? What is Player Location Check: Geolocation in Legal Online Gambling
Hello wannabe gambler, where are you (located)? There is a player location check requirement and your location matters.
Geolocation, in the online gambling parlance, refers to user location when he or she is playing casino games or betting on sports. To comply with regulatory standards, the mobile casino will determine your location via Wi-Fi signal triangulation and IP address. If there is a failure to confirm these, you will not be allowed to play or bet. Geolocation check is a continous background activity happening on the device during the span of gaming.
Geolocation in gambling checks is about jurisdictional compliance in the US. Legal online casinos and sportsbooks have to use location technology-based verification to ensure that the gambler is actually physically present in the legal gambling jurisdiction before he or she can wager money online on the games.
If the person is not physically present in the state where the casino is licensed, then the person cannot play games on that site. If a person moves out of the state in the middle of gaming, as identified with constant geochecks, all their games will be terminated or folded.
Many casino account features, including deposits and withdrawals, are still available for gamblers even if they are not present in the state jurisdiction. The location requirement is valid for actual gaming activity. Also, VPN services or remote desktop software cannot be used during geolocation checks. One can always travel to a state of interest to meet the player location check requirement.
Network Connection for Player Location Check
You must be connected to the Internet (Windows PC, Mac, mobile) or have cellular service on your mobile phone device.
Wireless network connection is not mandatory but you must have WiFi enabled on the device.
For actual gameplay from a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet, you must have Location Services (GPS) turned on.
? Real Money Casinos and Geolocation
Real-money casinos and sportsbooks are licensed statewise in the US. An legal CT online casino site has to ensure that the US player is physically located within the Connecticut state borders. The player can be a US resident, but while wagering on casino games for money, he or she has to be present in New Jersey. The same is valid for the following states which allow legal online gambling within their state boundaries.
| ? Player Location Check | ?? Legal Online Casinos | ?? Legal Online Sportsbooks |
|---|---|---|
| Within Michigan State boundaries | Michigan online casinos | Michigan Sportsbooks |
| Within New Jersey boundaries | NJ casinos online | NJ Sportsbooks |
| Within Pennsylvania State boundaries | PA online casinos | Pennsylvania Sportsbook Promos |
| Within West Virginia State boundaries | WV online casinos | WV Sportsbooks |
Sweepstake casino sites do not use geolocation tech to determine players but do not allow players from certain restricted states such as Michigan, Idaho and Washington. Since sports betting and mobile casino gaming is not legal in every state, the question of location is a prominent one for gambling regulation.
Casinos are required to verify your account through a KYC process. Players are also asked social security number and identity documents.
? Geolocation Troubleshooting
If you are near the state boundary, the IP address assigned by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) may be associated with a neighboring/nearby state. This will cause verification failure. Most players have a dynamic IP which should get updated within seconds. Try unplugging your modem or router for some seconds to reset the IP address, if required.
You need to contact your ISP if the company is routing your location to another location, causing you to fail location checks.
Do not use Virtual Private Network (VPN), Virtual Network Client (VNC) or Remote Desktop software (RDP) during gaming.
If you are located near an ocean, there may not be enough Wi-Fi signals.
?Player Location Check Plugin Explained
The GeoComply Player Location Check plug-in is required for devices that are not using the official mobile casino app or betting app or do not have a built-in GPS/Bluetooth/Wi-Fi location service on their machine.
The plugin is usually automatically downloaded to your device when required. Plugin restart may be required for some troubleshooting. The GeoComply plugin is browser-specific; users only need to install it once.
You can uninstall player location check plugin from the control panel settings in your PC or restart it by ending its run in the task setting if needed. On a Mac computer, you need to find these controls in the ‘system settings’ option. Check out this video on the BetMGM help page for an explanation on how to install the plugin.
About GeoComply
GeoComply, founded in 2011, is a company providing location check services to gaming industry and others. GeoComply’s plugin is trusted by all gambling industry leaders, including but not limited to FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, BetMGM, Bet365, Betsson, 888 Holdings, Bally’s, IGT, Churchill Downs, Golden Nugget, PokerStars, and Rush Street. The company has possibly performed every single location check in the US regulated gambling market!
GeoComply’s technology is critical for the online sports betting industry. Its platform uses more than 800 data points to accurately confirm that players are located in a state where sports betting is legal before placing a bet.
GeoComply also releases analyses based on player location, such as this NFL story based on data from 28 US states:
GeoComply, a global leader in advanced anti-fraud and geolocation compliance technologies, has announced a 22.3 percent increase in geolocation checks throughout Super Bowl weekend, surpassing last year’s figures.
? Geofencing Reporting and Analytics Data
Gambling authories such as the Michigan Gambling Control Board require that the geofencing System must provide a real-time dashboard and data feed about player location check which provides the following data among other things:
- Time period of wagering
- Username of customer
- Operator and/or platform provider details
- Device identification
- City, state and country detail.
- Passed or failed transactions and reasons for failure
- IP address of device
- Device type and operating system
- Locations of geolocation transactions
- Coordinates for pinpointing locations
- Report location spoofing
- Report device sharing and account sharing
- High-risk transaction data
Any location check app such as FanDuel location check plugin or DraftKings location check plugin fulfils the above-mentioned functions in betting and casino gaming.
