Are Online Casinos Rigged?

Do Online Casinos Cheat?

Casino games operate under systems developed to favour the bookies. It is not a secret that the casino always has the advantage over any player in the long run. But, apart than this obvious advantage, some online betting sites rig game results to cheat players. As expected, these are unlicenced casinos often blacklisted by regulatory bodies.

Playing at an official online casino is essential, as most unlicenced platforms run these shady acts, which can leave you losing your hard-earned money even on a supposed lucky day.

Let’s examine how to identify rigged casinos and how to successfully avoid them.

How to Spot Rigged Online Casinos

Fortunately, over 90% of online casinos hold valid licences and official approvals from regulatory bodies. So in general, it should be easy to find a legitimate casino online. However, to avoid falling for the wrong brands, we’ve outlined some factors that can help you spot an illegal online casino quickly.

• No Clear Licencing

Licencing is the most critical feature of any legit online casino. As a result, it is one of the first things that can determine whether the platform has the potential of being rigged or not.

According to the UK gambling laws, online casinos must undergo a thorough screening process by regulatory bodies and agree to strict operational rules before receiving official licences.

As a UK player, you are better off looking for casinos with licences from the UK Gambling Commission. You can also consider offshore brands and VPN friendly casinos with licences from reputable bodies like the Malta Gaming Authority, Curacao eGaming Authority, and Gibraltar Gambling Commission. If there’s no visible licence information at an online casino, it’s best to find another one.

• Unfamiliar Game Providers

One crucial fact is that most rigging cases in online casinos often occur in partnership with game providers. Therefore, it’s also an important detail that can help you identify rigged casinos. Through our years of research in the iGaming industry, we’ve encountered shady game studios with several provable rigging allegations. Most of these studios come as standalone gaming platforms and swindle players for as long as possible before disappearing from the online casino scene without a trace. After a while, they pop up with new brand names and restart operations.

Always go for companies with verifiable partnerships with well-known and licenced game studios to ensure you are safe. Of course, it’s okay to try out new studios but always conduct adequate research to ensure safety. Some of the top game studios in online casinos are: NetEnt, Microgaming, Evolution Gaming, Relax Gaming, Pragmatic Play, Reel Time Gaming, IGT, and Play’n Go.

No Data Encryption

Another way to spot an illegal casino is to find out the data encryption information of the platform. All legit online casinos use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates to ensure an encrypted connection for gamblers. This, in turn, enables the casino to provide secure transactions and adds an extra layer of protection for all sensitive data. This data protection protocol is one feature illegal casinos don’t care about, as they would instead take advantage of your private details for their profit.

Strange Terms & Conditions

The amount of detail you can discover by flipping through the terms and conditions page of an online casino is shocking. Most players skip this part when signing up. Still, it is one of the most important parts, especially when signing up at an unfamiliar online casino. Some gambling sites feature terms and conditions that imply their true intentions. It is, of course, a shield which will serve as a defence system for them if a player takes any legal action.

Since over 95% of gamblers do not go through these terms and conditions pages, it becomes easier for shady casinos to get away with these acts.

Some of these casinos place huge charges for account dormancy after a short time, and others publicly state how they reserve the right to withhold your winnings and close your account without much explanation regarding the reasons.

Sections like these will help you understand if a casino is only trying to lure you in and flee with your hard-earned money. For this important reason, every gambler needs to go through these sections to make sure they’re not accepting some bizarre terms and conditions that work against their interest.

Unreal Bonus Offers

All online casinos want to attract as many players as possible to their platforms. As a result, numerous promising offers are available in the online gambling world. But, these incentives do not give away the advantage of the house to a player. Suppose a casino features bonuses that seem too good to be true. In that case, you must carefully revisit all the other factors outlined in this section to ensure you’re making the right decision. Before signing up for such deals, always read terms and conditions of the offer. Also, make sure to review feedback from verified customers who have used these bonuses. And lastly, if you decide to go for them after all, deposit only the amounts you can afford to lose.

Are Online Live Casinos Rigged?

Online live casinos are always fair when playing at a licensed gambling site. Reputable and trustworthy live software providers ensure that the streaming occurs on a secure platform, and the result depends on unpredictable algorithms. However, there are still some software providers and casino operators that try to cheat players.

The fairness and legitimacy of a live casino experience depend on the reputation and licencing of the site.

One of the best ways to find out if an online live casino game is fair is to check out other players’ reviews online. Suppose over 90% of the players express negative feedback on the gameplay experience of the platform. In that case, it is already a red flag. Betting brands that rig games often have poor customer reviews, and you’ll mostly find them on review sites and public forums.

How Online Casinos Rig Game Results?

Unlike before, rigging is now a rare act in online casinos. However, it still occurs to a certain extent, and we’ll explain how that is possible.

In online casino games, potential manipulation can occur within the RTP (Return To Player) and RNG (Random Number Generator) systems.

Rigged casinos often adjust these two key components when attempting shady practices. During gameplay, this usually occurs when you suddenly notice a significant change in the odds and RTP range that is way below what the original game studio publicly stated.

RTP Route

In general, RTP ratings represent how much you will likely receive back from your gambling sessions after every £100 you wager. Rigged casinos often feature unfamiliar editions of games with ridiculously low RTPs that would make it almost impossible even to make a little profit as a gambler. Even a slight percentage increase means a lot in gambling, prompting these illicit casinos to manipulate these figures to decrease your likelihood of winning.

RNG Route

Online casino game results all depend on Random Number Generators that produce the outcome of games via unpredictable algorithms.

While all legit casinos make use of this RNG software, rigged casinos do not use it. Rather than an unexpected result unknown to the gambler and the house, rigged brands create manipulated game results based on your bets.

As a result, you’ll consistently experience losses and hand over all your funds to the house. However, these practices only occur at some rigged casinos without official operational licences, so they hardly happen in this era of online gambling.

Rigging Scenarios in Online Casinos

Over the years, there have been quite a few instances where online casinos received huge fines and even lost their licences for carrying out rigging practices. For example, a casino ran coin flip games in partnership with Hi/Lo Gambler, offering players 100% payouts a few years back. This number, of course, meant that the casino had no advantage. As expected, it got a lot of attention. Still, a player later discovered that it was a 96% payout gaming session. Though the casino didn’t directly influence the inversion of game results in this case, the act remains fraudulent, which counts as a rigging process.

Another popular case of rigging in online casinos occurred with a US casino brand, which recorded a much higher net profit than most competing brands in Las Vegas due to their blackjack scams. After serious complaints from some people, the regulatory bodies discovered that the casino had changed its blackjack games, significantly reducing the amount of high-paying hands available. The casino received heavy fines and a forceful break from operating for a few days.

The above scenarios indicate that rigging practices do occur in online casinos. However, due to the implementation of stringent protocols by most licenced brands, such occurrences have become rare.

Why Is Rigging Rare in Online Casinos

Casino licences are not permanent permits.

In fact, online casinos undergo regular audits to validate their licencing information. This way, the gambling commissions can re-examine brands and screen them for fresh approval.

Information spreads like wildfire today, as there are many online review platforms and public forums where gamblers can share their experiences at specific online casinos. All these modern structures and sources of information make the overall operation of a rigged casino more difficult than it was some years ago.

Are Online Casinos in the UK Rigged? Our Verdict

So, are all online casinos rigged? Of course not. In fact, the majority of the gambling sites is safe to play at. But, if you understand online casino games, you’ll know that casinos always have an advantage. As a result, you cannot blame every losing streak on rigging allegations. Whether you play slots, roulette wheel of luck, poker, blackjack or any other game, make sure you use a reputable casino with proper licencing and good partnerships with game studios. This way, you can always ensure you’re on the right path.

As a UK player, you can confirm if a casino holds a licence from the UKGC by searching for the casino on UKGC’s official website. Also, licenced casinos often display their licencing information at the footer of their website. If you can’t find sufficient information, you can directly contact the Gambling Commission to get feedback from real agents regarding the credibility of the online casino you intend to play at. Suppose there’s no information about your preferred UK casino on their database. In that case, the best option would be to steer clear of the casino and choose an alternative.

At CasinoSherlock, we make sure to list only credible and licenced UK casinos, so you can play with confidence if you pick any of the brands we recommend.