Here you’ll find honest reviews of popular online casinos. We recommend the best online casinos based on trust, security, and game fairness. We want to help players find honest online casinos that are safe, secure, and reputable while avoiding the worst online casinos that have lots of complaints.
The following recommendations for top online casinos are based on our team’s in-depth analyses. These suggestions only feature trusted and safe casino sites.
Ranking the Best Online Casinos – Criteria we Use in Our Online Casino Reviews
What makes an online casino “the best”? Online casinos come in all different shapes and sizes. Some have a broader selection of online casino games to play, while other casinos offer better bonuses to help you build your bankroll. There are real money online casinos that have better payback percentages and odds, and other casinos that offer the easiest deposits. Some casinos offer fast payouts and instant withdrawals.
- Brand Reputation – If the casino has a good reputation throughout the industry and, more importantly, with players, then this gives the casino a boost.
- Variety of Games – The casino has to hold your attention. Therefore the type and number of games available to play is of paramount importance
- Licensing Jurisdiction – If the casino is licensed in a dubious jurisdiction, this will hurt the rating of the casino. Likewise, if licensed by the UKGC, for example, this will, in turn, provide a positive marker.
- Customer Support – What is it like? Is it the equivalent of being served by an uninterested member of staff at Currys, or do the casino support agent inspire confidence and treat you as a valued member of their casino?
- Casino Banking – Does casino payout winnings fast, or do they try and trip you up at every turn, including putting the reverse withdrawal in the way of your cashout?
- Responsible Gambling – The casino needs to have in place a readily accessible facility, whereby players can set deposit limits and also take a break as and when required.
- Player Promotions – Everyone likes to be chucked a bone from time to time, and this is no different when playing at an online casino.
The above list is not exhaustive but provides you with an excellent idea as to why and how we have come to our top five online casinos for 2024. Each of which is listed below, so as you can check out their dedicated reviews.
Popular Online Casino Reviews
Finding Good Online Casino Bonuses & Promotions
Almost every online casino offers promotions as a means of attracting new players and retaining current customers. The main aspects that we consider when reviewing casino promos include the offer and terms and conditions. Below you can see various online casino promotions as well as their common terms and conditions.
No-Deposit Bonus
Many online casino bonuses require that you make a deposit to qualify for their welcome offer. A no-deposit bonus is an exception, though, because you don’t have to deposit to qualify for this deal. Instead, the main provision is that you complete a casino’s account registration process.
Once you’re officially registered at the casino, you must visit your account and claim the no-deposit funds. Most no-deposit bonuses aren’t very large and fall in the $5 to $20 range.
A standard no-deposit offer allows you to withdraw both the bonus amount and winnings earned through the bonus. However, the main catch is that you must meet playthrough (a.k.a. wagering requirements), which is listed as a multiple of the bonus.
For example, if you receive a $10 no-deposit bonus with 50x wagering requirements, you must wager $500 (10×50) to withdraw the bonus and any potential winnings.
Considering that you have to meet playthrough on negative expectation games, odds are that you’ll only earn a fraction of the bonus or nothing at all.
Here are other common terms and conditions associated with no deposit bonuses:
- Game restrictions – Many no-deposit offers are restricted to slots, keno, and scratch cards.
- Game contributions – If high-paying table games are allowed (e.g., blackjack), they may only contribute a limited amount to playthrough (e.g., 25%).
- Maximum winnings – Most casinos limit the amount of winnings you can earn from a no-deposit offer. For example, you might be restricted to $50 maximum winnings from a $10 bonus.
- Time limit – You normally have to meet playthrough within a certain number of days (e.g., 30 days).
- Deposit requirement – Once you meet playthrough, most no-deposit deals (not all) require a deposit before you can withdraw the bonus.
First Deposit Bonus
A first deposit bonus is available to players who haven’t yet deposited at an internet casino. These deals are expressed as a match percentage of the deposit amount, such as a 100% match bonus.
First deposit deals also cap the maximum amount of bonus money that players qualify for. For example, a casino might offer a 100% match bonus up to $500.
You must meet playthrough to withdraw the first deposit offer. Wagering requirements can either be expressed as a multiple of the bonus or a multiple of the bonus plus deposit amount.
Unlike with a no-deposit bonus, you receive the entire bonus you’re eligible for upon meeting wagering requirements for a first deposit bonus. For instance, if you qualify for a $100 bonus, you’ll receive exactly $100 upon satisfying playthrough.
Here are other common T&Cs associated with first deposit bonuses:
- Minimum deposit – You must deposit a minimum amount of money to qualify for a bonus. Usually, this amount is equal to the casino’s standard minimum deposit (e.g., $20).
- Game contributions – Certain high-paying games can contribute less towards wagering requirements. Slots with high payback (e.g., 97.5% RTP or above) usually contribute less towards playthrough too.
- Game exclusions – Some deposit bonuses allow all (or nearly all) casino games to count towards playthrough. However, other deals exclude table games and certain slots from meeting playthrough.
- Time limit – Wagering requirements must usually be met within a specified amount of time (e.g., 60 days).
- One bonus at a time – You need to satisfy playthrough on the current bonus before depositing again to chase a new bonus. Depositing again and going for another deal can nullify your first deposit offer.
Free Spins
Free spins allow you to play real money slots without risking your own money. This deal can be offered as either a no-deposit bonus or a deposit deal.
You use the free spins to accumulate winnings, which are eligible for withdrawal upon meeting playthrough. For example, if you make $10 and playthrough is 35x, you’ll have to wager $350 (10 x 35) before the funds are officially yours.
Below are the standard T&Cs on free spins:
- Slot restrictions – Some free spin deals are restricted to a specific game(s).
- Claim time frame – You normally only have a few days (e.g., 3 days) to claim your free spins.
- Time limit – Once claimed, you must use free spins within a specified amount of time (e.g., 7 days).
- Maximum winnings – Most of these offers limit the amount of money you can earn through free spins.
Reload Bonuses
A reload bonus is very similar to first-time deposit bonuses. The main difference is that reload offers are available when you’ve already played through the first deposit deal.
Sometimes reload bonuses are a special promotion, while other times they’re a recurring offer that can happen once every week. For example, a casino might offer a reload bonus worth 75% of your deposit.
Reload deals are typically subject to the same terms and conditions as a first-time deposit bonus.
Cashback
Cashback (a.k.a. rebate) refunds a percentage of your total casino losses after you satisfy certain terms and conditions. The percentage of losses that you receive back often ranges between 10% and 25%.
Many casinos also offer cashback on total wagers made, which is usually worth between 0.05% and 0.15%.
A rebate is commonly offered as a deposit bonus or a daily/weekly/monthly promotion.
A cashback deposit bonus sees you receive a percentage of your losses back when you go bust. For example, if you lose a $100 deposit under a 25% cashback deal, you’ll receive $25 back.
Cashback promotions refund a percentage of your losses for a given time frame. For instance, if you lose $200 under a weekly 20% cashback deal, you’ll receive $40 back.
Here are common terms and conditions for cashback offers:
- Cashback limit – Casinos usually limit the amount of money you can earn from cashback deals during one week or month. For example, you could be limited to $200 cashback for a single month.
- Bonuses & VIP rewards count as winnings – Any bonuses and VIP rewards that you earn during a cashback promotion are often counted as winnings. Example: $400 loss – $200 win – $100 bonuses/VIP = $100 total loss.
- Withdrawal restrictions – Users who have made a withdrawal within a specific time frame (e.g., 30 days) may be excluded from cashback. This practice ensures that players often gamble with cashback rather than habitually withdrawing it.
VIP Programs
A VIP program offers players various rewards, including cashback, free spins, reload bonuses, anniversary gifts, birthday gifts, and higher deposit/withdrawal limits.
Most loyalty programs feature different tiers and reward gamblers better as they move to higher levels. For example, a Bronze-level player may only receive a weekly 100% reload bonus, no gifts, and a $2,000 weekly withdrawal limit. However, a Gold-level player might receive a weekly 125% weekly reload bonus, birthday gift, and a $4,000 weekly cashout limit.
You typically begin receiving VIP rewards as soon as you start placing real money bets at an online casino. You advance up the tiers by earning a specified number of rewards points. Many gaming sites require you to generate a certain number of points every month to maintain your status.
Best Ways to Deposit & Withdraw Money at Online Casinos
Credit cards
Most internet casinos accept major credit cards as a form of payment. Visa and MasterCard are accepted banking methods at a large majority of gaming sites. American Express and Discover are also found at some casinos.
One benefit of using credit cards at gaming sites is fast transactions with approved deposits being completed instantly.
Ease of use is another advantage. You merely need to provide your name, billing info, and card information to gain approval and start depositing.
The downside to credit card deposits is that you need to use another banking method to withdraw money. Many card users must withdraw through wire transfer or check, both of which can take up to seven days or more.
Cash transfers
You can use cash transfer services like Moneygram and Western Union to make internet casino deposits. This option can be completed either online or in person at a local branch. You must visit the relevant casino to obtain the necessary information to complete deposits.
One advantage of cash transfers is that they’re safe, provided you’re sending money to a legitimate gaming site. Another perk is that you can use cash to fund your deposit at a nearby branch.
Downsides include the fact that cash transfers are less convenient than many other banking options, and they come with sizeable fees. For example, Western Union charges $5 for a casino deposit worth up to $50, which is 10% or more of the total deposit.
eWallets
An eWallet is an online payment service that allows you to both send and receive money. You must link a bank account to an eWallet to have a source to draw money from. The most-popular eWallets include Neteller, Skrill, and PayPal.
One benefit to eWallets is that you can make deposits and withdrawals through one banking option. Another advantage is safety – because your personal and financial information is kept completely separate from your casino account. Furthermore, you don’t have to worry if a casino is hacked since your info is kept separate.
The main drawback to eWallets is that many countries can’t use them at online casinos. Major eWallets mainly serve licensed and regulated markets, leaving those in grey markets (e.g., the US) seeking alternative deposit/withdrawal options.
Prepaid cards
A prepaid card requires that you load money onto the card. Once your card is funded, you can make an online casino deposit. If your prepaid card balance dips too low, you can add more funds and continue using it.
Prepaid cards offer those without a bank account an option to play online casino games. These cards are also good for people who want to avoid having gambling transactions appear on credit card statements.
A downside to prepaid cards is that they include monthly fees, which normally range from $4 to $10. Also, note that some internet casinos don’t accept prepaid cards as a banking option.
Bitcoin (cryptocurrency)
Bitcoin, the most-popular cryptocurrency, has become a common way to fund online casino accounts in recent years.
To use Bitcoin, you begin by visiting a fiat-to-crypto exchange (e.g., Coinbase). You can use fiat like USD or GBP to buy cryptocurrency. After purchasing Bitcoin, you can either store it in a virtual wallet or keep it on the fiat exchange.
The next step involves finding the casino’s wallet address in the website’s banking section. You must input the casino’s wallet address when sending Bitcoin from your wallet/fiat exchange.
Advantages to Bitcoin include near anonymity, low fees, and being able to use it for deposits and withdrawals. The main drawback is that laymen will find the Bitcoin banking process more complex than using a credit card or eWallet.
> See our list of the best bitcoin casinos
Live dealer casino games
Live dealer casinos feature table games with a human dealer and real equipment. The action is streamed from a land-based casino or studio. Common live dealer games that are offered include baccarat, blackjack, Caribbean stud, craps, casino hold’em, roulette, and three-card roulette.
Live dealer odds are competitive with virtual table games in terms of RTP. For example, certain online blackjack variations offer 99.5% payback or above.
The catch, though, is that many game developers require minimum bets ranging from $3 to $10. The standard minimum wager for virtual table games is only $1.
Online Casino FAQ
1. Is online gambling legal?
Every region throughout the world has different laws, and they change from time to time, so we can’t really answer that question. To be sure, you should contact your local legal representative to answer any of your questions.
2. Where are online casinos and sportsbooks located?
All Internet casinos are located outside the U.S. They are generally licensed in the country they are in and have to report to the local government (although to varying degrees depending on the country). Antigua, Curacao, St. Kitts, Grenada, Dominican Republican, Gibraltar, Cook Islands are just a few countries that license online casinos. Having said this, though, many of the companies that run casinos offshore are actually operated from the US – it is just their servers that are located offshore. Indeed, several of the companies are listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
The reason these small countries allow online gambling operators to set up is because it can help boost their economy. Companies pay up to $100,000 to gain a gaming license in these countries, as well as paying ongoing taxes to the local government.
3. How safe are online casinos and sportsbooks?
So far there have been very few problems with licensed casino payouts and deposit security. Many of the jurisdictions require that the licensee post bonds of cash or insurance as part of the license requirements.
Your personal security (including credit card details and other personal information) should also be guaranteed under license agreements. Most casinos and sports books use secure servers to conduct all of their transactions, and all information about you is held offline. Many also take out insurance against fraud.
4. How fair are Internet Casinos?
Online casinos are fairer than many people realize. The “house” is happy making the normal profits of gambling. Indeed many of the casinos give better odds because they do not have the overhead of a land-based casino. However, all Internet casinos are not created equal.
In many of the countries, the computer programs must be submitted to the government for thorough checking of fairness toward the player, and the casino also has to be audited by one of the big six international accounting firms.
The most important part of an online casino is a specially designed program called the random number generator. This is the program that generates a sequence of numbers that correspond to various card types, dice throws, etc. A good random number generator is one that generates numbers that are evenly distributed and not correlated and remain completely unpredictable.
If a random number generator is evenly distributed and not correlated, each number will be hit approximately the same number of times after a large number of runs. If a random number generator is unpredictable, you will not be able to predict the next number in a series no matter how many previously generated numbers you have studied.
5. How does the software an Internet casino uses affect my chances of winning?
The casino software is the backbone of any Internet casino. There are five primary casino software providers to the online casino industry. It is our experience that in real time play, two of these providers have very poor reputations for fairness (i.e. the odds are not fair to the gambler). Casino Rankings would never recommend a casino that uses this software.
6. What are the pros and cons of Internet gambling?
There can be no debate that online gambling is a lot different than gambling in a physical casino. In some ways it is better and in some ways it is worse. Below are some pros and cons of online gambling compared to gambling in a “real” casino.
The Pros
Online gambling is a competitive business and many casinos will offer a lot to get and keep your business. Many will offer sign-up bonuses to new customers, adding 10 to 50% of their initial deposit to their bankroll (see below for more on this subject). Some will randomly deposit money in customer accounts and others will give away vacations for specified levels of total money bet.
- The rules are usually better than in physical casinos.
- You don’t have to travel long distances. The casino is in your own home.
- You don’t have to suffer real casino annoyances.
- You don’t have to feel obligated to tip.
The Cons
On some online casinos, you have to be patient about getting your money after you cash out. In addition to waiting periods on the casino end there are also delays on the credit card end. Debit cards are much faster taking only about 3 to 5 business days.
Customer service can be spotty depending on where you play. Some places offer great service via e-mail and a toll-free number. Others take several days to reply to an e-mail, have no known telephone number, and generally seem like they just don’t want to be bothered aside from taking your money.
The player has no power or authority to turn to in the event of a dispute. Usually in the player agreement it says the casino can make up the rules as they go and in the event of a dispute the casino’s word is final.
If you play at a lot of places your credit/debit card statement will be a nightmare to balance. Transactions seldom indicate the name of the casino you played at but instead specify the merchant bank.
7. What are the different kinds of games offered by online casinos?
Aside from the fact that most casinos offer the usual casino games like Blackjack, Poker, Roulette. There are three major differences. Download, Java or HTML. Download casinos are browser based and require you to download each game to your hard disk. They offer great graphics, animation and sound.
Online casinos using Java allow you to play through the World Wide Web with Java Applets without downloading. Some of these casinos have sound and animation and produce very nice graphics.
The third type of casino online uses HTML, so no download is required. These casinos do not have audio or animation but they deliver very fast game play with superb graphics.
They all seem to retain their own special style. All of these types of online casinos are fun to play and most offer free game play so you can sample the software before actually opening an account. So feel free to browse around for your favorite casino before getting started.
8. Do I have to pay taxes on my winnings?
Paying taxes on your winnings depends upon the jurisdiction in which you reside. Certain countries have strict privacy laws and the casinos will not have financial information disclosed to anyone. Your winnings are up to you to declare.
9. How does Casino Rankings evaluate and rank online casinos?
We look at many factors before we recommend a casino to our Top 10 lists. Things like:
- Is the site government licensed? Can they prove it?
- Is the deposit and payment system secure?
- Are the games audited? If so, by whom?
- What is the casinos “fairness of play” policy?
- Are their policies reasonable?
- What are the payout percentages?
- What is the speed of payment?
- Is the site a member of the Interactive Gaming Council?
- What gambling software is utilized?
- What kind of customer service do they offer?
- Is tech support offered over the telephone?
- Are operators of the site reachable?
- Does the site have an acceptable privacy policy?
- What is the over quality of the site?
- Are the games realistic?
- What do other players have to say about the site?
Finally, we play every casino we recommend to determine if it meets our stringent criteria for inclusion in our Top 10 list.
