William Hill ‘donates’ to Responsible Gambling Trust after RTP error

William Hill and Inspired Gaming Group have both agreed to donate to the Responsible Gambling Trust to make up for an error that saw players of Reel King told to expect the wrong average Return To Player (RTP) percentage.

The RTP rate gives players an idea of how much they should expect to receive in winnings if they play a particular slot machine, or casino game, for a long time, and is typically above 95% for most titles, depending on the ‘house edge’ that is worked into the rules of the game.

However, following a May 2012 update to the Reel King software, Inspired Gaming Group – who supplied the machines – and William Hill whose estate they were installed on, together found that the advertised RTP on the machine’s help pages did not match the real-world return to player that was now being given out.

They informed the Gambling Commission, but the problem was not resolved until July 2012, during which time the advertised RTP remained incorrect to those playing the game, which is supposed to pay out randomly and falls under the ‘B3’ categorisation.

Overall, the expected impact to players is believed to have been minimal, but the Gambling Commission and the parties concerned all agreed that the necessary standards had not been upheld, and insufficient testing had been carried out before the updates were made to Reel King.

As a result, IGG and William Hill have agreed to contribute a total of £300,000 to the Responsible Gambling Trust, an industry-supported but independent fund that exists to promote the cause of responsible gambling in the UK, and to fund research into how to overcome problem gambling.

Matthew Hill of the Gambling Commission says that the way the two organisations involved reacted to the discovery of the error was exactly as it should have been, with the Commission informed as soon as it was detected, and remedial efforts taken to put things right.

He adds: “The Commission welcomes the ex gratia payment that has been made in recognition that they would not wish to benefit commercially from this event, and their agreement that the lessons learnt from this episode should be shared with operators.”

While the donation does not represent a ‘fine’ in the technical sense, it is clear to see that contributing to the Trust is a way for the concerned parties to pay back any excess earnings they may have received through the erroneous update, without the prejudice of any more serious legal or regulatory enforcement action.