Online casino sites are nice because they let casino fans play real money games online. The days of driving an hour to some casino are long gone now for many people. Although traditional casinos still have their charm, it’s hard to compete with the convenience of online casino sites.
The first online casino websites hit the internet in the mid 1990s, and since then the industry has exploded. There are now hundreds of online casino sites out there and more join the internet every day. The advantage to this is that more competition means better deals and better games for the players. The downside is that it can be hard to pick and choose which casinos are the best.
Best Online Casino Sites
It can be a bit of a pain to sort through all the casinos out there that claim to be the best on the internet. Fortunately, we’ve been around long enough to know which online casino sites really are the best and which ones fail to meet the mark. Visit any of the internet casinos listed on this page for the best possible gambling experience.
We rank the best online casino sites according to a specific set of criteria. There are certain things that we like to see in casino sites before we recommend them to our readers. The most important factor of them all is safety.
One of the simplest ways to verify the safety of an online casino site is to verify its track record on the internet. One of the nice things about online gambling is that it’s easy to check up on the history of any particular gambling site. Players tend to make a lot of noise if they don’t get paid quickly, and after time some casinos rise to the top while others become known as “rogue casinos.”
The fairness of casino sites can also be verified by checking to see if they submit themselves to random audits by independent companies. Companies such as Technical Systems Testing make a business out of testing casino sites and giving seals of approval to casino sites that pass those tests.
With the safety and fairness out of the way, we then rank the best online casino sites by looking at their game quality and game selection. The more games a casino offers, and the better those games look, the more likely we are to rank a casino first. Things such as graphics, sound effects and software functionality are all taken into consideration.
We also look at other factors such as the ease of depositing, speed of cashing out and promotions. With all these things in mind, we can get a pretty good idea of which internet casino sites offer players the full package. Any casino that you see recommended here has been picked apart, studied and given our own seal of approval.
Depositing At Online Casinos
In order to do your own real money betting, you first need to fund your account. Online casino sites accept a variety of deposit methods that are used to transfer money from your bank to your account. A few of the most common deposit methods include the following:
- Credit cards
- E-wallets
- Instant eChecks
- Cash transfer services
Within each of these deposit method categories, you’ll find a variety of companies to work with. For example, credit card deposits can be made through Visa, MasterCard, Diners Club and so on. Speaking of which, credit cards are one of the most popular deposit options on this list.
Other methods such as e-wallets and instant e-checks also move your money online. You don’t have to visit the bank or mail in checks or anything like that. One of the nice things about online casino sites is that you don’t have to deal with large cash amounts that can be lose or stolen.
However, cash is also an option if you prefer to deposit the old fashioned way. Cash transfer services such as Moneygram and Western Union can also be used to fund your casino account. With these services, you can take actual physical cash to a cash transfer station and use that money to fund your casino account.
Advantages Of Online Casino Sites
Online casino sites offer several major advantages over their live counterparts. The most noteworthy advantage of playing online is the convenience of being able to play from home. With an online casino site, you don’t even have to live near a casino to play for real money. All you need is a computer and access to the internet.
The abundance of online casino sites has also led to increased competition. Unlike live casinos, online casinos know that shopping around is easy to do. Live casinos pretty much have you at their mercy unless you’re sitting in the middle the Vegas Strip. As a result, online casinos work hard for your business and offer a lot of signup perks.
Another advantage offered by online casino sites is flexible betting limits. Virtual casino space is unlimited, so internet casinos are more than willing to spread $1.00 blackjack tables and penny slot machines. Long gone are the days when you have to risk $10 or $15 a hand minimum. At the same time, online casino sites can handle very large bets with ease.
Game Selection At Real Money Online Casinos
Online casino sites today are able to offer all the same games as live casinos. In fact, an average internet casino has way more games to choose from than any live casino. The thing about online casinos is that space is unlimited and dealers cost nothing. This gives casino sites the freedom to host as many games as they want.
An average online casino site has about a hundred different casino games and each game can host an unlimited number of players. Live casinos always run out of space no matter how big they are; virtual casinos do not.
Here are a few examples of games that you can find at online casino sites:
- Table games such as blackjack and Caribbean Stud
- Specialty games such as craps and roulette
- Traditional slot machines, video slots and progressive jackpot slots
- Video poker games such as Deuces Wild and Jacks or Better
- Other games such as keno and scratch cards
Online Casino Bonuses
Every casino site on the internet offers some sort of signup bonus to new players. These bonuses are real money bonuses that casinos give to new players as a “thank you” for signing up and playing. The more money you deposit, the bigger your bonus.
Most casino sites give out bonuses on a percentage match basis. For example, one site might offer all new players a 100% deposit bonus that’s worth up to $777. This means that the casino is willing to match your first deposit dollar for dollar. Some casinos let you withdraw the bonus money and some casinos require you to only use the bonus money for wagering purposes.
The one downside to casino bonuses is that online casino sites attach wagering requirements to these bonuses before you can withdraw the money. A common requirement is 20x the bonus + deposit amount. This means that you must place a total sum of bets equal to 20 times the amount you deposited plus the amount of bonus money you received.
That probably sounds like a lot of wagering, but it’s not too bad in practice. You’ll win some bets and lose some bets, but hopefully you’ll come out ahead after everything is said and done. One thing we recommend is to always check the terms and conditions before you claim a casino bonus.
International Availability Of Internet Casino Sites
Nearly all online casino sites are international in nature. They accept players from around the world and host games in multiple currencies. Many casino sites also make their software available in multiple languages. Gambling is popular around the world and casino sites are more than willing to appeal to an international audience.
Not all casino sites accept players from the United States, though. This is because online gambling law in the US is vague and unclear. Some casino sites interpret the law as accepting online casinos and others view the law as banning them. As a result, some casinos accept USA players while others don’t.
Speaking of the law, we would like to let our US visitors know that although online gambling law is unclear, it does not appear to target individual bettors. We have yet to hear about a single case of a US citizen getting in trouble for placing a wager on the internet. We are not lawyers, though, so make sure you do your own research before you play.
