The online casino sector has been growing rapidly, and today, you can access lots of casino games. The best gambling platforms are licensed and support a wide range of payment methods. You should also go for casinos that offer lots of games. In this guide, we will look at various aspects of online casinos.
The different types of online casino
Online casinos come in many different forms. These include classic online casinos, mobile apps, mobile casino sites, crypto casinos, and no deposit bonus casinos. Let’s look at each of these types.
Real Money Online Casino
These are gambling sites that offer classic casino games. The most popular classic games are three-reel slots, and these are the simplest and most straight forward real money pokies games. Australian real money pokies are similar to traditional casino machines. Many of them use fruit symbols.
An advantage for australian of online casino in real money is that they offer fast gameplay. They also have high variance, meaning you can win large amounts of money. However, you should remember that this also means you can lose large sums of money in one bet.
Online casino apps
The other type of online casino is the mobile app. You should check the required version of Android or iOS as these apps can’t be installed on older devices. Online casino apps will usually offer fewer games compared to desktop casinos.
This is because many software providers are still making games that aren’t compatible with smartphones and tablets. The advantage of mobile casino apps is that they let you play games when on the move; you don’t have to be at home to use these platforms.
You should remember to install all updates since mobile casino apps hold a lot of sensitive personal information. Updates will help to prevent security breaches.
Mobile casino
Mobile casinos are similar to casino apps, but they can be accessed via browsers. You will simply log into your account via the mobile site. Licensed mobile casinos are extremely secure, but you should check for certain safety features.
For example, you should ensure that they use SSL encryption to protect your personal details. Once you establish that the mobile site is secure, you can go ahead and enter your credentials. It is also safe to make deposits and withdrawals on mobile platforms.
Cryptocurrency casino
Cryptocurrencies have been in existence for more than 10 years, and they are slowly gaining mainstream adoption. The online gambling sector is among the main industries that have adopted cryptocurrencies.
Lots of casinos only allow you to make deposits and withdrawals using cryptocurrencies. In some cases, the platforms will accept both fiat currencies and crypto.
An advantage of crypto casinos is that they offer provably fair games. These games use the blockchain to verify that the results are fair and random. This means you don’t need to trust the casino, software providers, or licensing authority. Some of the most popular cryptocurrencies you can use in online gambling platforms are Bitcoin, Tether, Ethereum, Tron, Cardano, Solana, and Binance USD.
With Crypto Casino, you won’t need to add any personal or sensitive details. That means you won’t have any risk of losing your identity. You should note that the transfer speeds vary depending on the blockchain or cryptocurrency you use.
For example, with Bitcoin, the transactions can take a few minutes, and Solana transfers take less than a few seconds. Another thing to remember is that the transfer fees can also vary significantly depending on the blockchain used. In some cases, you will be able to make transfers with negligible fees.
Free casino or no deposit bonus casino
No deposit bonuses aren’t very common in online casinos. With these offers, you won’t have to make a payment in order to get the offer. You should only complete certain tasks on the platforms. For example, you can sign up or complete the verification process.
No deposit bonuses are usually fairly low, and you will have to make a deposit before you withdraw your winnings. While they may not give you large winnings, they will help you to build your gambling fund on the site.
No deposit bonuses may be offered as cash bonuses or free spins. If you receive free spins, you should pay attention to the validity period and wagering requirements. Also, note that these free spins are meant to be used on specific free pokies.
Online casino security and reliability
Online casinos handle a lot of money. You also have to send lots of personal details through the casino. For these reasons, it is important to only sign up in online casinos that are secure. You can verify that a casino is secure by checking for the following features.
The online casino license
All legitimate online casinos in real money have gambling licenses. The licensing authorities confirm that the casino games are all fair and random. That means you will not lose your money to fraud. Casinos that are caught cheating customers end up paying huge fines, and they suffer many other consequences.
This is why it is unlikely that they would consider using fraud. Online casino licensing authorities also ensure that the casino management team isn’t linked to any known criminals. This further lowers the chance that you will get scammed on the sites.
There are many reputable licensing authorities. Some of these are the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), and Alderney Gambling Control Commission. Many real money online casinos in australia also use the Curacao gambling license.
While this offers a decent level of security, you should remember that it does not protect customers in case of disputes with the casinos. Licenses like the MGA and UKGC include guidelines on how customer disputes can be settled. This process usually involves working with an independent arbitrator. In the worst case, you can even take the matter to court.
You should remember to check whether the licenses are still valid before you sign up at any casino. Details on the licenses are usually listed at the bottom of the gambling platforms.
The SSL and HTTPS certificate
SSL and HTTPS certificates are also very important in online casinos. SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer, and this certificate is issued by a certificate authority. It confirms the identity of a website, meaning your chances of getting scammed will be much lower. It also confirms the validity of the data sent over the website.
With SSL certificates, your communication with the gambling site will be completely secure. It encrypts the information you transmit to the casino, meaning no one will be able to view your credit card details and other sensitive personal details.
You can easily tell whether a website has an SSL certificate. You just need to check for the ‘S’ in the ‘https://’ address. If the site only uses an ‘http://’, you should avoid adding personal details as they will be easily accessible to hackers. Casinos with SSL certificates also have a padlock icon in the address bar, as well as a Secure symbol.
HTTPS certificates indicate that the casino uses both SSL encryption and TLS technology. With an HTTPS certificate, it will be very hard for other users to intercept and tamper with your data. This means you will be less likely to become a victim of identity theft.
The best casino bonuses and promotions
Online casinos initially gained popularity because of their generous bonuses and promotions. The offers come in many different forms. Some of the most common types are no deposit bonuses, free spins, welcome offers, casino tournaments, and referral bonuses. We’ll explore each of these offers below.
NDB or No deposit bonus
No deposit bonuses are usually offered to new members of online casinos. As the name suggests, you will not need to make a payment to claim these offers. Instead, you should complete certain actions that will be specified by the gambling site.
For example, you can complete the verification process to claim the offers. Other casinos will give you a bonus for being active on social media or participating in live broadcasts of the gambling service.
No deposit bonuses are usually offered in smaller amounts as you will be exposed to very little risk. You may receive a set amount of cash or free spins to play certain pokies no download. The best thing about no deposit bonuses is that they give you a chance to familiarize yourself with the casino, and you can determine whether the platform will be suitable for you.
Receiving a free bonus just for signing up or verifying your account can seem attractive. However, you should note that you will be required to make a deposit before you cash out your winnings. You also have to fulfil certain wagering requirements before you withdraw the funds.
Welcome bonus
Almost all casinos offer welcome bonuses to their new customers. Very few gamblers will consider signing up on a platform that does not have a welcome offer. Casino welcome bonuses are mostly granted in the form of match bonuses.
That means you need to deposit a certain amount of money, and the casino will match it by a certain percentage. For example, with a 100% match bonus, your initial deposit will be doubled. The bonuses may also include a set number of free spins.
It is important to remember that welcome bonuses are only available to new members of online casinos. Most gambling sites limit them to one IP address, household, account, and email address. The point of these terms is to prevent one person from claiming the offer multiple times. Trying to get around this rule can lead to the termination of your gambling account.
When using welcome bonuses, you have to pay close attention to the wagering requirements. Lower wagering requirements are ideal since they give you a better chance of turning a profit with the offers.
Free spins bonus
Free spins can be offered for many different reasons. The welcome bonus may include a certain number of free spins, and these will usually be used to play several pokies online. You can also get free spins on special days of the week.
Many casinos will require you to make a deposit before you claim free spins offers. Free spins usually need to be used within a set number of days, so you should confirm these details in the terms and conditions. There is also a maximum limit to the amount you can withdraw with these promotions. Any funds you win above this limit will be returned to the gambling site.
Free spins bonuses can help you explore new and interesting online pokies. You can also use them to build a bankroll on the gambling site. Note that free spins may also have wagering requirements. In this case, the winnings from the extra spins will be added to the bonus fund. You will then need to wager these funds a certain number of times before you make a withdrawal.
Casino tournament
Casinos organize tournaments to encourage their customers to play games more often. These tournaments are usually organized around certain pokies. You should check the tournament terms to see the online pokies that will contribute to your points in the promotion.
While many tournaments are free to join, some will require a small fee. The winners of the tournament will usually receive cash rewards, free spins, or even physical goods. You can also get rewards like free hotel stays, free meals, free drinks, and invites to parties.
Paid tournaments are especially attractive as the fees help to fund the cash reward. That means you will stand a chance to win a sizeable amount of money. For example, if the tournament charges players $100, and 1000 people participate, you will have a potential prize of $100,000.
You don’t have to be among the top players in the tournament to get a reward. Casinos reward hundreds of participants in the promotions. Those towards the bottom of the leaderboard may only receive credits. However, this still means you will get more gameplay for your money.
Since pokies are a game of chance, there are no real strategies you can use to maximize your chances of getting the top prizes in these tournaments. You should avoid checking the leaderboard frequently as the rankings typically change in seconds. Only the final results will matter.
While you can’t directly influence the outcomes of individual games, you can maximize your chances of winning by managing your bankroll properly. Such strategies will keep you playing for a longer period. You should note that all credits you get in the tournament will need to be used during the promotional period. Therefore, it is advisable to exhaust them before the tournament ends.
Online pokies tournaments come in many different forms. The most common ones are scheduled tournaments, and these are set to start and end on specific dates. They can run for as little as a few hours or as long as many months. You should sign up for the tournaments on the promotion page of the casino.
The other types are sit-and-go tournaments, and these are offered 24/7 with no schedule. The tournaments have a set number of seats, and once these are filled, the tournament will kick off. Sit-and-go tournaments run for a very short period and can even be completed in ten minutes.
The other popular type of tournament is the buy-in promotion. This requires players to pay a certain fee to enter the competition. This is usually a small amount of less than $20. The fee is meant to contribute to the prize pool of the tournament, and it typically gets very large.
Other types of real pokies tournaments are PCH slot tournaments, comped tournaments, reloader tournaments, extender tournaments, survivor online pokies australia tournaments, and freeroll tournaments.
Referral bonus
You may know someone who would want to join a particular online casino. By referring them to the casino, you will be able to claim a special referral bonus. This isn’t available in all casinos, but it is fairly common. The offer may be granted as a percentage of your friend’s first deposit, or it may be fixed at a certain amount.
Claiming this offer isn’t as simple as letting your friend know that a particular casino exists; the casino will need proof that your friend signed up and made a deposit in the casino. In most cases, this is done with a unique referral link.
You have to ask your friend to sign up using the link as this will show that you asked them to join the casino. Other casinos will give you a unique referral code. Again, your friend will need to enter this code when they sign up on the platform. Once your friend makes their first deposit, you will receive the referral bonus. Some casinos may require your friend to wager the deposit before you can claim the offer.
The referral bonus can be immediately cashable, or it may have some wagering requirements. If it has a wagering requirement, you will need to stake it a few times before it is transferred to your real-money account.
It is important to check the terms of the referral bonuses as these promotions are commonly abused. If you violate the terms of the offer frequently, the casino may end up terminating your account.
Bonus conditions
Bonuses come with different terms and conditions, and you must respect them if you wish to keep the offers. Some casinos will even close your account if you consistently breach their bonus terms. You should understand how the terms work.
The wager
Most bonuses will specify the wagering requirements. This simply refers to the number of times the bonus needs to be wagered before it can be used as real money. For example, if a bonus has a 40X wagering requirement and you get a $100 bonus, you will need to stake a total of $4000 before your funds can be used as real money.
Casinos don’t allow customers to make withdrawals before the wagering requirements are met. If you attempt to withdraw your money, the casino will remove the bonus and any winnings you have accumulated so far with the offer.
The other thing you need to understand is that different games contribute differently to the wagering requirements. For example, pokies may contribute 100% to the rollover requirement, while blackjack games may only contribute 10%. In this case, a $100 wager on australian pokies will clear $100 in the wagering requirements.
On the other hand, a $100 wager on blackjack would only clear $10 in the rollover requirements. This example shows you how it would take a long time to meet the wagering requirements with games that have low wager contributions.
It is also important to remember that live dealer games are usually excluded from regular casino bonuses. That means they don’t contribute any amount to the wagering requirements of the offers. Many virtual casino games may also be excluded.
Usually, high RTP pokies and games are excluded as they can increase the liability of the casino. You will usually be able to see the list of games with 0% contributions in the bonus terms and conditions.
Wagering requirements may apply to the bonus amount only, although many casinos apply it to the deposit as well. You will usually have to play through the available deposit before you start wagering the bonus.
If the wagering requirement applies to the deposit and bonus, you will not have to lose your entire deposit before you start wagering the offer. However, the overall amount you will have to turn over will be higher. If the rollover requirement only applies to the bonus, you will be forced to lose your entire deposit first.
The standard wagering requirements are between 20X and 40X. Lower rollover requirements are preferable as they let you get done with the offer faster. In other words, you will have a lower risk of losing the entire deposit and bonus before you finish wagering the offer.
The max bet
All casinos and casino bonuses have a maximum bet. While it is important to take note of this limit, you should remember that the bonus terms will override this limit. The bonus conditions will indicate the maximum bet you can make.
The maximum bet is usually set at around $5 or $6.50, and you will not be able to place a bet that is higher than the maximum limit. If you manage to place higher bets, the casino will cancel your bonus and any winnings you have accumulated with the offer.
The maximum bet can force you to spend more time playing with the welcome offer. You will have to be patient to meet the wagering requirements of the bonuses. If you always place very high bets, it would be better for you to claim high-roller bonuses. These ones are usually much higher than regular offers and will give you a higher maximum bet limit. This limit can go up to around $15.
While maximum bet limits can be annoying, they can help players stick to their responsible gambling policies. Bonuses will give you a lot more money to play with, and you can easily get carried away when playing games online. You may easily bet more than you normally do.
The maximum bet rule forces you to stick to reasonable limits. Online casinos also use these limits to lower their liability. If you place huge bets, you will be likely to win large amounts of money. If everyone suddenly uses their offers to place huge bets, the casino may have to pay out large sums of money all at once.
The duration of the bonus
The other important bonus term to check is the bonus duration. This will show you when the bonus will expire. You will have to meet the wagering requirements of the offers before this duration expires.
Best Online Casino games
The earliest online casino games were developed in the 1990s, and this was when the first online gambling sites were set up. Games back then were extremely simple. Over the years, software providers have been able to increase the complexity of the games. Let’s look at some of the best online casino games.
Pokies & slots machines
Free online pokies and Real money pokies are the most popular casino games. This is because they are very simple to play, and they are also designed to be extremely entertaining. Best online Pokies are completely random. That means you don’t need to perfect any skills or strategies to play pokies. The pokies online that use older designs are referred to as classic slots, and they usually have three reels. Many of them also feature fruit symbols.
Over the years, software providers have created free pokies online with many reels and rows, and these provide many winning lines. Games like Megaways offer more than 100,000 winning lines. You can even select the number of pay lines you want to play. The games use many different themes, including movies and television shows.
The other aspect of modern video pokies is that they are designed to be highly immersive. This is achieved through the use of excellent graphics and background sounds. As an example, Western Gold 2 uses the Wild West setting and puts you in the right mood with appropriate music. The games are now being designed like video games and not just slot machines.
Table games
Table games have been casino favourites for decades. With the creation of online casinos, these games have become more accessible to gamblers all around the world. Table games come in different varieties. They include blackjack, baccarat, roulette, and poker.
The live casino
Live casinos are fairly new, and they help to bridge online casinos with brick-and-mortar gambling sites. These games feature real human dealers, and they are set in actual gambling halls. You will be able to communicate with the dealers as the games go on. Since live casino games are played in real-time, you can verify that they are fair. The best games in this category are developed by Evolution Gaming.
Mini-games
Mini-games are smaller or shorter versions of regular games. You can play these games if you don’t want to spend a lot of time playing the usual casino games.
Free casino games
Many virtual casino games are available in demo mode. That means you can play the games without making a deposit. Free casino games are just meant for entertainment and won’t give you any real-money winnings.
Online casino customer service
Casinos should offer high-quality customer support. You should be able to reach the team 24/7, and the agents need to be accessible via email, live chat, or telephone. Other platforms also have WhatsApp or Telegram accounts.
How to deposit and how to withdraw at the best casinos?
For the best experience in online casinos, you have to pick sites that accept a variety of deposit and withdrawal methods. Here are some of the most popular payment methods in casinos:
- Credit cards
- E-wallets
- Prepaid cards
- Cryptocurrencies
- Bank transfer
You should note that each banking method has a different transfer period and cost. Go through the casino terms to determine their withdrawal period. Note that casinos won't allow you to withdraw funds before you meet the wagering requirements.
How to make a deposit at an online casino
To make a deposit in online casinos, you should follow these steps:
- Sign in to the gambling site
- Go to the banking section
- Click the deposit option and select a payment method
- Add the payment amount and enter your account details
How to withdraw from an online casino
You should follow these steps to withdraw money from an online casino:
- Log into your casino account
- Go to the withdrawal section
- Click the withdrawal button
- Choose an amount to cash out and select a payment method
- Add your payment details and finish the withdrawal
Reviews and advice on online casinos
There are thousands of online casinos today. You can access these platforms on mobile or desktop devices. Some of the best games you can play in online casinos are pokies, blackjack, baccarat, roulette, and poker. These platforms also offer live dealer games. A great advantage of online casinos is that they offer generous bonuses and promotions.
The best online casinos for australian players are :
- Mystake Casino
- Neon54 Casino
- Millionz Casino
Absolutely, find the best pokies online at the Australian online casinos on our list. We find for example play’n go, Microgaming, Pragmatic play, Big Time gaming and all the biggest providers of pokies in real money.
The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 makes it illegal for gambling providers from Australia.