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Online Casino Honesty
Before you decide to give personal information (like credit card information) to an online casino, it is important to look for a few things to ensure the casino is reliable. It only takes a few minutes, but will go a long way towards ensuring that you are going to be spending your time and hard-earned money on a reputable site, and not some fly-by-night operation (of which there are unfortunately a few on the net). Here are three very important characteristics that all safe online casinos will possess:
Licensing: Every casino you gamble at absolutely must be licensed by a particular jurisdiction. This means that a local jurisdiction (such as St Kitts or Antigua and Barbuda, to name a few) has given an official license to the site and does have the ability to police them for fair standards. This is similar to the Nevada Gaming Commission that oversees Las Vegas casinos. If they don't have a license, DO NOT PLAY! It is estimated that as many as 1 in 5 online casinos are unlicensed, which can mean its a scam. If they are not licensed, they will not be able to get software from the biggest providers, which brings us to our second point.
Reputable Software Provider: If a casino does not have a license from a gaming jurisdiction, the biggest software providers will not allow their software to be used. This provides extra protection to you, the consumer. Also, some of the big software providers are opening up dispute centers to further help a player who may have an issue with a website that uses that particular brand of software. The largest reputable software providers are: MicroGaming, Odds-On, PlayTech, Water Logic, Cryptologic, RTG, Boss Media and iGlobal Media.
Certified Payouts: This is a report available to the public that allows potential customers to see how much of the gross income is given back as winnings. Most casinos have reports for a few months back available for view right on their site. But beware! The reports may not be honest, so make sure they are from an independent accounting firm, such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers. If the firm providing the reports is not affiliated with the website, it is likely then to be honest and accurate.
Of course, there could be other reasons to reject a casino- personal preference, lack of interesting games, don't have the payment method you prefer. But these three things listed here should all be the first thing you look for. If one or more of these items is missing, you may want to think twice before opening an account with that particular site.
