What online casino is legit
New casino sites to play real money
Even if we assume that the software is merely pirated and has not been otherwise adulterated, the only reason to pirate such software is because a given casino does not want to pay the rightful providers and hosting companies of the game for the right to use their offerings. The simplest question that I can ask is, "how can anyone trust a casino that is going to try to duck the responsibility to pay companies for their intellectual property?" however, when we look at a simple binomial distribution, we find that the probability of the player being wrong 265 times, or more, is roughly 9.73%. Without a doubt, that is a pretty sucky run for the player in question, but there is nothing particularly alarming about having a series with a small sample size that results in a run slightly worse than nine out of ten players will experience. At least, not from a fairness standpoint.
Legitimate online casinos
Knowing where to play
There are a number of reasons for people to play at online casinos. For many people, it is simply a matter of wanting to gamble, but not having any land-based casinos within a reasonable vicinity of them. For other people still, (myself included) it comes down to either finding a promotion or bonus that one believes to be beatable.
On both the wizardofvegas.Com articles section and the lcb.Org editorials section, I have written about a number of past promotions, and some of them are likely still ongoing, that I have considered beatable and have explained why, in detail. On that note, I have written other articles and editorials still that have highlighted other promotions and bonuses that I have not considered beatable, or have considered beatable for very little value, and explained the way that I analyzed those promotions.
By reading those articles and editorials, in addition to any resources that the wizard himself has provided, it should be relatively easy for an individual with even a modicum of mathematical understanding to comprehend the basic concepts between first identifying, and secondly analyzing, a beatable promotion or bonus.
For other players, however, gambling is strictly about having fun. For people such as myself and the wizard, we tend to have the most fun when we are gambling in a manner that yields a winning expectation, but we would both be remiss (especially me, ‘mr. Video keno,') not to admit that we find some forms of negative expectation (read: losing) gambling pleasurable.
There is one thing that holds true for advantage players and negative expectation gamblers alike: it is absolutely essential to find a legitimate online casino, or preferably many legitimate online casinos, at which to play. This is obviously true for advantage players because one cannot truly play at an advantage if one is dealing with a cheating or no-paying online casino, but it is especially important, I would argue, for those who gamble at a negative expectation to find a legitimate online casino. Here are a few:
One might ask: why might that be more important for individuals who are not playing at an advantage? Certainly, my earlier statement seems, on its face, to be counterintuitive, so let me take the time to explain my position:
An advantage player who seeks to exploit beatable online promotions or bonuses is going to play at a wide variety of casinos at which he considers himself to have an advantage. Such a player will play at such a wide variety of casinos, in fact, that he or she can handle a few financial losses (by way of being ripped off in one way or another) and still come out of it with a profit. While that is true, such a player would still do well not to play at every single casino offering a beatable promotion, especially not those that already have a bad reputation. However, getting, ‘screwed,' every now and then does become something of an expectation.
Players who enjoy gambling, perhaps exclusively, at a negative expectation must exercise serious discretion in finding a legitimate online casino that will treat them fairly and pay in a timely manner. Certainly, such players will have a finite income and a finite bankroll, and those players who choose to exclusively play negative expectation games are mathematically expected to lose their entire bankroll, even in a fair casino that always pays. Simply put, winning extends the player's playtime, it keeps the player afloat longer and enables them to continue to enjoy what they enjoy doing.
Consider the case of a shopper who doesn't read the advertisements in his or her newspaper, or online, before going into a department store or comparing prices with websites: that person might go into a store and pay $40 for a pair of abercrombie jeans, (people still wear abercrombie, right?) when the place next door has them for just $20. A little bit of shopping around results in a lower price on jeans which, assuming a finite clothes budget, means that more jeans can be purchased with a given sum of money.
In that sense, while sites such as this one, wizardofvegas, wizardofmacau and lcb.Org have the primary goals of connecting people, informing them and educating them, advertising to them is not an insubstantial aspect of the goal of those websites. In that sense, we are that clothes, that website that allows you to comparison job prices, in order to ensure that you are getting the best deal you can get, every time.
Before we can tell you what a good deal is, though, the first thing that we need to discuss are what patently bad deals are. If you're a negative expectation gambler, illegitimate and cheating online casinos absolutely cost you more money that you need to pay. If you are an advantage player, they present to you the possibility of a situation with a winning situation, though winning is quite close to impossible. With that, let's discuss the characteristics of casinos to avoid:
What characteristics should a player avoid?
Rigged or pirated software
Even if we assume that the software is merely pirated and has not been otherwise adulterated, the only reason to pirate such software is because a given casino does not want to pay the rightful providers and hosting companies of the game for the right to use their offerings. The simplest question that I can ask is, "how can anyone trust a casino that is going to try to duck the responsibility to pay companies for their intellectual property?"
My answer, quite simply, is that such casinos absolutely cannot, and should not, be trusted. Besides that, even if everything else about those casinos was fair, why would you want to spend your money at an operation that unscrupulously steals from other operations? In my view, the right answer is: I don't want to spend my money there. Personally, I would rather only deal with companies that not only deal above-the-board with me but also deal openly and fairly with other companies.
There are a number of ways to detect pirated software, and LCB are the experts at doing that. However, rigged software is often even more difficult to detect because it involves a rigorous mathematical analysis to conclude, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the software is not playing the game that it proposes to be playing fairly in an honest way.
Such a determination is easier to make when it comes to, ‘even money,' or near even money propositions. The reason for that is because there is an obvious difference that will bear out over several trials between merely, ‘running bad,' ‘running ludicrously bad,' and ‘running impossibly bad.' it is the lattermost of those things that sites such as this one are most concerned about.
It is for that reason that the best of the online casinos will make a playlog available to the players of all of their past activity, that playlog can then be mathematically analyzed to determine whether the player ran in such a way as to essentially be considered, ‘impossibly bad.' furthermore, a number of players, in concert, could request playlogs and turn them into a single source if foul play is expected and it can be determined whether or not the cumulative result of those players is within mathematical reason, and to what degree of confidence.
It may seem like a difficult process to make such a determination, and in fairness, it is. If a player is running at 94% return-to-player on a game that is supposed to be 98.5% return-to-player after only five hundred flat bets of a given amount, even on an even-money proposition, that's not necessarily outside of the realm of reason.
Consider this example: if one were to look at a perfectly fair coin toss upon which a person begins with a bankroll of $500 and only has $470 after five-hundred tosses, (94% return-to-player on an expected 100% return-to-player) then one might immediately be inclined to conclude that a biased coin is being used or the other guy is otherwise finding a way to cheat. For this exact result to happen would require the player to be wrong about the result on 265 occasions while being right on a mere 235 occasions.
However, when we look at a simple binomial distribution, we find that the probability of the player being wrong 265 times, or more, is roughly 9.73%. Without a doubt, that is a pretty sucky run for the player in question, but there is nothing particularly alarming about having a series with a small sample size that results in a run slightly worse than nine out of ten players will experience. At least, not from a fairness standpoint.
However, if you had ten players that ran at a return of $4,700 on $5,000 in total bets, then that would require the players to be wrong on 2,650 tosses compared to only 2,350 that they got right. That result, or worse, would occur less than 0.0012% of the time and could certainly be considered a legitimate cause of alarm. At worst, a casino with that sort of result would be blacklisted while, at best, it would be deemed very suspicious.
The point is that, while it can often be difficult to prove that a casino is cheating, it is possible and the full assortment of our sites have revealed many casinos that have cheated.
Slow pay, no pay, delayed withdrawal tactics
Let's assume that you have been playing at a casino that both doesn't use rigged software and only uses software that it has the right to use pursuant to the owner of the software, and now you have won! First of all, congratulations! Unfortunately, at many online casinos, winning is only half the battle. The easy half.
Of these three things, delayed withdrawal tactics are the least of a player's concerns, but they are still deeply concerning. Instead of promptly paying a player, casinos that choose to engage in delayed withdrawal tactics will offer a myriad of excuses why payment has not been forthcoming. Other tactics that may be used include requesting information from the player that the player has already provided. For instance, a player (who has already faxed in a copy of his or her identification) might be informed that the faxed copy is blurry and asked to fax it three or four more times. Furthermore, such casinos might often choose to, ‘duck,' the player resulting in the player having to go to great lengths to contact the casino, perhaps even complaining on lcb.Org, before the casino finally deigns to deal with them.
There are a number of other delayed withdrawal tactics that are far too plentiful and distasteful to warrant mention on this page, but if you wish to read about some, lcb.Org offers plenty of examples. The vast majority of casinos who engage in delayed withdrawal tactics have warnings indicated on their reviews or anywhere else on the site where they are mentioned. Some of them are blacklisted, but those blacklistings are usually for other reasons in addition to delayed withdrawal tactics.
Another tactic similar to delayed withdrawal tactics is that of slow-paying. Slow-paying is actually quite similar to delayed withdrawal, but one key difference is that casinos who are known slow-payers are often much quicker to attempt to more-or-less stonewall a player than casinos that simply utilize delayed withdrawal tactics. Furthermore, the casino, in spite of the maximum amount that it states it is willing to send over a given period of time, might occasionally send less money than that while providing a plethora of excuses for why it can't send more.
Of course, what a ‘no-pay,' casino consists of is pretty self-explanatory. They don't pay. Enough said. These casinos will always find themselves blacklisted eventually.
Here at wizardofodds.Com, one of our endeavors it to give players quick and easy access to casinos that not only operate using fair and non-pirated software but also, who will pay as quickly as reasonably possible.
Bad customer service
One aspect that online casinos should share with land-based casinos, that no type of casinos does perfectly every single time, is that the customer service should be exemplary.
Even if a casino pays in a reasonably timely fashion and operates using legitimate software, shouldn't it matter to a player how he or she is treated?
Not only should any, ‘live support,' or phone support be able and willing to answer any non extremely technical questions that a player may have in an expedient way, but they should also treat the player with extreme courtesy in doing so. All casino representatives should be upfront, honest, polite and go out of their way to ensure that a player knows everything that he or she needs to know about the casino and/or its terms and conditions.
On that note, it is also important to mention that a player should always understand and agree to a casino's terms and conditions before playing. While our collection of websites is willing to do a good many things to try to benefit those players who are kind enough to visit us, there is nothing that we can do for a player who has undoubtedly and provingly violated an online casino's terms and conditions. Just as a player has the right to choose what casino he does or doesn't wish to play at, an online casino has the right to write up its own terms and conditions, even if those conditions may seem ridiculous to some. (I think a few of them have ridiculous terms!)
In any case, the customer service staff should be ready to answer questions, and even if they are wrong, a legitimate casino will stand behind what its representative said, which is why it is always advisable to use the, ‘live chat,' function and have a transcript of the conversation E-mailed to you. When complaining about an online casino either treating you poorly or doing the opposite of what they, through their customer service representative, said they would do: the more proof you have, the more our sites can try to help you.
Of course, the wizard would never recommend an online casino without a thorough vetting of all of its aspect, and not least of those is customer service. Therefore, when trying to decide on a legitimate online casino at which to play, it is always beneficial for a player to choose one that has the wizard's seal of approval.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
The seal of approval:
Having taken the time to discuss what a prospective player should avoid when choosing an online casino, it is time now to take a look at what things a potential player might potentially seek out when looking for a legitimate online casino.
The first thing to look for, particularly on this site, wizardofmacau.Com and our message board, wizardofvegas.Com is the seal of approval. There are very few guarantees in the world of online gambling, but the legitimacy and fairness of a casino that carries the seal of approval is one of them.
What the seal basically means is that, if you sign up as a new player at an online casino using one of the links available on this website, then we will have your back to as much an extent as we can to resolve any situation that may arise between the casino and yourself. While this amounts to virtually anything that can arise as a dispute between the casino and yourself, there are two simple terms that go along with this guarantee:
The first of the two terms are stated in the advertising policy itself, and that is that we ask that you try to resolve the situation with the casino yourself before requesting our assistance. That's not because we do not want to help you, but rather because any casino that carries our seal of approval can be expected to resolve player issues without the need for us to get involved. Were that not the case, then we wouldn't advertise them with our seal of approval. The result of that is usually our assistance is only needed for problems that are somewhat complicated.
The second term which is not explicitly stated in our advertising policy, but perhaps could be, is that if you blatantly violate any of the terms and conditions of the online casino, then there probably isn't going to be very much we can do for you. It is for that reason that all terms and conditions should be read by players and understood, with any questions a player might have directed to customer service (preferably via, ‘live chat,' and with a requested transcript of the conversation) so that the player assures himself or herself that the player does not run afoul of the terms and conditions. For example, if a casino defines, ‘bonus abuse,' in a specific way and a player chooses to act in a fashion that clearly constitutes, ‘bonus abuse,' then there may not be much anyone can do for you if the casino can prove their allegations and refuses to pay on any winnings derived from that bonus.
Beyond that, the advertising policy backs up our seal of approval and our seal of approval backs YOU up.
If the bearing of the seal of approval is a must for you to play at an online casino, then make sure to also take a look at some of the online casino reviews that can be found on this website to ensure that the casino you are considering has that seal. We will occasionally advertise for casinos that we believe are genuinely legitimate, but who have not necessarily satisfied the criteria to earn our highly coveted seal of approval.
Longevity:
For advantage players, longevity is not necessarily a must because newer online casinos will often offer more aggressive promotions and bonuses in order to attract new players, a trait shared with land-based casinos. For negative expectation players, however, the lifespan of a casino or group of casinos might be a reasonable thing to look for when choosing a legitimate online casino.
Casinos and ownership groups (many online casinos are owned by the same person, company or group) that have a long history will generally have a wider range of opinions that have been put out there by players. Many such opinions can be found in the reviews both here and lcb.Org, and the latter site has a forum that is much more specifically geared to online gambling and contains many player reviews, opinions and comments.
One of the most important things a potential player can do in trying to determine what casino the player wants to play at is to take the time to research the opinions of professionals and the experiences of other players. For example, perhaps the biggest concern that you have is that the software is fair and you REALLY want a casino that pays extremely quickly, perhaps you would be willing to endure a less than stellar customer service experience if both of those conditions are met. You could read about experiences other players have had, and for you, the biggest priority would be avoiding slow-paying casinos.
The unfortunate fact is that no online casino, however legitimate, is 100% perfect 100% of the time. If there was such a casino out there, then that would be the only casino that would need to be advertised on this website. Eventually, it would become the only online casino out there with a meaningful number of customers because people would ultimately figure out that it is the best at everything. The simple fact is, most online casinos are truly awesome at a few things while being merely okay in others, so a smart player will look at a casino (or group) with a long history and read about the experiences of others choosing a casino most suited to his or her desires.
Safety and reputability:
Reputability goes hand-in-hand with longevity to a certain extent, which is simply to say that if a casino has been deemed reputable for an extended period of time, then it becomes even more likely that the online casino in question is a legit casino who the player can rely upon.
There are a number of factors that contribute to the safety of a legit online casino, and those factors will include such things as the protection of a player's personal information as well as the protection of player funds.
When you look at the protection of personal and financial information, it is essential for a player to peruse the security and/or privacy section of a casino site to ensure that it is using adequate encryption. The relative safety of the types of encryption offered by an online casino can be researched separately and a player can make a decision as to what casino to play on that basis.
Some online casinos might do even worse than slow-pay, no-pay or outright cheat, it is possible for disreputable online casinos to be nothing more than fronts for identity thieves who make it their sole objective to gain access to as much personal and financial information as possible to perhaps make unlawful transactions on credit cards, or perhaps, attempt to gain credit in the player's name. Alternatively, personal and financial information might be sold to other entities at a profit if one is dealing with an online casino that is nothing more than a front for identity thieves.
While we would never advertise for a casino that is engaged in such tactics, a player can take that sort of safety into his or her own hands by depositing using a prepaid credit card, at least, after first verifying that the casino will accept prepaid cards. By doing this, a player can put only the funds needed on the card to cover the deposit the player wants to make so that any other transactions aside from that would be declined as there would be nothing on the card. That is one tactic that I personally use to protect myself when playing at an online casino with whom I am unfamiliar.
Additionally, when the player has made a deposit, it is important that the player's money is protected. Much like the ‘casino's money,' does not become your money until you have cashed out and been paid, your money does not become the casino's money until such time as you have lost it. That was the main problem that happened with full tilt poker, and about which I wrote a series of four articles for our wizardofvegas site that I am very proud of:
For those of you who would prefer the shortest version of the story possible, essentially, player funds were being used to pay high-ranking executives within the full tilt company to such an extent that the website no longer had the funds available to cover the amounts of money that the players had available to them. During the majority of that time, even knowing that they could not cover the player's money, they continued to take deposits and full tilt poker turned into little more than a ponzi scheme.
What was perhaps the saddest aspect of that story was the fact that full tilt poker made its money by taking a, ‘rake,' which simply means a percentage of the pots that players built up in the poker games. In other words, full tilt poker made a finite amount of player's money at any given time and there was really no excuse for the amount of cash on hand to dip below a level that would have enabled them to pay all the players. If that did happen, then the company should have immediately declared itself insolvent and immediately paid as many players as possible as much as possible. For those of you who opt to read my four articles on the subject, you will see that things didn't quite go down that way.
Anyway, protecting player funds is even more important for online casinos who are operating either entirely or in the majority games that are called, ‘house banked.' what that means is that, for players who are not playing games, such as poker, against other players, they are playing games directly against the house. Examples of these games are slots, craps, blackjack and innumerable other games. The house, at a minimum, should have enough in its coffers to cover the cumulative sum of money that players have available to cash out at any given time.
In fact, in the state of nevada and many other jurisdictions with land-based casinos, not only is the casino required to have enough cash on hand to cover the chips that a player might theoretically buy in for (read: all of the chips on all of the tables) but the casino also must hold a reserve in cash such that they are able to cover all possible jackpots, as well. Even in the slot parlors of west virginia, they are required to have enough cash on hand to cover the highest possible jackpot if it were to hit twice, simultaneously.
Furthermore, the expectations for land-based gambling operations are such that they must be able to pay out on these jackpots immediately. The terms and conditions for online casinos are such that they give themselves days, often weeks, in order to pay a player who wins and chooses to cash out. Given that the rules for cash on hand are more relaxed for online casinos, even legitimate operations, it is reasonable to expect that all of these casinos would keep enough to cover all player balances. In fact, some of these online casinos have separate funds for player's accounts from which monies are not removed until such time that the player has lost.
In fact, one reason that online casinos have a policy that, granted, many players disagree with stating that players' funds shall be considered abandoned after x number of days is because the online casino has to be able to account for those funds at some point. Does it really seem necessary that an online casino should have to keep a particular player's balance at $1.30, or whatever ridiculous amount, when a player hasn't played for over a year?
Either way, this site would never market for a casino of any kind that does not strive to be ahead of the curve in protecting both a player's personal information as well as a player's money.
Certified software testing:
Rather than having to be worried about significant manual trials and exhaustive mathematical testing to ensure the fairness of games, wouldn't it be better if, somehow, a player could know ahead of time that the software a casino uses is fair? Fortunately, there is a way to do that, and it is by assuring that a bona fide software testing company has tested an online casinos software and has certified the games fair.
In the simplest of terms, software testing is a computer program testing the fairness of another computer program. The way it works is that a computer program will be audited to play a game offered by an online casino millions of times in order to determine, based on the number of times played, whether or not the results of the game conform to both expectation and the expected return-to-player.
While it is difficult to account for an individual player's results, especially in a limited sample size, with a sizable enough sample size, there should appear a, ‘regression to the mean,' which simply means that after a given number of trials, a particular set of results would indicate cheating. If you go back to our coin-flip example, while guessing aside and being wrong 265 out of 500 times is hardly a concern, guessing and being wrong 2,650 out of 5,000 times is almost definitely a cause for alarm, that's despite the fact that, technically, the player guessed correctly the same percentage (53%) of the time in both cases.
The fact of the matter is actually quite simple, while some people might ask, "well, couldn't an online casino cheat only rarely such that the cheating is virtually mathematically undetectable?" strictly speaking, the answer to that question is yes, but most online casinos that intend to bilk players at all are largely fly-by-night operations who do not have any particular concern with their reputation or making their tactics anything but obscenely blatant to a mathematician.
Furthermore, when it comes to software testing, many testing companies make it necessary for a given online casino to make their source code available for inspection. The result of that, of course, is that the testing company can then examine the computer program operating the game itself to ensure that the program is designed fairly. In other words, the software has been determined not to cheat simply because it is incapable of cheating.
Conclusion
There are a number of factors that go into choosing a legitimate online casino that is right for you, and those include some things to avoid as well as other aspects that a player should look for when deciding where to play, and with whom to trust his or her money. The resources available to you on this site, wizardofvegas.Com and lcb.Org should be more than enough to guide you in the right direction in terms of not just what casino to play at, but what are the best games to play. Furthermore, for those of you bingo junkies out there, latestbingobonuses.Com has you covered in the same regard if you are looking for legitimate online bingo.
Between all of the information shared by our experts at these various sites and the comments and experiences shared by other players, you should be well on your way to finding a legitimate casino that suits your needs. Here are a few:
Are online slots A scam & rigged?
Are online slots are a scam? Are they rigged by the casinos to prevent real players from winning?
These are important and common questions and we’re hear the lay them to bed once and for all. Let’s kick things off by talking about if online casinos actually have the power to rig slot machines.
Can slot machines be rigged?
The best way to answer this question is to look at exactly how slot machines work. There are two crucial mechanics you need to be aware of: the random number generator (RNG) and the return to player percentage (RTP).
Random number generators
What is important to recognise here is that the software ensures that all combinations displayed to players are random. That therefore means that there is no scope for a casino to control the result of a player’s specific spin.
Are they truly random?
When players learn of rngs and hear that legitimate machines are indeed all entirely random, many players are more than a little sceptical as they are sure that casinos must do something to guarantee that they profit from slots.
The fact is, that the casinos certainly do have those kinds of guarantees but that it has nothing to do with ‘rigging’ the machine or cheating players.
RTP percentages: the casinos edge
That ‘house edge’ is built into every slot by way of the payout or return to player (RTP) percentage of the machine.
That RTP percentage is programmed into each slots game by the software companies who make them and represents the amount paid out to players as compared with the total amount wagered on the game over an extended period of time.
How do RTP percentages work?
If an RTP percentage is 95% for example, then a machine will on average pay out 95% of what it takes in over its life time and the ‘house edge’ will be 5% – as that is what the casino or provider will take for themselves.
That combination of RNG and payout percentage therefore, is what ensures that casinos make a long term profit from slots games without the need to ‘rig’ the machines or to attempt to scam players.
The machines can – and do – payout to different players at different times after all, whilst still maintaining the overall ‘house edge’ over an extended period of time.
Safe online casinos with fair slots
| casino | our rating | bonus | free spins | wagering | claim | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 97% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | GB online casino | exclusive bonus | get started | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Using credit and debit cards at online casinos | ||
|---|---|---|
| usual waiting time | usual fees | |
| deposits | instant | 0-5% |
| withdrawals | 3-5 working days | none |
One of the fastest and most convenient ways to process payments on the web is to use e-wallets. This is why the top online casinos usually accept at least a couple of them. The most popular e-wallets are paypal, skrill, and neteller.
Note that some e-wallets restrict online betting and gaming transactions in certain countries. Others don’t operate in every country. So, depending on where you live, e-wallets may not be a practical option for funding online casinos.
Another potential downside is that some casino websites exclude deposits with e-wallets from their sign-up bonuses and other promotions.
You’ll struggle to find a payment method that is faster when it comes to withdrawals, though. If fast payouts are important to you, then e-wallets are definitely a good option if available.
| Using E-wallets | ||
|---|---|---|
| usual waiting time | usual fees | |
| deposits | instant | none |
| withdrawals | 24-48 hours | none |
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
The online gambling industry wasn’t bypassed by the cryptocurrency revolution. There are plenty of legit online casinos that work with bitcoin and other popular digital coins such as ethereum, litecoin, ripple, and more.
Using cryptocurrencies is a fast and cheap way to make your online deposits and withdrawals. It’s also an especially good solution in countries that have restrictive online gambling laws. Bitcoin is very popular with gamblers in the united states, for example.
| Using cryptocurrencies | ||
|---|---|---|
| usual waiting time | usual fees | |
| deposits | instant | none |
| withdrawals | 24 hours | none |
Other popular casino payment methods
The following banking methods are not quite as popular as the ones mentioned above, but they’re available at most of the trusted online casinos, and some players do use them often.
Money transfer services the options include services such as western union. It’s a good choice in countries with restrictive online gambling laws. Wire transfers this is a straightforward and reliable option but not the quickest. Wire transfer withdrawals often attract a fee, too, and aren’t usually available for smaller amounts. Prepaid cards there are many ways to buy and fund prepaid cards. The biggest problem with this option is that it’s only available for deposits and not withdrawals. Pay-by-phone this is an increasingly popular option as more and more people gamble from their mobile devices. Simply put, you can deposit small amounts of money that are added to your phone bill at the end of the month. This is useful for quick deposits, but you can’t withdraw any winnings this way.
Best online casinos by game
If you have a favorite casino game, then you should consider looking for the best online casinos for that particular game.
You probably know all about most of these games if you’re an experienced casino player. For those of you that are new to casino gambling, however, you might like to learn a little more.
We’ve provided some details on each of the most popular casino games below.
Slots
It’s only natural to start with slots. No other casino game is as popular online as slots are. There are millions of online slots players all over the world, which is why the top casino websites and game developers are constantly pushing out new games.
The variety of the available titles and the potentially huge jackpots are the main advantages of the online slot machines. There are so many slot games with different gameplay features, prizes, and themes that you can constantly find new and exciting slots to play.
Almost all of our recommended online casinos offer hundreds of slot games. The number of different themes is almost endless, and you’ll find classic slots, video slots, 3D slots, and much more, too. There are also all kinds of different features. If you like free spins, bonus rounds, scatters, expanding wilds, or any other game mechanic, rest assured that the leading sites all have you covered.
Although slots are a lot of fun, that fun comes at a cost. Slots typically have a fairly high house edge, which means the return to player percentage (RTP) is lower than in other popular games such as blackjack and baccarat. Even the best online casinos “only” offer around 95% RTP on most slots.
On a more positive note, playing slots almost always counts towards the wagering requirements of any bonuses offered by online casinos. Plus, you’ll find genuinely life-changing jackpot prizes available at most casino sites. You could end up cashing out for millions if you go after the big progressive jackpots.
You can read more about playing slots in the following section of our website.
Blackjack
Blackjack has been played in casinos for years. It has long been one of the most popular choices in land-based casinos all over the globe, so it’s no surprise that blackjack is also a popular game online.
The rules are simple, and anyone can learn them quickly, but mastering the game is another story. Unlike many other casino games, there is strategy involved here. You have to make decisions about how to play each hand, and those decisions make a difference in the outcome.
If you can learn how to play flawless blackjack, or close to it, the house edge is really low. That’s one of the main reasons for its widespread popularity.
Most of the top online casinos offer many blackjack games, with different stake limits and different rule sets. The game is always fundamentally the same, though. For more information on blackjack and how to play, please check out our guide.
Roulette
Roulette is another casino classic that has made the successful transition from land-based version to online version. This game has been around for centuries, and despite a few changes, the core mechanisms have always remained the same.
What makes roulette so popular is its simplicity and the excitement it provides. The large variety of different wagers to choose from helps, too.
It’s important to understand that there are different types of roulette. The most popular variation is the european roulette that features only one zero and a house edge of just 2.70%. This is available at most online casinos, as is american roulette. We suggest staying away from that, though, as it has two zero sectors, and the house edge rises to 5.26%.
Your best bet is to go for french roulette, as it has a couple of additional rules that lower the house edge to 1.35% on even money bets. Unfortunately, not many of the legit casinos offer this game. You’ll find it at some, though.
If you are interested in trying roulette, you should check out our full guide.
We cover everything these is to know about roulette, including the rules, variants, and types of bet.
Video poker
Video poker is a casino game that deserves special attention for many reasons. The main one is that the house edge in some video poker variants is close to zero or even non-existent if you play perfectly.
As you could assume from the statement above, there is a lot of strategy here too. You can decide which cards to burn and which to hold on every single hand. Knowing the correct decisions for the video poker machine you picked is the key here.
The paytable of the game will show you the return of each combination. It usually starts from just your stake for the most common combinations and goes up to several hundred times your bet for royal flushes. That’s right; most video poker variations provide you the chance to win really big.
The low house edge of this game means a lot of online casino sites are not especially fond of video poker. Most of them still offer at least a few variants, but they are often excluded from any of the bonuses and promotions on offer.
Don’t let that deter you from playing video poker, though. You can find more about the game in the following guide.
Other popular casino games online
Don’t worry if we haven’t covered your favorite casino game above. Unless it’s a very obscure one, the chances are that you’ll find it at any one of our recommended online casinos.
The following games, for example, are all widely available at the top casino sites. And this is by no means an exhaustive list of the games you’ll find online.
- 3 card poker
- Baccarat
- Caribbean stud poker
- Casino hold’em
- Casino war
- Craps
- Keno
- Let it ride poker
- Pai gow poker
- Sic bo
You can find information on all these games, and others, in the following part of our website.
Best online casinos by software provider
The online gambling industry is booming, and there are plenty of legit casinos on the internet. This creates a lot of work for the software providers who power the online websites and provide their games.
There are dozens of companies developing online games for casino sites, and some of them are major players in the gambling industry. Some are much smaller but still produce a number of popular casino titles.
A lot of online casino players have their favorite software providers, which is why we’ve ranked the best internet casinos by software provider.
Here’s some information about a few of the biggest casino software providers in the online gambling industry right now.
Microgaming
If you’ve been playing at the top-rated casinos online for some years, you almost certainly know the products of microgaming. The company has been around since 1994 and is among the biggest in the industry. It has released hundreds of titles since its birth and is still going strong up to this day.
Many of the earliest legit online casino sites were powered by the microgaming software. Back then, they required you to download additional software, which was the case with most casinos up until relatively recently.
One of the reasons why microgaming survived for so long in such a competitive environment is the company’s ability to adapt. Nowadays, the microgaming casinos don’t require a download and provide a platform that supports the products of other game developers.
As a result, you will find microgaming games in hundreds of the leading casino websites. Microgaming has released loads of slots, video poker machines, card and table games, live dealer tables, and many more. The company is among the most prolific and keeps launching new titles on a regular basis.
It was also one of the first to introduce progressive jackpots with a shared pool between the different online casinos. This is why some of the largest prizes in the history of online gambling have been won on microgaming slots.
Playtech
The profile of playtech is very similar to the one of microgaming. It has been around since the 1990s and is one of the few developers that have enough games to power complete online casinos on their own. Many of the leading gambling operators have offered exclusively playtech games at one time or another, and some still do.
The company made sure to stay in touch with the latest technologies on the market. Nowadays, all of the new products of playtech are available for instant play and require no download. On top of that, the new titles are compatible with mobile devices like iphone, ipad, android, and more.
Playtech’s portfolio includes all kinds of quality games, including countless slots, video poker, card and table games like blackjack and roulette, live casino games, and pretty much everything you can think of.
On top of everything else, playtech was one of the first studios to offer branded games, after striking deals with marvel and other big companies. As a result, the developer has products that come with your favorite pop-culture, comic book, TV show, and movie characters.
Netent
Net entertainment, or simply netent, is another giant in the online casino industry. The company offers a complete portfolio of games, including blackjack, roulette, video poker, live games, and slots. You can find them at some of the best online casino sites, as the studio has an excellent reputation and is compatible with other big providers like microgaming.
What makes netent so successful is the attention to detail and the exceptional quality of the slot machines produced by the studio. They come with some of the greatest graphics and animations you will ever see at online casinos.
The netent slots are simply stunning, but not only when it comes to their appearance. The company is not afraid to experiment and try new gameplay features. This is why you never know what to expect from the new products of the vendor.
Netent is not as productive as the first two companies on our list, but every single title by the developer is a masterpiece. New ones are launched to the market every now and then, so netent always has fresh games for you to play.
In the past couple of years, every single product of the studio has been developed with mobile devices in mind, so you can enjoy the netent slots on the go, too.
Betsoft
If you are a US casino player, there’s a good chance you’ve enjoyed some games by betsoft. The company was started in 2006 and started making 3D slots in 2010. This is what changed the fortune of the studio, as nowadays, it is known exactly for this type of game.
Slots and 3D slots, in particular, are where betsoft truly excels. Initially, the company worked on flash, but it recently switched to HTML5, as it provides a great platform to build games that run smoothly on mobile as well.
The portfolio of betsoft is completed by video poker, card games, and table games such as blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and more. They are all quite decent and allow betsoft casinos to have a diverse selection of games.
One of the advantages of the vendor is that you will find it in online casinos that accept players from the USA and other countries that have restrictive gambling laws. In fact, betsoft probably provides the best real money casino games online that can be accessed by americans.
Evolution gaming
Most of the companies we’ve discussed so far have a complete portfolio that offers all kinds of casino games. This is not the case with evolution gaming, as the studio has an entirely different strategy. Instead of trying to work on different niches, it has specialized in the development of casino games with live dealers.
It was the successful approach, apparently, as evolution gaming has the reputation of providing the best casino games with live dealers on the market. The company offers high-quality video streams, and every single croupier is polite and trained well.
Furthermore, evolution gaming has plenty of different games, limits, and even dealers that speak various languages. The developer has truly devoted all their efforts to creating the most realistic casino experience online.
This is the reason why many of the best casinos online trust evolution gaming when it comes to their live section.
Other online casino game developers
If we actually talk about every decent developer of online casino games, this page will become endless. We focused on a few of the best providers above, but there are some more that at least deserve a mention.
Realtime gaming this is one of the few top studios out there that work with casino sites that accept american players. They offer slots, video poker, and a couple of other categories of games. IGT international gaming technology, or IGT, has been around for ages. The company started producing games for land-based casinos back in the 1970s, but it has an online presence as well. The stars group the owner of the biggest poker room in the world (pokerstars) started working on additional gambling products a couple of years ago and nowadays offers slots, video poker, card and table games, and even tables with live dealers. WMS williams interactive is one of the most experienced game developers in the casino industry. WMS started in the 1940s by producing games for brick-and-mortar casinos and has managed to stay competitive despite the huge changes in the industry and the rise of online gambling.
These are the biggest names in the industry, but plenty of rising studios have emerged recently. If you want to explore them, we have a page that has more information on the topic.
Additional online casino rankings
It’s very likely that one or more of the casino categories we’ve covered so far will give you exactly what you want from your online gaming experience. We’re nothing if not comprehensive, though, so we’ve also ranked the top casinos in a variety of other categories.
Let’s take a closer look at some of these categories.
Best live dealer casinos
The live dealer casinos are where the atmosphere of the land-based establishments meets the convenience offered by the gambling operators on the internet. They give you the chance to play traditional games like blackjack, baccarat, roulette, and many more with real people and real tables.
You can sit at home and enjoy them while watching the dealer through a high-quality live streaming service. This is probably the best choice for people who want to experience the thrill of real money casinos but don’t have the time and opportunity to visit brick-and-mortar ones.
While a lot of casino websites offer live dealer games, some of them really go the extra mile. The top live dealer casinos give you the chance to enjoy a lot of games, quality video picture, and all kinds of bonuses.
The staff is always ready to help and polite, so the social element of the whole experience is second to none.
If this is what you are looking for, you should most certainly try one of our top live dealer casinos.
Best mobile casinos
If you’re looking for the top casino sites that are also available on mobile, we’ve got you covered. It’s cool to play casino games online from your phone or tablet nowadays because it gives you the chance to enjoy your favorite games at any given moment.
You can even have short sessions of only a couple of minutes while waiting for the bus or having your lunch break.
Thanks to technologies like HTML5, most casino sites on the internet are compatible with all the popular mobile devices.
Safest online casinos
Every single operator that is featured on our site is safe and has the required license for online casino games with real money, as we believe that your cash and your personal information should be protected at all costs.
However, it’s fair to say that some casinos online take their commitment to safety above and beyond. If you want to be extra careful and stick to the places that we believe are as safe as it gets, this is the category for you.
Fast payout online casinos
All of the online casino websites we recommend, in all categories, are known for processing withdrawals in reasonable timeframes. Naturally, though, some are faster than the rest.
If your top priority is to get your money as quickly as possible, then you should probably pick one of the casinos from this category.
Best casinos for bonuses and rewards
One of the biggest advantages of playing at internet casinos is the countless bonuses and promotions you will find.
Pretty much every single gambling site on the web will offer newcomers some kind of a welcome deal. Even after that initial boost, there are VIP programs, comp points, and many other real money rewards that can provide you with a lot of extra value.
Many people pick internet casino sites based on the bonuses they could get, and there is nothing wrong with that at all — providing, of course, that they still stick to reputable and trustworthy operators.
Best online casinos for high rollers
If you can afford to place large bets, you’re surely looking for the top online casinos that are brave enough to accept them.
Not every casino site wants to offer big limits, so we picked a few that are perfect for high rollers.
Best virtual reality casinos
One of the latest technologies on the market is virtual reality, or simply VR. It is designed to simulate the real world and create a unique experience.
Some casino game developers have adopted the latest VR technologies, and we expect VR to dominate the online gambling world in the future. We’re not there yet, but a few of our recommended casinos offer at least some VR games.
How we evaluate the best online casinos
Now let’s dig a bit deeper and explain all the criteria we explore during the rating and ranking of online casinos.
There are many, many factors we look at when deciding which casino sites to recommend to our readers. We won’t get into all of them here, but we will cover the most important ones.
Safety and reputation
The first and most important thing to consider about any real money gambling operator on the internet is your safety. You don’t want to entrust your cash and personal information to a site that is shady and has a bad reputation.
For that reason, we always make sure that every single online casino on our lists is safe. There are two main directions here. The first one is related to the operator’s license and overall history. If there’s any indication that something’s fishy, we simply don’t continue.
The other aspect we check is related to the security measures used. Every transaction of data or money must be secured with high-level SSL encryptions, and the casino needs to have a strict policy of protecting its customers.
After all, even if a company doesn’t have harmful intentions, what good is that if it doesn’t take proper care of each player? This is why we don’t compromise with how reliable the online casino is.
Promotions and bonuses
There are so many real money casinos on the internet right now that the fight for customers between them is nothing short of savage. Getting new players and keeping them is a matter of survival for every single operator on the market.
The competition improves the service and brings a lot of additional goodies to the players. The best example of that is the countless promotions you will find in any of our legit online casinos.
The most valuable one is usually the welcome package offered to new customers. It includes a juicy sign-up bonus based on your first or the first couple of deposits, as well as free spins and potentially other rewards.
Once you complete the initial deal, there are plenty of other promotions designed to keep you happy. The gambling operators on the web have VIP programs, comp points, and a bunch of other special offers for their loyal players. Simply put, if you play casino games online consistently, you will earn extra value consistently.
Range of games
Up to a couple of years ago, even the best casinos on the web used to offer products by only one game developer. This is no longer the case, as the top gambling operators online actually combine titles by at least a couple of different vendors.
This is great news for players because the variety of options is staggering. Our recommended online casinos usually offer hundreds of real money slots, card and table games such as roulette and blackjack, video poker machines, live casino games with real dealers, and many more.
The range of products is fantastic, and there’s something for even the most demanding players.
Ease of use
Naturally, we also evaluate the user interface of all the websites we recommend. You should be able to easily browse around and manage your account. Activities like making a deposit or a withdrawal, talking to the support, and checking your balance should take a click or two, no more.
We pay special attention to the way the games library is organized. Since there will be hundreds of options to pick from, it should be easy enough to do so. A search bar would be helpful for those who know what they are looking for, while there should be filters that can help you explore unknown titles.
You should be able to select only the games by your favorite developers or pick the category you would like to. After all, a comfortable experience on the casino’s website is important.
Progressive jackpots
We know that many of you play casino games online and dream about that big hit that will change your life in a heartbeat. Many people gamble online with that sole purpose. For them, one of the most important factors is to join a platform that offers as many jackpots as possible.
You can rest assured that the real money casinos we recommend have at least a couple of games with an insane grand prize. Most of the time, we’re talking about progressive jackpots that could reach millions.
Customer support
A lot of people underestimate the importance of the customer support service and learn how crucial it can be the hard way. Even if you join one of the best casinos online, you might need assistance at some point, for various reasons.
When the moment comes, there should be a comprehensive help section that will answer the most frequently asked questions and provide basic information. This will save you a lot of time, as some matters are simple enough to be resolved without contacting customer support.
If that’s not the case, and you do need to talk to an agent, there must be a convenient way to do that. We believe that live chats are the way to go, and many of the top internet casinos have this option, but phone and email are not bad channels for communication either.
The important thing is to quickly reach a competent casino representative that will be eager to resolve any issue you might be experiencing.
Mobile compatibility
Considering how far modern technologies have gone, it’s unacceptable for any casino site to not have a smooth mobile version. The rise of HTML5 allowed every operator to create a mobile-responsive page for all the popular phones and tablets.
This is why most online casinos automatically find the best settings and adjust to your iphone, ipad, android, windows phone, or any other mainstream mobile device.
You will rarely find a gambling operator that offers all of its games on mobile as well, but at least a couple of titles from each category should be available.
This will give each customer the chance to play casino games online on the go under any circumstances. Even the short sessions in unusual situations can be a lot of fun, which is why we always check the mobile version.
Banking options
We always make sure that every single one of our recommendations offers enough convenient payment options. It’s crucial that you have the ability to quickly move your money around without much hassle.
When we explore the cashier section, we would like to see reliable payment methods such as debit and credit cards (visa, maestro, mastercard, diners club), e-wallets (paypal, skrill, neteller), money transfer services (western union), prepaid cards (paysafecard), and potentially other popular providers.
Payout speed
The speed of the transactions also matters, especially when we talk about withdrawals. You want to receive your money in a reasonable timeframe, and this is what the best casinos on the web provide.
It should be noted that what’s reasonable depends on where you’re playing from. Gamblers in the US, for example, should expect to wait longer for their withdrawals than gamblers from the UK and some other parts of the world. That doesn’t mean they should be waiting for any longer than is absolutely necessary, though.
Pros and cons of playing online
Some of you might be wondering why you’d even want to play at online casinos instead of actually visiting “real” ones. That’s fair enough — online gambling is not for everyone.
However, there are definitely some major advantages to using casinos online. Let’s take a look.
Convenience and choice
If you want to visit a land-based casino, you have to go there physically. When you play casino games online, you can do it from anywhere. You can enjoy the games from the comfort of your home or simply open your mobile phone at any given moment.
On top of that, the best online casinos are always open, and all of their games are available all the time. That’s not always the case with brick-and-mortar establishments. They’re not all open 24 hours a day, and even those that are don’t run all their games right around the clock.
There’s also the matter of how many you have to choose from online. Unless you live in las vegas, it’s likely that you don’t have very many local casinos to visit. Online, though, you have options galore.
It depends on your country to an extent, but you can usually pick between tens or even hundreds of casino sites on the internet. Not all of these meet the required standard, of course, but even if you just stick with the ones we recommend across the different categories, you’ve got plenty to choose from.
Variety of games
The sheer number of games available online is simply staggering. Most of them have hundreds of products in various categories like slots, blackjack, roulette, video poker, and so many more.
Since the web gambling platforms don’t need to find room for physical devices and tables, they can provide many more games on their website. Even the largest land-based casinos can’t compete with that.
Lower house edge
All casinos, online or in the real world, work for profit, and we all know that. The mechanism used to earn that profit is called the “house edge.” the house edge is simply a predetermined advantage that the casino has in every game offered.
As you could imagine, the larger the house edge is, the worse for the players. And since online casinos typically have lower costs than the land-based equivalents, they can afford to keep the house edge lower across the board.
It’s still the same in a lot of traditional casino games, but generally speaking, your overall expectations are a little higher in online casinos.
Faster play
A single hand of blackjack lasts a couple of seconds online, but it could go on for minutes in a live setting. The difference in the speed is huge when a croupier has to perform every single action on the table manually.
You probably need at least a couple of hours for a fulfilling game session in land-based rooms, while half an hour could be enough on the web.
To be fair, the slots and video poker machines are not that slow live, either, but they are still a bit quicker on the internet.
Bonuses, promotions, and rewards
One of the biggest advantages of the best online casinos in comparison to live gambling places are the bonuses and promotions you will find on the internet.
As soon as you join a casino website, you usually get a large sign-up bonus and potentially other rewards like free spins and so on. You keep earning various prizes as you keep playing. You can literally participate in various special deals every single time you enjoy casino games on the internet.
This is not possible in brick-and-mortar casinos and contributes further to the gap of your return on investment or ROI in the long run. The extra value that the online bonuses and promotions add makes a ton of difference in the long run.
Suitable for all budgets
Imagine that you simply want to enjoy some casino games with a small budget — let’s say something like $20. In your typical live casino, you will be forced to bet most of your bankroll on a couple of rounds, and you will probably lose it in a heartbeat.
This is not the case online, though. The much lower costs allow the real money casino sites to accept lower stakes. In some gambling platforms on the internet, you can bet as little as 10 cents on a single round.
As a result, you can experience the thrill of real money gambling with a tiny budget and still get lucky.
Option to play for free
Some people don’t want to spend real money on casino games, while others aren’t old enough to gamble with cash. In the real world, this means that you don’t have access to any type of casino games.
Fortunately, you can enjoy plenty of free products on the web. A lot of the best companies in our online casino rankings will provide a bunch of games that are available with virtual money. It’s obviously not the same as the real deal, but the experience comes close enough.
No need to tip
A lot of people underestimate that, but the casino etiquette in the real world requires you to tip the dealers and the rest of the personnel every now and then. While this doesn’t seem like a big deal, it further eats from your money.
Obviously, there are no other people involved in online gambling, so this expenditure drops out.
Now, despite all the advantages of online casinos, people still visit land-based venues. Why? Because the two experiences offer different things, and there are some aspects of playing online that just can’t compare with playing live.
Here are some disadvantages of gambling online.
No instant cashouts
When you visit a brick-and-mortar casino and win, you can instantly get your profits from the cashier. The money will be in your pocket minutes after you earned it, and that’s a great feeling.
This is impossible to achieve in the top-rated online casinos. Even the fastest withdrawals will usually take at least a day or two, or potentially more, to reach you.
No social experience
Some believe this is not exactly a disadvantage, and it really depends on the kind of person you are. A lot of people would like to meet someone and share some small talk at the casino tables. They enjoy the experience, and they believe it’s a key part of the whole concept.
Unless you play live dealer games on the internet, you don’t have contact with other people, so the social element of the casino is gone.
It’s easier to lose a lot quickly
The speed of the games is one of the main reasons you can lose a lot of money quickly at online casino sites, but it’s not the only one. A lot of research shows that when the cash is simply a number on your screen, it’s easier to forget its true value.
While the chips in the casino also serve the purpose of devaluing your money, it’s much worse online. You should always be careful and bet within a reasonable limit that you can afford to lose without much hassle.
The atmosphere
Everyone that has been in a brick-and-mortar casino will tell you that there is a specific atmosphere that contributes to the whole experience. The sounds of the chips and cards, the emotions of the other players in the casino, and the cocktails and free drinks you get while playing all create a specific feeling.
Some people don’t care about it, but others actually love it. If you are among the latter, you most certainly won’t be happy even with the best rated online casinos out there. They simply can’t recreate the atmosphere of live rooms.
Online casino reviews
Our rankings and ratings are very useful for finding a high quality online casino to play. Ultimately, though, which is the best online casino for you is a personal choice based on a wide range of considerations. You’re almost certain to have a positive experience at any one of our recommended casino sites, but our even our top-rated casinos might not tick every single one of your boxes.
That’s why we provide detailed reviews of every single online casino that we recommend (along with many that we don’t). Our review process is very thorough and allows us to provide any and all of the information you could possibly want to know about an online casino before deciding whether to sign up.
Here’s a short summary of how we go about reviewing each website.
If you’d like to read reviews of some our recommended online casinos before signing up, you should check out this section of our website. It features reviews of hundreds of sites.
Legislation and regulation
Not every country has the same gambling laws. Some are more liberal, while others are rather conservative. It’s important to know the regulations of your own jurisdiction for multiple reasons.
For a start, this will affect the number of online casinos you have access to. Players from the united kingdom can join plenty of casino sites, while US customers are not accepted by as many.
Another important aspect that is dependent on the gambling laws of your country is related to the payment options you have at your disposal. The choice is limited if you are in some jurisdictions. There are differences in how winnings are taxed, too, and the regulation of online casinos also varies from country to country.
Since the differences between the various countries are too big, we have a special section that’s dedicated to the online gambling laws across the world. We recommend you check this out if you want a better understanding of the legislation and regulation in your region.
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to play at online casinos?
The short answer is yes, if you stick to legit ones.
Every single one we recommend on our site has a superb reputation and a proper license. If you decide to look for a gambling operator on the web on your own, you should always conduct your own research before joining a casino website.
Why am I required to share personal information with casino sites?
The gambling laws of most countries and the regulators that issue the licenses require each operator to collect personal information for various reasons.
One of them is to guarantee that no person under the age of 18 has access to real money gambling.
What should I do if I become addicted to gambling?
Gambling addiction is a serious problem that could ruin your life, so you should react fast if you think you might be addicted. All the best gambling sites out there have installed measures that could help.
We have a page that’s dedicated to that, so feel free to check it out here.
The most important thing is to immediately seek help. There are several organizations that will help you determine if you have a problem and provide means to solve it.
How can I see the online casino’s gambling license?
The best online casinos provide information about their gambling license in their footer. You can find it at the bottom of their website.
The standard data includes the gambling commission that issues the license and potentially the number of the license.
Is it safe to deposit and withdraw money?
A lot of people are afraid of trusting gambling sites on the web, but this shouldn’t be a problem if you stick to our top rated online casinos.
They offer a wide range of proven payment providers that will protect your money and personal data with all the latest technologies on the market.
Can I win playing in online casinos?
You should be aware that every single casino game out there comes with what is known as a house edge. It gives the operator a mathematical edge over you in the long run, so every wager you place has a negative expectation.
You can still win if you get lucky or if you combine your bets with some kind of promotion that makes up for the margin.
The truth is that you start from behind, but you can improve your odds if you are smart enough.
Do I need to download additional software to play real money casino games online?
In the past, it was close to impossible to play without downloading additional software, but this is no longer the case.
The top online casinos nowadays are instant, which means that you can enjoy the selection of games they offer directly from their websites.
Is there a blacklist of shady online casinos?
Yes, we do have a casino blacklist. We recommend you take a look before you join an online casino that is not a part of our list of safe gambling sites online.
How can I deposit money?
The leading online casinos on the market offer multiple options when it comes to completing deposits or withdrawals.
You can usually pick between debit and credit cards such as visa, maestro, and mastercard; e-wallets like paypal, skrill, and neteller; or other reliable payment providers.
Can I play online casino games for free?
Most of the top casino sites on the market offer a bunch of games that can be played for free, with virtual money. Most of them don’t even require you to open a new account to enjoy the games, so you can go ahead and try them.
This is especially useful when you are picking an online casino. You can try the service of many of the operators without investing your own cash.
Can I win real money for free?
Sometimes you can. Many legit online casinos provide no-deposit bonuses and free spins.
Most of the time, you only need to open a new account, and you will get them.
What are “wagering requirements” at online casinos?
Even the bonuses and promotions of the best online casinos come with wagering requirements. If the gambling operators gave their customers free money that could be withdrawn instantly, they would’ve gone bankrupt in a heartbeat.
This is why they apply various restrictions, and among the most common are the wagering requirements. You have to place real money bets that equal a certain amount. For example, if you get a $10 bonus that comes with 20x wagering requirements, you have to place bets worth 20 times the bonus, or $200.
Should I pay taxes on my winnings?
The answer to this question depends on your country’s laws. Most of the time, you don’t have to pay taxes, but there are exceptions.
We recommend you talk to an accountant in order to avoid trouble.
Are the games in online casinos rigged?
In most online casinos, no. The gambling operators make millions anyway, and there are authorities that regulate them and prevent them from cheating.
However, there are some casino sites that aren’t fair. This is why you should stick to reliable options, like the ones we recommend.
Casino articles on our blog
To wrap this page up, we’ve one last thing to tell you about. Our website has a blog section where our experts share their insights on various topics, including casino-related ones.
You will find posts on various casino games, promotions, the best online casinos, strategies, and so much more.
We release these posts on a regular basis, so you’ll often find something fresh and exciting. Here are the latest casino articles from our blog.
Are online casino slots – legit, rigged or an outright scam?
We’ve all been there and maybe some of us still do; that after feeling we get when we spend countless hours and our hard earned money on a particular slot machine online only to come away empty at the end. Oh sure, the slot may have pity on you and let you win a few dollars here and there to keeping you going by giving you hope, but in the end it’s almost a feeling of betrayal… as though you’ve been scammed by the machine . Disappointment and anger set in as you vow never to play a slot machine again.
What next? Do you ask yourself if they machine was rigged? Well, if it was some fly by night establishment, the chances are you were but if it was indeed a reputable online casino, that would have to be a no in all honesty. You were not the victim of a “fixed” machine but a machine with low/bad variance.
And because it may have been an online slot you got shafted on, we will never know how bad the variance is on their machines since they are under no obligation to share their payback percentages.
And in the grand schemes of things, we all are supposed to lose more playing slot machines then win big so with that in mind, what reason does a casino have to rig their machines when they are already making money hand over fists by offering fair games?
I’m sure if an online casino’s sole intention was to cheat players out of their money, word would spread like wild fire about that the ethics of that casino setting themselves up to be blacklisted. All in all it’s bad for business as online casinos are dependent on new sign-ups.
But can an online casino with ridiculously low payout percentages be considered in a sense… “cheating?”
So how do you avoid this online casino trap of just giving away your money with no realistic hope of actually winning big? The solution is easy really; align yourself with reputable websites that have trusted private auditors that test the casinos rngs and payout percentages. Some casinos will even allow the auditor to publish their findings.
Now, some skeptics may argue the casino bigwigs greased the hands of the auditors for a favorable report; maybe, but we will never know so why not give the ones to do publish their rngs and payout percentages the benefit of the doubt if it seems they have nothing to hide?
In the long run, doesn’t it make more sense to run a business, in this case a casino the right way as it will be more profitable versus a “here today, gone tomorrow” casino?
Recommended high payout casinos
The below links will take you to the most trusted casinos online, each has it’s own review and rating along with payout percentages published, casino whizz only advertises the highest rated brands available to play online.
Are online casinos a scam or rigged?
Head to any online gambling forum or review site and you’re going to see people asking if online casinos are a scam or if certain casinos are scamming their customers.
There are some areas of genuine concern for punters and on this page we’re going to set the record straight so you can learn exactly who to avoid and where to play safely and fairly.
Only use online casinos which are clearly licensed by the UK gambling commission.
Check safety & security features, SSL encryption is the bare minimum that any site should employ.
Research the casino’s reputation using our own reviews and ratings.
Carefully read the T&C’s of any bonus or offer you may be considering claiming.
Online casino scam: FAQ
Players question if online casinos are scamming for a number of different reasons.
Some of these are indeed things to be wary of, whilst others are little more than rumours. The following five areas of concern, however, are arguably the most common.
Are bonuses and promotions fair and above board?
The nature of and the conditions attached to these bonuses are often things which lead punters to believe that online casinos operate unfairly. The main reason for this is because of the wagering requirements which such offers routinely implement.
Wagering requirements are stipulations which state that customers must bet a certain amount of money through a casino in order to actually gain a monetary benefit from the promotion in question. They are, therefore, crucial conditions of any offer and do make bonuses more complicated and potentially less generous than they might first appear.
All online casino promotions which have wagering requirements, however, will include and explain these in the offer’s terms and conditions. It is a potential punter’s responsibility, therefore, to read those T & cs and they will then not to be caught unawares by such requirements.
If you want to find the most favourable casino bonuses then check out the linked article.
Are online casinos ‘rigged’ against players?
Another common question players have is… are casino sites rigged against them?
Casinos have a house edge built into all their games but that’s widely understood and accepted. It’s certainly shouldn’t be viewed as a scam.
Online casinos, after all, are not altruistic organisations and exist to make a profit. As such, casino games do feature a ‘house edge’ which means that in the long run it is only the casino itself that is guaranteed to make money.
In each session of playing any given game, however, players do have a real and a fair chance of winning.
That is the case, at least, when it comes to properly licensed and regulated online casinos. Those casinos are required by law to operate fairly and have their sites, their games and the random number generators which run them routinely checked by both licensing authorities and independent organisations.
Why do online casinos need to check my ID?
Online casinos are required by both the terms of their licences and other official legislation to verify the identities of customers in order to prevent any criminal activity taking place through their sites. As such, law abiding and trustworthy casinos may occasionally ask customers for copies of official ID documentation in order to fulfil that requirement.
Do scam casinos exist?
Thanks to the well-established and stringent regulation of online gambling, however, it is easy to identify untrustworthy or scam sites before committing to use them.
Such sites, after all, will not be licensed by a recognised authority and will not be able to demonstrate the same security measures as genuine online casinos. What’s more, there are plenty of sites and forums out there which identify rogue operators and advise punters to avoid them.
Check out our casino reviews for a list of safe, non scam sites, you can use.
Do online casinos confiscate winnings?
This is another area where there are a number of potentially worrying stories shared between punters. It is true, after all, that on some occasions online casinos have been known to withhold or to remove winnings from customers’ accounts.
What should be noted, however, is that there are generally only two main circumstances under which this does occur.
1) you’ve simply joined A scammy online casino
The first is when the online casino in question falls under the category of the ‘scam sites’ we discussed above. In that case, therefore, simply avoiding those sites entirely is an easy way to circumvent the danger of not receiving the payouts you should.
2) you’ve breached their T&C’s
The other major occasion on which winnings may be withheld or confiscated is if a player has genuinely flouted the terms and conditions of an online casino.
In that circumstance, the casino is well within its rights to remove or fail to pay winnings and a player does not really have a leg to stand on (an example might be opening two accounts from the same address).
3) you can’t meet KYC requirements
All UK licensed online casinos are required to ‘know your customer’ and have their customers prove who they are before they pay out. To avoid money laundering.
If you can’t prove you are who you say you are, until you can, it’s like you’ll have winnings held. More details on this here: why do casino’s need to see my ID
Legitimate online casinos with fast payouts
The key to having a safe, secure and honorable experience playing casino games online is to do your research. It’s not a difficult task to find safe casinos, so long as you know what to look for.
Finding the most legit online casinos means ensuring that they are licensed and regulated operations employing certified software and responsible financial processors such as american express. Longevity is another fundamental aspect one should look for, but even a new gaming site can be deemed reputable, so long as it has the backing of a distinguished head office. An online casino’s subsidized reputation can go a very long way in this business. In 2020, a trusted brand needs to earn this reputation by jumping through various certification and compliance hoops.
Legitimate real money casinos 2020
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Longevity and leadership
In order to check which are online legit casinos, you must first find out who owns the online casino. Those with complete transparency are the most reliable, but they don’t always make the evidence that easy to find. Check the bottom of the website’s main page first, alongside the copyright information. If you don’t find it there, try the ‘about us’ page. Some online casinos are less divulging than others and may bury the listing of ownership and/or operator within the terms and conditions. In this case, it will either be at the very top, within the definitions, or at the very end of the page. If it’s not listed anywhere, you may want to think twice about joining that online casino. It just might be they have something to hide.
Now see how long the casino has been around. Copyright dates aren’t always reliable. Enter the following into a google search (with quotation marks):
- “name of casino” “established in”
For example, if you were looking up betonline casino, you’d search:
- “betonline casino” “established in“
For every online casino every launched, there are a hundred more third-party casino sites that review them. These pages will often reveal the established date for each online casino they review, hence you can pin point the date of launch via this simple method.
If an online casino doesn’t have the longevity to produce its own upstanding reputation, the character of its owner could speak volumes. Delve a little deeper; see what other online casinos the company may own and how long they have been around. When any company has a significant timeline, it will have a reputation to match, either positive or negative. The great thing about the internet is that people just love to comment on things they really like, as well as what they detest. If it’s a rogue online casino, a simple opinion search on google will reveal it.
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Licensing and regulation
Next, you will want to see where the online casino is licensed. When a gambling site is licensed, it means it is regulated by an authoritative government body. Most jurisdictions have a strict set of laws regarding online casino operations. If an online casino is not operating in an ethical manner, players are able to enter a claim against the site in this jurisdiction. Basically it means they have to be good, or else…
Any fully transparent and reputable online casino will list their licensing jurisdiction directly on the front page, usually at the very bottom. It may be written in plain text, or depicted as an image. Other common locations for licensing info include the about us page, the terms and conditions and/or the privacy policy. Common licensing jurisdictions include curacao/netherlands antilles, gibraltar, alderney, malta, kahnawake, isle of man and costa rica.
On a side note, be especially careful when considering an online casino that is licensed in costa rica. There are plenty of highly reputable gambling sites licensed here, simply because the country is less restrictive as to who can participate. Costa rica does not ban the acceptance of USA or french players, for example, as do some territories. Then again, costa rica doesn’t really do anything to restrict their operators. The only rule online casinos licensed in costa rica are forced to abide by is the prohibition of accepting costa rican players. Again, there are plenty of upstanding operations licensed in costa rica, but the fact is, the majority of rogue operators who bother to obtain a license are actually located in costa rica.
Is the software certified?
Next, check to make sure that the software is monitored by a third party auditing firm. If the payout percentages are made visible to you, all the better. All microgaming powered online casinos, for example, will present a link to their payout reports entitled “payout percentages reviewed”.
Auditing firms test the software on a regular basis, often monthly, to determine how fair the games are. Each game is run upwards of a million times to ensure complete unpredictability and that the standard probabilities match that of a real life scenario. If the software passes the review, it is certified by the testing company. Some of the better known auditing firms include ecogra, TST (technical systems testing), thawte and gaming associates pty ltd. If you see these third-party logos, you can rest assured the online casino software is certified fair. Here is the full list of certifications to look for.
How secure is the online casino?
You can see just how secure the online casino is by reading the security/privacy section(s). This will reveal what kinds of encryption technologies are infused into the system to protect your personal and financial data. SSL and/or RSA data encryption is crucial. More and more online gambling sites are choosing to keep their customer’s deposits in segregated accounts as well, separate from the company’s person funds, to ensure that the funds are always available to process payouts. Those who do tend to brag about it (since the catastrophic full tilt poker debacle), so think of it as a good sign.
Sticking to reputable casinos and brands
The safest gaming sites are going to be the brand names, by and large. If you don’t want to get into the bad neighborhoods in a city, you try to stay near the areas with the well-lit streets and lots of shopping areas–what people call the “main thoroughfares”. You do the same thing when you’re on the internet searching for safe online casinos to enjoy. The last thing you want to do is to try out obscure casino operators in some hidden corner of the internet.
Still, you’ll find there’s a sweet spot to hit when gambling online. While you want to go with the big brand name, we all know what happens when a corporation gets too big for its own good. The bureaucracy and red tape overwhelms the corporate structure, the personal touch is lost, and everyone (including the average employee) gets treated as a number. That creates a toxic work environment and customers want to avoid those places. When trouble does happen, you want a casino’s customer service representatives attentive, motivated, and willing to help. So you have to find those e-casinos which are big enough to be legitimate, but retain a sense of customer loyalty.
I’ve found a collection of online casinos that are dependable, competent, and trustworthy. While not every employee at every good company is considerate and reliable, being a legit casino on the internet involves having policies in place to assure the corporate culture fosters consideration and reliability. The brands I’ve listed are the ones I consider, from my experience and the experiences of friends I know and trust. They have quick cash-outs ensuring that player accounts are paid quickly and securely.
The leader of the pack of so called “reputable casinos” is none other than the latest product launch from wagergaming. Yes, miami club is the newest legitimate casino to be proudly featured on our website.
Safe casinos of the united kingdom
Once or twice, I venture beyond the confines of the united kingdom. While I’m sure most gamblers in the british isles would prefer to frequent local casinos which know how to cater to english, irish, welsh, manx, and scottish gamblers, when you talk about safety and security, other factors must be considered. Is it better to go to a domestic casino so large its employees view you as a number, or a casino which caters to the british pound and UK financial system, but also provides the best customer service ? A lot of factors go into a safety rating, including ease of payment, issue resolution and policies regarding resolutions, and proper methods for handling customer complaints.
A system that avoids issues helps immensely. Having a good FAQ and computer software that doesn’t mess up helps, too. Being quick to pay is essential. But when the inevitable problem happens, an online casino has to have people who know how to troubleshoot. Accordingly, safe blackjack destinations aren’t a dime a dozen these days.
Begado
Begado casino is the latest title from the trusted affactive brand, and offers superior game-play and high end graphics. Read our begado review here.
William hill casino
The william hill brick-and-mortar casino is one of the institutions of english gambling, so it’s no surprise that william hill online casino is a legitimate bet, too. William hill casino club is traded on the london stock exchange and is one of the FTSE top 250 index companies. William hill is licensed by the gibraltar gaming authority and is powered by playtech software.
Royal vegas casino
Royal vegas casino has ecogra certification, which you can click to verify anytime you’re on their website. Ecogra is an industry watch-group which assures fair games, safe deposits (including visa gift cards), timely payouts, and the overall honest operation of gaming sites. This began as a UK-only system, but has expanded as ecogra’s reputation has grown.
Club UK casino
Clubuk casino is headquartered in manchester and it offers one of the safest playing opportuntities in the british isles. That’s because this casino is owned by the club world group, which owns 12 different online casino websites. Others in the club world group internet empire include club USA casino, high noon casino, aladdin’s gold casino, lucky red, all stars slots casino, and buzzlock. All of these (but buzzlock, which uses nuworks) are licensed in the netherlands antilles and use RTG or realtime gaming software. Payment methods include ecocard, moneybookers, NETELLER, maestro, visa electron, visa, and mastercard.
Win palace casino
Win palace casino is a trusted casino website out of the netherlands antilles. While it’s not an english casino operator, it does have the ecogra seal of approval.
Casino titan – RTG software
Casino titan is an online casino licensed in the netherlands antilles, but owned by regal bar ltd out of the united kingdom. The regal bar limited ownership group owns one other casino, the golden cherry casino. Titan casino uses realtime gaming casino software, while golden cherry casino uses rival gaming software. Titan casino services both english and french speaking customers, while golden cherry casino works for english speakers only. Those in the united kingdom might not be as familiar with rival gaming’s innovative new fruit machines and i-slots. If not, I suggest you give them a try, because the rival experience isn’t quite like any other in the online gaming world. RTG also offers something called instant-play mode, which is a flash or java-script screen overlay allowing for real money gaming. This eliminates some software compatibility hurdles for example on the ubuntu operating system which is not very mature in terms of online gaming.
Ladbrokes online casino
Ladbrokes casino is one of the famous names in british gambling circles, so it’s about as trustworthy as they get. Ladbrokes is a publicly traded company on the london stock exchange. The ladbrokes PLC owns ladbrokes poker, ladbrokes sportsbook & racebook, ladbrokes bingo, ladbrokes games, ladbrokes mobile, and ladbrokes financial spreads. The company does not take players from the united states, greece, or cyprus (the latter two starting in january 2012). Ladbrokes also doesn’t take new registrations from poland as of june 2011. Gamblers can choose to play using nearly two dozen different languages. Ladbrokes software suite includes microgaming, ash gaming, CWC, evolution gaming, and blueprint gaming. The ladbrokes headquarters is in harrow, england.
More reliable internet casinos
A few other reliable internet casinos to give a try include spin palace casino and ruby fortune casino, which are part of the palace group of gaming sites. Ruby fortune casino has an interesting no-deposit bonus offer that lets people try out their casino free of charge, so there’s absolutely no risk giving rubypalace casino a try. You’ll probably walk away without a lot to show for your gaming, but you’re given a chance to walk away with a lot. Signing up is no charge, so it’s no risk.
How to tell if A casino is legitimate
Not always easy to tell, but there are things to look for. A generalisation: if the casino uses microgaming or cryptologic (wagerlogic) software, you can be pretty sure the software vendor is pretty stringent on who gets their licences. If you go with a playtech, or IGT casino then you’ll usually be in safe hands, whereas with the other vendors it’s a bit hit and miss – good and bad exist out there!
A number of casinos display various “seals” of legitimacy from independent regulators, along with audited payout certifications. While none of these guarantee safety, seals from ecogra and auditing by pricewaterhousecoopers are generally signs that the casino is at least working with people with the right intentions.
One of the things I always look for is the “about us” page. I expect to see information here that reinforces the casino’s operations and gives me confidence. Transparency of information is not a good thing, but if they are licenced in gibraltar, australia, the isle of man, malta or alderney, these are strict jurisdictions who care about how the business world views them. You’ll be able to add the UK to that list in the coming months I expect as new laws are introduced. Here’s my own perception of the strictness of jurisdictions that regulate online gambling companies: alderney (strict), australia (strict), antigua & barbuda (not very strict), costa rica (not very strict), curacao N.V (not very strict), first cagayan philippines (not very strict), gibraltar (strict), isle of man (strict), kahnawake (reasonably strict), malta (strict), vanuatu (reasonably strict). There are one or two other minor jurisdictions but not ones I know much about to be honest. More on this in the licencing and regulations section.
Obviously the best recommendations come from other players, and there is little better than to search the forums at casinomeister to get an indication of how a casino is performing. As a general rule, the less threads in the “complaints” section the better, although the vast majority of complaints are bonus related and do not necessarily reflect on the operational aspects of a casino. You have to bear in mind that casinos don’t generally like players trying to profit from “free money” without taking a risk of their own, which is why bonus terms get convoluted and cause so many disputes.
So, let's see, what we have: are there any legit online casinos? The answer is YES! Visit us for answers on what to look out for, the best places to play and how to spot delay tactics. At what online casino is legit
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