What makes a good online casino? With the increasing popularity of the media, virtual reality, cryptocurrency, online interactions, online gambling has seen a soaring growth in the last decade or so. Online gambling started gaining attention in the 2010s and 2011s and peaked from 2017 onwards garnering a massive revenue of $50 billion in that year alone. Currently, over 26% of the adult population gamble actively online which sums up to about 1.6 billion of the world’s population with over 4.2 billion gambling at least once a year. The post-covid world has experienced a surge in online gambling with a revenue of $72 billion dollars globally, approximated to reach more than $112 billion dollars by 2025.
The parameters to determine good online casinos depend largely on professional reviews and the quality of gaming. Players mainly choose casinos based on the rewards, bonuses, features, and turnovers of the game. Other relevant factors include the factor of deposits and withdrawal of money, integration with popular Payment systems and aggregators, transaction time, and customer support. Another underappreciated feature is the design and aesthetics of the game which includes a responsive interface powered by HTML5, CSS3, and Flash technologies. This article aims at answering every query pertaining to – What makes a good online casino?
Trustworthy and non-trustworthy casinos
The legitimacy of an online casino can be verified based on licensing, reviews, and customer care services. Apart from that, there are certain factors that determine the credibility of online casinos.
Auditing and Legitimacy
The online casinos need to have a badge of legitimacy before any player can actively invest in the casino for online gaming. Testing and auditing authorities conduct checking of the online casinos and give casinos the seal of approval, some of them are:
- eCORBA labs
- GamCare
- Gaming Laboratories International
These authorities investigate the gambling operators and sites to promote safe gambling, provide a better playing experience, support just gaming practices, ensure RNG (Random Number Generators) to impose fairness, and curb limits for deposits to prevent compulsive gambling.
All online casinos require a license issued by the gaming committee in each country that legalizes gambling. The gambling license not only establishes the credibility of the casino among users and professionals but can also recruit gaming and service providers with ease. Licenses implement policies that must be strictly adhered to by the gaming operators while displaying their logos on the site. Unlicensed casinos do not have license logos on their site, which is the major difference of proof a user can get. Licensed online casinos are also legible for RNG Certification or the Random Number Generator Certification which are offered to casinos who have had their activities verified under surveillance.
Each country has its own set of Gambling Acts and Gambling Laws that need to be catered to. These various Commissions license the casinos to operate worldwide. There are multiple legal boards in different regions that control the gambling operators and sites in that country. Some of them are:
- The United Kingdom Gambling Commission: The Gambling Act of 2005 set up the UKGC that governs the major of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The UKGC controls all forms of online gambling and regulates the gambling organizations in the UK by providing them with licenses.
- Gibraltar Regulatory Authority: The Gibraltar Regulatory Authority was formed after the passing of The Gambling Act in 2005. The Authority issues licenses and controls payments while inspecting for fraud or failure to abide by regulations.
- Malta Gaming Authority: The Malta Gaming Authority governs the gaming laws in the country. Set up in 2001, this committee is focused on crime prevention and money fraud in gambling.
- Autorite Nationale des Jeux: Set up under the French Gambling Act in 2010, the gambling committee manages online gambling in France and inspects problems related to online casinos.
- Kahnawake Gaming Commission: Established in 1996 and enacted in 1999, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission controls the online casinos, online sports, and other online games and caters to Canada and the regions near the country.
- Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore: The board of authority set up in Singapore in 2008 deals with casino-related problems, governance of operators, and prevention of fraud.
What makes a good online casino? – Collaboration with Popular Gambling Committees
Although not all online casinos need direct licensing from the commissions, a licensed casino is deemed safer due to its acceptance of self-exclusion schemes. The boards implement rules and regulations onto these gambling services to restrict compulsive gambling that results in addiction and financial losses. Hence, multiple charitable organizations have been created with the collaboration of Gambling Committees and them like:
- GambleAware
- Gamblers Anonymous
- Gordon Moody Association
- Actions Against Gambling Harms
- The Forward Trust
- TalkGen
- EPIC Risk Management
The charitable organizations give players access to helplines and customer care services with 24/7 provision of services. These helplines guide and support compulsive players and their families who are recuperating from financial loss. Customer Care services can be accessed through phone calls, chats, emails, texts.
Measures for Encryption For Privacy
The online casinos are developed through programming languages and in turn, are secured via SSL or TLS. SSL and TLS need to be embedded into the system to assure the safety of transcription and the leak of sensitive information like bank details and passwords. Untrustworthy casinos often have shady website encryptions and may lead to scam sites with a virus or hacking threats. SSL transcription prevents the leak of personal information through hacking.
Online Reviews & Testimonials
Most players depend on online reviews hence recommendation depends heavily on user satisfaction. Negative reviews mostly deal with complaints about customer service, lack of efforts from the gambling operators, and website malfunction. Reviews are an efficient way to find out about casino site functioning and usage quality before investing huge amounts of money on the site.
Bonus Payouts and Terms and Conditions
Trustworthy casinos have a foolproof system of payment methods and offer attractive bonuses with registration on their sites that are within the deposit limits, they do not opt for very high bonus prizes. Most non-trustworthy casinos offer extremely high bonuses to tempt people to invest but they will probably not get the money along with no refund of the original sum deposited. Some examples of bonuses given are:
- 450% of bonus on first deposit
- 250% of bonus with a reward of $1000
- 280% of bonus with a reward of more than $10,000
The Terms and Conditions section that mentions the wagering needs should be thoroughly checked before investing in any gambling site.
What makes a good online casino? – Game Providers
The game providers distribute the software for online games like poker, roulette, blackjack, slots, bingo, and more. The software is responsible for the smooth operation of the site, a good game can be recognized by its:
- Excellent graphics and impressionable visual elements as evident in 3D slots and video slots like gem reels or fruit reels.
- High-speed command execution as seen in slots through RNG.
- High RTP and low house edge values.
- Protected system of gaming that does not allow infringement of privacy.
- Website development and transparency with clear readable options.
The most commonly used programming languages used are HTML5, JS, C++, Java, Python to create these agile online casino games and provided by gaming operators like:
- NetEnt
- Play’n GO
- Microgaming
- Evolution
- IGT
- Betsoft
- NYX Interactive
- Yggdrasil
- Playtech
- Big Time Gaming
What makes a good online casino? – Payment Methods
Deposits
Online casinos avail extensive methods of deposit, including banking to debit and credit card payments to e-wallets or other online payment methods. The mobile adaptability of the online casinos allows for a flexible mode of deposits. All a player needs to do is register on an online casino and opt for deposits which will take them to the deposit method page with a lot of options to choose from. Bank transfers take the longest out of all, about 3 weeks, and take up a charge for transactions. Credit and debit cards take a shorter time, a day or so for the transaction while wallets complete the transactions in less than an hour.
Among the methods, credit card payments take the highest position on the list of deposit methods because of the low risk of payment blockage and secure money transfer. The credit cards listed are the most used in online casinos and they are :
- Visa
- MasterCard
- American Express
- Union Pay
Although credit cards are popular among other payment methods, countries like the UK do not allow transactions through credit cards to prevent spending money beyond one’s means.
Bank transfers are also possible for deposit methods, all players need to do is link their bank accounts with the online casinos or provide the casino with the relevant bank information. Some banks allow direct transfer to legalized and licensed casinos.
Online payment methods are currently the best way to deposit money in registered accounts, especially through e-wallets. E-wallets are space-efficient and safe and players do not require to reveal their bank details of players or personal information for the use of e-wallets. The most popular e-wallets used are:
- Neteller
- Skrill
- EcoCard
- EWalletXpress
- ClickandBuy
Online payments can also be made through online payment apps which connect the account to the bank without needing personal information are:
- Paypal
- POLi
- Trustly
- Euteller
- Sofort
Online casinos have also started accepting payments in cryptocurrency and Bitcoins and there are special casinos that prefer Bitcoin deposits.
What makes a good online casino? – Bonuses and Promotions
A Casino Tour Guide opens one’s eyes to the irresistible bonuses offered by the online casinos. The welcome bonuses and promotional rewards are what makes these casino alluring.
- Reputable online casinos offer up to $1000 bonuses for a deposit of $1 and options for free spins, additional rounds, and other activated bonuses generating real money prizes with more than 200% of the match on the first deposit. There are more than just welcome bonuses that can be activated through casinos, they can also be gained through promotional bonuses that can be gained through casino referrals.
- Along with that, bonuses can be achieved through no deposits or free play as well, up to $1000 or $5000 without spending any money. Bonuses can also be achieved through staking big amounts or being a regular player which gets a bonus of $4000 approximately.
- The bonuses can be found in form of coupon offers and can be accessed by logging into the registered online casino account.
- The tricky part of the bonus may be the terms and conditions applied with the bonus which does not let players take out the money at will without betting. Fortunately, most good casinos have clear instructions given in terms and conditions that need to be thoroughly checked by the players.
What makes a good online casino? – Withdrawals
Withdrawals use the same set of payment options as deposits yet for withdrawals, the fastest way is opting for online withdrawals. Bank withdrawals, in this case, may take more time and have more complications but the winnings can be easily collected through wallets and apps ad used anytime. For withdrawals, online apps are the most user-friendly since for wallets the money may not be applicable for withdrawal or use at certain instances.
What makes a good online casino? – Ease of Site Navigation
An online casino needs to have sufficient site visibility and recommendation to be navigational and easy to spot. A good online casino has readable and comprehensible instructions and accessible options that players can get accustomed to effortlessly. A clear and easy-to-use site, in general, garners more interest than complex gambling sites.
What makes a good online casino? – International Language Availability
Online casinos are popular across the world due to their broad range of language availability. Instructions are available in more than just English, with each and every detail explained in the language players desire. Some of the key languages available are:
- English
- French
- Spanish
- Italian
- Danish
- Chinese
- Hindi
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Korean
- Japanese
- Thai
- Turkish
- Norwegian
- Indonesian, etc.
What makes a good online casino? – Types of Games
Online casinos have a broad variety of games for players involving real money prizes. All the games are designed to attract the interest of the players to make for the luxury and glamour of land-based casinos. The inbuilt games are all adaptable to various platforms and provide high resolution and quality on all interfaces. Although the kinds of games differ from casino to casino, there are a few games that are common to most online casinos:
- Poker
- Dice games
- Slots
- Table games
- Miscellaneous specialty games
Under each of these categories, there are multiple games that fit into the above-given types.
Poker
Poker being the most known and most played casino game out of all has stayed at the peak of casino games even in online gaming. The most common form played is video poker which is similar to the table poker played at offline casinos. The different forms are:
- Joker Poker
- Aces and Eights
- Ace Invaders
- Atomic Fever
- Flush Fever
- Deuces Wild
- Jacks and Better
- Anythings Wild
- Royal Court
- Loose Deuces
- Jackpot Poker
- Double Draw Aces
And multiple other forms that can be developed and played.
Dice Games
Dice games are dependent on both luck and skill so it needs a bit of experience to master the range of dice games offered to players by online casinos.
- Craps: Craps are dice games with the ‘pass line’ and ‘don’t pass line’ divisions, each side rolling different numbers to get a win. Rolling 7 and 11 give a win to the pass line bets while rolling 2 or 3 give a win to the don’t pass line.
- Klondike: Klondike is a simpler dice game similar to card games where number 6 has the lowest value while 1has the highest value.
- Hazard: Hzard is very similar to craps with a different set of numbers to roll out to get the wins on bets.
- Chuck A Luck: Chuck A Luck is probably the simplest out of the lot and largely based on luck where the players have to bet on the number of dices that will appear with the chosen number given by the players.
Slots
Slots are games that focus quite a bit on luck and RNG or Random Number Generator. Slots are the most popular variants and come in multiple themes, Min/ Max Bet combinations, Paylines and grids, varying RTP, and multipliers. Some of the slot variants include:
- Video slots
- Classic slots
- Reels (3, 5, 7)
- Progressive slots
- 3D slots
- Fruit slots
- Multiple Payline slots
- Gem/Insect/Flower slots
Key Terminologies around Slot Games
Slot RTP
Every slot machine has a set RTP (Return to Player) which is the percentage of total wagers paid out in winnings to players over the long run. The average market RTP for online slots is 96%. In this case, it means that the casino will keep £4 out of every £100 wagered on this slot, and payout in winnings the remaining £96.
Variance
The slot’s variance, also known as volatility, is a measure of how many spins out of the total spins will yield a win. High variance slots pay higher wins less frequently, whereas low variance slots pay out more frequently, however, their win amounts are smaller.
Table Games
Table games involve the classic casino games that players are most familiar with. Among them, blackjack, roulette, baccarat, table poker are the most popular ones. The various forms of table games played are:
- Baccarat
- Chinese Blackjack
- European Roulette
- American Roulette
- Texas Holdem
- Pai Gow Poker
- Perfect Pairs
Miscellaneous Speciality Games
Certain games cannot be categorized into the existing forms of casino games so they form a separate category of special games which are as popular as categorized games. Some examples are:
- Bingo: Bingo is an age-old game involving numbers and sequences which are popular worldwide. Games are usually available for 75 ball version, 80 ball version, 90 ball version, or Speed Bingo or Quickie or Mini Bingo.
- Lottery games: Lottery games are luck-based games that get you real money upon winning that set.
- Scratch-and-win games: The easiest of the lot, these games get everyone a chance to win rewards and money with each scratch card.
- Live Casinos: Access to Live Dealers, VIP Club, Virtual Casino Floor that provides players with real-life casino experience.
What makes a good online casino? – Loyalty Scheme and VIP Clubs
Avid users of online casinos are given an additional benefit of unlimited rewards through the loyalty scheme applicable in each casino. Just like gaming levels, a loyalty scheme generally offers luxurious bonuses to players who have high investment rates, it is not restricted to whale players but extends to those players who regularly play at the casinos, no matter what the sum of deposit may be. The benefits are:
- Extensive deposit limits
- Greater withdrawal amounts
- Coupon offers
- Cashbacks
- Special offers on birthdays
- Offers for completion of a year
- Extra credits
- Bonus boost
- No deposit bonuses
- Free bonuses
- Extra spins
Loyalty schemes also lead to other schemes like the VIP schemes which are reserved for whale players who are high rollers while loyalty schemes are extended to all players who have been using the casino for a fairly long period of time. Some online casinos also give bonuses on completion of 6 months with free spins, coupons, free real-money bonuses, and more.
Payout Ratios (RTP)
There is a rooted belief in the fact that casinos always make the highest profit off players. It is rather a comparison of the losses of the players to the sum that goes back to the casinos. Experienced players and professional gamblers keep in mind the RTP of the game before delving into betting for wins. RTP stands for Return to Player or Percentage Return to Player which calculates the winning or losing percentage in a game. Games with high RTPs signify that players have a high chance of winning since the rate of return itself is high. A casino with RTP % over 95% is always recommended to players.
RTPs of Online Casinos
The average RTP for most casinos is in the range of 92%-97% yet there are some casinos which has recorded high RTPs of 98% approximately.
The calculation is carried out by running simulations, that is by a counterfeit play of the game in the presence of professionals who then determine the value through the margins of wins and losses. Gaming providers like NetEnt, Play’n GO, Microgaming have high RTPs averaging 94% -96% in general.
House Edge
Along with RTP, house edge also determines the overall winning percentage of the casinos. House edge is a term that defines the profit percentage of the house, the casino on each game they offer. Casinos with higher house edge are not suitable for players as it means the player losing out on most games in the casinos. Online casinos have lower house edge with high RTPs and they remain transparent with the values since the values can be easily verified through simulations.
Games with high RTP and House Edge
House edge and RTP also vary with different games provided by the casinos. For instance, slot games tend to have higher RTP while table games like poker, roulette, blackjack, baccarat, or skill-based games have a higher house edge percentage.
Game Mechanics
Site developers and operators have to implement technologies to make the game more captivating and fast-paced. Online casinos are integrated with bonuses, rewards, and are convenient for their accessibility and speed. Gaming is not enough to get steady wins, it is better to know how to achieve wins through experience and some shortcuts.
The steps players can take to get more wins at casinos are:
- Calculating house edge and RTPs
- Try out games with jackpot rounds
- Get loyalty scheme bonuses
- Get whale player rewards
- Invest in low deposit casinos
- Go for RNG based casinos
- Gain experience through steady playing
- Earn real money through VIP schemes
What makes a good online casino? – Conclusion
There are multiple factors involved in making a casino be deemed as a good casino. From the speed of the transactions to site visibility to the visuals and win-loss range, every aspect needs to be weighed and discussed in detail before choosing a casino to trust. It is preferable to invest in casinos with user-friendly schemes and trouble-free modes of usage, good platform adaptability, and a wide range of game assortments. The fun can be experienced by making wise choices of selecting hassle-free casinos to not hamper the overall experience of gaming. A fantastic example of a good online casino in our opinion is Winz.io give them a try today and find out what all the fuss is about!
