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Casino Integrity
Many people feel that a payment of money through the Internet, and
certainly a deposit with an online casino, is already an act of gambling.
To a certain extent this is in fact true, because the legal framework
and associated enforcement mechanisms are missing for the protection
of customers, leading to problems like underage and compulsive gambling,
money laundering, and plain cheating of customers. We don't attest
the notion that some casinos are lacking integrity, but the the perceived
lack of integrity of online casinos, is much larger than the actual
problem. This perception can only be corrected by strong government
regulation and enforcement of these regulations, preferably in an
international context.
As a matter of fact the mainstream of online casinos are very
willing to accept regulation in return for government sanction.
The Interactive Gaming Council (IGC), the leading self-regulatory
body of the gaming industry, strongly supports government regulation,
as it feels "no association, or other self-appointed body,
can have effective-enough enforcement power". Online gambling
is still not regulated in many jurisdictions, notably the US, because
national governments are not able to cope with the international
scope of the Internet, essentially requiring international regulation,
or are simply trying to protect established gambling interests.
As a result the online gambler has to assess the integrity of an
online casino by him or herself.
You will find here a short discussion of key factors, that can
help you in assessing the integrity of an online casino by yourself.
Please note, that the integrity of a casino that fulfills all the
criteria, is not guaranteed. The factors discussed here are only
indicative of the integrity of a casino. .
The casino is licensed in a quality jurisdiction.
The debate of prohibition against regulation has not reached a conclusion
in many countries. The US tends towards prohibition, presumably not
based on past experiences with the enforcement of liquor. Many other
jurisdictions have set up Internet gambling licensing systems.
The casino uses software of a major casino software provider.
You might think each casino uses its own software, but this is not
the case. In fact the market is controlled by a few big software brands.
The software is customized for each licensee but only at a cosmetic
level. The gaming engine is the same for each licensee. Frequently
they even use the same e-cash processor. The major software brands
have nothing to gain from gambling operators that put their reputation
at risk. For example a Microgaming licensee, the GoodFellows casino,
was shut down by Microgaming in June 2002, because they failed to
pay their customers. Microgaming also established a trust fund used
to pay out gamblers that were duped by the GoodFellows casino. Some
software companies are very willing to intermediate if you have a
dispute with one of their licensees. However, there are casino software
providers out there, even large ones, that have a bad track record
as far as the quality of their licensees is concerned. Jump to our
casino software page for a discussion of major
casino software providers.
The casino is a member of a respected and established watchdog
organization.
A good watchdog organization ensures members operate their business
fairly at an ongoing basis, and provides some means of dispute resolution.
Not every watchdog organization can be trusted, some are merely casino
portals for their members. Link to our gambling
watchdogs page for a discussion of organizations that provide
these services.
The casino is advertised and not blacklisted by respected and
established casino portals
A casino portal basically advertises casinos on their site, in return
for a percentage of the profits the casino is making on each player
that is referred to the casino by the casino portal. So it's obvious
each casino portal faces a conflict of interest between making money
or telling the players the truth and nothing but the truth. Some casino
portals, including this one, have realized that this conflict of interests
exists only in the short term. In the long term a casino portal will
gain from putting the players first, because in doing so the casino
portal will earn the respect and trust of the players. Some casino
portals have collected extensive documentation on misbehaving casinos,
often summarized in a blacklist of casinos to avoid.
The casino has a solid reputation on the major gambling message
boards
When you're not gambling you should be monitoring the major gambling
message boards. These are the places to get the most timely information
about which casinos you can trust and which casinos you can't trust.
You should keep in mind though that gambling message boards are sometimes
misused by casinos or affiliates. Read more about popular gambling
message boards on our casino forums page.
The casino is affiliated with a land-based casino.
If an online casino is affiliated with a traditional land-based casino
you may expect they will have adopted the same stringent regulation
measures as their land-based counterpart, because they have to protect
the integrity of their shared brand name. Examples of land-based casinos
that have entered the online gaming industry, are Sun International,
the operator of Atlantis Casino in the Bahamas, Macao casino giant
Stanley Ho, Nevada's MGM Mirage, Harrah's, Aspinalls, Littlewoods
Leisure, William Hill, Victor Bets and Ladbrokes. The same reasoning
applies to alliances with non-gaming brands. For example, Playboy.com
introduced a Playboy-branded online sports-book in 2001.
The casino is certified by a major accounting firm
Some casinos are audited by a major accounting firm. Which means the
payout ratios (100% - house edge) of a casino are monitored and publicized
on an ongoing basis. It does not mean the payout ratios fall within
acceptable statistical range; you will have to check this for yourself.
More recently, the Online Players Association (OPA), which is not
an accounting firm but a watchdog organization, has started to offer
a payout verification service. However, the value that can attributed
to this service, is limited, due to the resignation
of the OPA commitee on January 2, 2003. You can recognize a
casino which payout ratios are verified by the OPA, by the following
seal:
The casino has adopted a self-labeling content rating system
There a a lot of content rating systems available today, for example
SurfWatch, Net Nanny and Cyber Patrol. The Interactive Gaming Council
(IGC), the leading self-regulatory body of the gaming industry, recommends
the use of the labelling services that are offered by the Internet
Content Rating Association (ICRA). The ICRA targets to protect minors
from potentially harmful content by offering a web site the option
to self-label it's content according to ICRA guidelines. You will
know if a particular casino has chosen ICRA as a content rating system,
if you spot the following seal:
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