I hate bad casinos! That’s why I made thegambledoctor.com so I could gather all the safe and reliable online casinos in one place!
Unfortunately, there are fake/bad casinos out there. Some of them are just no good, but others intentionally defraud gamblers of their money. Luckily, there are easy ways to spot a bad casino!
1. Lack of License
An online casino must have a license to operate. You can usually find out where a casino has its license from by looking at the bottom of the page.
Casinos most often have their license from Malta or Curacao. In addition, the casino may be licensed by a gambling jurisdiction in your own country. Malta and Curacao licenses are good, a license from a gambling jurisdiction in your own country is even better. If the casino appears to have no license, stay far away!
2. Confusing T&C’s
They’re so boring yet so important. Unreasonable terms and conditions for bonuses is one of the ways that online casinos often trick people for their money. If you decide to accept a bonus, always read the terms carefully first.
Here at thegambledoctor, I’ve made it much easier to figure out the best casinos bonuses by dissecting the offers and showing the roll over demand. Check out my casino list for yourself!
3. Poor Customer Service
Service is everything, and one of the things that can make the whole difference between a good casino and a bad casino is the customer service. Mostly I find that things go pretty smooth when playing online, but problems can arise. Make sure that the casino has an available customer service – preferably in our own language.
4. Obscure Game Selection
At an online casino, slot games should be plentiful, and the game providers should be trustworthy. Be careful with casinos that feature games from software developers that you don’t know and can’t seem to find anywhere else – it might be a scam software!
Oh, and one more thing: always look for the payout percentages of games. In general, you shouldn’t bother with playing slots that have a payout percentage below 94%.
5. Slow Pay-outs
Always make sure that your casino is on time regarding payments. I mean, why wait a week to cash out if you only have to wait 2 days, right?
Also make sure that the casino accepts your preferred method of payment, and that they don’t charge a hefty fee for your credit card. Some places, you could be paying as much as 2% extra in credit card charges. That’s money right down the drain!
How do Online Casinos cheat?
Blacklisted casinos may be involved in one or more of the following activities:
- Pirated game software
- Deceptive bonus terms
- Refusal to honor pay-outs
Player’s Worst Nightmare: Pirated Game Software
While it’s actually not that often that cheating takes place by means of pirated software, it does happen! An example:
In 2017, the casino auditing site Casinolistings reported that they had found the online casino VegasCasino.io to use fake/pirated gaming software. The casino had taken well-known game titles from the provider Novomatic and replaced the game with pirated software. Thus, they had gained free access to player’s pockets!
Another case in point was when the industry journal iGaming Business reported that a company called 2WinPower offered a complete portfolio of pirated online slots for anyone who would want to buy them. It’s quite astonishing that such a company was able to operate at all!
The bonus Trap: Misleading T&C’s
Luckily, pirated software is not that ordinary – and usually easy to identify.
The most frequent way that casinos cheat is by means of deceptive terms and conditions in relation to their casino bonus.
Know that bonus code that seems too good to be true? Well, maybe it is! An offer that may look attractive at first sight can be bedridden with traps:
- Wild roll over demands: Some casinos may have you roll over your bonus a crazy amount of times. More than 99x may occur!
- Hidden deposit demands: A deposit may be required in order to pay out bonus wins. That’s just crazy.
- Limit to wins: Literally, some bonus terms won’t allow you to win more than you’ve already deposited – not cool.
- Sneaky game weight: The roll over may manageable, but all the games only count for 50% or less. This happens more often than one would expect.
The Pirate Move: Refusal to Honor Pay-outs
Refusal to honor pay-outs are often related to misleading T&C’s, but at other times, there seems to be no legitimate reason for a casino that denies are player cashing out winnings at all.
A notorious example from a brick and mortar casino in New York refused to honor a jackpot of over 42 million USD won on a slot machine on the ground that the machine had had a malfunction.
Overall however, it’s not that ordinary for an online casino refuses to honor payouts, since it involves a lot of negative press activity for them.
Are there Safe Online Casinos?
Yes, plenty! Luckily, the majority of online gambling sites are fair and legitimate businesses that honor pay-outs and treat their players with respect. It’s just a shame that a few bad apples have to spoil the rest of the batch.
At thegambledoctor, I want to promote safe and fun online gambling. That’s why I only feature casinos with proper licensing and good game selection.
I take honor in writing out in capital letters what the casinos tend to put in small print. When you choose a casino from my list, you are in for a proper gaming experience!
Check out the best online casinos here!
Summing up, when choosing a new casino, look for gambling license, do a little research on the reputation of the casino, and look out for fishy bonus terms. Using just a minute extra researching could save you from a great many worries later on!
You are always welcome to use my casino list, where you can find the best and most fun filled casinos with proper licensing. At my list you can also find vital info about a bonus offer, such the roll over demand. Also check out the TheGambleDoctor Awards for best online casino 2023!
