The online gambling market is a highly lucrative and competitive one. It is so competitive that you can choose from thousands of online casinos and gambling websites as a player. And, of course, not all online casinos are created equal.
Many online casinos are reputable and safe and give great rewards to players. Other online casinos are non-reputable, unsafe, and advertise false and huge rewards to players without the intention of paying winnings.
Finding an online casino website to trust and deposit is a challenging task. It requires research. When planning to make any financial transaction online, some homework needs to be done - even more so when choosing an online casino.
What should you check before making a selection? We created this page to help.
On this page, you will find a thorough explanation regarding each step we take when choosing the best online casino. In short, the general things to consider are :
- Does the online casino accept players from your country and providers financial and customer support?
- Is the online casino in question reputable?
- Are the games you intend to play available on it?
Make sure your country and language are supported
Always make sure that the casino accepts payments and players from your country. Some online casinos accept players from certain countries. However, they can't process payments back to the player. Obviously, being able to withdraw your funds is crucial to ensure before making a deposit.
Country-specific legislation often means that online casinos can't, or won't, operate in your country. Many countries ban online gambling websites. Other countries don't allow online gambling activities but do not ban websites. In either case, most reputable online casinos will choose not to work with residents of a country where gambling isn't allowed.
Many online casinos only ask you to prove your identity before withdrawing funds. If you reside in a country they don't operate with, they can't give back your funds. They will quickly accept payments for nearly every location but ask questions before paying them out. To avoid this frustrating situation, you must make sure you can play from within your country. If in doubt, open a ticket with customer support before making a deposit. If they say yes, you can make a deposit, win money and withdraw from a specific country, keep a screenshot of this conversation, just in case.
Only play at reputable websites
Ensuring an online casino is reputable is crucial and the most critical factor when choosing an online casino. Many online casinos seem fair at first sight. They have a nice-looking website and many games from reputable providers. However, many only seem so, while they are not. Some online casinos, for example, try to prevent players from making withdrawals after winnings. They use numerous ways: saying the winning was an error, accusing you of bonus abuse, etc. In addition, there are many ways and methods online casinos prevent players from accessing their funds.
The only way to ensure that an online casino will pay your winnings is to choose an online casino you are positive with 100% that is reputable.
How do you do that? You can start by selecting an online casino from our website. Any online casino that we rank 4 and above is a reputable online casino that will pay out winnings and do so fast.
However, we recommend reading many reviews online if you want to research more. There are many review websites, including TopCasinoSearch, online. And if you see many bad reviews about a particular online casino, stay away.
We want to point out that some reputable and honest casinos also have bad complaints, but only a few. Try to comprehend whether the majority of reviews are good or not.
We ensure that all the online casinos we list are reputable by keeping track of their complaints online. If we see an online casino with many bad complaints, we lower its rank or remove it entirely.
Casino License
Licensing is an integral part of online gambling. Reputable online casinos should have a license to operate within your country. Depending on where you live, you need to understand the laws regarding gambling online. Some governments fully regulate and issue licenses to online casinos that accept citizens' deposits. The United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, and more are among these countries.
Other countries ban gambling altogether. Citizens of countries where online gambling is strictly prohibited typically can play online casino games with multiple operators, but they must do so at their discretion.
Many times a use of a VPN is required.
The rest of the countries do not prohibit online gambling and don't regulate the market. These countries are typically indecisive about how they should proceed; while they take their time, players can play freely with thousands of operators.
All the players from countries where online casinos are allowed and not regulated can choose to play some of the world's best online casinos. These online casinos typically hold licenses from Malta or Curacao.
Our top recommendation is to choose an online casino licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) and the United Kingdom Gambling Commission ( UKGC ).
We recommend the MGA and the UKGC because they can help you in case of a dispute. Other gambling licenses like Costa Rica, Panama, Seychelles, and Anjouan will not be able to assist in any way. And many rogue online casinos get their permits from them.
We can split regulators into three categories based on their actions in situations of dispute -
The 'No Chance' category - regulating countries in this category gives you absolutely no chance to win against a casino in a dispute. Costa Rica, Panama, Seychelles, and Anjouan. Online casinos regulated by these countries can do whatever they want, and they will keep their license. Of course, they will have a horrible reputation and a lot of bad reviews online.
Note: If you see an online casino with a flawless reputation for years, it is fine where it is regulated. It won't destroy its good reputation anyway.
The 'Slim Chance' category - Regulating countries in this category will sometimes check into your dispute. But they will take forever to do so. Among them are Curacao and Gibraltar. These countries do not put many resources into helping players; these licenses are also typically not recommended. Again, many highly reputable websites have licenses from Curacao or Gibraltar, and they won't risk their good reputation regardless of regulation.
'The Safe Haven' Category - respected regulators that will help you in case of dispute - UKGC, Malta, Alderney, and the Isle of Man. With either of these regulators, you have a good chance of having your situation looked into carefully. These regulators will check every dispute and will most likely bring you justice if your claim is correct.
Game Variety
Reputation and licensing are only good if the casino has the game you want to play. We rank game variety as an essential feature because some people like playing particular games.
If you are looking to play some specific type of roulette, or a specific slot machine, look for it first.
Online casinos often have hundreds of games, but not all do. And not all will have the specific game you want.
You can filter websites by the game selection and the game providers on our website.
Another important thing is the overall playtime you can have on a specific website. For example, if you like playing roulette and a casino has several types of roulette, that's great.
Or, in case you like playing slot machines, you might like it if there are multiple pay-line slot machines, progressive jackpots, etc.
Language Preferences
Many online casinos have multilingual interfaces and can accommodate players from many countries. If you have any specific preference for language, make sure it is available on the website you want to play.
Being able to understand all the specific terms is important when playing casino games online. And having these terms in your language is key.
In addition to the website being translated to the language of preference, make sure customer support is also available in your language of choice. It will help you a lot in case you need to have assistance with anything related to your gambling experience.
Good and communicative customer support
When using any online service with money involved, it is helpful to have customer support available. We recommend only playing on websites that have 24/7 chat support. The chat feature is great because it is instant. You may have to wait for several minutes, but it is better than sending an email and waiting for days.
When we review an online casino, we try to reach customer support before making a deposit. This way, we know whether they are quick to respond. We recommend doing the same with every new casino you want to play.
Take advantage of the best bonuses
Online casinos offer amazing bonuses and promotions to players. They do so to lure them in and to keep them playing. This is a great and excellent way to extend your gambling experience longer. However, there is a catch.
The reason why we write about such a big thing as promotions here, in the center of the page, is that there should be other things to consider. Watch out. Some online casinos will advertise false claims about their bonuses with no intentions of following through.
Chasing the online casinos which offer the best promotions can be nice, but it's a double-edged sword. You might be tempted to play at casinos where the reputation is terrible. In this case, you might never be able to withdraw winnings.
When selecting an online casino, only compare bonuses from reputable and safe brands, even if it means choosing a lower bonus.
Also, keep in mind that all casino bonuses come with strings attached. There are terms and conditions to all promotions, and you should take the time and read them thoroughly. Accepting a bonus that will later prevent you from making withdrawals due to high wager requirements, for example, is frustrating and can ruin your experience. If you don't understand the bonus terms, don't claim the bonus.
User interface and design
When choosing an online casino, it is essential to try navigating through it first. Playing on a website that is hard to understand can be very frustrating. An excellent online casino should have easy and intuitive navigation. Design is also important because it gives us the general feel of the brand. A well-designed online casino website will make us feel comfortable.
Most prominent and reputable online casinos have excellent designs and easy-to-navigate websites. However, don't rule out a casino only based on design. In some countries, you may not have the leading brands available. And while the design is important, reputation, or whether a casino has the game you like to play or not, is more important.
Multi-platform support
Several years ago, the online casino industry was mostly based on computers. Computers used to offer the most straightforward online gambling experience. However, in recent years this all started to change. Online casinos have begun to identify the global expansion of smartphones, and with it, the online gambling industry adjusted.
Today, you can play comfortably from your computer and anywhere else. Using a smartphone or tablet, you can take your online gambling activity anywhere you want.
If you like playing games on your smartphone, we recommend choosing a mobile-responsive casino. You can easily find mobile-responsive casinos on our dedicated page.
Deposit and withdrawal methods
Last but not least, we want to discuss deposits and withdrawals. When choosing an online casino, it is essential to understand how you make deposits and withdraw your winnings.
There are hundreds of deposit and withdrawal options. On our website, you can filter out online casinos for any specific payment method using our filter system.
Some payment methods are swifter than others. Wire transfers usually take around seven business days for deposits and withdrawals. Credit cards are generally very fast for deposits but take longer for withdrawals.
You can also use PayPal or other e-wallets like Skrill, Neteller, etc.
Whenever you enter a new casino, head over to the cashier section and check the available methods, withdrawal limits, and processing times.
Deposit and withdrawal limits
It is also vital to ensure that the online casino you want to deposit to has high withdrawal limits, allowing you to withdraw big wins.
Some online casinos place low withdrawal limits because they can't payout big wins. Low withdrawal limits are a red light, and we recommend not playing on online casinos that can't pay out big wins. However, many times poor-reputation casinos don't place a limit on withdrawal, hoping that no one wins big. And if someone does, they often face bankruptcy. And the players never receive the winnings anyway. It is crucial to find reputable online casinos with no withdrawal limits.
This way, any sum you win will be available to you for withdrawal.