Licensed Online Casinos
When comparing licensed casinos and those that don’t have any license, the choice is obvious. But acquiring permission to operate doesn’t automatically make them honest and fair. Players still should be aware of some tricks licensed casinos might use to generate more profit.
Online gambling is a licensed and well-regulated activity in the UK. Online casinos have to first obtain a license from the UK Gambling Commission to offer their services to UK residents. Gambling in Scandinavia. Online gambling. When comparing licensed casinos and those that don’t have any license, the choice is obvious. But acquiring permission to operate doesn’t automatically make them honest and fa. Online Casino Licenses are a way to ensure the casino is licensed to have players from certain countries. As the use of internet services grow and slowly take over the most land-based business, so does the need to safeguard online interactions.
Can You Gamble Online
How Licensed Online Casinos Differ From Unlicensed?
Gambling companies must comply with certain rules that ensure fairness and transparency of the industry. When there’s no license there’s no any obligation to run an honest business. That’s why you should always prefer licensed casinos over those that work illegally as they have nothing to lose.
Unlicensed operators offer fake games because they can manipulate RTP leaving players little chance of winning. They won’t be getting any original games as any decent supplier won’t partner with illegal companies.
Good reputation is an asset for any legitimate business and a great motivation to make things right. But illegal casinos do not care about reputation as they can easily change their names and lure more players. Licensed operators also use that trick, but it’s much harder for them to do that.
License Doesn’t Guarantee Fairness
License itself doesn’t mean that casino is honest and fair. There are different jurisdictions that issue licenses and they aren’t equally good. Some keep very tight control over the industry while others just collect money and do not care about anything else. There’s no doubt that players are safer when choosing casinos licensed in strict jurisdictions, but that isn’t always the case.
Malta is one of the main jurisdictions for operators targeting international market. Maltese regulator (MGA) does a decent job maintaining high standards without being overly protective. Players can feel safe when choosing Malta licensed casinos.
Starting from 2018 MGA is not directly involved in resolving casino-player issues. But the regulator made sure gamblers still get professional help by introducing specialized alternative dispute resolution services (ADR). Casino all should work with one of ADRs to resolve any issues with players.
Curacao is probably the most popular option for gambling operators. It’s cheap and least demanding. There are tons of Curacao licensed casinos. But this jurisdiction has quite bad reputation due to lack of control. Many operators still work honestly without regulatory control, while others can cheat to maximize profit.
Players should be very cautious when considering one of Curacao licensed casinos to avoid bad operators. There won’t be any support from the regulator. They’ll most probably have to resolve any issues on their own. Just one of four companies issuing Curacao licenses, Antillephone, is ready to help players when they are treated unfairly.
How to Verify Casino License?
You can read detailed instructions here. In short, there should be a link to the license verification page that specifies the license status, who owns it and what type of services are allowed.
Make sure to check that the verification page address is legit. Check it letter by letter, because some scammers register fake domains that are very similar to official addresses. That way they can easily fool inexperienced players.
Top Licensed Online Casino Reviews
We list only licensed casinos in our rating. To keep it as objective as possible we have variety of characteristics that affect casino ranking and license reputation is one of them. You can read detailed reviews as well as player reviews and complaints that also affect casino rankings.
UK Gambling Commission– This Legislative Body Is Responsible For Testing And Regulating The Work Of Online Casinos In The UK. It Is Known To Hold The Highest Standards For Online Gambling.
How Licensed Casinos Can Cheat Players?
Withdrawals are deliberately delayed. This is a common problem. Some casinos deliberately stall withdrawals asking for multiple account verification documents and giving multiple excuses why they can’t process cash outs. But their true goal is to make players cancel withdrawal and lose the money.
Keep in mind that there are cases when operators do have legit problems withdrawing money on time. And in case the problem is on the side of a payment processing company, there’s nothing they can do about it.
Fake games aren’t that common in licensed online casinos, but that’s possible. There were real life examples of operators offering fake slots along with original ones. Even though it’s a rather rare practice, you should be aware of it. There’s a way to tell for sure whether games are fake or not in case you have concerns.
Unfair terms and conditions. Players don’t usually read casino T&Cs and dishonest operators use that to their advantage. They add unfair terms gamblers accept without knowing about them. That’s why you should always look through this document before even deciding to sign up with the casino. The fact that casino is licensed doesn’t mean that everything is fair.
You would also like to read bonus T&Cs. There are some limitations to using bonus credits and once these rules are broken, you can lose your winnings. For instance, exceeding maximum bet limit or playing restricted games. Many operators make it impossible to break those rules, but others don’t do that, and use it as an excuse to cancel bonuses and bonus winnings.
The advent of regulated internet gaming is no doubt the biggest invention, and the best thing that happened in the gambling world. Thanks to this landmark innovation, gambling enthusiasts can enjoy the luxury of playing various real-money games in a real-life casino environment without leaving the comfort of their living rooms. You can also interact and connect with players from across the world as you indulge in live dealer games like Poker or Blackjack at your favorite online casino.
Nevertheless, playing on the internet can be a bit scary because you're sending your cash to some unknown entity, and might be unsure about whether or not you'll get anything in return. That's why we're here to help you find honest and regulated gambling sites that allow you to play without looking over your shoulders.
Read through this page to learn everything about safe and regulated online casinos and how to find reputable real-money gambling sites from the scores of options on the internet. We have also compiled a list of the best, licensed casino sites for UK, Canadian, and USA players in 2021, complete with expert reviews, to make your search for the ideal website hassle-free.
Why Choose a Safe and Licensed Online Casino?
Alderney
Playing at an unlicensed online casino is a risk that you simply cannot afford to take.
Licensed Online Casinos In New Jersey
Unregulated operators might rig the games, refuse to pay out winnings, or they could be shut down by a regulatory body, which could ultimately result in your funds being seized. Besides, gambling sites that are not licensed and supervised by a regulatory authority may not take the necessary precautions to protect your financial and personal information from third parties.Legal Online Casinos - Best Licensed Gambling Sites
To protect yourself and your funds, the first thing you should do when you go to a new online casino is to scroll down to the footer of the homepage and see if there is a watermark stating the casino's licensing authority. Also, some of the governing bodies have searchable websites where you can look up the online casino to find out if it's licensed by the authority if you want to be double sure. Here's a list of some of the regulatory bodies that you can trust.- UK Gambling Commission - Companies that provide internet gambling services in Great Britain require a license from the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. The UKGC is the largest regulatory authority for online casinos in the world, and sites licensed by the Commission are among the safest for players.
- Malta Gaming Authority - Next in size is the Malta Gaming Authority, providing licensing to online casinos throughout Europe. As one of the first commissions to provide safe, secure, and regulated online gambling, the MGA is well-known and highly respected all over the world.
- Kahnawake Gaming Commission - The Kahnawake Gaming Commission is the main licensing and regulatory body for online casinos in Canada. Unlike provincially licensed websites, operators supervised by the Gaming Commission can offer their services to players living in any part of the country, as well as other countries from around the world.
- Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission - With its business-friendly tax laws, the Isle of Man is a hotbed for online casinos and gambling software providers. Although the island is small in size, the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission oversees many reputable operators and is completely above board. We have featured sites that are regulated and licensed by the Commission on our website.
Warning Signs of a Suspicious Site
See All Results For This Question
- Hard to Contact - The top safe online casinos are very responsive and have professional support agents to offer help to customers round-the-clock. You should take it as a red flag is the online casino site does not offer live chat or some kind of contact info like a phone number or email and if they take forever to get back to any of your queries.
- Missing or Empty Pages - If a gambling site can't take the time to have a fully developed website, they are likely not safe to play at. Go through each page like the FAQs, promotions, providers, and about us sections, and if any are missing or incomplete, be very cautious.
- Few Reported Winners - Regulated and legitimate casinos love to show off how much money they've given away and how frequently the jackpot is won on their site. If there are no reported winners, it could be that the site is just new, but if the platform has been around for a while with no jackpots ever being won, that would be highly suspect.