With over one million workers employed at 4.8 thousand casinos worldwide, gambling is growing at impressive rates. Dozens of online casinos open their virtual doors daily, and the notorious pandemic only helps it by leaving punters no choice but to opt for online casinos in favor of their beloved brick-and-mortar hubs.

But every coin has two sides. On the one hand, the staggering number of online casinos gives you room for choice and promotes competition, increasing the overall quality of platforms. On the other hand, many online hubs lure you into gambling by offering an allegedly safe environment, generous bonuses, lightning-fast banking, and bazillions other perks, all turning out to be nothing but hooks later on.

Now the question looms: how to separate the wheat from the chaff? Well, the good news is that you can spot a credible casino even without being an expert – for that, make sure it has none of the five signs below.

#1 No License
The absence of a license is a red flag, but here’s a reservation: anonymous and no-registration casinos, all unlicensed for obvious reasons, might be a good choice for users willing to stay private as those casinos do not require any user details – instead, they generate a unique electronic key through which they track your gambling process, accept payments, and issue withdrawals.

Other than that, be it Betsafe casino or any other self-respecting casino for that matter, it must have a license, preferably a few ones since clearing a few separate sets of requirements is harder than clearing just one. That said, not all licensers are equal; the most trusted ones are those issued by the UK Gambling Commission, the Malta Gaming Authority, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, and the Curacao Government. In addition to licenses, a credible casino – unless it’s a new one – should have some international awards, certificates, and other accolades alike, the most valuable among which are seals of approval by independent testing agencies – for example, eCOGRA – because they confirm the fairness of the software (Random Number Generators) used by the casino. The best case, though, would be a Provably Fair casino, a blockchain-based one with the ability to verify the game outcomes while playing or after the end of the session. Provably Fair casinos cannot be rigged as everything is recorded in a public blockchain.

#2 No Mobile Compatibility
Mobile gambling has long gone mainstream, and it would be impossible for a modern casino not to be adapted for mobile devices. There are two types of online casinos:

● Download casinos: to play, you have to download and install the free casino software.

● No-download casinos: you can play directly on your PC or mobile browser.
No-download mobile-compatible casinos are winning the market and are the ones to be recommended.

#3 Poor Gaming Library
You don’t want to jump from one casino to another every time you want to try a new game, do you? If so, make sure the casino you’re going to choose has a decent library of games representing various software providers. Microgaming, NetEnt, Evolution Gaming, Playtech, Playson, iSoftBet, and Yggdrasil are the brands to look for. However, it would be far-fetched to say that only diverse casinos are worth your attention. Some gambling platforms are focused on a single provider – usually a renowned one like Microgaming – catering exclusively to the fans of the brand.

#4 Burdensome Banking
It only makes sense to play for money if you can deposit and withdraw fast and with no fees via multiple gateways, such as bank transfers, debit/credit cards, e-wallets, prepaid cards, mobile payments, and cryptocurrencies. You don’t need every single payment method at once, but it’s good to have all of them so that you could decide on the one you need depending on your demands for privacy, transaction speed, fees, and bonuses that might be offered for using this or that payment method. Besides, it would be wise to check whether verification is required for withdrawals. There are plenty of casinos asking for verification when it’s least expected – that is, at the time of withdrawal – so make sure to verify this in advance.

#5 No Free Play
One of the most discouraging things about gambling is when you cannot play for free. Any worthwhile casino would allow you that, and most platforms wouldn’t require you to open an account. And since Free Play is the only viable way to get the hang of it without spending money prematurely, it would be only wise to start your journey with it.