By 2025 the online gambling industry will reach profits of over $102 billion per year. While this is still only a minor portion of the land-based casinos’ income, it’s still a lot, followed by predictions of constant rise. Keep in mind that in most online casinos US players are not permitted, which makes for a lot of lost earnings. The majority is based in countries with loose regulations, where online gambling can slip through one of the many loopholes. Since the industry is not overly regulated the theories about online games being rigger started to swirl around from day one. The trust between online casinos and the players has been built by now to some degree, but the internet is still full of speculations about the games being rigged. Let’s scratch beneath the surface a bit and see if there is really any truth in these claims.
The basic concept of casinos
When a person starts losing in gambling, the first thing you’ll hear out of his mouth will be that the game is fixed and the casino cheated him. For casinos, sore losers are just business as usual. The odds are always stacked against the players, there is no mystery or doubt about it. Online casinos are enterprises, businesses, companies, which means their sole purpose of existence is to make profits. In other words, for every wage you make, the house, i.e. the casino, stands to make some profit. It’s usually 1%, sometimes 2%, depending on the game you play. No one can make money in the casino, except the casino. This doesn’t mean that the games are fixed. It only means that if you’re a recreational gambler who has a good grip on his financials, having fun playing is guaranteed. If you return some of the money invested, you can consider it a winning. Check out some great online games on this website.
Random number generator
The only way to mess with the system is to rig the complex algorithms of RNG. However, took all precautions and security measures that are virtually impossible to manipulate the algorithms. The software is the only one that randomly pulls out the cards and numbers, so the human factor is completely eliminated, thus the risk of the human error. In all honesty, in the early days of casino gambling, there have been some websites manipulating the software which gave the whole industry a bad name. It was a long time ago, and the online sites were working hard since then so that nothing like that ever happens again. In land-based casinos, the teams of technicians are working 24/7 to ensure that every game works properly with the same odds, which is why some players have more trust in them. Online casinos have to work twice as hard to prove their fair policies just because the players are not able to physically see the people behind the screens.
Licenses and regulations
In every country, including the US, the rules and regulations about online gambling are foggy at best. The vast majority are very vague in what’s actually legal, and which activities are against the law. In other countries, the situation is even worse. Loopholes in the law are the size of your head, which makes the existence of the law obsolete in the first place. To be on the safe side, look for the accreditations of the gambling websites, and research their legitimacy. No one can guarantee you anything in an online world, so it’s mostly left up to the public to do their due diligence.
Rigged game or bad luck?
Just because someone lost several times in a row doesn’t mean that the game is fixed. Bad streaks, and bad beats, happen all the time as a part of the game. Let’s say, you’re playing poker and get a notoriously bad combination of 7 and 2. The odds of getting the same cards in the next hand are exactly the same as the first one. In layman terms, theoretically, you can get 7s and 2s every single time because the software is pulling the cards randomly, thus the chances of getting two Aces or 7 and 2 are exactly the same. The game is not manipulated by any means, it’s just random and based on pure luck. After all, it is gambling – you take your chances and cross your fingers. That’s all there is to it.
Payouts
Now, this is a murky field, to say the least. First of all, in many online casino’s terms and conditions pages, you will find the statement that the casino holds the right not to pay out winnings if there is any suspicion of fraudulent activity. In other words, the casino may or may not pay out depending on their personal belief of whether or not you cheated. As you can see, the tables have turned. Now you are the one that has to prove the legitimacy of winnings.
Further, some online casinos are famous for stalling the payouts. They do have customer service contact emails and numbers, but there is little or no use of them. When a person calls the usual explanation for not paying out is the glitch, or a system problem, or some other vague excuse. Why you may ask. Well, the purpose of the delay is to get the player to gamble away its winnings while waiting for the payout. A pretty good business model, if you look from the casino’s perspective. So, again, there is no fraud, it’s just the method to get the players to play some more, and possibly losing their prizes. It’s a psychology approach and is perfectly legal.
All things considered…
Online casinos have no interest to cheat, none whatsoever. Think about it – they are already making loads of cash by being totally legit and legal, so why risk it? Besides, they have a reputation to uphold among the online gambling community, and any bad marketing can diminish their profits. The games are good, gamble away, and good luck!
