The biggest theoretical fear that new players have concerning the online casino is the specter of cheating. Most such fear is directed at the specter cheating software. It is true that in theory online casinos would be able to interfere with the random nature of the rolls of dice or dealing of cards.

This fear is mainly theoretical as in practice; there have been very few instances of cheating software. There are several reasons.

First and foremost, most online casinos and virtually all reputable casinos run on software licensed by a handful of major online gamming software providers. These companies go to great lengths to ensure the integrity of their software and their random number generators as it is in their economic interest to do so. While, individual casino owners have leeway to set various gaming parameters, they cannot affect the randomness of the numbers. The better casinos receive regular inspections from online gaming auditors to ensure fair play and validate the randomness of the numbers generated. World renowned accounting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers has been particularly prominent in this field. In some cases, even the jurisdictions in which a gambling organization is licensed may intervene. Read more about online gambling licenses and their jurisdictions.

While there have been a few online casinos with proven cheating software, especially during the "wild west" days of online gaming in the late 1990s and early part of the 2000s before the major software providers consolidated the scene, even then this was rare. For one, the online gambling community is replete with watchdogs, reporters, statisticians, and independent sleuths that will expose cheaters in short order. Casinos with software that has been proven to cheat have very short life spans. In as much, acquiring the reputation of being a cheater is not in one's long term business interest. Secondly, developing casino software that can complete with such refined offerings from the likes of Microgaming and Playtech is an extremely costly affair. While there are still a few rogue casinos out there using proprietary software, most rogue brands, such as Casanova, have all but disappeared from the scene.

Although there have been several high profile examples of software cheats, the recent case of Absolute Poker being illustrative, cheating software should not pose a problem for players as long as players stick to gambling sites trusted by the player community and trusted software brands.

One borderline software related case of which players should take note concerns free play with odds that are titled toward players, while the real money play employs the true casino game odds that are always tilted toward the house. The voluminous wins under free play entice players to try their hands at money play, where they find winning considerably more difficult. The player community has caught on to this and it is broadly considered cheating, though this sleight of hand still occasionally occurs.

Our discussion of casino software is not intended to leave the impression that cheating does not take place in the world of online gambling or that the industry is squeaky clean. It does and it's not. Rather, unethical behavior, indeed cheating, just tends not to be related to gaming software.

Most of what can broadly be referred to as cheating in the world of online gaming falls broadly into two categories: casino scams and cheating poker players. Sport betting and other forms of gambling seem to have far fewer issues given their nature. While not endemic, the two aforementioned varieties of cheating do merit player attention.

Casino Scams

While it is important to stress that there are an abundance of reputable online casinos online today, we have dedicated this page to some known tricks, deceptions and pitfalls that still dirty the landscape of the online gaming world.

As we have seen, the incidences of cheating casino software have been very limited; and while casino scams can take many forms, most "cheating," has more to do with a casino manager's self-serving interpretations of player agreements and unsavory marketing gimmicks than anything else. Indeed, most watchdog sites look to these "grey areas" as the yardstick for measuring a casino's integrity as relatively few examples of outright cheating take place.

Many such issues are based on a casino's refusal to pay legitimate winnings on some technical grounds (though they seem to always offer to return the player's initial deposit). This is widely regarded as unethical as such casinos never seem to offer to return a player's losses under similar circumstances.

While many such issues result from player misunderstandings of play through requirements on bonus offers or to which games the bonuses apply (some play through requirements can be quite large and they often don't apply to games such as blackjack with low house edges) some online casinos are known to purposefully mislead players with ambiguous terms and conditions as a pretext to not payout a big win.

Online casinos that refer to "bonus abusers" or "real players" should be always be avoided. Under this regimen, while a player is free to lose money, as soon as he or she wins the casino may refuse to pay the winnings on the grounds that the player's intention was not to gamble but only to take advantage of bonus offers. Bonus issues have been a persistent problem. Many casinos have even taken steps to "lock out" players and refusing to serve those that expertly take advantage of bonus offers to turn the short term odds to their favor. Names, addresses, emails, and IPs of "bonus abusers" are often circulated. Vegas 365 regards this as highly unethical.

Another such issue can occur when a casino contacts a player over the telephone, typically offering special bonus offers, but does not live up to the promises or changes the terms should a player win. In as much, it is always important to get all communications in writing.

While playing slots or other jackpot games, always keep a camera handy to take a picture of the winning screenshot. A particularly frustrating issue that has occurred on rare occasions is that after winning a jackpot, players have been told the win never occurred or that it was the result of a computer "glitch" and hence will not be honored. Without photographic proof, a player may have little recourse.

Unsavory marketing practices are also a cause for concern in many instances. Establishing fake watchdog groups or shill users in popular gambling forums in order to slam one's competition and promote one's own casino has not been uncommon. Similarly, many casinos have been known to overtly deceive players about where they are licensed, who does their auditing, where they are located, the software that they use, etc. Other shady practices such as spam and the illicit buying and selling of lists of known gamblers by unscrupulous casino employees also takes place from time to time.

Despite this somewhat daunting list, most players are able to gamble online without incident and the aforementioned is the exception rather than the rule in the world of online casinos.

The overwhelming majority of issues have nothing to do with cheating or even unethical behavior, but with everyday bumbling and incompetence that is irritating, but not unethical.

It is always recommended to check out a casino's background.

Vegas 365 highly recommends that you only gamble our list of recommended casinos.