Options for withdrawing your money from your account are fewer than the options that you have for depositing it. This is a normal scenario on the internet. Usually if you use an Internet wallet service like Paypal or Ukash you can get your money refunded to you quicker. Otherwise, plan on requesting your money as soon as you realize you will need it. It may take a little time to get it i nto your bank account.

Withdrawals at most of the online casinos are done Monday through Friday after a twenty-four hour waiting period between the request and the processing of it. Most of the time the withdrawal will be made the same way you made your deposit. If you deposited money into your account with Click2Pay, it will be withdrawn to your Click2Pay account. The only exceptions to this rule seem to fall under deposits that were made using MasterCard, UseMyBank, Ukash, and PaySafeCard.

Withdrawals to these accounts will be made with a check in the mail or via wire depending on the amount won. Make sure you check with the casino you are gaming on to see if they have any rules regarding how much needs to pass between your last deposit and your withdrawal request. Some of them may have a time stipulation.

You are also going to want to check with the method of deposit to see if they have a maximum payout limit. For example, online casino players who used FirePay to fund their account can only withdraw $10,000.00 at one time.

Neteller, on the other hands, has no maximum payout limit, so it may be advisable to investigate your deposit options carefully before choosing one. Also check to see if the casino can process the withdrawal using your specified deposit method or any other method you may specify, they will issue you a paper check through the mail.

When playing online casino games and winning money, you account is credited for your winnings. You do not have to withdraw what you have won every time you are done playing. The casino’s server saves all of your account information, including your winnings, for the next time you log on to play. Always remember that there is a twenty-four hour processing time on your withdrawals in most cases.

You may or may not be able to cancel it during this time frame. Each online casino has their terms regarding this. If you request the withdrawal on a holiday, give them an extra day to process it. You may be asked to provide the online casino with positive identification, such as a copy of your driver’s license, credit cards, or utility bills.

Don’t get upset with this request. Get upset if the online casino doesn’t ask for this. This is a security measure to protect your winnings and yourself from fraud, and by asking for identification, the online casino is making sure that your winnings are getting to you and not someone else. Finally always remember to make sure that you are gambling at a licensed and regulated online casino. In that way you safegaurd both your winnings and sanity.

Written for Online Casino World by Greg.

In order to open your online casino account you will start out by downloading software to your computer. Many of the sites will also allow you to register your account while the software is downloading. Some sites will require you to register before you download. They will let you know as you start the process. Follow the installation instructions to load the software onto the computer, open it up, and start exploring your new gaming environment.

Some online casinos may have a poker room or sports book division that will require an additional registration. In these cases where the gaming ‘group’ does not have a one user name fits all option, you will be allowed to have a duplicate real money account. Keep in mind that each of these divisions may offer a new player bonus and you may only qualify for one of them. Check with the sites rules and regulations. Also, shared computers such as ones used at a library, work, or university, can only register once. The online casino will keep a track of the ISP address. This is to ensure that no fraudulent activity is taking place.

You have the option on most online casino sites to play for free or with ‘play money’ provided by the site either before you have downloaded the software or right after it as many of the software companies bundle this option with the real money games. You would still register for an account and then choose which type you will play. If you choose to play for free, you will be awarded so much in ‘play money’ to gamble with. Some of the sites do not even require you to register or download software. You would play as ‘Guest User’ using a Flash version of the casino.

Once you have registered an account and have played for awhile with the ‘play money’ if you opt to do that, you have the option to upgrade to a real money account. As mentioned before, you may have to download software or at the very least, download additional add-ons to the existing software so that the games become real money games. When you go into a real money account, you will need to make a deposit into it so that you can play the games.

You may find that many online casinos play their games in American Dollars, but allow players to deposit their money into their accounts using British Pounds Sterling, American Dollars, or Euros. Some online casinos offer even more currency denomination options. They will tell you what they accept when you make you deposit.

They also offer players a wide range of ways to both deposit and withdraw your money from bank transfers to online wallets to credit cards. No matter which way you deposit or withdraw, the currency you choose when you register is the curency all your real money will be calculated in once you are down at the gaming tables. It really is easy to create an Online Casino account.

Blackjack

Blackjack is based on the card game Twenty-One where the object of the game is get a combined total of cards that are equal to or less than the number 21. When playing at an online casino, you want to make sure that you also stay within the number range and beat the dealer as well. If you go over 21 of if the dealer’s hand is better than yours, you’ve gone bust. Suits in this game do not matter. All of the cards are counted at their face value except the face cards which are counted as ten points. The Ace can be counted as a 1 or an 11 depending on the other cards in your hand. In a true casino setting – online or otherwise – you would be playing with a maximum of six people and the dealer. Your only opponent is the dealer. Wagering depends on the casino’s individual rules and the options – standing, hitting, splitting, doubling down, and surrendering – may or may not be available depending on the rules.

Baccarat

This game is fairly easy to learn and is unique in that the play is so simple. The strategy on the other hand takes a bit more practice to develop. The basic object of the game is to see who of the possible fourteen players at the table can come closest to the value of nine based on their dealt cards. At an online casino, you wager on whether a particular player or the dealer will come the closest. The game play comes down to the dealer and the wagered player and the other players basically wait to see who wins and if they collect any money. Cards are numbered in a specific way since the top number in the game is 9. The ten and the face cards all equal 10. An Ace equals 1. If the cards that are dealt equal more than 9 – say a Queen and a 2 equally 12 – the tens digit is dropped and the total becomes a two.

Roulette

Roulette is another game that is easy to learn and it is more a game of luck and chance that anything else. Basically, players place their wagers on the table attached to the wheel that has corresponding numbers as wheel as additional spaces, the croupier spins the wheel with the ball, and as the wheel slows down, the ball will drop into one of the slots that indicates the winning number. The wheel is divided into 37 or 38 slots depending on where you are playing – European Roulette has an extra zero (0) and American Roulette has two extra slots (0 and 00). The more advanced wagering rules of roulette differ from casino to casino so it is best to request the rules from the croupier or staff or read up on them at the online casino you are playing at before wagering.

Slot Machines

The advantage of playing slot machines at an online casino is the absence of noise that these machines make at brick and mortar casinos. Slot machines come in a variety of sixes, types, themes, and money denominations. The basic premise on all of them is the same: match the symbols in a specific pattern as instructed.

Neteller is an Internet wallet, a place where you can deposit, withdraw, and transfer money to as well as pay bills online. If you need to make a payment somewhere or send money to someone, Neteller is the secure way to do it. They are backed by Verisign, an online security company, and they are free for anyone to use. Funding your account with Neteller will speed up the process considerably.

While there are some casinos that have had luck with credit cards, you may or may not be able to fund your account with your Visa or MasterCard. You can try.

FirePay is similar to PayPal. You can fund your account directly from your checking account. It is a free service to pay with or send funds to other members and merchants that recognize and use FirePay. The only time there will be a charge is when you transfer your money from your FirePay account back into your bank account.

Click2Pay allows you to fund your account with them from your Visa card, ACH, ELV, Diner’s Club credit card, direct debit, and other options as listed on their website. Anyone using Click2Pay to fund their casino account will be able to do so in American Dollars, British Pounds Sterling, or Euros. If you are looking for a transaction service that deals with foreign currencies and you do not live in the United States, then look into setting up an account at Citadel. They have proven to have the best track record for accounts that are not in American Dollars.

Moneybookers, like Neteller, is an Internet wallet account. What is really nice about Moneybookers is that you can send money to anyone who has a registered e-mail address regardless of if they have a Moneybookers account themselves. They have a list of over 3,500 online shops that accept their services and you simply register your debit/credit cards and bank information one time into you account when you fund it in order to use it over and over again.

Other depositing methods that online casinos may take include bank wire transfer, ACH (automatic bank transfer directly to the casino and only available to American players), 900Pay for telephone transactions, prepaid ATM cards, and money orders. If you currently use DuoCash for online transactions, you will need to open an account with one of the other options as the casinos have stopped accepting this option.

Probably the first thing every player to an online casino needs to do is to keep an eye on the money they have deposited into their account. They also need to learn to only place wagers on games they can afford to play. Online casinos offer most to their most popular games in wagering denominations so everyone can play regardless of their skill level. It is better to take the bankroll that you are initially starting with and staying down at the lower limit games until you have built up both some skill at the particular game and your bankroll amount. With online casino games, skill is improved as your improve your strategy. You never want to sit at a casino table where the entry fee of the game and the base wager could substantially lesson your bankroll. If you do sit there, you are going to more worried about how much money you could lose and with your concentration somewhere other than on the game, you could get bluffed or miss an important call from your opponents, the croupier, or the dealers.

A good way to practice bankroll management – especially if you are new to online casino gaming – is to play for a while on the casinos ‘free play’ side. Here you will be allotted an amount of ‘play money’ to game with. Use this to learn game strategy, skills, and how to bet in order to increase the amount of the bankroll you are playing with. By doing this, you will get a good feel for how all of the games work, what your particular skill level is, and how to bet proportionately. Once you have a good grasp of the games and have proven to yourself that you can manage your ‘play money’ bankroll, then move on to the lower limit games on with your real money bankroll.

Starting off slow and with small wagers cannot be stressed enough, especially for players that are brand new to online casinos. You may not feel that by doing this you are being challenged, but playing beyond your skill level right off the bat is the quickest way to lose your money. Learn the game and the idiosyncrasies of the online casinos rules. Give yourself time to improve your skills and if you do, you will find yourself being on the winning side of the game more often than not.

In order to promote safe online gambling, most of the online casinos are kept under the watchful eye of the many gambling associations and organizations that span the globe. They watch to make sure the sites are using gaming methods that are fair, moral, and legal. Of course there will always be groups of people that will do what the can to ruin the safeguards that have been put into place in an effort to profit for themselves and spoil the fun for everyone. When you are investigating the particularities of an online casino room, read the FAQ section as well as the security information to see how they handle threats to the safety of their members personal information. Also, many of the gambling associations that safeguard these sites will have information on the casino site confirming that they have reviewed it. If you do not feel comfortable for some reason at the site you are looking at, don’t join. Also, read current member’s reviews on the site and verify that they are licensed properly through one of the many international licensing bureaus for online play.

Before you get too involved in preparing to play at the many online casinos on the Internet, make sure that it is not illegal in the area in which you live. There are some countries that have made it very difficult for players to enjoy themselves at these sites by making it very difficult to withdraw their winnings. This is ostracized a lot of the casino and poker rooms, making them restrict their access even to their free play games to American citizens. If you are in an area where it is legal to play at online casinos, make sure they have the proper Internet verification so that you are protected from online fraud.

Check to see who the provider of the gambling software is. There are numerous companies that provide online casinos with their software. Names like Playtech, Microgaming, and CryptoLogic are all reputable and have been developing gaming software since the onset of online casino gaming. These manufacturers also build in the security encryption and confidentiality safeguards for the sites, so it is better to play on a site with a reputable software developer than a stand alone casino.

Lastly, review the methods of payment and withdrawal to make sure you understand how this process works and the options you have in funding your account. Most sites offer their players a wide range of choices, from internet wallets to credit cards to bank and wire transfers. Withdrawals should be easy and fairly quick to do. If you see any complaints anywhere about a websites withdrawal process being difficult or too slow, steer clear of the site. Also, verify that the site offers twenty-four customer service support. Look for ones that offer telephone, e-mail, and live chat if possible so that you have the most options available and can get a response to your question in a timely manner.

When you have thoroughly researched all of these things and have found the online casinos that seem to be the most stable with good ratings and security features – and there will be more than one – then the only you have left to do is decide which room you want to join. If you can, test them out for awhile using the free play option to get a feel of the room and then when you are ready, make your deposit and begin to play for real money.

You do have options. You could play on a site that offers free online casino games, or you can register at a site that offers you the chance to play with ‘fun money’.

Free casino games give you the chance to scratch that gambling itch without chancing the loss of your money. You get the chance to learn how to bet, fold, or stand pat without losing real money. As you get better you’ll earn more ‘fun money’ and hopefully get more comfortable with the game. By playing online, you don’t have leave the safety of your own home or even your ‘comfort zone’. You don’t have to get dressed up, and you can cash in your chips whenever you get hungry or tired. Even at that, you can clean the house in between games.

Sometimes the rules to online casino can be very confusing. By playing casino games for free , you can take your time studying and learning them as you go. You can practice different strategies to see which ones work for you and you have the chance to observe your opponents and pick up on nuances that are distinct gambling tells to help you decide which way to bet. All of these things are aspects of gambling that you would normally pay attention to at a brick and mortar casino. They are no different when playing online, but playing for free gives you the leisure to experiment without the fear of your money getting lost.

Free casino sites also give you time to investigate real money casinos at your own pace. You can be learning the game from top to bottom while learning about the different bonuses and promotions each real money online casino offers.

When you sign the agreement to the terms and conditions of the website, you are signing a legal document. Read the online casino sites terms and conditions thoroughly so that you understand the rules that the staff runs their site by. It is better to do your due diligence ahead of time in an effort to make a comprehensive decision about joining an online poker room and playing for real money.

Investing in an online casino site should not be done lightly. If the site you are interested in has a free play option, take it. Take all the practice you have done and the strategies you have developed and try them out on the room you are interested in. The room you join must be in your opinion comfortable, inviting, and secure. Otherwise, there is no reason to join it. Take your time, learn the games, and use the free online casinos to your advantage.

Online casinos are virtual versions of the real life, brick and mortar casinos you would find in Las Vegas or Atlantic City. The biggest difference is that you can sit at home and play Blackjack with someone from Australia while still wearing your fuzzy pink slippers and house coat. Of course, you will also not be able to read your opponents features to be able to tell if they are bluffing or not, but the longer you play the online versions of the real game, the more experience you will gain in reading the ‘online tells’ of your opponents. Also, many of these sites give you the chance to try out their sites with ‘play money’ so that you don’t actually have to spend your own if you do not want to.

The odds and payback percentages at online casinos are comparable to the ones that are found at live casinos. If you have questions regarding these figures, see if the online casino you are considering joining has published their payout percentage audits on their website. This will give you a good idea of how they work their winnings. Online casinos use a programmed random number generator to help ensure fair play and they are usually programmed to match live casinos. So, if the Blackjack tables have a house edge in a casino, you can be assured that it will have a house edge online. The rules of each individual table game and slot machine determine the payout percentages.

Of course people will be concerned about reliability of the room and whether or not they are in danger of having their personal information stolen. Online casinos use specially designed programs from companies like Playtech, CryptoLogic, and Microgaming for their sites. The software provided by these companies usually is encrypted with at least 128-bit SSL. They also have other identity checking procedures in place to provide their players the most enjoyable site possible without having to worry about their privacy being invaded.

There have been reports of some online casinos participating in fraudulent behaviour, such as not paying winnings to their players when they request a withdrawal or by using software that has been programmed to cheat. These casinos are called ‘rogues’ and there are procedures for reporting them. Unfortunately if you are a victim of one of these rogue casinos, you probably will not recoup your lost money. Before committing to an online casino, see if you can find an online blacklist of these fraudulent casinos to make sure the site you are interested in is not on it.

Online casinos are quickly becoming the wave of the future in online gaming. They may never replace brick and mortar casinos, but they do offer players the same fun without having to leave home.

Written for Online Casino World by Mark