Casinos offer an exciting environment; however, some individuals get too involved and create their own less-than-desirable version of fun. Such behaviour can get you banished from a casino.
In this informative video by our resident casino advisor, Seánie dives deep into what can get you banned from online and land-based casinos and how to avoid them. Some of these factors might be obvious while others might not be, casinos are vigilant and monitor everything from drinking habits, fair play, or identity verification. Keep Seánie's advice in mind and you won't have any troubles!
Quick Answer
Here is a brief overview of why and how casinos ban players.
- Casinos can ban you for a lifetime or shorter periods, depending on your offence.
- Land-based casinos ban you for disregarding casino policies, drinking too much, loitering and taking pictures, suspicious betting patterns, underage gambling, and counting cards.
- Online casinos can ban you from underage gambling, identity theft, cheating, and making multiple accounts.
- Some people with gambling problems opt for voluntary self-exclusion from gambling sites where sites ban you for a short cooling-off period. These are all part of the responsible gambling policy that casinos must adopt.
Why Casinos Ban You and For How Long
Casinos are private entertainment businesses. This is why they can ban you for any reason at any given time, and there are plenty of reasons. A casino can ban you for a lifetime if you get caught cheating at the games. For smaller offences, like misdemeanours, your sentence might be shorter, like six to seven months.
What Can Casinos Ban You For
You hear quite a few stories about people being asked to leave for no reason. But apart from the more obvious reasons for being banned, there are quite a few reasons why casinos ask customers to leave the table or the premises of the establishment itself.
Disregarding Casino Rules and Policies
If your behaviour isn't on par with casino etiquette, you can get kicked out fair and square. For example, you can get kicked out if you are:
Creating trouble.
Displaying disorderly conduct.
Being rude to others, like the staff and customers.
Drinking too much
Overdrinking is a quick and surefire way to get removed from most casino premises. You can always enjoy a drink or two - welcome drinks are a stellar mark of excellent customer service, and it would be rude not to take them. However, you should stop at just one or two of your favourite drinks. A casino isn't a bar or the privacy of your own home where you can drink yourself silly and not have anything to worry about.
Alcohol lowers your inhibitions, and if you behave in an unsavoury manner, such as shouting insults during the game to the other customers, dealers, or staff, you will find yourself being escorted off the premises by the casino security staff.
Loitering and Taking Pictures Without Consent
People go to casinos to play games, and if you are simply there for the sake of being there instead of giving the casino some business, you may be asked to leave. You are more likely to catch the attention of the casino staff if you are sitting around doing nothing or making other players feel uncomfortable with your presence. The casino's job is to ensure the comfort and safety of their customer, and you aren't their customer since you aren't availing any of its services.
In addition, taking photos and videos is strictly forbidden by most casinos. The casino usually has signs to remind people that they cannot use their cameras, phones, tablets, or any other device to take photos and videos. This rule is in place for the privacy and security of the patrons. If you want to take a picture of something like your money, hand, or anything else on your phone, it is best to ask the staff for permission before you do so.
Cheating
If a person cheats and gets caught, the casino takes swift action, and he/she gets banned for life. Cheating to win that jackpot is tempting, but it is not worth the risk. You will get escorted off the premises if you do anything that bends the rules of the game or outrightly breaks them. The chances of you getting caught are always high because casinos use a high form of security surveillance to prevent just this thing from happening.
In addition, apart from security cameras, most casinos are fitted with AI technology that can pick up on the cues of a shady customer. AI tech, like RFID, publishes real-time data about everyone's bets and shares it with the casino staff, making it easier to identify suspicious patterns or strategies. The casino goes to great lengths to prevent anyone from cheating in casino games.
Cheating includes hiding cards on yourself and using them during the game, swapping chips, slipping loaded dice into a dice game, trying to tamper with a slot game, and fraternising with the staff to manipulate the game in your favour. Nobody will waste a beat listening to your story if caught. Your word means nothing to them. Once you get escorted off the premises, any attempt to come back will count as trespassing. The casino always makes a record of the player with their name, ID, and picture so that the staff can recognise the person on the off chance that he returns.
Underage Gambling
This is a massive problem. If you are trying to sideline the system and edge your way into the casino despite being underage, keep in mind that you are dealing with experts. They have been trained to pick out all types; the loiterers, the cheaters, and the underaged gamblers. If the casino staff suspects you are underaged, you will be asked to procure an ID. If they are still suspicious, you will be asked to leave and not return for a long time. Therefore, our advice would be to wait until you can legally enjoy gambling and reap the fruit of your spoils.
Suspicious Betting Patterns
If you're getting too many payouts and winning jackpot after jackpot, it will raise questions. The casino staff will keep a close eye on your bet and bankroll amount. If you bet €10 on the hands you lose and €200 on the cards you win, the dealer and staff are bound to catch wind of your activities and disqualify you for suspicious betting patterns. While you won't be asked to leave immediately, you will be asked at least a few questions by the security people and the staff.
Counting Cards in Blackjack
In the US and Ireland, as well as some other countries, card counting is not illegal. This is because it isn't technically cheating if you're doing some maths in your head to stay one step ahead of the dealer. You will be in the clear if you aren't using card-counting machines or getting external help from someone else. The practice isn't even classed as cheating by many people in the gambling industry. So, if you get caught counting cards, you should be well aware of your rights.
However, it's not the legality that bothers casinos; it's tipping the house edge in your favour using techniques that put you one step ahead of the dealer. The process of counting cards is a disfavour to the casino and takes a bite out of their profit.
There are various methods of counting cards, like assigning value, and the casino is likely to know about all of them so that they know what to keep a lookout for. They also use tactics like shuffling machines, RFID technology, security surveillance, and multiple decks to keep an eye out for people who are cheating in the game. The staff is also responsible for keeping an eye out for various body and behavioural cues associated with people who are counting cards, such as being hyper-focused on a game and not leaving the game for breaks.
Sometimes, the casino won't kick you out. You will just be asked to try a different game because you are 'too good' at the one you are playing. In such a situation, the staff is giving you an out, and you should do as they request. However, if they strongly suspect you of counting cards, they will confiscate your winnings and distribute your image to casinos in the surrounding areas.
Getting Banned From Online Gambling Platforms
It is also easy to get banned from gambling sites. Online sites will ban you for the following reasons.
Being Underage
You must be of legal age to gamble at online casinos, just like land-based casinos. If you somehow bypass the checks when registering your account, you will be found out eventually, and your account will be closed.
Cheating Online
People cheat online using advanced strategies to get an unfair advantage over casinos by using betting bots. The bots perform calculations on casino games like slots based on the outcome of previous spins. After some time, the bots will pick up on the pattern of the machine, cracking open the RNG algorithm. The bots will place a bet only when the hacker has the highest odds of winning against the house. Casinos use their own AI bots to look for suspicious betting patterns. They are spread out over the platform, picking up the cheaters and reporting them to the operators. The operators then boot them from the site.
Other ways a gambler can cheat online are by downloading tools that assist them unfairly in a game of poker, abusing a bug in slots, or hacking the platform to make it work in their favour. Due to cases like this, casinos spend vast amounts on protecting their platforms. If you get caught, you will be placed on the list of banned people, and you will not be able to return to the site.
Making Multiple Accounts
One of the biggest attractions of an online casino is the casino bonuses. When you sign up to play, you get a deposit bonus. If you have been on the site long enough, you get another bonus - you get the idea. People try to make multiple accounts to get various deposit bonuses. While they may be successful at times, they always get caught.
Committing Identity Theft
Some people use another person's information to make an account. Sometimes, they will get through the cracks, but casinos conduct frequent reviews of their member's accounts to verify that they are who they say they are - almost no case of identity theft goes unnoticed. If a casino finds out you are pretending to be someone else, you will get banned and might also face criminal charges.
Voluntary Exclusion
This is an unexpected reason for getting banned. Some people with a gambling problem may request to be banned from the platform. This is called self-exclusion. Self-exclusion is a cooling-off period often suggested by a gambling rehabilitation program. This cool-off period can help mitigate the gambling problem as you explore other avenues of release.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does a casino ban someone?
A casino bans people for several reasons, such as cheating, counting cards, drinking too much, misdemeanours, not respecting casino policies, and identity theft.
Can a casino un-ban you?
Yes, you can get unbanned from casinos, but it depends on the severity of your violation. For example, if you get kicked out for being drunk, apologising after your sentence ends, and requesting to come back might get you unbanned. But if you get caught cheating, you might not be able to come back to play ever again.