Are You Playing At A Non-Licensed Casino Site?
To many citizens of the world, having a flutter online is a simple process of finding an online betting or online casino website and opening an account. But do you really know if it is legit?
When people read about America's prohibition laws on online gambling it may appear outdated, though many countries operate in a similar fashion. Keen to not only protect their citizens from a financial loss aspect but buoyed by the revenues a government can reap in taxes. Probably more the latter.
The only issue for an individual betting at a non licensed operator's website is one of will the payouts be honoured? Perhaps a secondary thought would be, if they can be caught by the authorities.
How A Country Runs Gambling Licenses
It is one of the UK's proudest statements that it is the fore bearer of legalised betting in the world online. It is one of the most developed betting markets and as such many British citizens never encounter a problem when opening an account online and risk is diminished.
Served by the likes of domiciled casino operators based in the UK, Jersey, Guernsey and Gibraltar and as far afield as Belize and the Middle East. A UK based player is safe in the knowledge that most of the brand named operators are legit.
However, once you start to see gambling from another country's point of view and where players might reside in Greece or France, the problems of non licensed casino sites, www.tragaperras.org being a spanish one, become all too clear.
As recently as 2015 the French government had begun overhauling their licensing after seeing reported tax revenues drop. The thought being many are turning to operations not licensed by their French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT) and the Observatory of Games (ODJ).
No matter where an online casino is domiciled, they need registration to operate when accepting funds from another country's citizen. Which is why you see warnings on the likes of BetFred that "Canadian, French, Italian, American, Kyrgyz, Spanish, Greek, Danish, Serbia and Montenegro, Chinese, Israeli or Turkish citizens or residents to open accounts, deposit funds or place bets on our sportsbook, casino, poker, games or bingo."
It's not only France that bans IP addresses from being accessible by their citizens, many countries utilise the same methods. Even though proxies can beat the ban the risk is then turned to the player. In Greece for instance in 2015 , the national government sought to take back all licenses and re-issue them under new legislation. In the main, this move favoured the nationalised gaming corporation.
But it shows that authorities are clamping down on both illegal and unregistered casino operators online on an internet with no borders and keeping a keen eye on money movements by individual poker players. Many professional players emigrate when a country can't offer the gaming experience they require.
The Checks You Can Make To Ensure A Casino Or Online Sportsbook Is Legit
Yet, for the average punter, moving to another country just to lay a bet isn't often a solution. Within each country you can turn to a legalised gambling authority run by the national government to check if you are gambling at a licensed or non licensed casino online.
Invariably, even brand name casino without a license will be banned by IP address from central internet servers though these are business which respect the local rule of law. The worry for individual citizens should arise from their ability to access online casino websites that don't abide by the law and allow deposits when they shouldn't.
If you do play at a non licensed betting operator's website, the risks are two fold. You may not receive your winnings and if they don't pay you have absolutely no way of getting your money back or your winnings. Secondly, the authorities may well be keen to speak with you should they ever find out. a simple check with your national government's gambling authority will ensure you're betting experience is more fruitful.