You'll be surprised to hear this - but yes they are rigged.  Why else would they give out up to 200% bonuses on your initial deposit if they weren't confident of profits? All casinos are based on some type of standardized casino game which always favors the house.  This is commonly referred to as the "house edge".  The rules of each casino vary to change this house edge.  For example in blackjack, some casinos allow the house to hit on a soft 17 or allow doubling on any hand. By varying these rules the house edge can be changed.  Make sure you are familiar with the rules and the probability of the particular casino you are playing. Not all casinos are alike and the odds of some online casinos are seriously stacked against you.

Regarding the house cheating the player in more devious ways: I've seen casino software where the administrator can simply pre-select the amount they can win in all the games.  This house edge can be instantaneously changed without the player knowing about it.  In one instance, I've seen blackjack odds that are at an 85% payout rate!  Due to confidentiality and personal health issues I am not about to reveal these casinos but I can tell you that most reputable casinos particularly those provided by top end software providers do not engage in these practices. At times I do admit the so called "random number generator" doesn't seem some random when you lose 90% of blackjack hands.  Refer to my section on how to identify dishonest casinos.  If you do suspect a cheating casino from a Microgaming licensee ask the casino if they use Playcheck and keep a record. 

Most casinos however make most of their profits from novice players who do not know how to play the games which further increases the house edge. Players splitting face cards and standing on soft 16 are a casino operator's bread and butter.  I've played at Intercasino where other players (group tables) are splitting 4's with the dealer holding a 6 and to top it off betting 25% of their bank. The lack of knowledge of average players contributes to a bulk of a casino's earnings. 

Casino operators are not stupid - some are however just devious.  They invest in hundreds of thousands of dollars in software and marketing to make money, not give it away.  Bonuses are a form of marketing used to entice players to gamble.  The operators are gambling that players will gamble enough for the house edge to take effect and recover their investment in bonuses. 

In my experience I have had some lousy experiences with casinos giving the highest bonuses. Most of them are due to not being able to cash out because of some condition.  These conditions are imposed to prevent fraud which is particularly high in certain countries.  The problem is that these bonuses have conditions to them that vary greatly according to the casino.  Some require 5 times, 10 times, 20 times and even more of the initial bonus as a minimum gambling requirement.  Some other casinos exempt certain games. Others don't pay the bonus out until you make an application to the marketing department which may take days. So read the fine print! 

My recommendation is to not be too enticed by the bonuses as the best bonuses typically have the toughest cash out policies.

See this resource for more details. 

've played at casinos where I've lost 18 hands out of 20 dealt consistently and ended up wondering how in the world they cheated me that badly.  I've played at other casinos where it seems like the dealer is an employee picking cards just so they can beat every single hand I get!  Sometimes it's just the luck of the cards but often it's a case of a dishonest casino operator.  Payout odds are only valuable if they've been audited by a firm like Price Waterhouse Coopers. Anybody, particularly the software developer, can claim any payout percentage they want. Without independent auditing these numbers mean absolutely nothing.

As I've mentioned, I've seen more than one casino where the house edge can be changed on demand. This could be implemented on a day of a promotion or during a holiday when volume is greatest. I'm not going to speculate on this nor name names but my recommendation is to stick with the honest casinos I've named. 

Refer to the section on report a fraudster  for further steps on how to take action.

Online casinos don't like to lose money.  Unlike land-based casinos payouts are not real-time.  Therefore even the best casinos have a policy where you can reverse your cash-in request during the first few days. This encourages the gambler to continue to gamble allowing the house the opportunity to allow the house edge to take effect.  Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about this until new systems are developed.  The only thing to do is to resist the urge to reverse the cash-in particularly if you are a gambling addict.

There are some tricks dishonest casinos implement:

• Imposing unreasonable banking fees, wire transfer charges and service charges to discourage withdrawals.
• Providing lots of resistance to cash-out.  One casino I played asks me to fax in my driver's license to cash out a trivial amount ($40). This is both time consuming and costly. Avoid dealing with these types of casinos.
• Long payout periods.  Some casinos simply delay paying as long a possible.
• Payments plan - Large jackpot winners are often paid out in installments without the option of a lump sum payment. Unfortunately some of us won't live long enough to reap the benefits promised. Make sure you deal with reputable casinos.

Online gaming is a lucrative industry with very attractive margins.  Marketers are promoting casinos with banners, junk email, giveaways all in hopes to get players to join casinos.  The benefit that these marketers get is that they can earn a proportion of the net losses by the player.  This fee is to cover the marketing costs.   Our site generates revenue in the same way.

When looking at a link farm's "top ten casinos" be wary of how they measured the top 10.  In some cases this is genuine but in many cases the reasons are not so honorable.  

tIf your objective is entertainment then play whatever you like. However if your objective is to minimize the house edge then there are certain games that offer better odds.  The best thing to do is to refer to the casino's website where they should list the payout percentages.  Some casinos have this listed by game so you can see which games have paid out consistently.  In general slots and video poker pay out slightly worse odds than table games.  Within a game like craps there are certain bets that can be considered nearly even (i.e. 50/50 odds) and other bets that are purely "sucker bets" (i.e. less than 40% odds).  For more information refer to the resources listed at the bottom of this page..