Blacklisted

For a casino to get on our blacklist, there are a few important categories that we always look into when reviewing gaming sites. Failing to meet the expected standards in these categories and not doing things by the book is a sure way to punch the one-way ticket to our blacklist.

Online gambling is a serious business, where sites ask you to trust them with your money and sensitive personal information. These things are precious and not something you want to give in to the wrong hands. Quality online casinos are usually licensed by reputable licensing bodies such as The Canadian Kahnawake Gaming Commission, The UK Gambling Commission and The Malta Gaming Authority and often have their platforms independently reviewed by third-party auditors.

• No license or false license information – casinos that operate without a license or provide false information about their license are quickly added to our blacklist. The simple truth is, you can’t expect anything good from these types of operators and they’re to be avoided.
• Lacking security standards – protecting their customers’ money and private information should be a casino’s top priority. Those operators that take these things lightly and don’t provide good enough security measures (such as high level encryption protocols) are frequently blacklisted.

Gambling Commissions & Licensee

Online Casinos that operate under UK Gambling Commission or Malta Gaming Authority, often have their platforms independently reviewed by third-party auditors, and are highly trusted

However:

• No license or false license information – casinos that operate without a license or provide false information about their license are quickly added to our blacklist. The simple truth is, you can’t expect anything good from these types of operators and they’re to be avoided.
• Lacking security standards – protecting their customers’ money and private information should be a casino’s top priority. Those operators that take these things lightly and don’t provide good enough security measures (such as high level encryption protocols) are frequently blacklisted.

Terms and conditions represent a contract of sorts between the casino and the player. They dictate what players can and cannot do while using services of the site. Breaking terms and conditions can be a reason for the casino to confiscate your money and ban your account, and this sometimes happens even with very best casinos.

However, the difference between good and shady operators is that the latter often write their terms and conditions in a way that is very hard to understand and follow. Later on, they will use these unclear terms to ban players and confiscate their money without a real reason. Casinos that are found to engage in such practices are quickly blacklisted.

The customer support team is your first point of contact if you have any questions about the casino or are experiencing some issues. Quality casinos understand this very well and make it a point to have good support teams always at hand. You can tell a lot about the operator from their approach to player support.

• Unresponsive or difficult to get ahold of support – Some of the blacklisted casinos have found themselves in this category because their support teams are very hard to get ahold of. When you’re putting real money on the line, you expect timely responses from the company that you’d entrusted with said money. Failing to address players’ requests in a timely manner is a pretty big red flag.
• Disinterested or unknowledgeable support agents – It’s great to get a timely response, but that’s only valuable if support agents are actually interested in or capable of helping you. Many blacklisted casinos outsource their support, leaving it in the hands of people who often don’t know much about the specific site and are often not very motivated to help you.

At the end of the day, being able to move money to and from your chosen casino quickly is perhaps the most crucial piece of the puzzle. Reputable online casinos understand this and do their absolute best to keep players happy. On the other hand, many of the sites on our blacklist fail in one of the following departments. First, extremely high and hidden fees – while paying fees on your deposits and withdrawals is never fun, there are sometimes legitimate reasons for reasonable fees. That said, many shady casinos engage in practices of charging exuberant fees or even charging fees without letting players know about them and only trying to explain after the fact – if asked about it.

• Inexplicable withdrawal delays – most players know what counts as an acceptable timeframe for withdrawals and what constitutes a standard procedure in terms of verifying one’s identity. Many of the blacklisted casinos employ very questionable practices in the withdrawal department, coming up with one excuse after another as to why they can’t process the withdrawal, all in hopes of the player losing their patience and giving all their winnings back.
• Not accepting standard payment methods – Casinos that only offer payments via unknown and questionable money processors are often best left alone. There is usually a reason as to why they don’t accept any of the methods accepted by so many legitimate casinos, and it’s not because they’re trying to be “different.”

The house always has an edge and the casino usually wins in the long run. This is something most gamblers are aware of and that in itself isn’t problematic. However, the player has the right to know what kind of an edge to expect when playing a certain slot or a game and the information they’re provided with must be true and accurate.

Lying about RTP – Many shady casinos engage in the practice of lying about their games’ RTP (Return to Player) percentage. They will advertise a certain number, while the real return will be (significantly) lower. These things can sometimes take a while to catch up with, but discovering these practices is the reason for an immediate inclusion in the blacklist.

Here you can see a trusted list of the online slots highest RTP.

Using pirated versions of popular games – Some online casinos will present players with games that look and feel like the popular games from well-known providers, but are actually pirated versions of these games. This is another very shady practice that’s not just ripping off the providers (by not paying them the fees), but also putting players at risk, as these pretend games usually have significantly lower RTP and are riddled with strange bugs.

Working only with blacklisted game providers – just like casinos, there are also some game developers out there that have gained notoriety for their shady practices. We tend to quickly blacklist casinos that cooperate with such companies and feature their titles as it’s a pretty big red flag in itself.

Bonuses are one of the best part of online gambling and one of the reasons online casinos have gained so much popularity. Quality casinos try to find the right balance between attractive and realistic bonus offers, to keep their players happy but also don’t hurt their bottom line too much, which is just normal business.

• Bonuses too good to be true – many blacklisted casinos tend to offer huge bonuses that seem too good to be true – and they almost always are. They will advertise a certain massive bonus, but only after depositing will the players realize that the actual offer is completely different. When asked, support will refer you to some questionable terms and conditions dug somewhere deep on the site.
• Failing to fulfill their promises – in a similar fashion, some shady casinos will run these great promotions to encourage players to play more. Once all the dust settles and it’s time to pay the winners, they’ll come up with all sorts of reasons not to pay and will try to negotiate with the winners after the fact. These are predatory practices designed to get the players’ money using false pretenses and straight-up lies.

Although blacklisted casinos get a lot of attention (as unhappy players tend to make some noise), the truth of the matter is that they’re (thankfully) few and far between. There are many more good, quality sites out there that will treat you right and provide you with a great gaming experience throughout.

Don’t be put off by the few bad seeds. Unfortunately, these blacklisted casinos are the necessary evil of the iGaming industry. Instead, stick to the reputable and verified online casinos such as the ones we recommend. With these operators, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting into and as long as you stick to their (very clearly explained rules) you’ll never have any problems whatsoever.

Every casino we recommend on the site has been thoroughly checked and vetted using a detailed process that we’ve developed over the years. We approach these reviews from the players; point of view and look into many important aspects, including:

• Overall safety and security
• Where they licensed
• Banking methods
• Withdrawal speeds
• The games
• Quality of bonuses and promotions
• Support quality, and much more

Thanks to this, you can rest assured that your experience with every single casino we recommend will be safe and enjoyable from start to finish! We try to do the hard work so that you could relax and enjoy the fun part – play your favorite games and cash out your winnings with no issues!