There are so many real money casinos on the web that it can be difficult to know which one to choose. That’s why websites like this exist. Luckily, our team of experts has decades of experience in the industry and is trained to spot rogue casinos as well as world-class ones. We’ll explain to you how we pick the best online casinos.
Not All Online Casinos Are Legitimate – These 5 Steps Will Help You Spot the Fakes
There are plenty of completely legitimate and trustworthy online casinos out there – many with track records going back 10 years or more. Unfortunately, you will find the occasional rogue outfit, with pirated games, dodgy payment records or in the worst case a complete fraud.
This page shows you how to tell which is which.
While there are several details involved – you will find a shortcut. The biggest and most popular brands, particularly those running for a while (3+ years as a minimum, 5+ ideally) are very rarely the fakes. After all, a casino can’t survive long if they do not pay out players, word gets around and their reputations are ruined. There are plenty of resources here at HighTechGambling.com covering the biggest and best brands. If you are located in the US, then head to this article on the Best US Online Casinos. If you are outside of the US then you have even more options of bigger and popular brands, check out this article covering Online Casino Sites for the latest info.
Back to spotting fakes. I have a checklist which will keep you out of trouble. There are 5 criteria in total, and any one of these could be a potential ‘red flag’.
Spotting Fake Casinos #1 – Unlicensed Casinos
Every casino needs an operating license. These are awarded by jurisdictions dotted around the world. US casinos are licensed by the Kahnawake tribe in Canada, Caribbean island nations including Antigua and Curacao, or Central American countries including Costa Rica and Panama. European jurisdictions such as Gibraltar, Malta and Alderney are considered some of the most reputable casino regulators in the world.
While having a license is not enough on its own to guarantee that a casino is not a fake – not having a license is a very big ‘red flag’.
I would personally never deposit at a casino without a license, and recommend that you do not do this either. You’ll find badges with links on the homepage of legitimate casinos – make sure that you double check if that link is broken or the jurisdiction unclear.
Spotting Fake Casinos #2 – Scandals Online
If a casino does not pay winnings, chances the terms of its bonus at short notice or comes up with strange reasons to close your (profitable) account – then this information will find it’s way online very quickly. A quick check at sites like casinomeister.com will reveal lists of rogue casinos. Not all of these are completely fake. In fact some change minor terms and conditions retroactively and appear on this list!
The fact that bad casinos are flagged very fast online gives you an opportunity.
If you find a casino which has been running for more than say 5 years, and does not have any complaints, scandals or payment issues – you can be very sure that you have found a legitimate outfit… Of course, some angry idiot will always go online with their conspiracy theories after losing 5 blackjack hands in a row… so you need to be selective about the information available.
Spotting Fake Casinos #3 – Casinos Hiding Behind Web Forms
Fake casinos do not want to tell you who the owners are, or give you too many ways to get in touch with them. Compare this to the bigger legitimate casinos. Here you will find ownership information, addresses and phone numbers, multiple e-mail contact addresses and often live-chat on their homepage. If all you have is a website with a simple ‘contact us’ form and no further options – then I recommend you dig a little deeper with the other items on this checklist.
Spotting Fake Casinos #4 – Lack of Testing Certification
Most casinos want to demonstrate the fairness of their games (and contrary to what many believe, spins and deals are usually completely fair!). To do this specialist auditing companies are employed to run the games millions of times. This data is then used to demonstrate that the deal is random, and also to show that the published returns (RTP %) are accurate.
There are several companies providing these services. 3 of the best known are eCogra, Technical Systems Testing and iGaming Labs.
Casinos include badges with links to their certificates on their homepage so you can check. Again, this could be faked – so make sure that you double check with whichever testing company is shown that the audit is up to date.
No testing certificate would be enough of a red flag for me that I would move on and find another casino.
Spotting Fake Casinos #5 – Deposit Options
One trust signal I take very seriously applies to casinos outside of the US / Canada only. If you see PayPal deposits (this link goes to my other site - SitandGoPlanet.com) are allowed, this is an excellent sign. PayPal are very selective about who they do business with, and only the biggest and best brands are allowed to use this.
More generally, it is the lack of deposit options which can be a warning sign. While all US friendly casinos are restricted (thanks to the US banking system and UIGEA laws), they should still be able to offer a range of ways to deposit. I like to see at least one credit card (Visa, MasterCard or Amex are the most common), money transfer options and Bitcoin as a minimum. If a casino only accepts Bitcoin, or maybe some obscure prepaid voucher system – then I like to dig deeper before depositing.
For more on depositing at US gambling sites, check out the following guides:
- Ultimate Guide to Casino Deposit Methods
- Sports Betting Deposit Methods FAQ (very detailed!)
Reducing Your Risks with Online Casinos – Choosing Popular Brands
Competition from new and upcoming casinos is important, and keeps the industry innovating – though if safety is your first priority then the biggest brands are a safe bet.
For US based players this should involve Bovada, which has more than 10 years of experience (they were once branded as Bodog). This casino has a well-deserved reputation for great service and prompt payouts. They also have the best selection of software... combining games and slots from RTG, BetSoft and Rival. Bovada pass the 'safe' test with flying colors - check them out for yourself at www.bovada.lv
The list of established and popular brands for players worldwide is huge. Your choice here will depend on your game preferences and devices as much as anything else. Check out the excellent 32Red Casino for MicroGaming titles, or the giant (and PayPal friendly!) www.unibet.com for the biggest selection of slots of any household name casino.
Remember to carry out the 5 quick checks above before you make a deposit!
More Practical Guides for Online Casino Fans:
- Loose online slots and where to find them
- Skrill online slots (slot casinos welcoming the Skrill payment method)
- Casino Gambling Main Page (for links to a ton more articles!)
Successful bet funding has always been one of the chief hurdles for American gamblers who play at legitimate online casinos.
Legit Free Online Casino Game
Despite these real-money betting sites being legal and safe to use, gambling laws like the UIGEA sometimes make traditional banking deposits a real headache.
While it doesn’t happen often, debit or credit card casino deposits can be declined by automated banking restrictions. To get around that, the best Internet casinos are always on the lookout for useful, reliable alternatives.
Bovada MatchPay – which launched just a couple of weeks ago – is the latest such forward-thinking move from America’s favorite betting site, and it’s arguably the most revolutionary casino banking method since online gambling sites started accepting Bitcoin several years ago.
To be clear, MatchPay is not a Bovada product – Bovada is simply the first reputable gambling operator to directly employ the trading platform.
So what exactly is MatchPay?
MatchPay is a third-party service that allows members of retail merchant sites – including legal online casinos – to buy and sell eligible account balances from and to other site members via a number of popular instant-pay person-to-person services:
- PayPal
- Venmo
- Cash App
- Zelle
With the exception of Zelle, USA players have never before been able to fund their accounts with these services.
This makes MatchPay a first-of-its-kind offering that expands the options for all online gamblers looking for fast, safe, easy, and fee-free ways to get their accounts topped off ASAP.
Note: In the case of Zelle, Bovada and its sister sites (Café Casino, Slots LV, and Ignition Casino) have long supported the service through plug-ins on their Cashier pages. However, Zelle is open to members of all legit online casinos via the Zelle-to-BTC exchange process at LocalBitcoins.com, though MatchPay’s Zelle implementation is very different.
MatchPay is a true gamechanger because of its support for the above payment methods, much the same way that QuickBit’s QB Direct service has changed the game for members of the sites that support that platform (i.e. Roaring 21, Casino Max, and Cherry Jackpot).
However, while QB Direct offers gamblers a fast, simple way to deposit with Litecoin without first going through the time-consuming rigmarole of buying cryptocurrency, MatchPay is not a crypto exchange. MatchPay transfers exclusively support fiat currencies.
This means that when you use MatchPay to fund your Bovada Casino account, you aren’t going to be eligible for the enhanced Bitcoin gambling bonuses or other crypto bonuses on offer, though standard casino bonuses are still in play.
Of course, that’s a small price to pay for being able to finally make online gambling deposits with PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, and Zelle.
And like Bitcoin/crypto deposits, MatchPay allows for same-day payouts!
Previously, same-day payouts were the exclusive domain of crypto at the best online casinos, but MatchPay lets you sell some or all of your account balance to fellow members, any time.
That said, this is an automated process, so you won’t always be able to claim same-day withdrawals via MatchPay, but it is an option.
Other withdrawal methods take 2-5 days on average, so for many players who don’t exclusively gamble with crypto, MatchPay withdrawals are a positive boon.
Right now, Bovada Casino is the only trusted online betting site that supports the new MatchPay service, but more are sure to come on board in the near future. And when they do, the process for how to use MatchPay to fund your online gambling account will likely be identical to Bovada’s current implementation.
Here’s how MatchPay works:
- If you aren’t already a member, sign up at Bovada by checking out our 2020 Bovada Casino review and following the included links.
- During the sign-up process, be sure to enter your real credentials, including your full name, email address, and telephone number. Then, choose a username and password for your account.
- Once you’re at the casino deposit screen, select the MatchPay option. Existing members can skip steps one and two and choose MatchPay from the Bovada Cashier page directly.
- Here, you will be redirected to MatchPay’s site, where you must sign up to become a MatchPay Trader. (You can also do this from outside Bovada’s plug-in by going to the MatchPay.app website.)
- Enter your name, phone number, email address, a username, and a password.
- MatchPay will send you two codes: one to your phone and one to your email. You must verify your MatchPay account using these codes per the instructions provided.
- Once verified, you are now a MatchPay Trader, and you simply enter the amount of money you wish to deposit at Bovada. MatchPay will automatically find you a Bovada member that is also a MatchPay Trader, with whom you can make arrangements to transfer funds.
- Using PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, or Zelle, just send the amount of money requested via these services to the Bovada MatchPay seller, who will release their balance into your Bovada betting account.
After this process completes, you are now ready to gamble!
While MatchPay is secure and backed by both the company’s guarantee and Bovada’s terms of service, it isn’t perfect. That is, it still constitutes an extra step. But that’s because there simply aren’t any online PayPal casinos, Venmo casinos, Cash App casinos, or casinos that accept Zelle directly.
However, MatchPay is absolutely the closest that USA online casino players are likely to get to being able to use these popular peer-to-peer payment platforms when funding their legal offshore gambling accounts, and that’s a very good thing.
Typically, the MatchPay process takes about 20 minutes start to finish, at least for deposits. Because of the pairing technology used by the service to match buyers and sellers, employing MatchPay as a seller can take a bit longer.
Still, same-day payouts are very much a possibility with MatchPay, and as with deposits, there are no added fees for selling through the service.
All in all, we’re very excited about MatchPay, and you should be too.
With Bitcoin support, QB Direct support, and now MatchPay support, the best online casinos just got even better!