Gambling is about taking risks. You play a game and you play against the odds. You win some and you lose some. It’s all in the game, you claim. It doesn’t really matter because it’s in the human nature to take risks. Sometimes, if you lack certain stimuli in your daily life, life can get pretty boring. Some will turn to drinking, some will turn to drugs. Others will start to gamble. And why not? You just want to have a good time and forget those little petty worries that constantly seem to plague you in your everyday live.
Gambling is all about taking calculated risks and it is about trust. Because you have to trust your adversary enough to think that the odds of the game are evenly distributed. If you lose, it must just be the result of a temporary stroke of bad luck. Better luck next time.
But what if the company behind the games isn’t as trustworthy as it should be? Would you know and would you want to know? And even more important: how would you know?
Suppose you like to visit some online casino or online poker room. Is it reputable? Is it honest? Does the fact that it is based or registered in a far away Middle American country like Belize worry you at all? Maybe it should…
Because why in heavens name would you even consider setting up a company as a shell or letterbox company established in an offshore jurisdiction if you have nothing to hide or nothing to fear. Why in Belize or Cyprus or, say, Mongolia?
And, to be able to play, you always have to download a little program. Which is, of course, very understandable. How would they otherwise know who is playing and when. Or where to transfer your money (to you if you win or from you if you lose). But how do you know that you only have downloaded the required software? Are you really certain that your computer isn’t being infected with some sort of unwanted spyware cookie, spyware or adware? Or, worse, a Trojan…
You like to take risks but there is far more to loose than just some money. Your privacy is the very first item to fall victim to these rogue online casinos and online poker rooms. That’s not good at all but even more worrying is that you could, theoretically, have downloaded software that could compromise your financial security because some programs could easily gain access to your precious bank account and transfer al the money to the aforementioned country.
This is not about taking risks but more about falling victim to criminal acts. In short: it’s not a risk you should be willing to take.