by David Mead
Now, keep in mind that not all cheats are made the same. Some are just there to give you an edge and provide you with a minor net gain (but gain nevertheless). So, let’s see if cheating in an online casino is really possible and what kind of security measures these platforms are using in order to avoid it.
Bonus Abuse
The first type of “cheating” is bonus abuse. The reason why we put the word cheat under the quotation marks is due to the fact that you’re not really hacking or doing anything malicious. In reality, you’re just abusing a feature left by the platform itself.
As long as you’re following the terms and conditions of the sign-up bonus, you’re not really cheating. Still, it definitely feels like it.
For instance, if the casino has a 100% deposit match bonus that goes up to $1,000 and you decide to invest the maximum, you would start with $2,000. So, if you end up losing roughly $500, while you’re technically on the loss, you’re still ahead by $500 (relative to the money that you’ve actually invested).
In this scenario, all you would have to do is adopt a strategy that will minimise their expected loss. The most popular such strategy is the so-called anti-Martingale system. It is similar to the traditional Martingale strategy, with the difference that you’re actually doubling up on winning bets and halving your losing bets (an opposite of Martingale – hence the name).
Now, the biggest difference when it comes to the abuse potential is whether the bonus is cashable or non-cashable.
How do casinos avert bonus abuse?
There are several ways in which casinos deal with bonus abuse. First of all, they can restrict you to the games in which house has the biggest edge. This way, they’re statistically still likely to get out of this ahead.
Second, you may also get a partial credit, which would mean that you need to put a certain (usually quite high) amount of money into action before cashing out.
Hacking or Stealing
When discussing how to cheat slot machines, the majority of people think about things like cheat codes, cheating devices, software malfunction cheats, etc. However, there are a couple of things worth keeping in mind:
- Most, if not all of these strategies are completely illegal.
- Casinos (and online casinos) are aware of these strategies which makes them take necessary steps of precaution.
In a traditional casino, people would use magnets, shaved coins, and similar methods. In an online casino, it all comes down to the RNG, which means that hardware manipulations (and thinking in this direction, to begin with) are completely pointless. Instead, hackers are focusing on RNG software which helps them modify probabilities.
Of course, some hackers aim to give themselves free credits, which is just as malicious and fraudulent.
How do online casinos fight hackers?
The majority of online casinos use SSL encryption, which relies on secure links between the customer, the browser, and the server. Other than this, some of the biggest online casinos are either employing in-house IT security experts or outsourcing this to prestigious companies.
Identity Theft
According to US statistics, around $700 billion was lost due to identity theft. While this is an alarming statistic from the perspective of a regular player, it’s just as bad for the casino. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there are more people in online casinos than ever before. According to some estimates, the value of the online gambling market could reach $93 billion by 2023. This alone puts it on the radar of numerous hackers and malicious parties.
The problem here lies in the fact that players may use weak passwords or share their personal information with random people online. No matter how great your online casino’s security is, if you give your username and password to someone else, there’s literally no method of protection that will help.
From here, these malicious third parties can withdraw money from an account or even play using someone else’s credit. The problem is that due to its nature and the fact that it’s impossible to notice (before it is reported), this is one of the simplest and safest (from the standpoint of the cheater) methods.
How do casinos prevent identity theft?
The problem with this particular form of cheating is that there’s really not much that casinos can do. The best they can do is try to warn, raise awareness, and even educate their players about the dangers of identity theft. Verification in several steps is also quite useful here, but a lot of users aren’t that comfortable with giving even more personal info (like a phone number, private email, etc.) to an online casino. Needless to say, this makes this type of multi-stepped verification much more difficult.
One more thing that an online casino can do is insist on strong passwords. A strong password policy is a simple and crude method but it does wonders to protect the users from their own carelessness and negligence.
Wrap Up
Wherever there’s money at stake, there’s an incentive to cheat. Think about it, even in a traditional casino, there’s a chance that you’ll be scammed, pickpocketed, etc. Also, with the right incentive, people tend to get quite creative. Keep in mind that hackers, malicious as they are, are quite intelligent, resourceful, and technically competent people. In other words, worthy adversaries.
Still, people behind online casinos are putting just as much effort, resourcefulness, and creativity into their own protection. The fact that this industry is growing at a rapid pace is probably the best indicator of who is getting ahead in this struggle.
