What Have Online Casinos Been Doing to Combat Cheating?

In 2022, 35.5% of the South African population gambled online.¹ Online casinos led this market, providing £4 billion of the total £6.5 billion gross yield. However, a study by the University of Nevada found that fraudulent activities cost online casinos almost 10% of their profit.² Cheating on online casinos can take various forms, from card counting to cyber attacks. In this article, we’ll explore the innovative ways online casinos have been trying to tackle this problem and how these ways are likely to develop in the future.  

What are Online Casinos and Why Are They So Popular?  

Online casinos are virtual versions of land-based casinos. They include all the traditional games, from blackjack and poker to slot machines and roulettes. They aim to recreate the feeling of betting in a live casino using vibrant graphics and sound effects. Some online casinos have gone beyond this to include live games where players can interact virtually with other players and the dealer.  

Along with the recreation of the feel of a physical casino, online casinos offer players more bonuses, such as free spins or bonus rounds, than traditional casinos. One of the main attractions of online casinos for many players is the convenience of playing from their mobile. Online casinos are also available 24/7, so players can enjoy them anywhere. Another attraction of online casinos is the various payment methods available. Players can fund their games using debit cards, bank transfers, or cryptocurrency wallets. This can allow players to transfer their winnings into their accounts directly.  

Safer Gambling 

For players who are at high risk of gambling-related harm, online casinos can be addictive. However, they offer a number of measures to help players control their spending that aren’t found at most in-person casinos. Players can set time and spend limits, block casino sites on different devices and control their marketing preferences. All online casinos must incorporate these methods of responsible gambling due to the 2005 Gambling Act. This legislation made it illegal for an online casino to operate within the UK without adhering to rules on safer gambling.³ These rules mean online casinos offer a wealth of safer gambling resources, including links to support services, such as gambling addiction helplines.  

What Types of Cheating do Online Casinos Encounter?  

Card Counting 

Card counting is a form of cheating shared across physical and online casinos. While not technically illegal, it is frowned upon as a form of cheating. Players keep track of, or count, the cards that have already been dealt with to predict what might come next. Despite how difficult it may seem in films, card counting doesn’t involve remembering a whole deck or decks of cards. Players can instead memorise only a few dealt cards, to which they assign value depending on their number. They use their running total, the total value of the cards that have been dealt, to help determine whether the odds are in their or the casino’s favour. Once players calculate the running total, they adjust their bets in line with the favourability of the remaining deck. 

Blackjack, which usually only uses a single deck, is the most common game where card counting is used. Live online blackjack is a target for card counters as the human dealer can make the same mistakes as in a physical casino, such as not shuffling a deck.⁴  

Cyber Attacks  

Some players sway the odds in their favour by altering the game through hacking or cyber-attacks. This can be through AI bots or generated fake profiles, which manipulate a game’s mechanics. Hackers can also target other players’ accounts, breaking into them and using deposited cash or linked financial accounts to play.  

Collusion and Bonus Abuse 

Collusion is used by poker players and involves teaming up to cheat the system. The team will share their cards to determine how to beat the remaining players. Sometimes, collusion can be performed by a single player using different accounts. Similarly, players may set up multiple accounts to gain a bonus or promotion multiple times. This is called bonus abuse and can be difficult for casinos to prevent before it’s too late.  

What Have Online Casinos Been Doing to Combat Cheating?  

Card Counting 

Card counting is less frequent at online casinos because of the measures that prevent cards from being predictable. These include using multiple decks that are frequently shuffled to stop players from keeping an accurate running count. Online casinos also use random number generators to shuffle and deal cards, meaning each card drawn is an independent event that can’t be predicted. If an online casino still suspects a player of card counting, they can use AI to monitor their patterns.⁵ AI can detect if a player is on a continued winning streak and flag it to the casino. Although it isn’t illegal, an online casino might delete the account of a player they suspect of cheating by card counting.  

Cyber Attacks 

AI can also be used to help prevent bots or fake profiles from hacking the system. Bot profiles will often make moves and decisions faster than humanly possible. As well as this, bot accounts may be playing continually. If the AI system detects these patterns, it will flag it to the casino, who can then disable the account.  

Online casinos prevent account takeovers through the use of multi-factor authentication. This requires a player to enter various information before being given access to their account, such as codes sent via text message to the player’s phone. To unlock an account, multi-factor verification can be enhanced by using biometrics, such as facial recognition or fingerprints. In combination with high levels of verification, online casinos often use firewalls. Firewalls help to prevent cyber attacks by blocking those flagged as suspicious from entering the site.  

Collusion and Bonus Abuse 

One of the methods online casinos use to prevent collusion is tracking IP addresses. If multiple accounts play with the same IP address, they likely originate from the same player. By using AI, which can quickly analyse massive amounts of data, casinos can determine if players use more than one account to collude. Even if players are using external methods of communication, such as texts, a pattern will emerge when collusion occurs. This pattern can be two players who consistently raise bets against each other to make the remaining players lose more money, called whipsawing. Another pattern is when one player consistently dumps their hand regardless of how good it is, which is called dumping. Behavioural analysis software monitors players in real-time, which detects patterns that suggest collusion. Casinos can then block or delete a player’s profile if they suspect collusion.  

Online casinos have been increasing verification methods and tracking to prevent bonus abuse. By making users provide information for verification, casinos can ensure they don’t set up multiple accounts using the same details. AI tracking is also important for preventing bonus abuse, as it can flag if multiple accounts originate from the same IP address.  

How Will Online Casinos Develop Their Methods to Prevent Cheating?  

Due to its ability to process vast amounts of data quickly, AI has become instrumental in helping protect against cheating. Before the adoption of AI, it would take online casinos much longer to spot player patterns associated with cheating and to spot a trend in cheating, like collusion. As AI is constantly learning, it can adapt to detect new cheating methods almost as soon as they are used.  

In the 2024 iGaming report, Jumio predicted that using biometrics to prevent cheating in online casinos will also increase.⁵ AI is vital in these systems as it can identify patterns in fingerprints or faces. Biometrics will provide greater protection by preventing access to accounts without the relevant verifications. It can also prevent bot or fake accounts that won’t have biometric data.   

How do Online Casinos Prevent Cheating?  

Currently, online casinos use various methods to prevent cheating, such as high levels of verification and AI tracking. In instances of cheating, like card counting or collusion, the introduction of AI to monitor and identify suspicious patterns has been vital. By analysing huge amounts of data, AI can spot these patterns before a physical casino’s methods allow. In the future, AI will continue to be vital in preventing cheating in online casinos.   

1. Gambling- South Africa, Written by Statista, Published by Statista. 

1. Redefining Fair Play: AI in Detecting Fraud and Cheating in Online Casinos, Written by Raymond Erickson, Published by Medium.  

1. Gambling Act 2005- Explanatory Notes, Written by the Department for Culture, Sport and Media, Published by Legislation.gov.uk.  

1. How Do Online Casinos Prevent Card Counting?, Written by Rudie Venter, Published by PlayCasino.  

1. Online Gambling Regulations and Trends in 2024, Written by Jumio, Published by Jumio.