Online Casinos and the Self-Exclusion Scheme

It is widely accepted that the UK online casinos are free from the fraudulent activities and therefore a number of players feel that they are safe from the online black hole. However, it has been recently observed that a very small percentage of UK online casinos actually follow the policy of self-exclusion, which clearly means that they do not allow players to place wagers on any games offered by them in the casinos. Such online casinos have been accused of accepting players bets from players with criminal records and even of players with money transfers conducted through illicit means. Even though there are many myths that are associated with this particular scheme, it is advisable that you should not make the mistake of ignoring this aspect and instead learn about the pros and casino not on gamstop cons of such online casinos.

The online casinos which do not allow players to place bets on any game offered by them are called the Adashables. They are mostly based in India and have hundreds of thousands of players registered with them. This is why they have become one of the most popular scams in the UK online casinos. There have been innumerable cases of fraud committed by these Adashables where innocent players have lost their hard earned money. These online casinos have become a part of the black economy and thus it becomes extremely important for the UK online casinos to carry out stringent checks on the potential customers to ensure that they do not lose out money by indulging in the scams.

Self-exclusion is one of the features provided by most of the UK online casinos. The concept of self-exclusion is nothing but an option provided by the UK online casinos to their players where they request the players to place a bet with them. In the case of Adashables, the players would need to place a bet with the casino before they can proceed to play at the site. Such a feature has been considered as a major violation of the anti-fraudulent regulations of the UK gambling laws. The casinos however, claim that such measure is adopted to ensure that the players are not able to transfer funds to any other casino site.

The self-exclusion scheme is also being questioned on the basis that it is being offered to people who do not have extensive knowledge of gaming. According to experts, people who do not have knowledge about the game do not know the basic rules of blackjack and hence cannot play on their own. If this is the case, then why the casinos allow them to participate in the scheme. They further point out that the online casinos have always given a fair chance to people and hence the players need not worry about the results of the bets. If the player losses then they have the option of withdrawing the money from the site. If the player wins, then they can claim the prize money from the site.

The online casinos have however defended their decision by citing the fact that the UK gambling laws prevent the online casinos from excluding players on the basis of race or age. However, the EC has denied the request for an immediate ban. A regulation which prohibits the use of software to calculate win/loss ratio and other similar technical features has been approved. According to them, the self-exclusion scheme can only be applied to players who register with the casinos for play in the United Kingdom. The EC feels that the online casinos can offer self-exclusions to players from any other part of the world if it is allowed under the regulatory law.

Some players feel that this regulation might allow some individuals to play online casinos even when they are already under the influence of alcohol. The EC informed the casinos that it was only a question of providing a service and not encouraging gambling. It is therefore not expected that online casinos will impose the self-exclusion policy across all games. It is not clear how the EC will proceed with the proposal to allow online casinos to ban players at will.