Hi Journeyman,
My name is Marty Jensen, and I have been operating online casinos since our first casino (
www.vegascasinoonline.com) opened in 1999. Currently I operate six online casinos, all using Playtech software. I can tell you with 100% certainty that our casinos (Main Street Group) are completely straight.
However, like any industry there are a few disreputable operators out there, but most of the owners are businessmen and run a "straight" operation. The majority of the reputable online casinos operate on volume, and the overall net win is in the 2.0% - 2.3% range which is very tight, when compared to land based casinos.
When looking for someplace to play, go for an casino that uses well established software such as Playtech, Microgaming, BossMedia, RTG etc. I know that at the well established operations all use a random number generator (RNG), and it is virtually impossible for the operator to manipulate the RNG, for several reasons, first the software provider would be extremely upset as this would violate the terms of the contract, second the operator usually does not have this kind of access, and finally, if I could and did manipulate the RNG somehow, it would have a bias after my manipulation, very quickly a perceptive player with some programming skills could write a small program to take advantage of the bias in my RNG, the results would be disastrous for me. In fact, in our office if any of our techs even attempt to get the near that area they are terminated immediately.
Also, look for a casino that has always made payouts to its "winners" on a timely basis, you can locate some of this information on the different chat boards. Some of the portals listed above are good but some are also owned by online casino owners as well.
I hope this answers some of your questions, come and visit us at
www.twinacescasino.com, www.vegascasinoonline.com, or LasvegasUSAcasino.com.
Best,
Marty