Legal online casinos comply with the regulations set out by the countries they operate in. These include support for specific payment systems and local currencies, responsible gambling tools, and approved casino providers.
The casino must apply for a license, which is only granted and renewed if the operator maintains the same level of services and hasn’t been involved in any scandal. If any problems occur at a locally licensed online casino, you can file a complaint to your country’s gaming authority and they will see your case until it is resolved.
This guide highlights the pros and cons of playing at a licensed online casino and the telltale signs to recognize such operators.
Key features of legal and safe online casinos
All online casinos claim to be legal, even those operating without any iGaming license. Instead of blindly trusting the claims made by a random casino site, you should actively search for the following features at the casinos you are assessing:
- Seal of approval by your country’s regulatory authority
- Valid links from outside testing bodies like BMM Labs
- Prominent gaming providers with a permit to operate in your country
- Support for local currencies and payment methods
- Flexible payment limits and reasonable payout timeframes
- Encrypted website
- Clear-cut privacy policy and about us page
- Publicly displayed company, with a clean track record
- Fair T&Cs, including casino bonus limitations
- Straightforward promotional descriptions, without exorbitant amounts on offer
- Native apps listed on virtual app stores
Some of the above boxes could be ticked by a sketchy operator, too, but not most of them. Illegal casinos usually offer APKs instead of native apps and hold licenses from offshore gaming authorities. If you find the above checklist too long, you could instead rely on our approved casinos list here at Bonus1. We assess every operator against the above criteria and more before listing them on our website.
Importance of playing at legal casino sites
Every aspect we review at online casinos is important. Even secondary bits like mobile casino optimization could hugely impact your gaming experience – imagine trying to play the bonus round you spent $500 to trigger and your session keeps crashing. Nevertheless, some areas matter more than others, which is why we only recommend legal casinos to our readers.
For starters, for a casino to be legal in your country it must prove that it has enough financial resources to cover players’ wins. The company behind the site is thoroughly examined and you can be certain that they won’t suddenly disappear.
Legal casinos only partner with similarly licensed gaming studios. This translates to fewer games than on offshore casinos, yet you can be 100% certain that the outcomes of the rounds are fair and the gaming experience transparent. Nothing sketchy takes place behind the scenes.
The implementation of mainstream payment methods in your local currency is another great element of regulated casino sites. These ensure you can easily cash out or deposit without any fees or delays. The payment limits are designed with the player in mind, not casinos.
Maybe most importantly, legal casinos must provide all responsible gambling tools the Government deems necessary. Links to support groups, exclusions lists, time outs, manual implementation of limits, activity reminders, locally set restrictions on betting amount, bonus buys, etc., and more. When and if you decide that you are gambling too much, the casino will have policies in place to protect you.
Signs of illegal online casinos
Illegal online casinos rarely appear as such. You must have significant experience in the iGaming industry to recognize online casinos that are illegal, unsafe, or likely to go rogue. Even our team may fall for an operator to later realize that they are running an illegal business.
Proprietary casino apps in the form of progressive web applications or APKs are usually developed by not regulated operators who cannot get approval to be listed on the official app stores.
A casino license issued by a country you cannot find on the map like Panama, Curacao, or Costa Rica is another red flag.
In most cases, online casinos that host 10,000+ games from 150+ studios are not locally regulated. You see, gaming studios must acquire a license to operate in every jurisdiction like casinos do, which translates to about 1,000 – 2,000 games at the best legal casinos.
Casinos that only work with crypto are also typically illegal and employ this payment system to avoid confiscation of their funds or blocked payments.
Legal and illegal casinos might be as good and safe, though the majority of unregulated casinos eventually trick players and leave them without any legal recourse.
Other aspects to consider during your casino selection
Legal online casinos guarantee a safe and secure iGaming experience. However, this isn’t the only aspect you should consider when reviewing or selecting an online casino. Our experts look at the following areas, too, and you should as well:
- Customer support should be provided around the clock through different channels. Agents should be within reach via phone, live chat, or email, and be quick to respond in a polite manner.
- The casino website should be neatly compartmentalized to ensure easy navigation and quick transition from one section to another. Solid game filters can elevate your gaming experience and link you with new slots or game niches that you wouldn’t spot otherwise.
- Your experience should be equally fast and pleasant no matter the device you are using. Legit casinos are optimized for play across desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets.
- The gaming categories the casino features should match your preferences. What’s the point of finding a legal casino without any games that interest you?
- And of course, online casino bonuses for new and existing players significantly impact your wallet and ability to play for longer or even turn a profit.
Robust online casino licensing bodies
A license issued by a Government regulator in Canada doesn’t make a casino legal in Australia, and vice versa. Every jurisdiction with legal online gambling appoints an official authority to license and oversee approved casinos.
Having said that, a couple iGaming regulatory bodies have created the parameters that guide most of the gambling legislation introduced worldwide. These include:
- The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC)
- Malta Gaming Authority (MGA)
- Ontario Gaming Commission (Ontario, Canada)
The US has distinct iGaming regulators for each state, and the same goes for Canada. Some jurisdictions where gambling isn’t defined in the law treat online casinos with offshore licenses as legal – see New Zealand and India as examples of this.
Other iGaming regulatory authorities
Some countries take online gambling head-on by establishing certain parameters and authorities to ensure licensed online casinos meet them. Others choose to ignore offshore online casinos and purposefully avoid passing laws in favor or against them.
To establish some level of protection in the latter case, international iGaming companies test online casino games for fairness and act as mediators for disputes between casinos and their users. Although they do not offer the same level of protection as a local iGaming license does, it won’t hurt keeping them in mind:
- BMM Labs
- Ecogra
- GLI
- SIQ
- RiskCherry
- Quinel
Key takeaways
This guide has provided a long list of signs to help you spot legal online casinos and unregulated operators. The importance of sticking with the former shouldn’t have to be stated, yet I did that too.
I wouldn’t rely on offshore iGaming regulators in countries where local bodies are in place. Having said that, a casino license doesn’t mean a casino is great. Take into account everything I covered above, and you are guaranteed a safe gambling experience with all the features you might need down the line.