Can You Trust Online Casinos?
June 6, 2008 – 2:29 amIf youre thinking about beginning online gambling, its a question you want answering. After all, gambling is risky by its very nature - you dont want to add to that risk by playing somewhere thats going to cheat you out of your winnings, or not allow you to win at all!
But there are gamblers out there who will still tell you that all online casinos are rigged, that impossible things happen too often for them to be truly random.
This is a misconception, but its fairly common, and due I believe to a number of things:
Reason #1 - when youre gambling online, you can play many more games per hour than you can in a land-based casino. Youre playing alone, so you dont have to wait for others to place their bets or be paid out. There are no physical chips or cards or balls, so theres no clearing up to be done between games. The cards are dealt quicker, the Roulette wheel takes less time to spin, the dice are always ready to be thrown.
Because of this, unusual things will occur much more often than in real casinos. Theyll not occur more frequently in terms of probability, but they will in terms of actual time.
For example, the chance of getting 6 consecutive blacks in Roulette is approximately 1 in 64. If it takes two minutes between spins of the Roulette wheel in a real casino, this event will only occur once every two hours. If youre playing 3 rounds a minute (possible in an online casino), it will occur every twenty minutes! In both cases, the probability is the same, but the impression is that an unusual event is happening far more often, which must be because the online casino is rigged!
Reason #2 - when you play online, youre playing alone. I touched on this above, explaining how this affects the speed of games, but theres an important psychological implication to this, too. If you play Blackjack in a real casino with four other players, even if you dont win for a few rounds, the likelihood is that someone at your table will.
You could easily go ten hands without winning, but because you see others winning and, therefore, see the casino losing, you believe that the casino is honest.
Online, you focus purely on your own results. Suddenly, because you dont see anyone else win or the casino lose, those ten losing hands seem to be against all probability. The reason? Clearly, the casino must be rigged!
Reason #3 - everyone involved in online casino gambling has to be honest about this: in the early days, some casinos cheated. Its an unfortunate fact, and for many years did nothing to improve players confidence in the honesty of online casinos.
Fortunately, things have now changed. The online casino industry is one of the most regulated of all businesses. Those rogue casinos have been run out of town - named and shamed and blacklisted by the numerous industry watchdogs.
These industry ombudsmen exist to uphold the image of fairness and reliability and will step in to investigate and resolve any player disputes. So long as youre playing at a regulated casino site, youll be protected against any wrongdoing.
In the UK, things are even stricter. Since the Gambling Act was enforced last year, only regulated casinos are allowed to advertise or be promoted. In this case, regulated means licensed in an approved jurisdiction. This caused major headaches as many of the biggest casinos suddenly found themselves outside this so-called White List. Most have now moved operations to places such as Malta, but some have resisted and are now unable to promote to UK and EU players.
In conclusion, online casinos dont cheat, theyre not rigged and they are fair.
Before you start to gamble online, youd be well advised to check out your options. Many thousands of so-called portal sites exist whose job it is to compare and contrast online casinos and recommend the casino that will best suit your needs.
My advice to anyone contemplating online gambling is to visit one of these portals, safe in the knowledge that the casinos recommended there are licensed, regulated and - above all - honest!
About the Author
Andy Follin runs Fortune Palace, an impartial online gambling guide for gamblers of all levels, from beginner to high roller, that includes game strategies, reviews of the best online casinos, the latest bonuses and a detailed online casino deposit guide for ALL players, including those from the USA.
Article Source: Content for Reprint
Related articles:
- Meet Bill Yung
- Stalemate at The Orleans; Big Easy has big month
- Chief Executive
- Alycia Can’t Accept Being A Loser
- Case Bets: Herbst, Vegas’ mystery tribal casino
| Note: |
| This site and its services, including the information above, are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional medical or health advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health professional before starting any new treatment, making any changes to existing treatment, or altering in any way your current exercise or diet regimen. Do not delay seeking or disregard medical advice based on information on this site. |
