subject: Choosing a Poker Site [print this page] Choosing a Poker Site Choosing a Poker Site
Choosing a Poker Site
What you see is not always what you get. There are no regulations, for example, that say that if the casino says its slots pay back, say, 98 percent, thatthis is actually so. Truth in advertising may be an enforceable concept in the United States, but all the cyberspace casinos are based in countries other than the United States. Who's to say that there is any such concept there as well? Or if it is enforceable? Well, .there isn't, and it isn't. In cyberspace, anything goes.
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Fortunately, most of the major casinos won't take advantage of their customers--not so much due to their purity of heart or an inherent ethic among cyberspace casino owners and operators, but mostly, for the simplest of all reasons--money. If cyberspace gambling became tainted with customers who got cheated, no one would ever want to play again. It would kill the business. Although some die-hard gamblers would always gamble even knowing that they were being cheated, the billions and billions of dollars in annual profits that are already being realized by these cyberspace casino enterprises would simply evaporate. None of the reputable operations want this. They are not in it for the quick buck. Cyberspace casinos already make so much money from their high house-edge games that they would be killing their own golden goose if they allowed a few unscrupulous operators to screw things up for everybody else. Most of the bigger casinos you are likely to encounter in your cyberspace experience will be fair. They will offer fair games, but most will have a high house edge, and that's simply a plain fact.
The best way to check to see if the site you are considering is a good one is to look at its quality. Are the graphics good? Do the links work? These are the two simplest and easiest checks you can perform at the very beginning. Good, clean, and fast graphics are usually a sign of a bigger investment by the owner and operator. Good and fast links that actually work are a sign of good servers that are maintained on a regular basis. These two simple tests will tell you if the people who run this site are professional. Generally, if the site looks professional, and looks like there was some investment in its appearance and maintenance, it will be a professional and honest operation. Quality is important, and in this case judging the site by its cover can lead to a better appreciation of the investment that has gone into its operation. If the site has passed this test, you should do a little more snooping before investing your money. First, click on all the pages and visit everything on the site. See if the initial impression of quality and professionalism still exists after you have tried to look into all the various pages on that website, and tried all the links. Visit everything that is there (other than the ads or pop-ups) to get a better idea of how the entire site holds up under close scrutiny. Visit the game pages, and try all the games for free. All reputable sites allow you to try their games for free. You may have to sign up, but as long as there is nothing in the signing-up process that requires you to post any kind of money, such as credit cards, debit cards, and checking accounts, then it's okay to continue your exploration. Read everything you can find about each website, and each page on it. Investigate. Look at the help menus and screens. Read the gaming instructions and compare them to the many articles that are available on the various casino games. Check to see if the games on that site correspond to the games that are generally available in BM casinos, and if the rules by which they play these games in cyberspace also correspond to the BM casino games. If they do, this is another good point in favor of the cyberspace casino. If they don't, or are somehow altered, this is a distinct minus and an immediate red flag. Also investigate the site's 'operator, and the program under which it plays. This can be found by clicking on the "About Us" icon, and also on the various other icons and links that each such site should provide. If this site has such buttons, so much the better. If these buttons actually send you to pages where there is such information, better still. If the information that is to be found there also includes a physical address, telephone numbers, and fax numbers, even better. Call them, and see what you get. E-mail their customer service and ask about the games, or about their site. See how long it takes for them to respond, and what kind of a response you get. If the response is immediate, or within 24 hours, this is good. If not, this is also a red flag. Such a site may only have an off-line customer service support center, perhaps simply jobbed out to someone else to answer general questions. Also see what kind of a response you get. Was it "canned"? By that I mean did it look "prepared"?
