Online casinos

Until we can get into a regular Casino do you think these online casinos are legitimate?

They're generally legitimate, particularly the ones listed on Wizard of Odds and similar legitimate gaming sites. 

The better question is what are you going to do there? The days of the bonus bonanza are all but gone, most are now unplayable. The poker games I suspect are corrupt, with multiple players sharing downcard information at a table.

Live dealer casinos are now common but there are only two studios making their games available to US players. They both have 50% pen at best. You have the advantage that you can use software to assist you (to cheat, let's not obfuscate) but that will only provide you with minimal help. You can attempt to use a combination of false ID, cryptocurrency, and a VPN to represent yourself as a non-American and there are better conditions available for the live dealer casinos that accept only non-US players, but that is hairy and I cannot guarantee you will get paid if your act isn't good enough. Perhaps if you have a partner in an online casino-friendly jurisdiction, he can represent the partnership when dealing with the business end of the casino while you play over a VPN pointing to his country. 

Before you do any of that go and watch the live dealer games, decide what you want to play, what it will take to beat it and for how much.

Thank you. I appreciate your response. I'll just until the casinos open up around here.

Do any of this forums members play online BJ? 

Thanks to all who can chime in on their thoughts about legitimacy of online BJ and whether what I experienced was within normal variance or if the online BJ game suddenly got a software update with increased edge to house. 

I'm debating whether to play again online or quit for good. I question the legitimacy of online BJ based on my experience with one site in particular.

If you've played online BJ do you feel the online casino's abide by honest card dealing without any additional built in edges as well (such as including player tendencies, skewing the cards dealt and the outcomes based on bet size, etc)?

I'm trying to figure out if the bad run of sessions I had in the past is normal variance or if the online casino suddenly updated software to increase their edge against BJ players.

I know the odds are in the favor of online casinos, ~ .78% house edge on site I played.  But I had won consistently so I kept playing for about 5 months and won consistently during that timeframe. 

However, there was a bad run where I've lost 80% of sessions (playing 6+ hrs each session) losing most of my gains for the 5 month period.  But what's really stuck out in my mind is whether the online bj game has always been legitimate or suddenly started scamming me, i.e. via a software update.  In one session in particular I lost what I estimate to be 75-80% of hands during a 5 hour period (of a 12 hour session), is this within reasonable variance?

There were a large number of hands (maybe 10-15% of hands over a several hour period) where the dealer drew to 21 in 5-8 cards to beat my 20 (3 times I had 20 with a large bet out and lost to 21). Is this within normal variance? 

Granted the online casino I played on uses 6 decks and reshuffles in between deals and uses European style (dealer only has one card and no hole card) so run outs to 21 aren't impossible.  Again the frequency of 5+ card runs outs to 21 to beat me regularly seemed higher than reasonable for standard variance.  Was thinking to ask for blackjack hand history to have someone evaluate it for me. If I made a big stink on social media, and there was a lot of public outcry against the casino, perhaps the online casino would offer some compensation for losses.

Also, during periods (e.g. several hours) of that session the dealer would seemingly start with a 10 or Ace (what I feel is 1/3 of the time). 

During 2020 I played and won at ~ 90% win rate (didn't track session win/loss but did track buy in/cash outs and only tracked a handful of losing sessions over 5 months).  this win ratio seems unusually high so wondered if I just got very lucky during that timeframe.  But also I was stubborn and wouldn't quit when down unless I lost my entire buy-in so the few losses were large compared to the regular wins.  

'Also, during periods (e.g. several hours) of that session the dealer would seemingly start with a 10 or Ace (what I feel is 1/3 of the time)'. 

The chances of a dealer starting with a 10 or A is 38.46%.

Consider yourself very lucky that you won consistently over a 5 month period playing with against such a disadvantage.  

Thanks Gustav.  I was down quite a bit and managed to get up a decent amount before breaking even.  I realize things could have turned out much worse.  Still kicking myself for giving up a decent win though. 

Any thoughts on whether my experience was within variance or if the online bj site suddenly decided to increase their house edge with a software update?  The sheer amount of 5+ card run outs to 21 (esp when I had a large bet but also when I had small bets) astounded me.  I've never experienced this in person compared to the sheer volume of what I experienced during online BJ.  Have you experienced similar in person or online? 

I'm going to be blunt here, I think you have selective memory.  Complaining that the dealer starts with 10 or A  seemingly 1/3 of the time when in fact, it happens more often,  tells me you are not aware of what is really happening.  One reason why you may experience such things of amount 5+ card runs online that you don't seem to experience in person is that online, you are playing much faster online.  Perhaps more that 10x faster.  This can easily fool the mind.  

It's been 15 years since I played online.  In my day, I played a lot online.  I did experience cheating.  But it was rare.  I don't have any info on online play today.  

Almost all of the casinos available to US-based players are not licensed, so their RNGs have not been certified. This includes the ones recommended by the Wizard of Odds. Only a handful of states, such as New Jersey, have licensed online casinos. If you play at an unlicensed casino, you have no way of knowing whether or not the game is a fair one.     

Thanks for the insights Scott63.  Based on my experience with online casinos I don't recommend them.  I've played BJ and poker a number of years and had bad runs but nothing like what I experienced with BJ in online casinos recently.

The variance seemed beyond reasonable variance to me, especially the frequency with which the dealer drawing out against my dealt hands of 20 on both large and small bets. 

And as you've pointed out since most online casinos are overseas there's little recourse players out of their country have and the regulatory agencies of some may be questionable about how well they uphold fairness to players. 

Michigan now has state regulated online blackjack, but you have to be in the state to play it. Good sign up bonuses too.

Hi all, new member here.

I play online casinos more frequently than live casinos (because there are just more of them, and I tend to hunt for the best offers).

The main thing you need to be very careful about is to never join an unlicensed casinos, and frankly - never join a casino licensed in Curacao either. They can be good, but there is almost no transparency or accountability and many are shady as .... Essentially every time a casino has refused to pay out my money it has been a Curacao casino.

The licence is usually listed in the footer, and if you go through a 3rd party it may be safer (they don't take responsibility though).

Licensed casinos have their games hosted by the game developer, so cheating won't give them money (unless you believe in back room deals, some do). The unlicensed ones can pirate the games and mess them up though - but if you play live blackjack (like I usually do) that is not really a big concern regardless. The biggest concern is that nagging suspicion that the dealer may be pulling tricks - but that's the same as in a real, physical casino.

"The biggest concern is that nagging suspicion that the dealer may be pulling tricks - but that's the same as in a real, physical casino." This sentence and the rest of your post seems to suggest that you are not based in the U.S. If you are based overseas, you have much greater access to properly licensed online casinos. In any case, brick-and-mortar casinos in the U.S. are regulated, so they are much less likely to pull tricks. Doing so would endanger their license. On the other hand, consider a rogue like Ignition Casino; it has both online and live BJ. Either one could be easily manipulated. Its live games, for example, could be missing some aces. That alone would enhance its edge. Would its live games (or the workings of its RNG) ever be subjected to an inspection by earnest gaming authorities? Not a chance!