Is Online Roulette Rigged?
We probably all know that feeling, the suspicion that our computerized opponent is not actually playing fair. That time when you’re even money bet has the probability of a long shot. The strange feeling that it’s much easier to way in the fun mode of online roulette rather than when you play with real money. It’s obviously going to be a concern for any player who’s relying on someone else to ensure their game is fair. After all nobody would sit down and play at poker sites with someone who they knew was going to cheat.
We do rely on them completely to be impartial but it’s sometimes hard to accept a result which doesn’t go our way. Of course, any online game which is computer controlled is reliant on a random number generator of some sort to simulate ‘fair play’ on the electronic roulette wheels. There are definitely sometimes flaws in these generators that run the roulette wheel, but unless they were deliberately skewed towards the house these very slight variances shouldn’t be an issue. It’s pretty safe to say the vast majority of online casino’s do offer a fair game and not one that is deliberately rigged. There are of course, plenty of regulations and laws which have been put in place to ensure that all casino software is fair.
If you do come across reports of rigged casinos then it’s obviously worth investigating however never underestimate the power of ‘gambler’s remorse’. This is quite simply, the feeling a gambler has who has lost and wants someone to blame. It’s easy to draw the conclusion that a casino is cheating especially if you’ve encountered some statistically unlikely events. It’s important to remember though that it’s likely to be the whole casino not just a specific roulette game. I never seem to win at video poker, but that happens every where I play or indulge in my online gambling hobby – doesn’t mean it’s rigged.
Casinos Make More Real Money in the Long Run Playing Fair
There’s a few simple reasons that the majority of online casinos do offer a fair game. Firstly many of them use licensed casino games for their sites from the likes of Microgaming, these are hugely successful companies who’s reputation would be destroyed if their games were proven to be unfair. Secondly, for the vast majority of casinos all you need to do to make money is to attract enough players – all games are all biased towards the house anyway. Sure, they’re be a few lucky winners, but these are to be expected and indeed act as a powerful advertisement for any gaming platform anyway. Their profit margin is almost guaranteed by the house edge so there’s little real incentive in the long run to start messing around with random number generators for example.
An important point worth mentioning is that in the vast majority (if not all) cases, the casinos themselves do not control any aspect of the Random Number Generator at the heart of all these games. They are run and licensed by third party companies. They are also mostly tested by yet another third part organization like eCOGRA who are brought in and completely independent.
Of course, this doesn’t alter the fact that it’s perfectly possible to rig online roulette or any computerized game. However the fact is that it’s usually just not worth it especially for the major players in the market. Which is one reason why it’s always best to play any online game through one of the larger companies who treat their players fairly and value their gaming license. Just like a real casino in Las Vegas would be finished if they were discovered cheating. It’s not always easy to find them online though, particularly because casino licensing and registration of any online casino is often confusing and complicated.
Online Licensing for Betting
Every online casino should be licensed somewhere and that should be displayed on their website. Of course the value of these licenses vary depending on where it’s issued from, some are virtually worthless.
Places which are legitimate and do proper checks on the gaming licenses they issue are Malta and the United Kingdom. The British licenses are issued through the Gambling Commission and you can check through their register to see if a company is genuinely licensed. If it is then you’re almost certainly safe, and if there are any problems you can route your issues directly through them.
This image below will look at your location when you click it and send you to a large, respected online casino accessible in your region.
There’s no doubt though that it can definitely feel like you’re being cheated sometimes when you play online. One of the surefire ways to experience this is to play around with one of the progression systems like Martingale. This system and many of it’s hybrids relies on the fact that you shouldn’t get long streaks of the same number or zone. Yet even the most casual Martingale player will have come across some ridiculous streaks of all blacks or reds/odds/evens etc. When you see an event with a huge probability against it occurring it’s tempting to think that the AI in the casino game is conspiring against you.
So Is Online Roulette Rigged at All ?
There’s almost no way to say for certain, however it’s probably safe to say that widespread rigging doesn’t take place. In fact most complaints for example on popular casino blacklist pages like the one maintained by the Wizard of Odds don’t actually complain about the games themselves. Where the problems usually lie is with customer service particularly regarding payouts, terms and various restrictions hidden in the small print on their sites. There’s no worse feeling for a gambler to be denied a big win via a customer service desk designed to cheat the player. You can play the fairest game on the internet, but if the casino won’t pay out then it’s as bad as the casino being rigged anyway.
It’s a much simpler way to cheat, rather than messing around with legitimate random number generators that all casinos use then simply reference vague conditions or issue new ones to justify not paying out. What’s more there’s little evidence with this method as opposed to doctoring a roulette wheel or messing around with the roulette games.
The worst casinos will just simply refuse to payout a large win or make up some spurious excuse not to do so. Even if they do payout some casino will drag the payout process for ridiculous amounts of time. It’s often surprising how quickly these casino’s can process deposits but struggle to operate in the opposite direction! These casinos will commonly offer unusually large sign up for example a roulette bonus but protected through equally large play through requirements too. It’s easy to avoid these scenarios though, stick with the big companies – it’s not worth risking smaller online casinos at all.
The point we’re making here is that not that it’s impossible to fix or rig a casino, a card game or a slot machine, because it’s clearly not. However there’s much more risk to this method than simply having a customer service team instructed to avoid paying out whenever possible. Unfortunately it’s extremely difficult to make such a casino pay out even when they’re clearly cheating their players. Online casinos suffer from a lack of regulation and protection for the players which is apparent globally.
If you choose one of the bigger companies, you may miss out on ridiculous bonuses but you should get fair game outcomes with an honest level of customer service. To be fair the major players know that long term these are the factors that almost guarantee success. Every single casino game from roulette to Blackjack and even sports betting has a built in house advantage which gives the casino a positive expectation overall. These companies promote their winners and advertise their successes as it brings more player and more profit.
Forget the Computers and Look for Live Dealers
If you can’t get over your trust issue with computerized games, and really I get it, I do. Or perhaps you want to use a specific roulette strategy that won’t really work against a computer program. Then you have only two options if you enjoy playing casino games and want to continue. First the obvious one is to stop playing online and go find your nearest land based physical casino. They are normally pretty friendly places when you get inside and even the famous ones are usually very encouraging for even the newest players. Obviously this doesn’t suit anyone and especially in the US you can even find yourselves surrounded with casinos or hundreds of miles from one!
The second solution is to carry on playing online but avoid the computer generated games and slots and look for live games run by a live dealer. These are actual games controlled by a real croupier of dealer somewhere, sometimes in real casino or in a studio supporting online players. There’s many more which are run from a studio, for example. These used to be very hard to find, however now most of the larger companies have live games with real dealers. In fact some of the best online roulette games available now are run in this live environment.
It’s of course possible to rig a live game too in the same way that a real casino could rig a roulette wheel or a table game. However the idea of the dealer having a brake ready to stop the roulette wheel are extremely unlikely. Also the suspicion that your dealer is somehow controlling the roulette table by spinning the wheel at different speeds or using magnetic balls to make sure you lose is probably unfounded.
Remember the casino doesn’t need to cheat, in reality they have all the guarantee they need – the house edge which exists in all roulette games. This will eventually defeat every single roulette player no matter how skilful or lucky. You see it’s physical manifestation as the number zero on the roulette wheels in any casino games. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing online roulette through a random number generator or a live dealer the advantage exists in the rules of the game. Their advantage grows depending on which game, which roulette wheels are used – stay away from American roulette which has the worst odds for the player.
Big Companies Value Their Reputation for Online Roulette
To most of the big brands our individual wins and losses are not of a great concern. The volume of players behind these online roulette games is where the profit lies. Indeed even the share value of these companies is vastly more important than tricking a player out of a win or two. If you stay with the brands you might still lose on you favorite casino games but you won’t lose unfairly. Remember sometimes the laws of probability come up with some unbelievable events. Many times have I seen the experienced Martingale player shaking their heads over some long, incredible streak and random number which has blasted their system (and stake money) away on online roulette.
It can feel that any game is rigged when luck is not going your way, and disgruntled punters are way more to complain online than celebrate their lucky streaks. It’s a game and as long as you make sure the company has a decent reputation and brand you’ll get a fair game.
If you’re in Europe – here’s one of the biggest companies in the online roulette games world. Some great games, helpful service and one of the widest range of roulette games that you can find anywhere.
Can you imagine how much their domain name is worth !
