Finding a good online casino can be daunting for a traditional player or for a new player. Here at Best Casino HQ, we aim to give you all the safety tips and information to decide where to play and what options are best for you.
How We’ve Ranked The Best Online Casinos In The UK
The best online casinos that we’ve listed on this page have been ranked not just on how they look but based on many important factors like safety, trustworthiness, reputation & selection of games to play. We know how important safety and trust are to users in an online platform, especially one that involves their money or personal information.
You can view full details on how we rank & rate casinos by reading our casino review policy.
How To Choose The Best UK Casino Site For You
Choosing an online casino will always vary from player to player. This decision largely depends on your goals and what you want to get out of your online casino experience. But rest assured, we are here to help.
Outside of your goals and all the great bonuses that online casinos have to offer, other factors are more important to you as a player to ensure you have a great experience.
The first two are trust and safety. When choosing an online casino, one of the first things you should do is ensure they have all the necessary licenses to lawfully operate. You can do this by scrolling down to the very bottom of the casino site & looking for their license details.
After finding a licensed casino, the next thing to check is that the casino website actually loads fast & is easy to use. After all, you don’t want to find yourself playing on a website that loads slowly or on which the casino games freeze, as that will just result in frustration.
And lastly, one other important factor is banking. It’s important to check the casino’s deposit and withdrawal methods, check the fees if there are any, and check the processing time for each method to find what’s best for you.
The good news is that if you are looking for casinos with specific deposit methods, we’ve got you covered. We’ve created individual pages listing casinos by their deposit method offerings, with some of the most popular listed below:
Then, once you’ve checked all the big important boxes listed above, you can start looking at things like the variety of games, bonuses and the general look and feel of the platform.
Best Casino Website Welcome Offers
Online casinos offer bonuses and rewards to welcome you on board. These bonuses range from deposit bonuses & free spins bonuses to no deposit bonuses & sign up bonuses. Below we’ve listed a few different types of common casino bonuses and how they work.
Deposit Bonuses
For deposit bonuses, casinos will typically add a percentage of your deposit into your account or match your deposit up to a certain amount. For example, a casino may match your first deposit up to a specific amount, such as 200 pounds.
Free Spins
Another type of bonus is the free spins bonus. This means you get a specific number of free spins on some of the games. The number of spins differs from site to site.
No Deposit Bonus
Then there is the no-deposit welcome bonus, where you can get credit to your account when you sign up without making a deposit first.
How To Register at a Casino Site & Start Playing Games Online
The sign-up or registration process for most online casinos is pretty much the same as any other website. However, sometimes the information that is required may differ from platform to platform.
Once you have chosen your casino based on the criteria above, you’re going to need to visit their website to register. You can do this by browsing through our list of online casino sites above & then simply hitting the “Visit Site” button to be taken directly to their website.
Registration
The next step is registration. Here you will need to find the button that takes you there, this will typically be on the home page or in a menu on the top left or right of the screen.
During this process, you will be asked for an email address, a password, a username and sometimes your preferred currency. This is followed by more details about your age, gender, your real name and surname. Once you click sign up, you’re done.
Bonuses and Deposits
At this point, you are registered and can now start interacting. You may get a pop-up that tells you to deposit money into your account before you start playing. But before that, you will generally want to collect your bonus (if you signed up at a casino that offers a bonus).
Depending on the specific bonus offer, you may need to deposit funds before receiving your bonus. But in other cases, such as in no deposit bonuses, you can continue straight to collect your bonus and start playing.
Playing The Games
In the same menu at the top, there will usually be a link to the games. When you have clicked on this, you will be directed to a page where you can select from a variety of games. And that’s it; you’re all set.
All you need to do from this point is simply tap on a game that takes your fancy & then it’ll open up for you to play. If you’re unsure of the rules, simply look for the “Help” or “(i)” icons on the game main menu & you’ll be provided with instructions on how to play.
Responsible Gaming Guidelines For UK Players
Now that you’re all set, there are a few things to remember about gaming and online casinos.
The most important thing is to remember that these games are meant for recreation and not to be used as a source of income.
Always limit or keep track of how much time you spend on casinos and gaming. This will help you regulate how much time and money you are spending and help you set limits.
And with that in mind, you should always keep a budget or limit for how much money you will spend on gaming and stick to it. Never fall into the trap of trying to win back your losses.
Manual Flushing & Other Casino Site Features
Manual flushing is offered by some online casinos to ensure that clients have the option to reverse withdrawal requests, in turn allowing them the opportunity to either change their mind about the withdrawal or rather continue gambling with the remaining funds.
How it works depends on the payment method the casino uses. Generally, the withdrawal request takes 24-48 hours. The casino should verify the person’s banking details, personal information, Identity Document or photo and utility bill.
The benefit of manual flushing is that most online casinos licensed by the UK Gambling Commission feature it. In addition, this feature extends beyond the UK online casinos.
What Are The UK’s Most Popular Online Casino Games?
UK players enjoy playing a wide variety of casino games, but the 3 most popular ones are:
Online Slots
Online slots are by far one of the UK’s most popular casino games. UK players love to play online slot games & it’s easy to see why because when it comes to slots there are many variations, meaning there is something for everybody.
Whether it’s classic slot games like the fruit machines you’d typically see in pubs or the latest slot games such as Slingo (which combines both bingo & slots), there are games out there to entertain everybody.
Roulette
Also known as the “Devil’s game”, roulette is very famous in the online casino world. An interesting fact is all the numbers on the roulette wheel combined add up to 666, hence the nickname.
There are different variations of roulette, but they all feature a similar premise. Place a bet, watch the wheel spin & see if the ball lands on the number (or numbers) that you bet on.
If the ball lands on a number you’ve chosen, you win! If it doesn’t, you lose.
And this level of simplicity is likely one of the main reasons why roulette is loved by so many in the UK. It’s an easy game to play, yet the rewards for a win can still be very high.
Blackjack
A very popular online game in the UK, as one of the very few games where the casino becomes your opponent. The casino plays as the dealer, if you win, you take the money from the house.
Blackjack begins with the player receiving two cards & the dealer gets the same amount of cards too. One card has to face up & depending on the value of the cards, you could either; Stand, Double Down, Surrender, Split Cards or even Hit for another card.
The purpose of the game is to beat the dealer by producing a hand close to or equal to 21. However, if you exceed 21 that is called going bust, which means you lost the game. If you manage to get 21, then that results in a tie, which means a draw result.
Casino Wagering Requirements Explained
Wagering requirements, also known as play-through requirements, are the number of times the player has to bet the total bonus amount before he or she can withdraw any winnings.
Some casinos require players to wager their deposit as well as the bonus to gamble a lot more before having the option of withdrawing their winnings.
Unfortunately, if the player fails to meet the wagering requirements by a specified time frame, many casinos will actually void the bonus altogether.
A typical example of how wagering requirements work is if you have £100 and the wagering requirements are 35x, this means that you would have to wager £3,500 before you can receive some returns.
UK Casino Sites FAQs
Whilst we’ve tried to cover everything there is to know about UK casino sites on the page above, we appreciate that there may still be some additional questions floating around in your mind. To help answer them, we’ve included an additional casino sites FAQ below:
Why do online casinos offer bonuses?
Online casinos offer bonuses as an incentive to get new players to join and play at their casino sites. They know that because of the house edge & wagering requirements, they will likely get their bonus money back (and more money) in the long run if the players keep playing.
Which online casino pays the quickest?
Many casinos now offer instant payouts via Ewallets such as PayPal & Skrill. If you’d like to find a fast-paying casino site, simply check out our real money casino sites page.
Are online casinos safe?
Yes, licensed online casino sites are safe as they are regulated to make sure that they are operating legitimately. Here at Best Casino HQ, we only ever featured licensed online casinos within our listings.
Can you win real money at online casinos?
Yes, online casinos have some of the best bonus offers which you can use to potentially win real money. We’ve even put together a full list of real money casino sites.
Which online casino has the best payouts?
You can check out the list of casino sites at the top of this page to find the best-paying casino. We’ve listed them together in a table to make them easy to compare.
What is the best casino for UK players?
The best casino depends on your requirements. Thankfully we’ve compared several of the best casinos for UK players & provided them in a table at the top of this page so that you can easily find the best one for you based on your individual requirements.
Which casino site has the best odds?
The odds differ from game to game, but to find the online casino with the best odds & highest-paying games, simply check out the comparison table at the top of this page.
Are online casinos rigged?
No, online casinos are not rigged. Online casinos have something known as a house edge which means that, ultimately, the casino (or “house”) always wins. So there would be no need for a casino to be “rigged” because the odds are in its favour to win in the long run.
