How are bingo sites regulated?
It happens quite often nowadays that some bingo sites have become blacklisted or have even been closed down altogether. Bingo sites are regulated, but who regulates them and how are they regulated?
Who regulates bingo sites?
Real-life bingo has balls drawn from a pot and called. Online bingo can’t replicate that, so instead an RNG (random number generator) is used. This is so every number that’s called is completely random, making every game just as equal and fair as any real-world game would be. Even with RNGs assuring fair games, there’s still another problem: how are you meant to know other players are real players? Are winning players just pretend so the company can get its money back?The main way sites are regulated is by having a gambling license. Having one of these allows the site to offer its gambling services for money and means that the site and the technology it uses have both been deemed authentic.
Bingo licenses
In Europe there are four main organisations that provide licenses for online gaming sites. These are: the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission, the Gibraltar Licensing Authority and the Lotteries and Gaming Authority of Malta. The UK Gambling Commission, whose job it is to ensure that these are operating correctly and are not breaking any laws, oversees each one of these different organisations. Most bingo sites will state that they have an active license from one of these four organisations – if they claim to have a license from elsewhere, double check to see if it is a real organisation.
Independent auditors
RNGs are put in place to ensure fairness, but when you play online bingo games, you can’t know for certain that the numbers generated are completely random. Every so often, sites will have their RNGs checked and verified by independent auditors to ensure they are working correctly and have not been rigged in any way so as to favour the site itself or any particular players. When requested, bingo sites will offer a full report detailing the statistics for their pay-out percentages. Quite often you’ll find this published on the site for players to see as well.
Bingo watchdogs
The people who are mainly responsible for regulating bingo sites are bingo watchdogs. If ever there are claims of unpaid winnings, illegal activity, or anything that doesn’t seem right, watchdogs will open up an investigation to determine if the site has done anything wrong. If they decide the site has indeed done wrong, the site will be blacklisted.
Check the site’s review
A great way to find everything out about a site before trying it out for yourself is by reading reviews. There are plenty of sites that have reviews of bingo sites – reading these reviews gives you an idea of what you can expect from the website and it lets you know what good and bad things other players have to say about the site in question.Quite a few bingo sites are also quite active on social media sites. Checking out social media pages is another great way to find out about a site.
Financial regulation
When it comes to online gaming, it’s more important than anything that gaming sites are fully able to secure your money. If they can’t guarantee the safety of your money, they will be blacklisted and will no longer be able to operate. Fortunately, financial transactions are always regulated, though this is often taken care of by the banking company that provides the ability to do transactions. If you want to find out whether a site is safe and can be trusted, simply check to see if it has a license. If you want a better idea of how good the site is and what it has to offer, read reviews from other players and industry experts.