The online casino market is very highly regulated. When it comes to fairness, operators and games developers hold themselves to a high standard, and regulators aim to keep them in line. However, one company seems to have slipped under the radar, as it has been recently reported that Sheriff Gaming rigged its online pokies.
Various sources have reported that Sheriff Gaming is now involved in a legal battle over the alleged fixing of its games. The company has been accused of rigging its online pokies so that only friends and family of the company would be able to win large jackpots. This is just one of many charges that has been brought up against the company, including tax evasion and money laundering.
A programmer has spoken out in court against the company, stating that the games were programmed to never pay out jackpots. They would only pay out these large prizes when the override function was used, and it was only engaged when a friend or family member would play the games. He states that at least 95% of Sheriff Gaming online pokies were programmed in this fashion.
Another report notes that the developer would reduce the odds of the jackpot whenever the prize grew large. They claim that many prizes were paid out to fake players so that the company could keep the money while the rest of the jackpots were paid out to friends. At the moment, there is no hard evidence to support these reports, but we will certainly know more as the case carries on.
This is certainly quite the scandal in the online casino market. It is very rare for a developer to be accused of unfair practices, so we hope that this case does not paint the online gambling market in a negative light.
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