Quite often people assume things or simply take what they hear for granted. Being as a controversial topic as it is, it’s no wonder there are numerous myths surrounding the world of online casinos. The reason for this probably lies in the fact that we are, more often than not, suspicious of everything that is remotely new. It’s just the way our brains are wired.
On the other hand, online casinos have taken the world by storm. Despite all those myths going around, online casinos are extremely popular.
Let’s debunk the biggest myths and see what happens. Perhaps we will free this industry from false beliefs and opinions and make room for new ones. Regardless, this is our attempt to clear up seven most widespread misconceptions about online casinos.
Take a moment to read and hopefully you will get to understand this industry a bit better.
1. Online Gambling Leads to Addiction
The myth about online gambling leading to addiction is only partly true. The fact is that the appearance of online casinos has made this activity accessible to a wider audience, but this by no means has any influence on the development of addiction.
The truth is that any activity will become addictive if you let it get out of your control. Casinos are not addictive by nature, but players need to gamble within reason. Responsible gaming is highly encouraged by the whole online casino industry.
Furthermore, online casinos are better monitored than any land-based casino, which means that now it is much easier to prevent this problem in time. Also, many casinos have mechanisms for coping with gambling addiction. Usually, they include setting a deposit limit or a betting limit to a player account or self-exclusion which allows players to ban themselves from a casino for a certain period of time.
2. Casinos Don’t Pay Their Players
This misconception often discourages people from playing at online casinos. The fact is there are recorded cases of rogue casinos actually doing everything in their power to avoid cashing out winnings. However, these are disreputable and blacklisted casinos that no casino portal recommends.
In order to prevent this from happening, players should always do a background check and choose to play in casinos which are licensed and regulated by one of the whitelisted jurisdictions.
Also, there are certain cases when a casino has the right to refuse a payment such as breach of security, fraud suspicion, lack of proof of identity and many others. It mainly comes to this because players do not always bother to read terms and payment conditions carefully. However, in most cases, instead of refusing a payment, the casino returns the player’s deposit and pays out the winnings in order to terminate the player’s account and ban them from the casino.
3. Playing at Online Casinos Isn’t Safe
Gambling Commissions exist for a reason, and that is to regulate the activities and services provided by online casinos. When it comes to security, you should know that a good casino protects both players’ personal and financial data. Each online casino with a whitelisted license must comply with the Data Protection Act (DPA).
According to the DPA, processing of personal data should be fair and lawful, personal data should be processed for limited purposes, processing must be adequate, relevant and not excessive, processing should be in accordance with the individual’s rights, etc. Be sure to check which security technology a casino uses because the best ones out there utilize the state-of the art SSL encryption, which is also used by banks and major financial institutions worldwide.
4. Online Gambling Is Illegal Everywhere
A rumor about online casinos being illegal everywhere often puts off people from getting involved in any kind of gambling activity. Of course, an online casino must be properly licensed and follow the rules that have been mandated by the country where it operates in order for it to be considered as legal.
In order to fully understand online gambling laws, players need to look into them individually, as specific gambling laws do vary from country to country. The United States is one of those rare countries where an individual may run into legal issues when placing a bet in an online casino. However, all problems can be prevented by reading the casino’s terms and conditions carefully. Before engaging in any activity at an online casino, players need to be sure that they are able to play in the country where the casino is licensed. Also, make sure to check all of their policies in order to avoid any potential legal issues.
5. Chasing Losses Is a Good Way of Getting Your Money Back
This is one of the worst and probably most harmful myths ever told. How so? Well, people believe that once they run into a losing streak they should bet even more in order to retrieve what they’ve lost. However, this is a lapse in judgment since this type of thinking only leads to gambling addiction, and losing even more money.
The hardest thing about this is to accept that it is normal to have lucky streaks and losing streaks, and there is pretty much nothing you can do to change that. So, when you run into a bad streak, the best thing you can do is simply quit, because chasing losses is a lose-lose strategy, and nothing good can come of it.
6. Betting More on the Same Slot Machine Leads to Winning
Another really harmful misconception is that if a slot machine has not paid out in a while it is bound to pay out soon. This myth causes players to play on, believing that they will hit a jackpot sooner or later, and that is just not true because online slot machines use a random number generator (RNG).
This program was developed to ensure that each spin is entirely random and independent from the previous spin. To put it simply – if you’ve played on the same slot for a while that doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to win. This myth is also known as the gambler’s fallacy.
7. It’s Harder to Win at Online Casinos than Land-Based Casinos
Online casinos offer you the opportunity to play online games for free which can serve as good practice. This lets you choose the adequate strategy before you decide to play for real money. Also, online casinos offer you a quieter atmosphere without any distractions, and more time to think about your next step without any pressure. If anything, the fact that players can sit back and play from the comfort of their homes gives online casinos an advantage over land-based casinos.
What’s more, land-based casinos often mislead players when it comes to perceived house advantage whereas online casinos make it much easier to obtain the house edge information since they are obliged to publish the correct information, and update it regularly. All of the abovementioned reasons are good enough to show that it is not harder to win in an online casino. If anything, it might be slightly easier due to the series of benefits you get.
Forget the Myths and Hit the Slots
We hope you got some of the answers you were seeking and learned a few things about this exciting industry. The trick is not to believe everything you hear. Read some online casino reviews at reputable portals and get your facts straight before you start playing.
Keep in mind that online gaming is merely a form of entertainment. If, however, you take it somewhat more seriously, make sure to gamble responsibly because irresponsible behavior can easily lead to addiction.