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How to Gamble Safely: All the Secrets to Safe Online Gambling

Online gambling is becoming more and more popular. The effect has been doubly compounded because of the meteoric rise of mobile casinos. This has contributed immensely to the rapid growth of the industry. Players are now capable of playing from anywhere and whenever they want. But many of them completely forget about the risks while enjoying their favorite pastime online. There are several things to consider before signing up at an online casino. This includes the trustworthiness of the casino operator, the safety of your personal data, and, of course, the risk of gambling addiction, amongst other things. To set you up for a good start, we curated a list with some of the most important points on how to gamble safely.

Safe Online Gambling – Dos and Don’ts

Before we analyze each aspec of staying safe while playing at online casinos, let’s go over some quick tips. These are things that you should do as well as some things you should avoid at all cost. If you remember and follow them, you’ll be significantly lowering your chances of becoming a scam victim.

Safe Gambling Dos

  • Play at licensed and trusted casinos only.
  • Play at casinos with active SSL encryption certificates.
  • Understand the games before playing for real money.
  • Read the terms and conditions.
  • Check the validity of any licenses by clicking on the seal of approval.
  • Install anti-virus on your playing device just in case.
  • Have a spending budget.

Safe Gambling Don’t’s

  • Don’t share payment details on shared computers.
  • Avoid entering any details while on public WiFi.
  • Never share your account details with anyone.
  • Don’t claim all bonuses that seem generous.
  • Don’t click on suspicious emails from casino operators and links in such emails.
  • Don’t be afraid or ashamed to use self-restriction tools or ask for help.

Online Casino License

If you want to ensure online safe gambling, you must first determine whether a gambling site is safe and reliable. It is important that you know where you are playing and that you can be sure that when you win big, your winnings will actually be paid out. Now, online casino safety can be determined in a number of ways, one of which is the presence of a gambling license.

All reliable and secure online casinos will have a gambling license. This often comes from countries such as the UK, Malta, Curaçao, Gibraltar, and Costa Rica, to name but a few. These countries have clear gambling regulations that they strictly carry through. As to which license is the most relevant for you as a player and which will provide you with the best protection, this largely depends on your place of residence. Also, keep in mind that not all casino licenses are valid in all jurisdictions. In order to find out more about this topic, we recommend checking out our GoodLuckMate guides, as well as our expert casino reviews. That way, you can easily find the best online casinos safe for playing real money games.

Making Online Payments

Another great way to detect safe casinos is by checking if they offer a wide range of trustworthy and reputable banking options. This is always a good sign that you can trust the casino, as popular payment providers will not offer their services to shady operators. It’s also worth having a look at deposit and withdrawal limits, as well as transaction fees, before getting started. Then, always pick the safest payment option available to you. For example, bank transfers are safer than credit cards.

Trustworthy Casino Games

High-quality games are a hallmark of the reliability of gambling sites and a superb way to determine how safe are online casinos. After all, that’s what most people are here for anyways. Therefore, you should always have a look at the software studios that are providing games for the online casino. If you can spot popular names such as NetEnt, Yggdrasil, Microgaming, Playtech, or Evolution, this is a clear indicator that the online casino is trustworthy. Reputable game developers will only partner up with the best online casinos that abide by the rules and follow industry standards.

Betsson Mobile Casino

Read the Terms & Conditions

We know that this is a boring topic, however, it is much needed in order to separate the genuine casino wheat from the rogue site chaff. This is of particular importance when it comes to bonus terms, as some online casinos have rules in place that are quite unfavorable for the player. An online casino will make a casino bonus look good at first glance. However, not all casino bonuses will be worth it. Therefore, read the terms and conditions before you start claiming any offers. It’s not always easy to figure out what to look out for, so it’s a good idea to check out our expert casino reviews. We always point out unfair terms and conditions without any reservation. Still, a general rule of thumb is that the safest online gambling sites will make their terms as transparent as possible.

Know Your Limits

By setting yourself some limits, you can avoid a lot of trouble and reduce the risk of developing a gambling addiction. All legit online casinos offer you a decent selection of tools to set up deposit limits, loss limits, and time limits, amongst other things. It is also important that you have the option to exclude yourself from the site entirely in case you need to cool off after a bad losing streak. 

Securely Encrypted Sites

Make sure that the casino at which you are playing is using state-of-the-art encryption technology to keep your monetary transactions and personal data safe. Typically, this is achieved by a so-called SSL encryption. You can spot whether a website is encrypted or not fairly easily. In the top left corner of your browser, right next to the address bar, there should be a lock symbol. If you can see a closed lock, then all data sent between you and the website is fully encrypted and cannot be accessed by any third parties. Then, you can rest assured you’re playing at a secure and reputable online casino and go on with your iGaming adventure. 

Safe Gambling Sites to Consider

If you’re not sure where to start and all the thousands of operators listed here are confusing, let us help. Find a list of safe gambling sites you can join below. These are tested brands by our experts and meet our strict requirements. They all have licenses, fair games, and reasonable terms. Once there, you can look around, confirm their SSL encryption status, license status, and so on. This will help you understand how safe online casinos look like and, therefore, recognize unsafe and suspicious ones.

Mirax Casino is a safe and trusted gambling operator. It's licensed in Curacao, uses latest SSL encryption technology, and has an entire page dedicated to responsible gambling.

Hejgo Casino is another online casino dedicated to responsible gambling. The site is 100% secure, has trusted banking methods, and holds a MGA license.

GSlot is licensed in Malta and offers lots of information about safe and responsible gambling to its users. The site and its banking methods are also top-class.

Final Thoughts on How to Gamble Safely

So, is online gambling safe? Well, if you follow all the above-mentioned tips, you should be able to filter out most of the hazards that might cross your way. Still, keep in mind that there are many other factors that can contribute to a safe online gambling experience online. If you want to find out more about the safety and trustworthiness of a particular online casino, we recommend that you check out our GoodLuckMate expert casino reviews for the full lowdown! We only feature the most trusted online casinos, so safety won’t be a concern!

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Andreas Schmidt
Andreas Schmidt
Last Update: 13 Mar 2023
Andreas is our go-to guy for anything related to poker or in-depth guides. He's not only a former professional poker player, but he's also been working within the iGaming industry itself since 2014. Casino, Poker and Sports Betting are his main areas of expertise, in addition to anything and everything related to payment processes at online casinos.
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