Even if you’re an avid online casino player, you might not have heard of test houses before. They do their work behind the scenes, however they are absolutely vital to ensure that the online gambling world is a fair and honest one. So, perhaps it’s time you learned a little bit more about this vital cog in the online casino machine by reading through what we have to say on the subject?
On this page, we’re going to let you know about the main test houses you’ll see at online casinos in the UK, plus we’ll also tell you exactly what they do. When you’ve finished reading, you’ll know how to spot a safe and secure place to play. You can then read our reviews of recommended casino sites and pick your perfect place to play.
What’s the Point of Test Houses?
The main role of a test house is to test the games offered by a casino, to ensure that they are completely fair to every single player. Some of you might know that all games (except live casino games) use a random number generator. These are algorithms that make sure every spin of the reels and turn of the cards really is truly random. But how can players be sure that casinos or software developers haven’t tweaked these random number generators, to make them unfair and therefore more profitable?
The answer is that test houses check these random number generators. They have massive experience when it comes to this task and know exactly how to weed out anything unfair that the game might exhibit. If they see that a game is unfair, it will be big news, and the casino offering this game will suffer massively, with many players refusing to spend any more money there.
Test houses also do other things too though, to ensure that the online gambling world is a safe place for players. For example, they often look at how money is stored at a casino, to make sure that it can never go missing, even if the casino happens to go bust. Test houses really are a valuable part of the casino industry!
But who checks the test houses? After all, why trust them to be honest? Well, UK players will be glad to know that test houses are approved by the UK Gambling Commission. This government body is in charge of monitoring the entire gambling industry, from local bookies through to online casinos, and if they say a test house is trustworthy, you can absolutely take their word for it.
The other question is this: how do you know a casino has been tested by a test house? Well, you can look at the bottom of a casino’s homepage and see if there’s a logo there. If there is, you can usually click on this logo. This will take you to the test house’s website, where you can double check that the site in question really does have a valid certificate.
The Biggest Test Houses Around
There are a few different test houses around, however the biggest of them is certainly eCOGRA. You’ll find that this company has verified games at many of the world’s biggest sites and they are the benchmark that all other test houses measure themselves by. What’s more, this test house works with some of the biggest software providers, including NetEnt, to ensure that every game they produce is completely fair.
Another big name you’ll find in the world of casino test houses is iTech Labs. They’re nowhere near as large as eCOGRA, however they’re still a well-respected name, responsible for verifying the games at some huge casinos. They also work with some big names, and perhaps the biggest of them all is Playtech - a company responsible for some of the world’s most popular online slot machines.
Finally, there’s also Gaming Laboratories International, who have recently taken over TST, who themselves were a big test house. You won’t find GLI at as many casinos as the other two aforementioned companies, however they’re still a name you can certainly trust when you see their logo at the bottom of a gambling website’s homepage.
We’ll Only Recommend Fair Online Casinos
It’s important to say this: we fully support efforts to ensure that all online casino games are completely honest and fair. Because of this, we’ll only ever recommend casinos that have proven themselves to be completely honest. If we ever have any reservations about the fairness of a site’s games, we certainly won’t recommend them.
