How to Keep Safe and Secure Whilst Gambling Online

When you play casino games online for real money, you always want to make sure that you’re playing at a reliable and safe online casino. In fact, any time you enter your card details and pay for something online, you will probably be thinking about your safety and privacy. Whenever real money gambling is involved, there are several things you should keep in mind. Keeping safe whilst playing online isn’t just about protecting your card details or your personal information. You need to think about the trustworthiness of the casino as well as the reliability of the games. In addition, there are many other things you should bear in mind.

At greenbet, we want to equip our readers with all of the information they need to keep safe whilst gambling online for real money. In this guide, you will discover a lot of helpful tips about what to look for when you’re trying to find a trusted casino. In addition, we also have a list of the top-rated online casinos that score highly for secure online gambling. Take a look at our selection of recommended safe online casinos:

How Do You Know If You Can Trust an Online Casino?

So, how can you know if an online casino is trustworthy or not? It’s important to realise that there isn’t just one thing to check when you’re trying to determine the reliability of an online casino. For this reason, we’ve made this guide so that you can better know what to look for. Before you sign up to a new casino, you can consult a casino review site to check what other players have written about the casino. Like the reviews we have here at GamblingMetrpolis, try to find sites that give casinos a star or number rating and have information from people who have actually played there.

Further to that, you can also head to the casino site itself. On the casino’s website, you will be able to find information about the company which runs the casino. You can do a quick search to see if the company operates any other casinos and how customers rate these casinos as well. You will also be able to see how long the casino/company has been up and running for. Generally, the more well-established the casino and/or the operator is, the more reliable you will find them. As opposed to a casino or a company that just sprung up overnight, for example.

How Can You Tell If You Are Playing at a Safe Online Casino?

Beyond checking the reputation of the casino itself as well as the reputation of the casino operator, these are some of the things you can check to confirm whether or not you’re playing at a secure online casino:

• Casino’s licence;
• The payment system at the casino;
• The casino’s responsible gaming tools;
• Casino’s security systems and software;
• Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Casino Licences

If an online casino has a licence to operate, they should display this information on their website. A reputable and safe online casino will list the licence(s) it has. The casino should also provide you with their licence number. You can use this number (or the casino/operator name) to search the licensing body’s database to confirm the licence.

Casino Payment Systems

Before you even make an account, you should check which payment providers the casino is partnered with. It’s common for trusted online casinos to display this information in the footer. You should always aim to make casino deposits and withdrawals through verified payment providers. Look for an online casino where you can make payments via Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and other secure payment methods. Reliable and safe online casinos also don’t tend to charge unnecessary payment fees to players. So, do be aware of this and avoid online casinos that add charges over and above transaction fees charged by some payment providers themselves.

Responsible Gaming

Safe and secure online casinos aren’t there to rip you off or take advantage of you. Casinos that operate legally are regulated and they have to adhere to extremely strict rules. One of the things that a casino has to do in order to get an operating licence is to have systems in place which protect vulnerable players. This is in contrast to illegal casinos which just want to take money from anyone, no matter their situation. Playing casino games online for real money is great fun but it can also be addictive. Therefore, trusted online casinos take this into account and offer players tools to help them game responsibly. These tools include:

• Bet limiters;
• Deposit limiters;
• Loss limiters;
• Time limiters on gameplay;
• A timeout system; and
• A self-exclusion option.

Security Software, Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy

Safe and secure online casinos will run on a secure platform. As part of their licence, an online casino must give players a certain level of protection, but the top-rated casinos go over and above the security requirements. The top secure online casinos will keep you safe with encryption technology, such as SSL which you can verify through the visible padlock logo on the URL bar.

A legal and safe online casino will also have an easy-to-access Terms and Conditions Policy and Privacy Policy. It shouldn’t take you long to find these on a legal casino site. Have a read through to check the casino’s policies are legitimate and understandable.

Is Gambling Legal and How Are Casinos Regulated?

The legal gambling age varies from country to country. It is your responsibility to check that you meet the legal age requirement in your jurisdiction. Having said that, a trusted casino should run an age and identity check when you sign up to the casino. You may have to send in documents confirming your identity when you register (or when you reach a certain deposit amount).

In addition, the casino will need to have a licence to operate in your country as well. There are several international licensing bodies which grant licences to online casinos. Players from Malta, for example, will want to confirm that the online casino has a licence from the Malta Gaming Authority before they register. Some licences are more sought-after by casinos than others because they are seen as ‘stronger’ licences. In other words, they are more difficult to obtain because the regulations are much stricter. Licences from the Gambling Commission of Great Britain, for instance, are coveted.

Are Online Casinos Rigged?

When you play online for real money, it’s important to ensure you are playing at a reliable online casino with verified games. Verified games from reputable game providers go through independent game testing. Built into the software of online games are Random Number Generators (RNGs). These RNGs are algorithms which determine the outcome of each game round or spin. They are designed to be purely random, which, in turn, guarantees the fairness of the game. Because the RNGs are built into the software of the games themselves, neither the player nor the casino can manipulate them. With this in mind, you can be sure that a safe online casino with verified games is not rigged.

Is It Better to Pay at a Reliable Online Casino or a Land-Based Casino?

This is a tough question and it depends somewhat on your personal preference. Many people prefer to play online because it’s easier, quicker and more accessible. Secure online casinos enable you to play from anywhere nowadays. You can enjoy gambling on your favourite games on your phone, tablet or laptop. Additionally, online casinos have much lower operating costs than land-based casinos. As this is the case, you’ll often find that you get better odds and higher Return to Player statistics (RTPs) at a safe online casino than you do at a brick-and-mortar casino. It’s for these reasons that a large proportion of players enjoy secure online gambling.

Be that as it may, there are a good number of players who still enjoy going to land-based casinos because of the atmosphere. A lot of players tend to feel like they’re missing the social element to gambling, especially when they play table games. Some players just feel like it’s not the same playing against a computer. However, now that the majority of reliable and safe online casinos offer live casino games, these players are also making the switch from land-based to online. When you play a live online casino game, you will be streaming the action directly from a real casino. You can interact with the dealer and the other players, fulfilling that social aspect of the game.

Furthermore, going back to the licensing regulations that online casinos have to adhere to, you might not get the same support at a brick-and-mortar casino. For instance, safe online casinos normally have pop-ups that appear every so often (while you’re playing) to check if you want to continue. These are called ‘reality checks’, and they protect vulnerable players who may have issues or a gambling addiction. On the other hand, land-based casinos are notorious for not having clocks specifically in order to get you to forget the time and just keep on playing for hours and hours! Moreover, secure online casinos also enable you to place limits on your account. You can place these limits on your account through the responsible gaming tools that are available at safe and secure online casinos which just aren’t provided to players at land-based casinos.