Blacklisted Poker Sites

October 15, 2018

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Guide to Blacklisted Poker Sites: October 2018

List of Rogue Online Poker Sites to Avoid

Once upon a time, you couldn't trust a single online poker site. With so many new rooms appearing every week it was hard to know where to put your money.

During the boom years of the early-mid 2000s, many sites came, conquered, and took off with players' money or had such lax security that personal details and accounts were left open.

The sad truth is that without proper regulation, disreputable sites can continue to scam players and take funds. The long history of defunct sites surely provides ammo for those wanting a proper federal legislation system in the US.

Top Five Blacklist Factors

A rogue poker site can feature many different problems, but at the top of the list are the following:

Poor security and player protection
Improper licensing and independent auditing
Terrible customer support
Poor record on dealing with collusion or allegations of cheating
Non-payment / late payment of players' winnings

What's a Blacklisted Poker Room?

We dive into each poker room to give you the real story.

To make it into our top (or should that be, bottom) list of poker sites on the web, a room must have a terrible record on protecting players and their money.

They might have a lot of disgruntled players who experience poor cashout times and non-existent customer support, or they might have had checkered pasts with collusion and/or cheating scandals.

Whatever the problem, we list them here to warn you from signing up for an account with them. We have your best interests at heart, obviously, and we only want you registering with the most reputable sites on the Internet.

NON-RECOMMENDED SITES October 2018

Not all poker rooms are made equal. In fact, some are downright shady. Some have operating issues, and some have financial woes. How do you know which is which?

Just as we maintain a whitelist of top rated sites, so we also keep a blacklist of sites we think you should avoid. Check out the sites we think you skip below:

STATUS	PROMOTION	Our Verdict
DEFUNCT	N/A	Rumors spread in late 2014 that this former Revolution Gaming site was having issues paying out players. While allegations grew that Lock still owed its mainly US-facing customers millions in cashouts (with some waiting a year for their money), the worst was confirmed in early 2015 when the online room folded. Despite holding a Curacao license, there was no indication the jurisdiction did anything to help out.
DEFUNCT	N/A	One of the Big Three of operators shut down in the US post-Black Friday, despite continuing to take American players' money, it emerged they too could no longer honor cashouts. The site had already had a huge scandal in 2007 when Absolute CEO Scott Tom was caught spying on opponents' hole cards at Absolute tables and stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. Let's hope we never see a case like that again.
AVOID	$40,000 Monthly Freerolls	Accused in the past of embezzling players' funds, OddsPoker is still operating through its Antigua license, but that doesn't make it a safe place to play.
DEFUNCT	N/A	Once the brains behind a hugely popular US-facing poker site, players were left hanging after multiple cashout breaches, and the site was shut down.
DEFUNCT	N/A	The now-defunct site left US players owed a fortune. Add that to poor communication from the Customer Support team, and it made for a perfect storm for a rogue poker site.
AVOID	Krill Leaderboard	The bitcoin-only poker site that replaced the revolutionary SealsWithClubs has now made it onto our blacklist after founder Bryan Micon was arrested and charged with operating an unlicensed gambling site. Until it gets resolved, and SWCPoker finds a way to square things with the Nevada Gambling Board, it stays.
AVOID	Varies	Formerly known as Action Poker Network, the Chico network contains sites still operating in America. Meanwhile, the flagship Chico Poker room found itself on the wrong side of the authorities when it too was unable to honor cashouts post-Black Friday. It's still going, but as a small room it's flown under the radar. Although persistent problems with player payouts (especially in the US) were resolved, poor regulation in dodgy jurisdictions mean you should steer clear.
AVOID	$300 Weekly Freeroll	Speaking of the Chico Poker Network, skin PayNoRake.com has experienced lots of problems with late payments. Not only that, but after a fee-free first withdrawal, there's a $50 fee for subsequent withdrawals.
APPROACH WITH CAUTION	100% up to $1000	Although one of the biggest US-facing sites right now, this Merge network skin has had some erratic records with player payouts recently (October 2018) and it's wise to tread carefully. Not only that, but affiliates were informed that the program shut down in June 2015.
AVOID	Varies	Not putting the 'unique' into Uniq Poker Network, this tiny poker network has just two skins - BetUniq.com and UniqPokerNetwork.com - and has some of the poorest player pools around. It also 'boasts' a license from that not-entirely reliable jurisdiction of Curacao.

Online Poker in 2018

Online poker is a much more settled place these days. We don't see so many tiny sites disappearing, being found guilty of fraud, or stealing their own players' money.

In fact, the biggest culprit of the last five years - FullTilt - who were so savagely found out after the FBI shut them down in the Black Friday raids, has been bought out by PokerStars and other CEOs of suspect sites have run off to safe havens to lay low.

However, as in the case of Lock Poker, bad eggs still stink the whole place out and leave a lasting smell as a warning to players everywhere that they should be on their guard.

Dodging the Dodgy Poker Sites

The poker forums and communities have done their bit over the past 10 years to ensure that criminals are flushed out and online poker remains a safe place to play.

But if you want to actually trust your hard-earned cash with a site, you'd do far worse than to read our expert reviews right here.

Our team has lost money due to bad practices, unsegregated funds, collusion and downright theft, and that's why we're well-placed to recommend only the best places to play.

With our expert review guide you can choose a real-money site that's safe to play at, has the proper licensing and auditing in place, and is guaranteed to help out when there's a problem.

The problem with many poker players is that they blindly trust in sites with real cash without really knowing the ins and outs of their operations. Don't get caught out and always err on the side of caution before getting out the credit card.

Blacklisted Poker Sites FAQ

What is a blacklisted site?

A blacklisted site is a site which has a number of major problems in its functioning. The problems could be with regards to the casino’s payouts, their treatment of personal and confidential information, their non-existent customer support, or their lack of licensing or auditing.

Why should they be avoided?

Such online casinos engage in unfair practices and could take your hard-earned cash and give you nothing in return, be a complete and utter nuisance in the way they function and their website activity, or even steal personal information.

Can I back out if I've already signed up?

Yes, you can. As long as you have not deposited money into your newly made account, you can always close it or just let it exist without any activity.

Will I be able to get my money back?

That is highly unlikely. You could take up legal action against the website, though that is still quite complicated due to the ephemeral nature of online gaming and the Internet. In such a situation it might be best to address the regulatory gaming organization of your country.

How can I tell if a site is untrustworthy?

Reliable online casinos have marks of external auditing on their main web pages. There are also thousands of excellent reviews online of Internet casinos, so if you cannot find the casino of your choice in our website’s review section, just look up the casino’s name online.