Are Online Casinos Rigged
The gambling industry attracts and frightens many newbies in the same way, as there are many negative rumors and stereotypes around it. One of them says that it is impossible to win at the casino, and they all deceive and mislead players. There is some truth in these words, and everything is actually ambiguous, but it is impossible to say that all gambling sites are fraudulent. In this article, we will discuss the topic in detail and answer the question “Are online casinos rigged?”
Why There Is an Opinion that Online Gambling Is Rigged
Casinos have a negative reputation due to the fact that gambling was considered something bad and was forbidden for many years. They were outside the law and worked underground; since their activity was not regulated in any way, nobody could call gambling absolutely transparent.
Later, when gambling became legal in some states and the online casinos started to evolve on the Internet, the principles of the site’s operation changed; however, the stereotypes that had been existing in the people’s minds for decades did not disappear.
Legal online casinos cannot deceive players, as any kind of fraud will lead to instant license cancellation and a ban.
Although the gambling industry has been legalized in many parts of the country, not every gambling site has been able or willing to obtain a license. Many sites still operate illegally, and this also does not improve the industry reputation, since people judge it on these sites.
How to Check Security of Online Casino Games
In order to avoid rigged online casinos and not to expose yourself to the risk of being deceived, it is enough to be a bit more attentive while choosing a gambling site. There is no need to sign up for the first one that caught your eye. Before starting an account and making a deposit, you have to check the casino according to several criteria.
Gambling Certificates & License Validity
The first and most important safe gambling requirement is that the gambling site has a license that allows it to organize various gambling types. This document is issued by the Regulatory commissions around the world that issue these documents, and if they are not available, this indicates the gambling site’s unreliability. Therefore, first of all, you have to check if it has a license. There are several ways to do this: look at the footer of the page and try to find a license validator there, request authorization information from the support service, or look for it yourself in the US regulatory registries.
To obtain a license, the casino has to confirm its financial support, sufficient technical equipment, as well as compliance with legal requirements.
Data Safety & Encryption
Since any online casino works with customers’ personal data, collects, and stores them, it has to guarantee a high protection level. Cryptographic protocols, secure data transmission channels, encryption, and a secure connection ensure the safety of this information. When you open the site in a browser, there will be a padlock icon to the left of the address bar; if it is closed, then the connection is secure.
Independent Audits & Checks
The following checks can be an additional confirmation that the site is not included in the list of rigged online casinos in the USA:
- Regulatory checks.
- Checks by independent audit companies.
- Checks of authoritative thematic media.
Based on them, experts draw a conclusion about the gambling site’s reliability, give it an assessment, and either recommend it for playing or blacklist it.
Online Casino Reputation
In the era of the Internet and digital technologies, it is almost impossible to hide casino fraud. Any such transgression will immediately become public knowledge, as players who suffered from the gambling site’s actions will tell about it.
Before you register on the site and start playing, you have to look for reviews. Find out what players think about it, what difficulties they had to face, whether they recommend a particular gambling site or advise to stay away from it.
These reviews form the overall brand reputation, which you can use to decide whether it is worth playing in the selected online casino or not.
Fair Play
To confirm the gameplay fairness, casinos use various data hashing algorithms, for example, MD5. In accordance with it, the results of each individual spin in the slots are stored as a unique code, and you can compare the actual result shown on the screen with the one calculated by the random number generator. If you find any discrepancies, you can file a complaint with the regulatory body, and it will carry out an honesty check of the gambling site on the basis of it.
Online Casino Marketing
You can tell a lot about a gambling site by how aggressively and successfully it implements its marketing program, how it interacts with its customers and what benefits it offers them. This mainly concerns the bonus program, so pay attention to it first of all. Consider not the number and size of bonuses, but the conditions for their activation and wagering. Online casinos that are rigged often provide customers promotions with impossible wagering requirements — too high wager, and a short period of time.
If the bonus conditions are favorable, this means that the site is really trying to attract newbies and turn them into regular customers.
Volatility
It is impossible to directly judge the honesty of a gambling site by the volatility of slot machines, since this criterion helps to evaluate individual games. But reliable casinos should offer their customers a wide selection of games with different volatility. This will allow you to choose the slot that best suits your playing style and financial capabilities.
| Volatility | Features |
|---|---|
| Low | Payouts occur regularly, but their size is small. |
| Average | The spread in the regularity and size of payments is average. Most slot machines have this level of volatility. |
| High | Long series of failures can happen, and the minimum payout can be even less than the initial bet. But the potential for maximum prize money is much higher than in low volatility games. |
You can check the game volatility level in its description on the developer’s website; sometimes this information is also available when you launch the slot machine.
Signs of Rigged Online Casino Games
There are several signs that can help you understand that a particular online casino or a particular gambling title is fraudulent. There are two most obvious indications of the game’s insecurity.
Low RTP
In most slot machines, the theoretical return on funds is between 93% and 98%. If it is higher, this is good; however, if it is lower, there is a reason to stop and think. If you find that the slot’s RTP is less than 90%, it is better to refuse to play it, as your losses will be too big in the long run.
Random Number Generator Incorrect Operation
The results of each individual spin in slot machines are determined by a random number generator. At the same time, it is independent in the work and focuses only on the game characteristics. Time by time, you can check the consistency of the spin results or bonus features with the calculations performed by the RNG, thanks to hashing tools. And if you find discrepancies in these results, this indicates the unreliability of the gambling site and the slot you have chosen.
