Illinois has a great casino culture that grew from the early days of riverboat casinos in the 1800s. From that point, there have been ups and downs; but games of chance, betting on horses and other sports, and playing poker have all remained incredibly popular. Just like every other industry, gambling has been moving online.
The world of online casinos is continuously growing. To keep up with demand from players, new online casinos are regularly opening. Some online casinos are operated by the major casino brands out of Las Vegas or Atlantic City. Many are independent brands that have taken advantage of the opportunities offered by modern technology.
While most online casinos are reliable and legitimate, some are not. Some of these unreliable online casinos are complete scams set up to take advantage of naive players, others are simply poorly run.
In this article, we’ll discuss the six most important things to look for when you want to work out if a new casino is reliable or not. Playing at a reliable online casino is a bit like a Chicago Cubs season—not every game is going to be a winner (or every season if we’re being honest) but it’ll always be fun.
Licenses and Security
An online casino needs to be fully licensed by the appropriate regulatory body to operate legally in a region. The license a casino needs depends on where it is operating, not where it is based. Licenses protect the casino and the player and guarantee that the player has government protection if something happens.
There are a few countries that provide licenses for the majority of online casinos and are very trusted. Look for licenses from the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, Gibraltar, Malta, Curaçao, or any of the US states that have already legalized online casino gambling.
Security is also very important. Since it can be expensive, an unreliable casino is less likely to invest in it. A reliable online casino will have a fully encrypted site. This protects the data players enter on the site—things like credit/debit card information, address, and contact information.
Wagering Requirements
Most online casinos give new players welcome bonuses that include deposit matching, free spins, bet protection, or no deposit credit. Wagering requirements are the steps a player has to take to collect any winnings made using free credit given by the casino.
Wagering requirements generally include an amount and a time limit. This means a player has to bet a certain amount within a limited amount of time in order to withdraw any winnings made with bonus credits. This typically ranges from 20x–40x the bonus credit, within one week to one month. Sometimes there are other requirements, like how big a bet can be to qualify or which games they can be placed on.
An unreliable casino will have wagering requirements that are impossible to meet. This also means the casino can offer huge bonuses without worrying about ever having to payout. You can find the wagering requirements by reading the Terms and Conditions on the site.
Who is Promoting Them?
Online casinos are heavily advertised but not every type of advertising carries the same weight. Where and how an online casino is being promoted can tell you a lot about how legitimate the site is. TV advertising is very expensive, so few new casinos will be able to use it.
The most reliable places to look for new casino promotions are on gambling review and guide sites. These sites may have affiliate deals with casinos, but their brand reputation depends only on promoting reliable online casinos. Sites such as Sweepstakes Casino provide reliable casino reviews that look at pros and cons, bonuses, payment methods and much more. A great example is this Zula Casino review: https://www.sweepstakescasino.net/reviews/zula-casino/.
If it’s not a reputable brand promoting the casino but instead smaller influencers or social media personalities you’ve never heard of, that’s not a good sign. We see in other industries how artificial influencer hype can be, the same is true with online casinos.
Accepted Payment Methods
The payment methods that a casino accepts are a good way to measure how reliable and trustworthy they are. The most reliable casinos will only accept deposits and withdrawals made through trusted payment methods that have consumer protections in place.
Trusted payment methods are actually the ones we use most commonly. They include credit/debit cards, e-wallets, and established payment apps like Skrill and PayPal. These payment methods all have procedures in place to handle customer complaints and most make it possible for players to recoup their losses from fraudulent transactions.
Some payment methods have fewer protections in place, so when the money’s gone, it’s gone. Prepaid cards are a great example. They can be a great way to make purchases online and are more convenient than gift cards for a specific business. On the other hand, there are almost no protections in place for users of prepaid cards.
Cryptocurrency casinos are more difficult to evaluate. The blockchain makes it almost impossible for cryptocurrency to be stolen online. This should make crypto casinos incredibly safe. Scam crypto casinos can still take advantage of their players by making it technically impossible to withdraw their funds or simply by shutting down accounts (and keeping the crypto deposits) for minor infractions of impossible-to-follow rules.
Games Library
A player should always check the games library before creating an account with a new online casino. Not just because it’s the best way to see if the games they enjoy playing are available, but also because it helps evaluate how reliable an online casino is.
Not all online casinos have massive game libraries with thousands of games. Some are much smaller and make up for the lack of quantity with exceptional quality. The main things to look for when evaluating how reliable a new casino is who makes the games they have and do they use random number generator (RNG) software.
The majority of the games on the site should be from game developers with good reputations. These can range from major studios like NetEnt and Microgaming to smaller developers like Red Tiger. RNG software keeps the games fair and sites that use it are committed to their players.
Player Reviews
Finally, player reviews are one of the only ways to get an authentic view of a new casino without creating an account. Reviews dig into all of the areas of a casino that a guide might overlook. The most reliable casinos will have mostly positive reviews and they will be responsive to player critiques.
You should always be concerned if a site has all bad reviews OR all good reviews. All bad reviews are obviously a bad sign. All good reviews mean the casino is probably deleting bad reviews to hide the reality of what their site is like. A few bad reviews are actually a good sign, since they mean the casino isn’t trying to cover up its true reputation.
Conclusions
From just a quick glance at some casino websites, it can be hard to tell which ones are reliable and which aren’t. However, with only a little bit of research, you can play with confidence and relax knowing that when you’re playing, the only risks you’re taking are the bets you’re making.
