How to pick a safe and secure online poker site
Saturday, March 31st, 2012
The game of poker is based on perceiving and interpreting risk. You have to be able to manage this risk to avoid loosing money and hopefully win some in the process. Seeing as the game itself is rather risky – most hands you will actually fold – you don’t then want financial risk from picking a poor, unsafe or completely fraudulent online poker site. You should be able to play poker in a safe, secure and fair environment.
Every casino needs to be licensed in a specific ‘real-world’ location, such as the Channel Islands, Malta or Gibraltar. Furthermore the licensing authority in the ‘real world’ must issue a registration number so that the casino and its operations can be monitored. You can play poker legally with Sky Poker. It is registered in the Channel Islands.
Gaming software
To make sure the game is fair you need the cards to be dealt at random. There are several Random Number Generator programmes, however the leading name in the industry is Microgaming. It uses advanced algorithms to ensure the cards are fully shuffled and drawn at random. This helps prevent card counting and ensures a fair game for all.
Banking
Seeing as you’re more than likely going to loose some of your money in the process of playing poker, you don’t then want to loose more because the casino is a fraud and is stealing from you. There should be several payment methods available including major credit and debit card firms such as Visa and Mastercard – who generally carry out their own site checks, but they cannot check everyone – as well as online payment facilities such as PayPay. Additionally, you should be able to withdraw your winnings at any time with a minimal processing time of just a few days. If you can only withdraw cash once a month on a Friday for example then you should steer clear of the site.
Contact
The online poker site’s staff should be contactable 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Furthermore, you should be able to contact them via numerous means, from email to instant online chat.
Always gamble responsibly. You can visit the Gamble Aware site for more information.
