20 Best Online Casino

You probably won’t be surprised to see that many online casinos are keen to get you in the virtual door and want you to start playing on their games.  In order to encourage you many sites are offering bonuses, from amounts matching your first deposit, to redeposit bonuses and huge incentives for high rollers.

The types of bonus you can expect to see are sign-up bonuses, where the casino offers a small incentive just to sign-up, and you don’t even have to deposit any of your own money; then you get first deposit and renewal deposit bonuses that are usually a percentage match based on the amount you deposit.  Other common incentives are VIP points, loyalty rewards and referral bonuses.  However, you need to be aware that any bonus will probably come with restrictions and may mean that you can’t withdraw any winnings until you have wagered a minimum amount.

When you’re joining an online casino and considering whether to accept the bonus you are offered it is always worth taking a look at the terms and conditions before you decide.  You can be committed to wagering as much as twelve times the original deposit plus bonus amount before you can withdraw any winnings, in which case you are probably better off just playing with your own money and being able to withdraw funds as and when suits you.

Of course, if you know you’re likely to enjoy playing on the casino site and you think it’s likely you will wager the minimum amount required anyway then you may as well take the bonus, as long as you are prepared to wait to be able to withdraw any funds.  The other thing you need to be mindful of though is that in some casinos there are only certain games that count towards the wagering limit, so you could find that you think you’ve wagered the right amount but it wasn’t on the games that count!

Anyone who has visited more than one casino site will most likely have noticed a difference in the appearance and sounds of the games available.  This is because there are quite a few software developers out there who support different casinos.  Most of them offer great game play with excellent graphics and sound and provide a reliable platform to play on.

Some casinos and their affiliates will all work using the same software provider, allowing them to offer linked games across different sites, so you may be surprised to see different sites with almost identical game play, but this isn’t uncommon.  After all, there are thousands of online sites available and probably only about 10 really popular software providers.  There are others of course that specialise in particular types of games or themes, and some more specialist casinos may choose to use these providers, but the most common names you will come across are Microgaming, Realtime Gaming, Playtech, Cryptologic and Boss Media.

Microgaming offers innovative game design, excellent quality of graphics and sound, almost unrivalled security of your money and details, and some of the highest progressive jackpots around.  They offer the largest poker network available, linking players from all over the world, and they support a variety of languages.

Realtime Gaming casinos are unusual in the online world because they often still accept wagers from American players, meaning that they have experienced a dramatic upsurge since 2006 when the US passed its anti gambling bill.  They specialise in progressive slots games and they run huge networks of progressive games which are verified by a third party as being fair due to the random number generators behind all of their games.

Playtech is now the largest publicly traded online gaming developer.  Through innovative design, loyalty rewards schemes, excellent graphics, reliability, security and multi-language support they have become an industry leader.  Many top online sites will use Playtech software mainly because it allows players to have just one account for different activities, such as poker, bingo or casino games.

Cryptologic have been key in implementing features such as multi-player games, live chat and 3D graphics.  They offer an extremely secure cash withdrawal facility and free customer service support lines which are available 24 hours a day.

Players at Cryptologic casinos generally report high levels of satisfaction and get to experience a great gaming environment.

Boss Media specialises in developing software to allow players to access online casino games from a wide variety of platforms, for example from hand-held computers, mobile phones, interactive tv and video points.  They moved from running their own casino, which was one of the first online sites, to developing software to allow more players access to great casino functions.

The first and most important of our tips is that you must only bet with what you can afford to lose.  This is the number one rule when it comes to all types of gambling and you must always be disciplined and stick to this rule.

There are a few things than beginners to the world of online casinos should be aware of and should consider before placing any bets.  A few of our top tips are below to help you on your way to a secure and enjoyable casino experience:

Always make sure that the online casino you are using is safe and reliable.  You can do this by checking review sites or typing in the name of the casino on your internet search engine and seeing what comments have been made by other users.  You need to know that your details and your money will be handled securely and other players’ comments will give you a good idea about a casino’s reliability.  You should also consider the customer service rating in case you need to contact the casino.
If you are considering taking one of the many bonuses on offer make sure you check the terms and conditions attached to the bonus.  Some are quite rigid and require that you wager a minimum amount before you can make any withdrawals.  If in doubt you can always choose to play without accepting the bonus and then you can withdraw at any time normally allowable by the online casino.

Check the payout policy for transfers to your bank account – some sites only allow you to make one transfer in any 24 hour period, others don’t allow you to withdraw over the weekend.

Choose the right software option for you – some sites offer download and non download options for play.  Although the sites that don’t require a download tend to offer lower quality graphics and sound they can be ideal if you have to share a computer.

Play free games until you understand the rules and strategy before moving on to playing for real.  This way you’ll make the most of your money and won’t waste coins on games where you simply misunderstood what you needed to do to win.

If you follow these tips you should find your way to a reliable casino site, where you can enjoy playing a wide variety of games, and experience the incredible atmosphere created by some top class software.