Online Casino Sites
With smaller betting limits and typically equal or better payout percentages, online casinos are preferred over live casinos by millions of gamblers. For example, many live casinos have minimum betting limits of £5 for table games, while most online casinos have minimum online betting limits between £.10 and £1. Money lasts longer, and punters can get a lot more action for less money. In some cases, the payout percentages are higher online as well. This is because overhead is much lower for online casinos, and better payouts attract new customers.
Another benefit of playing online is that you can do it from your home, without driving anywhere to play. At today’s cost of petrol, this can be a significant savings for a lot of people. Beyond that, online casinos offer cash bonuses and free spins to new customers.
Top Online Casinos
At OnlineBetting.co.uk, we only recommend the best online casinos. When we say ‘best’, we’re talking about security, reputation, customer service, game choices, graphics & sound effects, deposit & withdrawal options, and more. There are hundreds of online casinos, so there’s no reason to play at a site that isn’t financially secure, or offering the best of everything.
Most online casino sites offer a wide selection of games. Others might focus heavily on something specific like slots, table games, or bingo. The best online casinos for you are really based on the types of games you like to play. Since we have no way of knowing what your preferred games are, we’ll give you some things to consider to help you find the best online casinos for you.
Many of the top online casinos also offer poker, sports betting, and bingo. If you like to play more than just casino games, an all-in-one casino like this will be best for you.
Popular Online Casino Games
As mentioned above, some online casinos focus on a particular niche. Some offer a huge variety of slot games, but nothing else. Another casino might be paradise for blackjack players, but offer little more than that. Bingo-only sites are common as well. You’ll also find online casino sites that focus on particular markets, like the UK, Asia, or South America. Of course these types of sites focus more heavily on games that their players are interested in, and less of everything else. Since this site focuses primarily on the UK market, we’ve created a list of the top UK online casinos.
In the UK, some of the most popular games are: Blackjack, European roulette, slots, baccarat, video poker, and craps. Bingo is also huge here, including mobile bingo games, with more bingo players per capita than anywhere else in the world. The best UK online casinos also offer three card poker, pai gow, quick seven, Caribbean stud poker, casino hold’em, keno, scratch cards, and more.
Live Dealer Games
Many online casino sites are now offering live dealers at many of their table games. This means that you can watch real dealers as they deal, giving a more realistic casino experience to players. For example, players can see a real roulette wheel spinning with a real ball in it. The dealers are located inside real casinos too, and online players can hear the ringing of games in the background. It’s as close to a live casino experience we can get, without going to the casino. Players can also chat with dealers and other players at their table, and move their view into different positions.
The most popular games for live dealer casino games are blackjack, roulette, and baccarat, but other live dealer games can be found as well. The downside to live dealer games is that they run slower than online games. You might be able to play three hands of regular online blackjack in the time it takes to play one hand at live dealer blackjack. However, if you’re playing for the entertainment value alone, you might really enjoy this new way to play.
Preferred Deposit Methods
If your preferred deposit method is Visa credit or debit cards, you don’t have much to worry about. Visa is accepted at every reputable online casino site, with minimum deposits typically ranging from £10 – £25. Mastercard is also very common, but there are some casinos that don’t accept it. Discover, Amex, and other credit cards are offered at some online casinos, but less often than Mastercard.
Various ewallets are offered at every top online casino, with the most popular being Neteller, MoneyBookers & Click2Pay. These are popular deposit methods because customers don’t have to provide credit card information at the casino. Some other ewallets that can be used include ClickandBuy, Paypal, eWalletXpress, UseMyWallet, and more. If you prefer to deposit using an ewallet, it’s a good idea to visit the site and make sure they accept your ewallet before signing up.
Most online casinos also offer some sort of direct banking options, like instant cheques or bank transfer. Instant cheques usually have lower deposit limits when the customer makes their first deposit, which can keep a player from being able to take full advantage of a bonus offer. For example, a site might be offering a 100% bonus up to £600, but have a maximum deposit limit of £100 on a customer’s first echeque deposit. If this is the case, the largest bonus you’ll be able to receive is £100. Once you’ve chosen a casino you’d like to play at, go to the cashier window for details on your preferred deposit method.
Online Casino Bonuses
The first thing to know about online casino bonuses is that they’re different at every site. Depending on the games you play and the casino you’re playing at, you may or may not be able to collect on the bonus – or it may be very difficult.
At live casinos, pit bosses see players who are gambling a lot or losing big money, then offer them some sort of perk. It might be free tickets to a show, a free dinner, or a free stay at the hotel. It’s the same concept at online casinos, but it works a bit differently. As players wager more, they earn more bonus money. For example, Casino X might require their players to wager £25 for every £1 in bonus earned. The amount of play-through a customer is required to play depends on the casino and the games the customer plays. A good example of this is blackjack. Since blackjack has such a small house-edge, most online casinos exempt blackjack from earning bonus money, or they require much higher play-through requirements. Slots, keno, and scratchcards generally earn bonus money at the fastest rates, but it’s different everywhere. If you’re signing up at a casino to try to take advantage of a bonus, be sure to read their bonus terms & conditions before you sign up.
Mobile Online Casinos
With the growing popularity of smartphones & tablets, most online casinos now offer mobile gaming. Research has shown that mobile gamblers have a 20% – 50% higher value to casinos than those who play strictly on their computers. So, the biggest sites have been spending huge amounts of money developing software that is compatible with all of the latest mobile devices, including Android (Droid), iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, and others. Some casinos offer instant-play, no-download versions of their games, while other casinos might require a download using a mobile-specific app. At some casinos, the user will have the option to choose between an instant-play or full download versions of their preferred games.
Each site is different on the variety of games they currently offer, but the choices continue to expand. For example, some sites might offer a limited number of table games, but a wider selection of slots. Other sites might have offer a little bit of everything. In general terms, you can figure that the most popular games will be the most easily found. Blackjack, roulette, and slots are all very popular, and available at almost every mobile casino.
Many top online casino sites now offer special bonuses just for mobile users. In most cases, these are bonuses above and beyond the standard casino bonus. For example, a casino might be offering a 100% bonus up to £200 for all new players, and a separate bonus when players start to play from their mobile device. Some are offered as cash bonuses with standard play-through requirements, and others might be free spins on a slot game or a free $20 blackjack bet.
Since it tends to be more difficult to enter information from a mobile phone, we recommend that new players register and fund their accounts from their computers. Registration & deposit processes are much faster this way.
Is it Safe to Play at Online Casinos?
If you’re playing at a reputable online casino, the answer is yes. At OnlineBetting.co.uk, we don’t recommend any online casinos that we don’t play at ourselves. The way we see it, our primary job is to steer players in the direction of the best online casinos, and away from the bad ones. All of the recommended online casinos on this site are licensed and regulated by a reputable gaming association that we believe to be trustworthy.
The most reputable online casinos use the latest & most advanced technology to keep private information secure. Software is monitored by independent third-parties as well, adding another level of security that goes beyond the casino operator. These days, the best online casinos are extremely safe & secure.
Customer Service
Every online casino site offers email support at the very least. Many casinos also offer live chat or toll-free phone support for customers who need help right away. If you have a question about making a deposit or withdrawal, it can be very frustrating to wait for an email reply. For this reason, we give casinos that offer live support higher rankings than those who don’t.