eCOGRA has played a significant role in the online gambling industry for over two decades as a third-party testing organization that governs online casinos and provides accreditation after casino games have passed their high gaming standards for safety. Meaning eCommerce Online Gambling Regulation and Assurance, the UK-based independent testing agency examines casino games and provides reports on payout percentages and has provided trusted service in the industry for years.
This article looks at a recent report on payouts at the top six online casinos in the United Kingdom.
eCOGRA Payout Percentage Review
Payout percentage refers to the percentage of money bet by players that return in winnings. To simplify this, if a game has a payout percentage of 97%, this means that 97% of the money staked on the game goes back as winnings to the casino while the remaining 3% is revenue. The payout percentage is also known as RTP (return-to-player).
Knowing this, players often opt for games with higher payout percentages to improve their chances of winning or minimize loss. Licensing and regulatory bodies often have a minimum RTP threshold to ensure fairness; for example, the Malta Gaming Authority recently reduced its threshold from 92% to 85% in 2021.
Online operators can easily manipulate their system to be heavily in favour of the house to the point that allows players almost no chance to win, especially when not regulated or governed by a testing agency.
eCOGRA has grown to become a trusted testing agency, and its accreditation is a vote of confidence for online casinos. The agency conducts the testing once or twice a year, offers a seal of approval, which casinos display on their website, and releases a report detailing the payout percentage on each game category.
Payout Reports on top 6 UK online casinos
Let's take a look at the payout report for these top UK online casinos as released by eCOGRA: Unfortunately Kasino Talletus [1] didn't make it into our review, but its results are just as good as ours.
Gaming Club Casino
- Investigation on Gaming Club Casino returned 96% of all bets for slot games, 95.13% on its poker games, and the casino returned 97.45% for table games.
- The total average payout percentage for all casino games combined is 96.19%
All Slots Casino
- At All Slots Casino, managed by Stanworth Development Limited and licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority, the casino paid out 96.22% of its bets on slots, 95.70% on table games, and 96.52% on poker games.
- The combined RTP on All Slots Casino was calculated to be 96.52%, while the casino took 3.76% of the total bets as revenue.
32 Red Casino
- 32 Red Casino is a popular Microgaming casino with a full license from the Gibraltar government, and eCOGRA reports the casino paid out 96.25% of the total slot bets, 97.51% on table games, and 97.43% on poker games.
- 32 Red Casino combines for a total payout percentage of 96.75% on all games, retaining 3.25% as casino profit.
Royal Vegas Casino
- Royal Vegas Casino is a subsidiary of Fortune Lounge Group and owns a license from the Malta Gaming Authority.
- The casino returned 98.67% on slot games, 97.28% on table games, and 96.64% on all bets on poker games.
- The casino combined for a total RTP of 98.54% on all games, retaining 1.46% as profit.
Spin Palace Casino
- Spin Palace Casino is a UK online casino owned by The Palace Group and licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority.
- eCOGRA reports 95.85 % returned on all slot bets, 97.00% for poker games, and 97.57% on all bets made on table games.
- The combined payout percentage for all games was calculated to be 96.04%.
Jackpot City Casino
- Jackpot City Casino is a top Microgaming casino in the UK owned by Stanworth Development Limited and licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority.
- The casino has a 96.11% payout on slot games, 97.22% on table games, and 96.86% paid back on poker games.
- Jackpot City made a profit of 3.76% while paying out 96.24% of the total bets made on all games.
How reliable are the payout reports from eCOGRA?
eCOGRA is the first testing laboratory for online casino games, and with a precedent as far back as 2003, it's one of the most reliable testing agencies in the iGaming industry. Casinos can only get accreditation from eCOGRA after passing the eCOGRA Generally Accepted Practices, also called eGAP. In Australia, for example, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which controls the emergence of gambling sites with quick payouts [2], deals with the problems of gambling.
eGAP tests casinos on the following requirements:
1. Fairness: This confirms that the casino does not rip off its players or manipulate bets to be heavily in its favour. Casinos pass the fairness test if they offer favourable rules, fair random number generators, use cutting-edge encryption technology, and resolve issues swiftly.
2. Conduct: This confirms that a casino operates in the appropriating manner with good practices, especially as regards advertising and policies. Also, the casino must allow frequent investigations by eCOGRA to continue to display the logo.
3. Security: This confirms that the casino offers secure payment methods and has a great track record of being a safe and secure platform for players.
Without meeting these requirements, casinos do not get to display the eCOGRA logo or certification. Therefore, payout percentages from eCOGRA are accurate, follow strict standards, and serve as a vote of confidence for online casinos.
Find out more about eCOGRA games testing [3]