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Ready to play online casino games for real money? The feeling can be overwhelming. You’re excited to play slots or poker at the comfort of your home. But you’re afraid not to get scammed.
Online gambling is a relatively new industry. As such, it’s not easy for a beginner to separate a safe from a fraudulent operator. Luckily, this guide is for you: it explores all the ways you can find a safe online casino to join in the US.
A Legitimate US License
Casino licenses are like car number plates. They show you where a gambling website is based. They also tell you whether the website is legitimate and operating legally or not. In the US, there are two major gambling license providers: New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Delaware, West Virginia, and a few more states also permit online casinos. But the states don’t have as many casinos as PA and NJ. All the same, your goal is to find a casino licensed in your state.
Sites like scams.info make it incredibly straightforward to find the best safe online casinos in the US. That’s because they do the hard work of analyzing companies to find reputable, licensed operators you can join.
Although not recommended, there are lots of offshore casinos that accept US citizens. These operators have licenses from foreign countries. However, the companies aren’t as reputable as locally licensed operators.
A Secure Website and App
This goes without saying—choose a secure casino website or app. If you join a licensed operator, you don’t really need to worry about security. Every licensed operator is required to secure their platforms by law.
The standard way of securing a casino site is by encrypting players’ data. The best operators use SSL encryption, which keeps your data safe while using a site. They also empower you with password protection, multi-factor authentication, and anti-phishing codes.
In addition to data encryption, top-rated operators have friendly data protection policies. They also give you an option to control the information they collect from you. Additionally, they have certificates from independent auditors that show the casinos are safe and secure.
Data protection aside, take a look at a casino’s web design and user-friendliness closely. Navigate through web pages to observe their loading speeds. Look at the ease of moving from one category to another. If allowed, play some games on demo mode—this will give you a better feel of the casino.
Supports Trusted Payment Methods
This might come as a surprise to some but top payment providers like PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard choose partners professionally. They have a reputation to protect and so they only accept safe licensed casinos.
PayPal is particularly choosy. It only supports well-known operators. And if the casinos get accused of fraud, the digital wallet suspends payments to the company. In light of that information, avoid operators that support banking providers that are either unknown or unsafe.
Today’s online casinos have a wide range of payment options. There’s always a likelihood you’ll find a website that supports your favorite payment company: ACH, credit cards, e-wallets, checks, or cryptocurrencies.
That being said, payment methods don’t say everything about a casino’s safety. A fraudulent website can always decline to process your withdrawal. Or it could slap you with inflated fees for no reason.
Due to that, get to know more about a casino’s banking policies. Learn about its deposit and withdrawal speeds. Find out all the fees you have to pay, the limits, and other crucial policies. Choose fast operators.
A Variety of Fair Games
In the casino space, whether you win or lose depends on the games you pick. This is why variety, quality, and fairness matter. The variety gives you a wide range of options. You can choose a video slot today and a jackpot game tomorrow.
Or you could play a sports-themed game after watching your favorite football team. And then you could play a rock-themed slot every time you think about your favorite rock band. When it comes to quality, you want to see modern graphics, bonus features, an entertaining storyline, and a high payout rate.
Although it sounds like a lot of work, ensuring a casino has quality games is simple. Start by looking at the software providers. NetEnt, Microgaming, IGT, Evolution, Betsoft, and Playtech are the biggest names in the industry.
The companies provide a wealth of high-quality games. As such, the presence of these developers means you’ll have access to some good games. There are more developers out there. But play games from safe companies whenever possible.
Fair Bonuses and Promotions
Looking at casino bonuses can give you a quick hint of whether to trust an online casino or not. Picture this. You spot a website inviting you to claim a 100% deposit bonus worth $5000.
You can use the bonus to win real money. But you can’t withdraw the money until you fulfill wagering requirements worth 99x your deposit amount in a month. Assuming you deposited $1000, you would need to spend $99,000 to cash out your winnings.
The amount is just too high and the casino probably settled the rule to ensure no one can withdraw their bonus profits. With that in mind, look for bonuses with fair policies. In many cases, fair bonuses are a sign of a fair casino.
A Functional Customer Service Department
Every casino displays its contact channels where you view them. But this doesn’t mean they all provide satisfactory customer support. Some of them don’t reply to messages or they take too long to provide support.
The best casinos can be seen in how they handle support issues. First, welcome communications through fast channels like chatbots, email addresses, and phone communication.
Second, they have professionally trained agents who respond to customer complaints quickly. Of course, you can’t know how fast an operator responds unless you send them a message.
So, ask a random but sensible questionable via email or chatbot. At the best websites, you can be certain you’ll get a quick and helpful response.
