Like any other business on the internet, the online gambling niche has been through the trenches. Due to this, it has gained a rather notorious badge for being associated with fraudulent activities. True, there were a few bad apples in the 2000s that were involved in massive scandals that stigmatized the whole industry.
Unfortunately, this bad legacy has lingered, and it has become difficult to shake it off. Many potential players believe the iGaming industry, particularly online casinos, is rigged like pyramid schemes to favour the house. However, this is far from the truth.
As this article highlights, online casinos such as Мasalbet have many safety, security, and fairness measures put in place to safeguard both the players and the business. These measures are also meant to ensure the house or players cannot cheat while playing games.
Online Casinos – The Basic Operational Principles
To understand how difficult it is to cheat in online casinos, you must understand the basic working principles of their operation.
- Signing up: the first step to accessing any online casino is creating an account. All online casinos require a unique username/email and a strong password when creating an account.
- Account verification: once you complete the signup procedure, you must complete the email/phone verification procedure. This is done in multiple ways, which vary from one casino to another.
- KYC verification: you must complete the KYC verification process. This includes submitting documents such as your ID and a copy of your utility bill.
- Depositing: once the first three steps are complete, you must recharge your account using the available payment methods. Top-rated casinos use the services of renowned payment providers such as Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, Skrill, among many others.
- Playing casino games: with money in your account, you can now start playing real money casino games. The results of these games are usually 100% random and unpredictable.
- Cashing out your winnings: if you are lucky to score a win. In online casinos that take security seriously, you might be asked to complete the verification process again.
These are the basic operation principles for all online casinos. However, it may vary from one brand to another depending on many factors, such as the licensing agreement and AML policies.
Safety and Security Measures in Online Casinos
Once you understand the basic operation principles of online casinos, comprehending how they ensure you remain safe and secure while using their platforms, plus measures put in place to thwart efforts by cheats, becomes easy.
Algorithms and Random Number Generators
All online casino games have a Random Number Generator (RNG) software. As the name suggests, the RNG software ensures all the games’ results are 100% random and unpredictable.
The software is always working for as long as the game is online. In the background, it generates hundreds of millions of numbers randomly. These numbers correspond to a game’s outcome. Therefore, when you hit the ‘play’ button, one of these numbers is randomly selected.
Therefore, if there is a way you can correctly predict the number that will be picked by the RNG software or find a way of manipulating the software, you cannot cheat in online casino games.
Regulatory Bodies and Licensing
After the many scandals that rocked the then unregulated online gambling industry in the early 2000s, the need to have regulatory bodies in place became evident. This led to the formation of licensing organizations, which have the following mandate and responsibility to both the operators and players:
- Ensure all online casinos hold a valid license
- Ensure the games are audited for fairness and accuracy for the RTP figures
- Uphold strict AML practices
- Promote responsible gambling among players
Top-rated online casinos are licensed and regulated by bodies such as the UK Gambling Commission, the Malta Gaming Authority, Government of Curacao, among others.
External Auditing
External audits are usually conducted by independent third-party licensing bodies operating in the iGaming industry. These organizations are impartial, and their main work is to check that the game’s RTP figures match what is included in the licensing agreement. Online casinos that flout the original agreement are not only fined but their license revoked.
The simple answer is yes, it is possible to cheat in online casinos. However, the practice is so complex and sophisticated that it is not worthwhile. In the earlier days of playing casino games, especially poker, players developed Heads Up Display (HUD) software to gain an edge over other players. While some casinos allowed this, many players started avoiding such platforms. Over the years, many online casinos have been forced to ban HUDs and other software that gives players a competitive advantage over their opponents. As for RNG-based games, it’s impossible to cheat unless you have a supercomputer that can decode the exact outcome based on millions of simulations.
