Safe Poker Online
Top 5 Real Money Poker Sites in 2020 - Rated by experts, we compare the best online poker sites. With top bonuses, freerolls and poker variations. Website Security and Safe Poker Of all the elements which go into making online gambling safe, website security is the easiest to check. All browsers use the ‘Secure’ tag to show sites that have valid security certificates. SSL is only the start of it. In online poker language, a HUD (heads-up display) is a piece of third-party software that tracks gameplay in the online poker site’s software. Unfortunately, many of them also collect data on opponents and then display it in real-time while the HUD user is playing against them. Partypoker has been a leading online poker site for the better part of the past decade with good player volume in both cash games and tournaments. Partypoker has maintained a number of juicy games over time thanks to a constant influx of beginners and gamblers from the casino looking for action. Partypoker also offers great promotions and newly upgraded software that has dramatically improved.
I remember what happened a few years back.
There was news coming in that many poker websites were going bust and were seized or closed by the FBI.
FBI did so for various reasons and I also heard stories about accounts being frozen for many players who ended up losing their bankrolls and saved balances.
However, people still play online poker and the number keeps on increasing as it is an easy way to make fast money and the best part is that you can achieve all this from the comfort of your home.
You don’t have to go to a casino, the casino comes to you!
Also read: Online Poker Versus Live Games: Which Is Your Game?
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2018: Safer and better?
Are you feeling safe playing poker?
A few years have passed since the problem that a lot of poker sites faced and most of them have either gone out of the market or have been taken over by other larger poker sites.
The thumb rule to help you out is to see just how large the website is, technically the larger the website, the less chance it has of going bankrupt or being shut.
It is just like any business situation, a larger company is much harder to go down than a smaller company, the same situation applies for the poker websites, the larger they are, the safer they tend to be.
Normally the best poker sites are regulated by third parties and as part of the safety measure, they have to keep all the money deposited with them in a safe account which cannot be hacked or played with by others.
To keep online poker safe it is necessary to check out if the website is regulated, checked and verified by other third-party regulators.
Smaller but not safer
The real issues come up when players decide to play at smaller, less known poker websites which don’t turn out to be as safe as expected.
The problem with the smaller websites is that like in the normal business scenario they do not enjoy the level of safety that large poker websites do and thus they still have a chance of going bust or bankrupt if things don’t go right for them.
Many of these smaller websites have gone into administration in the past because they were not making the profits required to continue doing business and trying to get your money back from these sites just becomes a tough task.
However, there still are quite a few players who would prefer to play at the smaller websites because they either provide better winnings or have players who are not as experienced as those in the larger rooms. The big payoff from these sites might not compare to the larger sites but you do have a better chance of winning.
Safety might be a big criterion but the reward taken from the risk could be something that would interest a few players.
So a simple thumb rule for anyone thinking about playing online poker on a website should look into these things;
- There should be a lot of players
- They should have been in the online poker business for a few years
- They should be audited and regulated by various third parties
These are the things that should be looked at to see if a poker is safe for online players.
You could still take a risk by playing on the smaller websites as they have fewer players who are experienced but that is a risk you are taking unless they fix the above criteria.
Programmed rigging, not always
Robots playing poker?
Another thing that people get worked up about is that when they are playing online poker, they don’t think it is safe since they believe that the program is rigged and it isn’t fair to them or other players.
This often comes out from the fact that they end up losing quite a few hands and the best thing to do is call the grapes sour.
A couple of things should be looked into this; firstly, like in any normal game of poker, unless you are really good at the game you will lose quite a few games.
You are not always playing against the same people online, unlike the times you play with your friends, so don’t think the website is not safe or that online poker is not safe.
There was an issue about a certain program being used which could help a player with software which could show him the other players’ cards, this was patched recently and that has stopped this kind of cheating.
The programs in the top websites are usually really reliable and are trustworthy.
Online poker is actually quite safe and most large websites can actually end up being safer than banks which have become bankrupt over the years. There should be a couple of things to remember about the runs that you have on websites, you may end up losing quite a few games and then end up thinking if the website is reliable and safe or not?
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A safer online poker world
We must understand that most of the larger websites have millions of $ being pumped into them in a year and if they do not ensure safety they could end up losing more than just a few players but they could end up losing the business.
It is their priority to make sure their online poker website is safe since it is a growing online phenomenon.
Just remember, larger sites are safer but are tougher to play in since they feature so many players and experienced ones at that.
The smaller ones might be ones that don’t seem as safe but they have a better payout as there are fewer experienced players.
Online poker as a whole is safe and although you should not start an account with hundreds of $ from the get-go, you should slowly play and learn about the game before you start pumping the money in to win more.
Online poker players have good reason to be concerned about the safety and security of the web sites on which they play. In 2007-08, cheating scandals involving UltimateBet and Absolute Poker demonstrated how vulnerable players could be to scams. In 2011, the events of Black Friday brought into question how safe player deposits might be in case of legal action against poker room operators.
With an estimated 613 different places to play online, how can one know which sites are truly safe? Fortunately, there are three indicators available that can help answer this question: where the site is located, what certifications it has received and how transparent its operations are. Players will want to investigate all three in the course of determining where to entrust their funds and play online.
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Licensing and Regulation
In order to operate as a business online, every Internet poker room must be registered and licensed by a national gaming authority. Operators seek out domiciles that offer tax benefits and a “gaming friendly” regulatory environment, such as small European nations or islands located in the Caribbean.
Not all national licensing authorities are the same, of course. Some are more committed to the welfare of players than others. Malta, for example, is the most active online gaming jurisdiction in the world, hosting some 508 gambling sites. The tiny Mediterranean state has been issuing licenses since 2000 under its Public Lotto Ordinance, and in 2007 it was added to the UK’s “White List” of countries matching England’s strict gaming codes.
Two of the most highly regulated locations for online poker rooms are Gibraltar—where Party Poker, Pacific Poker and 38 others are located—and the Isle of Man, home to the Microgaming Poker Network and the world’s #1 poker site, PokerStars. Other tightly controlled licensing locations are the United Kingdom, Kahnawake (Canada), Alderney (Channel Islands), and Antigua and Barbuda.
What makes these jurisdictions trustworthy is their reputation for ensuring that operations based there are run fairly. On the other hand, frequent problems have been reported among web sites licensed in the Netherlands Antilles (Curaçao), where controls are comparatively lax, while operations registered in Cyprus and Costa Rica also receive many complaints.
Proper Certification and Audit
In response to the online gaming industry’s need for credibility, a variety of impartial organizations have been created to certify the fairness of online casinos and poker rooms. Among them are eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA), the Certified Fair Gambling (CFG) Certification Company, and software analyst Technical Systems Testing (TST).
Perhaps the most respected of these is London-based eCOGRA, which promotes player protection and best operational practices with emphasis on fair and responsible gambling. Since 2003, the eCOGRA “Safe and Fair” seal has been recognized as the highest industry level of safe and fair play. To qualify for certification, sites must demonstrate unquestionable professional conduct and superior operational performance.
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Working with over 25 top software providers and 70 major online gaming operators, eCOGRA ensures that the very highest standards are maintained. As of 2011, no fewer than 145 web sites had been accredited based on fair gaming, responsible conduct and player protection. Poker rooms that have met eCOGRA’s criteria in the past include PokerStars, Doyles Room, Party Poker, Everest Poker, Paddy Poker and Bodog Poker (now Bovada Poker), to name a few.
Reputation and Support
A third way to identify the safest poker sites is to check with industry groups and trade media organizations that showcase reputable operators, while blacklisting unscrupulous sites. Watchdogs like CasinoMeister, CasinoCity and eGaming Review Magazine file regular reports on the fairness of online poker rooms. Overseers examine a variety of factors when evaluating a site, such as the following:
- Does it have a clean history of fairness towards customers?
- Is it able to take care of player issues quickly and professionally?
- Does it advertise honestly, with no false, misleading or deceptive claims/offers?
- Is the table of rake amounts clearly posted and easy to access?
- Does it protect player funds and pay winnings in a timely manner?
- Does it offer in-house player support?
Safe Online Poker Sites
One of the hallmarks of a safe and secure poker room is transparency of operations. That includes top-notch customer service. Customers should be able to access help quickly and receive clear answers to questions. Contact details such as phone numbers, email addresses and fax numbers must be easy to find on their web sites. Only poker sites that cater to customer needs professionally are worthy of players’ patronage.