Here’s What You Need to Know About Choosing a Safe Online Casino

There are 1000s of online casinos and casino apps available on the internet. In a country like Canada, i.e. one with a reasonable liberal attitude to online gaming, there are, of course, many prominent gaming sites, and online gambling activity has increased significantly. But what about security and personal safety at online casino sites? What should you be looking for? The answer is multi-faceted, and some elements might surprise you. Below is our guide to choosing a safe online casino:

Look for an Official Licence First

A casino needs a licence to operate. But where do they get the licence from? You should be looking for globally respected licensees like the UK Gambling Commission, Kahnawake Gaming Commission, Gibraltar Gambling Commission and Malta Gaming Authority. This is important for a number of reasons: Firstly, these regulatory bodies ensure the casinos are playing fair; secondly, they ensure that everything from marketing practices to customer disputes are within the law; finally, it ensures you are playing legally within your own country. The information on licensing can be found at the bottom of the homepage. Take a minute and read it.

Find Out About Site Security

Casinos are among the most secure websites in the world. It’s partly due to having to conform to regulation, but also because the nature of the sites mean they must be up to speed on encryption and other safety measures. But, in a chilling climate of cybercrime globally, you always want to ensure all your details – financial and personal – are kept safe. Again, have a look at the credentials of the site on the bottom of the homepage. If you see something like “Secured by Thawte”, then that’s a good sign, as the casino operator has done enough to meet the standard of encryption.

Multiple Deposit Options

Even when on a secure site, people are worried about handing over their financial information. That’s understandable. So, make sure that there is something that suits you on offer. For example, casino.com offers many deposit options for Canadian players, including cards, vouchers, mobile payments and internet wallets. There isn’t always a right answer when it comes to the safest payment options, because everyone will have their own preferences. What you want is a varied choice to ensure that you can pick something that you are comfortable with.

RNGs and Fair Gaming

Anyone could open a casino site today, develop a blackjack game and claim that it has a house-edge of 1%. But how do we know that that figure is real? Well, thankfully many of the regulatory bodies mentioned above require that the veracity of these claims is tested regularly. As a consequence, independent bodies like eCOGRA, TST, GLI and iTech Labs have been set up. These are termed “test houses”, and their job is to monitor the random number generators used in virtual games in order to make sure that they are fair. That data is published and is accessible to the public.

Software Providers

Here’s the thing: Online casinos don’t create their own games. These are licensed from various software developers, some of which are more trusted and popular than others. As with every type of industry, there are some big players that have risen to the top by offering quality games that players trust. Playtech, Microgaming, NetEnt, IGT, Blueprint Gaming, WMS, SG and Bally are some of the names you should be looking for. These casino game developers are constantly scrutinised and tested, not to mention the providers of the most popular casino games on the planet.