Criminal Behavior

Internet gambling is a multi-billion dollar market with large amounts of anonymous money in play every day. With such large stakes, criminal activity is very likely and quite easy. Firstly, because internet gambling sites are unregulated, it is possible (and not uncommon) for some sites to accept large amounts of deposits from its members and then shut down without returning the money or paying out winnings. In this way, many people lose money without ever even playing.

The greatest concern for internet gamblers is the question of the fairness of the games that they play. Internet games are ruled by algorithms. All that it takes is a variation of the original and proper algorithm for a game to be rigged. In fact, it has actually occurred in the past that an online poker player has won very big or has withdrawn money from his account and has lost very marginally from then on – when he had two pair their opponent would have three of a kind, when he had a straight, their opponent would have a higher straight or a flush. This obviously raises questions of the fairness of such games, since it seems as though such a player is being punished for winning a lot or taking money out of circulation on the site. The rationale of taking such actions on the side of the gaming website is that once these players lose their money, they are expected them to invest more, thus increasing the site's revenues. There is unfortunately no way to tell whether or not a game is actually rigged and requires internet players to be especially cautious and strategic in their play.

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