Payouts Explained

Generally speaking, payout ratios are calculated by comparing winnings to wagered amounts. It is important to note that a casino's published payout percentage is calculated based on all of the casino's games combined, and does not represent the payout one should expect from any single game in particular.

Players' Requirements

Players, in case you're unfamiliar with the process of withdrawing funds, are usually obligated to sign a form stating how much cash they wish to withdraw in order for that payout to be processed. As well, you'll be required to submit forms of identification such as a driver's license, credit card information and details pertaining to your casino account.

Better Safe Than Sorry

It's also advisable to get in the habit of making copies of these signed withdrawal forms, as well as faxing them to a casino's cashier from official faxing agencies like Kinkos or Office Depot. These companies maintain records of all their fax transmissions. These records could come in very handy in the event that a casino claims they never received your withdrawal form. Rogue gaming websites are known to take advantage of these security and fraud-prevention measures by using them as excuses for delaying payouts and ultimately screwing players out of their just winnings.

High Rollers = Higher Risk

High rollers in particular are advised to exercise extra caution when choosing an online casino to wager at. Given that the stakes involved are greater, high rollers face a bigger risk of not receiving their payouts promptly, if at all. Therefore they should cover their tracks each step of the way.

Many online gaming portals and other related websites post various casino payout percentages for casino-shoppers to browse and select their online casinos by. But it's wise to keep in mind that not all of these are in fact reliable. Again, in the online gaming biz, bigger is often better.

One of the best-known auditing companies serving the online gaming business is PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the world's leading professional firms operating in more than 150 countries. PwC presently provides auditing services to a large number of Internet casinos and gaming software developers like MicroGaming Systems. And because the stakes are so high concerning online gambling , PwC claims their senior and more experienced staff is deployed to carry out this work. In fact, partner time devoted to online gaming is said to exceed 50 percent.

The company typically calculates the payout percentage against the amounts wagered. For example, a casino advertising a payout rate of 98% is paying out 98 percent of the total amount of all bets placed.

To assess an online casino's compliance, auditors regularly extract massive data files from their casino clients and run these files against the auditor's own software to confirm the published percentages. A number of other checks are performed to further ensure honest business practices, such as reconciling independent financial information against those figures submitted by a particular casino.

As to whether the company doing the auditing itself can be trusted, it's important to remember that the integrity and reputation of a high-profile company like PwC is far more worth protecting than any fees their customers may be willing to pay.

The bottom line concerning payouts is this: To ensure you're not only playing in a reputable casino that is advertising a high payout percentage, but in fact get paid... and promptly, stick to those casinos whose payout percentages are reviewed by major independent accounting firms only. To find out which company is auditing a particular casino, simply email the casino's customer support department.

Payouts will also vary between casino sites despite the fact that some are based on software platforms provided by the same developer, like Playtech for example. Because two or more online casinos are licensed by Playtech, this does not mean each casino's payout rates will be identical.

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