Tips Choosing Your New Online Casino

Introduction To Choosing An Online Casino.

By Author – Andy G

Looking for your online casino can be quite a confusing and daunting process – its literally information overload. There are interesting and important facts that you should be aware of before you sign up and start depositing your money at your new casino. We have itemized the most important facts or points you should take into account when you going through your selection process. Without an understanding or at least some basic knowledge about selecting your casino, you may very well end up being disappointed, extremely frustrated and left feeling cheated or ripped off.

Yes, there are online casinos out there who’s sole intention is to steal money from unsuspecting players and they have no intention of paying players their winnings, you can read more about this in our blacklisted and warnings page. HOWEVER, there are excellent online casinos who really offer their customers a fantastic and fair gaming service. As more and more regulated markets open and many more Internet casinos apply for gaming licenses with recognized gambling commissions, to prove their legitimacy and fair gaming practices, its this sort of casino that we will offer to our players.

These casinos operate within the requirements set out by gaming commissions operating in regulated countries or states. The online casinos that we present on our website meet these expectations either by us becoming actual players ourselves or by communication and feedback over the years from our clients. We are also members of various high profile community gaming forums where we share and gather important information which we share as and when the need arises.

Over and above that, we conduct our own independent investigations and we review and rate our casinos by our own personal real life experiences. Further to this, our members have provided you with their own independent reviews and ratings to assist you with your choice of casino or game. We therefore encourage you to read our reviews and take advantage of our casino ratings.

Accepted Countries:

Every online casino includes in their terms and conditions, countries where they will not accept players opening any casino accounts at all. Other casinos may allow you to open a casino account, but will not offer any casino bonuses what so ever. Generally, the casinos do this due to high volumes of criminal activities, money laundering, Internet crime syndicates and general bonus abusers.

It will always pay for you to read your casinos current terms and conditions, however we have made it easier for you as we have listed a guide for the countries that are not accepted on each casino review page, do this by clicking on our green Check Your Country button provided. While we check this status periodically for each casino we offer, casinos will add or remove countries at their discretion and with no notification to us of any changes to their Terms & Conditions, you should familiarize yourself with
the casinos Terms & Conditions before opening any accounts.

About Our Reviews & Rating Scores:

About Pokies Casinos Pokies & Casino Reviews

Throughout the Pokies Casinos website the main focus is to provide you with an, as accurate assessment as possible with our own casino reviews followed by our Pokies Casinos members independent reviews. The casino reviews provide you with the written overall findings of a particular casino or casino game. So by reading the review or trying out the pokie demo (e.g. Unicorn Legend, Yule Be Rich, etc.), you will be able to ascertain how good or not so good a casino or casino game is.

About Pokies Casinos Casino & Pokies Ratings

If reading reviews is not for you, then for a quick assessment each casino and casino game has been rated by us and our Pokies Casinos members. To understand how the ratings work, we have defined certain categories that we feel are important in assisting you with the final selection of your new casino. Each category will be scored in points. Starting at 0 points, for really really bad to the top scoring points of 10, being Excellent – really, really good! The ratings software then automatically calculates the overall
averages from all the categories and presents you with the final overall score out of 10. The closer the final score is to 10 the better and easier it will be for you to find the right casino or casino game.

Currency & Conversions.

Another important factor that must be taken into account is depositing currency, does your chosen casino accepts your countries currency as a deposit. Almost all Internet casinos accept major currencies like AUD, BP, CAD, Euro and USD. If your currency is not found on the casino website and you do make a cash deposit, in most cases your currency will automatically be converted to a default of USD or Euro. This will mean that your deposit will be displayed in the default currency and remember to take the exchange rate into account as well, so your cash credits may be higher or lower than your deposit amount.

Accepting Casino Bonus Offers And Wagering Requirements:

All Internet casinos offer new sign up or registering players, a welcome bonus offer that may be in the form of free cash to be used as casino credits or free spins on a particular pokie games, most cases both are offered, again this will vary with each casino. You must understand that these offers are not without terms and conditions and they will differ from casino to casino, you must meet the play through or wagering requirements as set out in each casinos terms and conditions. In the case of an automatic bonus being
credited to your account and you do not wish to take the casinos bonus offer/s we recommend that you email the casino and advise them accordingly BEFORE you complete your first cash deposits.

How To Claim A Casino Bonus Offer

Through out Pokies Casinos website, we show you what each casino offers their new players as a welcome bonus so that you have the best choices available to you. There are mainly four ways to claiming your welcome bonus and free spins, they are:

1. Automatic Account Credit.

Once you have made your first cash deposit or your first 4 cash deposits, depending on how the casino has structured their welcome offers, the casinos software will recognize this and will automatically credit your account according to the structure of the welcome bonus.

2. Selecting Your Bonus By Checking The Boxes.

Another way to claim your bonus is, once in the casino banking field and you are going to do your first cash deposits, you can simply check the boxes to claim your bonus. Once you have done this the casino software will automatically credit your account together with your successful cash deposit.

3. Selecting Your Bonus Using Bonus Codes.

The third and final way to collect your welcome bonus, is again in the casinos banking field, copying and pasting each bonus code in the appropriate field. The bonus will then be added to your cash deposit ready for you to play your games. If you do not want any of the casinos bonus offers, simply do not check any of the bonus codes and your account will not be credited with the appropriate bonus.

Once you have claimed a casino bonus you would have automatically agreed to the casinos bonus terms and conditions including the wagering requirements. If you have mistakenly accepted a bonus and you no longer want it – BEFORE you start spending any of your deposit and added bonus credits, you can email or jump on live chat to the casino and request the bonus be removed – Be Advised – some casinos may honor your request and are able to remove the bonus, however some casinos may not be so obliging and are not able to remove the bonus. Remember in most cases bonuses can be an automatic credit to your deposit which is added to your total playing credits.

4. Free Spins Bonuses And Wagering Limits.

Free spins bonuses are in most cases, played on nominated pokie games selected by the casino and choices will vary from casino to casino. Your free spins may only be played on one particular pokie or a small select group of pokies, its also important to remember that your free spins may include limited bets. This means that you will not be able to play maximum bet, but rather limited to a bet of a few cents per spin. The limited betting range will also vary from casino to casino. It’s important to remember to read the casinos terms and conditions relating to their bonuses and the free spin bonuses.

Claiming Cash Bonuses And Wagering Requirements.

All bonuses claimed at a casino will require the player to meet the wagering requirements ( also know as – Play Through Requirements ( P.T.R ) ) This means that if you deposit $50.00 and you get 100% match bonus, your account will be credited with your $50.00 + $50.00 from the casino (100% match) = $100.00 for you to spend on the pokies, in accordance to the casinos terms and conditions due to the fact that certain casino games may have different PTR’s or wagering requirements.

For simplicity sakes, if you play the pokies which generally most players do, you may have to wager at 30x your total deposit and bonus. In this case your wager will be, $50 + $50 = $100 x 30 = $3000.00 that you need to spend of your WINNINGS at the casino before you are allowed to cash out any winning money. If you loose your $100 ( deposit + bonus ) that’s it done, there are no winnings to cash out. You are not in debt to the casino nor is there a P.T.R carry over to your next deposit and bonus. Again to make it clear, wagering requirements apply when you want to cash out winnings and you have claimed a casino bonus offer. The cycle will start again on your next deposit and bonus claim until such time as you have used up all the welcome bonus offers.

Ensure you read the casinos bonus terms and conditions about bonus wagering requirements as they will be different at each casino. The wagering will also be different for certain games as well, meaning different wagering requirements for pokies vs table games vs video poker etc, so it depends on what you choose to play.

Tips About Registering & Signing Up At A Casino:

Each and every Internet casino requires you to register an account when signing up as a new member or player. Whereby you will have to give the casino compulsory, accurate and correct information about yourself.

Generally, the casinos will require:

1. Full Name/s and last name.
2. Age, birth date & gender.
3. Country of residence and physical address.
4. Email address.
5. Utilities bill – proof of address and name.
6. Contact details
7. Banking and or Credit card details.
8. Copy with photo of passport or other form of legal identification.

So why the big fuss, many reasons, most due to the fact that cyber criminals are at work committing fraud, money laundering, terrorism and many other forms a Internet crime. They need to know who you are for both your protection and theirs. I also recommend that you complete all the necessary documentation and get your account approved as soon as possible.

If your information is not completed correctly or is incomplete and you try withdraw winnings – your winning will not be paid into your nominated account! Additionally, ensure that the account you made the deposit from, into your casino account – is the same account you request your winnings or cash out be paid into. No casino will pay money into any other account other than the account specified on your registration and information form, make sure your details are up to date at all times!

Tips About Downloading Casino Software Vs Browser/Flash Play:

First and foremost, you will never pay to download any casinos gaming software, if you have been ask to – get out of there, its a scam! Back in the day, almost all players would download casino software to their desktop, it was just so such more stable and the games did not lag or hang, as opposed to playing through your Internet browser which is also referred to as a Flash Casino or a no download casino.

Today with the huge improvements to the Internet and the explosion of mobile users, flash casinos have become the preferred choice of play. So the long and short of weather to download the casinos software, is really a matter of personal choice. I would not recommend that laptop, iPad or Tablet users download the software, this is best kept for desktop users who don’t mind the software taking up space on their hard drive. If you are surfing the net from your mobile device and you find an Internet casino, in most cases you will always be directed to the casinos mobile gaming platform and a simple registration followed by your personal details
will be done.

So What if I Have Downloaded The Software And Now Wish To Play On My Mobile Device:

No worries, in most cases you can still login to your casino via your mobile and play your favorite games as the software will recognize your user name, password and that you are connecting from a mobile device. If not, you may have to register your mobile device. You will not have to open a new account as your personnel details will already be on the casinos system.

Tips About And What Is A Multi-Software Casino:

Multi-Software casinos are casinos that offer their players a huge variety of different casino games from a wide range of software gaming developers that provide the casinos with their games. Your Multi-Software casinos often include games from the worlds top gaming developers like IGT, Aristocrat, NetEnt, Play’n Go, Microgaming and Playtech, to mention a few. My preferred Internet casinos are with out a doubt Multi-Software casinos, the pokie choices and progressive jackpots are brilliant and far exceed a stand alone casinos choice of games. You can also enjoy the good selection of new games that are often released by the developers every 4 to 6 weeks so you wont miss anything new. I strongly recommend that as your new Internet casino you take a peek at Multi-Software casinos as your first choice.

What Is A Stand Alone Casino:

Stand Alone casinos are what we refer to as casinos who only offer their players casino games from one particular gaming developer. Meaning that you have a choice of joining a casino that only offers you pokies provided by either Microgaming, Playtech or RTG ( Real Time Gaming ), mentioning a few. Their is absolutely nothing wrong with Stand Alone casinos, you can liken them to people who like to play xbox, Playstation or Nintendo each has their followers who prefer their games and for what ever other reasons, we feel the same applies to a Stand Alone casino.

In my arsenal of casinos, I include 1 or 2 Stand Alone casinos as most Multi-Software casinos don’t include pokies from each and every gaming developer/provider. As of yet there are no Stand Alone casinos for IGT, Aristocrat, Bally, WMS, NetEnt, Playn’ Go and NextGen to mention a few. These gaming software developers and providers will only be found at Multi-Software casinos, for now.