As more online casinos become accessible to Canadians, it becomes increasingly important to know which ones are trustworthy and which ones are not. We take our online casino reviews seriously to help you decide which one to join. In this article, we’ll tell you all about our online casino review process so you know how thorough we are. So, without further ado, here’s how we review online casino sites.
Often, what matters most to online casino players is the game library. The best online casinos offer a wide range of games from a great selection of developers. We appreciate it when sites have all the top developers, but we also like it when they include games from up-and-coming ones too.
When you’re playing real-money games, you need to know you’re using a site that takes care of its players’ information and money. One of the most important aspects of our reviews is the security and safety of a casino. The top sites provide SSL encryption and robust privacy policies to protect their customers.
Many players expect decent bonus offersfrom their chosen online casino. A part of our review process involves looking at what deals are available to new and existing customers. We make sure to check the bonus terms and conditions too, because these make a difference. If the wagering requirements are high, then a deal might not be so great.
Being able to make deposits and withdrawals with your preferred payment method is important when gambling online. Many Canadians prefer to use methods they’re familiar with, like Visa, Mastercard, and Interac. We consider the range of methods available, how secure they are, the limits imposed by the casino, and if there are any fees payable.
Online gambling platforms might offer the best games, the safest payment methods, and excellent support, but if the user experience is poor, you’ll easily get frustrated. Our reviews consider the design and usability of a casino. This includes the main desktop site, the mobile site, and any apps it may have.
When you’re taking part in online gambling, there are many reasons why you might need assistance. An excellent online casino will provide a range of support options. The best sites offer 24-hour support with various ways to contact the team. This might include live chat, telephone, email, and web form. A good FAQ section is also welcome.
Adequate licensing and regulation are crucial. Our review process looks for reputable licences and certifications from regulatory bodies like the Malta Gaming Authority. Licences exist for a number of reasons. This includes protecting people from excessive and underage gambling. Another key element of licensing is preventing casinos from being used for crimes like money laundering and fraud.
Reviewing online casinos is a long process. Some platforms are extremely transparent and will provide all the information you need about licensing, terms and conditions, responsible gaming, and privacy policies. Others make accessing this information much more difficult (or impossible). Fair casinos will use random number generators and third-party testing to prove their fairness.
When assessing different casino platforms, we also consider their mobile compatibility. This means whether their website is mobile optimized and whether there are official apps. Not having an official app or APK isn’t necessarily a problem, provided that the website is fully mobile-optimized and all of the games are accessible through the mobile browser.
Our first step in the review process is researching the casino and collecting data. We look into the casino in question and find out as much about it as possible. Our research involves looking for licences, business addresses, owners and groups, and customer reviews from independent sites. We also try and find out how many customers a site has.
One of the best parts of the process is testing the games on offer. Some sites only have a few hundred games, while others have thousands. We test as many as possible, both in demo mode and with real money bets. We try to sample titles from different software providers too, to get an overall view of the site’s offering.
This is a crucial aspect of any review. A bonus is only as good as the terms and conditions allow it to be. We look at what the bonus offers are and what the T&Cs mean for players. If the wagering requirements are too high and the time frame is too short, it’s not a great offer after all.
Many players expect not to need customer support, but when you do, you want it to be accessible and helpful. We review casinos based on the range of ways you can get support (telephone, live chat, email, web form, FAQs) when the support is available and how responsive and helpful the support agents are.
Anyone can claim to have a gaming licence, so we don’t just take the casino’s word for it. We check licensing thoroughly with the regulatory body in question. If a site states they use eCOGRA, we also check this too. Finally, we look into whether they’re meeting their legal obligations as per their licensing authority’s rules.
Software developers often produce their games with different RTPs. This means you can play the same game at two different casinos and have different payout percentages. We consider a good payout percentage to be over 96%. Part of our review means we check you’re getting the best RTPs for each game and at the casino as a whole.
