Playing online casino games can be a lot of fun, particularly if we hit a hot streak. But it’s important to stay safe when betting and to ensure we’re not exposing ourselves to unnecessary risks.
In this guide, we’ll take a look at a few top tips on how to play online casino games in the safest way possible. In particular, we’ll look at licensed casinos, setting betting limits, and knowing when to stop chasing your losses.
Play with licensed casinos
One of the best things you can do when it comes to playing online casinos in a safe way is to ensure you bet with licensed betting sites.
There’s a wide range of gambling websites available on the internet. Some may look attractive, may offer great odds or interesting bonuses and deals, but they may be unlicensed. This creates risks for you as a player – for example, they may refuse to pay out your earnings after a successful bet.
Other unlicensed casinos may not honour their welcome bonuses and deals. Or while the website looks good, it may not work properly or may lack the required online security certificates to ensure that your personal and financial data is kept secure and in line with data protection laws.
It’s hard to know which is the safest online casino to bet with, but this guide could help. You can also check the “About” page or the bottom of a betting site to see if they’re registered with a gambling body. Most of the time there are reference or account numbers that you can check with regulatory bodies.
Something else you can do is check the internet for impartial reviews of the online casino. If other people have reported instances of payouts not being honoured, for example, then you know to be wary of signing up.
Set betting limits
As well as ensuring that you’re betting with safe and secure online casinos, it’s important to ensure that you make bets within safe limits – by this, we mean betting what you can afford.
Sometimes, players can get caught up in the moment, especially when playing the likes of virtual reality casino games. They see the odds and the potential payout and grow excited at the prospect. But victory is never guaranteed and as a player it’s important to bear this in mind.
To prevent players from betting beyond their means, many online casinos have introduced betting or deposit limits. This means that you can voluntarily set a limit on the amount you can spend on your account.
While this is a good feature, it’s very much up to the individual to implement it. And for people who may have a problem with setting limits it may not work for them.
Some banks have introduced the ability to limit the amount of payments made to betting sites. This could make it a little harder to get around the likes of self-imposed betting limits that players can set on online casinos.
If you’re not having fun, stop playing
One of the risks when playing online casino games safely is chasing your losses.
A trap that many players can fall into is to keep on betting with the aim of trying to recover what they have lost. Those losses can mount quickly, depending on how much you bet.
It’s always recommended by regulatory bodies, such as the Gambling Commission in the UK, to avoid betting when you’re depressed or in a bad mood – this can lead to instances of chasing losses.
Knowing when to stop is hard, and with online casinos, there’s nobody there to tell you when enough is enough. That’s why betting limits can be useful. But it’s also important to be mindful of how you’re betting and how the results are turning out.
So, if you ever feel that you’re not enjoying the experience of playing at online casinos, consider taking a break.
In summary
It’s important to be aware of the risks of playing online casino games. Unlicensed websites could take your money and fail to honour winning bets, as well as potentially exposing your personal and financial data to fraudsters.
Similarly, it’s important that you take steps yourself to stay safe when playing online. Setting betting limits either through casinos or your bank is always wise, especially if you’re impulsive or have trouble saying no.
Likewise, being mindful of chasing losses can also help you stay safe when playing online casino games.
