What is a Rogue Casino?
To simply put, a rogue casino is a place where unfair practices are made against the player. Contrary to the popular belief, not paying the money you earn is not the only “feature” of a rogue casino. Any place that makes misleading advertisements, does not respond to customer complaints, changes the RTP rates of their games without notice, and is not generally transparent can be considered a rogue casino. The online casino sector is huge, and there are rotten apples here like every other sector. In other words, rogue casinos will always exist. Especially for beginners, it can be hard to know if a casino is a rogue or not. Fortunately, you can keep away from these places by paying attention to a few simple things.
Signs of a Rogue Casino
Lack of Payment. Online casinos have varying payment times. It also differs according to the method you choose. Generally, payments for credit cards and electronic wallet solutions occur instantaneously. So you will get your money soon after you place your request (within a few hours). For bank accounts, this period is 3 to 11 business days. In rare cases, it can last as long as 30 days. However, if you still have not received your money after all these times have expired, then there is a problem. If you apply to the casino authorities about the matter and do not get an answer, or only get a claim that the transaction cannot be completed because you have not fulfilled some obligations, then you are at a rogue casino. Unfortunately, there is almost nothing you can do in such a situation.
Lack of Fairness. All casino games have an RTP value. This does not indicate what your chances of winning are. It shows how much you will lose in the long run. For example, if the RTP value is 96%, you can recover $ 96 of every $ 100 you invest. However, if you play for hours and still cannot win a prize, this indicates that the RTP values are too low. The casino’s RNG system may even be fraudulent. You can control the odds in two ways: Select an online slot game and start playing. If you still cannot make a profit after half an hour, there is a problem. The second and the more reliable method is to review the audit firm’s report. Online casinos (at least non-rogue ones) are regularly inspected by audit firms, and the fairness levels of their games are checked. If you cannot see such a report and keep on losing, you are in a rogue casino.
False Advertising. The greatest feature of frauds is their constant promise. These promises are huge and impressive: Thousands of dollars in bonus money, hundreds of free spins, 600% match bonuses … But if there are countless conditions to use them and you are getting stalled, then there is a problem. Remember, if an offer seems too good to be true, it is not true anyway. Always read the terms & conditions written in small letters and do not let large numbers mislead you.
Spamming. If you are getting spam emails from a casino every day, it’s not a reliable place. Prestigious and respectable casinos do not spam. They use different tactics to attract customers. Only rogue casinos do unethical advertising.
Zero Security & Questionable Licenses. Each online casino works with an electronic gaming license. This license is issued by different countries, and they all have different conditions. Licenses of the UK Gambling Commission, Malta Gaming Authority, Isle of Gibraltar, and Alderney are the most respected ones. However, do not rely on licenses from African countries that do not even have a place on the map. Likewise, always check to see if the casino has a license. (At the bottom of the main page, you can see the list of owned licenses and affiliates.) Finally, make sure your connections are encrypted with SSL. If the lock symbol on the address bar is green and closed, your connection is encrypted. Otherwise, do not give your personal and financial information to that casino.
Lack of Responsiveness. If the customer service does not respond to complaints quickly or do nothing to help you, you may be at a rogue casino. Note how quickly they respond to emails in particular. A quality casino will respond to all applications within a maximum of 24 hours.
The Importance of Player Comments
You can learn the most accurate information about an online casino from those who play there. Read the player comments about a casino by searching the internet. Some comments will be negative because of the anger that comes with the loss, but you can easily catch and eliminate such messages. If more than one player claims they cannot get their money, then there may be a problem. In the same way, check whether the rogue casino features mentioned in this article are included in the comments. If 4 out of every 10 comments are negative, it may be wise to stay away from that casino. Here is a tip to help you: If you search for “Blacklisted casinos”, you can find a lot of sources including the current rogue casino lists.
The Ultimate Guide to Rogue Casinos
Here on Great Bridge Links we’ve put together a guide to guides (of course) for Rogue Casinos and we’re keeping it updated. You can find Avoiding Blacklisted Gambling Sites here.