The round that is interrupted
A game round is four stages long - placed, running, decided, settled - and it happens on the operator server, not on your screen. Almost every question a player asks after a connection drops, a game freezes or a decision times out is a question about which stage the round had reached. This desk takes the interruption apart: what is at risk at each stage, when a round is voided and the stake returned, when it settles as if nothing happened, and what the account shows afterwards.
- rounds sampled
- 24,000
- met an interruption
- 12.0%
- voided, stake returned
- 40.0%
- settled as decided
- 60.0%
- outcomes changed by a break
- 0
- runtime javascript
- none
The stake is committed and the round is running. A break here, before the round is decided, is the only break that can void the stake - and only if the rules have no default action.
The decision window is open. A dropped connection or a timed-out decision is decided here: by a default action, by a void, or by the window expiring.
The outcome is fixed on the server. A break now is a display problem only: the round settles as decided and the result is shown on reconnect.
The round is voided and the stake returns to the balance. This is a rule outcome, not a loss: the money is where it started.
A game round is decided and settled on the operator server, not on your device. If the connection drops, the crash happens or the app freezes after the round has been decided, the round settles as decided and you see the result on reconnect. If the break lands before the outcome is fixed, the game rules decide: a default action, a void that returns the stake, or a window that expires.
24,000 game rounds sampled across four product families: 9,600 slot spins, 6,000 table-game hands, 4,800 live-dealer hands and 3,600 sports bets. The desk is about the one thing all four share - a round that is placed, runs, is decided and settles - and what happens when that sequence is broken by something outside the game.
- rounds sampled
- 24,000
- slot spins
- 9,600
- table-game hands
- 6,000
- live-dealer hands
- 4,800
- sports bets
- 3,600
- product families
- 4
Of the 24,000 rounds, 21,120 completed with no interruption at any point (88.0%) and 2,880 met one (12.0%): 1,536 a dropped connection, 720 a decision that timed out, 384 a client crash or freeze, and 240 an interruption on the operator side. An interruption is a break in the connection between you and the round, not a fault in the game.
- rounds sampled
- 24,000
- completed, uninterrupted
- 21,120
- completed share
- 88.0%
- met an interruption
- 2,880
- interruption share
- 12.0%
- a dropped connection
- 1,536
- a timed-out decision
- 720
- a crash or freeze
- 384
- an operator interruption
- 240
The 1,536 dropped connections split by when the drop happened: on 1,120 (72.9%) the round had already been decided on the server and only the display was lost, on 296 (19.3%) the decision window was open, and on 120 (7.8%) the drop landed before the round had started. What is at risk in a drop is not the round - it is a decision you have not yet made.
- drops sampled
- 1,536
- round already decided
- 1,120
- already decided share
- 72.9%
- decision window open
- 296
- window open share
- 19.3%
- before the round started
- 120
- before start share
- 7.8%
Of the 2,880 interrupted rounds, 1,152 (40.0%) were eventually voided and the stake returned to the balance, while 1,728 (60.0%) proceeded to settlement exactly as if nothing had happened. The void reasons: a timed-out decision with no default action 384, a decision window that expired 312, an operator-side interruption 240, and a round that never started 216.
- interrupted rounds
- 2,880
- voided, stake returned
- 1,152
- voided share
- 40.0%
- proceeded to settlement
- 1,728
- settled share
- 60.0%
- no default action
- 384
- decision window expired
- 312
- operator interruption
- 240
- round never started
- 216
When the client came back, the round was restored from the server record rather than from the screen: of the 1,728 interrupted rounds that were not voided, the connection was re-established within one minute on 1,104 (63.9%) and the round state was restored on 1,440 (83.3%). The outcome on the restored round matched the server record on all 1,728 of them, which is the point of the whole design.
- interrupted and not voided
- 1,728
- reconnected within a minute
- 1,104
- within a minute share
- 63.9%
- state restored
- 1,440
- state restored share
- 83.3%
- outcome matched the server
- 1,728
A table-game hand carries a decision window, sampled here at 30.0 seconds, against a mean player decision time of 9.4 seconds. On the 720 rounds that timed out, 312 were voided because the game had no default action and 408 took the default action the rules define (stand, fold or check). A timeout only costs the stake when a default action loses and there is no void rule.
- decision window
- 30.0s
- mean decision time
- 9.4s
- rounds that timed out
- 720
- voided, no default
- 312
- took the default action
- 408
- default share
- 56.7%
Live-dealer hands are the most sensitive to a drop because a human is dealing to a table. Of the 4,800 live hands, 648 met a disconnect (13.5%); on 384 of those (59.3%) the bet stood into the hand, on 168 (25.9%) the stake was returned, and on 96 (14.8%) the hand was voided for the whole table. In a shared hand an interruption can end the round for everyone, not only for you.
- live hands sampled
- 4,800
- met a disconnect
- 648
- disconnect share
- 13.5%
- bet stood into the hand
- 384
- stake returned
- 168
- hand voided for the table
- 96
Twelve operator-side interruptions were sampled. The largest affected 412 rounds in 18 minutes; all 412 were voided and the stakes returned. The mean time from the outage to the void was 34 minutes, and the balance was corrected on 412 of 412 affected rounds. An operator outage is the one interruption that is not the player responsibility to detect.
- operator interruptions
- 12
- largest, rounds affected
- 412
- largest, duration
- 18 min
- stakes returned
- 412 of 412
- mean time to void
- 34 min
- balances corrected
- 412 of 412
One 10.00 slot spin, connection lost 0.4 seconds after the stake was placed. The round had already been decided on the server 1.1 seconds after the stake, and it won 2.40. The reconnect 40 seconds later credited the 2.40 - the round settled exactly as it would have with no interruption. A spin that is decided before the drop cannot be lost to the drop; only a decision not yet made can.
- the stake
- 10.00
- connection lost after
- 0.4s
- round decided on server
- 1.1s
- the outcome
- 2.40 win
- reconnect
- 40s
- credited on reconnect
- 2.40
- lost to the drop
- 0.00
A month of play: 1,800 rounds at a mean stake of 2.00 is 3,600.00 staked. At the sampled rate 216 rounds are interrupted (12.0%); of those 86 are voided (40.0%) and return 172.00 of stake, and the rest settle as they would have. In the sample the interruptions changed the outcome of 0 of the 1,800 rounds - a break costs money only when a default action loses, and it costs the stake, not the game.
- rounds in a month
- 1,800
- mean stake
- 2.00
- staked
- 3,600.00
- rounds interrupted
- 216
- voided, stake returned
- 86
- stake returned
- 172.00
- outcomes changed by the break
- 0
A round is a sequence, and the screen is only the tail of it
When you place a stake and press play, nothing about the outcome is decided on your phone. The stake travels to the operator server, a random or dealt result is produced there, the round is recorded as settled, and only then does your screen render the result. The animation, the reel spin, the card that turns over: those are a display of a result that already exists, and they are drawn to run for about as long as the result takes to arrive.
That is why a break mid-round is usually so undramatic. If the reels freeze after the spin has been resolved, the round is already over; the money has already moved. The part of a round that a break can actually change is the part before the outcome is fixed - and only the rounds that carry a decision you have not yet made.
This desk prices all of that. Every figure on it derives from ten invented samples defined below, and every arithmetic step is shown so it can be re-derived. Nothing on it is observed from a live account, game or round, and no operator, game, provider or person is named.
The arithmetic in one line, and then in a paragraph
Worked example / sample I
- the stake on the round: 10.00
- the connection is lost 0.4 seconds later
- the round is decided on the server 1.1 seconds after the stake
- the outcome: a 2.40 win
- the reconnect happens 40 seconds later
- the 2.40 is credited from the server record
- lost to the drop: 0.00
Read the last line of that box carefully. The intuition after a freeze is that the round was taken away; the arithmetic says the round was written down before the freeze, and the freeze only delayed the reading. A break costs money in one place only - a decision window that closes while you are gone - and it costs the stake, not the game.
What the desk covers, in the order the questions arrive
| Question | Where it is answered | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| What is actually happening when a round runs? | what a round actually is | 4 stages |
| Which states can a round be in? | the states a round can be in | 6 states |
| What does the connection drop cost? | the connection that drops | 72.9% |
| When is the stake returned? | the round that is voided | 40.0% |
| What does the account show afterwards? | what the account shows | 1,728 |
The order matters. A reader who starts by asking whether the stake is lost arrives at the void rules already understanding why the void rules exist - because the round can only be broken at a stage before the outcome is fixed.
How to use this desk
- Read the answer block at the top of a page first; it is written to be quoted, and it contains no arithmetic.
- Read the worked example second; every number in it comes from the ten samples and every step is shown.
- Treat every figure as illustrative. The samples are invented, and the desk never describes a real round.
- Check the stage before the stake. What a break can cost is decided by where the round had reached, not by how long the break lasted.
- Do not treat any of this as advice on whether to play. It is a description of how a round is recorded and settled.