The United Kingdom has the most competitive online casino industry in the world. A large percentage of the population enjoys gambling and there are no shortage of online casinos attempting to earn your gambling action.
Licensing
Online casinos are required to be licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. A lot of offshore companies will still operate in the UK, but gamblers should ensure that they’re gambling with a licensed casino.
It’s important to choose a licensed casino because more often than not, the casino is reputable. Online casinos wanting to be licensed in the UK need to follow rigorous guidelines and it’s also not cheap to become licensed.
Players also have a form of recourse if they feel like they’ve been treated unfairly.
Game Selection
Some players may not care for a large selection of games, but most gamblers want the biggest selection. With so many software developers building online casino games, the best online casinos today use multiple software providers.
Sure, Microgaming offers hundreds of slots and casino games alone and may be suitable for some players, but if you play slots, you know how much better it is to choose a casino where you can play all of the popular slots with one account.
When comparing online casinos, game selection is always near the top of my list. I want to be able to play all of the big progressive jackpots and I also enjoy being able to play in multiple live dealer studios under the same casino brand.
Today’s best casinos are also mobile-friendly. A lot of new games are developed using HTML5 and are responsive, which means the games adapt to your screen size (IE: Laptop, smartphone or tablet).
Some of you may want to try out the games with play money before gambling real money. The majority of casinos offer the ability to play most games for fun, although certain games like live dealer games are often restricted to real money.
Bonuses and Promotions
With all of the competition, UK casinos are forced to offer excellent offers to players.
In fact, most online casinos have bigger welcome bonuses for players residing in the UK. It’s common today to receive a 100 percent bonus on your first deposit, plus up to 200 free spins to use on popular slots, such as various NetEnt titles.
The bonus should never be a deciding factor when joining a new casino, but is useful when deciding between licensed casinos. Some casinos offer terrible bonuses and there’s no reason to play with these brands.
While you’re unlikely to run into predatory bonus terms with UK licensed casinos, it’s still a good idea to always read the full terms and conditions for bonuses and promotions before you opt-in to any offer.
Banking
One of the main benefits of playing with a UK casino is that you can open an account in GBP (£). This ensures you never need to worry about conversion fees when depositing or withdrawing money from your account.
Banking options are similar across different casino brands. Credit and debit cards are popular in the UK. E-wallets are also popular, including PayPal and Skrill. Reputable casinos won’t charge for deposits or payouts.
Payout times are important for players as well. Thankfully, most UK casinos payout within hours and sometimes within an hour depending upon the method and whether or not you’ve confirmed your identity already.
Comparing casinos is important, as there are just too many well-known brands that have had issues ranging from slow payouts to abusing their own T&C. The good news is most casinos licensed in the UK have stellar reputations.
