Choosing an Online Casino: How to Find a Reliable and Trustworthy Gaming Site
When betting online in the international gambling scene, choosing an online casino is a player’s number one concern. Players should trust a site to offer fair games, then pay its debts without issues when the player wins. Trust is the key factor, but knowing what to spot when picking a site can be fraught for new players.
RATED | CASINO | SIGNUP BONUS | >>>> |
1 |  | 260% Casino Bonus up to $10,000 | |
2 |  | 100% Match Bonus up to $1,000 | |
3 |  | 250% up to $1,000 | |
4 |  | 250% up to $2,500 | |
5 |  | 280% up to $14,000 |
Today, we give new players the information they need to find a reliable and trustworthy online casino. Below, we provide a checklist of factors to use. We also give basic information on how the online casino industry works, so players have the grounding they need to make good choices. Having a good checklist of criteria is where players should start.
How to Choose the Best Online Casino
An online casino’s reputation is a mark of the relationship between a casino and its players. If a site keeps players’ information safe and secure, provides fun games, and pays on time, it develops a good reputation over time. That is what our staff wants to know about when we evaluate casino sites. Here are the details.
- Safety and Security: Online casinos should instill a sense of trust in its players. If we can trust a gaming partner, then so can players. Sites that are licensed and audited regularly receive our trust, while sites with 128-bit encryption or better give us a sense of safety.
- Banking and Payments: Closely associated with security is the type of banking options and the level of payment security these offer. Players want to use deposit options they use in everyday life. They want credit cards and cryptocurrencies that add to the level of security. When it’s time to pay up, they want a casino that pays quickly and reliably.
- Bonuses and Promotions: Almost every casino site offers welcome bonuses, but that is not enough. The question is whether they offer multiple welcome bonus packages, plus reload bonuses every time a player makes a deposit. This does not assure bonus cash for players but gives them an extra chance every time they make a payment. Over time, this lowers the effective house edge on the player’s gambling.
- Games and Software: The online gaming experience itself should be world-class. An online casino should have hundreds of online slots and dozens of online table games. It should have specialty games based on lottery-style and raffle-style gaming, such as Keno, Bingo, and online scratch card games. It should have live dealer games, including live blackjack, live baccarat, and live roulette (at the least).
- Customer Support: It is best if players do not encounter glitches and tech issues, but we don’t live in a perfect world. When a player contacts the casino with questions, concerns, and issues, they want the support staff to be knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. Also, they should be available 24 hours a day through several modes of communication.
- Compatibility: Online casino games should be compatible with your lifestyle and play preferences. Games should be optimized for all desktop players, while players on the go should be able to play 100% of the games using their Android smartphones and tablet computers, iPhones, and iPads. Mobile games played in the web browser are the best answer.
Leveraging Bonuses and Promotions: Maximizing Your Winnings
Players should not ignore welcome bonuses and other promotions. These help you maximize your winnings and mitigate your losing sessions. In fact, it is the last object where bonuses really help. While bonus money does not lower the house edge of games, it lowers the effective house edge by giving you more chances to win cash.
Despite having drawbacks, players should accept bonus money from fairminded online casinos. If you don’t trust a site’s bonus promotions, you shouldn’t be playing at the site in the first place. Here are the pros and cons.
| Pros of Welcome Bonuses | Cons of Welcome Bonuses |
|---|---|
| More cash to make wagers. A bigger bankroll. | Wagering requirements that require players to wager a bonus many times. |
| Less risk due to free bonus money. | Expiry terms cause players to make bets in a small window of time. |
| Many welcome bonuses have “no max cashout” or no limit on winning. | Max cashout rules limit how much you can win with a bonus. |
| Some casinos allow blackjack and video poker to clear the requirement. | Game requirements limit table games and push slots and scratch cards. |
| Reload bonuses are redeemable many times over. | In rogue casinos, one-sided terms might cause bonuses to be voided. |
- Online Gambling Tip: The final note is important. Read the terms of use closely to avoid having a bonus offer voided. More importantly, only choose casinos that offer fair terms of use. If a site voids your bonus, find another US online casino, because they don’t all have one-sided terms and conditions.
Picking the Best Online Casino Games
Players have a wide range of preferences when it comes to online casino games. Some prefer the games with the biggest jackpots, such as slots and Keno. Other players prefer the games with the best odds, such as blackjack or video poker. Still, others want a good house edge but do not want to learn a bunch of strategies, so they choose games like baccarat and craps.
If you have not played enough to have a preference, here is a quick overview of the games you’ll encounter.
- Online Slots: These games have the biggest jackpots, but tend to have a higher house edge (between 3% and 7% but maybe higher). Slots have fun themes, entertaining music, and a lot of bonus features to keep the game interesting.
- Blackjack Online: Most US online casinos feature between a half-dozen to a dozen versions of blackjack. Players’ goal is to find the version with the best odds and rules for a common basic strategy chart, so they can study the game and optimize their chances.
- Baccarat Online: Punto Banco is the most popular version of baccarat. It does not require strategy but has a house edge as low as 1.06%.
- Online Craps: Craps has the second-best odds for players who do not want to use strategy. Craps has a lot of different bets and require players to know which have good odds (basic bets) and which are sucker bets. Also, shooting dice is just fun.
- Video Poker Online: Often labeled “Poker” at online casinos, these are games based on the rules of 5-card draw poker. Video poker games like Jacks or Better or Deuces Wild are like blackjack because they offer good odds if you’re willing to learn strategy tips.
- Online Roulette: The casino’s most famous spinning wheel game is a tweener — it does not have the best odds, the most fun themes, or the biggest jackpots. Roulette sits in the middle in all aspects with a relaxing spinning wheel, decent odds (for European Roulette), and payouts as high as 35:1.
- Keno Online: US online casinos features online keno with top payouts ranging from $100,000 to $1 million. The house edge is horrible and the jackpots are hard to reach, but players can enjoy keno online with small bets.
- Online Bingo: Most bingo games online use a different dynamic than land-based bingo halls. Instead of playing against a pool of gamblers, the object is to fill out your online bingo card before a certain number of bills are drawn. It has high payouts and allows low bets, but the house edge is high.
- Scratch Cards Online: Many online casinos now have online scratch cards in their Specialty Games section. Playing these cards is quite reminiscent of playing online slots, as you get results quickly and have a chance at high payouts. Throttle your play to avoid paying out too much in a session.
- Skill Games: Specialty Games that require skill to win. Often called arcade games by casino sites, these are fairly rare because some players become really good at them. Fish Catch is a popular skill game in US casino sites that use RealTime Gaming software.
- Table Poker: Not to be confused with video poker, these are table games based on the rules of poker. Online casinos have many of them, including Tri Card Poker, Let It Ride, Red Dog, Caribbean Stud, Caribbean Holdem, Caribbean Draw, and Pai Gow Poker.
Online Casino Gambling FAQ
What is an RNG?
A random number generator or RNG is a computer chip that determines the results of online casino games using an algorithm. RNGs have been a part of the land-based gambling industry for nearly 45 years, as they became common in land-based slot machines and video poker machines in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are a trusted part of the gambling industry now.
Most online casino games use an RNG for results. If you do not like this idea, play live dealer games in the “Live Casino” section of the site. These use real-life dealers to determine results.
Is mobile casino gambling safe and fair?
Yes. Online casinos use the same RNGs for mobile casino games. Designers optimize standard online games for Android and iOS devices. Most these days do not require a mobile casino app download. Instead, they use HTML5 software to provide casino games that load in the web browser. This gets around most compatibility issues, so any mobile smartphone or tablet should work with the games.
What is an odds calculator?
It lets players calculate the odds on common table games like blackjack. Often, the odds calculator has a set of blackjack rules in the software with the odds deviation each rule produces. Using a single deck might change the odds 0.20% in the player’s favor, while the 6:5 blackjack rule might hurt the player’s odds by 1.10%. By inputting the full list of rules for a game, you can calculate the house edge or return to player (RTP).
Some odds calculators are for sports betting. If so, these tools convert fractional odds to decimal odds and American odds.
What is a no-download casino?
It’s an online casino that doesn’t require a software download. Instead, the games open in the web browser when you click on the game icon. This saves space on your hard drive, which is a big advantage for players who gamble at many online casinos. Often, no-download casino games are called instant-play casino games.
What is a no-deposit bonus?
It’s a bonus that doesn’t require a deposit in order to collect money. In most cases, players receive a bit of bonus cash for registering a new player account. The terms of use limit signups to one per household (or IP address). No-deposit bonuses are getting rarer, but still exist in the US online casino industry. For instance, Planet 7 Casino has a $25 free chip when you use the coupon code WINWAY these days.
