Winamax

Why it is safe to play on Winamax

 

This page contains a technical explanation proving that Winamax is a secure and trusted poker site: random card dealing, respect for probabilities, independent lab testing and guarantees. Also, our security and player protection team continuously monitors game integrity and game play.

The number one concern of the majority of online players concerns the random distribution of cards. Here are the facts:

 

  • Random distribution is by definition irregular, with series sometimes running long in one direction or another.
  • Over the internet, players will play many more hands than in live games over a similar timespan, therefore increasing the chances of receiving a bad beat, or a good beat for that matter.
  • Statistical compliance of the random card distribution must be judged OVER THE LONG TERM. A couple of hundred or thousand hands played are of little significance. In order to judge objectively, one must study hundreds of thousands of hands, and not rely on the experience of one player.
  • Players tend to remember the bad beats more than the good runs. Losing with a pair of Aces three or four times in a row may seem abnormal, but winning with a pair of aces five or six times in a row can go unnoticed, as this is perceived as “normal”.
  • Finally, Winamax has no reason to favour one player over another. The website is technically incapable of doing so.
  • Our systems are regularly controlled and certified by independent third parties.

 

 

  • 1 – FINANCIAL SECURITY

    On Winamax, your funds are completely secure.

    Winamax is a company located in France* and all player funds are available at any time to the player account holders:

    In compliance with Article 151 of Law no. 2010-476 of 12th May 2010, amended by Law no. 2014-344 of 17th March 2014 regarding Consumer Affairs, the Company transfers the assets of finalised player accounts to a trust account managed by the company Equitis, a trust company headquartered in Paris, France (75017), under a contract securing player assets. The assets are thus not held by the Company but in a trust account managed by the trustee. Additionally, this account is monitored by our regulator, the ARJEL.

    All player funds are available and may be withdrawn at any time.

    For temporary player accounts, player funds are stored entirely in France, in two leading banks: BNP-Paribas and the Société Générale, in “player” accounts dedicated exclusively to the actions and monetary transfers of the users. The bank accounts dedicated to players are completely separate from those of the company. In absolutely no case can these funds be used for investment, funding, or even be used as collateral and/or a guarantee.

    At Winamax, the players and their funds are completely protected, 100% of the time.

     

    *Shareholders, headquarters, technology, staff teams: among the top 5 poker operators, Winamax is the only 100% French company.

  • 2 – CARD DRAWING AND DISTRIBUTION

    Principle

    Card drawing and dealing is made up of two components:

    • A random number generator
    • An algorithm that transforms a random number into a card

    Random number generation

    The generator uses a pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) algorithm based upon a seed issued hardware random number card, or True Random Number Generator (TRNG). These numbers are used to randomly distribute cards according to two probabilities:

    • True Random Number Generator:
      Winamax uses ”AWS Key Management Service” which is a service made up of Hardware Security Models (HSM) which were validated by the FIPS 140-2 norm. The numbers issued by this service are then used to initialise the PRNG.
    • Pseudo Random Number Generator:

      • The PRNG is based off the OpenSSL software which is a cryptographic random number generator. This software has protection against the following attacks:

      • Direct cryptographic attack;
      • Attack with knowledge of initialisation;
      • Attack with internal state compromised.
    • Random numbers generated are:
      • Statistically independent;
      • Evenly distributed;
      • Non-predictable;
      • Impossible to reproduce.

    Algorithm used to draw 1 card out of N

    • Principle:

      This algorithm is used to select one card out of a deck of 52 cards (so long as the card has not already been drawn).
      For security reasons, cards are never drawn before being dealt.

    • Implementation:
      Using the PRNG, we obtain an integer between 0 and (264-1). The cardinality of the interval is denoted as M. A card cannot be associated with a random number, but to a sub interval of [0; 264-1] where the size depends upon the number of cards to be drawn.
      A deck may have up to 52 cards or 1 remaining card. So that a draw is equipossible, it is necessary to divide the range of numbers that can be returned by the PRNG into equal intervals.
      For example, if there are n cards remaining in a deck, in order to have n equal intervals:
      [0, M/n-1], [M/n, M/n*3-1], ... [M/n*(n-1), M-1]
      So as to have equal intervals we use Euclidian division (standard C99). Each space will therefore have the same cardinality.
      If the PRNG draws a number that cannot be associated with an interval, a new random number is generated, until the number falls within a valid interval.
      This process allows for a non-biased dealing algorithm.
    • Statistical testing:

      The system currently in use by Winamax has been certified after undergoing multiple statistical tests: Dieharder and Chi-square.

       

    Certification and Audits

    The solution used by Winamax has been audited and certified by the following companies:

    • Synacktiv, a certification organisation recognised by ARJEL (France);
    • Gaming Laboratories International, an organisation which has been accredited by numerous regulators including the DGOJ (Spain), the AAMS (Italy) and the SRIJ (Portugal).

    The draw results are regularly analysed so as to verify that card distribution conforms to the probability of obtaining a particular combination of cards.

     

  • 3 – MECHANISMS FOR PROTECTING GAME SOFTWARE

    Software integrity

    The servers are certified by “Thawte” using 2048 bit RSA key and downloads are secured using the same certificate and are AES256 encrypted. Using this certificate, the download is secure with AES256 encryption algorithm (256 bits).

     

    Confidentiality of exchanges

    Exchanges between the game software and network are made using secure connections using TLS v1 protocol. The configuration uses certificates issued by our own certification authority. Encryption is 2048 bit RSA key using a SHA-AES256 algorithm.

    No player’s private data is shared with another player.

     

    Automatic updates

    Winamax uses the ecosystem associated with Adobe AIR that allows automatic update of the application installed on your computer.

    You can take advantage of the most recent corrections and evolutions without having to do anything.

     

    Fight against robots

    Winamax uses mechanisms designed to detect robots while protecting our source code, so as to discourage the use of unauthorized third party software. Please see our General Terms and Conditions (article 7).

    Please note that we verify the identity of every user. See our General Terms and Conditions (article 2).

     

    Detecting collusion

    Winamax has a zero tollerance collusion policy:

    • Our systems use algorithms to automatically detect suspicious behavior. Our team will also act on tips and complaints from real players.
    • We manually verify game sessions and hand histories for each alert raised by our detection systems.
    • Sanctions range from limiting access to certain games for certain persons to account closure.

    Please review our General Terms and Conditions (article 5).

     

    Fighting against addiction

    The Winamax software integrates moderation tools that you may be adjusted in your account pages. Beyond limits that are required by French law at the time you created your account, Winamax invites each player to fix additional limits so as to keep gaming fun and responsible.