Many people believe there is nothing to gain when gambling online. It is definitely a healthy thing to do, to look at online deals that involve money with a certain amount of caution. We are taking a look at online casinos, whether they are scams and/or how to find a trustworthy one.
The Premise of Online Casinos
In theory, gambling online has the same concept as a real-life casino. You pay money for tokens, use them on the game of your choice and get paid or lose money. Except you do it all in the comfort of your own home. That’s cosy and available 24/7 and opens gambling up to people who are not too fond of socializing. To attract new users, the casino websites offer bonuses, to make sure you can gain something from joining up.
The Distrust
When you walk into a casino, you know what to expect. You bring some money, play some games and walk out with more or less money, depending on your skill and luck. Most people don’t walk out of a casino and blame their losses on some kind of scam. It helps, seeing stuff in real life, paying in person, getting handed chips, getting to look at the dealers and other players. A lot of the uncertainty of online gambling comes with not really knowing who the site belongs to.
Online Casino Background-check
To find a trustworthy casino website, you have to do a little bit of digging — or use online gambling communities to do the work for you. Here’s what to look out for:
Ownership
Many online casinos are owned by analogue casino owners who expanded their business to the internet. That’s a good sign, since the site has a whole established business connected to it. That makes it easy to find owners and the people who are responsible if things go sour. A gambling website should state clearly who owns it and where the person and the business are registered. If you find no contact information whatsoever, keep away from that site.
Licence
An easy way for an online casino to prove that they mean legitimate business is to buy gambling licences. Those are handed out by regulators like the UK Gambling Commission or the Malta Gambling Authority. To buy a licence you have to follow their regulations which assure safe, high-quality gambling. If the website has a licence, it should be displayed quite prominently.
Website Safety
The same goes for safety seals. A quick way to ensure you are on a secure website is to check the https and make sure the s is there. It marks websites that follow the safety guidelines which align with what Google and Co. deem trustworthy. If the website works with an additional safety provider, which is not rare when money is in play, you will find a little logo that says secure or verified. Clicking on it leads to more information about the site’s additional safety standards and statistics.
Customer Service
A good customer service is not exclusively important only when you have a problem. It’s good to know whether a site has a dedicated team to ensure a flawless user experience. The very best customer service is available 24/7, or at the very least states the times during the day when they are online. A site that makes it hard for you to contact them about problems is a bad sign and should be avoided.
Reviews
It’s quite simple. Like with any other online service, people will leave reviews, especially if their experience with a certain website has been negative. Google “the casino’s name + experiences” and you will most likely find some opinions (like here). Some people put together entire reviews and casino tests to help you out when searching for the right place.
Other Factors
Those are the most important facts, since they actively influence your safety and how legitimate a web casino is. But to have the best experience, you can look at other things as well.
Bonuses
We already mentioned the bonuses casinos use to gain new users. They offer you free turns or bonus money. Watch out, though, they come with terms and conditions that specify the rules you have to stick to to actually end up with the bonus.
Variety
A good casino wants to keep their customers entertained for a long time. That makes them acquire a large number of different games to chose from and frequent additions to the list.
Payment Systems
Most sites will offer you many options when it comes to deposits and withdrawals. Usually there are many safe and established options like PayPal. Take a look at the choices and whether the offer instant transfer, if that is important to you. Good to know: Some payment options come with the ability to set limits. This way, you can control how much you spend on gambling.
Conclusion
There are certainly scam websites around that try to steal your money. When it comes to legitimate online casinos, you don’t have to worry any more about getting scammed than you do when visiting a real-life casino. There are safety measures in place and the payment options allow you to pay and win money without additional risks. Through licences, the online casinos underlie the same regulations as analogue casinos do. When you look out for these qualifiers, you’ll have no problem finding a trustworthy online casino.
