MGM China Reports 23-Percent Year-on-Year Drop in 2017 Net Profit

Only several days following the official launch of its brand new property in Macau, MGM China Holdings Ltd. issued the official information regarding its profits throughout 2017 which attracted the interest of many people acquainted with the field. As listed in the reports the company has seen a net profit drop of 23 percent in […]

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NCAA Opposes Sports Betting Legalization Campaign

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) protested against sports betting legalization efforts. The opposition of the non-profit organization regulating US athletes of more than 1,200 conferences, institutions and individuals comes at a time when the discussions about sports betting industry legalization have been brought as one of the paramount issues in the country’s gambling industry […]

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Resorts World Catskills introduces live table games

The New York casino offers an array of live table games, including blackjack, craps, baccarat, roulette and Pai Gow Tiles.

Viktor Blom wins 2018 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Germany Main Event

Another partypoker LIVE MILLIONS stop is in the books, with the Main Event of the 2018 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Germany having come to an end. It was poker pro Viktor Blom who emerged the victor, defeating Pavel Plesuv to earn the first-place win. The partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Germany series stop was hosted by King's Casino Rosvadov, with several tournaments on offer. Only thirteen players would return for the final day of play and of that number, only eight would move on to the final table.  Blom would start the final table with an elimination after Niko Wieland went all-in with Q-J off-suit. Blom called with pocket aces, sending Wieland out the door when the board fell 2-J-6-9-K. A few more players would be eliminated before Blom would take down his second victim of the final table. Going up against partypoker’s Simao, Blom would call the poker player’s all-in and would put him out in 4th place, narrowing down the table to the final three. Once Rickie Silcock was eliminated in third place by Plesuv, it would leave the event in the heads-up competition round. The heads-up portion would be one to remember. Plesuv would hold the lead initially and gaining a 9 to 1 chip lead at one point during gameplay. However, Blom would chip his way back to the lead and the eventual win. On the final hand, Blom pushed for 35,000,000 and Plesuv called. A check-call was made by Plesuv on the flop of Q-9-K with the 45,000,000 bet of Blom. Plesuv would eventually go all-in and Blom would call with K-6. His king’s held up as Plesuv only had a Q-7 of diamonds, not enough to claim the first place win. The MILLIONS poker tour now moves on with the Grand Final in Barcelona set for this April. Satellites are available for the tour stop now at partypoker. Players who take part in the Grand Final will find the series will be offering a staggering €23 million in guaranteed prize pools spread out among the many events of the series. Final Results:

Place	Player	Prize
First	Viktor Blom	€850,000
Second	Pavel Plesuv	€750,000
Third	Rickie Silcock	€400,000
Fourth	Joao Simao	€280,000
Fifth	Radoslaw Wesierski	€200,000
Sixth	Ondrej Drozd	€140,000
Seventh	Aristeidis Moschonas	€100,000
Eighth	Niko Wieland	€70,000

Atlantic City’s Hard Rock and Ocean Resort Casino Work Hard Prior to Summer Launch

Preparation works are in full swing in the gambling hub on the East Coast, Atlantic City. This summer is expected to welcome two renovated and rebranded locations which will join the already existing casino resorts in the vivid area. But before the official launch could take place, several steps need to be finalized on time […]

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Rogue in 2017: Casinos Gone Bad

As the conflict against corrupted casinos rages on, we are still elbows deep in the trenches trying to hold them off. This has become our crusade - the LCB team went into the fight guns blazing, and we don't intend to stop! Online gambling industry has been in a particularly confusing and difficult legal situation, where insufficient laws and regulations make it possible for rogue brands to exploit, cheat and steal from players. There is no adequate system to punish them and offer justice to disadvantaged parties; they are rarely if ever, penalized for their misconducts, and they grow bolder every day.

We can't yet rely on the law to protect us, but that doesn't mean we should resign ourselves to this faith and do nothing. One very efficient way to make a difference is to expose rogue casinos to the gambling community. Inform as many players as possible who these criminals are, how they operate, and how to recognize them. Protecting players is LCB's main priority, and our continued commitment to this mission has yielded excellent results over the years.

Now that 2017 has ended, it is time for the yearly roundup of warning reports and rogue investigations we've done in the past twelve months.

Hmm...Do These Terms Sound Strange to You?

If you're not reading casino terms and conditions before signing up, you're making a big mistake! Would you buy any product without checking if it works first? No? It's no different with gaming sites. T&C is a contract customers must agree to use the services. They are written in a tricky legal language no one likes to read, which is an ideal opportunity for bad sites to squeeze in some very shady or ambiguous rules to trick naive players into their own doom.

Mr Ringo has never been a particularly good site, but they took it too far with outrageous terms pertaining to withdrawals and bonuses. Multiple complaints revealed delayed payments, voided winnings, prohibitions of legitimate gambling strategies, transaction fees and a host of other issues, all designed to prevent players from cashing out rightfully earned money. Shortly after an LCB warning report was published, the operator's license was suspended, and they stopped accepting new sign-ups. At this moment, their website is not functional, but our report stays up for posterity.

Enzo Casino is guilty of the same misdeed: using overly confusing promotional terms, they confiscated over €14,000 from an LCB member!

''I have not broken any rules and I feel like I am being cheated out of my money '', is what Slotkampioen777 told us in the official complaint thread. He was right - we proved it in the Enzo rogue report.

Von Bets voided a €1000 win due to, what they conveniently call an ''unfair advantage'', caused by a supposed odds technical error. As we proved HERE, the punter played fair and got the short end of the stick for it. A word from Melcb, our marketing manager:

'' We have added a warning to Vonbets for poor customer support, lack of response from a representative and slow/delayed payment. I suggest that all members stay away from this brand until further notice.''

Doing everything in their power to put an end to lucky wins, GoWild made a mistake - they forgot LCB sees through their charade! After exposing the operator's unfair terms, they were shipped off straight to the Warning list.

Member Nirvana shared his opinion: ''super predatory terms, whom ever advised them of such terms is either clueless or shady as hell''.

Sister brands to GoWild, Astral Bet and Wild Jackpots enforce the same dubious policy regarding promotional offers. Dishonest wagering rules and restrictions, deposit and withdrawal fees and long cash-outs don't make a good casino! LCB'ers were equally appalled:

''That is obsurd I thought I seen it all I think now I have :( just keep it simple make a long story short there terms should just say PROMOTIONAL/BONUS ISNT BUILT FOR PLAYERS TO WIN!!!!''

Magical Spin attempted the same cheating formula, using the myth of the harmful Martingale to their advantage, and punishing players who win fair and square claiming ''unfair advantage'' - a serious accusation they were never able to prove to them or us. Off in the sin bin they went.

Guilty of Software Piracy

Another way criminal groups often cheat for profit is silently integrating fake games. Slots are the easiest products to falsify, and you'd be surprised how good these forgeries can really be. Sometimes it is next to impossible spotting the original from the fake - if everything else about the site is in order, no one would be the wiser. Not to worry, we have a special investigative team to nail clever pirates!

1xbit.com was the first such site to bite the dust in 2017. Looking closely into source codes and inspecting hosting servers, we presented undisputed evidence their Novomatic, Aristocrat and Net Entertainment games are as fake as a 3 dollar bill. In the comment section of the warning report, player feedback solidified our opinion about this brand:

''I've already posted on their BCT thread about this, but they have failed to reply to it. It's been over three weeks with no response, so I can safely say that if you had any shred of doubt, it should be gone.''

A warning sign was also delivered to unlicensed, Bitcoin-friendly Vegascasino.io, whose fake games were discovered thanks to the Book of Ra slot inconsistencies. They promptly removed the culprit, but it was already too late. Our readership was notified in a detailed article, substantiated by screenshots taken during the inquiry. Customers got back to us distraught about the way this casino treated them:

''This is an update and LBC is 100% correct.You need to be VERY careful.They are NOT licensed, and now? I have been taken off vip!? Even though I have enough deposits! This is very upsetting and I am closing my account!''

Burnbet might just be the worst brand of the previous year! We don't usually receive any feedback from busted sites, as they prefer to stay silent even when confronted with proof of their misconduct. But this site retaliated and how! What ensued was a sordid affair with the management sending out death threats to LCB team. Reporting about the case, we received over 80 comments from supportive members:

''Wow! Sounds like burnbet is the very definition of rogue! The name "burnbet" itself says it all Lol! Whoever is behind those pathetic attempts to intimidate you, is wasting their time! Thanks for looking out for us LCB you guys rock! We got your back! :)''

Following the disclosure, we contacted original providers of the fake slots found at Burnbet, offering all evidence gathered throughout the course of our investigations. The rogue operator was finally forced to remove phony software thanks to LCB!

Other operators who resorted to ripping off honest iGaming developers, particularly Novomatic and NetEnt, are Cstarscasino.com, Winner Million, Casino Venetian, 24 Pokies and Matrix. Follow the links to find out more details on each of these piracy reports.

Unlike their fellow rogue sites, Hera Casino chose to falsify Yggdrasil and Pragmatic Play software. Several of our clever and informed members noticed the games behaving strangely, thinking they might be fake. They were right!

''I love how LCB is consistently unmasking these pirated and rogue casinos, excellent job well done. By the sounds of this one, a thanks should go to several LCBers for voicing their concerns about this online casino from the get go, thanks to all of you for a keen eye and listening to your gut feeling on this sham, great job to all of you''

The major disappointment of the year 2017 came from Welcome Partners casino brands. A large network serving Eastern European markets, the operate over 12 gaming and sports betting sites, all without a license and offering fake products. They even went so far as to steal trademark names from reputable companies, and create their own slots by mixing graphics and mechanics of original titles with pirate programming. Russian and Ukrainian member beware!

''Its amazing what you all do for the online gaming community. I have so many friends against online casinos, who warn me to stay away from ANY online casino. You guys make something that I love doing more enjoyable and give me a sense of relief. I'm so happy to be apart of this awesome community of players and LCB staff and investigators, you rock!''

Welcome Partners brands to avoid:

Club Vulkan Vulkan24Club VulkanStavka GMSDeluxe PharaonBet MaxBetSlots VulkanStars SlotoZal VDeluxe JoyKasino Admiral777 ElDorado24 Who Failed our Expectations

Once reputable casino boasting LCB's Seal of Approval, Raging Bull hit rock bottom in February 2017, after being sold to an infamous black market organization - Virtual Casino Group. Though no one knew what happened behind closed doors, players sensed something sinister is going on when the site suddenly started denying or delaying cash-out requests, and support aloof to any and all questions. We'd love nothing more than to give you some hope, but unfortunately, nothing good ever came out of VC Group and GWages affiliate program.

''I can't believe all of that happened. I noticed it going downhill myself when I started having trouble with getting replies to my emails, seeing less and less free and deposit bonuses being offered, etc. I used to deposit on Raging Bull every week practically, especially after they first opened up and stopped when I saw a decline coming. I didn't want to have any issues with a withdrawal if it happened. I posted some comments about it when I saw the decline to my friends. It really is quite a shame as there were a lot of really nice people that worked there and went at one time out of their way to make the customer happy. Too bad for them''

Wrapping Up

Another year goes by and LCB is still at the helm reporting about the bad guys of the industry. Rogue casinos come and go, but we are always here to keep the gaming community safe! If only every player would come to us and take a careful look at the list of predatory sites, our Complaint board would be much less crowded. Likewise, we encourage everyone to read casino T&C and report any suspicious activity to our team. Let's hope for a great, productive and stress-free 2018!