Help With Choosing an Online Gambling Site

Beginners to online gambling often find it tough to decide where to do their betting and gaming. This is not surprising given just how many gambling sites there are to choose from. There are so many, in fact, that even experienced online gamblers looking for somewhere new to join can struggle to work out which ones they should be considering.
Although it can be tempting to just take a guess and sign up somewhere random, this is really not a good approach. Not all sites are of the same standard, and they don’t all offer the same things. It’s important that you choose a site that’s reputable and trustworthy, and also that you choose one that’s a good fit for you. Picking a site that suits your personal preferences and requirements will ultimately ensure that you have a much better experience.

There are a few key factors that you should take into account when choosing a site. Some of these will be more relevant to you than others of course, but they’re all worthy of at least some consideration. They include the following:

• Betting & Gaming Licenses
• Reputation & History 
• Types of gambling available 
• Bonuses and rewards on offer 
• Options for depositing 
• Quality of customer support

Each of these factors are important shortly, but first we’ll touch on something that you absolutely need to consider. That’s whether or not a site is suitable for your physical location. This is particularly relevant if you live in the United States, as unfortunately a number of leading sites do not accept American customers. Please note that this is primarily due to complicated legislation rather than an aversion to dealing with US gamblers.

If you’re unsure as to whether you’re eligible to join a site, you can always check with their customer support. An alternative is to refer to our recommendations for each region, as listed earlier on this page.

Let’s take a look at the other key factors you need to consider

Betting & Gaming Licenses

For a gambling site to legally offer their services to customers, they must hold an appropriate betting or gaming license from a recognized licensing authority. Any site that is not licensed is not subject to any kind of regulation, and there’s a good chance that they are not safe to use.
It’s vital that you only ever consider joining sites that are properly licensed. Ideally, they should be licensed in one of the more respectable gambling jurisdictions. There are several regions throughout the world where gambling sites can be licensed to operate legally, but they don’t all have the same level of legislation and regulation in place. Some will issue licenses to virtually anyone who wants to run a site, while others have strict criteria that must be met before a license is issued.

Reputation & History

We mentioned earlier how important it is to use a site that is reputable and trustworthy. Although there are very few sites that need to be avoided at all costs, you ideally want to stick with well-established sites that have a proven track record for providing a good service and treating their customers fairly.
Before you sign up at a site, it’s worth searching the internet to see if there are any negative reports about them. This is not a foolproof way to determine which sites are trustworthy, but it should help you to avoid sites which are known to be shady.

Types of Gambling Available

The forms of gambling you are likely to be doing is a major consideration. For example, you might be looking to play casino games, you might be looking to bet on sports, or you might be looking to play poker. Of course, you may be looking to do a little bit of everything. If that’s the case, then your best option is probably to join an all in one site that offers all the types of gambling you are looking for.

If you’re planning to focus primarily on one type of gambling though, then it’s important to choose somewhere that’s among the best for that type. That may well be one of the leading all in one sites, but you should also consider the more specialist ones as well.
It’s worth noting that the criteria you should use to choose a site is different depending on what type of gambling you are after.

Bonuses & Rewards

Bonuses and rewards should be considered because these can provide some significant extra value. Sites usually publish all the relevant information about their bonuses and rewards, so it’s easy enough to check what they’re offering. Just remember, though, that when you’re comparing bonuses, biggest is not always best. You also need to look at the terms and conditions. A huge bonus might seem good, but if it comes with really high wagering requirements then it might not actually be great value.

Options for Depositing

Gambling websites generally publish what options they have for depositing and withdrawing too. This is something worth checking if you have a particular preference for the method you want to use for funding your online account. You may also want to check to see if there are any fees involved for depositing.

Quality of Customer Support

The quality of the customer support might not seem that important, and it should probably have less of an impact on your decision than the other factors we’ve mentioned. With that being said, you will be grateful for good service if you ever have a problem. It’s not difficult to test how responsive the support is, as you can simply send them an e-mail with a couple of questions and see how quickly they respond and how helpful they are. If live chat is available, you can use that rather than e-mail.