We have already taken a look at the best and the worst online blackjack games in another article. The best casinos here were names that are recognised and respected the world over, and the same applied to the names listed as the worst places to play. These weren’t “bad” because they ripped players off with suspect and unfair games, or because they refused to pay out winnings; they were bad because they had poor software or terrible customer service.
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Casinos that rip-off customers are not very common. As we have said a number of times on this website, gambling is a rich and easy business for the casinos. Most of the time they just need to sit back and watch the profits roll in. The advantage is always in their favor, so they don’t need to rig it and risk closure or losing customers when they’re already set to make a lot of money by playing fair. Despite this, there are casinos out there who do use unscrupulous methods and even those who refuse to pay out winnings.
These casinos tend to target players in the United States, as online gambling is illegal in the US and the casinos think they can get away with depriving these players of their winnings without repercussions. Players based in the United States also don’t have the same choice as players from other countries, they can’t go for the big brands and the established websites and often have to go for the new and unknown companies that don’t have the reputation, the respect or the experience.
To help you avoid the suspicious online casinos we have compiled a blacklist of the ones that you should avoid, along with the reasons for avoiding them. There are new websites springing up all of the time though, and you should remain vigilant at all times. Do your research in advance and don’t assume a website is legit just because it uses respected software or because it looks well designed.
Some of these websites have already folded and have been posted here so that you can understand the issues that players had with them and can look out for them in the future. Online casinos disappear and reappear all of the time, so by listing the problematic names here you can do your research and ensure that if these names appear whilst you’re looking up a new and promising online casino, you know to stay away from them.
Casino JetBoo
This is a new casino and the reports of unfairness are equally new. This casino has the hallmarks of a scam, and the issues centre around it not allowing players to withdraw their winnings, stalling any such payments and generally avoiding any questions from wronged customers. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but there are so many complaints and so many players who have an issue that we advise everyone to stay away from Casino JetBoo and from the JetBull Casino, which they seem to have recently acquired.
E-Casino365
E-Casino365 began receiving hordes of complaints towards the end of 2013. The issues revolve around delayed payments and non-payments. E-Casino365 blamed their payment providers and other issues for the non-payments, but the excuses didn’t seem to stop there and there were many different ones given to players whose withdrawals weren’t processed. Players are advised to stay away from E-Casino365 and to concentrate on casinos that have a strong record of paying their players correctly and in a timely fashion.
Gold Luck
The issue here is not about non-payment or even delayed payment, but about the casino’s customer support staff and their refusal to do their job. Payment itself is fine and there have been no reports of any rigged or suspicious games, but Gold Luck are notorious for not responding to their customers. Sample emails have been sent by many websites and communities to test just how bad Gold Luck are for themselves, and even after several months many of those emails are still waiting replies. Although you may not have an issue elsewhere on the website, you have to ask yourself what you would do it you did. If payments aren’t processed or there is a technical issue then you will be kept in the dark, so this should be taken into consideration when choosing whether or not to join this online casino.
BetSpace
This casino seemed okay and had a decent fan base, but things turned ugly very quickly. They used PlayTech for their online casino, which is a widely respected and very popular software, and everything seemed okay on that front. The issue was with their payments, which stopped towards the end of 2013. They simply refused to pay customers their winnings and then, shortly after that, they disappeared.
They held some decent reviews on The Pogg, including a 10 our of 10 for customer support, but something went wrong and the players were the ones who suffered. Players are advised to look out for BetSpace and to avoid them if they ever make a comeback, regardless of any claims or promises that they make.
Ultimate Bet & Absolute Poker
These brands are owned by the same company and have several allegations of cheating and criminality against them. Not only were Absolute Poker involved in the Black Friday scandal that rocked the poker world a few years ago, but Ultimate Poker had a scandal of their own some time before that.
This scandal involved a player named NioNio. He was on of the richest and best poker players on the site and had an unparalleled win rate. This player was picking up huge pots on a regular basis and seemed unstoppable. In fact his win rate seemed impossible, almost untouched by the poker God that is variance.
As it turned out, NioNio had unrivalled access to the Ultimate Bet system that allowed him to see the hole cards of the other players. This meant that he knew exactly when to hold them and when to fold them, and he used this cheating tactic to leech millions from other players. His antics went undetected for a ridiculously long period of time, and considering how obvious it should have been (those sort of stats should raise red flags immediately) there are suggestions that he was helped by those at the very top of the company.
These websites have a very checkered history and should be avoided. There’s no telling what they can do next.
Ace Live Casino
At the time of writing, the Ace Live Casino is very much still an active casino, but there are many issues with this company. One of the main issues that players have is that the casino are randomly suspending player accounts for what they are calling “bonus abuse”. These could be honest suspensions, but Ace Live Casino are offering no explanations for them and are refusing to speak to players who enquire about their suspensions.
There are also instances when players’ accounts are suspended for other reasons, and their payments are stopped and their withdrawals are held. Ace Live Casino is refusing to converse with these players and as a result the players are helpless and are unable to get the money owed to them. These suspensions seem to be done to reduce Ace Live Casino’s outgoings, at the expense of their customers.
Landmark Bingo
The concerns about Landmark Bingo have been circulating since the middle of 2013. This bingo and casino website is cancelling player withdrawals for no reason and with little explanation. They are also ignoring customer complaints and should be avoided.
BetMotion
This is another website that has been having issues for over a year now. They have also been cancelling player withdrawals for no apparent reason and players are having a hard time trying to get an honest response or explanation out of the company. As with Landmark Bingo they are an established website, and one that allows both bingo and slot machine games (along with poker and other betting options) but they simply can not be trusted and should be avoided. It’s no good playing on any site if you can’t trust your winnings to be paid to you.
Moore Games
This website has received a whole host of complaints from players and websites. There are complaints from those who were kept waiting for an extended period before receiving the money owed to them, and when the money finally came it was only a fraction of what they should have been paid to them. There are also reports of large balances just disappearing, which Moore Games claim were never there in the first place.
It seems this is a company that is happy for you to deposit, play and lose, but will go out of its way to get its money back if you actually win. Moore Game’s license was revoked in 2013 and they went offline shortly after that, still owing a lot of money to a lot of players.
It seems inevitable that this company will start up again soon, if they haven’t already done so, but they should be avoided like the plague if and when they do.
BetFred Casino
BetFred are an established and popular betting company in the United Kingdom, and although their sports book is fair and their customer support is acceptable, their casino should be avoided. There have been many reports of very suspect activity on their old casino software, which was developed by Spielo G2.
One of the games, for instance, claims a 50/50 chance of winning and when tested by a player, returned something considerably less than that. BetFred acknowledged that this software was flawed after the reports were made and they removed it from their casino, bringing in another software program, but they didn’t refund the money that many players lost to what was effectively a rigged program. The fact that BetFred didn’t fully test this program before they subjected their customers to it was also worrying, and any company that makes such a move should not be trusted.
The Spielo G2 software should also be avoided, and as it is used on over 100 online casinos, this rules out a lot of websites.
Be the Dealer
This site is on the blacklist because of an issue with their affiliates, namely the fact that they refused to pay them. They were in poor financial condition before they disappeared, but it seems likely (as is often the case) that they will be back in one way or another.
SkillOnNet
This is another entry aimed towards the software developers, rather than the casino themselves. As with the Spielo G2 mentioned above, the SkillOnNet casino software had a Double or Nothing game that it promised gave a 50/50 chance of winning. A player tested this and published his reports online.
He played the game 300 times, which for a 50/50 game should have returned results equal, or close, to 150 wins and 150 loses, but in actual fact he received 193 loses and only 107 wins. This is more than variance and chance (a chance of a 50/50 game returning such results is over a million to one) and is a statistical anomaly that proves the game is flawed and rigged in the house’s favour.
The casinos that use this software are: Mega Casino, Casino Red Kings, EU Casino, Vegas Winner, Simba Games, Play Million, Luna, BG Room, Win 7 and Oxygen 9, all of which should be avoided. The simple fact is that there is no telling how fair their other games are if they allow such a glaring mistake in one of their main games.
Winaday
These casino have many issues with their games, including a jackpot that is rigged seemingly to pay out to who they please. The main issue came when a player played the same number on roulette 1156 times and didn’t win a single spin, the possibility of which is infinitesimal. Winaday admitted that this was not right, and said that it was a mistake, but it is blatantly obvious that they knew this “mistake” was there all along and only acted when someone showed them the proof and when their membership numbers were at risk of falling.
They also only gave players refunds by means of bonus payments, which they would have to use to play on more rigged Winaday casino games.