difference is that it was at All slots casino.

 

[luckydabberbingo]

this happens to all of the mgs casinos and even when you pay $20.00 a turn for the $20,000 weekend tournament .Another thing that happens to me is the games keeps spinning for 7-8 seconds between spins.Can be frustrating when you are in a high position and just need 1000 coins to get you in top 3 -I know LOL

 

[vinylweatherman]

I realize that most readers here probably don't play the tourneys a lot, or maybe they do..anyway today I tried a little test with the tourneys at 7 Sultans. Me, my sister and brother all have accounts there. My sister is over 300 miles away and my brother is about 50 miles away. We finally all got together on the phone and all entered the same free tourney this morning.

About 3 minutes in....bang! All three of us got the dreaded.."wheels spinning for ever" and the timer kept counting. Then we were all booted back to the games view screen. We all looked under the "my tournaments" tab and all three said the same thing...you are not registered for any tournaments.

So, three different pc's. Three different internet connections and three different accounts all booted at the same exact time.

Sorry to rant about this, but this IS an MGS/7 Sultans problem without a doubt, no matter what they tell us.

C

If that means different PROVIDERS, and the boot out was simultaneous, then this is proof it is NOT THE PLAYER'S CONNECTION, it IS something to do with MGS, the tournament servers, and where they are located, and how MGS choose to connect them to the players through the internet VIA THE CASINOS rather than directly.

It is interesting that what seems to break is NOT the players connection to the casino, but the connection between the logged in casino lobby and the tournaments. I have had this, booted from a tournament, then they just don't exist, yet I am NOT booted from the lobby, and can even play the games in the casino with no lag at all.

The 7-8 second lag between spins is something I experience often, and sometimes it ends in being booted altogether. Oddly enough, if I get a run of spins like this, and I just STOP, and wait over 5 seconds, I find normal service is resumed, and I don't end up getting booted. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE however, since the TOURNAMENTS ARE TIMED, which is why MGS need to have some serious pressure applied to them to fix this issue properly.
This is proving impossible, they refuse to respond to players, and they even refuse to respond to CASINO OPERATORS who bring the problem to them WITH PROOF!!!!!! (Playlogs & session logs).

MGS make the same money (so they think) whether the tournaments work great, or are malfunctioning. Casinos are simply giving out free tournaments instead of bonuses, so players are being hampered from boycotting the paid ones since their promotional bonuses are now free tournaments instead of cash prizes.

 

[chjr1973]

If that means different PROVIDERS, and the boot out was simultaneous, then this is proof it is NOT THE PLAYER'S CONNECTION, it IS something to do with MGS, the tournament servers, and where they are located, and how MGS choose to connect them to the players through the internet VIA THE CASINOS rather than directly.

vinylweatherman,

Yes this was 3 different providers and yes, the boot out was simultaneous. I said, while on the phone that my reels were in the "spin for ever mode" to which my brother and sister said they had the same thing. Then...poof...back to the lobby with no tournaments listed under "my tournaments" for all of us.
The worst part is that the timer must be somewhere local on the machine as it keeps counting even when you can't play.

I will never pay to get into any tournament until this is fixed.

C

 

[vinylweatherman]

vinylweatherman,

Yes this was 3 different providers and yes, the boot out was simultaneous. I said, while on the phone that my reels were in the "spin for ever mode" to which my brother and sister said they had the same thing. Then...poof...back to the lobby with no tournaments listed under "my tournaments" for all of us.
The worst part is that the timer must be somewhere local on the machine as it keeps counting even when you can't play.

I will never pay to get into any tournament until this is fixed.

C

This would be the BEST part

Sadly, not entirely true, since every time you receive a result, the timer receives it's correct value from the server. I have seen this, it will sometimes "steal a second" if you watch it closely enough.

After my previous contribution, I went to play my free tournaments at Royal Vegas. I got the reels lagging, where all of a sudden they start taking 5-8 seconds to receive the result from the server, and keep doing this WITHOUT FAIL until you stop pressing "spin" and just sit there for 5-10 seconds, whereupon the fault magically clears on the FIRST SPIN afterwards.

There is something VERY FISHY about all of this - these tournaments look rigged to me, since NONE of this should be happening, since any effects due to connection problems should be random in nature. I have nearly always found a clear causal relationship between my actions, and most problems magically curing themselves (apart from the complete boot out).

The silence from MGS is DEAFENING. Maybe these "problems" are SUPPOSED to happen, so of course they can't go on record and say this, but they can't fix it either.

I remind you all that these problems SUDDENLY started happening over one weekend, when there was a rather curious lobby update. No new games, but the lobby first DELETED each and every tournament game, and then started to download them again - I WATCHED IT HAPPEN!!!!

I started the casino, and it did the characteristic "double launch". THis means update time, yet there was NOTHING due It was busy with something, so quickly went through all the categories, and it was when I reached tournaments that I saw them all greyed out, foloweed by the line advancing as the games were downloaded all over again. This was at a casino where I had previously been playing the tournaments, so I knew full well it was a delete and update, and not simply the introduction of tournaments for the first time. Following this, there was uproar on the forums, the new update was somehow screwed up, and so many players just couldn't register for the weekender that they posponed the close for two days. I played, and THAT was when I first noticed what is all too common today - reels lagging 5-8 seconds all of a sudden, and not getting back into their stride unless I stopped for a 5-10 second rest, which miraculously fixed it. The other problems were also markedly more common after this update, and over time have just grown worse. It does not appear to be related to the number of players playing either, as there are a few times when relatively few tournaments are "in play", and there simplky cannot be more than a few hundred players REGISTERED in a "now playing" tournament, so probably only a few dozen or less actually playing - yet the problems and laggy reels are STILL EVIDENT - WTF kind of server or connection cannot cope with this tiny load when it is designed for peak loads of many THOUSANDS of players.

 

[binshakindown]

Awesome test

I realize that most readers here probably don't play the tourneys a lot, or maybe they do..anyway today I tried a little test with the tourneys at 7 Sultans. Me, my sister and brother all have accounts there. My sister is over 300 miles away and my brother is about 50 miles away. We finally all got together on the phone and all entered the same free tourney this morning.

About 3 minutes in....bang! All three of us got the dreaded.."wheels spinning for ever" and the timer kept counting. Then we were all booted back to the games view screen. We all looked under the "my tournaments" tab and all three said the same thing...you are not registered for any tournaments.

So, three different pc's. Three different internet connections and three different accounts all booted at the same exact time.

Sorry to rant about this, but this IS an MGS/7 Sultans problem without a doubt, no matter what they tell us.

C

I am glad you did this because lately I was wondering if it was happening to everyone at the same time. I guess I still don't know the answer but if I were a betting person, and based on your test I would say it happens to all players at the same time.

 

[Jasminebed]

I get this lag almost every time. When I start to get the endless spinning, it will go on for 20 or more seconds. I usually happens about 2 minutes in, regardless of when I start playing.

I'm not at 7Sultans, but I get this at more than one MG casino.

I have no idea why they can't just award you the 2000 coins or whatever and time to play it...and even without a lag, when you hit bonus rounds you end up without being able to play all your coins.

 

[gloria460]

tourneys

I found at RR today and yesterday that when I was booted or rather left the tourney to reenter the clock had reset to 5:00. It usually picks back up where it left off but not these two times.

When your reels start turning and don't stop just hit games and you'll be able to get back in without losing too many seconds. I found that out by mistake the other week. It's easier than waiting on the reels.

 

[chjr1973]

I found at RR today and yesterday that when I was booted or rather left the tourney to reenter the clock had reset to 5:00. It usually picks back up where it left off but not these two times.

When your reels start turning and don't stop just hit games and you'll be able to get back in without losing too many seconds. I found that out by mistake the other week. It's easier than waiting on the reels.

Gloria460,

I too noticed the same exact thing twice this weekend. My first spin in the tourney and I get the spin forever thing...I was kicked out and when the tournament finally reappeared I did have the full 5:00 back, but during a 20K free roll last night, the tournament worked fine until 1:26 to go and I got booted and NEVER was able to get back in. Same thing for the blackjack tournament. After 4 hands the screen seem to freeze up and by the time I was finally able to get back in it was on the 8th hand. It also looked to me that the other at the table were able to continue due to the amount of money on the table...

Still some problems for sure.

C

 

[binshakindown]

It happened when I was in the lead and guess what?

I was booted and could not re-enter the tourney. Very frustrating so I emailed support and they offered to help out. I will update soon.

 

[binshakindown]

Well I played the tourneys since the upgrade and

did't get kicked or lag out once. Anyone else still lagging or timing out on the tourneys?

 

[vinylweatherman]

did't get kicked or lag out once. Anyone else still lagging or timing out on the tourneys?

I tried one at Royal Vegas (same tourneys), and at first I began to believe MGS had slipped a fix in - but I was disappointed, as the laggy spins kicked in when just over half way through, and suddenly it was like playing with everything encased in syrup again - but with the attendant frustration of seeing the timer having no such trouble getting a move on.

After a dozen consecutive laggy spins, I stopped for 10 seconds, and started again, which always clears the problem, even if not permanently.

THIS is what puzzles me, how can this one action at MY end somehow fix the internet "tubes". There should be NO connection between whether I press "spin" as soon as I can, or sit back & wait for near on 10 seconds, and such behaviour MOST CERTAINLY SHOULD NOT BE 100% REPEATABLE - it should be depending upon RANDOM factors, down to general internet traffic.

There is something MGS are not telling us - and I noticed when this behaviour in the tournaments all started, hot on the heels of a lobby update.

So MGS (to borrow a saying), "Don't piss on my head and tell me it's raining".