Finally it’s beginning to happen, the US torn between trying to run a free society, giving people the freedom to make money whilst of course battling a huge moral outrage at stuff like gambling has inevitably started to free up online casinos. It was always going to happen really, as in reality the US strange stand against internet gambling seemed slightly at odds with the thousands of bricks and mortar casinos all over the country. In truth internet casinos and gambling was never going to stop – just that the US wouldn’t get a slice of the action and such was always doomed to failure.
The USA was simply missing out on the huge revenue stream involved whilst the rest of the world cashed in, including to American players who would always find ways to play anyway.
The choice of their first license holder has aroused some controversy though. The UK/Gibraltar based company 888 is of course a hugely well known name in the online gambling market. Many however would argue that the reason they are so well known is that they spent much of the last decade spamming the internet with millions and millions of emails and offers.
888 of course were not alone, but in an area where business ethics should be beyond reproach they are a surprising first choice. They’ve appeared on lots of spam blacklist and bodies have cited their unethical practices – have a look at this webpage from 2006 – http://www.zdnet.com/web-casino-blacklisted-for-messageboard-spam-3039267254/. The report basically refers to the affiliates of 888 filling message boards, forums and blogs with links pointing at the 888 casino games.
They are said to have cleaned up their act substantially since those days. It’s still surprising to me that they have been chosen so early on in the licensing process.
For anyone wanting to play online casinos and practice their roulette techniques, then you should always avoid like the plague any offers that are spammed on blogs, forums and through your email. Ignore the huge bonuses, they often have complicated terms and conditions assigned to them which ensure you never benefit. Many of the least reputable casinos have another tactic – they simply don’t pay out if you do win. If you just want to play for fun just leave the free offers alone and play along with something like Bodog’s free roulette games which you can play for free here.
If a a company relies on spamming for customers, it is likely they will not treat them well – please ignore them.