There’s a certain sense of security you feel when you’re playing at a casino in person. There are security guards all around, countless cameras, pit bosses, and no shortage of high-tech stuff to keep an eye on everyone in the building.
Not only are they watching you to ensure that you don’t try to steal or cheat the casino, but they’re watching everyone else for the same reasons. It’s so unlikely that someone will just grab your cash and chips and run out, they’d never make it out the door. With card games, you see the dealer, it’s all real, and you can look them in the eye. The same goes for roulette, you watch a physical wheel spin, and so on and so forth. This adds an additional layer of trust. You know they’re trying to win your money, but you also know the game is played by the rules.
With online casinos, however, it can feel a bit different. When the games are digitized, you’re relying strictly on the honesty and integrity of the casino website for a fair game. They could program it so that it pays out barely anything, and you probably wouldn’t know the difference. Now, there are some casino sites with long reputations for being honest and fair, and there are some fly-by-night operations that are a little less on the up and up. This leads us to our first piece of advice for gaming safely online…
Table of Contents
1. Play on Reputable Sites
There are various entities that review and grade casinos, collect user reviews, and hold the casinos accountable. AskGamblers is the most well-known and popular, and they’ve helped countless players in disputes against casinos. Their goal is a fair resolution. It doesn’t always land in favor of the player, but both the players and the casinos trust AskGamblers to help mediate things.
They also offer certification to casinos, who can become AskGamblers certified casinos to prove they’re dedicated to operating a safe, secure site where players are treated fairly. Each site is given a score, and they work hard to keep their scores high.
If a site has a bad score or a bad reputation, just avoid them. They may try to entice you with out-of-this-world deposit bonuses and such, but there’s often more to that story, let’s go over that now.
2. Understand the Rules
This is especially true when it comes to very generous deposit bonuses. Usually, you’ll need to play through your deposit bonus multiple times before you can even withdraw. That means if you deposit $100 and get a $100 bonus, you’ll need to play through that money numerous times before you’re able to withdraw ANY of it, even your original deposit amount. A 10x rollover, for instance, would mean you’d need to bet that money 10 times over before you can withdraw your winnings.
This ensures that people don’t just collect the deposit bonus, bet on a heavy favorite in a sports game, double their money, and withdraw. In some cases, you’re better off not accepting the deposit bonus at all, since you’ll be able to cash out your winnings sooner and more easily.
This is a big cause of confusion and something newer players don’t always realize. This applies to other rules, too. Casinos can set their rules, and you’re agreeing to them when you play the game, which means you’ve got to accept the consequences. It’s fair if you understand what you’re getting into and agree to it.
3. Know your Limits
One of the dangers of online gambling is when things get out of hand and people don’t know their limits. Since you’re often using a credit card to fund your account, it’s not hard to go into tilt mode and end up spending more than you wanted to. Use account limits wisely to protect yourself, especially if your personality can be impulsive from time to time. You can have a lot of fun gaming online, but you’ve got to make sure it remains a game and remains fun.
4. Protect Yourself
Have good passwords for your accounts, and 2-factor authorization whenever possible, and be weary of any scam emails trying to get your username and password.
