It has totally exploded with new online casinos lately in Europe, especially last two-three years where we have seen new operators releasing new products every week! During this time we have seen some casinos that have dominated the market with their innovative and exciting features. We will cover who these are and which casino you should choose when playing slot online.
How come the online casino has gained so much attraction over the last couple of years? One, rather simple reason is that people indeed like to play casino. Humans have always played it for the last century and will continue to do so. Another reason is that Internet has advanced in many ways so even with the online casino.
Meaning; easy access, play wherever you want and how you want, no need to go to an actual casino to feel that excitement a play on roulette can give you. Further, brands like Leo Vegas, BGO, Thrills have invested a lot of money into advertising across Europe to attract players. The result of this, more and more people are conscious of online casinos.
We all have seen or even tried to play slot machines at our local casino. They are probably many people’s first introduction to the casino even though a limit of winning in a real casino is slimmer than digitally one. For the land based casino, this has been a cash cow for quite some time, but it has been revolutionized because of the digital switch across the world.
A license is a must!
To operate an online casino, you need to have a license from a gaming authority, like Malta or the UK. By obtaining a gaming license, foreign gaming companies like LeoVegas and Thrills can offer their services across Europe. By having a license in Europe, you have also right to promote across the whole EU even if you don’t have a physical presence there. As a player, you have a lot more casinos to choose between and can expect lucrative offers to get you on board.
Now we have explained a bit behind the casino and its popularity. The question now is how do you know which of all these hundreds of online casinos to choose?
To make it a bit easier for you, we will present a short guide that lets you find the right one.
Which casinos have a good bonus?
The first suggestion is to look for a good welcome offer. There are many options on the internet where casino operators attract new customers by absolutely fantastic bonuses and who are we to say no to a great offer? There is nothing that binds you as a member to continue to play at the casino, but it is free to pick how many welcome bonuses you want and desire. Another reason why you should take part is that you can also get a welcome bonus first time you make a deposit. It is not uncommon to get double your deposit, where you deposit €50 and get €50 from the casino and have a total of €100 to play with. Also, by being a member, you will start receiving a lot of good promotions on email, exclusively for you and the casino you are playing at.
Free spins
One of the most common bonuses there is so-called free spins. Free spins are free chances to spin on a slot machine that is often decided in advance, where the likelihood of winning are just as same as if you were playing for your money. Free spins, often in combination with a deposit bonus (more on that below), gives you a number of free spins of a certain slot completely free.
Some casino offers free spins where you can win real money if you are lucky enough. This is a way a casino attracts and also show appreciation that you have taken the time to register and play on their casino. There are stories that people have won millions of on only free spins. If this is true or not, you can be sure you can win thousands when you play with free spins.
Deposit Bonuses
As a new customer is offered is often a so-called deposit bonus where a certain percentage matches your first deposit and thus get bigger. Here it is a useful tip to keep track of the numbers. A casino that attracts a deposit bonus of 100% means that you get 100% of your deposit in bonus money. So your first deposit doubled without costing you any extra. Using the same reasoning, one can say that a casino that attracts a welcome bonus of 200% triple your deposit.
Deposit bonuses are most common for new customers and are included in almost all new online casinos, no matter which casino you choose.
It is important to be on guard. Many casinos attract a deposit bonus of up to several thousand, but often it is distributed over several different deposits where the first matched with a higher percentage than the next. For example, deposit bonus of 25% up to €100 x 3 for you to get €300.
Besides, that it looks great with the bonus, it is common to receive advantages from deposit bonuses on selected campaigns. Many online casinos have started with standing campaigns where all members of the casino have access to a deposit bonus on a chosen day of the week or promotions that are sent out by email.
Wagering
Now we go into depth to understand what makes a good bonus and bad bonus. Although bonuses and free spins are free, they often mean that you have to wager the bonus a number of times ahead before you can cash out.
It means that you have to play for the bonus a few times before it turns into real money. The reason for this is that it would have been too easy otherwise.
Casino sides want to avoid people who come to the casino get the free spins without making a deposit. Simply put – it just bad business. They won’t make any money and players will not get such a great welcome bonuses as we see today.
The wagering requirements are often determined to be around 40 times the money. This affects how much you have to play. The easiest way to understand how much you have to play before the bonus is real money is to multiply wagering with how much bonus money you received.
In a case where you received €100 in bonus money where wagering requirement is 30, you must then play for 40 * €100 = €3000. It may sound a lot but don’t be scared of this high number. The casino pays average return of 95% per turnover, which means that it is quite common to successfully wager the bonus and pick out the real money from it.
Promotions
It is natural that casino players will become a member of several online casinos. This is not only to take advantage of the bonuses one get as a new customer but also to take advantage of the many promotions the casino can offer, whether you have already deposited money or just signing up. Most online casinos will send out information about special offerings and promotions every week where both free spins and deposit bonuses are common. However, it can often be difficult in advance to figure out which campaigns casino will offer you and how often they occur.
A great welcome offer
Apart from a bonus perspective, a casino offers the following: free spins (any time of registration), deposit bonuses that are matched by over 100%, a wagering requirement of fewer than 40 times. The casino should also add extra promotions, 2-3 times per week. You can easily find this kind of casinos, and you should focus on the welcome offer.
Below is an example of a welcome offer you should not say no to:
200% deposit bonus up to €200 + 100 free spins, Wagering 35 times the money. What you need to be sure of is that it is full bonus amount matched and that the bonuses are into an increasing staircase.
Choose a casino with great games
After you have found the right kind of welcome offer, be sure to look for the games are of good quality. The simplest way of recognizing this is to look for game providers that the casinos are offering. Casinos that aim towards the UK market would be Microgaming, Netent or Evolution Gaming written on the list. If the casino does not showcase these distributors, you should look for something else.
The casino gets extra points in addition to the classic big game providers also offer games from smaller ones like Yggdrasil Gaming and Elk. Keep an eye out for classic slot games like Starburst, Gonzo’s Quest and Twin Spin. Normally, all casinos are there, and if you don’t find these above, you should look for alternatives. As players we want the casino to play fair and be up to date with the latest games. This is not necessarily because of the new game is better, but mainly because you want to play at a casino that is reputable and wants to be good.
Table Games
Besides slots casino, it’s also about playing the classic games like Blackjack and Roulette. Are you used to play slots, you know it can be nice to relax with some classic games if only to activate the brain or try your luck at something different.
Today there is good technique to play live table game where a croupier share cards or play roulette live on camera along with other players. This is as close as you can get a regular casino as possible, where you will be able to live chat, both with the dealer and other players. It is a nice way of playing as you will see all aspects of the game than playing against a computer that calculates how the game goes.
Characteristics of good casinos
In addition to games and bonuses, it is the people who run the casino who are crucial how well a casino is. This is also what is the foundation for how safe the casino is where you eventually will put your money in.
Some important characteristics of a casino are the language. One can say that the casinos that market itself to the Europe should also have the local language they are targeting. Look also for recommendations. There are several pages like this which have the task to examine and review various online casinos. Many of these websites are operated however for commercial purposes where they are paid by the casinos that are marketed. Therefore check that the page which recommends the casino itself is credible and seem to know what they’re talking about.
When you read reviews of the casino sites, you should also ensure that the casino you are considering becoming a member of in local language support, preferably available over the phone and that they are open seven days a week. To give you some examples we will review some of the casinos which you can trust and play safely on.