Are Online Casinos Safe and Fair to Play at?

Playing at online casinos has become extremely popular since the internet began and more recently over the last few years. In short, online casinos are safe and fair to play at – CasinoManual.co.uk highlights the reasons why.

Let’s look at how safe they are to play at. Online casinos need to undergo stringent and comprehensive scrutiny in order to be granted a license from the various gaming jurisdictions. Ever since the UK Gambling Act 2014, online casinos face even stricter regulations to offer their services to the UK market.

UK Gambling Commission – the key to it all

UK Gambling CommissionIn recent years, the UK Gambling Commission has implemented strict rules and regulations for all licensed operators (online casinos). They aim to ensure safer gambling – all UK-licensed online casinos must display the fact they are licensed and provide a link to their license register. This is commonly found in online casino website footers with the image shown to the right on display.

  • See if the online casino is displaying a British Gambling Commission licensed status
  • See if you can click directly through to the UKGC’s license register & if it shows the license held
  • See if Terms & Conditions for each online casino are available
  • See if there are restrictions on offers/bonuses

Is your data safe?

In terms being ‘safe’, I think you and other players alike will want to know if your personal and payment data is secure. It’s in the interest of the online casino operators to implement safe policies and procedures for both themselves as a service provider as well as for their customers, such as you.

Safeguarding and protecting your details is vital to them – online casinos utilize sophisticated encryption technology to ensure that sensitive data you submit is transferred properly over to the casino. Encryption means that their technology scrambles your data so no-one else can interpret or ready your personal or financial details.

Investigating and researching the online casino of your choice is very important to ensuring your safety – search for their privacy policies and ask their customer service teams about your security. If you can’t find any answers on the website or via their support teams, move on. If not, risk having your detailed compromised and utilized without your consent. As mentioned above, the UK Gambling Commission’s register will confirm if the online casino you are looking to play at is licensed and secure – if they don’t appear, don’t deposit or play.

Google it

Furthermore, you could ‘Google’ the online casino you intend to play at as well as check player forums such as CasinoMeister. If you see many complaints, be warned.  Be careful to keep your usernames and passwords secure as this is a common way that players are compromised. Don’t use the same usernames or passwords across various online casinos and don’t use simple passwords like your partner or child’s name for example.

Does the online casino offer reputable software providers?

Finally, the software provider used by the online casinos will tell you if they are secure and at the same time fair. The most popular software providers (such as Playtech and NetEnt) are quoted on various stock exchanges and do not allow their software to be manipulated by online casinos in order to take advantage of players. This leads us on to how fair online casinos really are.

Casino games are programmed to win

As above, the vast majority of online casinos are fair towards players – all casino games have built in advantages know as the house edge.  This is basically defined as the profit generated as a percentage of player’s play. Known as Return to Player % (RTP) for video slots, it ranges from 93% or more – this means for every £100 you stake, you’ll win back £93+. The online casino will then take the difference.

This house edge is not on an individual player basis – this is done across the game as a whole. You may be the lucky player who wins £1,000s or millions but other players will collectively lose to ensure the programmed house edge is maintained over a cycle of normally 3 to 6 months.

In American roulette for example, there are two zeroes and 36 other numbers (18 red numbers and 18 black numbers). If you bet $1 on red, your chance of winning $1 is 18/38 and your chance of losing is 20/38. This means that the casino has a 5.26% advantage or edge over you. This is the average of course.

The software online casinos run off use random number generators which are then fed to the local jurisdictions to ensure validity. Many online casinos nowadays use internationally renowned auditing companies to verify this information and present publicly. All software providers used by UK licensed online casinos are fair, random and above all highly regulated – your money is safe from manipulation or cheating.

Competition is good for all

Competition is fierce in the online casino world so this makes online casinos act morally and appropriately. Finding another land-based casino may be hard but finding another online casino is simply a few clicks away. CasinoManual.co.uk provides you with only reputable and fully licensed UK online casinos.

Your money is safe – just need to get lucky now

In conclusion, online casinos are safe and fair – there are obviously bad apples in every walk of life but stick to the casinos on CasinoManual.co.uk and you won’t go wrong. The key is to do your research and investigate thoroughly. The industry is more and more regulated nowadays so the need to be transparent and fair is increasingly important. Many rogue operators have ceased to operate due to player complaints and the weight that this carries. A good brand name, reputable software and a UK license should hold you in good stead.

If you want to find out more about your safety, read about the role of the UK Gambling Commission – they are the glue that holds everything together and ensures a fair and transparent platform for you to gambling online.