Player finds mathematical proof of cheating at a casino using the OddsOn software Recently I came across a forum thread where the player had posted a question about whether or not the double-up option in video poker should have odds other than 50-50.  His findings while playing at one of the English Harbour casino group showed these results 84 wins 151 losses 19 ties which for those not knowledgeable about these sort of things (myself included, I had no idea the double up option should return results nearing 50/50). Anyway a bunch more people went and tried the same game amongst all the English Harbour network and came back with similar results. What I found really surprising was that when people went and tried the same game at other casinos using OddsOn ... they came back with results nearing the 50/50 expectations. So meantime English Harbour network is contacted and asked to explain the situation and at first they replied there was nothing amiss. Needless to say that didn't fly for very long. When finally forced to address the issue with more than the usual form letter response, this was their reply: quote: First and foremost, the English Harbour Group would like to formally apologize for the error in the software release that caused this situation. We hold in high regard all our players and respect for the Internet Gaming industry. We feel it is important for players to understand what happened, what went on during the investigation, how it was resolved and our compensation to affected players. The issue was caused by a bug in the software staging release on the later part of the day April 13 and went unnoticed. On May 2 we had a maintenance release that during the course of our investigation seemed to have corrected the problem. When we were alerted of the claim, we ran through several trials and also simulations. We checked randomness of the distribution of cards in the doubling game over different time periods and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. We then did an interim posting on Casinomeister. We continued the investigation and sought the audit services of Michael Shackleford. Michael asked for the log files and we fully complied to his request. As part of the delivery of the log files to Michael, we noticed an issue that seemed to have spanned the later two weeks of April. We mentioned this to Michael as we continued to work with him. Through Michael's investigation, he concurred with our observations and was able help quantify the variance in the odds. Michael continues to be a key part of our governance and fair game play strategy. We discussed player compensation with Michael and we will be refunding affected players on the net loss on the doubling game plus an additional 20% of their net loss. Players will be receiving an email as well as a message within the casino itself shortly. The English Harbour Group would like to thank the Casinomeister forum members for bringing this issue to our attention and their patience while we dealt with this issue. The English Harbour Group Management Team unquote: Had perhaps the casino been more forthcoming about the situation in the beginning I'd be more apt to give them benefit of the doubt about the situation having been one that happened by accident rather than not: but when I add all that has happened up with the fact that I know they have not been honest with their affiliates for a long time (and if they're willing to cheat one person, its likely they're willing to cheat another:  thus the reason I stopped listing them years ago) .... and you get (in my opinion) reason enough to decide to steer clear of this software and any casino using it. So if you've been playing at a casino using OddsOn software:  and you've been losing ...  I think now would be as good of time as any to decide to stop playing there and maybe think about choosing from the list of casinos I guarantee.  There is a reason I list only certain casinos.  I hope the fact that I haven't had this bunch listed for a very long time once again ... proves I am pretty darn good at knowing which places are safe and which ones are not. update: this network now is powered by Vegas Technology. I have went ahead and listed some of the properties to give more choices to some of the players really hurt by recent new laws. They've really had their choices cut down. This group does have a good reputation for paying players and as you read above they do make things right when called on them. I do make mistakes from time to time,  but in my case I take responsibility (my exclusive cash-backed guarantee)  for any kind of negative  financial results that happen to the people that I hold in highest respect,  that being my readers. return to homepage Gambling article written by Steve Briggs of www.BondedCasinos.com