Gambling has been a popular pastime for centuries, but the last decade has seen the industry change more than at any other point in history.
Gamblers up and down the country are no longer visiting local casinos in their droves. Instead they are taking to their phones, tablets and laptops to gamble with online casinos. The popularity of the online sector has led to a landslide of companies offering their services.
New UK casino sites are constantly coming onto the market and figuring out how to separate the good from the bad is very important. If that’s something you struggle go to bestonlinecasinos.org.uk where you can compare online casinos in the UK based on specific criteria.
Before you do that though, read on to find out what 7 things you should consider before signing up to a new online casino provider.
1.Safety
Your number one concern when choosing an online casino to play with should be safety. After all, you’ll be sharing your personal data and banking details so you need to know the company handling it is safe and trustworthy.
The first thing to do is to check if the company you’re going to be gambling with has a valid licence to operate in the UK. You can do this by accessing the Gambling Commission’s Public Register HERE and searching for your provider’s name.
If their name isn’t on the list, don’t sign up. Only play with licenced operators. If they do have a licence it’s time to start looking up customer reviews. If you spot repeated complaints about security concerns, don’t play with them. It’s as simple as that.
2. Selection
The best casinos on the planet know that more is better. Walk into the most famous casinos on the Las Vegas strip and you will find a huge selection of gaming tables and slot machines to play. Online it should be the same.
Pick a site that has a huge selection of games to choose from. If all things go well you will most likely be playing at the same site for a number of years so it’s important to play with someone that has enough games to keep you interested.
3. Customer Support
There are going to be occasional mishaps when you gamble online. Your deposit might not go through as intended or you might accidentally place a wager on a game you didn’t intend to. When these things happen you’ll have to contact customer support to resolve your problems.
Before signing up check out a websites customer support facilities. Read what they say about their customer focus and look them up online to see if customers are saying the same thing. Again, if you see a lot of negative customer reviews go somewhere else, there’s no shortage of choice after all.
4. Banking Options
This one is slightly more niche as most people are happy to pay with their debit or credit card. If however, you would prefer to pay via an app like PayPal then make sure you go for a casino that facilitates those payments.
If you want to be even more awkward/forward-thinking and make your deposits with cryptocurrency, research the companies that offer these services and choose the most trusted one.
5. Bonuses
The online casino market in the UK right now is incredibly saturated which means that companies should be working hard for your business. On average a new customer sign-up is valued at £50 by British business.
That figure is likely higher in the gambling world so make sure your potential provider is working for your business. Don’t sign up willy-nilly without looking for the best offers and welcome bonuses on the market.
6. Check for Satellites
Most of us gamble to relax after a hard week of work, but some also gamble seriously with ambitions of turning professional. If you’re an aspiring poker player looking to take your game to the next level prioritise that ambition when searching for a new site to play at.
There are companies that provide satellites to European tour events and even ones that offer the chance to play at the World Series of Poker.
7. Think Ahead
Finally, the last think to think about when choosing an online gambling site is how that website is going to look in 2, 3 and 5 years’ time. As mentioned earlier in this article, gambling is undergoing more change now than at any other time in its history.
A number of industry leading companies are eager on continuing that change at pace, with investment in AR and VR technology ramping up. Make sure you pick a company to play with that is going to be at the forefront of change, rather than lagging behind and leaving you to look on enviously.