If you’re new to online gambling, you are probably wondering how to distinguish a good casino from a bad one. Thankfully, there are a lot of clues to get you to your answer, and you’re about to discover them all.
Choosing an Online Casino
In the past, when gambling went online for the first time, tons of rogue online casinos appeared, with operators who tricked players to join, deposit money and play, which afterwards shut their business taking away players’ money and leaving them empty-handed.
But this was when online gambling was not really regulated. Today, there are a lot of established regulatory bodies, agencies and institutions that make sure players are treated with respect. Today, there are some criteria the casino must meet for you to consider it trustworthy, and you’re about to learn them all.
License
First and foremost, you need to find out whether the casino you are willing to join holds a proper online gambling license. This license guarantees that you’d be treated with fairness and respect. The regulators oversee each licensee, so you can rest assured that what’s promised, will be delivered.
Try to find an online casino that holds a license by the UK Gambling Commission, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission, the Isle of Man or the Malta Gaming Authority. These are all respected regulators that control their licensees non-stop.
Security Measures
The second thing you need to be careful is whether the casino implements high-end security measures. Today, SSL encryption is essential. 128-bit and 256-bit SSL encryption ensure that all your personal and financial data is kept safe. Strong firewalls are important, as well. While the SSL encryption makes sure your data is encoded and impenetrable by third-parties, the firewalls ensure the data gets safely from your device to the casino’s servers and stays safely there.
SSL encryptions by SECTIGO (formerly COMODO), GoDaddy, DigiCert, GlobalSign, RapidSSL and GeoTrust are industry-approved, so you can trust casinos which implement them blindly.
Fairness and Randomness
Online casino games run on a Random Number Generator. This is a device that makes sure you only get randomly generated game results. No one can tamper with the RNG, so before you join a casino, make sure to check whether the casino has its games tested by a proper auditing agency.
If the casino you want to join holds the Seal of Approval for Fair and Safe by eCOGRA, you’re good to go. eCOGRA is one of the most respected auditors, trusted by both operators and players, but iTechLabs and CFG (Certified Fair Gambling) are great auditing companies, as well.
Payment Methods
Another thing you mind find irrelevant but actually contributes most to the seamlessness of your gambling experience is the choice of payment methods. You may not know this yet, but not all payment methods can be used for both deposits and withdrawals. Moreover, some impose transaction fees.
So, you need to make sure the casino offers a variety of payment methods, credit cards, eWallets, prepaid options, pay-by-phone options and other online payment solutions, so that you can find one that is available in your country, has no or small fees and can be used for both deposit and withdrawals, which will make your entire experience convenient and easy.
Variety of Online Casino Games
Having a choice of online casino games is a must. You never know which game you might like to play, so for a casino to be a perfect option for you, it must offer at least table games, slots, and Live Casino games. Sports betting, lottery, bingo, scratchcards, and other types of games are welcomed, too, but you must have the chance to try out the industry’s most popular game types at your disposal.