How to find licensed online casinos in Ontario this winter
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It is essential that you do not gamble at an unlicensed casino in Canada, or any country for that matter. If you do, you’re setting yourself up to be scammed. You could be supporting crime, and you won’t have the protections that Canadians should be enjoying when they gamble online.
Luckily, finding licensed online casinos in Ontario isn’t that difficult. We’re going to share a few tips with you to help you along the way:
In Ontario, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario issues licenses to online casinos, and most other gambling establishments in the province. A license demonstrates that the online casino has met their legal obligations for running an online casino. This means that they are fair to their customers, that they are not going to manipulate their machines to reduce the odds of winning and that problem gamblers will be protected.
Licensed casinos offer several benefits:
- They are operating legally in Ontario. An online casino cannot offer gambling services to those living in Ontario unless they have fulfilled their legal obligation and obtained a license from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
- The online casino has processes in place to help prevent problem gamblers from being able to gamble. The licensed online casino must continually monitor their gamblers to see whether any issues related to problem gambling are likely to arise.
- Licensed casinos must be honest about the win rates on their games. They are not allowed to manipulate the coding of their casino games to give them a better edge than stated. This will constantly be checked by gambling authorities.
- The online casino has a duty of care towards their customers. They must answer any customer queries quickly, and they must deal with problems completely.
- The online casino must work to prevent money laundering.
If you gamble at an unlicensed online casino, then you do run the risk of being scammed. It isn’t uncommon for unlicensed online casinos to manipulate betting odds to ensure that their players almost never win. This is one of the ways they make their money, and since the online casino is unlicensed — and probably based in another country, there’s nothing you can do about it. If an online casino licensed in Ontario tried the same thing, they will lose their license and be fined a hefty sum of cash.
All online casinos licensed in Ontario must display their license number on their website. You will normally find it at the bottom of the website in a rather prominent position.
You can check this number with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. We highly encourage you to confirm the validity of the license if the online casino is unknown. There are some online casinos that have falsely claimed to have an Ontario gambling license. Obviously, you want to avoid those. It’s like when you are trying to find a great Black Friday deal on something. If something looks too good to be true or suspicious, the chances are it is!
Below, we review what we believe are the top licensed casinos in Ontario. However, before we get to that point, we want to give you a few top tips for choosing an online casino. This is assuming that you have already checked to confirm the casino is licensed. That should always be step one.
- Always check out the games available at the online casino. Many online casinos specialize in certain games. For example, 888 Casino is a firm favorite for slot machine gamblers, while BetMGM may be slightly better if you prefer table games. Although, both offer a little bit of everything.
- You should always check the online casino bonuses available. While we would never suggest that you choose an online casino based on its casino bonus alone, it is nice to know what sort of incentives you’ll be getting if you play there. We love online casinos that have regular VIP bonuses for their players.
- Withdrawals and deposit methods are important. You want to know that your selected online casino supports the payment methods that you have at your disposal. We highly recommend that you aim for an online casino that has fast withdrawals. These tend to be more reputable, plus who doesn’t like getting access to their cash faster?
- It is important that your selected online casino has quality customer support. If there is live chat available at the online casino, that’s fantastic! Although, if there isn’t live chat, that isn’t a huge issue. You just need to know that if you run into an issue, the online casino staff are easy to get in touch with.
- If you plan on playing on your mobile device, as many people do, then check out the online casino on your mobile browser. If it doesn’t load up properly, it may not support mobile gamblers and you should probably give it a pass.
Gambling in Ontario is nothing new, and as a result, we have tested out tons and tons of online casinos. Below, we tell you about a few of our favorites:
888 Casino is one of the top online casino brands in the world. They are known for their vast selection of games, especially on the slot machine front. As a European casino, they offer some pretty amazing games from suppliers such as Microgaming and NetEnt, many of which you would struggle to find at other online casinos.
BetMGM is a huge gambling brand that mainly focuses on table games. Gamble at BetMGM, and you can enjoy the likes of roulette, blackjack, poker and more. If you can name a casino game, they’ll probably have it. You can even dabble in a bit of live gambling from the comfort of your own home!
LeoVegas is an online casino brand from Europe. They offer a little bit of everything. If you are in the mood to get your hands on a top casino bonus, including regular VIP bonuses, then they may be worth checking out.
