Like all other things in our lives, our gaming and gambling too are moving online. Although nothing beats the feeling and excitement of visiting a brick-and-mortar casino, they are not always easily accessible. In countries like India, legal physical casinos are few and only allowed in a couple of states. This void has been filled by online casinos, which are accessible 24×7 from the comfort of one’s homes.
Thanks to some pretty outdated laws, online gambling is considered to be legal in most parts of the country and taking advantage of this legal loophole, many international online casinos are now accepting players from India. These casinos offer some of the most popular and best casino games like slots, blackjack, roulette, and poker. But one of the biggest questions in the minds of first-time users would definitely `how safe are online casinos?´ Let’s look into a few facts to find out the answer to this question.
Licenses and regulations
All online casinos are required to operate under a license from a regulatory body. While many may hold a single license, some online casinos have licenses from multiple authorities, making them much safer. You can find out where a gambling site is licensed, by looking for it on the home page. Most sites prominently display their licenses, typically at the bottom of the home page.
Some of the most popular regulatory bodies include the Malta Gaming Authority, Curacao eGaming Authority, and the UK Gambling Commission. These licensing bodies have some pretty strict requirements for giving out licenses, and most of them pertain to ensuring the safety of the players.
Licensing authorities periodically audit their licensees to ensure that they are following fair practices, are in good financial health, and are paying out the winnings in time, and as advertised. Any shortfalls are dealt with swiftly, and the sites may be subject to huge fines if they do not rectify their issues, and in some severe cases, may even lose their license.
Encryption and safe payments
Safety protocols have come a long way since the inception of the internet. Previously, hacking of data, especially while it was being exchanged between a user and a website, was pretty easy and common. But nowadays, most online gambling sites use encryption methods, like SSL Encryption, similar to the one used by major banks, to prevent data theft, especially in transit.
SSL encryption has made it very safe for users to exchange data with websites, especially financial data.
The payment methods on many reputed gambling sites are also PCI DSS compliant, which prevents misuse of the financial data of the users.
RNG
A big doubt in the mind of players is how fair are such online casinos. What guarantee is there that games on such casinos are bot biased towards the site
Well, all reputed sites have casino games from leading game developers, which run on software known as Random Number Generator or RNG.
The RNG ensures that all cards dealt in table games, all the spins on a roulette table, and all the combinations on a slot game are completely random, and even the casino cannot tweak them. The RNG makes sure that all the results are completely fair and free from bias.
Third-party audits
Online casinos are often members of independent organizations like eCOGRA and IBAS which work to ensure that casinos operate fairly, and also help in adjudication processes whenever there is a dispute between an operator and a player. Being independent, they conduct investigations in a fair and transparent manner.
Conclusion
The above points prove beyond doubt that online casinos operate fairly, and are safe to use. Of course, like with any other industry, there are a few bad apples, but with a little research, you will be able to weed them out and make sure that you are using a safe site.