The online casino industry is one of the most enjoyable industries the
online market has to offer. It is known for the higher odds it offers
compared to most of its brick and mortar equals but also for the quality of
its software. Huge bonuses are also unique to the online industry and real
attractive promotions and prizes often create a buzz. However despite these
attractive deals and offers, the industry has its rules. Rules often hidden
and often not talked about. A further problem new players have to deal with
is the amounts of misinformation that are freely available on the Internet.
Taking informed decisions suddenly becomes a problem as who should you
believe?
The fact of the matter is that you should take the responsibility for your
own money and pleasure to find out these things for yourself. Soon you will
discover sites such as this one makes life allot easier as they only promote
respectable establishments. To make it easier for you here is a few
important points to consider before playing at an online casino.
Licensing Jurisdiction
In order for an online casino to be able to operate it needs to be licensed.
Many smaller countries have legalized online gambling and regulate it. Some
has higher standards than others when it comes to their legislation and at
the end of the day this can become the players only recourse if there is an
issue that needs to be resolved. The UK, Gibraltar and Kahnawake are some
of the trusted names in the industry but then there are Belize, Cyprus and
Venezuela that should rather be avoided. Also ensure that the casino clearly
indicates where their gambling license are being held, if it is hidden you
should rather avoid the operation.
Terms and Conditions
All online casinos has terms and conditions. Ensure that you are comfortable
with the terms and conditions and that you fully understand them. Often
special promotions have their own terms and conditions separate from the
general terms and conditions. Ensure that you are fully aware of wager
requirements and other conditions before taking on an offer.
Often players from specific countries are excluded for specific promotions
or for play in general. Ensure the country you are playing from is not
excluded. A very important thing to remember when opening an account is that
casinos often amend or make changes to their terms and conditions. Therefore
make a backup copy of the terms and conditions you agreed to, to be able to
reference it if a problem does occur later on.
Age restrictions
All decent casinos have an age restriction of 18 years some of 21 years.
Ensure that you are of legal age before playing. Many casinos will simply
refuse to pay out under aged players and that can result in huge losses for
such a player.
The role of affiliate sites
An affiliate act as an independent representative of an online casino that
earn an income in referring players to the casino. Although the majority of
affiliates will only support trusted casinos and has a true passion for the
industry, there are those that are in it just for the money. They will make
use of dodgy advertising and marketing tactics to lure players into making
deposits at dodgy casinos that allow their marketing tactics. These dodgy
marketing tactics should be seen as a reflection of the attitude of the
casino they are representing. Avoid spamming casinos, they cannot be
trusted!
Websites with no or senseless information with banners on them should also
be avoided and casinos advertising on such sites should be regarded as high
risk. The online gambling industry has nothing to hide and therefore rather
support casino websites that offers a wealth of information and is
transparent in their interpretations.
Before making deposits
There are various banking methods available to players. Ensure that you have
your banking sorted out before opening a real account. There are very
reliable payment methods such as Neteller and Firepay available that can
give you allot more freedom and safety when playing at online casinos. Never
give out your credit card information to an operator if you are not planning
to make use of it when playing.
Also make sure you have a copy of your Drivers license, Passport or identity
document and utility bill with your address ready in jpg or gif format
before opening a real account.
Software providers
Software providers are the crux of your online gaming experience. Ensure
that the casino clearly indicates what software vendor they are using. This
in itself will indicate the standard and fairness of play. Furthermore, the
software should be checked by independent auditors to ensure that the
software is fair and perfectly random. If the casino does not disclose the
software it is using or they are using an in-house system, then rather avoid
playing there.
Other players experiences
A very important step when evaluating a casino is to do a search on a search
engine such as Google. You can use the following keywords for searches just
replace the add the casino name.
'casino name rogue casino'
'casino name blacklisted'
'avoid casino name'
'bad casino name'
These were only examples of what keywords you could use. There are more
options but these should already give you an indication of bad player
experiences at the casino in question. Opposite searches can also be done...
'casino name good casino'
'fantastic casino name'
A good way of ensuring that you are playing with reliable operators is off
course to ask on large discussion forums for advice. Most of the time
players here would be able to use their knowledge and expertise to assist
you in having a joyful online gaming experience.
Seals of approval
In the casino industry there are one very important seal of approval that a
casino needs to have to ensure safe playing environment and an effective
means of finding a solution if an issue do take place. eCOGRA is an
independent watchdog organization that ensures safe player environment.
eCOGRA also offers the service to players incase a casino do not resolve
issues the player feels are unjust. Always look for the eCOGRA seal before
playing at a casino. It is important to note that not all casinos feel the
eCOGRA seal is important for their operations and therefore do not apply.
This however is an approach that must change soon as eCOGRA requires high
standards from casinos listed with them and will pull the eCOGRA seal from
any casino that do not resolve issues in due time.
Player Support
Player support is a very important factor and should be one of the primary
factors to qualify any casino on. It is vital that online casinos offer Live
Chat, email support and telephonic support. Support should also be offered
24hours a day and turn around times is should be acceptable to you. Some
casinos even offer callback functions whereby you only need to fill in a
contact form and they will contact you back.
Spam
It is advisable to make use of different email addresses for different
casinos and then make notes of each email address. In that way you can be
sure you know who the guilty party is when you do receive unsolicited
emails. Unfortunately some operators feel that spam is acceptable. However
this is not supported by the industry as a whole and there is no reason you
as the player should be inundated by spam email. By using different email
addresses for different casinos it will be easy for you to close an email
address incase the guilty party are unwilling to comply to unsubscribe
requests. Unsolicited spam can be reported to spamcop.net that will in turn
contact the ISP or guilty party and put an end to the spamming.
Conclusion
Online casinos offer great excitement and fantastic offers that often
attracts you to play with them. This should be a fun filled experience and
there is no reason for a player to be left unhappy after experience this
fine means of entertainment. There are ways to ensure safe play, therefore
learn these things before possibly ending up paying the price. Sites like
Online Casino Reviewer and Betsage only promote reputable casinos and
casinos whereby they are able to assist players with any issues they might
experience. Enjoy the tables and enjoy the slots that is why they are there!
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