In my previous blog post, I touched upon the importance of playing at safe and licenced online casinos. Yet it occurred to me that I did not delve particularly deep into the topic. It is pretty self explanatory why you should choose a reliable and trustworthy operator to play with. After all, when you play casino games with real money, you need to divulge your sensitive personal data. If that were not strictly protected, then there is every chance that you could become a victim of fraud. Yet how do you go about verifying that a casino is safe? You can save yourself a lot of aggro further down the line by using these few simple tips to ensure you are choosing an operator that you can trust.
UKGC Licenced and Regulated – You should always check that a casino holds a valid licence from the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. All online casinos that provide their services to players in the UK must possess this licence by law. It is a clear indication that the operator has proven that they follow strict standards regarding player protection. Simply look for the UKGC logo in the footer of the casino site to verify it is licenced. If such a licence is not held by the casino, then avoid them at all costs.
Fair Games and Payouts – Reputable operators will enlist the services of independent testing agencies to check their random number generator (RNG) and the outcome of game results. Accredited organisations such as eCOGRA, TST and GLI, amongst others provide such services to online casinos. They produce payout reports, detailing the percentage of all money bet that is paid back to players. If an online casino displays such reports on their site, you can be confident that the fairness and integrity of games has been independently verified.
Secure Financial Transactions – The best online casinos use sophisticated technical security to ensure that your private, sensitive data is kept strictly protected. All financial transactions that take place on the casino website should be encrypted to ensure that they cannot be intercepted by third parties and potential fraudsters. To ensure that the casino site protects transactions, you should look out for the padlock symbol in the address bar of the web browser. What’s more, many operators will display the logos of the companies they use to protect their site. Some such names include Norton Secured, McAfee and Thawte.
Use Online Resources for Research – There are many useful resources to be found on the internet that can help you identify a safe casino. Take for example www.safecasinos.org.uk which gives lots of hints and tips for separating the good operators from the bad. They also rank and rate legitimate online casinos to help you find the best match for you. By choosing a casino featured on their site, you can be sure you are opting for a reliable and trustworthy operator.