Are Online Casinos Safe or Rigged?

While millions of people play at online casinos for real money every day, there are millions more with perfectly logical trepidations as to the reliability of their engineering. The question is, “are online casino rigged, or are they safe”?

That’s not a seamlessly simple question to answer, merely because there are so many online casinos hovering throughout cyber-space. The question would have to be asked individually of each and every online casino. Or does it?

The idea is to know how to categorize each online casino as the safe, responsible ones, and the not so trustworthy ones.

For the most part, we can assuredly answer, “yes”! Online casinos such as RTG casinos are not rigged, and are completely safe. That is, if you know what to look for.

There are numerous highly regarded online casino software brands, such as RealTime Gaming (RTG casinos) for example. The software undergoes a very strict auditing process on a regular basis to test for absolute fairness in game play.

For instance, the standard blackjack game will be put through one-million hands. Every card that is dealt is counted. The number of blackjacks that are dealt, counted. The number of times blackjack is dealt to the player’s hand, and the dealer’s hand, counted. After one million hands, if the numbers come out just as random and unpredictable as when randomly shuffled and played out by a real dealer, with a physical deck of cards, you can be positive that the games are entirely fair; not rigged in any way.

In fact, the most reputable online casinos will provide payout percentage on different types of games, such as table and card games, video poker games and slots. The payout percentage reveals just how much the games payout, compared to what they take in.

Realistically, you cannot expect the payout percentages to be at or above 100% (though it has occurred from time to time). The online casino will always have a slight edge, just like live casinos. But there is a difference between live and online payout percentages to some degree.

While the card games are just as random and unpredictable as live casino card games, the online slots are not. The software is preset to payout a specific percentage. At a land-based casino in Las Vegas, the typical payout percentages on slots range anywhere from 80% to as high as 88%.

At 80%, the means that for every $100 they take in, $80 will be paid out. It’s not time-precise of course. This happens over a period of months, years, sometimes even decades. A major jackpot could be spun twice in one week, but over the course of, say, 25 years, the machine will have paid out 80%.

Online casino slots are exactly the same, except the preset payout percentages are much higher, ranging from 92% to 98%. That’s a fairly large difference when it comes to lowering the house edge.

To ensure you’re playing at a fair and secure online casino, you simply look for the software’s testing certification. TST (Technical Systems Testing) is a major provider of online casino software testing. VeriSign is another one, along with eCOGRA. You’ll find the logo for the testing company at the bottom of the online casino’s main page.

The safety is found by looking for the licensing jurisdiction. When an online casino is licensed and regulated by a governing authority, such as Antigua and Barbuda, Curacao / Netherland Antilles, Gibraltar, Kahnawake, etc., you know that the online casino is legally bound to implement stolid security measures and other safe practices to protect their members.