Cheaters and Thieves Week: BetOnline Issues Statements Following Live Dealer Uproar
In the wake of a video gone viral that shows a live dealer clearly manipulating the deck at one of BetOnline’s interactive blackjack tables, the site has issued a pair of press releases indicating a rapid change in its operations, in a likely move to shore up shattered consumer confidence. Here’s that video:
The move by BetOnline follows the recent publishing of a video by self-described blackjack pro Michael Morgenstern, showing a dealer clearly dealing “seconds” at one of the site’s online tables. (The term describes giving the second card in the shoe to the player, rather than the top card, which in turn is then given to the dealer instead.
First, late on Saturday, BOL dumped the third-party dealing operation it had apparently been contracting with regarding the “live dealer” operations:
BetOnline Switches Live Casino Dealer Software Provider
Visionary iGaming is now available for all BetOnline players
18 February 2017, BetOnline.ag announces that they have cut third-party vendor Global Gaming Labs (GGL), in favor of Live Dealer Casino third-party vendor Visionary iGaming (ViG) – effective immediately!
Live Dealer casino games allow BetOnline.ag players to engage in a new level of interactive gaming experience with real cards, tables, and dealers — from their preferred device.
After client-side complaints regarding the number of available tables, games offered, lackadaisical dealers, and poor hand reporting became common-place (regarding GGL), BetOnline took on the task of finding a superior Live Casino Vendor. After a month-long search in early January 2017, it was decided that ViG would offer a superior product for the BetOnline.ag Players. ViG was notified mid-January, and as of 18 February 2017, the new vendor is in production on BetOnline.ag. Client feedback has been very positive since the switchover!
As always, BetOnline.ag takes client feedback seriously.
Press releases with exclamation points (!) not withstanding, the press release indicates that it was not necessarily in connection with the dealer cheating exposed in the video. Instead, that specific incident was dealt with in a follow-up release, issued late yesterday:
BetOnline Notified of Questionable Behavior by Black Jack Dealer From its Previous Live Dealer Casino Provider
20 February 2017, BetOnline.ag has been notified of an instance of potentially questionable behavior by a black jack dealer from its previous Live Dealer Casino Provider on the date of January 25th, 2017. The Company removed the previous Provider’s Casino and replaced it with the much improved Visionary iGaming Live Dealer product on February 18th 2017.
BetOnline.ag is currently looking into the issue with help and careful cooperation from the previous Live Dealer provider. BetOnline.ag asks that anyone who feels they may have been affected by this dealer’s actions to contact them by email at Casino[at]BetOnline.ag.
As always, BetOnline.ag takes client feedback seriously. And nothing is more important to BetOnline.ag than the integrity of its gambling offerings and the enjoyment of its players.
One of the unanswered questions has been the “why” behind the probable cheating. In our previous piece on the mini-scandal (in which we admittedly did not include the thrid-party vendor scenario, we looked at several different explanations, some more likely than others.
The press releases make a scenario closer to #2 in that previous report somewhat more likely, in which it was the dealer — or, perhaps, the dealer’s third-party employer — that was doing the cheat independently of BetOnline’s expectations. The public has no way of knowing if BetOnline’s contract with GGL was based strictly on volume or had other incentives, such as a bonus for a high overall “win” percentage at the live-dealer tables. Such an inducement could lead to illicit behavior in select circumstances.
It’s also imperative to not take the statements from BOL quite at face value at this early juncture, until a more complete explanation is offered. Scapegoating is common in situations such as this, and unfortunately, businesses the world over have often chosen to offer an expedient explanation rather than an accurate one. The finger-pointing by BetOnline at GGL in this instance does seem to indicate an element of truthfulness, since bogus cover stories are often noted for their lack of such details.
We’ll keep monitoring the story for additional developments.
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