In my last article, I discussed 3 of the most common mistakes made by gamblers. Yet since writing the post, I have come to realise that there is another major pitfall that players can find themselves in when gambling – choosing the wrong casino.

You’d be surprised how often horror stories appear on casino forums. Stories of players winning seriously impressive amounts of money, yet hitting brick walls when trying to withdraw their winnings. Some don’t win at all owing to fixed games. Others have found themselves victims of fraud, down to rogue casinos not protecting their banking data well enough. It’s enough to put you off gambling online for life!

It is not all bad news though. For every bad apple out there, there are plenty more reliable, trustworthy and honest operators where you can experience the thrill and excitement of playing your favourite games in a safe environment. The key thing is knowing how to identify them.

There are a few simple steps you can take to make sure that you steer clear of dishonest and unreliable operators and only pick the best.

The first piece of advice I can give is to do your research. If you like the look of an online casino, check out its credentials before you sign up and divulge your sensitive personal data. Safe casinos are licenced and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission. They invite independent testing of their RNG and game results by respected authorities such as eCOGRA, GLI and TST. Furthermore, they use encrypted transactions and sophisticated technical security to ensure that your personal information is strictly protected. Reputable operators offer transparency and display their licencing and security certification clearly on their site. A quick check before you sign up could save you a lot of aggro further down the line.

Another important factor in picking a good casino is the welcome bonus that is on offer. Let’s be clear, bigger does not always mean better when it comes to casino bonuses. Shady operators may draw you in with an impressive looking bonus. Yet the terms and conditions attached to it can be highly unfavourable. I have seen dodgy offers with a wagering requirement of over 100x and just a 3-day validity. In that case, you are hardly likely to get your hands on your winnings. Always check the bonus conditions to ensure that the terms are favourable and that you can play your game of choice with it.

There are reliable resources available online which are specifically created to guide players in choosing the best online casinos, such as https://www.bestonlinecasinos.org.uk/. Read the expert reviews and you will not only be guaranteed to play at a safe casino, but you will also learn how the game selection, bonus offers and banking options match up to your needs.

By practicing caution when choosing where to gamble with real money online, you can play with complete peace of mind that you will be safe and protected.

This blog post was originally titled – “MY Most Common Gambling Mistakes” but while researching the topic I’ve concluded I share the same gambling missteps with most of you! Even though this doesn’t make me feel super extraordinary or special, I’m certain now that a topic like this one will be beneficial especially for all of you just discovering the excitement of gambling but lack the experience in something that is so much more than a simple game! So, let’s focus, here are our 3 favourite slipups.

Gambling Without a Limit

I bet you’ve heard many times that managing your bankroll is extremely important. And it really is, unless you’re freaking Bill Gates or some other friend of him featured on the Forbes Billionaires List. If you didn’t see your name on that chart, setting a daily, weekly or monthly gambling budget is a top priority! Plan your gambling expenses according to your income and whenever you reach your loss or win limit – just stop, no excuses, no 2 more bets or what so ever! Gambling should be a positive and an exciting activity and to keep it this way, self-discipline is the only strategy you should follow. Knowing when to stop will save yourself the financial and emotional problems which can turn into an addiction if you neglect them in the long run.

Believing in the Gamblers Fallacy

Consciously or subconsciously, I think we all have fallen into the gambler’s fallacy trap. Believing that the outcome of a random event is somehow affected by the outcome of a previous random event is a complete nonsense! Yet somehow, our mind always looks for the logic even when dealing with games based on pure randomness. So, whenever you catch yourself hoping for the next spin to crack the jackpot because it’s been quite some time since this has happened, just know that this is not how randomness works and your gut feeling is blurring your mind. I think this is probably one of the hardest mistakes to overcome, as most of the time players don’t even realize how their brain is playing tricks and fooling them that randomness can be predicted.

Making Bets with Terrible Odds

This mistake category may seem as an easy one to avoid, however, it’s just as tricky as the previous two. The reason is that considering the house edge is not always enough when choosing your games. Going for the games with higher RTP is a matter of comparing a few numbers yet often enough a lot of low house edge game variations offer additional temptations which have terrible odds. The list of bet types which you better pretend are not available features all side bets, insurance bet in blackjack, progressive jackpots, single-number bets in roulette, tie bet in baccarat and of course the winner of them all – all Keno bets! They all have one thing in common – the superpower to make your bankroll disappear just as quick as your high hopes for a huge win.

Long back before I became a regular player, the bulky slot machines in land-based casinos were my one and only idea of gambling. They looked as the laziest entertainment ever, sitting on a chair and simply waiting for the matching symbols to show up. Nowadays online slots have their loyal share of fans and the entertainment level has reached a totally new dimension. In the next few paragraphs, I’m going to tell you why slots are the perfect start for every beginner and what are the few little things to consider when playing an RNG game.

Advantages of Playing Slots Online

Slots are an easy form of entertainment and that is the main reason for them to be so popular among first-time casino visitors. If you’re new, there is nothing more stressful than dealing with complicated rules, strategy charts, live dealers or any other type of intimidating elements. And with slots, you successfully avoid all of these worries straightaway. The only action required from you as a player is to select the desired bet value and then go for the spin button. Everything else depends on the Random Number Generator.

The next key advantage is that most slot variations have a wide bet range. This allows new players to start with smaller bets and to adjust them as their confidence and experience grow with time. Not only that, almost every slot has a free demo mode available and the option to try the gameplay without risking any real money is a huge plus for everyone who’s just starting out! However, if you go for the real money experience, there are thousands of ways to make your first deposit a lot bigger! The most popular way is to claim a welcome bonus which can be in the form of free spins or just free cash to keep you playing for longer.

Avoid These Common Slot Mistakes

Even though playing a slot game may seem like the ultimate endless fun, there are some tricky moments which can make the fun not so unconditional. The slot themes have such great variety so that absolutely everybody can find a favourite. Their special features, free spins, bonus games are so attention-grabbing that every single spin is a true adventure making you want to go further and further. Whether it’s collecting certain symbols to unlock a feature or playing until you crack the progressive jackpot, slots can make time fly away just as your cash balance. So, my advice is to never play fast even though you may feel the urge to do so. Setting a daily limit and sticking to it is another great tip. The most important one, however, is to choose your slots bearing their RTP in mind. Don’t be fooled by an interesting theme, bright colours or an overflow of features. All these perks do not guarantee a high RTP and you might end up losing a lot of money while being nicely distracted by the madhouse on the reels.

Odds, ratio of probability, chance, degree of unlikeness, house edge – it doesn’t matter how you call it, it matters how good you know its influence. Betting odds give away how likely is a specific event to happen within a certain game, and most importantly, how much you will win if that event occurs. Each casino game has its own odds value and even though entertainment is a big part of gambling, the odds are what we as players must put into consideration when choosing a game to play. Down below I will take you through the 2 games with the best odds and one that I suggest staying away from!

Blackjack – The Highest Winning Probability

If you seek the best casino odds, blackjack is the game for you! It’s the perfect combination between luck and skills, strategy and intuition! The more you practice, the more you will lower the house edge! This will give you the feeling of control and most of all even higher satisfaction levels when winning. Each specific blackjack variation has its ideal strategy! Playing with this type of cheat sheet is simple yet very intriguing. It’s like having a genius mathematician and an experienced casino adviser in your hand. In both, land-based and online casinos, all blackjack games have a house edge of 1% or even lower which makes it the absolute chart-topper and my personal favourite gambling option.

Baccarat – A Game of Chance

As opposed to blackjack, baccarat requires nothing more but luck! There is no strategy involved, the rules are simple and very much similar to blackjack’s closer-to-21 goal. The house edge varies between 1.00 and 1.24 which is more than ideal especially for a game over which you don’t have any control. Scorecards are often provided by the casino, but they only demonstrate the patterns and it’s again, totally up to your instincts whether you will go with or against the trends. If you are in a doubt, the safest move in baccarat is always betting on the Banker’s hand and avoiding any side bets.

And the Worst Odds Go To…Keno

Even though Keno is a very easy-going and simple game, the odds are totally against you! It’s a mix between lottery and bingo and I know why many people love its stress-free nature. However, I don’t see a reasonable point for playing mainly because of its 25% house edge. And if this percentage doesn’t feel as shocking enough, here is another fact that will make you give up Keno for good! The player is supposed to choose at least 8 numbers out of 80 and the chance of matching all 8 numbers is less than 1 in 1.3 million. I haven’t heard anything more depressing than this!

So, go for blackjack if you like strategy games or for baccarat if you like to win without the too-much-thinking but whatever you do, please don’t play Keno as it’s more like pouring money down the drain! I hope this was helpful and until next time!

As someone who likes to always think outside of the clichés box, I’m going to start this welcome overture with my mom’s reaction to this blog’s title! She said, it seemed a bit bold to proclaim yourself a trustworthy resource of whatever may be! Well, mom, it will be more than a pleasure for me to prove you wrong! When you’re good enough in what you do, you can name your blog as bold as you wish!

Here are some quick facts about my lovely persona! People call me Bear (maybe because of my courageous nature), I’m an online gambling enthusiast, a real estate dealer, and a die-hard thrill-seeker. I keep these three dedications of mine in a pretty good balance even though I love extremes. I liked gambling long before online casinos were the huge mania that they are now. I started to explore all the different games one by one and up to this day, I still can’t pick a favourite as I love them all equally. My first obsession were slots, next was blackjack, poker, and roulette while my current passion is playing with a live dealer. I’ve done a lot of reading, researching, and loads of experimenting. The more I learned, the more I fell in love with the pure excitement of winning.

There is this whole unit of gambling specialist living inside of my head, each of them dedicated to its own single subject matter – the slots nerd, the blackjack strategist, the arrogant roulette player, you name it, I have it in me! So, I’d love to bring them all together in a great synergy to be the omniscient author of this blog! My experiences will be honestly shared, my reviews will be unbiased and my advice – 100% player-oriented.

I hope you like it!