Half of Online Gambling Sites Licensed Outside UK 'Safe' Jurisdictions
Released on: December 06, 2011, 10:52 am
Author:
UKZap.com
Industry:
Entertainment, Internet & Online
Players risk the financial consequences of online gambling
with unreliable and untrustworthy sites. Only 55% of sites are
operating with licenses issued from 'safe' jurisdictions.
London, UK, December 6, 2011 - The online gambling industry continues to expand with
an estimated 5 million new player accounts being created each year, despite the
risks that player's face from unreliable sites.
Many regions such as Alderney, Malta and Gibraltar were approved for addition to the
UK Gambling Commission's 'whitelist'. The purpose of the whitelist is to approve
only the jurisdictions that have sufficient regulation in place to ensure player
protection. Licenses from other regions are considered potentially unsafe for
reasons such as lack of appropriate regulation, and not providing satisfactory
mediation channels for resolving player complaints.
Only gambling sites with licenses issued by the whitelisted jurisdictions are
allowed to advertise within the UK. While potentially risky sites in non-whitelisted
regions may not advertise directly to UK citizens, they are still easily found
through internet searches and online advertising.
An estimated 1,100 online gambling sites are operating with licenses issued from
safe jurisdictions. At this time at least 900 gambling sites are operating with
licenses from outside the UK whitelisted regions, while an even higher risk is
associated with the many unregulated sites that hold no license and no system for
player protection.
With thousands of online gambling sites available, finding the reliable operators
becomes a challenge. Many players will fall for the tempting promotions being
offered by less trustworthy sites, and a large number of player complaints are
posted on online forums. Many times players deposit funds to a site and then later
attempt to withdraw their winnings - only to have endless problems resulting in no
payment being received. Sometimes operators claim to have technical or
payment-processing problems causing repeated delays, while other times the player's
winnings are confiscated with little or no valid explanation.
Three recently launched sites aim to address this issue by reviewing only the most
reliable online gambling sites, including only those with licenses in whitelisted
jurisdictions.
www.Top20BingoReviews.co.uk - Bingo is increasingly popular online, with sites
offering online chat so that players can keep the social experience of bingo even
when playing at home.
www.Top20PokerReviews.co.uk - The rise of online poker continues as players take
advantage of 'freeroll' tournaments as well as weekly tournaments with large
guaranteed prize pools shared among the winners.
www.Top20Bookmakers.co.uk - Of course all the big UK bookmakers now have competent
online operations to accept punter's bets, with many offering free bets and
money-back guarantees on certain events.
"Whether players are searching for bingo sites, poker rooms or online bookmakers,
the problem remains the same - there are many shady operators with questionable
ethics," said Philip Jones, manager of UKZap.com
"Protecting players from these unscrupulous operators is the primary goal of our
new sites, which aim to review only sites with valid licences and a history of
player satisfaction, prompt payments and good customer support."
In addition to reporting on the most reliable operators, these new review sites also
help players to find operators with special features such as mobile playing options
for iPhones, Blackberry and Android phones. Players will also find useful lists of
sites accepting convenient deposit methods including Neteller and PayPal.
For additional information contact Philip Jones or visit www.UKZap.com
About UKZap.com :
UKZap.com is committed to providing the UK public with trustworthy online gaming
information and resources. An important part of that commitment is conducting checks
of proper licensing held by each gaming site as well as reviewing customer support
and overall satisfaction of members. In this way UKZap.com assists UK players in
discovering the most reliable gambling sites.
Contact Details: Philip Jones, manager
UKZap.com
0844 588 5551
press@ukzap.com
Back to previous page
Home page
Submit your press release