Decades ago, gambling meant taking a trip to the nearest casino and having to sit in a dark, crowded room. With all the advancements in technology, that type of gambling is a thing of the past. Not only can you gamble from the comfort of your home while sitting in front of your computer, but you can also find mobile casino apps. However, finding a legitimate online casino can be difficult with the potential legal issues surrounding them. If you’re looking for help vetting an online casino to make sure you can legally play there, here are some tips.
Licenses
One of the simplest ways to figure out whether or not you can legally play at an online casino is to look for any licensing information on their website. Every casino is required to carry a license from a gaming control board for legal operation. Generally, you can find this information by scrolling to the bottom of a casino website. In some cases, you may need to navigate to the “About” section of the website to find more information about a casino’s license.
Just because a casino carries a license doesn’t mean it’s legitimate. If you really want to find out which casinos are trusted when it comes to playing in your state, you need to research the gaming control board who provided the license. In some cases, these licenses may be limited to certain areas or certain types of gambling, in which case you don’t want to gamble at that casino. Fake licenses are another thing to keep an eye out for. While most casino websites aren’t willing to go quite this far to deceive players, there have been cases where online casinos simply list a fake license from a fake gaming control board in order to appear more legitimate.
Game Quality
While you can’t always judge a casino based on the quality of the games it carries, it does give you some idea of how legitimate a casino is. A casino that takes the time to make sure they have high-quality games on their website is the same type of casino that tends to get licensing and make sure everything is legitimate. Illegal casinos will generally opt for low-quality games because all they care about is getting players to come to their casino and spend money.
The number of games a casino offers is also a good indicator of whether or not they’re legitimate. A legitimate online casino will generally offer a long list of games, which usually includes a lot of variety. You should expect to see a handful of table games, slots, video poker and more at your average online casino. If they’ve only got a few basic slot games, chances are there’s something fishy going on.
Responsible Gambling Tools
Of course, online casinos exist for you to gamble, but they should also provide you with information on responsible gambling and what you should do if you think you have a problem. Check out onlineslots.la to find a list of good online casinos that might fit the bill. You should never gamble more than you can afford to lose.
Bonuses
Bonuses are another good thing to look at when it comes to avoiding shady casinos. The thing about casino bonuses is that they often come with a lot of underlying terms. While a bonus may seem like a great opportunity, there’s often some language hidden in there that makes it difficult for you to get your bonus winnings. The worst casinos will force a bonus onto you with bad terms, which may include things like you having to deposit money and continue betting before you can cash out your bonus money. This is a common scam employed by some of the shadier casinos on the internet.
The one thing to remember about these predatory bonuses is that they aren’t exclusive to illegitimate casinos. Even if you can legally play at an online casino in the United States, you may run into these types of bonuses from time to time. It’s important to read the details before you agree to anything with an online casino.
Marketing
When it comes to most of the legitimate online casinos on the market, you don’t see a lot of advertising. Most casinos have a fairly subtle marketing plan that aims to attract people who want to play at casinos. If you’re getting spam calls, texts or emails about signing up for an online casino and all the great bonuses you’ll receive, ignore them. Shady casinos love to use these predatory (and sometimes even illegal) marketing practices to reach as many players as possible. A legitimate casino won’t spam you with advertisements or use any unscrupulous methods to get a hold of your personal info. Instead, they attract most of their customers through search engine rankings.
Being able to experience the fun of a casino in the comfort of your own home is a great feeling. However, it’s important to vet the casino you’re playing at so you don’t get involved in any illegal gambling. As long as you do some research and watch out for warning signs from shady casinos, you can find the perfect legitimate online casino for your needs.