License Information
In 2023 there are a few the most common legal authorities that issue licenses for international online casinos – these include Curacao, Malta Gaming Authority, Gibraltar Gaming Authority. Then there are some less popular governments that also issue licenses for gambling operators, for example Isle of Man and Kahnawake Gaming Commission. If you come across betting operators that hold any of these licenses, then you can be sure that you’re safe to register and play for real money, as they all provide high level of security and protection for customers. If the online casino has applied to any of these licenses then it means that it is ready to met the highest standards set by the legal entity; these include anti money laundering policy, KYC requirements, partnerships with only regulated and approved game providers/banking processors. Licensed online casinos are also supposed to complete regular fairness checks that are usually completed by 3rd parties; these are performed in order to ensure that players have real chances to win while playing games and that end game results are random.
Out of our personal experience we can tell that you as a player will feel the difference between all these licenses only when thinking about the payment processors and game providers. For example if you compare Curacao and Maltese licenses, then you’ll notice that MGA doesn’t allow players to play with cryptocurrencies due to anti money laundering policies. However, in online casinos that operate under Curacao laws, you’ll be able to use all the advantages that Bitcoin (and any other crypto token) brings. Generally speaking, there are less and more strict licenses; Curacao license is your best choice if you don’t care that much about security and want to have all of the innovative features; all other licenses have stricter rules but provide more protection for players in case of any disputes with casino operators.
You can also divide gaming licenses into 2 categories; some of them, like Curacao, are considered as off shore licenses and they are easier to acquire. However other licenses, like UK Gambling Commission and Malta Gaming Authority, are considered as a domestic license providers. So for example if you reside in the United Kingdom, officially you can play only in those online casinos that are approved by UKGC – any international casino that accept UK customers is considered as an illegal.
Payment Methods and Limits
Depending on your location, you should consider in what currency you wish to play – Euros, Dollars, Pounds, Rubles, Norwegian Krone or any other. Obviously you should sign up at only online casino that supports your currency, and provides convenient banking options for you to complete deposits and withdrawal easily. Nowadays, online casino operators integrate a variety of payment processors; you’ll see e-wallets, credit cards, bank transfer and cryptocurrencies as an option to complete money transfers.
Speaking from our experience, you’d better use e-wallets like Skrill, Neteller, MiFinity, MuchBetter and similar to play in the casino. Why? Because you’ll be able to deposit and withdraw money almost instantly – processing time for digital wallets we mentioned usually ranges from 0 to 1 hours. At the same time, if you use credit cards issued by Visa/MasterCard to request a payout in the casino, it can take up to 7 business days till your money arrive in your account. You can register an account and get your e-wallet activated within 10 minutes, so its really worth the time. Besides that, the money you have in your e-wallets is not taxable, and legal authorities have no power over it.
Another great option for money transfers in and out in the casino is cryptocurrency. Transactions are processed instantly if you play with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether and similar tokens, thank to the blockchain technology. But using cryptocurrencies is much more complicated if compared with more traditional fiat payment methods; you need to understand how to use wallets like Metamask or TrustWallet to store your crypto, and you need to understand the difference between protocols (there are many of them). Honestly, cryptocurrency is not yet ready to be adapted by the masses, but you can definitely take advantage of it if you put a bit of work into it.
Game Providers
Game providers is another crucial part of any online casino. As a newbie, you should look for casino brands that offer the best game providers to play; if you don’t have your favorite game provider yet, you can check some of the most popular studios that are developing slots, table games, live games for years now. These are Evolution Gaming, BetSoft, NoLimit City, BGaming, Microgaming, NetEnt, Pragmatic Play, Yggdrasil to name a few. Every game provider has its own style and feel, so its best if you try each provider yourself to find the one you like. Nowadays absolute majority of online casinos allow you to play in demo mode, without the need to risk any money. Therefore you can take your time and try different game providers and their best titles for free.
Number of Slots
We’d recommend to sign up at online casinos that offer 4000 or more games to play, because this number usually will satisfy your needs. When there’s thousands of and thousands of slots available in game library, you’ll have a truly versatile game collection that will match your mood for every day of the week. If you play at the casino that offers only 1000 or less games, you’ll probably get bored within a week or two; what’s the point of spinning the same game over and over again, when there’s so much more to explore?
Another great sign of high quality online casino is when the operator constantly updates its game offerings; if you see in the game lobby a category called “New Games” or “New Arrivals”, you can immediately understand that here you’ll be able to try new released games among first players. Its always good to have something new to try, especially when you know that game providers are releasing new titles every month.
Customer Service and Response Time
If you think that you’ll never need a support assistance, you think wrong. Customer support is an important aspect of any online casino, because sometimes it can happen that your deposit doesn’t arrive, a withdrawal takes more time than usually, and terms and conditions for provided bonus are unclear. Such situations can happen due to system bug, or any other reason that is not directly caused by you. When such happens, you’ll wish to reach out and get in touch with casino representatives as soon as possible. And this is why you should always consider the available contact options in the casino, support team working hours, and average response time.
The casino operator will specify its customer department open hours directly on the “Contact Us” page, so take a look here and read info about support assistance. Contact methods will be specified here on this page as well. But from our personal experience we can tell that 80% of online casinos offer a 24/7 support assistance, and contact options include live chat and e-mail. Some operators will also offer phone support, but it happens rarely. Either way, you should know that your best way to get in touch with casino support team is to use live chat – so if you don’t see live chat widget on the casino website, you’d better look for other options where to register and play.
Making a Final Conclusion
When you have completed reviewing an online casino as we described above, its time to make a final conclusion. Answer yourself – does this brand fully satisfy you? Does it offer payment methods, game providers that perfectly suits you? If the answer is yes, you can safely proceed with opening a new account and making a deposit. But if you can’t give a strong answer yet, then its best if you look for more options – luckily there are many other casino brands to review.
We want to remind you once again that on our website we have unbiased reviews available for hundreds of best online casinos – all written by professionals. By using our services, you can leave behind the need to explore gambling market yourself, leaving this task to us. All our reviews are completed, and for each online casino featured on our lists we will provide full details – along with our honest, personal feedback. Trust us and we’ll connect you with greatest online casinos to play!
