Players Want Regulation Of Online Casinos

Published: Friday, May 19, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

PLAYERS WANT MORE EFFECTIVE REGULATION OF ONLINE CASINOS

Speakers on conference panel call for more regulation

Player representatives at an online gambling conference in Montreal today called for more Internet casino and poker room operators to join regulatory initiatives in order to afford online players additional protection.

Speaking for the players at the 8th Global Interactive Gaming Summit and Expo, panelist Ted Loh said that trust was critically important in the online gambling space, and that several national licensing jurisdictions were failing players by not responding to complaints and failing to effectively police the activities of their licensees.

"Too often players are treated badly by an operator, and when they turn to the licensing jurisdiction for relief they are ignored," he said.

Noted poker writer and expert Roy Cooke said that better discipline and regulation at online poker sites could be good for business, as only 10 percent of American players have ventured into online poker for real money play due to personal fears and perceptions of collusion or being cheated.

Loh added that there were insufficient assurances for players that softwares were fair and operational standards were professional and maintained at a high level. This had led to the formation of standards and enforcement self-regulator eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA) which was a positive move in the right direction with excellent dispute resolution facilities, but needed more support from software providers and their licensees, and more transparency in its dispute findings.

eCOGRA CEO Andrew Beveridge pointed out that the 76 operations currently entitled to bear eCOGRA's "Play It Safe" seal were supported by three of the largest software providers in the industry, all of which had been required to pass tough probity and software evaluations.

"But it is true that the more providers and online casinos and poker rooms join us, the more comprehensive the protection for the player," he said. "The eCOGRA initiative is open to all and the industry needs to pull together to ensure effective player protection and better efficiencies. Companies can do that by engaging with eCOGRA, where our seal-holders already handle some 70 percent of the online casino business," he said.

Beveridge discussed the eCOGRA inspection and monitoring technology developed by a top tier international business services company to check and verify the fairness of software. He outlined the practical requirements for best practice casino and poker room operation enforced by his company.

Panel chairman Michael Hirst OBE raised the question of problem and underage gambling in the online environment, and was told that on-site advice and measures, together with practical training courses for staff at "Play It Safe" venues were all part of the eCOGRA system, working in partnership with the international Global Gambling Guidance Group (G4)