Dragon Assasins or FTSE 100: lesson in choosing live games

A story emerged a couple of weeks ago of an illegal online casino operation being shut down by police in the Philippines.

In brief, the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (“CIDC”) raided premises in Pasig City and seized blackjack and baccarat tables, playing cards, CCTV, videostreaming and audio equipment and 18 computers.  Twenty individuals associated with the running of the casino were arrested, including a lieutenant and soldiers of the Dragon Assassins clan of the Korean Jopok.

Here was a live dealer casino offering live blackjack and baccarat being run by the Korean equivalent of the Chinese Triads, or Japanese Yakuza!  Presumably the games would have been intended for consumption in both the Philippine and Korean playing markets and no doubt they had plenty of customers – certainly enough to hit the CIDC’s radar and prompt the clamp down.

Instead of trusting their money with the Dragon Assasins, Philippine players could have played live games with the likes of Ladbrokes or PartyCasino; Korean players could have gone with an operator like William Hill.  These companies have all spent time on the FTSE 100 index which lists the largest UK-domiciled, LSE listed blue chip companies and that’s probably not the only major difference between them and the Dragon Assasins. I suspect customer dispute resolution procedures would be another.

This serves as yet another reminder that the gulf between good and bad online casino options is enormous regardless of where you are connecting to the Internet from. Technology never has,  and probably never will be a barrier to entry for unscrupulous operators.

Research your options thoroughly.  Take time making your choice. If you are ever in doubt, just don’t play.