Overview

Charles Ponzi was an incredible salesman whose greatest invention was a twist on an age-old scam known as 'rob Peter to pay Paul'. The concept is simple; you take money in from one investor in order to pay dividends to a previous investor. This sort of pyramid requires a constant influx of fresh investors whose funds are used to pay dividends or payouts to earlier ones. Ponzi was definitely not the first person to pull it off on an enormous scale; that 'honor' goes to Adele Spitzeder, who built an entire banking empire around it, but he was the first to be exposed by newspapers with global reach.

Modern scammers have taken their craft digital and seek to rob unknowing users at every corner. These scams range from phishing sites to rogue online casinos. The latter often deploy underhanded tactics and manipulation in order to steal your funds or financial information. You can spot some of these sites rather easily. However, there are some that fool even veteran punters and those of a cynical persuasion. We are here to prevent this from happening and help you stay safe.

Your greatest tool in the struggle against rogue casinos is research. There are, however, dozens of factors that feed into a casino’s quality and reliability. These can be difficult to gauge or even to follow, which is why our panel of gaming experts has done it for you. The casinos that we recommend are first-class establishments, while the casinos that we blacklist are the polar opposite.

Join us in this handy guide and learn what a blacklisted casino is, how you can spot it, where you can find reliable alternatives and everything in between!

Our Humble Request

Have you been mistreated by an online casino? We kindly ask you to report any and all casinos that appear to have unscrupulous practices. OCR does its best to observe the online gaming world, but our reach is not infinite. Your reports help us keep the gaming community safe and away from predatory hands.

What Makes an Online Casino Trustworthy?

Casinos are like people; they come in a myriad of shapes and sizes, each of which has its own benefits and flaws. However, too many flaws can indicate intentional sloppiness or predatory intentions. These early warning signs, along with those buried deep in the depths of an online casino, are exactly what our experts look for. Their vectored reviewing approach with a best-in-class checklist spots bad apples from a mile away. The topics that we examine range from licensing and regulation to game libraries and security.

These examinations produce reviews that you can read on this very site. Moreover, you can also search for a casino and see if it made it onto our list of recommended or blacklisted casinos. Check out our trusted casinos to see which ones scored the highest on our tests.

We deeply value the opinions of regular punters, which is why our final verdicts take complaints and community feedback into account. These often touch on a casino’s history, operations, offerings, and general attitude. Any one of these can be a red flag that torpedoes the reliability of an online venue.

We usually consider the following:

• Does the operator offer licensed RNG-based games?
• Can we trust the payment methods?
• Are payouts made in a reasonable timespan?
• Are the licenses up to industry standards and up to date?
• Is the software modern and intuitive?
• Is customer support reliable?
• Can we play various first-class games?
• Are the security measures up to par?
• Do the bonuses and promotions produce excitement?

A casino that falls short in any of these categories will not be recommended by OCR. It might even make it onto our list of blacklisted casinos if the shortcomings spell out ill-intent. You should only ever consider recommended online casinos, regardless of the promotion that you are offered.

Blacklisted Casinos

Are you worried about your chosen casino? Check out the blacklist below and see if your venue is a safe bet. The listings also have the reason for the positioning next to them. These include unreliable customer support, shady withdrawals, unfair games, and so on.

Trusted Casinos