The evil word gambling – security issues in gaming

Money gaming is one of the hot topics in the internet today. Gambling booms, more and more people join online poker tables. People spend more money for entertainment online than ever before. The Internet provides more ways to loose your hard earned cash than the reality outside. Is this right?
First we must focus on the ways spending the money. First, online is not the safest place to keep your wallet open all the time. There will be always thefts, and one should spend the money only in safe places. These places should have a) reputable payment solution. b) Data encryption c) clear terms and conditions that are must to read, d) good overall reputation. This is the basic safety operation when shopping online. Don’t give access to your wallet for people that can not be trusted. You can check reputation by googling for their name, or check various resources (not direct competitors) in that domain. The same goes for the payment solutions they provide.
Another issue is the payment you pay for the entertainment. Nothing goes for free these days, and one should be very weary for “completely free offers”, especially that ask your credit card details. Even email can be sold for spammers, so read the terms and conditions and privacy policy carefully. Some of the games are ad-driven or have free ad-driven versions. They are pretty much safe, although I do not suggest playing game where your progress depends on clicks on ads. Of cause, you should keep your anti-virus and anti-spyware software up-to-date, too. Just in case 😉
Some of the games, for example gambling ones, are meant to be played with money. They loose their charm when played from play money, as there is far less enjoyment of winning when you have nothing to loose. Just be careful and don’t invest more money than you can afford. In poker this is called keeping the bankroll. It is suggested, that you would not play with larger stakes than 1/300 of bankroll you can afford.
Another important factor in such games is ability to stop when things go wrong. One should not keep playing when loosing hand after hand.
There is a possibility to win money in poker without investing. Some sites give bonuses for people who join during promotions, or win free tournaments. For example, pokerchamps have free tournaments for small sums of money even for people who have not invested anything. This is quite a nice opportunity to earn some cash for playing money games for free.
Should players fear any reputable gaming site? I don’t think so, as each reputable gaming site tries to provide the best experience for the players. Typically, they have some fee to cover the costs of the game play. This can be the monthly fee as in most MMORPG, or some Rake, like in poker. They want people to enjoy the game. You just have to pick one that is friendly to the players.