How to find the safest online gambling sites
For us at Casino Guru, the most important feature of an online casino is, without any doubt, safety. Unfortunately, not all online casinos treat players fairly and pay out their winnings without issues. You put yourself at risk if you sign up for a new casino account without doing your research first.
The good news is that we have done the hard work for you. Our team of experts has spent thousands of hours reviewing all online casinos in our database and assigning them a Safety Index score, which is our unique metric that tells you how likely a casino is to treat you fairly.
When looking for legit online casinos, we recommend you start with the sites at the top of our list to maximize your chances of a safe playing experience. They are approved by our team of 25+ experts and ordered by their Safety Index, with the most trusted online gambling sites at the top.
Narrow down your options with filters
If you'd like to make your list smaller, then our filters come in handy. Here, you can filter the safe online casinos by a certain feature. For example, you can find just those sites with certification from a certain authority, including the UK Gambling Commission and the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA).
You may also want to weed out those sites with a lower withdrawal limit than you'd like, in which case you can adjust the minimum amount on the 'Withdrawal Limit' filter.
Take a look at our list of popular filters, too. Here you'll see options like 'Live dealer casinos' or 'Crypto casinos'. You can filter the list according to any of these.
It's worth taking your time to play around – once you're done, you'll have a list of safe online casinos tailored to your preferences.
In case you don’t have that much time, you can compare our top three safe picks in the table below.
What makes a secure online casino?
Online casinos come in many shapes and sizes, but the bottom line is that the safest online gambling sites all have several features in common. In this section, we're going to look at which ones to look out for to help improve your chances of staying safe.
Size of the casino
A casino's size is an important factor which might indicate whether it is safe. Even though big wins are very unlikely, casinos should still be able to pay out players who win large sums. Bigger casinos have more players and, therefore, earn more money, which makes them able to pay out large winnings.
On the other hand, some smaller casinos may not have sufficient financial resources to afford to pay out players who hit a big win and may, in some cases, even use unfair practices to avoid paying them at all.
Casino license
Holding a casino license shouldn't just be a status symbol, but proof that a site knows how to look after its players.
Many licenses are run by national governments and hold their members to a very high standard indeed, with tough regulations and a complaints procedure designed to protect player safety.
The UK's Gambling Commission (GC) is one of the best known for this, offering an accessible step-by-step process for players and obliging its member casinos to follow safe gambling initiatives, including self-exclusion tools.
Other licenses aren't as rigid, but having any license is better than nothing when it comes to player safety.
Security software
As the online gambling market has expanded over recent years, the security surrounding it has improved. You've probably heard about two-step verification and Know Your Customer (KYC) technology that casinos use to make sure that the player is who they say they are. These are crucial mechanisms when it comes to protecting players.
The increased level of online security has also made it possible for operators to use HTML5 technology to create safe mobile casino sites, meaning players have more choice than ever when it comes to playing at a secure online casino.
Casino reviews and player complaints
Knowing what our fellow users think of something is crucial in the digital era, with most of us using Amazon reviews or Tripadvisor ratings to help inform our buying decisions. The same is true for finding safe gambling sites – thanks to user reviews and player complaints you can see how the casino has treated players previously.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
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