Tag Archives: fair
How To Make Sure Online Casinos Are Secure
With billions of dollars at stake every day, online casinos have a number of security protocols as well as troubleshooting and fair gaming practices in place that are designed to make betting as safe and worry free for gamblers as possible.
The online gaming industry makes online security and technology their number one concern, yet all online casinos are not created equal. There are hundreds of sites to play, but before gamblers wager money or place bets at online casinos they should keep these tips in mind.
Know What Type of Online Gaming Site
There are two types of internet gaming casinos: Web or download. Each has distinct advantages. Web-based casinos allow players to gamble without downloading software onto their computers. These types of casinos use industry recognized software plug-ins such as Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Shockwave or Java and often feature very intricate graphics and displays. Typically, these types of games use a lot of bandwith, so an updated computer is very important.
Some web-based casinos allow playing without plug-ins, such as the ability to play on public computers or machines that are on corporate servers, but they offer players fewer games and often run slower.
Download games require downloads in order to play or bet, and often run faster because the bettor is connected to casino servers. Typically, more games and tournaments are offered in this type of environment.
Know How Casinos Keep Personal Data Secure
Most internet gambling websites use top notch, state-of the-art encryption devices developed by companies such as Microgaming and Playtech. These devices ensure secure transactions so that players won’t have to be worried about compromising safety when betting large sums of money.
On the web, it is critical to check the reputation of the site as well as the security measures in place. Gamblers use high-risk security information such as social security numbers and credit card information. Any web-based casino should use encrypted data so that others cannot access it.
Online Gaming Must Follow Fair Gaming Practices
Betting sites must be committed to fair faming. If players perceive a game is not fair, it will have potentially disastrous effects, because a bettor might not ever return to the game again. Betting is a game of chance, but gamblers should not feel they are unfairly taken advantage of on the internet.
Most internet casinos process millions of dollars in payments a day, from payments owed to bettors to bets owed by gamblers. The process for payments and cashing in must be very clear, including options for free games and bonuses. Also, make sure that the betting house you frequent has a variety of payment choices, such as credit cards, money transfers and online payment systems.
Overall, the entire operation must be safe and secure.
Privacy is an important concern when wagering on betting websites. A gambler’s identity should never be revealed, and should be considered confidential information that must never be shared, sold or distributed to third parties.
Troubleshooting Problems
A legitimate web-based betting operation should do more than just take your bests. It should also be licensed by a government agency and have very clear instructions on how to contact customer service in the event there is a problem. A live web chat service and a toll-free customer service number are ideal in case there are any problems.
Are TST certificates reliable?
If you walk into a real-world casino in the US, you can be reasonably sure the games are fair. Each state runs oversight of the casinos operations and, so far as it can, ensures we all have a reasonable chance of winning. Put another way, real-world casinos have a claim to be transparent. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the online gambling world. Most of the virtual casinos are based in countries interested only in taking the licence fees. This produces a real lack of transparency so that, even when there are legitimate complaints made and the regulators “investigate”, theres little to explain what the investigators actually do and how aggressively they enforce control over the casinos in their countries. Its all about killing the goose laying the golden jackpots. If the regulators are an effective police force, the casinos will move their virtual operations elsewhere and the state treasury loses out.
Which brings us to the certificates issued by Technical Systems Testing (TST). This is an organization making its living by compliance testing games and it works closely with the regulators in Canada, the UK, Australia and other countries with developed gambling industries. Most recently, it has been certifying the random number generators used online. All the fair and honest sites based in highly regulated countries like the UK carry certificates such as those issued by TST. So how reliable are the TST certificates?
As TST honestly states on its own site, its not a policing body. It works in the same way as the auditing profession. It looks at what it is given and gives its opinion. Because of the nondisclosure agreements it signs, it can never discuss how or why some certificates are (or are not) issued. You have to take on trust the assertion that TST is an independent body and gives an unbiased opinion. This is rather like the defense raised by the rating agencies in the financial meltdown. They certified the investments issued by the banks as AAA only to see them worth nothing a few months later. When an organization depends on the fee income from a single source, theres an inevitable conflict of interest. If you do not certify, you get no fee income.
But, the real question comes about what happens to the software TST tests and certifies fair. As it rightly says, its not a policing body and its not a regulator. It has no power to check whether the software it verified is the software in play a few weeks later. For any certificate to be worth the pixels used to display it on a screen, there should be monthly testing on site. With Bodog and other casino games operators using TST certificates in their press releases, the burden of proof is now on TST to prove its certificates have real value. As it stands, there would seem to be every chance that TST could end up in the same unhappy position as the auditors who declared Enron accounts a fair representation of its trading position. Without regular, routine and random testing on site, there would seem no guarantee the certificates show fair and honest casino games in play.