5 Key Components to a Great Online Casino
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While it’s easy to see when a real-world casino is trying its best, it can be hard to spot a great online casino at first glance. With the distance and anonymity that the Internet provides, online casinos can and have scammed people through predatory business practices or by disappearing entirely with people’s money.
To avoid that, we have listed five key components that will help you identify whether an online casino is legitimate. From there, you can then use the points to assess the quality of the site and whether it’s worth your custom. That way, your wallet is safe when you play slots online for real money.
1. They’re a Legitimate Service
When giving your hard-earned money to online casinos, you first want to make sure that they’re legitimate establishments that are licensed and audited, so they’re held accountable in some way. If you’re giving your money to a shady site based on a random Pacific island, you might be making a mistake.
So, before we get to the things that make online casinos great, let’s first make sure you’re dealing with actual businesses. There are many different regulatory agencies that manage online casinos and game-playing websites where money is on the line. Check if sites are licensed with local gambling authorities.
Here are some examples:
- New Jersey Casino Control Commission
- The Kahnawake Gaming Commission
- The United Kingdom Gambling Commission
- The Alderney Gambling Control Commission
- The Curacao Gaming Control Board
- The Malta Gaming Authority
- The Gibraltar Regulatory Authority
Being able to pin your online casino to the real world, through a public-facing address and other contact details is another great sign your casino exists. They should also have their games audited by a third party, to ensure fairness.
2. You Can Withdraw Money
One of the best tests of an online casino’s backend is throwing some money in and then trying to withdraw it. Only do this with a small amount, naturally, because you may not be able to get it back if you’ve chosen a scam site.
By withdrawing money, you’ve proven that you can get your winnings. Great casinos will get your money within a half-hour or even within ten minutes. Others may make the process unnecessarily difficult by requesting documents and making their clients jump through other hoops, all of which make the process take even longer.
3. They Have a Good Reputation
Above we mentioned the possibility of placing your money on a scam site. By sticking to online casinos that have a good reputation, this should be a non-issue. People talk, especially when money is on the line, and so you can’t go wrong by going for the popular online casinos. If those casinos mistreated their customers, you’d best believe that people would report them.
4. The Site Looks Great
The functionality and UX design of a website can speak volumes about the operation behind it. Online casino sites that look good – meaning an intuitive design that isn’t confusing or offensive to the eyes – are much more likely to be legitimate. If somebody makes a site to scam people online, they’re not spending hours to make a good website.
5. They Have Great Bonuses
One of the main variances between online casinos is their bonuses. Shop around and find the online casinos that have the best bonus structures for your play style and the kind of games you like. Read any fine print, which will inform you of the details that every responsible gambler should know. Pay attention to any wagering requirements that may be tied to bonuses.