Whether used for fun, entertainment, as a side hustle, or as a serious gamer, the growth of online casinos has been immense. From humble beginnings marred by bad graphics, constant bugs, and questionable security, the industry has grown into a highly sophisticated one usually defined by impeccable standards.
That growth and modern expansion has led to new sites being developed in major cities across the world all the time. While this often means better standards since competition breeds ingenuity, it also means more opportunities for fraudsters and unscrupulous people looking to exploit them.
Since it’s not always easy to tell the legitimate sites from the dodgy ones, here are ways you can tell if you’re using a great online casino.
Key Takeaways
Security: Reliable online casinos have robust data protection measures, multiple payment options, and transparent transaction policies.
Fair Play: Trustworthy casinos use Random Number Generators and third-party certifications to ensure fair gaming.
Legality: Legitimate casinos adhere to jurisdictional regulations, maintain licenses, and uphold safety standards.
Research: Players should research a casino’s software providers, payment partners, policies, customer service, and reputation before using it.
Table of Contents
Why It’s Important to Know
There are three broad categories that make for a great online casino, namely its security, fair play practices, and legality. Here’s a broad overview of each of these categories and why they’re all important.
Since online casinos and gambling apps are run entirely digitally, the same aspects that give them their appeal also sometimes pose dangers. Among these, the chief concerns understandably relate to the fact that the games can be played for real money.
This inevitably requires that personal information, including banking information, be shared with the site, or third party services that facilitate payments and withdrawals. Where adequate steps are not taken to ensure safe and secure transacting, this can attract online scammers and hackers, leaving players vulnerable to risks like digital fraud or theft.
Despite such risks being the largest concerns, there are also other reasons why it’s important to know if you can trust the site you’re using. However, before we delve further into those aspects, it’s only fair to preface the discussion by first mentioning that most major online casinos are run legitimately and go to great lengths to ensure they follow relevant regulations, provide a fair gaming experience, and as much online security as possible.
Having said that, it’s important to ensure the site you use, in addition to providing adequate security, also follows accepted norms and mandated regulations relating to fair gaming too. Just as physical casinos must ensure that no cheating occurs, both from the casino’s and the patron’s side, online casinos bear also a responsibility to ensure ethical practices and fair play too.
There’s an obvious reason for this. If game play can be manipulated or tilted in favor of the site, it means the player doesn’t have a fair chance to win. Legitimate sites will invariably hold to ethical practices and standards to ensure fair practices to vitiate the possibility of a situation like that being exploited.
Lastly, since the legitimacy of an online casino ultimately depends on whether or not it adheres to all regulations that govern it, the legalities applicable to a casino should be checked too. This helps ensure the trustworthiness of the site, and is a great indicator of how reliable its services are and if it is operating legally.
Now that we know the three broad aspects to check on and ensure you’re playing at a great casino, let’s explore each of them in more detail.
Security Aspects You Should Look for in an Online Casino
The rapid growth and popularity of online casinos and gaming apps since the turn of the century has resulted in an explosion of new ones popping up all the time. According to Statista, between 2023 and 2028, the global online gambling market is expected to reach a market volume in excess of $138 billion, with an annual growth rate of 7.76%.
This kind of staggering growth is two-fold. On the one hand, this wealth of choice has many benefits such as more accessibility and better gaming standards. However, it also invariably attracts more scammers and entities looking to unscrupulously cash in on the boom too.
Since online casinos are tech-reliant, they operate exclusively on digital mediums such as websites and smartphone apps. The flow of money in and out of these platforms either to top up user accounts or withdraw winnings and balances, therefore, requires digital payment solutions.
Types of Payment Methods
In order to ensure the site you’re using is as secure as possible, there are a few things you can check on. Firstly, the site or app should cater to a variety of payment methods. Among these are the common ones typically used for convenience. These include:
- Debit and credit cards
- E-wallet services like PayPal
- Prepaid vouchers
- E-checks
- Bank transfers
Providing a choice of payment methods helps players find the solution that best suits their individual needs and security concerns. Aside from simply offering these services, the site should also utilize adequate internal safety measures and protocols to ensure transactions are secured. These are the most common ones to look out for.
SSL Technology
Reputable and trustworthy online casinos will generally use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. This tech helps provide advanced encryption protocols to secure the flow of information and data between the parties. Already, 95% of websites on Google use HTTPS, and 99% of browsing time on Google Chrome is on HTTPS websites, so the chances of your chosen casino being HTTP are pretty slim.
As a security measure, it means the data provided by the player to the site and the way the site utilizes it to cater for account top-ups, payments and withdrawals, are safe from being intercepted by hackers or cybercriminals. Security features like SSL technology represent the kind of critical safety measure any legitimate online casino should employ at a minimum.
Two-Factor Authentication
Even if the payment methods are secure and employ SSL to encrypt the data transferred between parties, that doesn’t necessarily mean the transaction itself is a legal one. Two-factor authentication is another great security tool to ensure players have more control over monetary transactions made on the site.
This measure requires an added step be followed whenever a player attempts to perform a financial transaction on the site. It usually takes the form of sending an OTP (One Time Pin) to the user’s mobile number to verify that it really is them attempting to make the transaction.
Transparency
Transparency relating to the kind of policies and fees involved with financial transactions on the site is a good indicator of how legitimate it is. This ensures that players are informed about these aspects of their gaming experience and able to make educated choices when choosing the site.
On the other hand, it also provides a greater sense of certainty around what to expect from the site. From a purely logical point of view, it also stands to reason that a legitimate casino should have nothing to hide and therefore have no reason not to provide transparency.
Secure Payment Gateways
Payment gateways refer to the technology used to process payments made by bank cards. In a physical store, this would include the card-reading device used. For online transactions, this refers to the software utilized to authenticate and process a payment.
As a channel for processing payments and other financial transactions on an online casino, payment gateways should be secure. This requires them to have built-in security features and safety protocols that ensure the transactions are protected against interception by cybercriminals or being used to process fraudulent transactions.
Data Protection
Unlike the days of old where the most valuable commodities were corporeal ones like gold, in the modern world, data is king. The digital age and the speed at which it has progressed has made data one of the most valuable commodities there’s ever been.
Aside from being valuable to modern businesses for the information that can be extracted from it for targeted advertising, unfortunately it’s just as valuable to criminals too. When someone’s personal data is extracted, it can be used in many horrifying ways, such as to commit identity theft.
Since most online casinos require registration to play, they invariably become custodians of every player’s personal data. Among these, there will likely be sensitive information such as identification data and banking credentials. For obvious reasons, legitimate online casinos have very stringent measures in place to ensure this data is protected.
Aside from adequate encryption measures to guard against data breaches, there should also be protocols in place to minimize damage in the event of a breach. Lastly, since data is inherently valuable to the site itself, there should be proper privacy policies in place to ensure a player’s data isn’t used in any way they did not expressly consent to, and is not shared with any third parties without their permission.
Fair Play Practices
Online casinos must also ensure they provide fair gaming experiences to players. No legitimate online casino will seek to skimp on this feature since it’s one of the quickest ways to lose trust among their customer base, pick up legal issues, or lose their license.
The most widely recognized way to ensure fair gaming practices is by employing Random Number Generators (RNGs). Just as they sound, these are features built into the coding of online casino games to ensure they only generate randomized results. The obvious perk this provides to players is certainty that games cannot be manipulated by sites or used to cheat players.
Most legitimate gaming sites will be sure to receive third party certifications from reputable organizations such as eCOGRA. These certifications ensure their fair play practices have been confirmed and certified. For this reason, reliable sites will generally have no problem publishing their certifications on their sites.
The most trustworthy online casinos will also conduct regular third party audits to ensure things like their RNGs and certifications are up-to-date, and remain fair. Most jurisdictions also mandate such practices in order for online casinos to operate, so it’s usually a legal requirement too.
Other Legal Requirements to Check
Depending on the legal jurisdiction that an online casino operates in (the country or state), there’s likely to be stringent laws and regulations that apply to it. In order to operate legally, such casinos will have to meet all requirements in order to receive a gaming license. Proper gaming authorities operating within its jurisdiction usually regulate such licenses. Legitimate online casinos will usually display their licenses or license numbers as footers on the site for transparency.
In addition to licenses, there may be a host of other legal requirements that must be adhered to. These may include safety and security practices, how the site protects and shares data, and how payments or financial transactions are handled.
Legitimate sites go to great lengths to ensure all relevant regulations are always adhered to in order to not endanger their gaming licenses. This helps protect players by ensuring the site can be trusted and is operated in a legal manner.
Other Relevant Tips
Aside from ensuring the security, fair play practices, and adherence to regulations when choosing an online casino, here are a few other tips to make an informed choice.
A little online research should be enough to provide all the necessary information required to test the authenticity of an online casino. This will include its history, how long it’s been operating, whether it’s been involved in any controversies, or legal trouble, and what kind of reputation it has among its players.
It’s also a good idea to check out any available information on who the software providers and third party partners of the site are. These will usually give you a good idea of how reputable they are since major providers won’t associate with questionable sites.
For example, if the site uses major companies like PayPal, Visa and Mastercard to process payments, there’s a good chance you can trust its payment processes, security features, and data protection practices. However, even the games themselves may have separate providers, so it’s a good idea to ensure that it’s not just the host site or app that is legit, but its partners and service providers too.
Another good practice is to review the site’s policies regarding payouts, bonuses, promotional aspects, and how they handle these services. It’s also a good idea to find legitimate reviews for the site, which will provide an indication of the experiences other gamers had with the site.
Confirming such information provides an indication of what to expect and if your chosen site matches up to your expectations and needs as a player. Like any product or service, online casinos will feature perks for their customers. However, they’re just as likely to also feature fine print that may impact how such perks may be enjoyed or accessed.
Things like expiry dates, how to qualify for bonuses, or access VIP programs all matter. Even the variety and diversity of games offered can be a good indication of how well run the site is. It lets you as the player know the full extent of the services available, how to benefit from them, and usually indicates that the site has nothing to hide.
In the same vein, how an online casino handles customer service assistance with issues or complaints is a good indicator of how trustworthy and dependable they are. Being unresponsive when it comes to paying out money owed to players or allowing access to winnings or other perks are actions that don’t bode well.
However, where customer service is quick, simple, transparent, and handled professionally, this can breed trust in the site and provide certainty that there are no underhand issues at play. To provide such a service, it usually requires the availability of employees who are knowledgeable, honest, and helpful, as well as accessibility across a variety of different mediums like email or telephone.
The Key Indicators of a Trustworthy Online Casino: Security, Fair Play, and Legality
Some of the key aspects of a casino site that should be reviewed relate to its security. Online casinos invariably cater for monetary transactions, but also store a player’s personal data. Depending on its jurisdiction, there are also a host of regulations and customary practices that legitimate sites will adhere to.
Aside from providing a fair gaming experience, legitimate online casinos will also ensure legal aspects are met. Players should also have access to all the perks provided by their games, fair and responsible gaming practices, and the ability to access responsive and helpful customer service if required.
FAQs About Great Casino Signs
What are the Benefits of Using an Online Casino?
The fact that you can choose to play hundreds of different games across a variety of platforms and each other unique user experiences is usually one of its biggest attractions. Greater flexibility, convenience, and control over your own experience also usually feature as commonly mentioned benefits.
What Age Do I Have to be to Gamble?
This will depend on what country or state you live in. In most cases, the minimum age is usually 18. However, in some countries and states, it can be as high as 21.
Is Online Gambling Legal?
Again, this will depend on what region of the world you live in. It could also depend on the country that the site is operating from. If that country does not allow online gambling, it means the site is operating illegally. It’s important to know whether or not it is legal in your region to avoid problems with the law.
Can Games Be Played for Free?
Yes, however, the most popular form of online gambling is for real money. As with gambling at a physical casino, playing for money usually provides gamers with a more exhilarating experience, though responsible playing is, of course, encouraged. Many casinos will offer demo versions of the games to let players get a feel for how it works before spending real money to play.
