Playing the Trust Game

Can I trust this casino?

A question that I imagine enters the mind of most players considering whether or not to sign-up and play.

If it doesn’t it probably should.

The Internet is a world of smoke and mirrors. Behind the veneer of a flashy web page there could be a multi-billion dollar public company, one of those fellas from Nigeria who are always trying to cut me in on a share of a $30 million deceased estate, or an organization lying somewhere between these two on the trust scale.

This is probably the case for just about every online industry. It’s certainly the case when it comes to online gambling!

A few years ago, when live dealer games were beginning to emerge in the European market, only a small handful of platforms existed and the operators that took on their games were generally the bigger names in the business. The mere fact that an online casino offered live games of itself suggested credibility and separated them from the myriad of small time RNG casino operators based in places like Curacao or Netherlands Antilles.

But this is no longer the case. New live casinos (and providers) seem to be popping up at a rate reminiscent of the RNG online casino rush over a decade ago. Separating the wheat from the chaff is becoming more and more necessary.

Where does this live casino sit on the trust scale?

Before I deposit my hard earned with any online casino I like to have good degree of comfort that if I win, those winnings can be cashed out painlessly and quickly…no questions asked. Any lingering doubts here really kills the excitement of having a punt in the first place. In this game, trust is everything.

So how can you trust a certain casino? As far as I’m concerned knowledge of certain key facts is crucial here.

In no particular order, it’s nice to know:

• who owns the casino?
• where is this organization located (actual address)?
• is this a large or small organization?
• are they readily contactable?
• have they invested considerably in their brand/reputation?
• is the casino licensed in a whitelisted jurisdiction?
• are you familiar with the live casino platform?
• if not, where is it licensed and where is the studio located?

It’s nice if the casino makes all this information readily available on their website.  The ‘About Us’ page is usually the place to start. Most have them.  But details on these pages vary considerably.

The likes of bet365, Unibet, Betsson, Paf, BetFred, BetVictor tell you everything you want to know (plus a fair bit you didn’t need to know…chest beating is a common online gambling company trait). As do William Hill, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, 888, 32Red, Betfair … they go further further with links to their PLC websites where you can find out details such as who their board members are, how much cash they had in the bank at last financial year end and how many customers they have.

Then you get the ”About Us’ pages that tell you nothing. A whole bunch of boilerplate, non-specific waffle and self proclaimed declarations of excellence with not a single hard fact. There’s a good reason they’re not giving you any facts. It’s because they know that you’re not going to be very impressed them.

If you can’t find the answers you want, simply walk (or click) away. There are better options out there.