Online gambling is a rapidly growing industry accounting for about £5.6 billion of the £14.5 billion total annual gambling revenue in the United Kingdom. With that kind of revenue, there is naturally a huge variety of different sites and services offered to potential players online. And for many newer players especially, this almost overwhelming level of choice presents a huge challenge – not only are players faced with an enormous array of different sites at which they can spend time gambling, many are also unequipped to meaningfully compare and select between competing options.
No matter the industry, if you are a consumer then you should use competition to your advantage. The online gambling industry is notoriously competitive so there are plenty of opportunities for consumers. In much the same way as you would always compare different electricity companies, you should compare different casinos as some will certainly offer you more than other will.
This leads to a kind of analysis paralysis that may end in people either losing interest and not pursuing their interest in online gambling or else sadly falling victim to one of the unsafe alternatives leading to the unexpected theft of personal details, for example. For this reason, it’s extremely important to be aware of the most important things to look out for when researching where to gamble online. Here are some of the key features to check out.
Check Licensing
In order to legally offer gambling services online, websites need to have completed some kind of licensing arrangement by which they are assessed according to restrictions varying from region to region, country to country and state to state. It is of course too much of a task to read up on all the different laws and bylaws that might be part of such a licensing process. However, simply knowing online gambling sites need to have procured one should prompt you to restrict your choice of gambling website to only those that contain a corresponding certificate or license.
For gambling sites to operate in the United Kingdom, they must be licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. The UKGC is the gambling watchdog in the UK and oversees both online and offline gambling.
Ensure Withdrawal and Deposit Times Are Fair
A sadly extremely frequent and much dishonest tactic of unscrupulous gambling websites is to deliberately delay the process for withdrawing your winnings or for handling deposits. This has led to huge numbers of complaints in recent years. This is one of the things that you might need to actually dig into the fine print of the terms and conditions to look for – what kind of withdrawal and deposit procedures are in place? How complicated are they and how long do they take? Make sure that you only gamble at websites where these are clearly presented and as straightforward as possible.
Check for Customer Support Availability
Customer support is a central feature of any online service, and perhaps none more so than those instances demanding an established trust between player and provider, such as in online gambling. Safe gambling websites will offer satisfactory options for getting in touch when needed. The safe and UKGC regulated UK online casino PlayFrank features Live Chat availability for customer support.
Customer support is vital for any issues you may have. When something goes wrong you want to be able to fix it as quickly and as efficiently as possible. This goes without saying in any industry.
Read Independent Reviews
Finally, regardless of where you get them, make sure to get properly independent reviews of the gambling website that you are considering visiting. Be especially on the lookout for negative reviews as players who have suffered the bad luck of engaging with unsafe gambling websites will surely post about their experiences on social media, in online forums or on review aggregating websites. Be fair but critical in your research and take negative feedback seriously in order to avoid falling victim to the same problems that other players might have done in the past.
As usual, our advice is simply to be vigilant. If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is. But as long as you are cautious and smart, your online gambling experience will be fun and exciting as it should be.
