Country Related Issues at Online Casinos

Published: March 22, 2012

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Online casinos do enable players from anywhere on the earth to wager at online casinos located at some other place. But this should not be mistaken for “anything goes”. The place of residence of the player imposes several constraints within which the wagering has to take place. Some of these constraints are imposed by the country and others are imposed by the online casino. Therefore a player must have a complete idea of country related issues before he signs up at an online casino.

The first and the most important issue whether the player can wager online or not. This is determined by the laws of the player’s place of residence. Usually a country will have uniform laws across all its regions, but not necessarily so. It is very clear that the onus is on the player to determine what the laws are in his country. If he wagers, knowingly or unknowingly, in contravention of the laws then he is liable to face the penalties prescribed. Online casinos have a prohibited list of countries of their own, which is different for different online casinos. If a player’s country is on that list then he cannot wager at that online casino, even if online gambling is legal in his country. The second important legal issue is the age of the player. Online gambling is clearly an activity meant for adults but the age for adulthood is not common across countries. Normally the online casino specifies its own age limit and the player’s country will have its own age limit. The higher of the two age limits will apply.

The second set of country related issues concerns the banking aspect in online casinos. The first of these is the choice of currencies. Most online casinos offer wagering in many currencies. The best of them are known to offer wagering in over a dozen currencies and therefore the player has to make a choice. The general rule is that if the currency of the player’s country is offered then the player has to opt for it. This rule makes considerable commercial sense as well. Some online casinos designate a default currency if the player’s currency is not offered. This is usually US dollars. Again the player has no choice. But if the player has a choice he must make it with due consideration because it is very difficult to get a change in the currency. Ease of operation with the chosen foreign currency in his country and exchange rate related issues need to be considered.

The player will almost always have a choice in the payment option. The best online casinos provide a drop down list of the different countries. When the player selects his country the screen displays the payment options available. One important country related issue here concerns credit cards. Some credit card issuers allow withdrawals to credit cards in specified countries. So if a player belongs to such a country, then the credit card payment option becomes very attractive.

The final country related issue at online casinos is related to bonuses. Because of prolific bonus abuse by players from certain countries online casinos take one or both of the following steps. They prohibit players from those countries from availing bonuses or they impose severe wagering requirements on the players from those countries. These countries are listed in the online casino terms and conditions. This is not fair to honest players from those countries but it is a step that is essential in the larger interest.

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