With literally thousands of online casinos on the internet, it can
sometimes become very confusing as to which ones are safe and reputable,
and which casinos are not. So many of them are beautifully designed,
look very professional and offer great signup bonuses, so how does one
go about choosing the "reputable" online casinos while avoiding the
"dodgy" ones?
When choosing an online casino to play at, one should always take into consideration the following points:
Licensed casino: Is the casino licensed? While many online casinos are
licensed, a significant number of casinos are not. There are plenty of
unlicensed, illegal gambling casinos which are nothing more than money
scam operations. One should always avoid these casinos at all costs.
Where is the casino licensed?: While online casinos licensed in Antigua
and Barbuda, Australia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Kahnawake,
Netherlands Antilles, United Kingdom and the West Indies are
recommended, online casinos licensed in Eastern Europe should be
approached with extreme caution.
24/7 Support: Does the casino offer 24/7 phone, fax, live chat and email
support? Test the casino's customer service department by asking them a
few questions about their games, bonuses, etc and measure how long it
takes to receive a decent response.
Professional Recogition: Is the online casino officially recognised by
various gaming bodies and authorities? For instance, are the payout
percentages of the online casino independently reviewed by auditors such
as PricewaterhouseCoopers? Is this information made publicly available?
Blacklisted: Is the online casino blacklisted for any reason? There are
many casinos which have been blacklisted by several gambling portals for
one reason or another. Although not all blacklists are credible sources
of information, one should avoid online casinos which appear in several
blacklists.
Software: Casino software providers such as Microgaming, Playtech,
Random Logic, Real Time Gaming and WaterLogic are very popular and have
excellent reputations in the online gambling industry.
With so many online casinos coming and going, and with so many cons and
scams surfacing on the internet everyday, one needs to be especially
careful when registering one's credit card with or transferring money to
an online casino. The above set of guidelines may not completely
safeguard a player's money, but they are nevertheless a good set of
common sense points to go by when choosing an online casino to play at.
