There of course cannot be any guarantees. Online casinos have the technology to behave essentially the same as a physical casino and to simulate a roulette wheel or deck of cards almost perfectly by generating random numbers. It requires some understanding of statistics to believe this, but playing a game online should have identical odds to the game in a real casino. You should realise that it is still possible that online casinos cheat. It's arguable that the major software companies that license the online casinos have a lot to lose if they are found to cheat. Many smaller companies have been found out though which isn't a very good sign. Many are still going today that cheat or at one time cheated. Our forum will tell you which ones to avoid.

The fact is that many online casino software manufacturers take a percentage of player's losses as well as license fees for their software. They therefore may be tempted to cheat slightly to increase profits. It is possible that cheating goes undetected if it only occurs in special circumstances that are hard to detect. In my experience I've not had any cause for concern with most online casino software. I've occasionally had very bad streaks but also incredibly good ones, all of which is normal with a fair game. Microgaming Blackjack (single-deck) is one of the best in terms of theoretical payback and on average it returns nearly 99.9% of all bets if you play the best strategy. Being almost an even game, you will have as much chance of winning as of losing. If an online casino shaved off a fraction more (eg. another 0.02%), it could make more profit with little chance of detection. Even if it rigged the blackjack by 1% (returning nearly 99%), it would take around 100,000 blackjack bets to have a good chance of detecting this from the results.

Would you be concerned if the actual payback in blackjack was 99% instead of 99.9%? Well, it seems many thousands of internet gamblers take this added risk. It's possible to win in an online casino that is rigged, you just have less chance of doing it. If the cheating is more blatant, such as a 95% payback or less in blackjack, it is possible to detect cheating very easily with far less hands/bets needed in the test. One thing to remember is that anything is possible even if the outcome is extremely rare in a fair game but repeated testing should result in ever worsening odds if cheating continues. There is a calculator on this site (coming soon) to help you calculate the odds of a particular result. You will just need to enter the number of hands/games played and your final result in bet units won or lost (you will need to convert your result a bit if you didn't bet the same amount each hand). Of course, you will be bound to get very unlucky sometimes if you play regularly, but if a result is particularly unlikely and other players have similar terrible luck at the same online casino, then it is good evidence of cheating and not just bad luck.

If a skill based game in an online casino doesn't have identical odds to the real thing then that casino will be blacklisted here. It is hard to prove if something is amiss sometimes if the cheating is subtle but in many cases it can be found quite easily. Games such as slots are different because they are programmed for a particular payout and the odds aren't determined by the player's skill. Some online casino websites don't claim to be fair but it should be assumed that a player expects normal odds for games such as blackjack and roulette.

Note that if you don't play the 'basic strategy' for the best odds in blackjack, your odds of winning will obviously be lower, so I recommend learning it or printing it out. Even though Blackjack always has an average return of over 99% of bets with perfect play, most players do not play the best strategy at all times if at all. This means that on average the casino keeps a few times more than suggested by the 'house edge'.

If this has scared you off, I should add that playing online casinos has been very lucrative for me due to the huge bonuses they continue to give players. There are hundreds of online casinos that I've found to be reliable and fair. These bonus offers are not just given as an incentive to sign up, but casinos often offer regular bonuses to keep you playing there. A bonus usually gives a player a considerable advantage over the casino for once!

This site will soon have a unique bonus advantage calculator which can tell you the advantage you have over the online casino when a bonus is given, assuming a fair game.

Some points to remember for those starting out:

• Cash out regularly when you're winning.
  If you don't cash out, you will never win.

• Don't play for more than you can afford to lose.
  It's a good idea to set a loss limit to stop at each time you
  play. I also suggest finding a weekly amount you can afford to
  lose and taking a long break if necessary until your loss rate
  is back within your affordable rate.

• Don't play when you're intoxicated or emotionally upset.
  Never play if you have *any* psychological disorders or a history of such.
  This is a recipe for rash betting.
  
  
• Learn the correct game strategies for the best chance of winning.
  I suggest going to the Wizard's site for details (link on the left). To learn blackjack, I also suggest practicing with this free blackjack game which teaches the best strategy. No download is required.

  Please note that the three Online Casino Guides linked to on the left (casinomeister, wizardofodds and winneronline) are some of the best in terms of providing online casino information but the online casino sites they recommend are not always good ones. We only recommend reliable casinos with no unresolved issues on this site and any from external links are not endorsed.
  
  

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