Online gambling in 2019: useful tips & tricks

Whether you’re an occasional dabbler on the bingo or a serious online gambler, there’s no doubt that the industry is growing fast.

In this blog, we’ll look at some of the tricks and tips that today’s savvy online gamblers are using, and some ways in which you can keep yourself safe when enjoying a flutter, such as by using a VPN. (And yes, we’ve got the top rated free VPNs listed here to save you time and money!)

The growth of online gambling

In the UK alone, gambling is now a £14.4 bn industry, and £2.0 bn of this alone comes from online slots. With a growth rate of almost 10pc annually predicted between 2017-2023, online gambling is expected to be worth a whopping £57 billion on a global scale by 2023.

Simply go online and you’ll find a vast number of online casinos offering everything from bingo and slots through to sophisticated games by leading developers, card games, table games and more.

The allure of online gambling is clear:

1. The appeal of winning big!
2. Ease of getting started – you can gamble online via an app or website
3. A community aspect with games such as Bingo offering chat and social forums
4. New games being constantly released
5. The chance to gamble anonymously
6. The opportunity to game or gamble at any time of day, or wherever you are (hello boring meeting!)

Tips and tricks to get the most from online gambling.

The saying says that you can’t beat the house – but you can employ some tips and tricks to get the most from your online gambling experience.

1. Make use of free gaming facilities
Most online casinos give you the chance to try out games for free. Make use of these offers to learn the ins and outs of the game before you start to wager with your cash.

2. Use the ‘stop-limit’ facility
Casinos of all kinds rely on players getting over-excited in their quest to win and exceeding their personal wager budgets. Use the responsible gaming features that good online casinos offer, such as limiting the funds that you deposit, setting stop limits on wager amounts and preventing automatic ‘add funds’ from your card when playing. In the heat of the moment, these measures can prevent a heavy loss and that feeling of dread that sets in!

3. Take advantage of free offers
Most online casinos offer sign-up incentives, regular player bonuses (such as free slots) and competitions. Look out for these and make use of them!

4. Know why you gamble
Lots of people enjoy playing online casinos as a leisure hobby and for the social side. If they can’t get out of the house, a flutter on an online bingo site can be great fun. But if you suspect you may have a potential gambling problem, educate yourself to recognise the signs and seek help. Gambling can easily become an addiction and very few gamblers ever end up ‘on top’ with their winnings in the long-term.

5. Speaking of which…
Know when to stop. If you win money, then exit the game and enjoy it. Don’t do what online casinos rely on their customers doing – re-entering the game in the thrill of the moment in the hope of winning even more (and then losing it!)

6. Consider matched betting
Matched betting is an advanced strategy which sees gamers use multiple betting platforms to offset bets and to take advantage of free plays to end up winning money overall. There are websites that can teach you how to match bet, and if you do it correctly, you can bet ‘risk-free’. It’s a complex strategy, although some people do make thousands from it.

Needless to say though, the online gambling industry takes a dim view of matched betting, although it isn’t illegal. You can protect your anonymity and prevent your accounts from being closed down by suspicious online gambling sites by using software such as a VPN. Let’s look at this in more detail.

The security angle
When you gamble online, there is always the risk that your internet connection is compromised in some way. Hackers are smart and motivated and online gamblers – with their card details in particular – are perfect targets for financial and identity theft. So how can you protect yourself?

1. Use a VPN
A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, is a service that puts a piece of protective software onto your device – desktop, phone, laptop or tablet. You activate it before you go online and it tunnels your data through a secure network, masks your IP address by re-routing it and encrypts your data so that it is unreadable. This multi-layer security approach is ideal and means that no one can even detect that you are online, let alone see or access your data.

There are various VPN services available and some are even free – although it’s worth looking at our review carefully as not all free services will offer the full multi-security offer that paid-for services do (such as kill switches that instantly disable your internet connection if the VPN goes down for a second for any reason.)

2. Use reputable sites
Never use an online casino that doesn’t abide by the rules. Read the small print carefully and check that it is licensed. Look for the ‘https’ and trustmarks that show the site is secure.

3. Look for encrypted log-in points
A reputable casino will have password protection and probably even offer an RSA code device for a fresh access password on every log-in.

4. Trusted payments
Good sites will offer payments through all the big and trusted credit cards. Some may offer cryptocurrency payments too such as BitCoin for greater anonymity.

5. Anti-fraud measures
Good online casinos will typically have an online fraud team that use sophisticated tools and analysis to see if players are operating fraudulently or if suspicious activity is happening on the site. Look through the FAQ to find details of this or ask the customer services team for further information.

With your VPN in place and your other ‘trustmarks’ checked, you can enjoy your online gambling safely and securely – and perhaps even win some cash in the process!