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Every online casino has two set of Terms and
Conditions (T&C's) you will have to make
yourself familiar with before you start playing at an online casino;
the general Casino Terms and Conditions and the specific Bonus
Terms and Conditions. The Casino T&C's are the
general guidelines you will have to
follow and accept if you want to play at online casinos. Bonus T&C's are
specific guidelines you will have to follow and accept in order to play with
bonus money at an online casino. The Casino T&C's are also referred to as
house
rules, while Bonus T&C's are also called bonus
rules/policy. In order
to have space to discuss both set of T&C's thoroughly, they will be discussed in
separate sections. This part of the casino guide will focus on the general
Casino T&Cs. The Bonus T&C's will be discussed in the next section.
But
what are these Terms and Conditions and why are they so important? An
example might help the understanding.
When you buy insurance you get
in writing what the insurance policy contains,
economic details, exceptions to rules and so on. Casino T&C's serve
the same purpose. They outline the ground rules for
play at the casino and clarify in detail what you can and cannot do at the
casino. The T&C's constitute a legally binding agreement between
the player and the casino. The casino must honor the agreement and the same goes
for the player.
Online casinos will phrase some things
differently and maybe use different words, but basicly the Terms
and Conditions sections are very similar from casino to casino contentwise. The
purpose of this section of the casino guide is to
outline the most common T&C's at online
casinos and the implications and consequences they have from a player's
perspective.
Signup =
Acceptance of the Casino T&C's: One of
the first thing you will read in the Casino T&C's is something like:
"By using the Software and the Service you agree that you have
read and understood the terms and conditions and you acknowledge that these
terms and conditions shall apply to you." Once you open an account you
automatically accept the casino T&C's and you promise the casino that you will
comply with these. The T&C's are not open to discussion. They are "Take it
or leave it" rules. You have to accept them in full. If you can't, then do not
open an account at the casino. Simple as that. So make sure that you read the T&C's
and understand them.
Casino play at own risk: Online casinos will also write something
like: "Participation at the Casino is at your sole
option, discretion and risk." The casinos write this
to make sure that you understand and accept that no
one else than yourself can be blamed for any losses you might have at the
casino. When you opened an account you did
so out of your free will. You chose to gamble at a casino where you can win but
also lose money. You are as an adult solely responsible for making the choice to
gamble. The casino (or anyone else for that matter) cannot be made responsible
for negative consequences of your actions.
Your account is your responsibility: The casino will
also write something like: "You are entirely responsible for maintaining the
confidentiality of your password and account and you
have sole responsibility for any and all activities
that occur under your account." If you share your password and/or
account information so that somebody else can use you casino account then you
cannot blame the casino for any losses.
It is your own fault. You need to have a good password (one with characters and numbers) and you need
to keep it to yourself.
Players must be of legal age and from legal countries:
Online casinos will also make you aware that:
"You are solely responsible for checking the laws regarding the use of the
internet gaming in the jurisdiction in which you are located." and: "You must be at least 18 years of age to use the
Services or place bets on the Sites". Not all people are allowed to
play at online casinos. Players from some countries are not allowed to
play because of laws that explicitly prohibits it. A list of
known prohibited jurisdictions will usually be listed on
the casino's website, but it is also a good idea to make a google search with words like "gambling law [country's name]" to be sure that you
are allowed to play. Additionally you have to be an adult (normally 18 years old, but at some
online casinos and in some countries 21 years old) in order to be a legal player. Players that
are not legal either because they are underage and from a prohibited
jurisdiction
are "persona non grata" at online casinos because accepting them as players will
be lawbreaking.
Freedom to change T&C's: You can
also be sure that the T&C's will include a
formulation like this one: "We reserve the right to
amend, modify, update and change any of the terms of
this agreement at any time". Casinos sometimes have to adopt to
new situations or they might just choose to make changes to their T&C's because
they feel it is in best interest. It is therefore
strongly advised that you regularly check for changes to the T&C's
(bookmarking the T&C's page is recommended). Most likely it will be minor changed that are acceptable
for you, but if you cannot accept the new terms, you should immediately close
your account at the casino.
The player pays the taxes:
In the T&C's there will also be written something like: "The player is solely responsible
for any applicable taxes on winnings that he
collects from the casino". Online casino does not send any information
about your
winnings to your local tax authorities. It is therefore
completely up to you to find out how the tax rules are in your
country and to pay taxes of your winnings if you are required to. If you are
unsure of if or how much tax you should pay, make a google search on something
like: "tax online gambling {your country's name]" or contact your local tax
authorities.
Personal
information & Identity: In the T&C's you can also read something like:
"You agree that you will not provide any information that is untrue, false, incorrect or
misleading." and: "Players may be required to submit certain verification
documents when withdrawing/depositing at the casino. In order to comply with
regulations and gambling laws online casinos make regular checks to ensure that
players are who the say they are. To avoid underage gambling, money laundering,
identity theft etc., online casinos
will sometimes ask you to provide a copy of some photo identification usually in the form your
driver's license. They can also ask you to send photo copies of documents that prove your address, that you are the
owner of the credit card used to deposit and so on. Players should not open
casino accounts in any other names than you own and should not use any cards and
accounts that does not belong to themselves. Personal information submitted to
the casino must be correct and up-to-date.
Software malfunctions: The
T&C's will also include something about software and other technical errors. It
can be something like: "If you are incorrectly
awarded any winnings as a result of (a) any human
error on the part of the Service Providers or (b)
any bug, defect or error in the Software or (c) the
failure of the Games or the Software to operate in
accordance with the rules of any of the Games
through technical error, fraud or otherwise then
the Service Providers will not be liable to pay you
any such winnings". Online casinos are powered by casino software which can contain bugs and errors.
It is
therefore possible that a player gets credited a win by error even though he/she has a
losing hand or a winless spin on a slot. Casinos need to protect
themselves by having it in their terms that if the software produces obvious mistakes, then they can reclaim the money that was wrongfully credited to the
player.
Account Termination: If the Terms and
Conditions are not kept it will have serious consequences for the player. You
can be sure that all online casino will have something like this in their T&C's: "The casino has the right to terminate Services or suspend
your account if you are in breach of
the Terms of Service." There will be sanctions to face if you fail to
follow the T&C's by letting someone else play with your account, provide false
information, play although you are underage etc. The casino can close
down your account and in serious cases confiscate the
player's money (including winnings) at the casino. Remember to follow the
T&C's at all times or face the consequences.
It will take some time to read the
T&C's at online casinos, but it is a necessity. It really is. Always read the T&C's
from start to end and if you cannot
accept one or more terms, DO NOT sign up at the
casino. I know I am repeating myself, but this cannot be stressed strongly
enough. It is also a good idea to make a print of the T&C's when you signed up
at the casino. It might be useful to have at a later point. I can also recommend
that you bookmark the T&C's page at the casino(s) where you are playing and
check this page regularly for updates.
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