My own poll.

[EbeeDog]

Okayyyyyyy folks here goes:

Well, I got the idea from the Grand Prive' poll and the ensuing thread. So, over the last week or so I have conducted my own poll. I am a cabdriver so I am fortunate to have access to the opinions and experiences of many different folks of varied backgrounds.

Of the folks I asked, I found exactly 12 people (out of maybe 200 or so) that had tried their hand at online gambling, be it slots, BJ, poker, or sports booking. Of that 12, exactly 2 claimed to have won. One at Bodog, making only sports bets. The other was a young fellah that claimed to supplement his income with his modest but consistent winnings at Poker Stars.

The other 10 reported various losses, claimed unfair play, and were generally not enamored of online gaming and vowed to stick to B&M in the future. Remember, these are people not connected in any way with the online gambling industry, and I found it refreshing that not one single person polled tried to discredit me, resort to character assassination, mockery or intimidation.

Now, a word about my own online gaming experience:

Quite simply, I no longer trust RTG software to be fair. I have tried Rushmore group, Main St. Group, Club World group, Bodog, and a few others I can't even recall, all with the same result. I win small bets and lose larger bets and have found RTG and the online gambling industry in general to be dishonest, incestuous and actually quite predatory. In the interest of full disclosure, I have only been playing for a year and a half, so yes, the possibility of my simply having incredibly bad luck or poor skill is there. But, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.......

I have also found many of the owners, affiliates and the like on this forum to be churlish, defensive and outright hostile anytime anyone has the temerity to even suggest that RTG or (other programs) are less than honest.

If convincing one's self that one is offering a legitimate service to a willing and eager customer base lets one sleep at night, so be it. Bad karma is a nasty thing sometimes and some folks seem to be intent on racking it up. I would NOT want to be them, no matter how much money they make.

I fully expect to be lambasted, censored, or even tossed because of this post, but, as it IS just my opinion and experience, I feel justified in posting.

[jetset]

I can't imagine why you would be 'lambasted' - you've expressed your opinion in an articulate and polite manner, deserving of replies in the same vein here LOL.

[rainmaker]

Never heard of that...doing a poll in a cab

I have a general comment.

I think that an average player often will be critical to online casinos. Most of the active people on this forum are above average (when it comes to the understanding of the online gambling industry). But many players will "always" be critical to online gambling because they usually will lose money. This will probably apply regardless of how "fair" a casino acctually is. I have many friends who are (probably) "average" gamblers (play some poker, a bit casino etc) and some of them don`t even know the difference between the casino they are playing at and the provider of the games in the casino (Microgaming, NetEnt etc...). These are things we take for granted here on the forum.
The understanding of online gambling among players are often quite low.Therefore, it will always be accusations of unfair play. But they do of course continue to play.

[maxd]

Okayyyyyyy folks here goes ... I fully expect to be lambasted, censored, or even tossed ....

Okay, would you prefer a light vinaigrette or perhaps just a dash of olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon ... for the "tossing" I mean.

But seriously, "censored"? "tossed"? For what? Maybe you've been talking to the wrong people about what goes down at Casinomeister?

[vinylweatherman]

12 is a VERY small sample for a poll, but it does suggest that players who have tried online gambling are increasingly distrustful of all this "cloak & dagger" stuff that online casinos & processors have inflicted on them, "for their own good" they say

When things have gone wrong, such as a processor getting seized, the PLAYER, who's money is what got seized, is the LAST to find out. Worse, they are often LIED to for weeks that it is some kind of "technical issue", which means they are not aware that their money has gone, possibly for good, and may continue to deposit money where they have no chance of receiving a withdrawal. US players are also subjected to illogical delays of MONTHS in some cases, with the casinos pretending all is well, the old "checks in the post" brush off used by many scammers to buy time.

Since the US has big B & M casino resorts, unlike many other countries, they DO have an alternative, and one that can be trusted because it is answerable to the law.

It's a fight that the online industry is losing, but they are making it worse by letting PLAYERS take all the risks with the least information available to them, whereas operators get tipped off, sometimes in time to save their OWN skins, but letting the players suffer the full consequences of not bailing out in time. The DoJ WANT players to lose trust in the online industry, it is the whole point of the current actions, and they are certain to continue.

I expect a poll here in the UK would have more saying their experience was good, even if they lost.

[rainmaker]

Okay, would you prefer a light vinaigrette or perhaps just a dash of olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon ... for the "tossing" I mean.

But seriously, "censored"? "tossed"? For what? Maybe you've been talking to the wrong people about what goes down at Casinomeister?

He probably thought Bryan/Casinomeister was an alias used by this guy

Kim-Jong-Il-R_jpg_250x1000_q85.jpg

[jstrike]

I drove a cab for a couple years. It's fun to hear people's opinions that way, if you ask. You really get a good cross section of humanity on any given day. So I fully support this kind of un-scientific poll; probably more reliable than an online poll, anyway.

I gotta agree with rainmaker, who said that players will tend to be critical because they tend to lose money. I mean, I've seen a fair number of players at MGM and Caesar's verbally abusing dealers, blaming their bad luck on them. Every dealer has stories like that. Other people aren't abusive, but they still blame their experience on the house, the dealer, the seafood at the buffet...their wife, for taking too long shopping, not coming to pull them off the table... my family's full of pit bosses and floor men. You name it, they've heard it. Some people will blame anything and everything other than themselves for not being able to control it or know when to leave a table. And I'd say those people are probably the majority.

Now in online gaming in the US, you have a double problem. It's plainly, absolutely illegal to run an online casino for US players. So the customers already know they're dealing with a shady organization that's willing to flout the law. If the casino doesn't have any respect for the law of the country, how much of a moral problem is it going to have with ripping players off?

[EbeeDog]

Great comments, thanks. And I *didn't* get "lambasted, censored or tossed..."!! heh heh. (Mebbe a tad 'noid there eh? Pretty funny all the responses regarding that...:-)
Chairman Mao indeed, lol.

Now, another thing:

Those of you abroad may not be familiar with the plague of what are alternately called "skill games", "adult games", "game parlors" etc. that has hit the midwest cities that typically do not have easy access to a legit casino. Their "adult skill games" are contraptions that are thinly disguised slots but lie just outside the realm of actual gambling so the law as it stands cannot touch them.

These places have A HORRIBLE reputation; one example is a lady I picked up in the cab that actually had me bring her home to get her two sons (rather intimidating fellahs) before the manager would cough up the lousy 400 bucks she won! (Yes, she did get it. - but while I was waiting I sat pretty low in the seat...no collateral damage here thank you

The point I'm trying to make here is that if online gaming could crack into that market AND not be so friggin' tight, AND not make folks go through Nine Kinds of Bullshit to get a payout, the results WOULD be bringing a service to a willing and eager customer base and be profitable for the operators too. Word travels FAST in the ghett and the utter sheer numbers would allow payouts more often, resulting in more players and on and on.

I realize that I know nothing about the infrastructure of an online casino. I'm an end user. I also realize that authorization before payout is a necessary pain in the ass ( I think). Most of these folks would not have checking accounts and such - they would probably be playing with those gift card type reloadable Visas etc. The market IS there. I just don't know how you (or I) could reach it in a fair and honest, but modestly profitable way. The whole idea of offering really good odds resulting in smaller but consistent returns really does appeal to me, despite what I implied earlier.

So, after boring you all with that rambling crap, I think I'll shuffle on over to Bodog and fiddle with $1 BJ, because, you know, I always lose. (yes young Rainmaker, we always come back.. Then again, maybe I'll take up macrame.....

A side note to jstrike: Yup, I myself have used every one of those reasons and possibly a few more: "It's the falling barometric pressure!" It is true when the fish aren't biting......so why not? Also, VERY astute observation on operating in the US.

Thanks for reading and responding all.