Throughout the world, online gambling has become a prominent form of adult online entertainment. Millions of adults are investing billions of dollars in the opportunity to use online sports and casino betting sites.
Of course, where money is flowing, the rogue element is sure to follow. Despite the best efforts of top regulators like the UK Gambling Commission and Malta Gaming Authority, there are still plenty of rogue online gambling site operators trying to get their pieces of the online gambling pie.
As you enter the domain of online sports and casino gambling, you need to protect yourself from rogue operators. To do that, you need to know how to identify said rogue online gambling operators. Hopefully, the following information will help you in that endeavor.
How to Identify Rogue Unlicensed Online Gambling Operators
It’s not easy for a novice online gambler to tell the difference between a reputable online gambling operator and one that operates outside of the law. To aid you in protecting yourself as much as possible, here are five (5) criteria on which you should be focusing.
1. Reputable Licensing
You should never use an online gambling site that lacks licensing from a reputable regulatory body. The best regulatory bodies in Europe are the aforementioned UK Gambling Commission and the Malta Gaming Authority. Curacao eGaming and the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) also do a good job of protecting online gamblers. It’s important to be wary of Caribbean-based regulators that offer business licenses but don’t necessarily regulate online gambling activities.
By sticking with licensed online gambling operators, you immediately know two important things. First, you know the operator has successfully gone through a strict vetting process. Second, You know they have accountability to the regulator in terms of behaving in the best interest of their customers.
2. Reputation
Over time, every online gambling operator will develop a reputation, be it good or bad. Furthermore, information about each operator’s reputation is available online if you make the effort to find it.
You can start by reading operator reviews. It’s recommended that you avoid the reviews listed by the operator in question. They aren’t likely to list bad reviews. There are two really good resources for online gambling operator reviews.
First, you can contact the listed regulatory body or bodies and see what they can offer. Second, there are some really good review and “watchdog” sites that do a great job of reviewing and investigating operators. If nowhere else, you should always see what Casinomeister has to say about an online gambling operator before you move in that operator’s direction.
Furthermore, it’s important to read conditions of certain promotions like casino bonuses in Canada to evaluate trustworthiness. Oftentimes, players will misread or not understand such conditions and may leave erroneous negative feedback as a result.
3. Level of Website Security
Most rogue online gambling operators have very little interest in building a strong and secure website. They tend to cut investment corners by having basic websites quickly thrown together that offer customers very little in the way of protection.
At a minimum, you’ll want to stick with online gambling operators that can prove they are using the latest in Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption technology. This is the technology that online operators use to combat hackers who are trying to secure personal and banking information related to the operator’s customer base. Reputable operators can provide security certification on demand.
4. Fair Gaming Certification
Another thing rogue operators like to do is cheat. They rig their online casino games as a way to make it nearly impossible for customers to win.
There are two ways you can spot possible cheating. First, the operator in question will offer nothing more than proprietary games. They have their own software developers who create games that can easily be manipulated.
Second, rogue operators will not submit their software platforms and games for audits. You see, top regulators like the UK Gambling Commission require that all software platforms and casino games go through a comprehensive audit process. The process exists to test software and games for random and fair results. If a submission passes the audit process, the software is certified as “fair.” The world’s top software auditing firms are TST and eCOGRA.
5. User Terms and Conditions
Don’t be lazy. Before you register with any online gambling operator, you need to take a few minutes and review the operator’s user terms and conditions.
The differences between a reputable operator’s terms and conditions and those of a rogue operator are stark. Rogue operators will consistently offer terms and conditions that strongly favor the operator in every way. It will usually be obvious. Reputable operators will typically offer reasonable terms and conditions that seem consistent throughout the online gambling community.
Conclusion: With literally hundreds if not thousands of online gambling sites from which to choose, they are no excuses for getting scammed. You can protect yourself by doing your due diligence and paying attention to even the slightest red flags.
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