Category: Gambling and Casinos

Ah, online casino selection. Now there’s a potential pain in the butt. It was one thing to select an online casino back in the late 90s, but today there are loads of online casinos and more seem to pop up daily. I’ve got three solid tips to help you stay safe and have fun by selecting that perfect online casino for you. Following these few quick tips can save you a world of hurt. Ready? Okay, let’s jump right into it.

Selection Tip One

It starts with credibility. We want to find trustworthy online casinos. After all, if they are not trustworthy, then nothing else matters. This can be a bit tricky. I mean no online casino is going to tell you they aren’t trustworthy on the front page. But, we can simplify this task. My favorite thing to do is visit Google-and I’ll follow this up with MSN and Yahoo too. If you use the plus sign, you can single out pages that contain all of your search words. So, if we pair the online casinos name (or domain name) with hot words, such as scam, illegal, arrested, rip off and so forth. Here’s a search example: Casino+name+scam Domain.com+scam

Selection Tip Two

So, we’ve done the searching and didn’t find anything too alarming. It’s now time to progress to step two-bonuses. There is absolutely no reason to play at an online casino that doesn’t offer generous bonuses. That would be like going to a grocery store that just sold canned peas. Why? Going back to the search engines, we can type in things like “casino+name+bonus.” It’s rare, but sometimes affiliates offer bonus items for joining through them-poker comes to mind. Once you’ve found a potentially trustworthy online casino with great deposit bonuses, contests and so forth, it’s time to complete the process.

Selection Tip Three

Take a look at the deposit methods for the online casino you’re interested in. Do they offer tons of choices? If all they offer is Western Union and checking account deposits, run away. Any solid online casino will offer multiple options and they should include 3rd party deposits too. I recommend using a 3rd party system if you plan on playing at multiple online casinos, because you want to limit how much of your financial data is out there. In the end, spending minutes to an hour of research can save you heartache and money loss. When in doubt, look for the biggest names. Sometimes they don’t offer the best bonuses, but at least you know that your money is safe and that you’ll be paid.

Selecting an online casino shouldn’t be done lightly. While there are a lot of reputable online casinos out there, the Internet has its share of crooks. I’m going to go over a series of items to look for when selecting an online casino.

Online Casino Age

The first thing I look for in an online casino is age. While older doesn’t equal better, it is a good sign. For one thing, an older online casino is bound to have chatter out there. If an online casino is less than one year old, I won’t play there. It might be a great online casino, but I’ll wait for some feedback and age first. Some of the most reputable casinos online are anywhere from 4-13 years old.

Payouts

Another issue with me is payout speed. Sure, an online casino might be lightning quick in taking my money, but how fast can they put it back in my pocket? Over the years this has been a major problem area for many online casinos.

It’s good to check around first. If an online casino is purposely slow, it could be the sign of potential problems. In this day and age, you should be able to get your withdraws processed and in your account (unless they are sending via postal mail) within 48 hours-maybe 72 tops. Anything more is just amateur and behind the times.

Licensing and Information

Is the online casino licensed? If so, with who? Check the address and phone number of the online casino. You should be able to find these easily. If not, there’s a problem.

Give the online casino a call. Someone should answer quickly (three rings or less). If not, it could be a sign of weak customer support-commonplace with many online casinos.

Do they have a street address? Make sure their address isn’t some mailbox out in the middle of a pasture somewhere.

Comments

This last step is really good. Go to your favorite search engine-or two. Next type in the online casino’s name and see what comes up. Try adding search terms to their name like:

Payout
Fraud
Customer service
Forum
Feedback
News
Review

That will get you started. If someone has commented about the online casino, you’ll have a good chance of finding it.

If you can’t find anything, that’s just not a good sign. With any luck, you’ll find many sources of information about the online casino. It doesn’t need to be an all-day thing either. Just do some searches, check out some stuff and if it all adds up, go enjoy yourself.

Staying Safe

It just makes sense to follow these ideas. Another tip is to deposit just a small amount and try out the online casino first. If you like it and they appear reputable, go have a blast.

Gambling online is fun. Just be sure to take some security precautions.

Gambling debts may compromise one’s financial stability, cause problems with family and work, and prompt some individuals to engage in illegal activities, including espionage, as a means of covering their losses. Motivation for espionage is usually complex and difficult to assess, but financial pressures from gambling debts have clearly played a significant role in the cases of at least seven Americans who have been arrested for espionage.

By the time most compulsive gamblers seek help, they are hugely in debt, owing as much as $120,000 or more, and their families are in a shambles. About 80% seriously consider suicide, and 13 to 20% actually attempt it or succeed in killing themselves.

Three studies of Gamblers Anonymous members and persons in treatment for compulsive gambling determined that roughly two-thirds admitted to committing crimes or civil fraud to finance their gambling or to pay gambling-related debts. The white-collar crimes of fraud, embezzlement, forgery, and tax evasion predominate among those whose employment and economic status present the opportunity for such crimes.

Another study focused on how problem gambling affects the insurance industry. It found that in a group of 241 Gamblers Anonymous members, 47% admitted to having engaged in some form of insurance fraud, embezzlement or arson.

Treatment for Compulsive Gambling

Like other addictive behaviors, compulsive gambling is treatable. Many problem gamblers are reluctant to seek treatment, however, as they do not understand the nature of the addiction involved. People understand being out of control from putting some kind of substance in their body. Being out of control due to a supposedly voluntary behavior such as gambling damages one’s self-esteem so much that people are extremely reluctant to seek help.

Gamblers Anonymous follows the same pattern as Alcoholics Anonymous, including the same 12-step treatment program. The success rate appears comparable to that for other addictions. Relapse is a problem, but one or two relapses do not necessarily indicate failure. The more severe the gambling problem prior to treatment, the greater the chance of relapse and eventual treatment failure.

Compulsive gamblers frequently also suffer from other addictions such as alcoholism, drug abuse, compulsive shopping or bulimia. Some evidence indicates that individuals with multiple addictions are more difficult to treat than those who suffer from a single addiction. Doctors at some treatment centers have observed a “switching of addictions,” where recovering alcoholics begin to gamble compulsively after several years of abstinence from alcohol. Similarly, women recovering from compulsive gambling have encountered problems with compulsive shopping.

Online gambling is fun but in order to make it profitable too, you have to be aware of some things before you rush into playing and to help prevent from losing your hard earned money.

When you are surfing the web and visiting a new online casino that you have never seen before, you should keep the following things in mind before opening any new accounts:

Firstly, you must check every item of information you can find on the new site you want to play, before you begin gambling. We can assure you that there are many Online Casinos listed or advertised that have passed certain quality control tests with no problems. In fact most are audited and would lose their gaming license if they did not follow correct guidelines or gaming policies. The software should also meet certain criteria and standards and the games will use a random number generator (RNG), which means that the outcome of every game is truly unpredictable, just like in real casinos. You can usually find the name of the software provider on the homepage of the game site. It is worth reading about the software company to see how long they have been operating for and how safe and secure their software is. Find out also how long the casino site has been operating for. If it has only just launched, there may be a few teething problems and issues that need to be corrected. It may pay to wait a while to see how reputable and popular the site becomes.

Secondly, you have to find out everything you can about the customer support that is on offer! See if there is a phone number you can call, or see if they offer real time chat mode support, or is it only handled through email? You should prefer playing at casinos that offer several convenient ways for you to contact them. Call their support line, if you want to, just to see if it works. They should also have convenient and secure methods of payment such as via credit card. When you enter your card or account password details, make sure that the URL for the web page you are on begins with https://ww…. and not just http://… This shows that the credit card page is secure and you can enter your details safely. Sites will normally keep a record of all wagers and transactions for your security.

Thirdly, try playing on a site with a reputable brand name or one that other players think highly about. There are many forums available to read reviews and news about each site. Stay updated and be well-informed because this is the first step towards winning! There are people whose job is to help you find the most professional, secure and fun online casinos there are.

Most sites offer you the most popular casino games including Blackjack, Roulette, Slot Machines, Video Poker, Pai Gow Poker, Texas Holdem Poker, War and Baccarat. They are constantly developing new games and they will inform you whenever they add a new game. Advanced image technology, sound and game play provide the excitement and virtual sensation of a real live casino.

Many table games are multi-player games. While playing with another player you may chat and communicate with other players.

If your connection fails while you are in the middle of a game, you still have as many chances of winning as the other players. When the connection is re-established, you can enter the History page and see the results of the last round. Winnings are still credited to your account.

If, when playing at a Slot Machine, a disconnection occurs before you have pressed the Spin or Bet Max button, then the credits are returned to your Balance. If it occurs after that – the round will continue. If you had a winning combination, your Balance is credited according to it.

If you are playing Roulette and you get disconnected after you placed your bet and before you pressed the Spin button, your bet will be returned to your Balance. If it happens after you placed your bet and pressed Spin and before the ball landed on a number, the round will continue.

If, while playing Video Poker a disconnection occurs after you placed your credit in the text box called Credit or Bet and you have not pressed the Deal or Draw button yet, then the credits are returned to your Balance. If it occurs after you pressed the Deal or Draw button, but before you had a chance to select the cards you would hold, the round is considered as if you had selected to hold all of your cards. If your hand turns out to be a winning one, your Balance is credited according to it.

When you play at online casinos you are playing with another player or against the software. In the first case, in order to keep the game fluent and to prevent cases where one of the players is holding up the game, online casino owners have set a time limit for placing a bet. In every game there is a Timer that shows you how much time you have left. If you do not place a bet and do not make a decision during this time, you will exit the game and will have to re-enter the game in order to play again. If a bet was placed on the table but you did not make a decision within the default time, the bet is returned to your balance. The Timer varies from one game to another, ranging from 30 to 45 seconds. These time limits give you plenty of time to place bets and make decisions.

Any news regarding gambling is updated every week, giving you all the up-to-date casino information you need, in order to have the highest chances of winning.

It is not necessary for you to download software to play at all the online casinos. Some casinos offer no-download versions of many of their games such as blackjack, roulette or slots. Still, it is worth mentioning that the download games offer you higher quality games with better graphics, sound and animation. Most casinos even let you play the games for free before placing a real money bet. That way you can test the casino and when you are convinced that it is the one that suits you most, you may choose playing the games you like best.

These are the most important things you need to know In order to have fun and also get lucky. So, pay close attention to all of them, because your safety and security is what should concern you most.

And remember that the more you know about what you are getting into and the more informed you are, the higher your chances of winning! Knowing will only do you good! And you will see the fun part of it without wasting any money!