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Open Patrol

Methodology

What we count, how and what we do not check.

Every number in an Open Patrol report comes from one repeatable scan, run the same way every day. This page is that method, published in full so any count can be checked against the capture it came from.

From a casino's front page to a report

  1. ScanThe same front pages, once a day, from inside the market.
  2. RecordEvery game tile is written down with its row and its place in that row.
  3. CheckA scan that fails a single check is thrown away, not published.
  4. PublishWhat passes becomes an edition: one market, one day.
  5. ProveEach operator in the edition keeps the capture its placements were read from.

The scan

The same conditions every time, so one edition can be laid next to the next and the difference is the casino, not the method.

Once a day
1440 × 900
Inside the scanned country
Frequency
Once a day
View
Desktop
Resolution
1440 × 900 px, browser zoom 100%
VPN
Inside the scanned country, preferably the same server or city every time
Language
The market's own language, both website and browser
Browser profile
One dedicated monitoring profile, never logged in to a casino account
URLs
Always the same main URLs, no advertising or tracking parameters
Scope
Only slot games displayed on the front page
Scrolling
The whole page, so every category and lazy-loaded game renders

What a placement is

A placement is one game tile on one casino's front page. It is the unit every count in a report is made of.

Same game, second row: two placements Not counted

Where a placement stands

  1. The category position is counted from the top of the page.
  2. The game position is counted left to right inside its category.
  3. The first game holds position 1.
  4. The same game may appear in several categories, and every appearance is recorded separately.

What is never counted

A tile is left out when it is:

  1. a live casino game
  2. roulette, blackjack or baccarat
  3. bingo, poker or a crash game
  4. a jackpot
  5. a provider logo
  6. a banner or promotional element

Studio and game names

Casinos write the same studio and the same game in different ways. The report shows one spelling for every name it can match to our catalogue, and never guesses at the rest.

Verified games

A verified game is a title we have matched to the studio that made it, in our own catalogue.

The catalogue is built from each studio's own list of games. A title on a casino's front page that matches one is tied to that game and that studio.

So its placements count for the right studio, it is one game in every market, and it has its own page.

  1. A name that matches our catalogue is shown the way the catalogue writes it.
  2. A name that does not match is shown as the scan recorded it, and is never merged with a similar-looking one.

When a scan is thrown away

A scan is discarded, not published, when:

  1. the VPN location is not inside the scanned country
  2. there are technical problems connecting to the casino's site
  3. no categories are found
  4. the game count drops sharply, for example by more than 40% against the previous day
  5. the page does not load all game tiles

What an edition is

An edition is one market on one day: several casino operators, scanned on the same day and published together.

  1. It is a snapshot of that day, not an average of the month.
  2. Each edition is compared with the one before it in the same market, never with another market.

The capture behind every number

We do not ask you to trust the counts. Each operator in a report links to the capture of its front page, taken during the scan and dated.

  1. The capture is the page as the scan saw it, not a later visit.
  2. Every capture shown on the site carries our mark.
  3. A placement in a report can be checked against the capture it was read from.

What a report does not tell you

A report shows what a casino put on its front page. It says nothing about why, and nothing about what happened next.

What we see

  • Which games are on the front page
  • Which studio made them
  • Which row and which place they hold
  • How that changes from one edition to the next

What we do not analyze

  • Money: revenue, fees or what a placement cost
  • Popularity: what was played, and by how many
  • Players: who visited and how far they scrolled
  • Reasons: whether a placement was paid for, chosen or automatic