How to Choose an Online Casino

Looking for just the right online casino can be tricky. A number of apparently "independent" sites that provide "reviews" of casinos are really paid advertising by the reviewed web sites, or the equivalent. Sometimes they are clustered and promoted together because of their common ownership. These aggregating sites are called "casino portals," something like the entrance gate to the midway at a carnival. Sometimes the criterion for bringing the casinos together in a single portal is the software they use, or the "affiliate" service (read, "ad agency") they employ. Occasionally the licensing jurisdiction gets into the act.

Making a Personal Decision

Becoming comfortable with one or a few casinos is really a highly personal matter. Some may be more appealing to you because of the way they display the user options or handle site navigation. Others may seem to have a quicker or less complicated approach to the financial matters. Still others may offer specific games of interest or betting terms that seem better than the others. Because these choices are so highly personal, the best approach is to browse many casinos, trying them out as often as is convenient or comfortable, and winnowing down the universe to a manageable number.

Most advice to Internet gamblers starts with "record keeping." This is probably the most boring part of finding a great casino and enjoying the play there. Because there are so many casinos and play options, records help prevent confusion and assist the newcomer in focusing on what is important. Either on paper or in a separate word processing document or spread sheet, the careful researcher will first record all the criteria that "matter," such as the games that can be played, or the method of deposits and payments that works best. Then, the name and URL of each casino of interest can be recorded and later documented in terms of the criteria of choice. Pretty much any other approach is easier, but inclined to cause confusion.

Most experts suggest that newcomers try to identify those casinos of longest standing or of highest volume, on the theory that they are the most reliable, the most competent and responsive to customers, and the most experienced at integrating a newcomer into the community of online gamblers. Yes, there really is such a community; in fact there are many. This fraternity of fellow-travelers on the electronic highway is one of the best resources for finding useful information, as described in more detail in a moment.

Newcomers should also be mindful, however, that the competition for customers is very active and lively among Internet gambling establishments, so that good options will be "out there" among most casinos, and not just the biggest and oldest ones.

The biggest "carrot" to tempt new customers is the "bonus" for signing up with them. Do the following math: If the house edge on the game you want to play is, say 1.5%, and you receive a 10% bonus into your account for signing up, then in effect the house has given the player a positive edge at the casino for a certain period of time (or, more correctly, for a certain volume of action). Thus, the size of the sign up bonus can not really be evaluated unless it is also revealed what the casino's edge is on the game(s) desired. Alternatively, one can compare the bonus with the "payback percentage," which is a kind of measure of the average house edge. If a relatively new, or small or not-yet-established casino offers a particularly good sign up bonus and generous payback percentages, it may simply be a reflection of competition and not of anything more sinister.

Qualities to Look for in a Casino

As a person browses the Internet, thousands of facts and messages start coming across the screen. It is surely fair to ask, "What am I looking for?"

What makes a good casino or sports book is a fairly subjective matter, at least in the finer points. All will agree on a few basics. They are:

Jurisdiction. Most host jurisdictions take online gambling quite seriously, as their economy is increasingly benefited by it. Each maintains its own website, providing information about how it licenses online gambling operations. At a minimum, the web site in question needs to be licensed in a recognized jurisdiction where there is some regulatory oversight.

Audit. Auditing is a reassuring feature of online gambling sites; however, read the materials carefully. Some are truly reviewed in a careful and professional manner. Others are not. Auditing says more about the competence and professionalism of the web site than its honesty or generosity. A skinflint of a casino can still successfully be audited.

Age and Experience. Some casinos will say when they were established. Most do not, as they are relatively young. (Of the 2000 or more now in business, 1970 or more were not around in 1997). Sports books can be somewhat older than casinos, in that the first ones came along in 1994 or so. Online casinos only started operations in the late 1990's.

Comprehensiveness. Some casinos seek to be all things to all people. Others seek a niche. Online bingo parlors tend to be separate from the others, and sports books are by their nature a different animal from casinos and poker rooms. Nevertheless, a good site will make it plain whether it offers all forms of gambling or just some. Another aspect of comprehensiveness is the ability to link up with other sites to provide progressive jackpots in the games where that matters.

Games or Bets Offered. Most sites boast "over 300 games." The software, and not the casino, is the main determinant of the games available. Whether a casino is good at presenting and administering a specific game is another question. If one wants to wander away from the "hard core" of propositions in sports books, or table games in casinos, or offerings in the poker room, it would be good to test whether the games of interest are really being played or are just lying there in the software with nobody really using them. Some sites simply have attracted player interest in some of the more off-beat offerings.

Payback percentage or House Edge. Competition keeps the payback percentage as close to 100% as the casino dares to go. Even at razor thin edges the house does very well, assuming it can attract the action. The edge is pretty much built in to the table games, like roulette or baccarat. Rules variations in blackjack and baccarat can modify the house edge, so that some shopping by the serious player is recommended. The standard rake in poker is 5%, though 4% is not unheard of. The standard vig in the sports books is much like that in the brick and mortar world: Usually it will cost $110 to buy the chance to win $100 on a 50% expectation bet. Promotions, bargains and other discounts are sometimes offered selectively.

Customer Service Convenience and Availability. A good online gambling site not only has customer service, but has it close at hand. Most good sites understand that they need to have pleasant human beings answering telephone inquiries. Many operate service lines 24/7.

Customer Service Reputation. Casinos compete for player preference and loyalty in a couple of ways, but the one most often mentioned is the reputation for being "customer-oriented." Extra bonuses and lower edges can cost money, but casinos understand that being clear and helpful to the customer vastly increases customer satisfaction without requiring a large financial investment. If a casino enjoys a reputation for responsive customer service, that is a big plus.

Convenience of Deposits. Check out how easy it is to get money into the casino's account and how long it takes. Some are better at this than others.

Size of Match Play Bonus. Every casino rewards new customers for signing up with them. Be sure to shop for the most generous bonuses and read the fine print about how they are to be used. Most casinos will monitor new customers to be sure they do not withdraw the bonus money as real cash, at least not unless there has been a lot of action.

Speed of Payments. Speed of processing and whether the casino delays approvals or otherwise hassles their customers is one of the biggest considerations in looking for a casino "home."

Size of Company. Bigger companies, in theory, are no more likely to be good at servicing their customers than the small ones, but it is thought that they are less likely to go broke with your money on deposit. This may not really be true, but there size does help create confidence that the business is here to stay.

Public or Private. For customers it should not matter much that their casino's stock is publicly traded on some securities exchange, but it does add an additional layer of scrutiny and disclosure. Publicly traded companies are audited (for real, in the conventional sense of the term) and they do make periodic disclosures to shareholders that an interested customer can acquire.

Size of Revenues. A casino that handles $3 billion per year is likely to work capably to give customer satisfaction. That is how they grew to that size. Moreover, they are unlikely to sell the email list of their customers or engage in some other practice that chases people away. At a certain point they may become indifferent to the welfare of an individual customer, as a hundred more will sign up right behind him. If that happens, the customer can always leave; however, the tend is in the opposite direction: the most successful casinos are the ones that give the best attention to their clientele.

Number of Employees. This information is usually not volunteered, but sometimes will be disclosed to the person who asks by email or telephone. Obviously larger companies will have more staff than smaller ones, but the size of the staff in terms of the casino's operations may have some bearing on how capable the customer service is and how much priority is given to it by management. (The majority of an online casino's employees are engaged in activities that interface with the human beings "out there" on the Internet.)

Talk to the Casino

There is no reason to wonder about how a specific casino does things or what a casino's payback percentage is (if they do not already say). The existence of email and toll-free numbers helps to solve the problem. Capable casinos have a responsive staff for support and customer service. Call them to find out how they handle your questions. Unless you have already vetted the casino to your own satisfaction, however, resist the temptation to "sign up" right then and there. Check them out further and then call back. Presumably they will still be there. Before signing up with anyone it is always good to check out the casino with the "online gambling community" through the user blogs.

Going to "the Community"

Only a few truly independent reviewing sites are on the Internet. All the others are just casino portals. The independent sites provide information on online gambling establishments without receiving compensation from any of them and without having any sort of business relationship with them (like common ownership). Casinomeister.com is one such site, organized unabashedly as a "watchdog" and not as a "portal." Onlinecasinocity.com is an example of a good casino directory. It does not hype or promote specific sites in the guise of reviews or recommendations. In short, a lot of superficial information can be found on the Internet about online gambling sites, but much of it is promotional. Details are skimpy, and independent information is hard to find. An example illustrates why web surfers need to exercise some discretion wit the content they find. Almost without exception the casino sites themselves will tell a visitor that it is "award-winning." Either the site is a winner, or the software is, or the games it features. The actual "award" is seldom described. In truth most of these awards are self-conferred. Under that approach, you, the player, could become an "award-winning player" simply by giving yourself recognition of some sort.

Why there is no "Short List" of Good Casinos

The tendency for the casino web sites to fill up with promotional content makes it hard to define a real list of the "top 40" online gambling sites, or whatever. Added to this is the wide range of gaming possibilities a player can decide to patronize. Some sites are just better suited to certain games than others. A great sports book may not be so wonderful at running bingo online.

If the criterion of choice from among the more than 2000 possibilities were years in operation or estimated volume of business, a couple of the more established casinos would emerge in the consensus. Even here there are some pitfalls. Casinos are sometimes bought and sold or "remodeled" or spun off from other sites by their owners, making it hard to classify them in terms of age or volume. Some casino owners operate many sites, but they are essentially the same games and the same software, so they might easily be considered the same casino with just a different name and user interface.

The other complicating factor is that the industry is growing and concentrating, so that many casinos are new entrants. In a given year some web sites may exit the field, while other casinos or sports books may come under the umbrella of some other Internet gambling company.

Increasingly, licensing jurisdictions are asking for and receiving information on the casinos subject to their regulation, and eventually some of that information may eventually be made available to the public. Until online gambling is accepted as legal in all of the important markets, however, casinos will probably not be forthcoming with the kind of information conventional businesses usually divulge. The exception, of course, relates to gambling companies registered on a stock exchange.

By far the most comprehensive and easiest to find information on specific casinos is in Internet user blogs. Once a potential player has discovered the name of an interesting or attractive site, it will be possible to search for references to it on the Internet, skipping over all the commercial "hits" and focusing on the forum-like references. Using the "find" function will help discover where on each page the casino is mentioned.

The following is a partial listing of the many Internet locations that operate a gambling facility. It is organized by the software system employed by the casinos. Sometimes a casino may use one software system and the related sports book may use another.

U.S.-Friendly Sites

Note: Some casinos are described as "US-friendly," which implies that the U.S: government is not friendly towards them. A "NO" beside the casino name indicates that it does not accept wagers from persons in the United States, thus presumably being "US-unfriendly." All Playtech companies are in this group, including Playboy, a recent online casino entrant. The sites not accepting traffic from the United States will usually have a US flag with a line through it or an X over it, and will state somewhere that it "does not accept wagers from persons in the United States." Usually there is this explanation: "It may be a violation of United States Law to transmit betting information to this website from the United States."