How to Gamble Online without Goofs

How to Play in Online Casinos: Start-Up Guide
By Mike Reeves


QUICK START GUIDE: Is My Money Safe Online?

This was our biggest question and it’s probably yours. It seems like you’re taking a real chance depositing money with an Internet casino. What if you go back the next day and the whole Web site is gone? Or, what if the Web site is there but your money is gone?

On top of that worry, you may be wondering whether the games are even fair. Does anyone ever win?

Nobody wants to throw their money away. But I’ve been an Internet surfer for years, and one thing the Internet is good for is research. And that’s what I did. I started researching this whole online casino industry.

And you know what I found out? Although thee are a few crooked Internet casinos—as I suspected—I also discovered that there are online casinos that had been in business for ten years or more, whose books were audited by major New York accounting firms, and that are multi-million-dollar operations whose reputations for honesty are as good as any of the casinos in Las Vegas or Atlantic City.

And that’s why I started making lists of which casinos were good, and just as important, which casinos were known to have “problems.” On our Web site, Cindy and I are sharing our lists with you, and this is the most valuable service we can offer. When you go to our Best Online Casinos list, there’s a good reason why every casino is there. We’ve researched them, played them, found the games to be fair, and had no problems collecting when we won. And if you ever see a bonus offer or advertising banner from some casino that’s not on our Best Online Casinos list, before you deposit your money there, go look at the casinos in our Danger Zone. There’s a good reason why every casino is there too.



QUICK START GUIDE: How to Deposit Your Money in an Online Casino

In most countries outside the U.S., you may use a credit card to make a deposit to an online casino. In the U.S. and Canada, however, you can’t use a credit card, but there are a variety of other excellent online banking options you can use, including Neteller, Firepay, and Citadel.

We recommend Neteller as the most convenient banking option for online gaming. Some of the other options have fees that you don’t have with Neteller. In addition, Neteller is the fastest way to withdraw your winnings after you play, and Neteller provides outstanding protection for your account and personal information. Neteller is a Canadian bank, and you can even get a debit card that you can use at any ATM. I really like doing my transactions through a real bank that’s internationally recognized as such.

It’s easy to open a Neteller account. After you download an online casino and log in, you will see a link to the “Cashier” or “Account” area. Here you will find a link for opening a Neteller account. Or, just go directly to www.neteller.com to fill out the short application form.

Once you’ve filled out this form, you may deposit money directly into the online casino using the Neteller “instaCASH” method. This is an instant, direct transfer of any amount you choose from your checking account into your casino account via your Neteller account. Only the bankers at Neteller see your regular bank account and that’s only if you set up this service with them. The online casinos have no access to your regular bank account information, and that’s the way I like it. Neteller charges a fee for the instaCASH method, but most online casinos will cover this fee automatically. To make sure, use the casino’s toll-free number and ask the people in their customer support department.

Or, you may deposit money directly into your Neteller account so that you have it available to play in any casino you choose, any time. You can directly fund your Neteller account using your credit card, a wire transfer, or a no-fee direct transfer from your regular bank checking account. If you use one of these methods, the money will appear in your Neteller account somewhere between a few hours and 4-5 days later, depending on the deposit method you choose.

Once you have linked your Neteller account to a regular bank checking account, you can transfer winnings and any other funds from Neteller to your bank account any time with no charge. This is the way we like to do it. Neteller simply becomes an “arm” of your regular bank account that you can use for transferring funds into and out of online casinos.



QUICK START GUIDE: Withdrawing Money from Online Casinos

Whenever you deposit, and whenever you play and win, your money and any winnings remain in your account, where they can be used to play again, until you decide to withdraw them. To withdraw your money, simply click on the same “Cashier” or “Account” link that you clicked on to make your first deposit. Once inside the casino banking area, select “Withdraw.”

Once you are inside the Withdrawal area, you can select between a variety of ways to receive your winnings, including Neteller and other online banking services, bank draft (that is, a check that is mailed to you) or even a wire transfer directly to your bank account. Depending on the casino and the method you choose, receiving your money can take as little as a few minutes or as much as a few weeks. At a few online casinos, once the casino has confirmed your identity and Neteller account, you will be able to opt for Instant Payment to your Neteller account just by clicking a button.

That’s why Cindy and I like Neteller the best. If you use Neteller, the casino will process your withdrawal within a specified number of hours or days. This time period will be stated either on the Cashier screen or the casino’s Terms and Conditions page. Then the funds will be in your Neteller account within 24 hours after processing.

If you live outside of North America and you made your casino deposit with a credit card, a common method of paying winnings is to credit an amount equal to your original deposit back to your credit card. But any additional amount in your account--your winnings--are usually sent by check (or, for an additional fee, you can request a wire transfer or even Fed Ex).

Depending on the mail system and where you live, it could be weeks before you see your money. Some casinos only cut checks once a week so you can add this to your wait. Still, we like to avoid all extra charges, so we usually choose the best method that is free.

1) your driver’s license (front and back);
2) a recent utility bill (just the top portion with your address); and
3) a bank statement (again, just the top portion with your address).

If you don’t own a scanner, any Office Depot or similar type of photocopy or business center can make scans of these documents for a few bucks. They will put the scans on a disk for you, and you can use these files over and over, attaching them to an email any time a casino requests your ID. Just make sure that the name and address are the same on all these documents and that they are the same name and address as the ones on your casino account. This way, the moment a casino requests your ID, bang!, you email it to them and they get right onto processing your withdrawal request.

Also be aware that a few casinos mail you a personal identification number, or PIN, that you need in order to cash-out. Since your PIN number comes via regular postal mail, your first cash-out at these casinos will take longer than usual. This is just another type of safeguard some online casinos use to make sure they’re not giving your money to the wrong person. Try to think of these things as safety features so you don’t get too irritated with the time it takes to get your money. The online casinos really do make it impossible for a crook to get your money.



QUICK START GUIDE: How to Play in Online Casinos

When you click on a banner for an online casino, you'll arrive at the casino web site. This web site is where you can read about the casino’s Terms and Conditions, their current sign-up bonus and loyalty club, their toll-free support numbers and other contact info, and the games they offer.

This is also where you may choose between the “download” or “no-download” versions of the casino software that you actually play on. About half of all online players prefer not to download—either because they have a Mac (most casino software works on Windows computers), or they don’t want to take the time to download right now, or because they want to try out the casino before they start committing space on their hard drive to it.

Downloaded software is nice because it tends to have better graphics and run faster. The only problem is that, depending on the browser you are using, you may occasionally run into a problem with the download. If you use Internet Explorer, you should have no problem and if you do, Customer Service can help. With less common browsers, like Mozilla Firefox, etc., the download may not work.

If you’re on a 56K modem dial-up connection, it may take 20 to 30 minutes to download a casino’s software. This download time is much shorter on a good DSL or satellite connection, however—usually only a few minutes. After you download the software, you’ll click on the new casino icon on your desktop to finish installing it on your hard drive. This takes just a few more minutes. In the reputable online casinos we recommend on our site, all of this should be pretty automatic and easy to do. Once it’s installed, the software can take up as much as 40MB on your hard drive. This should only be a problem if your computer is pretty ancient.

After downloading and installing the software, you will see a new icon for the casino on your desktop. Double click on that icon to go directly to the casino. Once the software starts, you may be asked whether you want to play for Real Money or for Play Money. Or, hit “Connect,” and you will be prompted to either log in or register a new account. Different online casinos work slightly differently, but all of them are designed to help you get to the games with little effort.



QUICK START GUIDE: Is Gambling Online Legal?

We’re not attorneys so we can’t give you official legal advice, but this is definitely something I looked into. There are no federal laws in the U.S. that prohibit online gambling. Some states in the U.S. have passed local laws against gambling online, but to my knowledge, no U.S. or Canadian player has ever faced charges for playing online for real money.

If you watch TV, you’ve probably seen TV ads for Internet casinos, and you’ll find ads for Internet casinos in lots of magazines and periodicals. So, obviously, if it’s against the law, it isn’t being enforced and it’s pretty widely accepted as legal by the public at large as well as the various police agencies. Look at how many poker players brag on TV about how they won their seats in the big money poker tournaments by entering less expensive online tournaments.

All of the online casinos we list offer free games to play if gambling online for money is illegal where you live. Our advice is to check your local laws before you play to see if Internet gambling is legal in your state or country.




QUICK START GUIDE: Exactly What Are “Bonuses”?

Casino bonuses are literally free money, and can be very valuable to players. Sometimes they are money you can cash out, and sometimes you can’t cash them out, but you can gamble with the bonus money and you can cash out the winnings. Don't underestimate the value of any bonus—whether cashable or for wagering only. Having a bonus to play on can double, triple or even quadruple your chance to win big.

But although bonuses are free money, they do come with some strings attached. Specifically, if you accept a bonus, you must usually give an Internet casino a specified amount of action on their tables or slots to cash out your bonus or winnings. This action is called the wagering requirement.

Also, sometimes certain games are excluded from play on this wagering requirement. Very often, the online casinos don’t allow roulette, craps or baccarat for bonus play, and some prohibit blackjack, video poker, and occasionally other games. Slots—other than video poker—are almost never excluded. So be careful that you don’t play a prohibited game when you’re playing on a bonus, because sometimes this may void the bonus and your winnings on that play.

How do you find out the requirements for any particular bonus? By reading the casino’s “Terms and Conditions.” Most of the misunderstandings between players and online casinos come from a player not reading a casino’s Terms & Conditions. Read them carefully!

Sometimes the Terms & Conditions are listed in several areas of the casino’s web site—so be sure to look for Promotional or Bonus Terms & Conditions, as well as the casino’s general Terms & Conditions. A lot of the terms are legal gobbledygook like you of the “fine print” type you get when you buy a microwave or even rent a video, but do make sure you can live with a casino’s Terms and Conditions before you deposit money or accept any bonus money from an online casino.

Remember, if you only play at reputable online casinos that give players generous bonuses to play on, you have more of a chance to win, no matter what else you do or don't do. Just take a moment and look, really look, at the valuable bonuses you'll find offered on our Best Bonuses page. And all you have to do to get this money to play on is click on a link and follow the instructions to collect.