Back in 1996, there were around 250 online casinos, but that has grown to tens of thousands today. Statistics show that by 2024, the online gambling industry will be worth more than $94 billion, with the current market being at $46 billion.
But, the billion-dollar question is, are all casinos safe? Can you do a quick Google search and find exactly what you are looking for?
Without a doubt, all casinos are not equal, and the same technology that has popularized online gambling and made it secure is the reason behind fraudulent activities. With increased scams and unscrupulous casinos, how do you know what makes a casino better than some other? Be sure to check out this guide to everything you need to know about online casinos.
Better yet, once you identify a few safe casinos, how do you know which one is better than the other?
In reality, each casino has its positives and negatives, but underneath are a few factors that are common to every player that draws a line between a good and bad casino.
1. Safety first
Safety looks like stating the obvious, but the number of online casino players who get caught up in playing disregarding their safety and security warrants a mention. One casino may have a range of games to keep you entertained for long, but without the necessary security, you shouldn’t give it a second thought. Don’t even think of taking their large signup bonuses, or you will sign your pension away.
Your personal and financial data is a potential treasure for hackers and crooks, and you can bet they are lurking in unsafe online casinos. To identify a safe casino, look at their licence and connection.
The best casinos in India will have a licence from a national gaming body. In the UK, this will be the UK Gambling Commission, while Malta has Malta Gaming Authority. Online casinos in India need to comply with the National Indian Gaming Commission requirements before they even get a licence.
Once a casino has the licence, they must invest in connection security to ensure that the data is travelling along strongly encrypted paths. Looking at the web address is often the easiest way to tell. If the site has HTTPS:// before the URL, it has an active SSL certificate and is likely to be safe. Seeing HTTP:// without an S should be a red flag.
2. Quality selection of games
Wait…
Didn’t we mention that casinos with tons of games could also be ‘bad’ casinos?
This is true, but a ‘good’ casino will have the right balance between quality and quantity in terms of games. Both are important because people like options.
If you had to pick between quality and quantity, quality would always supersede quantity. It’s better to play a couple of world-class-games from trusted, reliable software providers than have thousands of games from shady firms and be sure to check out free slots for UK players as a great option.
First, check the software provider. If you see big names like NetEnt, Playtech, and Microgaming, you can be sure of the game quality. In most cases, these multinational firms have regulators and industry experts keeping an eye on them, which means they have to produce quality games.
Also, a strong revenue stream means they have enough money to invest in research, game development graphics, and debugging and get help from the likes of prapapan virawatanachai and others.
3. Fair, generous bonuses
Every bonus comes with terms and conditions. But, more often than not, players never bother to read the terms.
Imagine signing up to a casino and getting fifty extra spins on your $50 deposit. After playing the first thirty spins and losing, you suddenly strike a 5,000x jackpot win, only to realize you can’t withdraw your winnings.
Petrifying, isn’t it?
All casinos will have a rollover/wagering requirement, but what sets apart a good casino from a bad one is how much this requirement is. For instance, it’s fair if a casino asks you to wager x20, but it’s obviously unreasonable if they ask for x100 or that you can’t withdraw more than $150 even if you hit the jackpot.
Casinos have to offset the risk with bonuses because free money must come with strings attached. But, a casino shouldn’t take advantage of you. The terms attached to the bonuses should be fair and easy to understand, and the fine print shouldn’t have hidden conditions you need to meet to cash out.
When it’s time for a casino to pay up, fast casinos will always beat the slow coaches. You want to get your money the same day, not weeks or months later. Also, how fast a casino solves your problem is a tell-tale sign of how much they value you.