Top 8 Criteria to Use When Choosing an Online Casino in Australia


Top 8 Criteria to Use When Choosing an Online Casino in Australia

 

Roughly 700,000 Australians play in offshore online casinos every single year. Until the regulations in Australia change, this trend will remain, seeing as how these people are not going to stop playing, even if it means using crypto payments and VPNs to do so. Still, not all of these sites are the same, and Australian players have learned that the discrepancies in reliability and quality of service between them can be quite significant.

With that in mind and without further ado, here are the top eight criteria that Australians should be using when picking an online casino in Australia.

 

 

source

 

1. Checking Your Options

No, not all online casinos are made the same, so don’t pick the first one you stumble upon. Go through some lists, check your options, and then make up your mind.

You also want to look into brand new online casinos that are available to you. Sure, an older casino is often a safer bet, seeing as how it already has a reputation and some reviews/threads that you can read up to see what you’re getting yourself into and what you’re up against. However, every online casino was once new, and you don’t want to miss out on a good thing. Often, new sites use the latest technology and offer bigger bonuses as they try to attract new players away from their competitors.

You should also try playing with a hand or two on each before choosing. Depositing funds is a lot cheaper than you think, and one of the strongest advantages of these online casinos is that you can play with much smaller hands than you could in offline casinos. Since you don’t have to commute from one place to another, there’s almost no reason why you shouldn’t play a hand at each.

2. Licensing and Regulation

Now, it all comes down to what you’re looking for, but online sports betting and lotteries are legal in Australia, while online casinos are prohibited. So, if you’re looking to bet online, you should start by verifying their Australian licenses.

Wait a second, if online casinos are prohibited, how can you even play? Well, both yes and no. You see, while online casinos are prohibited from being hosted within Australia, a lot of Australians find online casinos that are hosted abroad to play on. While this is not strictly illegal but more of a legal gray zone, most of them still play on anonymous casinos just to stay on the safer side of things.

Also, just because you’re not playing in an Australian casino, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t research their fair play policies.

3. Game Variety

One of the most popular online casino games is slots, but slot machines are more of a category than a game. There are many different themes with different rules and even odds, which might drastically change the betting experience. So, one of the first things you need to review when choosing an online casino is the access to various slot machine options.

Another thing that a lot of players are interested in is live dealer games. The concept is simple: you have a human dealer with a physical deck or machine doing their job somewhere across the world and live-streaming while you’re placing bets. If this is something you’re interested in, you should look for live dealer games.

Finally, not all games are the same, and some online casinos have unique titles available. You should consider these exclusive titles when picking the site or app to play at.

4. Payment Methods

The first thing you want to look for is the AUD support. As we’ve mentioned, none of these sites are from Australia, and while AUD is a major world currency, it’s not really in the ballpark of USD or EUR.

You also want to check withdrawal times early on. Doing so will let you know what to expect. Waiting forever to withdraw a significant sum can be nerve-racking unless you know what the average waiting time is.

You also want to explore crypto options. With the advancements in Bitcoin and blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies have an increasing number of users. Some of these users prefer the anonymity provided by cryptocurrencies. Even if you don’t intend to use it, the fact that the platform offers this option shows that the team behind it is tech-savvy and up-to-date with the latest online casino trends.

5. Bonuses and Promotions

Sometimes, welcome offers can be quite substantive. They can be enough to sway you one way or another. Just think about it this way - you’ll start by testing the platform either way, and there’s no guarantee that you’ll like it. If you don’t like it, you’ll go elsewhere. Why not play most of these test games with welcome bonuses?

You also want to check these platforms for loyalty programs. If you really like the casino in question, you’ll spend a lot of time and money there. This means that any reward you may receive for this commitment will be well-deserved and it will be cumulative.

Lastly, you should review wagering requirements. Just look for a minimal wager per hand. Even if you don’t intend to go with the minimum, it’s good to know that you can go as low as you need.

6. Customer Support

Customer support is more important than you think, and you’ll realize this when it’s already too late. First of all, every single online casino will allow you to file a ticket or write an email with a complaint. What some of them won’t have is live chat. Now, the availability of live chat is important, and it can make your life a lot easier.

You should check their response times, and the best way to do so is to inquire about it in the community. There are forums and dedicated subreddits for these sites, so check them out.
You also want to look for 24/7 support. The last thing you want is to have to wait for Monday because a mistake in question happened over the weekend.

7. Security Measures

While we’ve already mentioned that most of these sites put an emphasis on anonymity, they’re still online entities, and they’ll have to collect some data. With that in mind, you want a high level of data encryption in order to know that your online presence is as safe as it gets.
You should also check that the site has an SSL certificate. This is something that a lot of online casino sites won’t bother with, and it should be your red flag. Also, if your antivirus or your adblocker doesn’t allow you to access a site, this might indicate that they’re on some sort of a blacklist.

Finally, you want to check for two-factor authentication. An account takeover is always bad, but someone taking over your online casino account while you already have money deposited is the stuff of nightmares.

When choosing your online casino, you have to be thorough and systematic

The biggest misconception that Australians make here is assuming that, since they’re already picking an offshore site that’s operating in a legal gray area, they’re already exposing themselves to risk. This is just not true. It’s this kind of nihilistic approach to the subject matter that will actually make you make a choice that will expose you to all sorts of threats and scams. Put some effort and some serious thought into picking the right online casino, and you won’t regret it