When you hear the term “Blacklist,” you probably think of the hit NBC show with James Spader. What we think about, though, is a label given to online casinos you can’t trust. You see, our goal here is to help our readers and followers have the best online gambling experience possible. While there are many reputable online casinos out there that help us to achieve that goal, there are several awful sites that are up to no good. We refer to these sour apples as the blacklisted online casinos.
If you’re serious about having a great online gambling experience and you like to keep your money and personal information safe, we highly recommend that you take a few minutes to read through the information we have for you here. At BestUSCasinos.org, we start by providing you with the most up-to-date, comprehensive, and accurate list of avoidable casino sites in the US. Then, we’ll discuss why these casinos made the list, the risks if you choose to play with any of these sites, what you can do if you’re currently playing on blacklisted casino sites, and how to get started with a reputable casino replacement.
What Is a Blacklisted Casino Site?
A “blacklist,” by definition, is a list of people or things that are regarded as unacceptable or untrustworthy and should be excluded or avoided. In this industry, it refers to US online casinos that are not doing their part to protect their customers. We deem online casinos untrustworthy or unsafe if they pose a danger to those playing with them. There is no official blacklisting agency that gives you this label, so it’s up to resources like us to pick up the slack and inform you of these dangerous sites.
2024 List of Casinos To Avoid
Below is a helpful tool for navigating this list of the most notorious scammers in the online casino world. It is by no means a complete list (we continue to find rogue casinos all the time), but these are the sites you are most likely to come across that you should avoid at all costs.
- 1bet2bet / Rigged Games
- 1×2 Gaming / Misleading Bonuses
- 7 Sultans / Payout Issues
- 7Reels / Payout Issues
- 7Regal Casino / Misleading Bonuses
- 7Spins / Payout Issues
- Absolute Poker / Rigged Games
- 50Stars Casino / Misleading Bonuses
- Gold VIP Club Casino / Shady Business
- Mighty Slots / Shady Business
- Dream Casino / Payout Issues
The Criteria That Will Get a Casino Site Added To Our List
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Rigged Games
It baffles us when online casinos find it necessary to cheat for more money. The house already has the edge, so they are guaranteed to win in the long run no matter what. But, for some reason, this is not good enough for some shady blacklisted online casinos. They find it necessary to alter their random number generator to ensure the game is usually in their favor. We don’t need to beat the dead horse as to why this is completely unacceptable, and there is no room for online casinos like this within the industry.
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Payout Issues
The worst possible issue that blacklisted online casinos are guilty of is refusing to pay you at all. You’ll request your withdrawal, and they’ll just continually give you excuses as to why you haven’t received your payout. Typically, this does not go on forever, because it’s a sign of the end of an online casino. Once payouts cease, they usually end up closing their doors within the next 3-12 months.
A more common reason that we blacklist online casinos is because of severely delayed payouts without an honest reason for the delay. We understand that, from time to time, there may be a one-off reason as to why your cashout is delayed. But the second they start lying about why they’re having issues with paying customers, we have a big problem. You should never play at these online casinos, and you can expect to find them on our page of blacklisted casinos online.
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Misleading Bonuses & Promotions
An extremely popular method for these unreliable casino sites to obtain your information is by falsely advertising promotions. This, like many of the other criteria on the list, can manifest in many different forms. You could have an online site that promises a promotion and just doesn’t deliver on it at all. You could also have an online casino that doesn’t properly outline how to earn a particular bonus, leaving you stuck holding the bag.
You may even see an online site that pays out a promotion, but not as much as was originally promised. It doesn’t matter which of these forms of false advertising you see. If a casino is falsely advertising promotions, they’re going to find their way onto our page of blacklisted online casinos.
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Shady Business Practices
When an online casino does anything to take advantage of customers unfairly, they will be blacklisted. Blacklisted casinos online have a bad history of setting up the way they do things to try and get an unfair edge over their customers. Simply put, if an online gambling site doesn’t have your best interests at heart, they’re worthless. There is nothing wrong with them wanting to make money as they are a business, but they need to do it in a fair manner.
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Selling Players’ Information
Some online casinos to avoid have a history of taking a player’s information and emails, then selling it to online marketing companies. Because of this, the player’s inbox gets stuffed with emails and offers they never asked for.
If we find out that an online casino is selling players’ information to third parties or, even worse, just giving it away, then they’re instantly blacklisted. While this does not affect the safety of your money or your experience while gambling online, it is unprofessional and shows signs of a lack of care for their clients. If these blacklisted online casinos are willing to sell or give away your private information without batting an eye, what else would they be willing to do for a profit?
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Shifting Terms and Conditions Without Proper Notice
Ever take the time to read the terms of service at an online gambling site or any site for that matter? Chances are, if you’re like 99% of the rest of the world, you don’t have the time to comb through hundreds of pages of terms before you decide to make a purchase decision. We’re not knocking you for that; it’s just the way it is.
That being said, we feel that US casinos have the responsibility to let you know of anything in the terms and conditions that might be out of the ordinary, and also to let you know if they make any major changes that will affect you. We’re never going to recommend an online casino that doesn’t understand the importance of transparency. Those that don’t disclose important information should be blacklisted online casinos in our book.
What to Do If You’re Currently Playing at an Untrustworthy Site
Follow the actionable steps below if you find that you’ve been playing at a casino that we recommend you to avoid.
1. Stay Calm, Don’t Panic
Step one, don’t panic. Breathe. Just because a site is on the untrusted list does not necessarily mean that 100% of their customers are in danger. Remember, some of the recommended casinos to avoid are on the list for what they do with your personal information or things they’ve done with specific bonus programs. Your money might not be at risk. Even if that is the case, you still need to get out of there, because that toxicity can easily slide over into other areas of their business.
Make sure you approach the situation calmly. Don’t call the blacklisted online casino and start screaming. Yes, you will want to approach the situation quickly, but do it deliberately with the next few steps we have outlined for you.
2. Begin Cashing out Your Money Regardless of Fees
The most important thing you’re going to have at risk is your money. Yes, we think your personal information is important, but if the online casino is doing shady things with it, it’s already too late. The important thing to focus on now is getting your cash off the blacklisted casino sites.
What we recommend doing is looking for the fastest method to get your money off. Typically, the faster methods will be more expensive, as the fees may be higher. But that is the least of your concerns at this point. If it costs you a few extra dollars to guarantee you get your money from these blacklisted online casinos, then that’s worth it.
3. Choose a Safe Replacement
Once you’ve got your money safe and sound in your possession, it’s going to be time to start looking for a US online casino replacement. Just because you had a bad experience or were potentially on a collision course with a bad experience is no reason to permanently bar yourself from any future fun. What you do want to do moving forward, is ensure that the US online casino you are gambling with is reputable, trustworthy, and of course, not on our list of casinos to avoid.
If you’re looking for some of the top options out there that fit this bill, we’ve listed a few of our favorites in the section below. All of these US online casinos have been thoroughly vetted by our expert review team, and are consistently reviewed to ensure the highest standards of quality and trust.
The Risks of Using A Casino With a Poor Reputation
Unsafe Online Casinos Are Not Easy to Spot
When was the last time you saw a business or website with a big banner announcing that they are looking to take advantage of you with predatory business practices? Yeah, we’ve never seen it either. You see, online casinos that belong on the blacklist don’t advertise that they are awful at what they do. Instead, they do the exact opposite. They go out of their way to try and look reputable with fancy images, exquisite animations, positive language, and lucrative bonus programs.
In other words, blacklisted casinos online are not easy to spot. This makes them that much more dangerous. It’s important that we work hard to find them, identify them, and get the word out to avoid them.
You Can Lose Real Money
The biggest risk to you when playing at unsafe online casinos is that your money is not secure. This includes the money you’ve won as well as the money sitting in your bankroll. As you’ve seen in the list of blacklisting criteria, many of these gambling sites do not respect your money and are out to make a quick buck in any way possible.
Privacy May Be Comprimised
An often-overlooked risk of gambling with unreputable sites is that your privacy may not be safe. When you join an online gambling site, you typically have to provide your full name, email, address, and date of birth, amongst other information. When you provide this information to the casino, you are doing so under the belief that information is going to be kept private.
When you gamble with a reputable US online casino, this information is safe. But when you gamble with a sketchy casino, your information is rarely safe. If you don’t care about your privacy and want to throw caution to the wind, by all means, use an unsafe casino. But if you’re a rational human being who understands the value of privacy, keep these blacklisted sites where they belong, far away from you, your money, and your information.
Overall Poor Online Gambing Experience
Online gambling is supposed to be fun. For many, it is a source of relaxation and escape from the normal world. What level of relaxation are you going to get if you are constantly worried about getting taken advantage of? You should be able to focus on the games you’re playing and getting the most enjoyment out of your time online. Save yourself the headache of wasting your entertainment dollars and never play at these online casinos.
Blacklisted Casinos FAQ
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Are We Too Harsh on These Types Of Sites?
Not a chance. Are we the toughest critics in the industry? Yes. Do we think there is anything wrong with that? We do not. Our philosophy is that there are far too many quality US online casinos out there to ever waste any of our time with anything less than the best. Yes, we are the quickest to blacklist online casinos (after thorough research), and we are okay with that. This ensures that, when you get a recommendation from us, you can fully trust that it is one of the best options available.
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Can a Casino Site Get off the Blacklist?
In some rare cases, blacklisted casino sites may be removed. But for the most part, no. Yes, we fully believe in forgiveness in our everyday lives, but when it comes to people doing shady things with customers’ information or money, it’s a different story. If the reason that we blacklist online casinos has to do with money, then they’re never coming off the list. Even if they undergo the biggest overhaul ever, it’s still not worth the risk when you have plenty of safe, reputable gambling sites out there who have never crossed the line.
If their online casino blacklist violation has something to do with privacy or misleading advertisements, we may review this on a case-by-case basis. This depends, though, on what the offense was, how long ago, what they have done to rectify it, and how they can guarantee that it will never happen again. If they haven’t gone above and beyond to give us confidence that it will never happen again, they’re going to remain as blacklisted casino sites (where they belong).
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Are There Reputable Options for US Players?
Yes! If you scroll up to our reputable casino options section, you will see several great US online casinos that can be trusted. If you’re looking for a safe and fully-vetted online gambling experience in the US, one of these online casinos will be the perfect fit.
