Reputable gambling portals and player communities maintain “blacklists” to warn others about untrustworthy casinos. A site lands on these lists only after showing a pattern of unethical behavior. Here are the most common reasons an online casino gets blacklisted:
Operating Without a Legitimate License
Many blacklisted casinos operate without a valid license or pretend to be licensed. Some even lie about their licensing, using logos of reputable regulators without actually being regulated. Others have had their licenses revoked due to misconduct but continue to operate anyway. A shady site might claim a license from a small offshore island with virtually no oversight, as seen with operators such as b-Bets, 24Bettle, or Casino Sieger, which use low-control jurisdictions while presenting themselves as fully regulated. Without a robust regulator, players are left with no recourse when issues arise. An unlicensed casino can get away with anything from not paying players to rigging games, with little consequence.
Payout Delays or Refusals
Rogue casinos can delay withdrawals for weeks or months, provide ludicrous justifications to evade payment, or outright refuse payouts. Many have a history of delayed or denied payments, including operators such as LuckyBull, b-Bets, 24Bettle, Big5Casino, and Casino Sieger, as well as Viggoslots and FortuneJack, where unresolved withdrawal issues appear repeatedly in complaint records. Any site that habitually withholds funds or confiscates winnings without justification is quickly labeled unsafe. If a casino withholds or confiscates your legitimate payout, it’s essentially stealing. No player should have to fight to get the funds they fairly won.
Unfair or Misleading Bonus Terms
Blacklisted casinos commonly lure players with huge bonus offers, only to hide predatory terms in the fine print. This might include impossible wagering requirements, max cashout limits that nullify big wins, or vague rules that let the casino void your winnings on a technicality. Unclear or constantly changing terms and conditions are another warning sign. For instance, voiding a player’s winnings over minor “bonus rule violations” is a tactic some rogue sites have used, including operators like Viggoslots, LuckyBull, b-Bets, 24Bettle, Big5Casino, and Casino Sieger. Always take a close look at the T&Cs, as bonuses wrapped in unclear or restrictive conditions are often designed to disadvantage the player. Legitimate casinos offer fair bonus terms, but blacklisted ones use bonuses as bait.
Rigged or Unfair Games
If a casino is caught running games that are not truly random or fair, it’s effectively defrauding players. Rogue sites run pirated versions of popular games or tamper with their random number generators to tilt the odds heavily in the house’s favor. The red flags here include games from unknown providers. There is no evidence of independent game audits, and the return-to-player (RTP) rates are unusually low, far below industry norms. You might encounter slots that never seem to hit a big win or suspicious streaks in card games where the dealer improbably wins every time. Legitimate casinos have their games tested by agencies like eCOGRA or GLI to ensure true randomness and fairness. In contrast, a shady operator might offer cloned or crooked games that give you virtually no chance of winning.
Data Security and Privacy Failures
Shoddy security practices can also land an online casino on the blacklist. Any reputable gambling site should protect players with robust data encryption and cybersecurity measures. Blacklisted casinos, however, might lack proper encryption or safeguard protocols, putting your sensitive information at risk. If a site isn’t secured, things like your passwords, credit card numbers, and personal details could be intercepted by malicious actors. Rogue casinos with weak security pose a real danger of identity theft and fraud. Some scam casinos have even been known to distribute malware via downloads or email spam or have their website flagged as a phishing threat by browsers. Any casino that fails to safeguard user data or privacy or operates without basic security audits is deemed unsafe and often ends up blacklisted.
Poor Customer Service
Another hallmark of rogue casinos is terrible customer service (or none at all). If you encounter an issue, anything from a game glitch to a payout dispute, a blacklisted casino’s support team might simply ignore your emails and chats entirely. Some provide support staff who give copy-paste answers without ever resolving anything, or they might not offer support at all. We have encountered such situations ourselves during evaluations at MintBingo, where a transferred payment was never credited and support stopped responding, and at KaiserSlots, where a withdrawal was declined without any explanation despite completed verification. Consistent non-response from an operator is a clear indicator that the casino does not provide a reliable service.
If you suspect you’re dealing with a fraudulent or unsafe casino, it’s important to act quickly and cautiously. Whether you’ve noticed sketchy terms, unusual game behavior, or the casino is stalling your payouts, here are the steps you should take:
- Immediately halt any deposits or bets once you sense something is wrong. If possible, request a withdrawal of your remaining balance right away (though a rogue casino may not honor it, there’s no harm in trying).
- Take screenshots of important evidence, like your account balance, any error messages, correspondence with support, terms and conditions that might be relevant, etc. Save emails or chat logs where the casino’s representatives made any questionable statements. Having a record of what happened will be useful if you need to file a complaint or alert others.
- Give the casino a chance (a short one) to resolve the issue by reaching out to their customer support. Be calm and polite but firm in requesting a solution. Explain the problem and ask for a timeline on when it will be fixed or when you’ll receive your funds. In some cases, what felt like a scam could be a misunderstanding that a responsible casino will correct. However, if the support is unhelpful, dismissive, or non-responsive, don’t continue to plead. At that point, further play or negotiation is likely futile and you should move to the next steps.
- When possible, lodge a formal complaint. For instance, if the casino holds a license in Malta or the UK, you have the option to lodge a complaint with either the Malta Gaming Authority or the UK Gambling Commission. Even if the casino is offshore, some independent dispute resolution services (like eCOGRA or CASDR) might take up your case if the casino was affiliated with them. Admittedly, if a casino is truly rogue and unlicensed, there may be no authority to hear your case, but it’s worth checking. Also, if you deposited via credit card or e-wallet, you might consider reporting the fraudulent transaction to your payment provider as well.
- Scan your computer for malware (in case the casino’s software did something nasty). Monitor your bank statements for any unexpected charges and promptly report them to your bank.
- Finally, share your experience to alert others. Post honest opinions on casino review sites or forums. Outline what happened to you so other players can learn from it. Providing feedback not only helps others avoid the scam, but sometimes public complaints can put pressure on a casino (some shady operators will resolve an issue to save face if they’re called out publicly). Even if you can’t recover your losses, reporting your experience helps others avoid the same issues and reduces the flow of new clients to operators that rely on misleading or abusive practices.
Unfortunately, not all unreliable casinos are identified immediately. A platform may be too new to reveal warning patterns, or it may begin acting dishonestly after a period of normal operation. This is why it is essential to always act with caution and apply principles of responsible gambling, maintaining control over their play even when a casino appears reliable at first glance.
