Ban online casinos

[destroyed]

Three days ago I still had a life. A couple of evenings of insanity and $20k later my world is totally shattered. And it's for certain there are thousands of others out there like me, and the rate of new victims will only increase with the huge amount of online advertising. It's so easy to chase your losses, you're at the computer all day long so a moment of weakness is all it takes for the sickness to take hold again.

Wasnt losing too heavily at first, justified the habit by opening new accounts with bonuses. But of course with multiple accounts the losses can be chased from one casino to the next. So when the slide finally started I was all set up for disaster.

 

[bellamia]

WOW I hear your pain... maybe a GA meeting would help if you can find one realize your not alone..
I agree with the ban people lose conciousness with gambling online there is no concept of the money until the bill comes.. all of it doenst seem real.. and maybe it isnt..
I have not gambled online at all in over
3 months and hope to never fall into that
trap again and I came out ahead..but if I kept
going I would of been under too..
GA helped me..

 

[the_cpa]

This is unfortunate. I know I hate to hear of these kinds of stories. You are one in need of help to control your gambling or really, sounds like you should not gamble at all.

The First and formost rule that I preach to EVERYONE is NEVER to gamble more that you can honestly AFFORD to loose. The 2nd is to keep your blood pressure under control.

It appears that the exhileration of it all got to you. I am sorry for your loss.

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[Casinomeister]

Sorry to hear of your painful experience, hopefully in time you can put this all behind you and move on. Without a doubt, get a hold of GA and use whatever resources they have available.

Bryan

 

[destroyed]

I can assure there was no exhileration, just a kind of miserable trance. As things get ever-worse you're thinking another $500 whats the difference.

Anyhow I suspect I will never gamble again. It's a matter of recognising and avoiding the way the disease takes hold, often using a small bet as an excuse to get started. At least the disaster struck now not in a few years time when I would have had much more to lose.

 

[dave_r]

The industry, as a whole, has NO CONSCIENCE when a player's entire life is destroyed due to his/her addicition.

Just turn on your computer, and two minutes later, you can be gambling hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. And you can lose it all within 15 mins.

Should it be this easily accessible? HELL NO.
Senator Kyle IS RIGHT. ONLINE CASINOS SHOULD BE BANNED. Senator Kyle once said that its easier for an addicted gambler to spend his/her hard earned $$$ online than it is for a coccaine user to get Crack.

You don't even have to walk out the front door to gamble. These casinos use very effective techniques to get you to give into temptation. There are far more addicts than the 1% statistic given by the industry. My personal opinion is that a good 20% or more of online gamblers are PROBLEM GAMBLERS.

I personally doubt there will ever be effective legislation to ban online casinos, but there should be, for the good of society as a whole.

In my 4+ years gambling online, I've gambled at literally hundreds of online casinos. On a personal level, I truly enjoy the ability to gamble from home, and I can see myself doing this for many years to come, if not for the rest of my life. I absolutely love the convenience. I also know I can beat these casinos in the long run by bonus hustling. After all, if these casinos have no conscince when they destroy an addict's life, why should I have any conscience when I go promo hunting? This does not mean I abuse the rules: I believe in following the casino's rules and regulations to the letter. I do not believe in setting up duplicate accounts. I do nothing illegal.

I simply use my high speed internet access to download 10 NEW casinos every day, and become a new player at each of them, grab the bonus, play the min amount of action, cashout, and logoff. I feel no guilt, since I am doing NOTHING WRONG. The casinos make the rules. I follow them.

There are some who will say there are no decent promos left on the net. THERE ARE NONE SO BLIND AS THOSE WHO WILL NOT SEE!!

While I agree that playthrough requirements have gone up on most casinos (7 - 10 x bonus + deposit), there are still some out there with reasonable requirements (4x or less).

 

[dave_r]

Just to follow up:

I don't think it's right for the government to legislate how you can SPEND your hard earned money. That should be up to you. And if you want to gamble it away, SO BE IT.

HOWEVER, government should protect its citizens from being ripped off.

The online casino industry is so laced with corruption that programmers are being hired to write source code to deliberately cheat the player. Some blackjack games are NOT random, but completely rigged to steal the players' money.

Until there is some EFFECTIVE regulation that protects players against this cheating software,
I will agree with Kyle.

Caveat Emptor:
The industry's 2 worst apples:
GSS and IGlobalmedia are still in business.

Numerous portals are "bought and paid for" and continue to advertise these casinos.

More and more players continue to get screwed.

 

[dave_r]

Current listing of IGC members as of
Feb 1, 2002

IGlobalMedia
Innoco Korea
Unified Gaming
CyberCroupier AB
Galaxiworld

The IGC has been bought and paid for.
Anyone who disagrees should click on the following link:

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

It would be a truly hilarious article if it weren't all true.

 

[crisall]

dave r, this article is satire at its best!

I play online in the exact same manner as you - though I only play at 3-4 new casinos a week.

While I have every sympathy for the loss of destroyed this is no reason to ban online casinos. It is the responsibility of the player for the losses, the casinos (well the honest majority) cannot be held responsible for the player losing money. Nobody can be blamed for losing the $20K other than destroyed.

Those calling for the ban of online casinos you must go the whole hog and ban land-based casinos also.

 

[bolle72]

Destroyed,
how did you manage to quit gambling online?
I know someone with the same problem.

 

[toofast4u]

The problem with online gambling is convienece, if you are addicted or you just enjoy gambling it can take over you very quickly, and when its gone its gone, there is no real out other than just hard work and perseveance. I know that I have had weak moments caused by online gambling, I once had over 13,000 in winnings that I spent in one night, it was as if I was in a sort of hypnosis, I only snapped out of it when it was all gone, and god did it suck to have to live with that thought, I then proceeded to spend about $2000 of my own money trying to chase those winnings.

 

[dave_r]

Toofast4U -

On the one hand you say that most of these casinos are outright scams, and that its nearly impossible to win.

On the other hand, you claim YOU WON $13000 online, and yet you gave the money back because were weak willed.

The fact is YOU COULD HAVE CASHED OUT. It was YOUR choice.

You also state there is really no other out other than hard work and perseverence. You are right. But please let it be known there are professional bonus hunters making a fortune, and not giving it back. This is not easy money. Professional gamblers may not have to punch in and out like at a "real job", but the money is NOT EASY, and being a bonus hunter is extremely exhausting and takes a lot of dedication, but the math is in your favor, and if you properly manage your bankroll, and have DISCIPLINE you'll pull through in the end. You have a much better chance of winning online than at a land based operation -- even if programmers have figured out how to subtly rig the games.

 

[Casinomeister]

"The problem with online gambling is convienece (sp)" yes, I tend to agree, but what is the crux of the matter are weak players. Players who do not have the self-discipline to stop. Also, people tend to feel like the money they are playing with isn't real. "It's so cyber!" (IMHO).

This is merely from an observance of my own behaviour in Vegas recently. casinomeister.com/vegas.html I would pump a twenty into a 1 cent machine and milk the hell out of it for quite a while, normally not playing more than $1 a hand. In the center of the casino floor (I was at the Luxor) is the pit for the "High rollers". Most of the machines in there were begininng at $3 spins and I thought about Microgaming slots and how they were basically the same setup. I wouldn't think twice about stepping into the "High rollers" section, even though I would be considered a "high roller" in their eyes since I frequent comparable slots online.

It's a different behavior for people online versus in-house.

 

[suzecat]

Online gaming should not be banned. However, I think a truthful disclosure should be given to every potential player BEFORE they download software and deposit any money. My suggestion of the disclosure follows:
Dear Player:

Despite that online gaming is a multi-billion dollar annual industry, we are not lining our pockets fast enough. Therefore, we are instituting the following procedure immediately and want you, the player, to be aware of the consequences you face if you play at our casino.

First, we will let you deposit as much money as you wish, by any means available to us, at your peril. We may or may not credit your gaming account with any bonuses we use to entice you to download and play at our casino. Again, the peril is yours.

Secondly, don't win too much money or our software experts will get you. Sometime ago, we developed what we call our "insurance policy" against players who might win some money from our casino. If you win one hand out of ten, or should you win two hands in a row, our insurance policy kicks in. We don't advertise this software we have developed as some in the industry may frown on it and kick us out of their club.

As long as you deposit lots of money with us and don't make any demands, we will get along just fine. However, if you are so bold as to ask for some of your money back, be aware that we do not like this at all and even frown on it. We will use whatever means at our disposal to reject whatever you say and may even call you a liar. If you report us to any of your casino fairness chums, we will call them a liar as well. Just deposit your money and then lose it and get with the program. It costs lots of money to hire all these people we have working here and someone has to pay their salary and it sure isn't going to be the guy who signs my paycheck.

If all the above fails, our ace-in-the-hole automatically kicks in to play. Our Ace is what is known in the industry as "bonus abuse." If all else fails, we use this mechanism to keep from paying you, the player, whatever we might owe you. If you complain, we are going to put your personal and private information on a list and share it with whomever is willing to pay the price. Of course, we'll let you download our software and deposit your money into our bank account before we check to see if your name is on the list. If your name is on the list, we'll keep your money to compensate us for the time and trouble it takes to keep up the list.

Keep these rules in mind, play fair, and have loads of fun. You deserve it.

Sincerely,

Your Casino Customer Service Representative

 

[stacy]

oh please! If you don't want to gamble and possibly lose your money then keep your credit card in your wallet. You are grown ups and no one is twisting your arm to play. So you lost money, what if you had won? Would you still be bitching? You probably did win a bit but it was your choice to keep playing instead of cashing out. Hey I have an idea, since I like to have a cigarette on occasion let's ban cigarette's because I might be tempted to stop at the store and buy some. How about alcohol or anything else that might be determental to me. The tequila was great until I got a nasty hangover now I want to sue the tequila company because I drank to much. If you are old enough to put money into a casino then you are old enough to decide when it's time to cash out. It's a form of entertainment not a get-rich-quick scheme. I don't mean to sound so harsh but I really hate it when a grown up make a decision then whines because it didn't go the way they had wanted it to.

 

[swampwitch]

The only REAL gambling of the airwaves I've ever seen is televangelism. I'd much rather give my money to a reputable online casino and chance hitting it big, than send money to a bunch of Armani-suit-wearing-wife-beating-estate-owning-holier-than-thou types on the off-chance they've got the key to heaven.

 

[Casinomeister]

I miss those guys...they aren't on the tele here

~b

 

[thesmiler]

They are on TV in Germany - you can get a channel called "GOD TV" or "Christian Channel Europe" as an Astra Satellite program (you don't need a digital receiver) - but only in the early morning every day.
Saturday and Sunday, I think they are on until midday.

 

[Casinomeister]

The guys I miss are the Bible thumping ministers who scream preach on the sidewalk. I lived in the Carolinas for a number of years and became accustomed to watching these guys tag team each other. Ohhh lordy!!!

Nothing like that here.

 

[toofast4u]

Dave R-
the same casino later screwed me over and kept $800 in winnings claiming there was freud related to my account. I know that there are reputable casinos out there, and yes I have made some stupid decisions

Stacy-
I think that some people have room to whine, an addiction is an addiction, and this particualr one is very deadly and can and does ruin lives, the convienece of the computer in your room can allow you to feed off of the addiction, I still to this day can not make logic sense of why I would spend such a large amount of money, and to most people that don't have the addiction cannot understand why someone would do it. Losing your hard earned cash at a casino can make you feel like a piece of shit and it is best to talk about it, so don't bitch about someone wanting to get it off of their chest. I still gamble to this day, but not nearly as much and I wager within a reasonable limit. I have learned to control myself and avoid falling into the same traps as before but I still can understand why it happens and what it makes you feel like when it does.

 

[chris55a]

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