In common with most other internet businesses, online casinos need to ensure that the casino software they are using provides a professional and efficient service to their customers. This is why almost all the best known online casinos do not write their own casino software, and rely on specialist software companies to do this work for them. It is also why many of these online casino sites look very similar in both their layout and the graphics associated the individual casino games. The importance of the online casino software cannot be overstated, because as well as presenting our favourite casino games in a format we enjoy playing, the whole personal security and data protection we need from any online casino site is totally dependent on the casino software being used by the online casino operator. The major online casino software companies are Wagerworks, Microgaming, Playtech and Chartwell, who between them currently supply most of the online casino operators on our recommended list, but there are other smaller companies including Cayetano which has recently been taken over by Paddy Power. With Playtech already owned by William Hill we may soon see other online casino operators wanting to have a stake in the casino software suppliers who are so important to the online gaming industry. Apart from the site security element, the important characteristics of any online casino software is of course the range of casino games it provides for us to play. This is particularly true when it comes to the slots, because this is where the major differences between the software suppliers is most noticeable to us online gamblers. It is the software suppliers who negotiate copyright arrangements with the big media companies such as Marvel and Paramount to make use of their comic characters in the slots, and with the television companies for casino games based on programmes such as Millionaire and Deal or No Deal. We don’t suppose the casino software companies will ever become household names even amongst the most ardent online casino games players, but we should always remember just how important they are in the online casino business.