Casinos and other gambling establishments have the right to eject and bar any player for any reason they feel warrants it. Many Hollywood movies and books have depicted players being caught counting cards, or trying to cheat on the various games available.
Technology is employed to ensure these individuals don’t manage to sneak back into the casino at a later date. Cameras read license plates as vehicles enter the parking area, and facial recognition is used to spot undesirable visitors to the gaming floor.
But online casinos are a very different beast. Players hide behind usernames and play with a degree of anonymity. So, it is possible to get banned from an online casino, and what would be the reasons for it happening?
Can you get banned from online casinos?
Getting banned from a Vegas casino could spoil your entertainment statewide. If you are really unlucky, or really bad, you may end up in the notorious Nevada Black Book.
This infamous database lists all the individuals who are barred from every gaming establishment in the states. Surprisingly perhaps, the list is fairly small. By 2020, there were only 35 names in the book and it was originally started to weed out those who had connections to the mob.
Nowadays, millions of people use online casinos for their convenience. But, there are still rules, terms & conditions for play, and security put in place to make sure that everything is above board. Players can still find themselves ejected from a casino even if it is a digital one.
Below are a few reasons that could lead to your account being closed, and be declared persona-non-grata.
Can you be banned for being too successful?
All casinos are there to try and generate money, therefore they prefer losses to wins in general. However, wins are also good for the casino’s reputation, and keep players returning.
You can visit an online-kasino and play blackjack or poker and expect rightfully not to be banned just because you won. Yet, casinos online or on land have the legal right to ban anyone for any reason, including winning big. What they cannot do though, is refuse to pay out your winnings unless they can prove a glitch or some illegal activity was occurring, i.e. cheating.
Using bots can see you removed from a casino
Anyone who enjoys online FPS games will know how prevalent bots are today in gaming. Online casinos are also suffering from this, and so are the players.
Many people enjoy playing poker against AI players online for fun. There is no harm in this, and for many, it is a risk-free way of enjoying their favorite card game. However, when you sit down to play poker for money you should be able to assume that your opponents are human and playing fairly. This may not always be the case.
Bots are starting to be used widely in poker games and other activities in online casinos. Not long ago,888poker reimbursed $300,000 to players that had been seized from the winnings of bots.
Using bots could increase your winnings, but it will also see you banned if caught.
Surely card counting isn’t possible online?
Many people have been caught counting cards in casinos across the world and then banned. Even celebrities such as Ben Affleck have become unwelcome in Las Vegas and other gaming destinations due to his card counting skills.
The truth is, card counting is not illegal, but it is certainly frowned upon in any gaming establishment. Blackjack already has one of the lowest house edges in any game in a casino. Understanding basic strategy lowers the edge even further. Being able to count cards means that the casino is very vulnerable to losing big, and they don’t like that.
Counting cards online is possible, but it depends on which Blackjack game you choose, and on which site. There are also automated methods for counting cards online with bots, but as you’ve guessed, this will get you banned if discovered.
Fraudulent payment or identification
Internet casinos allow a great deal of anonymity, but security checks are put in place to ensure minors aren’t gambling, and that no fraudulent activity is occurring.
It should come as no surprise then that using a fake ID or cloned or stolen payment methods will result in being kicked off the site.
Yet, there are still some security risks here with modern payment methods. The history of the casino has seen the rise of Las Vegas through to the digital casinos used today. Now, there are decentralized bitcoin casinos that offer higher levels of anonymity.
Opening multiple accounts will end in a ban
Multi-accounting can be used for many purposes, but the ultimate aim is to increase winnings. Gnoming, chip dumping, and bonus abuse are three reasons to open multiple accounts, and all are bad news for online casinos.
Gnoming can be used to take advantage of extended odds by using multiple accounts to maximize profits. This method can also be used in some games to help one player win by actively losing on the other accounts. Sign-up bonuses can be abused and used this way too.
This technique for making bigger profits can work in the short term in casinos and sportsbooks, but will almost certainly result in a ban.
Abuse other players, the dealer, or customer support and you will have to go
Most, if not all, casinos online and on land will have a zero-tolerance approach to any verbal abuse.
Online casinos often have chat integrated, and can have genuine live dealers involved in the games. Customer support is also available online through chat. Abusing anyone through these chat options will certainly result in you being removed, and rightfully so.
Summary
Placing sports bets with inside knowledge could result in a ban if proven, but there are plenty of other ways a person could find themselves no longer able to log in to play.
Some believe that casino games enhance mental skills, and card counting certainly needs some talent. However, cutting corners and using bots to do the work might lead to a ban.
Online casinos can be entertaining, and they may even result in a profit from time to time, but flouting the rules could lead you to lose your favorite website, just as you can be banned from Vegas in the real world.
