For many casino fans the concept of playing games at online casinos sounds like a great idea. You can visit a virtual casino gaming destination, sign up, deposit money and play a wide range of games from the comfort of your home. Moreover, this industry is so well developed that the majority of online casinos nowadays also offer their games on the move. At virtual casinos you can win a lot of money if Lady Luck is on your side.

Contrary to what you may hear, the virtual casino industry is an excellent place for online entertainment and fun. You won’t be put at risk of being scammed, but only if you play at trusted and reliable online casinos. These are casino operators that utilize the strictest industry standards.

But how will you know whether an online casino is safe and fair? To help you out, out team of industry experts took the task to test a variety of online casinos for scam. We tested and reviewed the casinos to check if they are licensed and secured and run by trusted and reliable operators. We also tested their software and games, the reliability of their banking methods as well as their customer support. We did this because as experienced professionals and gambling enthusiasts, we know that it’s often difficult to find a trusted online casino that won’t scam you and where you will have fun time playing games. Therefore, read on to learn more about our test parameters and what makes an online casino reliable.

Licenses Are a Must

First things first, we check for licenses. An online casino that is not a scam must be fully licensed before it can start working. There are several gambling jurisdictions around the world that give valid licenses to online casino operators. For example, casinos that want to offer their services and games to players from the United Kingdom must be fully licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission. A license from this regulatory body is a must for the operator, therefore, if you live in the UK and want to play online casino games, make sure the casino of your choice is licensed by this jurisdiction. Casinos often display this license at the bottom of the homepage and you can click on it to see more details. Some casinos state their license in their terms and conditions.

The UK Gambling Commission is not the only licensing body. The Kahnawake jurisdiction, the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association and the Lotteries and Gaming Authority of Malta are also well known and reliable licensing bodies. The intention of valid casino gambling licenses is to ensure that casinos will meet and follow the necessary fair play and security standards.

Covered Regulations

A license is not the only important selection criterion. What’s even more important is to check whether online gambling is legal and regulated in your country of residence. Otherwise, even if you find a good casino you will not be legally allowed to play games and cash out your winnings. Luckily, most European countries including overseas countries such as Australia and Canada allow online gambling within their state boarders. There are separate laws on this matter and you should be familiarized with them before you start playing casino games on the web.

Let’s take the UK as an example. In 2005 the country passed the Gambling Act into law. According to this law, online gambling became legalized. The same Act was updated in 2014 noting that all online casinos and gambling operators that want to do business in the UK must be licensed by the UK Gambling Commission.

Other regulations have to do with the fair play standards. In particular, all reliable casinos must be powered by software platforms that are designed in accordance with the industry standards for fair play. For example, software providers such as Playtech, NetEnt and Microgaming among others are being used by many top notch online casinos nowadays. They also have a well established reputation in the industry and excellent track record. In addition, these software platforms are registered with industry bodies such as the Interactive Gaming Council, TST and eCOGRA in order to operate. This is to ensure that all games at registered online casinos are designed to be random and fair.

Audits on All Casino Games

Audit companies such as the e-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA) and Technical Systems Testing (TST) rigorously test online casino games to ensure that their random number generator is genuine and fair. In other words, they test to ensure that the odds of winning are suitable and that no game is rigged.

These audit bodies test different online casino software platforms and their games available at individual operators on a regular basis. They also publish reviews on how the software is maintained and what payout percentages the games have. On these reviews the payout totals are displayed with certain standards that are the same to what is available in real casino destinations. Moreover, the online casino software might also be designed to give better odds than that of land based casinos. This basically has to do with the fact that online casinos have less operational costs compared to land based casinos. Therefore, they can offer more generous games with higher return to player percentages compared to their land based counterparts.

All reliable casinos proudly display the seals of these audit companies on their websites. This means that they are regularly tested usually on a monthly basis. The undertaken procedures by the audit companies are done in order to determine whether a casino is safe to do business with.

How is Banking Monitored?

All financial transactions at secure and trusted online casinos are constantly monitored. Deposits and cashouts are processed via a secure bank level 128 or 256-bit SSL encryption. This technology safely conducts and protects all online transactions. The SSL encryption creates a key that can only be accessed by the servers of a casino, not by any third party.

Another important factor to consider is the choice of deposit and withdrawal options at an online casino as well as the processing time of transactions. The methods vary from one casino to another. Typical options such as Visa and MasterCard are basically allowed at all casinos. In addition, e-wallet options such as Skrill, Neteller, Click2Pay and PayPal are also available as banking methods including bank transfers. The later method, however, takes longer to process so it’s not very much preferred by players.

Furthermore, secure online casinos also process transactions fast. Deposits are usually instantly processed while cashouts take several days to complete. Being able to safely and quickly cash out their winnings from casinos is very important for all players. Therefore, it’s best to ask the casino’s customer support about their cash out pending and processing time so as to know when to expect your money. Good casinos usually have a pending time of between 1 or 2 working days. They also require certain documents from you in order to confirm your identity such as a copy of your ID or driver’s license or a scam of utility bill.

Why Customer Support is Important?

Gambling on the Internet involves some risk. However if you choose the right casino, you don’t have to worry about anything. Still, it is possible that at some point you might need help or assistance from a professional player support agent. That’s why we always check the helpfulness, reliability and responsiveness of the casino’s customer support.

Casinos that are scam usually give you incomplete information or you wait for ages till you get a response. They might also freeze your account or refuse a cashout transaction without any reasonable explanation. To protect yourself from such fraud casinos, before you sign up with a site, get in touch with the customer support representatives. Ask them a question related to games, bonuses or banking and rank the quality of their response. If they keep ignoring you, stay away from that casino.

A casino that makes its customer support main priority usually offers several methods of contact such as live chat, e-mail and phone/fax number. Also, the support services works several hours a day or 24/7. Their response times are instant for live chat or within several minutes for e-mail. In addition, some casinos offer toll free phone numbers for players from certain countries. In general, the majority of casinos have an international telephone line players can use at any time.

Conclusion

If you have ever thought about singing up with an online casino that is accepted in your country of residence, you must check if it is licensed, secure, fair and trustworthy. Only these casinos will protect you and give you a fair sense of play. Playing games at online casinos is indeed a thrilling form of virtual entertainment and you should explore it. If you’re not sure where to play, our recommended casinos tested for scam are a good place to start.