WGS Online Casino Software Review

WGS Technology is the latest name for a brand best known as Vegas Technology. WGS software has undergone several rebranding efforts since the company’s inception as Odds-On Gaming in 1998. This page discusses the company’s history, offers a guide to the current WGS Casinos and its products, and provides an understanding of its place in the current online gambling industry.

WGS Casinos can offer a full menu of games, including video slots, table games, and video poker. Vegas Technology was known for its proprietary games, and the current company’s designers maintain the tradition. Games like Poker Dice and Dazzling Dice blend craps with poker but create a completely different game experience than either of their predecessors.

The current list of online casinos that use WGS Technology is small. The upheaval in the company over the years has not helped the business model. While a few well-funded startups brought new energy to the online gaming niche and older competitors consolidated the industry, WGS was struggling to reorganize. That being said, WGS Technology is an old company with well-designed games. Like Pragmatic Play (TopGame) before it, major success is only a few good decisions away.

WGS Technology History

WGS began as OddsOn Gaming back in 1996. That is the year the company was registered, though OddsOn’s electronic payment software likely was not online until 1998, which many people mark as the company’s founding. The early bios suggest that OddsOn was generally designed for e-commerce but later focused on online gambling. Given that the name “Odds On” had a gambling connotation from day one of operations, the two-year delay probably saw a name change for the company.

Move to Antigua and Barbuda

Changing the brand name became a trend because OddsOn changed its name to Vegas Technology in 2005. By that time, OddsOn was licensed by the regulators in Antigua and Barbuda to operate online gambling sites. In 2003, the company was bought by English Harbour, a gaming software developer that supported many (now-defunct) sites. Vegas Technology moved to Antigua, where its parent company was EH Gaming Ventures Inc. (“EH” for English Harbour).

The move to Antigua was necessary because Vegas Technology decided to continue accepting U.S. players after American federal authorities passed the UIGEA law, which banned such operations. Antigua and Barbuda famously defied US official sanctions, to the point it won online gambling court cases against the US in the WTO’s international court. From its legal safe haven in Antigua, Vegas Technology continued with a small, yet respectable, iGaming network.

Current Status of the Company

Vegas Technology struggled in the years of the Global Recession, so that English Harbour and other VT websites ended operations in 2011. The next year, Vegas Technology changed its name again, this time to WGS Technology. The new company is sometimes known as “Wager Gaming”, which adds to a certain amount of confusion about the company. Despite being a 20-year old, respected casino software developer, many still write about WGS Technology’s “mysterious nature”.

The company appears to be doing well, and its actually more forthcoming than most US online casino software providers. WGS maintains its own blog, which gives details for each new game release. While it supports only a small network of sites (7 online and 6 mobile), WGS Technology appears to be a steady producer of new games and new software. The company developed mobile casino software in 2014, and continues to release new games every other month or so.

WGS Technology Timeline

Wager Gaming Technology, or WGS Technology is one of the oldest online casino game developers, though the company has had a complicated history. The following timeline provides a quick guide to the company’s name changes, associations, and achievements.

1996	OddsOn is founded in Toronto, Canada, in response to the rise of e-commerce. OddsOn is a developer of online payment processing systems.
2000	OddsOn creates a software development division based on Javascript and is licensed in Antigua and Barbuda for operations.
2003	OddsOn merged with English Harbour Gaming Ventures, a software developer.
2005	To reflect the company’s new direction after the English Harbour merger two years’ prior, OddsOn changed its name to Vegas Technology.
2006	The United States Congress passes the UIGEA into law. The law states anyone supporting US online gambling activities which are illegal under the 1961 Wire Act are committing a crime. The Bush Administration determines that online casinos, poker sites, and sportsbooks are illegal under the UIGEA. Many electronic payment services and online software casino development firms leave the US market.
2007	Vegas Technology decides to remain in the U.S. gaming market. Despite the decision to stay, the UIGEA severely hurt VT’s business.
2008	In 2008, several sites reported that Vegas Technology ultimately was owned by EH Gaming Ventures Inc. This still is likely the holding company which owns Wager Gaming.
2011	Wager Gaming software was introduced by Vegas Technology.
2012	Vegas Technology changed its name to Wager Gaming Systems, shortened to WGS Technology.
2014	WGS Technology launches its WGS Mobile Casino Software package on November 14, 2014.
2015	WGS releases its long-awaited Mobile Casino Tournament Software. The MCTS software allows players much easier navigation through the list of slots, table games, and video poker. Best of all, it provides easy access to mobile tournaments.
2016	WGS’s gaming is audited monthly by Certified Fair Gambling, a third-party tester which publishes its findings.

Advantages and Disadvantages of WGS Casinos

What we like and what we don’t like about WGS Software.

WGS Online Casinos

WGS provides games for the following Casinos:

WGS Online Slots

WGS Technology has developed 137 online slots at present. The list of games includes dozens of 3-reel classics and even more 5-reel video slots. WGS Casino slots do not have the graphical quality of Betsoft, but they match RTG and Rival Gaming in terms of artwork. WGS Casinos fall behind when it comes to progressive slots, which I’ll discuss in its own section below.

WGS Technology Licensed Slots

WGS Tech even has a couple of licensed slots: Dennis Rodman and Evel Knievel. It’s hard to say which of these two men lived a wilder life. Everyone in the 21st century knows Dennis Rodman as the outrageous former NBA basketball star. Besides being a 5-time World Champion, Dennis Rodman was a movie actor, reality TV star, drag queen, documentarian, and basketball ambassador. He’s even known for being friends with the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Un.

On the other hand, Evel Knievel was one of the great showmen and daredevils of all time. Knievel got famous for jumping his motorcycle over increasingly hazardous things: cars, buses, the fountains at Caesars Palace, Snake River Canyon, and even the Grand Canyon. At one time or another, Evel Knievel was considering jumping the Mississippi River or jumping from one skyscraper to the next. His life was just as wild away from the motorcycle; Knievel once started a brawl with the Hell’s Angels, who happened to be providing security at one of his jumps. He was a showman, too; he changed his name from “Bobby” to “Evel”.

Progressive jackpots

Since 2009, WGS Casinos have built up a network of 7 progressive jackpots. Five of these games are online slots, while two are table games. The total jackpot pool of all seven games at the moment is $484,993. While that is not a huge amount, two of the games offer progressive over $100,000, while four of them have payouts over $70,000. Those are nice prizes anyone would want. I’ve listed all seven progressive jackpots in descending order of size at their current levels.

WGS Casino Blackjack

WGS Casinos offer 7 unique variants of blackjack. The company’s selection reminds us of Microgaming’s blackjack list, with several games based on Las Vegas and Atlantic City rules for 21. Each of the games is worthy, with a house edge of less than 1%.

Progressive Blackjack is listed in some places, but I could not find it in one of their casinos. It’s possible the game was pulled at a point that would be a great disappointment. Progressive games should pay back their customers at a point.

Other Blackjack Games

WGS Technology Table Games

WGS Casinos include 6 other table games, including all the basics: roulette, baccarat, craps, and table poker. The table poker variants are the only major shortcoming here, because many players these days love Caribbean Stud and Caribbean Hold’em and their progressive jackpots. That might explain the omission, because WGS doesn’t seem to want to get involved in progressive jackpot games.

WGS Specialty Games

We have included games like Poker Slots, Poker Dice, and Bingo Bucks on the specialty games list. Other reviewers might place them in the table games list, because they incorporate elements of one or more table games. Because poker, slot machines, and bingo are included in several cases, they strike me as specialty games. Each has a fairly high house edge at WGS Casinos but are unique proprietary games some gamblers might enjoy.

WGS Technology Video Poker

WGS Casinos offer 9 different video poker variants. The list of video poker games reminds us of RTG’s or Rival Gaming’s list of games in that they’re hit-or-miss. For instance, no one should want to play Tens or Better in 2016 because it has a much higher house edge than most forms of video poker. 10-or-Better has disappeared from most of Nevada’s brick-and-mortar casinos.

Other Video Poker Games

Of course, video poker is a game for thinking gamblers, so most draw poker players are going to know which games are best. For that reason, the inclusion of so many video poker options is welcome.

Achievements and Awards

About the time Vegas Technology was getting noticed, the online gambling industry changed. The biggest change was the inception of the UIGEA era, when the US online gambling industry went from the biggest in the world to an underreported gray market. For that reason, Vegas Technology/WGS was less likely to win awards after 2006, when its design work was beginning to be noticed.

Conclusion

WGS Casino software is as well-developed as a games package you’ll find in the U.S. gaming market. While the graphics on the slot machines are nowhere near as advanced as Betsoft or NetEnt animation, WGS games are every bit as developed as RTG games. Americans who want to try video slots besides the usual RTG or Betsoft games should consider WGS slots as a valid option.

When you compare WGS Casinos’ list of table games and video poker games to Betsoft or Rival Gaming, Wager Gaming has a bigger and better selection. Even though the company’s mobile gaming platform is less than 2 years old, Wager Gaming offers more games than most US-friendly providers.

This is a gaming software that deserves a better reception. Because its reputation for fair terms is better than several notable US competitors, one gets the idea that WGS Technology has been punished for offering a white hat product. Players might not want to use Wager Gaming software because they don’t offer many online casino options, but the WGS Technology software itself is solid.

If you’re interested in other industry competitors, be sure to visit our online casino software companies page.