How To Stay Safe When Gambling Online
Have you ever heard about the Black Friday incident? And no, I’m not referring to the shopping event, but the infamous Poker crackdown that happened in 2011. Commonly referred to as the darkest event in Poker history, Black Friday holds significance as the day that changed online gambling forever. On April 15, 2011, three of the largest online poker websites PokerStars, AbsolutePoker, and Full Tilt Poker were issued an indictment and civil complaint by the United States Department of Justice. The civil complaint resulted in a three billion-asset loss, and those who found guilty in the indictment were immediately sentenced to prison. Following this, major websites Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars stopped serving American players and removed the option for players to bet with real money. In a span of just a mere few months, Black Friday threw millions of poker players, both casual and professional, into jeopardy and placed billions of dollars in limbo. The incident made it clear that if you want to play without spending any money, you still have to abide by the rules.
Lessons Learned
If there’s one thing we can learn from Black Friday, it’s to never underestimate the importance of online gambling safety. Regardless if you’re a novice or seasoned gambler, you must conduct ample research before investing time into an online website. There are plenty of fraudulent businesses disguising themselves as legitimate poker companies, hence you must be made aware of the indecent tricks these operators may pull on you.
Prevention is always better than a cure. As online gamblers, our main priority is to ensure our safety and keep a lookout for dishonest gambling companies. Websites such as diggitymarketing.com give you some different choices.
Here’s how we can take the following measures:
Conducting Ample Research
The key to practicing safe online gambling is to always be aware of the situation you’re in. Take an hour or so to conduct ample research on the online gambling company that you’re interested in, focusing not on the bonuses and banking options, but look out for their reputation as well: do the other players feel positive about the company, and does the company have their best interest in mind?
Secondly, it’s good to observe how the players interact with the company, in aspects such as banking and games: are they responsible for paying players, and have there been missed payments? Has the online company tested their games for fairness, and do they conduct it as such?
Thirdly, does the online company provide adequate promotions: are the promotions legitimate, and are they targeted to people who want it? Do they have adequate rollover requirements?
It’s good to note if the company practices customer privacy, as well: is the company transparent with customer data protection? Do they explicitly mention if the data is kept confidential, and not sold to a third-party provider?
Lastly, we should look into if the company has the proper licensing and if the licenser can be proved legitimate and trustworthy. The jurisdiction is worth taking note of, such as finding out who oversees the gambling company, and if they take their job seriously or not.
Ways to Conduct Proper Research
When conducting the research mentioned above, it’s perfectly fine to remain skeptical of the company you’re here to find out the bad things, not the good ones!
Before you consider joining a casino, you should check the casino blacklists. An official blacklist website should list down casinos that have practiced improper behavior, such as theft and changing terms and conditions. Once a casino is blacklisted, you should automatically avoid joining it.
You can browse through professional or celebrity endorsement to determine which sites to avoid or blacklisted. However, do take into consideration that their recommendations run the risk of being biased, as these endorsements often provide the professional or celebrity with incentives. Additionally, we cannot be sure that the professional or celebrity may not be aware when something is wrong hence, their opinions may not be 100% accurate. One way to get around this is to check multiple celebrity endorsements. If there are a significant number of recommendations about a certain company, you can assume that there is some truth to it.
Once you’ve got a company in mind, you can start researching customer experiences from the website’s reviews and forums. However, do bear in mind that reviews are paid, hence it would require additional digging to uncover the complaints or licensing of the company. On the other hand, forums are more authentic as the contributors are not influenced by incentives, hence, their opinions are honest and can be trusted. A quick Google search should do the trick, or you can consider Casino Meister and Latest Casino Bonuses.
To check the company’s legitimacy, you should check the terms and conditions. You’ll want to focus on the payment aspect how they process bonuses and payments, handle problems, and potential problems that you may run into. You’re encouraged to take proof of evidence (such as screenshotting) to avoid any miscommunication in the future. Additionally, there are company jurisdiction pages that provide you information about the gambling commission who oversees them, and the prevalence of gambling in the area. Be wary of companies who are over-relaxed and have a lesser structural framework in place, as this usually means that you’ll have less protection if something goes astray.
Be Alert for Scam Artists
One key takeaway from Black Friday is that we should never let our guard down in the face of online gambling safety, even if the company may be deemed legitimate and popular. Here is a list of actions that rogue operators often take that should serve as warning bells to all customers. Once you spot one of these issues, you may want to consider cashing out as soon as possible.
One telltale sign is when the players begin complaining about late payments or no payments from the casino. This is a red-alert sign that you should refrain from engaging with the company anymore, especially if this is something that has not been done before.
Another example is when the casino refuses to engage in customer complaints and resorts to locking accounts and changing their terms and conditions. These are actions that the casino will take to either justify their decisions or refute the customer.
Finally, be aware of casinos suddenly begin forcing bonuses on customers. A scammer’s greatest fear is if the customer begins to cash out, hence, they resort to forcing bonuses on the players to make them locked in, and unable to cash out unless they fulfill the new bonus terms.
Be Alert for Cheaters
One common indicator of cheating includes player collaboration, such as collusion, where players team up to attack a lone player and split the profits, and chip dumping, where a certain player gives his teammate extra poker chips as an advantage. Another example of this is multiple accounting, be it in the form of bots or the creation of multiple accounts, as players often use this to hold several seats in cash games or tournaments, or to smurf other players.
Once you come into contact with a cheater, an immediate report should be made to the gambling company. The company should conduct an immediate investigation and take action against the cheater, any attempt to overlook this matter should raise warning bells inside your head.
Possessing Basic Common Sense
There’s no doubt that dabbling in online gambling is a risky endeavor. At the bare minimum, online gamblers who observe certain common-sense behavioral actions and have Internet computer etiquette have already protected themselves, hence are far safer when gambling online.
Firstly, it’s a given that players should not be using public computers, as sensitive information (eg. credit card and social security numbers) might be stored accidentally in the system.
Next, players should update their login details every few months, the more complex the password, the better! Refrain from storing your password on any device, especially not to a computer that is made public.
Thirdly, players who frequent any offshore sites face the risk of the companies running away with their money. It is advised to stay with 100% legal, licensed and regulated gambling sites, instead of dabbling in such shady offshore sites. However, players who still insist on using offshore sites should consider diversifying their bankrolls or consider putting less money online.
Online gambling can be tricky to navigate and has many loopholes that players can fall into. However, with our safety guide, we hope that you can protect yourselves and your money in the future. Have fun, and stay safe!
Featured photo by Naim Benjelloun
