There has been a huge increase recently in the number of people using Bitcoins which is a new digital currency, and ever eager to cater for these potential customers we have seen a huge increase in the number of online casinos that have started to accept them as a banking option.
In fact there are a growing number of casino sites online who accept just Bitcoins and nothing else, and one of the benefits of using Bitcoins is that you are no longer required to send in all manner of identification documents to these new casino sites to verify your account, instead you simply make a deposit using Bitcoins, play and if you win the site promises to send your winnings rapidly and completely anonymously.
This does remind me of the early days of online gaming, back in the mid 1990’s, when all you needed was a debit or credit card and you could fund your casino account without and fuss or hassle no matter where you lived in the world.
Benefits of Bitcoin Gaming
However, as more and more countries started to realize that there was money to be earned by licensing and regulating the online gambling industry for citizens of their respective country, then we started to see more and more stricter rules as to when, how and where players living in certain countries were permitted to play.
As Bitcoins can be purchased and traded complete anonymously online then it does appear to be something of a step back in regards to online gambling, for with these new Bitcoin accepting casinos opening their cyber doors whilst not requiring their clientele to supply any identification then anyone can now play at any such site without any restrictions.
However, anyone with a long memory who was around in the early days when online casinos first appeared online will recall not all casino sites were of the quality that most players would demand, in fact many casino suddenly closed up shop overnight and left many of their players out of pocket with funds still in their casino accounts.
Should you be considering using any of the recently launched Bitcoin accepting casino sites then you really should not let your guard down and need to have in place some form of checklist which you will need to rigidly stick to when you are choosing a casino site at which to play at when you are looking to fund that casino account with Bitcoins.
Checklist for Choosing a Bitcoin Accepting Casino Site
Below you will find a checklist I have put together to allow you to make an informed decision in regards to which casinos you may wish to play at and those you should avoid playing at!
Software Platform
Many of the new casinos that only accept Bitcoins are powered by software and gaming platforms that are exclusive to that casino site, in fact sadly many of them look like they have been designed by a child with poor quality graphics and a tiny collection of casino games on offer.
You need to be 100% confident that the gaming suite and software platform you will be playing on has been tested and certified by a recognized casino game testing company, and as such do lookout for logos of such companies displayed on their websites, and then if you find one double check with the website of the casino game testing company to ensure that they have indeed tested that casinos suite of games.
Licensing Jurisdiction
There are several countries in the world who are recognized as online gambling licensing jurisdictions, and when choosing a Bitcoin accepting casino at which to play you will want to be confident that should you ever run into any type of problem when playing there you are able to seek the assistance of a third party, namely one of these licensing jurisdictions.
So make sure that any such casino sites you are thinking of becoming a customer of holds a full and valid gambling license issued by a licensing jurisdictions such as the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner or the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority, and avoid sites that are not licensed at all.
Casino Games Offered
You will not want to make compromises when playing at casino sites that permit you to fund your casino accounts using Bitcoins, and this is where you will need to have a good look at the available suite of casino games to ensure they offer true value and are not simply high house edge games.
So when selecting a potential casino at which to play at make sure their Roulette games for example are not just American Double Zero variants, and instead look for sites offering Single Zero Roulette, similarly lookout for the payouts attached to games such as Blackjack to see if the payouts for a Blackjack hand are 3 to 2 and not the poor valued 6 to 5 payouts.
Slot players will also need to ensure the slot games they intend to access and play at Bitcoin accepting casinos are not set to return lower payout percentages than those found at other casino sites, so do seek out this information and should a casino be offering slot games boasting payouts lower than 94% then avoid those sites!
Casino Credits
One final aspect of using Bitcoins to fund your casino account that is very important is in regards to the casinos base currency, as the value of Bitcoins is at a record high, then you will find several casinos will allow you to deposit using Bitcoins but instead of playing with Bitcoins or fractions of Bitcoins they will instead convert every single Bitcoin deposit into either 100 or 1000 casino credits.
By opting to play at sites offering this feature you will then be able to fully adjust the stake levels at which you are playing their range of casino games, and once you are then ready to cash in your winnings you will get the same exchange rate as you got when you made your deposits.
Conclusion
Whilst the thought of playing at an online casino that will let you anonymously play using the Bitcoin digital currency may be very appealing you need to be confident that the site at which you are going to play at is licensed, regulated and has certified fair games. If you do not check the sites offer those three standout features then you will run the very real risk of running into problems!
