5 risks playing online casinos

Not a single day without me seeing an ad on the Internet to register for online casinos. They have really been in fashion in recent years, and more and more of them are offering their services online so that you may be able to earn some money. The gains are generally more interesting than physical casinos, because their operating costs are obviously lower: no need for real croupiers, no need for premises, just a website and servers behind it. There is a chance for some online casinos to scam you, in that case search for experts who give online casino ratings and find the best bonuses for you.

Risk #1 - These are games of chance

There are indeed tips and tricks in each game to maximize your winnings: for example, going to a slot machine when it has not given a jackpot for a long time. However, except for poker, it is a game of chance (except poker where with a good strategy you can really win big). Some strategies allow you to increase your winning percentages, but you will never win 100% of the games (or even probably 60%). So keep that in mind and don't bet all your money.

Risk #2 - Know your opponent

Your opponent is the casino. (except in poker). And the casino's objective, of course, is to win. Whether it is a physical casino or an online casino, they are designed to always win in the long term. This is called the redistribution rate and it is always less than 100%. For example, for online casinos, it is between 94% and 99%. This means that if you bet 100 euros, on average you will leave with a sum between 94 and 99 euros - so the casino keeps between 1 and 6 euros.

You think casinos steal from you? They are companies and they must therefore make a profit. Other games of chance have a much lower redistribution rate: lotto, Keno, Euromillions... So the casino is still the most interesting. But don't worry, these numbers are averages: if you do well and if you are lucky, you can play online casino and win money.

Risk #3 - False systems 100% winning

On the Internet, you will find many miraculous systems that supposedly allow you to win every time you play roulette or blackjack. For example, in the case of roulette, there is the martingale. This system consists in betting on a color until the launched ball falls on that color. It is necessary to bet a sum greater than each roll, to recover the sums bet previously.

The problem is that casinos are aware of this technique and limit your ability to apply it, for example by limiting your maximum bets or by making almost impossible rounds (see the example above of 15 consecutive blacks). So don't rely on these miracle solutions.

Risk #4 - Beware of bonuses

Many casinos offer you great bonuses for you to sign up and deposit money. For example, some people offer to double your bonus to 400 euros. So if you deposit 400 euros, the casino will give you 400 euros free of charge. You think that these 400 euros are yours and that you can withdraw them, but that is not the case. In most cases, you will need to "unlock" these bonuses. Wagering requirements exist, and you must wager 40 times the amount of your deposit in order to be able to withdraw the bonus. This means that you must wager a total of 16,000 euros to be able to withdraw your bonus. Given the casino's redistribution rate, it is unlikely that you will reach that 16,000 euros of wagering without having been ruined before. Risk #5 - Demo and real accounts

At many online casinos, you have the right to use a demo account. The casino lends you money, which you use to train, whether it's roulette, slot machines, blackjack or poker. The advantage is that this money is virtual, so you don't lose it and can train as much as you want to master the rules of the games you play - this is especially useful for poker and blackjack.

Risk #5 - Demo and real accounts

However, be careful. Some rogue casinos have programmed their demo accounts to make you win very often - and their real accounts to make it almost impossible for you to win. You gain confidence, think you're good, start betting real money, and then... patatras.... nothing works anymore and you lose everything. For example, I have had a series of 15 blacks at the roulette wheel several times before. The probability of the ball falling on the black is 50% on each throw. So the probability of having 15 throws falling on the black in a row is 1 in 32768. Almost impossible in real life.