Rapid growth of the online casino industry and constant appearance of new brands in the global market is complicating choices for the players. On one hand, they stand to gain a lot by recognising a great website early and taking advantage of its promo offers in the initial period. On the other, they risk joining a fraudulent or unprofessionally run website where they might not be able to withdraw their winnings or protect their personal data.
In the multitude of options, there are some tell-tale signs to look for – both positive and negative. We will take you through the lists of green flags and red flags that show whether an online casino can be considered trustworthy. You should pay attention to notice them when you first encounter a new provider you know nothing about, and to base your decision whether to join on the careful analysis of pros and cons.
Green Flags that Indicate a Casino Is Legitimate
With a new casino brand, you should always look for confirmation of good service before you sign up. Here are some positive marks that you can take as reliable evidence that a casino website is operating legally and treating its players with full respect. If a casino you are reviewing meets all of them, you can safely conclude that it is indeed legitimate.
Valid Licence from a Respected Jurisdiction
You never want to even entertain the idea of playing at an unregistered website. This industry is heavily regulated and only those providers that meet the stringent requirements can obtain the licenses that allow them to offer gambling services in particular countries. Good casino websites usually publicly display their licence number, so this is quite easy to verify. Keep in mind that some jurisdictions are less vigilant when it comes to auditing casino sites, and treat licences issued in offshore locations with a degree of caution.
Clear Ownership Structure
A lot of online casino brands belong to prominent companies that have been in the market for years, so if you find out that a new site is a part of a well-established network you should be at ease. Conversely, you should stay away from any platforms that hide their ownership structure because that could be a hint of shady dealing behind the scenes. Investing a few minutes to learn more about the iGaming company that controls the site is the time well-spent that could save you a lot of headache down the line.
Presence of Well-Known Games
Online casinos that collaborate with the most prestigious game development studios and offer a large selection of well-known games tend to be worth your time. Larger websites that are well-connected within the industry generally care about their reputations and avoid dubious practices. Since game odds are set by the developer rather than the casino, playing live games or slots coming from elite manufacturers is a sure way to avoid getting scammed.
Wide Selection of Payment Methods
Payment processors do background checks of their partners, and the most popular ones would never support a casino site that doesn’t follow basic financial rules. If you see major operators such as MasterCard or PayPal among the listed methods, that probably means the site can be trusted to handle financial transactions without any risk of the money disappearing or being delayed. Crypto-only websites may be more difficult to evaluate, but many among them are respectable as well.
Red Flags that Signal Potentially Bad Service
Experienced casino players can instantly recognise if a website is looking suspicious if they pay attention to the right details. Such sites tend to operate based on a similar setup and are designed to attract users quickly before their reputation inevitably sinks. Some of the following elements should be taken as warnings not to join a specific casino.
Poorly Functioning Interface
Since fraudulent websites are looking for a quick score, they frequently launch before they are fully technically perfected. As a result, they feature a lot of dead links, bugs, pages that won’t load, or even entire sections that haven’t been filled with content. If you see an interface that looks like a template and that doesn’t really work as intended, just navigate away and find a better website to play at. When the homepage turns you off immediately, you can’t expect the rest of the site to impress you.
Offers that Sound Too Good to Be True
Highly aggressive marketing offers that promise free money are relatively common in the online gambling industries, but in some cases they are clearly impossible. It’s important to be aware that welcome bonuses nearly always come with a wagering requirement attached, so some amazing-looking offers may not actually give you what they promise. Too many misleading ads peppered all over a casino site usually mean that the provider is trying to mask an underwhelming product.
Lack of Contact Details
On some casino websites you can easily find a phone number to call in case you encounter a problem, sometimes alongside a physical address. This gives you the opportunity to get in direct contact with the operators and inquire about any issues. Casinos that only have an email address or a chat bot as the only way to get in contact are less user-friendly and could be harder to get to issue any corrections. Consequently, access to customer support and corporate managers should be treated as a big deal when choosing the site.
Persistently Bad Reviews
Almost every casino site gets some bad reviews, since there will necessarily be some players frustrated by the outcomes of their gambling. In most cases, these will be mixed with glowing reviews and this is not a cause for concern. However, if an online casino is heavily criticised by practically all players who tried it, you should be inclined to believe them. Also, pay attention which features are being singled out as problematic and check whether all the reviewers are naming the same ones.