New Online Gaming Standards - GLI-19

July 07, 2011 | News Category: Casino Software

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Although online casino players are essentially only really concerned with the finished product that they see, what goes on behind the scenes is very important to them too. For example, the standards by which the online casinos and the online gaming software companies are run will have a big impact on whether the online casino is safe and fair.

Up until now, there have not been any real international standards as far as online gaming regulation goes. Each online gambling jurisdiction creates its own rules, making some more reliable than others. There are testing bodies, such as TST (Technical Systems Testing), and GLI (Gaming Laboratories International), two of the top online gaming testing laboratories. These two companies place their effort in making sure that the games come with the randomness that is expected of them, and that their quality and payouts are as publicized by the online casinos.

Recently, however, TST and GLI have conducted a review of a number of the bigger players of the online gambling jurisdictions. The review has taken place over more than a year, and well known online gambling jurisdictions, such as the Isle of Man, the United Kingdom, and Alderney were looked at in depth. They also looked at a number of well established online casinos and various other online gambling markets. As a result of these investigations, the two companies, GLI and TST, have put together some online gambling regulatory guidelines, now known as GLI-19.

Although GLI-19 is only a guideline, or a model, that will help new online gambling markets structure their own online gambling regulations. These recommendations have been published on GLI's website and can be used by those who are setting up their online gambling jurisdictions or markets. It should be remembered, however, that these are not laws, but simply guidelines based on the observations of two much respected players in the online gambling industry.

GLI-19 has been split into two, with separate guidelines for online gambling operators, and online gambling suppliers, such as online casino software developers. This is because the two entities need to function in somewhat different manners.

The guidelines that have been laid out are not necessarily new guidelines, but simply a selection of the best practices that were found in the various online gambling markets and jurisdictions, and combining them in a coherent and sensible way.

Perhaps the European Commission will make use of these guidelines as they are in the process of figuring out their guidelines for online gambling. Should the United States legalize online gambling, these guidelines would be useful for the US too.