Protecting Yourself from Shady Online Casinos

2008-02-18
Charlie Black

The vast majority of online casinos are highly ethical and provide safe and fair games; however there are some bad operators who do not provide safe playing experiences for their players. It's important to learn how to avoid these bad online casinos and keep your money safe.

The first step is only playing at online casinos recommended by a large casino review site like CasinoPokerNews. We do the hard work filtering out the unethical operators, only recommending ethical online casinos which have been established for some time and have a history of providing safe and fair games.

Another safety check you can do is only playing at online casinos bearing the eCOGRA 'Safe and Fair' Seal

of Approval. eCOGRA stands for e-Commerce Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance. They are an independent player watchdog organization which protects players by ensuring members carrying their Seal of Approval adhere to strict standards of behavior.

Just because an online casino carries the eCOGRA Seal doesn't necessarily make it a safe place to play, however. Some online casinos will use the eCOGRA Seal without authorization to try and trick players. This week, eCOGRA suspended the use of its Seal by six online casinos who were not compliant with eCOGRA's strict standards of behavior. These online casinos did not remove the Seal even though they are supposed to do so immediately. You can check eCOGRA's approved list of online casinos and poker rooms at any time directly on the eCOGRA website.

A further safety check you can do is play only at online casinos which are licensed by the European Union. The EU has strict licensing conditions for online casinos, making EU-licensed online casinos a lot safer than an online casino licensed by Belize (for example).

A final safety check is only playing at online casinos which use one of the major software platforms to host their games. An online casino using Playtech, CryptoLogic or Microgaming software is likely to be safe, whilst an online casino using Real Time Gaming (RTG) software is unlikely to be safe. RTG online casinos have a history of poor performance and unethical behavior and PokerNewsCasino does not recommend playing at any RTG online casino.

The following online casinos carry the eCOGRA safety seal: