What is an online casino that is on a blacklist?
The market for online gambling has come a long way, and there are now thousands of websites that offer their services to gamblers. Most of them are good, and a couple of them would be great additions to our list of the best online casinos.
These casinos can be trusted because they are licenced by third parties. They are also worth your money because they can provide high-quality services to any gambler who enters their virtual doors.
Unfortunately, not all online casinos are as good as this one, and some even try to take advantage of their customers or are just known for doing bad things.
These bad casinos are called “blacklisted casinos,” and they are run by people who decide to trick, scam, or take advantage of their customers in some way.
As the market has grown up, there are a lot less of them. This is because it’s easy to lose customers if you do a lot of bad things. Some of them are still on the market, though, and we try to let players know about them so they don’t have a bad time gambling.
Officially, there is no group that deals with these casinos. The only thing that can be done is for governments to block the IP addresses of some blacklisted casino sites based on their licences.
Because of this, sites like ours have lists of casino operators that they recommend or don’t recommend. When judging a casino, we look at a lot of different factors, as well as the reviews and past experiences of other gamblers.
Casino Card Dice
If a casino is properly licensed and regulated, has a good reputation, a wide range of games from reputable software providers, and many ways to pay, we recommend it to players as a place to gamble.
On the other hand, if the casino has done shady things like not paying out wins or delaying payments for no good reason, if it offers casino games from strange companies or even games that are fixed, or if it tries to take advantage of its players through unfair terms and conditions, it will be blacklisted.
We don’t like making and updating the list of online casinos that we don’t recommend, but the market is so big that it’s impossible to look at every single casino operator.
Each year, thousands of new players sign up, and some bad casinos can keep doing bad things for a long time before they are blacklisted.
How an online casino can be put on a blacklist
A casino can be put on a blacklist for many different reasons and actions. We use a complicated analysis process that takes into account the biggest and worst mistakes an operator can make.
Payment Issues
This is by far the most common problem with many of these blacklisted sites, and most of the complaints from gamblers are about the site not paying or taking too long to pay.
The problems can range from small delays to a complete refusal to pay out big wins or even progressive jackpots.
Now, it’s important to point out that delays are normal when it comes to progressive jackpots and big wins in general, and they don’t always mean that the casino is doing something wrong.
Progressive jackpots can be worth tens of millions of dollars, so every operator on the market will take some time to confirm big wins. The casino has to make sure that the player didn’t cheat and that the game worked right.
After the verification process is done, if there were no problems and the win was real, the operator may call you and make you an offer. Depending on how big the jackpot is, the winner might get some of the money right away and the rest over a period of months or years.
That’s because most gambling sites can’t pay out a progressive jackpot worth tens of millions of dollars all at once.
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Most of the time, shady casinos won’t negotiate or pay in full. Instead, they’ll try to find a way to say that the jackpot was lost because the game broke down. Sometimes, you might only get a part of the payment and have no chance of ever getting the rest.
Licensing
Most online casinos on the market must have a licence to operate. Most of the time, a reputable, legal operator has a licence and is regulated by the local government or other independent authorities.
This is a common problem in countries where gambling is illegal or not clear. Players in these areas use VPNs to gamble at international casinos without any problems, on average. But if there is ever a problem, the government won’t step in.
Also, remember that most gambling sites think VPNs are illegal, so you may lose your account if you use one. Before signing up for a website, you should always read the terms and conditions.
If you live in a country where gambling is legal, it’s best to stick to licenced and regulated gambling sites in your area. If you ever have a problem, the government or local authorities will be able to help you.
Many gambling sites market themselves to countries where gambling is illegal, and many of them show that they do everything perfectly. However, players should keep in mind that this is done at their own risk. If that website decides to take away a bonus or not pay you, you can’t do anything about it legally.
Software that is rigged or has been hacked
This is something that most operators do, and it usually means that they offer games that are set up so that the house edge is much higher than what is advertised.
Independent auditing labs like iTech Labs or eCOGRA check the fairness of the games made by legitimate companies that make casino software. The games’ random number generators (RNGs) are tested to make sure that all gamblers who play that game will have a fair and unbiased time.
Because of this, it’s important to only play at casinos with a lot of games from reputable software providers. Basically, this will give you extra protection.
Some shady casinos either hacked casino games from a legitimate software provider to give the casino a better edge, or they changed the paytables for all the games. Today, it’s very hard to do so because a reputable software provider will quickly end the partnership.
The only problem that could still happen is with shady small companies that don’t have licences and won’t say what their games’ actual RTP is or let their RNG be tested.
Offers and bonuses that mislead or are designed to trick a user
Casino bonuses are a great way for an operator to attract new players and keep the ones they already have happy by giving them extra cash or other benefits. It’s a situation where both the casinos and the players come out ahead.
Bonus Casino Money
Unfortunately, rogue casinos often give misleading offers or cancel bonuses in an unfair way. Casinos that are on a blacklist will try to get people to play by lying about bonuses that don’t exist or are never given.
In this situation, bad behaviour can include an operator promising you a bonus but not giving it to you after you sign up for an account or make a deposit, or an operator cancelling the bonus after you have already claimed it.
Terms and Conditions Can Change Without Notice
Changes to the Terms and Conditions, which some blacklist casinos do without telling the player ahead of time and sometimes in the middle of an ongoing bonus, are closely related to the above practise and are also done by some blacklist casinos.
Online casinos do change their Terms and Conditions, but they never do it in the middle of a promotion, and they have to let players know well in advance.
Blacklist online casinos will find a way to change the terms and conditions of the promotion without warning and in a way or at a time that helps them. This gives them the chance to refuse payment and say it’s not real or even cancel your account in an unfair way.
Most of the time, these changes happen after you’ve made a deposit and claimed a bonus that seems too good to be true. The bad casino will change the playthrough requirements, the time window requirements, or any other type of claiming conditions in order to keep you from getting your wins and bonus.
Selling Information on Players
This is almost never done anymore, which is good news. However, there are still some websites in remote parts of the world that sell their customers’ personal information.
When you sign up for a new account on a gambling website, you’ll need to give some personal and financial information, like your full name (used for the KYC verification process), address, email address, phone number, and, depending on the payment method you choose, a card number or a bank account.
All casino operators will ask for this kind of information to make sure you are who you say you are. Legitimate websites, on the other hand, have strict rules and security measures in place to protect the players’ identities and any personal or banking information.
Some fake gambling sites sell the personal and banking information of their players to third parties or marketing companies for use in different campaigns.
The dangers of gambling sites on a blacklist
If you end up signing up for a casino that is on a blacklist, you might not only have a bad time gambling, but you might also lose a lot of money. Here are the main problems that might happen at a casino that doesn’t have the best reputation.
Your banking information can be stolen. Your personal information and card information can both be taken and sold to marketing companies. Because of this, some players prefer to pay with e-wallets or other ways that hide their banking information. Your card information could get into the hands of hackers or other third parties, so it’s always a good idea to use a two-step authentication protocol.
You may not be able to get your money out of the casino. If you win a lot of money, the casino may refuse to pay you or delay it as much as possible. Some payment methods can’t be changed, so withdrawals can take up to a couple of business days. Because of this, some players prefer fast payout casinos.
Rigged Games – It makes sense that when we gamble, we can’t always expect to win. But some casinos may have games that are set up to give the house a much bigger edge than intended or games with odds that have been changed. No matter what happens, as a player you will lose money very quickly.
A bad time gambling overall. This is usually a side effect of one of the other problems. When the casino changes the terms and conditions, denies you a payment, or closes an offer or your account, you won’t be able to get any kind of explanation from customer service.
That’s the best case, if the site has one. Most of these fake casinos don’t have a customer service team.
How to Recognize a Site That Should Be Blocked
Casinos on the “Blacklist”
It’s not easy to find a casino that should be on a blacklist. When was the last time you saw a business say it was going to do something bad? Most of these casinos look the same as any other site for gambling.
They will try to get your attention with a fancy design, flashy animations, and bonuses that seem too good to be true most of the time. This is how they get “prey” to come to them.
We all know that the inside of a rotten apple doesn’t matter how good the outside looks. So, you should be very careful before you sign up for any online casino. It’s always a good idea to look at reviews from other players to see if anyone had a bad time there.
Also, you can count on experts like our team to look over gambling sites. If we don’t recommend it or if you read bad reviews about it, we can only tell you one thing: run away!
Because it’s not always easy to find the snake in the grass, here are a few tips you can use to try to find casinos with bad intentions.
Offers that are too good to be true
At the end of the day, an online casino is a business and not a charity. There are some great deals on the market, but they can only offer so much before they go out of business.
If a deal looks like “a steal,” it probably is. The problem is that you’ll be the one who gets robbed.
That doesn’t mean you should avoid every good bonus out there. Just be careful and make sure you do your homework. If the casino has a licence, is recommended by affiliate sites like ours, and hasn’t had any bad experiences in the past, the offer might be real and worth taking.
Having no licence
Reputable casinos are licenced by at least one independent body, such as the Gibraltar Gambling Commission, UK Gambling Commission, Malta Gaming Authority, Alderney Gambling Control Commission, Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission, and so on.
They will proudly show the logo of the licencing authority on their home page or at the bottom of every page. If you don’t see a logo from an authority like this, it could be a sign that you need to do more research before signing up.
Act as if you were a private eye
If the casino’s homepage doesn’t give you much information or something about it seems fishy, you can do your own research. If that website is on a blacklist, they are probably not trying to scam you for the first time.
This will automatically leave some traces. Doing a quick search on a web browser will tell you if the specific casino had a problem or is already on the blacklist of an affiliate website.
Can online casinos that have been put on a blacklist be taken off that list?
We make a lot of lists, but the blacklist is the one we don’t like to change. Our core values say that everyone, from operators to players, should be clean, and this is how the market can grow.
Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Some operators do end up on our list, and in our experience, very few of them get off. We’re not being unfair to them because any of these casinos can get off the blacklist if they stop doing bad things, but that doesn’t happen very often.
When a casino goes bad, it usually keeps cheating its customers until it goes out of business and doesn’t try to fix its problems.
The issue is a little more complicated because it also depends on why they were put on the blacklist in the first place.
If a casino got on the blacklist because its terms and conditions were inconsistent, it would be easy to notice if it changed its ways, and that operator would have many chances to quickly get out of the pit.
The same thing can happen with websites that pay very slowly but honour all wins without making excuses or trying to get out of paying. If these gambling sites speed up their payments, they could also get off our blacklist and onto our recommended list.
But it takes a lot of work to stop really bad things, like not paying at all or finding ways to cancel wins. First, a casino will never change its ways if it goes that low.
Second, even if they change their ways, customers won’t come back because of their bad reputation, so the casino is doomed to fail.