Warning: avoid all Betsoft slots and casino games

This story was published more than 7 years ago.

Betsoft Gaming logo

Casino Listings recommends that players avoid playing any slots or casino games developed by Betsoft Gaming. We are releasing this warning for several reasons including abnormalities, documented by our jackpot tracker, in several progressive jackpots offered by Betsoft slot machines, the recent non-payment of a progressive jackpot win to a player, along with a couple of other significant events in the questionable history of the company that goes back a number of years now.

Statistically improbable progressive jackpot results

After being alerted to potentially "locked" Betsoft jackpots that are seemingly unable to won by a member of our forum, BlackjackAA, back in September of last year, we set out to monitor and record the values of multiple Betsoft jackpots using our jackpot tracking software. We chose Bovada and Slots.lv to be our test subjects as they have a large customer base and a full collection of Betsoft games. After almost nine months of recording jackpot values we can say with certainty that there is something seriously wrong with these games. In a comparison between Bovada and Slots.lv we have identified two major issues.

Firstly, jackpots on certain games and specific coin sizes are never won at all at Bovada, despite being won many times a week at Slots.lv, even though the numbers show that the amounts being wagered and contributed to these jackpots are much higher at Bovada. It does indeed look as if some of these jackpots are "locked" or unable to be won. The odds of this just being random luck are astronomical.

Betsoft jackpots data comparison

Secondly, the win frequency of some of the jackpots that are normally won as often as several times a day changed during the period between February and March this year. They were not won at all for a period of around three weeks. Then, at almost the same time, all such jackpots were won and returned to their previous win frequency. If one jackpot did this individually you could chalk it up to luck or variance, but with multiple separate jackpots showing the same thing at the same time it is clear that random luck was not a factor. To us it indicates that the the mechanism that determines a jackpot win, whether it be the random number generator (RNG) or the slot software itself, changed for a period of time then reverted back to its previous behaviour.

Good Girl 2c jackpot, Bovada
Good Girl 5c jackpot, Bovada

We have seen enough to come to the conclusion that these games are not behaving consistently across casinos, and even between coin sizes on the same games. Whether by design or negligent programming, it is clear that Betsoft's progressive jackpot games are not paying jackpots fairly at all times.

Non payment of a progressive jackpot win

This brings us to a recent disturbing case of Jason, a player at a Bitcoin focused casino known as Betcoin.ag. Jason was playing the Betsoft progressive slot The Glam Life when he triggered a free spins round. During that round he hit the game's top paying combination, five yachts straight across the middle payline. His screenshot below shows that he was betting the maximum number of coins: 25 paylines, 5 coins each, for a total of 125 coins. According to the game's paytable (also below) that clearly states "5 yacht icons on max bet wins jackpot", that means he should have won the progressive jackpot for the coin size at which he was playing (0.5 mBTC as it happened). The screenshot clearly shows this to be a million mBTC win. Instead Betsoft's game paid out 1000 coins (500 mBTC) for the line. That payout does not match the game's paytable that indicates 5 yachts should be worth 25,000 coins, assuming a jackpot is not won. The 1450 in the screenshot is the total of the free spins round.

Glam Life no jackpot, Betcoin.ag
Glam Life paytable

Betcoin.ag Casino's customer service department informed Jason that he did not qualify for the jackpot because he was not "max-betting" at the highest coin size of 1 mBTC. This is obviously nonsense because we know from tracking the jackpots at Bovada that Betsoft games maintain a separate jackpot at each coin size. After the player pointed this out to the casino, it came back to him and changed their story, saying that he did not qualify for the jackpot because the winning spin was made during a free spins round. This is an extraordinary claim, as there is nothing in the game or its paytable that states this rule and neither the casino nor Betsoft has provided any evidence to support this claim.

There can only be one of two explanations: the game has either underpaid the player to the tune of a million credits, or the game does not function according to its paytable. Either explanation makes Betsoft look unprofessional, if not crooked. We here at Casino Listings unanimously believe that Jason should be paid the jackpot.

Update, 26 June 2016: Betsoft have made a change to the paytable on The Glam Life. The poorly worded sentence that has been added now says: Jackpot cannot be won during any other bonus feature. We can all speculate what the "any other" part means and what it refers to, but it appears that they are trying to cover their tracks on this.

New paytable on The Glam Life

Questioning the value of Betsoft's RNG audit

Betsoft claims that the random number generator used for its games is tested and audited by a Malta based organisation Quinel M Ltd. Its last published RNG certificate (attached to the bottom of this article) is dated February 2015. However the possibility of either nefarious intent or programmatic incompetence cannot be ruled out by this certificate. In simple terms, a game asks for a random number from the RNG, then maps that number to a result - a four symbol win or a losing spin for example. There is nothing stopping either a buggy or crooked game from ignoring the generated number and asking for a new one if it doesn't like the result, so for an audit to be effective it must test the simulated results of an actual game, not just the numbers generated by a RNG. On this point we found section P of the Quinel RNG report to be quite salient:

P) Additional information (RGR Part VI, 26.i) The RNG subject to testing (test item J14120011 - I001) was tested independently without any game connected; no integrations between RNG and games were tested.

So there you have it: this audit does not test the "end to end" interaction between Betsoft's games and the RNG to ensure that the results that a player actually sees are truly random. The RNG can be a correctly programmed piece of logic that always returns a random number, but this says nothing about the fairness of the operation of the games that use the RNG. The audit is practically worthless.

2014 revocation of Betsoft's Alderney gambling license

Betsoft Gaming had its license suspended in July 2014 by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC). There was no reason given for the suspension at the time but we believe that one reason was probably Betsoft's licensing of its games to casinos that accept players from the United States. The AGCC set a regulatory hearing date of October 13, 2014 to go over the case, but on September 25, 2014 Betsoft voluntarily surrendered its licensing certificate, ending any chance of an investigation into its conduct by the AGCC. Betsoft is currently licensed by Curacao eGaming and its games are provided to many casinos that accept American players. In recent times it has made great strides in distributing its games among casinos in the unregulated Bitcoin casino market.

2010 evidence of non-random keno games

In October 2010, concerned poker players identified a flaw in several keno games provided by Betsoft to disgraced poker brand Absolute Poker (you may remember them from their involvement in a famous "super-user" cheating scandal in 2008). The games produced results that made it impossible for a player to win, though curiously also ensured that they lost less than if results had been determined purely randomly. With the sting of the cheating scandal fresh in the minds of poker players, many were quick to jump on the bandwagon against Absolute Poker rather than Betsoft. These days knowing what we now know, and of course using 20/20 hindsight, it certainly casts Betsoft's conduct in the matter in a whole new light.

Conclusion: avoid Betsoft games

There is a lot of smoke here, and where there is smoke there is usually fire. We have attempted to contact Betsoft about these issues on a number of occasions, but have never received a reply. We think that the best course of action is to make this information public and let players make an informed decision about the games that they play and the casinos that they patronise.

Betsoft is, at a minimum, responsible for gross negligence in its game development and quality assurance processes. These "bugs" and supposedly unwritten rules give us no confidence whatsoever that the games being offered by Betsoft are truly fair, or that they are sufficiently tested, or that the company is adequately regulated. We therefore recommend that players avoid all Betsoft games, and if you are playing at a casino that offers their games, we would urge you to point them to this article and ask them to reconsider whether they wish to continue offering them.

Lastly, we wish to make it clear that we do not believe that Bovada, Slots.lv, or any other casinos running these games, are responsible for these discrepancies. The blame ultimately lies with Betsoft Gaming as they are the ones programming and selling these games. However we do hope that with the publication of this information, casinos will do the responsible thing and remove all Betsoft games until they are adequately tested, audited, and fixed, and until such time as Jason is paid the jackpot that he should have won on The Glam Life slot machine.

AttachmentSize
Betsoft RNG audit certificate, February 20152.69 MB

About the author

Jeremy Wilson // Senior Editor
Jeremy Wilson
Jeremy has senior editorial responsibilities across all areas of the site. He lives in Sydney, Australia and has been working with Casino Listings in various roles since its inception in 2007. His go-to game is Blackjack.
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usbarbadosslim93
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23 June 2016 - 2:25pm
#1

Wow, that's some truly shady stuff. I hope those good casinos (Slots.lv, Bovada) drop these crooked games!

ustwitchyseal
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23 June 2016 - 10:51pm
#2

Excellent work.

I believe this is just the tip of the iceberg. Looking forward to exposing the whole thing.

CL-Ed

uscasinodeb
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24 June 2016 - 12:10am
#3

Ok, so I guess I dont understand the relationship between the software companies, in this case betsoft, and the casinos. It is the casino which receives a players deposits and makes the payouts, so does the software company receive a part of all play in that casino as well as have a joint responsibility in the payouts??? ( As a side issue, I also thought that the casino could potentially loosen or tighten games on a given day, ?? )

😕

auCL-Ed
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24 June 2016 - 12:31am
#4

The answer to that is that it all depends, sorry!

In general, you are correct that the casino is responsible for collecting deposits and paying withdrawals. The software supplier gives them the games and usually receives a share of the profit earned from their games. But in the case of progressive jackpots, the contributed money is often passed on to and held by the software supplier because the jackpot can be pooled between lots of different casinos. However that may not be true in this case because Betsoft jackpots are usually local to a single casino. So that could mean that the casino is the one holding the jackpot money in this case. I don't know for sure either way at the moment and we're trying to find out though obviously no-one is keen to give us any straight answers.

Re loosening/tightening slots, again it depends on the game supplier. Most of the top suppliers that are properly regulated and audited such as Microgaming and Net Entertainment have the RTP for their games set in stone and you are playing exactly the same game with the same chance of winning no matter which casino you play at. And the casino does not have the ability to alter the payouts at all. However there have been cases where game suppliers let casinos alter the odds, but these are usually the smaller, less well-kown and unregulated suppliers. Our data can't really tell us whether it is Betsoft or the casino itself that is controlling the chances of a jackpot being won changing over time for example. But we do know that it is happening, and it has to be Betsoft that is allowing it to happen, whether by building a "switch" into the game, or just having their games programmed by incompetents.

2 BlackjackAA, casinodeb

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usjasonort
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25 June 2016 - 4:01pm
#5

Thank you for all of your work on this. I am the player you reference in your story who was not paid the jackpot. I would like to add some additional facts to the story. I have obviously been trying to get in touch with BetSoft. I have emailed their support at [email protected], their VP of marketing and sales Mark McKeown ([email protected]), and the person that is listed on the RNG testing document as director of operations Brandi Ellis ([email protected] - she is listed on LinkedIn as the VP for VIP Services for Caesar's coincidentally). I have sent them all of the details I have including casino I was playing at, date, time, screenshots, etc. No response whatsoever. But yesterday the pay table for "The Glam Life" was changed. They added language to the pay table saying that free spins are not eligible for the jackpot. This language was not there when I played and hit the jackpot combination (June 14th), and I can prove it with screenshots that I took. This may be the most shady company I have ever seen. They try to quietly change the pay table, ignore me, and pretend like nothing happened.

As for the casino but I was playing through Betcoin.ag, they have actually been very good to me. I have had lengthy conversations with their staff over support chat. They have described to me how this slot operates with BetSoft. The casino takes the deposit from the player. When you play this game your wager is sent directly to BetSoft, and you are connected to their servers. If you win BetSoft credits the players account at the casino. BetSoft holds sole responsibility for deciding who wins and loses. The arrangement with the casino operates very much like a player affiliate program. The casino, and sometimes a third party you who sets up the deal between the casino and BetSoft, receive a percentage of player losses (they would not tell me the details of who gets what percentage). Betcoin.ag is a relatively small Casino who is stuck in the middle. They have no control, but take all of the heat for a mistake like this. They have told me that they wish I had been paid. It would have done wonders in advertising and marketing for a small casino like them. They also admitted that they have seen this same thing happen previously with BetSoft, although they would not say which game or how much the jackpot was for. They have told me that they will state the facts as they happened on my thread at bitcointalk.org, and to anyone that inquires.

I have filed complaints with Curacao eGaming, and with Malta gaming authority where they hold a class 4 license under the name Digital Software Limited and Lic. No. is MGA/CL4/752/2011. I am hoping that if I can bring enough heat, BetSoft will see that the damage to their reputation and potential loss of business will be way more expensive than paying me the jackpot. Having the games pulled from Bovada and Slots.lv is a great start.

Thank you for all of your support. Please continue to shine a light on companies like BetSoft who choose to cheat their players and not operate in a fair manner.

4 CL-Ed, hope777, BlackjackAA, casinodeb

auCL-Ed
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26 June 2016 - 11:59pm
#6

Thanks for posting Jason.

I think you are being far too kind to the casino here. The fact that they freely admit that this has happened before and they knew about it, yet they continue to offer Betsoft games says a lot. I'm sorry to be harsh but they don't appear to care at all. A better casino would be fighting on your behalf to get Betsoft to pay you, not playing the "we're just a small poor casino" schtick.

Quote:

Having the games pulled from Bovada and Slots.lv is a great start.

You're right it appears that Bovada has removed all Betsoft progressive jackpot games from their casino. Compare that with Betcoin's reaction - they're happy to keep taking money on games that don't pay out fairly.

The dominos are starting to fall, we'll keep at it.

hope777

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auCL-Ed
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27 June 2016 - 12:35am
#7

I have updated the article above to show the screenshot of the new paytable Jason referred to, in which Betsoft have added the following sentence:

Quote:

Jackpot cannot be won during any other bonus feature.

That is very poorly worded. Specifically the "any other" part. Other than what?

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auCL-Ed
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28 June 2016 - 6:14am
#8

Our jackpot tracker is alerting me that most of the Betsoft jackpot values at Slots.lv have now been synchronised with Bovada. I'm not sure whether the games are still available at either casino but it may be that if they reappear both sites will share the same jackpot pools.

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bgsharpe
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3 July 2016 - 6:49pm
#9

Honestly BetSoft have never been one of my personal favourites and obviously they would be even down in my list from now on, thanks for the good work folks and for letting all of us know about that.

usjasonort
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6 July 2016 - 10:52pm
#10

CL-Ed's note: the following statement should be read with the knowledge that Jason was forced to post it in order to be paid a small fraction of the jackpot that he should have won. They are not his words.

I am pleased to say that this matter has been resolved to my satisfaction by all parties involved. Responsibility has been taken by Betcoin.ag for lack of clarification from their customer support, Betsoft has acknowledged that the wording on the pay table may have been cause for misunderstanding with respect to jackpot eligibility. Both parties have been very helpful and cooperative in resolving this and made the necessary adjustments.

deJolly Poker
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7 July 2016 - 12:16pm
#11

@jasonort: Wow, after all the support you received from players all over the world this is what we get? A standrad greenwashing statement which was put in your mouth by betcoin and betsoft?

So in other words you didn't recieve the jackpot (just as any other scammed player you mentioned who didn't go public) but were paid to keep the shitstorm quiet (unlike all the other players).

That's good for you but I think we should get to know a little more about the deal you agreed on. At least I would like to know how much they paid you for your cooperation.

Would you recommend your friends to keep playing Betsoft Games?

auCL-Ed
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7 July 2016 - 2:18pm
#12

Jason that does not sound like it was written by you at all. I'm betting it was written for you by a Betsoft or Betcoin employee.

Bottom line - did they pay you the jackpot or not? I'm assuming that since you aren't saying that they have, they didn't.

So how did they compensate you?

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usbarbadosslim93
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7 July 2016 - 2:20pm
#13

Yeah this is fishy. Jasonort obviously got some sort of a settlement in exchange for him to shut his mouth and claim the issue solved. Regardless, the company still has rigged games, and they are being hurt by this report, as trustworthy casinos move to pull their games.

usjasonort
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11 July 2016 - 10:53am
#14

I have said all that I am allowed to say.

2 CL-Ed, twitchyseal

uspokaplaya247
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18 August 2016 - 9:35am
#15

I'm new here. I think I got jipped a long time ago with Bovada on a slot. I was wondering what you guys think.

Like I said this was a while ago, so I'll have to look for all my screen shots.

I'm so new to this site that I don't know where to post it all.

lvblck
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18 August 2016 - 9:50am
#16
pokaplaya247 wrote:

I'm new here. I think I got jipped a long time ago with Bovada on a slot. I was wondering what you guys think.

Like I said this was a while ago, so I'll have to look for all my screen shots.

I'm so new to this site that I don't know where to post it all.

Hi and welcome 🙂 I think you can make a new post and add all the screenshots. We will try to help as much as we can.🙂

uspokaplaya247
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18 August 2016 - 9:58am
#17

Cool thanks.