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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 dont
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 youre getting
yourself into and what youre up against. However,
every online casino was once new, and you dont
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 dont have to commute from one place
to another, theres almost no reason why you
shouldnt play a hand at each.
2.
Licensing and Regulation
Now,
it all comes down to what youre looking for,
but online sports betting and lotteries are legal
in Australia, while online casinos are prohibited.
So, if youre 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 youre not playing in an Australian
casino, this doesnt mean that you shouldnt
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 youre placing bets. If this is something
youre 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 weve mentioned, none of these sites are from
Australia, and while AUD is a major world currency,
its 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 dont 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 - youll start by testing the
platform either way, and theres no guarantee
that youll like it. If you dont like it,
youll 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, youll
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 dont
intend to go with the minimum, its good to know
that you can go as low as you need.
6.
Customer Support
Customer
support is more important than you think, and youll
realize this when its 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 wont 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
weve already mentioned that most of these sites
put an emphasis on anonymity, theyre still online
entities, and theyll 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 wont bother with, and it should
be your red flag. Also, if your antivirus or your
adblocker doesnt allow you to access a site,
this might indicate that theyre 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 theyre already picking
an offshore site thats operating in a legal
gray area, theyre already exposing themselves
to risk. This is just not true. Its 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 wont regret it
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