Players Association Reduces Risks

There is still a concern among some players that some of the online casinos are not necessarily playing fair. But one company has made fair gaming on the net its mission. Online Players Association is a company that exists solely for the purpose of reducing any risk to online casino players and so far they are doing a tremendous job.

Steve Adkins, President of the new Online Players Association (OPA), explains part of the problem with self-regulation within the industry: "the so called watchdog organizations do not really watch anything. These groups just watched as hundreds of players lost over $200,000," says Adkins, referring to a number of fiascos a couple of years back where a few sites froze player accounts and refused to release winnings in a disagreement over the use of certain specified sign-up bonuses.

The OPA is really a collective body made up of active players, casino owners and people that run online gambling message forums. These people from different corners of the online casino business decided to get together and create an organization that could actually make a difference. OPA was formed in order to improve the level of online player trust while adding critical standards of practice and fair gaming to the industry.

"We plan to resolve disputes courteously, but expeditiously," says Adkins." The OPA works for its members and works with online casinos toward a common goal."

Skeptics may see the OPA as just another watch dog that is not able to make a difference but in fact the OPA is very aware of the critical balance between the player and casino and therefore reaches out to both in an attempt to remain impartial and in a better position t resolve disputes. The OPA's Casino Code of Ethics stresses licensing and proper auditing practice while their Gambler Code of Ethics strives to promote reasonable and responsible player conduct.

Since online casinos rely heavily on virtual software programs, the player must take a leap of faith in order to be assured that the software is legitimate, offers the same or better odds then real world gambling games and that everything they have been offered at a gambling site can be claimed. Security, safety and fair gaming are the most important aspects to the player and OPA tries to reassure them of these things. Through software auditing, payout verification and a lot of trust on the part of the site (including transparency with sensitive financial data), the OPA is helping make more gambling certifiably safer and more secure for players which in the final event, helps everyone.