There are ample real money casino websites working to establish honest reputations with their clientele – licensed and registered operators offering a high quality and entertaining gaming experience. These are the operators you can trust; secure in the knowledge your money and private details are protected, and that all available games are regulated and fair.
However, there is also a large collection of gaming operators attempting to pass themselves off as reputable gambling sites, while at the same time, scamming you for your money, not paying out on time (or ever), marketing biased casino games and conducting other unsafe and dodgy practices.
How to tell if an online casino is unsafe, rogue or shifty?
There are a fair few warning signs you should look out for before deciding which gaming operator to share your hard earned money with, and those signs include:
- Does the sight appear to be designed professionally, and is the wording across the entire website coherent and comprehensible?
- Is the gaming operator licensed, and if so, what gaming jurisdiction and commission is handing out registration and licenses? Five of the most respected and established gaming authority bodies include: The U.K. Gambling Commission, Curaçao eGaming, The Kahnawake Gaming Commission, The Malta Gaming Authority and The Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association.
- By law, all registered and licensed online and mobile casino sites must make publicly available the payout percentages of all their random number generated games. If you cannot find these details, ask the support team (assuming support staff is available), and if they can’t provide you with a sufficient answer, you can dismiss the site as a legitimate operator.
- Ensure a support team is on hand to help you with any requests. Live chat should certainly be available (many legitimate companies now offer 24/7 live chat), and you should always be able to contact the casino directly via email and telephone (24 hours, seven days a week).
- Does the online casino boast pages dedicated to most or all of the following sections? ‘Security’; ‘Terms and Conditions’; ‘Responsible Gambling’; ‘About Us’; Privacy Policy’.
- Is the site recognised and regulated by testing agencies, such as the eCommerce Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance body (eCOGRA), iTech Labs, Gaming Laboratories International, BMM Test Labs? These independent companies test for fair gameplay, validate game payouts, and concern themselves with customer safety and responsible operator conduct.
- Does the web URL display “https://” in its address?
- Financial transactions should be protected with Secure Socket Layer digital encryption technology.
- Gaming software designers utilised by the gambling operator should be reputable and respect, brands like Microgaming, Evolution Gaming, Ezugi, BetSoft, Playtech, Genesis, Rabcat Gambling, QuickSpin, Elk Studios, Net Entertainment, NextGen, NYXGaming, Rival and Thunderkick leading the way.
- Is the gaming site compatible with mobile and tablet devices? If not, question why this is the case, because most reputable and legitimate operators boast fully fledged and high quality mobile and tab interfaces
Some of the most well known blacklisted gambling sites include:
- 21 Nova
- Absolute Poker
- African Palace Casino
- Atlantic Vegas Casino
- Bet Motion
- Balzac Casino
- Brandy Casino
- Casino Grand Bay
- Casino States
- City Club Casino
- Cleopatra’s Casino
- Cool Cat Casino
- Crazy Luck Casino
- Euro City Casino
- Giant Vegas Casino
- Golden Palace
- Grand Privé Casinos
- Indio Casino
- Lake Palace Casino
- Lucky Ace Casino and Poker
- Miami Beach Casino
- Mighty Slots Casino
- Oceans Online Casino
- Planet Kings
- Players Vegas
- Plum Gaming
- Road House Reels Casino
- Royal Dice Casino
- Sky Kings Casino
- Slots Alley
- Smartlive Casino
- Ultimate Bet
- Virtual Casino Group
- Winners Island Casino
These sites have been publicly shamed on respected gambling forums such as WizardOfOdds.com, CasinoListings.com, CasinoMeister.com, Casino.org and AskGamblers.com for reasons such as biased games which unfairly favour the house (failing to use tested and approved random number generator software to ensure all deals, spins, and rolls of the dice are uniquely random), inefficient or no customer support, making it very difficult for players to claim legitimately earned winnings, advertising bonuses, promotions and prizes and not following up on such offers, and weak and unethical business practices with affiliate partners.
Safe and secure Australian online casinos
The following gaming sites are all legally accessible to Australian players 18 years and older, and offer secure real money deposit and withdrawals banking methods such as credit and debit cards, e-wallets like Neteller and Skrill, pre-paid cards and vouchers, as well as direct wire transfers via services such as POLi and Citadel Direct.
- www.RoyalVegasCasino.com
- www.GdayCasino.com
- www.LeoVegas.com
- www.Thrills.com
- www.Guts.com
Popular casino games available at these sites include: interactive, immersive and progressive jackpot video pokies, blackjack, roulette, baccarat, video poker, poker variants against the dealer, sic bo, craps, bingo, keno, instant scratch cards, virtual sports and racing games, and other table games like Casino War (Top Card Trumps) and Crown and Anchor.
Check out the range of live dealer titles, too – real cash casino games which are run by professionally trained croupiers, dealing you cards and spinning roulette wheels, while you partake in and watch the game via a high definition live video feed streamed direct to your computer, tablet or smartphone.
As an online gambling portal for all the latest news and information about Internet casino sites, we constantly keep an eye out for rogue and untrustworthy sites which are looking to scam you for your dollars, and will let you know as soon as we find out if any operator has crossed the line.