Online Casinos To Avoid – Your Complete Guide
If you’re new to the online gambling realm, you may not yet know enough to avoid blacklisted casinos that pose a danger to players. With so many new sites launched every year, how do you know which platform to go for, and which ones to steer clear of at all costs?
To begin with, dodgy sites are more than eager to take your deposits, but will show their true colours when it comes to withdrawals. They may unfairly delay them or not credit your winnings at all. Worse, you may encounter an online casino list on the internet that looks amazing, with top-notch bonuses and games, but you may soon learn all or many of them operate without a licence.
Read on to find how to perform your due diligence and discern trustworthy and legit online casinos from outright scams.
What Are Blacklisted Casinos?
Blacklisted casinos, also known as rogue casinos or scam casinos, are online gambling sites that have garnered a very negative reputation. Following numerous unfavourable reviews and complaints from players, these casinos are added to a list of shame, if you will. This database oftentimes gets published by a licensing authority, allowing players to be on the lookout for these low-grade websites.
In addition, the blacklist is updated frequently in an effort to protect the entire online gambling community. If multiple complaints are made about the same online casino, the regulator will be prompted to respond, intervene and even revoke its licence permanently. If the online casino is unlicensed and operates illegally in a particular jurisdiction, not only does it get blacklisted, but the founding company will also receive a hefty fine.
How Does an Online Casino Get Blacklisted?
Countless behaviours can cause an online casino to be put on a blacklist – for example, delaying withdrawals for no reason, having abusive bonus terms, unfairly limiting daily wins, or hosting rigged games. To substantiate their claims, players will also submit valid proof to the regulator.
A frequent and often dangerous practice that may land an online casino onto a blacklist is unlawfully accepting registrations from certain jurisdictions, without having a local licence.
UK Players, Watch Out!For example, many so-called non GAMSTOP casinos accept UK players without holding a valid licence from the UK Gambling Commission. Since they operate from offshore locations, oftentimes without a licence at all, they may also accept self-excluded UK players. Because GAMSTOP only blocks UKGC-licensed casinos, these questionable sites fly under the radar. As a result, self-excluded UK players may be targeted with online gambling content against their will, which is not only immoral, but also illegal.
Another way to tell if you should avoid an online casino is to look over the software providers’ websites. Many of them will have a list of partner casinos mentioned, most commonly in the footer section of their homepage. As a rule of thumb, established software providers like NetEnt or Microgaming only work with reputable online casinos. Consequently, studios can also terminate collaboration and refuse to supply any content to online casinos associated with shady practices.
Because the blacklisting process it not always automatic, the same questionable company may open dozens of online casinos until the community or the regulators catch wind of it. Usually, if the company shows a persistent pattern of bad behaviour, you should absolutely avoid all of their sites. Very rarely do these kinds of company ever turn over a new leaf and actually play by the rules.
Here are some examples of founding companies known for creating shady sites, some of which have since turned into blacklisted casinos:
- Cyberrock Entertainment
- AlfPower Group
- FutureBet
- Ace Revenue
- Curgam Group
Top Blacklisted International Online Casinos to Avoid in 2023
- False advertising
- Accused of rigging games
- Awful player reviews
- Known to withhold funds on dormant accounts
- Abusive terms and conditions
- Slow payments or no payments at all
- Blacklisted by multiple reputable casino sites
- No resolution on player complaints
- Unreasonable terms & conditions
- Negative player reviews
- Extremely slow customer support
- Small payments on monthly win instalments
- No dispute resolutions
- Payments delayed for months
- Blacklisted by numerous online entities
- Unlicensed RTG casino
- Few games
- Withdrawal issues
- Awful reviews on TrustPilot
- Take deposits, but don’t pay out
- Terrible customer support
- Not mobile-friendly
- Extremely slow payouts
- Stole progressive jackpot winnings from a player
- False promotions
- Withdrawal restrictions
- 2-star rating on TrustPilot
- Over 90 negative player reviews
- Refuses to pay out winnings
- 1-star rating on TrustPilot
Top Blacklisted UK Online Casinos To Steer Clear Of in 2023
- Not on GAMSTOP
- Maximum net winnings limited daily
- No licensing
- Accepts UK players without having a UKGC licence
- Not registered on GAMSTOP
- Accused of hosting rigged games
- Accepts UK players without a UKGC licence
- Not on GAMSTOP
- Huge delays on withdrawals
- Targets UK players illegally
- Not on GAMSTOP
- Very lax KYC
- Undisclosed owners and licensing information
- Accepts UK registrations illegally
- Isn’t part of GAMSTOP
- Accepts UK players without a UKGC licence
- Undisclosed owners
- 2.3-star rating on TrustPilot
- Unlawfully accepts UK players
- No licensing
- Net winnings limited to €5,000 daily
- Accepts UK players without a UKGC licence
- Can only withdraw $/£1,000 over a 30-day period
- No information about the owners
- Not on GAMSTOP
- No licensing
- UK registrations allowed unlawfully
- UK registrations not restricted despite no UKGC licence
- Refuses payments
- Bad reviews on Trustpilot
Why We Blacklist Online Casinos
In the past, there were fewer oversight measures available to stop dodgy casinos from running underground operations or cheating players out of their hard-earned cash.
However, the massive technological advances of today have made it less challenging to name and shame – regulators have complaints systems, players have active forums, online casinos are now getting reviewed en masse, even on sites like TrustPilot.
It’s easier than ever to share your experience, warn the community and sanction unfair business practices. Here, on Top10-CasinoSites, we aim to do the same – as soon as we have any suspicions about an online casino, we research it thoroughly and, if it’s associated with any significant problems, we warn our players to give it a wide berth.
Here are the main aspects which usually signal that an online casino should absolutely be avoided:
No Licensing
The number one red flag is when an online casino functions without a licence. One way to tell is by visiting the footer section of their homepage. Here, if the site runs a legitimate operation, you should be able to find the following information listed: licence type, the regulatory authority who granted it, the availability and a seal of approval or a certification.
A licensing seal of approval on an MGA-licensed casino (Source: cashimashi.com)
If you can’t track any of the above on the homepage or in the terms & conditions, skip the site in question. Without regulatory oversight, many unlicensed platforms have lax security procedures in place and terrible customer support. In addition, do keep in mind that, if you run into any issues, such as stolen funds or unpaid bonuses, there’s no third party to complain to, so the risks are tremendous.
Rigged Games & Unknown Providers
Blacklisted casinos have a track-record of manipulating game results in their favour and cheating players. In many cases, customers have even supplied mid-game print-screens to prove it on public forums or other places of discussion. Furthermore, the vast majority of these dubious websites work with no-name studios or suppliers.
To counteract this, our advice is to only play games from studios that you know and that the industry as a whole also recognises, such as Pragmatic Play, Microgaming, NetEnt or Big Time Gaming.
Furthermore, even if you do see these reputable names listed, please also double-check. That is because, in recent years, there’s been a surge in sketchy online casinos presumably offering games from certified studios.
Copies are Not the Real Thing! Beware!In actuality, what they offer is fake, pirated copies, or outright stolen games, with RTP rates rigged in their favour. To avoid falling prey to these deceptive websites, we urge you to search the website information carefully, check-in with the software developer pages to see if they actually have a content partnership with said casino, and also read player reviews.
Trustworthy casinos often publish a separate section on their websites, such as ‘game fairness’ or ‘RTP’ in which they detail how they offer random odds to players and the return rates across their entire library. Some even have live RTP trackers that you can check out. If you can’t find any of the above, it’s probably another red flag.
No Games Certification
A hallmark of trustworthy online casinos in general is that their games are verified for fairness. They may display independent games certification from testing agencies like eCOGRA or iTech Labs, use Provably Fair algorithms or carefully detail how the RNG (Random Number Generator) algorithm works.
At the opposite end, blacklisted casinos show zero transparency in this regard. There’s no way for you to accurately check if the listed odds and RTP are accurate in practice or not.
No Payments or Payment Delays
Some gambling sites are notorious for withholding player winnings abusively or delaying withdrawal requests for no reason.
Now, we need to also specify that, sometimes, there may be legitimate reasons why your withdrawal request is stuck on pending (for example, you haven’t verified your identity, you deposited using someone else’s debit card, which goes against terms & conditions, you’ve tried to withdraw without fulfilling wagering first etc.).
However, if you know for sure that you’ve won fair and square, didn’t break any rules listed by the online casino, repeatedly contacted customer support and no positive resolution was reached, something’s definitely off.
Unfair Limits on Daily Wins
We understand limits placed on maximum deposits or withdrawals – these make sense, and are often set by the online casino or by a payment processor. That being said, when an online casino places a cap on daily wins, we tend to get wary.
These limits are sometimes very low, especially for high rollers, and the idea goes against the core principle of luck-based games. If you got lucky, you should get paid, whether that’s $10 or a million, correct? These kinds of mentions are usually carefully hidden under mountains of terms & conditions. It’s why we warn players to always read the fine print.
A daily win limit from Non Stop casino (Source: nonstopcasino.co)
Abusive, Unclear, or Incomplete Bonus Terms & Conditions
When you find a casino list online, one of the first things you should check regarding any site you're interested in is the welcome bonuses. It’s not uncommon to find monstrous bonuses listed – they almost sound too good to be true to entice players. However, when you dig a little deeper and look over the terms & conditions, things turn sour.
Blacklisted casinos often fail to mention key information about bonuses, and it’s done deliberately to confuse players or discourage them from claiming the offer. At the bare minimum, when you see a casino bonus listed, the following information should be provided in full: the bonus amount, the steps to claim the offer, the wagering requirements, the maximum cashout allowed, the minimum deposit and the time limit.
Predatory terms are a distinctive characteristic of blacklisted casinos. They may list bonuses with insane wagering requirements, for example 75x or 99x. Worse, they may ask players to fulfil this crazy wagering within 24 hours or even less.
Unsecured Platform
Another warning sign is when an online casino has an unsecured platform; in other words, when they have no valid SSL certificate installed. That means any data you share with the platform is at risk of being stolen, misused or shared with third parties without your consent. This is especially dangerous, considering the fact that players are required to share many personal details at registration or when approving a payment, such as name, surname, address or phone number.
We strongly urge our readers to only register on online casinos that supply an encrypted connection to the platform and also use other safeguards, such as firewalls or cryptographic protocols. When you browse a new online casino, on the left side, next to its URL, look for a lock graphic element – this will signify the connection is secured.
Unprofessional Customer Support
One way to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to online casinos is to have a closer look at customer service and even interact with it as a test. Trustworthy sites provide 24/7 customer support on multiple channels, including live chat, email, and phone. Their agents are responsive, knowledgeable and friendly.
On the contrary, blacklisted casinos are known for their abysmal customer support. They may also advertise their stellar live support in the terms & conditions, when, in reality, they provide an online chat service disguised as a live chat.
Why is that a problem? Because you don’t get a real-time resolution. You can only leave a message to a supposed chat, but you’ll receive a reply on e-mail. For urgent issues, this is unsatisfactory at the least, not to mention misleading.
An online chat service misleadingly posing as a live chat for players (source: nonstopcasino.co)
Why Should You Trust Us?
Our main goal is to only recommend secure and legal online casino sites to protect the integrity and the right to play fairly of our readers. To achieve this, we perform a thorough research, review and testing process before we give the green light to any gambling site. Unless it meets our strict verification criteria, the site in question never makes it onto any of our lists, and we also give a fair warning to avoid it.
Here are the key things we look at to determine an online casino is safe:
- Licensing & Security – We only recommend online casinos licensed by trustworthy regulatory bodies, such as the UKGC (the UK Gambling Commission), MGA (Malta Gaming Authority) or Curaçao eGaming. We always verify if the licence is in good standing and if the platforms are secured via encryption and firewalls
- Player Feedback – It’s always important for us to get an accurate feel from players themselves. We regularly check out forums and other places of discussion to pinpoint any common complaints. Then, we verify the validity of the claims at the source (for example, if multiple players talk about unfair bonus terms, we verify them at the casino)
- Payment Methods – The banking options available are another key aspect that can make or break your experience as a player. We only select online casinos that work with well-known payment processors for the industry, such as Skrill, NETELLER, Visa, or Mastercard
- Fair and Diverse Bonuses – The bonus structure is tremendously important in our opinion, as it shows how much an online casino values its newcomers and existing players as well. We carefully go through the T&Cs ourselves and, if any red flags pop up, we make sure to inform our readers. In addition, the online casinos we recommend show a great deal of diversity in their bonus offerings. They showcase anything from free spins to VIP perks, slots tournaments and even giveaways
- Certified Games and Software Providers – Blacklisted casinos are known for rigging the RTP rates and software to give themselves a higher edge. Our goal is to only recommend sites that use verified software, so we also analyse the provider list and the RTPs in great detail, and even test some of the games ourselves.
Blacklisted Casinos FAQs
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It’s a very rare occurrence. That is because, once you lose player trust, it can take months, if not years, to regain it. If the casino in question was also blacklisted by a regulator, and their licence was revoked, they will need to follow very stringent conditions to get it back (e.g. agree to periodical game verifications, have great customer support, advertise bonuses properly, and so on).
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Whilst it’s not a rule that’s set in stone, it’s definitely a bad sign. It’s not uncommon for a company with ill intent to run multiple shady websites (also known as ‘sister sites’). If one falls, the rest are still up, until players get the memo on all of them. In general, if a single company is caught red-handed with one site, there’s a high chance all of its operations are run the same.
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Absolutely. Many licensing authorities have public records of online casinos with questionable or predatory practices, for example MGA (Malta Gaming Authority) and ONJN (the Romanian regulatory body). In addition, regulators may also inform players about online casinos posing as licensed, when in reality, they’re not. For example, MGA has a list of unauthorised URLs you can look over.
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Unfortunately, it’s a very slim chance, especially if you played on an unlicensed platform. If the site in question was licensed, and they got fined and blacklisted by the regulator, you might be able to redeem your funds, if the licensing authority imposes such a legal requirement.
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The best course of action is to submit a complaint directly with the regulator. For example, you can lodge a complaint with MGA. Curaçao eGaming also has a similar system. If enough players shed light on a particular casino and their claims are proven to be correct, the site may eventually get blacklisted.
Iggy Fenech
