choosing an internet casino

Before joining an internet casino it is worth having a tour around the site, taking advantage of being able to play for fun. Playing free casino games will get used to the games on offer; the various game features and rules, and of course warm yourself up to making that first deposit!

When playing free casino games give the following points some consideration:

Graphics, Speed, Sound etc.
Is the overall playing experience to your liking? There seems little point joining if something about the presentation of the games you intend play­ing is not right. You will always be able to find a site that suits your per­sonal requirements.

Software
See what kind of software is used, perhaps visiting the website of the software producer itself (see below).

Customer Support
Have a go at contacting Customer Support, and see in what form(s) this is available - live chat (very useful when you get a response), telephone (toll-free), email etc.

Dig
In order to feel as secure as is realistically possible you might spend some time checking out the financial stability of the casino, whether it has insurance, licensing and so on. Click on the About Us tab. Does the casino have any (independently judged) awards and affiliation to respected 'watchdog' bodies such as the Interactive Gaming Council or eCogra (see below).

Rules
Get acquainted with the rules, just in case. If you have a problem -particularly with your cash in the casino's accounts! - you don't want to fall foul of some obscure piece of small print.

Consult other Players
Word of mouth is always useful - better to learn of good (or bad) experi­ences of customers than to blindly follow the casino's own self-recommendation. The best way to do this is to visit forums, where advice is always available.

Privacy
Make sure your details are safe with the casino, that their policy ensures that these will not be passed on elsewhere.

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Obviously some factors are more important than others, depending on how you see the whole business of the internet. It is worth seeing how experienced online gamblers approach the selection issue. In December 2003 Harrods Casino (www.harrods-casino.com) released the findings of in-depth telephone research that asked experienced gamblers their se­lection criteria for playing online casinos.

Here are the results in descending order of importance:

1. Confidence and trust in the casino, especially the importance of brands with which they have previously interacted. Players em­phasized their concern over gambling at unknown brands as they could not be confident they would be offered a fair game or even be paid their winnings.

2. Quick and efficient cash-outs.

3. Favourable odds of winning.

4. Responsive and individualised customer service.

5. Ease, speed and quality of play.

6. Sign-up and other bonuses.

Note the long-term priorities here, with the emphasis firmly on confi­dence in the site itself, familiarity being particularly important. Of course this is no different to gambling life in general - I am not going to hand over my hard earned cash to an unknown back street bookmakers when there's a Ladbrokes around the corner, and nor would I accept better than evens odds on Black on Mr Big's home made roulette table. Bonuses are obviously an attraction of sorts, but we shouldn't allow their lure to cloud our judgement at the cost of good old-fashioned trust. The very brand name of Harrods, for example, is so well known and respected throughout the world that whatever venture it undertakes is guaranteed to receive respect, thus affording it a head start on an identical project introduced by myself, for instance... Incidentally this research also found that Blackjack was the favourite game of the respondents, followed by roulette, slots and baccarat.

Other research has found that as much as 20 percent of website visitors will soon abandon sites that they don't consider to be user-friendly. Put in the simple, fundamental and crucial context of clients' money, this dem­onstrates the importance for sites - regardless of whether they offer sports betting, traditional casino games or other forms of gambling - to provide their customers with a comfortable, helpful and easy to under­stand online environment. If the general look and feel of a site is not properly addressed by those who run it, then potential customers might

not take the plunge and deposit their cash, while existing clients can nowadays be so easily enticed elsewhere. This is why we are suitably im­pressed by those sites that seek to constantly maintain a certain level of user-oriented facilities and features, with regular improvements and up­dates serving to hold on to our patronage.

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