Kansas – Online Casinos & Gambling Regulations
Online Casinos in Kansas (US)
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The fact that people may have to travel for hours to get to their local casino makes going online all the more enticing. Kansas currently doesn’t have any regulations with regards to online gambling and, which insinuates that it is legal to access online casinos. Residents are therefore still able to access sites that operate from abroad with their own regulations and licensing policies. There is no governmental oversight nor is there a possibility for Kansans to take legal recourse, should any kind of issue arise. That is why people still wishing to play from an unregulated market need to remain extra vigilant before signing up with any site. Asking yourself a few questions is a great way to establish the value and legitimacy of a site before committing a single dollar.
- Is the casino fully licensed?
- What is the reputation of the licensing body?
- Will you be able to use your preferred payment methods?
- Will you be able to participate in loyalty programs?
- Does the site feature sports betting?
As well as doing your own evaluation of a site, why not consult industry experts? The writers here at GoodLuckMate provide unbiased and concise casino reviews from the perspective of industry veterans. So, do yourself a favor and check it out for yourself.
Gambling Regulation
The gambling regulation of Kansas is quite a mixed bag. The Sunflower State is rather progressive when it comes to land-based casino operations with a lot of choices for players from casinos to gaming halls. It then seems rather peculiar that Kansas remains one of the states that have not pushed towards creating a fully regulated sport betting market after the dissolution of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. The dismissal of this law in 2018 lead to many states jumping on the chance to take control of their own sports betting markets both online and offline.
Kansas banned horse and dog racing in 2008 and has only progressed by authorizing daily fantasy sports, which is usually seen as a small stepping stone towards more progressive gambling laws. Success stories are already out there with other states like Pennsylvania and New Jersey fully regulating all forms of terrestrial and online gambling, which has seen large boosts in their revenues over the past few years. Kansas by comparison is therefore quite far behind some of its contemporaries in this regard.
Localized Online Casinos
Localization is a bit of a mixed bag for US players. On the one hand, a lot of standard online casino localization options directly align with US players, on the other hand, most of the country remains unregulated thereby limiting the potentials of what these operations are capable of. Promotional content, dedicated support lines and payment options may therefore not be as expansive as you may be used to in other industries.
Despite this, a lot of industry standards still cater to US players. English is the default language of the industry and US dollars are also widely available. Major US sporting events like the Superbowl are also highly represented across sites with a sports betting platform. The fact that other states are now able to license and authorize online operations means that there are a lot more sites out there that are able to specifically cater to US audiences, which can indirectly benefit players from unregulated states.
Gambling with US Dollars
The vast majority of online casinos are fully equipped to handle US dollars. Alongside euros, US dollars remains the standard currency option across most sites, as this allows a site to cater to the largest audience with a single currency. People playing from a territory whose local currency is not supported will often be asked to use US dollars as an alternative, which is essentially the main reason why the currency has been so widely adopted by the industry. The number of international payment methods, from payment cards to e-wallets, that support US dollars is also without competition. The issue that US players will commonly face is having their payment towards an online casino be blocked by their bank. This is why a lot of players will instead use e-wallets or cryptocurrencies.
Casinos in Kansas
11 land-based casinos sound like a lot for one state but with a population and land size disparity like Kansas, it is still very likely that a local will be hours away from their nearest establishment. These casinos are a mix of tribally and privately run operations and are in addition to around 12,000 slot machines and over 150 table games across the state. This all goes to show that Kansas’ stance on gambling is quite progressive, however, with daily fantasy sports being the only form of legal sports betting, it appears that current legalities are more contradictory rather than liberating. This is especially so for online casinos, which are already fully equipped to cater to US audiences if only lawmakers would take serious consideration of the topic.
Dispute resolution – can I get help from a third party?
A gambling license is intended to protect players, and one of its main functions is to provide a mechanism for resolving disputes when they come up. If you have a dispute with a casino, and the casino is being unreasonable, the gambling authority will help you. For many licenses, this means you can contact the gambling authority to get help processing your withdrawals, claiming money the casino has debited from your account, or resolving other disputes that might arise. The likelihood that the gambling authority will help you in ways that are effective, however, depends on the procedures they have in place for this. This is yet another reason why choosing to play at a casino that has a safe license is important.
Getting help directly from the gambling authority is not always necessary, or even an option. A lot of regulators have now enforced third-party dispute resolution. This means casinos must have an agreement with an arbitrator who will look into disputes on the behalf of players from a particular casino. This ensures your dispute will be reviewed by an objective third party. All trusted online casinos have information about arbitration on their websites if they use this option, or they’ll have the contact information for the gambling authority you should consult. However, you should always try to resolve your issues with the casino first, and a lot of casinos have separate email addresses specifically for handling complaints.
Secure payments – can I trust a casino with my money?
If you’re worried about the security of the transactions you’re making at a casino, you should look for a logo with the acronym PCI DSS. This stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, and this is something the payment industry has created. If you see this logo, it means the casino can be trusted for safe money transactions since they follow all of the rules set by the payment industry. Information about this can also be found in an FAQ section on the casino’s website.
Another thing to look out for in terms of payments is where your money is kept while you play. Some gambling authorities, all of the best ones actually, regulate what the casino can do with your money while they are holding it. Your money shouldn’t go into a general bank account held by the casino; it should go into an account that is strictly for holding player funds. This means that as long as you have the money in your player account, it can’t be spent by the casino. Your deposit will be kept separate from the operating funds of the casino until your player account is empty, which will happen if you make a funds withdrawal or if you lose the money while playing.Fair gaming – do the games give me a fair chance to win?
The best known system tool for ensuring that a casino offers fair games is eCogra; however, there are other providers that also offer these kinds of systems. You want to make sure that the casino is using a certified third-party control system to ensure that the games of chance you’re playing are actually based on chance and not on other types of metrics. Rigged games are ones that have been set up to pay out less than they claim to or ones that give some players a greater chance of winning than others.
The eCogra logo can often be found in the footer of the casino’s website, but not all casinos choose to display it. If you can’t see this logo, go to the FAQs and see if you can find information about random number generators. If there are no FAQs on the site, check out their terms and conditions or contact the casino’s support and ask how they ensure their games are safe.
Encrypted website – how is my information kept safe?
An SSL-encrypted website should be mandatory for any casino, and very few casinos operate without this or similar safe encryption features. Always keep in mind that you are giving the casino quite a bit of sensitive information, including your payment details. When you’re uploading and sending documents to verify your identity, you want to make sure that no unauthorized third-party has access to them. Site security, therefore, doesn’t only include the website itself but also what the casino does on the backend. You should always look into a casino’s data security. You’ll normally find information about this in their terms and conditions and their privacy policy. If in doubt, contact their support and ask for more detailed information.
Most trustworthy casinos have information about site security in the website footer, so simply scroll down and look for the logo of a well-known security system.
Gambling license – can I play at a casino from my country?
The gambling license a casino operates under will have a big impact on your security. Not all licenses are equally safe for players for the simple reason that they are issued by different gambling authorities that work in different ways and have different rules. The rules and regulations may be quite similar, but the way they are enforced is a different story entirely. For example, if a casino doesn’t comply with the regulations, some gambling authorities may just issue a fine while others may revoke the casino’s license outright. How often gambling authorities show up for an unscheduled inspection or control will also vary.
The biggest differences between a safe, high quality gambling license and one that isn’t as good will usually show up in the areas of fair gaming, dispute resolution and the rules and systems for identifying and handling problem gamblers (responsible gambling). If your country of residence has its own gambling authority, playing at casinos that are licensed by them will be the safest option for you. Other international licenses that can be trusted are issued by the Malta Gambling Authority and the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority. Curacao eGaming is getting better at protecting players whereas licenses from Panama and Costa Rica, for instance, are considered less safe. The worst option is obviously a casino with no license whatsoever.
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