Casinos have to abide by many regulations to operate their business legally. When you walk into an establishment, a lot has happened and is happening behind the scenes to ensure that the casino is running a legitimate and fair operation where players are not at any risk of getting scammed.
The ocean of legal requirements by which casinos have to operate is much deeper than any player who walks in is going to know or care about, for that matter. That is the business’s issue, even though it directly affects the players.
Players simply go in for the experience, to chase the thrill of potentially landing a profitable night of gaming at the blackjack tables or slots. But once they step inside those doors and are faced with all the familiar sights and sounds of the casino, what legal protections are in place for them?
Again, this is an area of gambling that most players never even consider, but there are protections in place that cover fairness and transparency.
Differences Between Jurisdictions
It is important to note that casinos operate under provincial regulations and not federal ones. So, there may be differences in player protections depending on where you are playing, making the following more of an overall guideline.
Still, the variation in protections between what happens in Ontario and British Columbia, for example, will not differ vastly.
For further exploration of this important topic, it’s worth looking at the article called Players Rights at Online Casinos, Written and Published by playcasinos.ca1, an in-depth examination of what you can expect to be covered when you play. It details things like the segregation of funds and how players’ banking transactions are protected when using online accounts.
Regulated and Fair Gaming
One of the biggest areas of player protection comes courtesy of the regulations that the casino operates under. Because of this, casinos have to offer fair gaming platforms, primarily through the certification of games.
Casinos must be subject to inspections by regulatory bodies to ensure that the games they are running, from roulette to slots, are all above board and nothing fishy is going on. Breaches of fair gaming can lead to serious problems for a casino, as they can be fined, sanctioned or even, in the worst case scenario, have their operating licence stripped from them.
If a casino was running unregulated, unfair gaming, that could also open them to potential lawsuits by players for unethical practices.
A big area of fair gaming practice is in slot machines. The machines are heavily regulated and can only run on certified Random Number Generator software. Casinos will be routinely checked to verify that everything is on the up and up with this. If there is any instance of RNG software being manipulated by the casino, that’s major grounds for trouble for them, so this system protects customers.
Consumer Rights
Whenever you use any business2 you expect a certain degree of transparency and fairness; in this area, casinos are no different. They provide a service and operate as a licenced business, so they still have to answer to someone to benefit the customer.
There are a lot of consumer protection laws involved in a casino when dealing with areas like promotions. Again, The buzzword is transparency, as the operator must be very clear about the terms and conditions of anything like a prize draw or special contest.
They cannot afford to breach consumer protection laws by trying to be misleading about any service they offer. Players are protected by this transparency.
Data Privacy
This one applies more to online casinos, but also, at least to a degree, land-based ones as well. In a land-based casino, you can sign up for their rewards program, which is typically in the form of a card that you slip into a slot machine that’s linked to your account so you can earn bonuses like free spins, free bonus cash and perhaps even complimentary food and drinks at the casino’s restaurant.
But registering involves you handing them at least some basic personal information. Online, this consists of a lot more, including identification verification, which includes uploading copies of a picture ID. This must be handled safely and securely, and it has protections. The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) deals with how businesses must handle people’s private information.
Whenever you are on an online casino platform, always look for the Privacy Policy, which outlines how the operator intends to handle, collect and store personal information. They have to adhere to the details of the published Privacy Policy, such as not sharing the information with any third parties without your consent. This is something to check out for personal protection alongside a casino operator being legally licensed and regulated before using it.
Resolutions
Should a player feel aggrieved by the gaming service or operations they have experienced at a casino, there has to be a route to resolution. The first step is reaching out to the casino management themselves and trying to find common ground there, but that’s not always going to lead to an answer because the casino will be trying to protect its interests.
From there, contacting the casino’s regulators will be the next step in the process. Filing an official complaint with the body that licensed the casino is a direct path to trying to resolve an issue of player unfairness. You should document everything about your experience, and having the regulators handle the case means they will be able to determine whether things happened within the legal framework.
However, this can be a long and exhausting process, so to help facilitate things, you can push towards a mediation service to have an independent body arbitrate over the situation for you. The last thing a casino wants is to get dragged to court, so escalating the process to having a mediator can potentially lead to a resolution by a settlement.
Supporting Self-Exclusion
If, for any reason, you want to limit your gambling habit, then you can apply for a self-exclusion. It’s a good option to explore if stepping away is right for you. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) self-exclusion program3, for example, means that you can exclude yourself from all resort casino facilities and casinos.
This involves contacting the regulatory body to help an individual commit to staying away from locations. Casinos must adhere to this, and if you were to step foot into a casino, the security staff would remove you from the property.
Clear and Precise Payouts
Players are also protected by clear information about payouts. This covers all types of casino games, from roulette and baccarat to blackjack. Casinos, by law, have to display the payout odds on games with no trickery – everything has to be transparent so that players know exactly what they are getting involved with and what payout to expect.
Casinos are also legally obligated to let players pay out money without delay or settling a major jackpot from a slot machine. Legitimate winnings cannot be withheld from players, and this would be a serious breach of regulations if it happened.
Players have a legal right to get what is owed to them, and if they don’t, then players can, in many jurisdictions, pursue legal action4. The ruling jurisdiction sets predetermined payout guidelines that the operator is under.
Casino Code – What Happens
The key statute that oversees all areas of gaming in Canada is the federal Criminal Code, which means that breaches of that come with potentially very serious consequences. The liability falls on the directors, offices and senior management, who could face criminal charges because of any fraudulent activity in the services that their corporation handles.
Only in extreme cases will individual entities within a corporation face criminal charges at a provincial level. All in all, it means that the business could face both civil prosecutions and fines.
Summary
Both online operators and land-based casinos are all heavily regulated, as any business should be, to protect customers. You have certain rights when you visit a casino, just in case anything goes wrong.
However, things going wrong aren’t common, and that’s down to the tight regulations that casinos have to operate by. They can’t afford any hits to their operations, funds or reputation, so they are typically considered safe places to play.
The rules that are set out for casino operations provide a transparent and safe gambling environment for all players. But as with any area of life, sometimes things go wrong, and it’s good to understand the scope of protections available to you.
- Players Rights at Online Casinos, Written and Published by play casinos.ca
- Local Business and Finance, published by TO Times
- Self-Exclusion Program Extended to Ontario Charitable Gaming Centres, published by olga.ca
- Unveiling the Legal Options: Can You Sue a Casino for Not Paying Out? Find out Now!, Written and Published by puschnguyen.com
Other articles from totimes.ca – mtltimes.ca – otttimes.ca