Online Casinos

You've found your place on the internet for real money action and online casinos. Within these pages, we explore just about everything there is to know about gambling for real money. Whether you plan to exclusively stake your own funds, bet a mixture of personal income and bonus chips, or even use no deposit bonuses that give players a chance to win real money without risking their funds, we've got your bets covered with the information you need.

Real Money Action (RMA) is both a concept and a place...

…you are here. You have arrived.

If you are new here, or even if you are a returning visitor and simply haven't fully explored our offering, please consider taking a moment to familiarize yourself with the subjects on top of this page. Each category aside from News has multiple subcategories to explore. Some will probably be of great interest to you. Others are very specifically focused on giving real money action seekers in certain countries or even individual US states the information they seek and need to be successful.

While the ultimate focus here is online gambling, we explore both land-based and internet-based gambling because most of the games are essentially the same no matter how or where they are played. When there are differences in the rules between online and brick-and-mortar games, we'll let you know that too.

Multiple perspectives

We'll examine several concepts from multiple perspectives in an attempt to avoid a one-dimensional or even two-dimensional approach to subjects that affect a gambler's life in good ways and bad ways if they aren't careful. We should always keep in mind that there are several considerations to look into - after all, real money action is about gambling with real currency whether it's fiat money like US Dollars or Euros or any of several cryptocurrencies which can introduce their own advantages and disadvantages.

Financial Implications

Whenever you dabble or immerse yourself in real money action, funds will be put at risk. At that point, the potential exists for you to profit from your well-thought-out actions but there is also the possibility, and thanks to the house edge the very real probability that you will experience financial loss. Of course, you can practice blackjack strategy in demo mode or even get a feeling for the way certain slot games work in fun mode, and that's actually a great idea - but eventually, you will stake wagers that can enrich your bankroll, deplete it, or take you on a roller coaster ride. Real money wagers involve real stakes and they have real consequences.

Psychological Impact

While you might be able to amuse yourself by playing demo games, perhaps even developing a willing suspension of disbelief long enough and deeply enough to gain a few thrills or even disappointment, those feelings are nowhere near as impactful as they will be with real money action. Wins can create real feelings of euphoria and unmanaged expectations can set you up for emotional disappointment when loss comes rolling through.

Some players seek those thrills and tolerate the disappointments and to each their own, but the most important thing to remember as a practical matter is that emotions can influence decision-making and in real money action that can spell ruin for your bankroll.

It's important to truly understand there is no magic strategy or formula to win, but you can suppress the house edge as much as possible with a good blackjack strategy, and you can manage your bankroll and expectations when playing slots or other more volatile games in hopes of surviving the game long enough "to hit a big one" and reset your trajectory or even to cash out a nice chunk or a life-changing win.

While it is absolutely "okay" to enjoy the increased psychological and emotional intensity of real money action, it's also important to remain calm while making betting decisions. Chasing losses is never a good idea. The worst thing that could happen is you could randomly win while chasing a loss and that could convince you at a deep level that there is hope in that desperation when, in fact, it is the most dangerous way to gamble. Gambling is supposed to be fun, it’s not supposed to be dangerous fun!

Gambling Incentives

Real money action has a palpable attraction to it. Call it allure, "pull", or a beckoning, whichever words you use the attraction remains the same. Most real-money players are going to play, with or without incentives, but we've also come to expect bonuses and promotions as well as rewards for our action. Further on, we'll explore the question “Is it all about the opening offer?”, more deeply. It's complicated.

Read on to learn more…

The fact remains that gaming venue operators will offer incentives to play. They do this through various bonuses, promotions, and loyalty programs. By adding chances and even bonus funds to your bankroll, gameplay for real money can become even more enthralling. The incentives can add value to your experience even if it only ends up being through extended playtime.

With incentives and added allure, the issue of responsible gambling becomes even more important. Without being preachy it is important to state a few times in different ways that gambling is meant to be fun. It is, after all a form of entertainment that will eventually come at a cost for nearly all players and for those who play long enough - continuing exposure to the house advantage, it will be a losing proposition for everyone who doesn't quit as a winner.

There are conscious decisions to make…

…how much can I afford to lose? What sort of limits will I set for myself? How will I monitor my plan?

A gambling plan

…can be as simple as separating a certain amount of cash when you do a regular budget and simply never, ever depositing more, win or lose.

It can be more complicated, especially for players who seek an advantage or at least the longest possible playtime and the best possible chance to win with the proper bonus. Some operators provide basic responsible gambling tools and players in some regions have no choice but to use them if they want to play at a licensed and regulated venue.

No matter what type or level of self-management you choose to use, it is wise to have some sort of offramp or escape valve - an action plan to put into motion if you start to show signs of problem behaviors. It just makes sense.

Licensed and trusted venues

Your favorite sites might be licensed by a middle-of-the-road regulator such as Malta, where many robust measures are in place but where some operators seem to get away with skirting the line when it comes to providing responsible gambling tools and socially responsible marketing methods.

You might only play at a highly regulated gaming house like those found online with a Gambling Commission license in the UK. Others will only play at sites licensed in the more lax jurisdictions such as Curacao. No matter where you play, if you choose a licensed casino and you should, there are regulatory considerations for real money action.

Fun play or practicing strategies don't usually require account registration. To collect winnings you'll need to go a bit further than simply registering an account. All licensed sites are required by international law to KYC (know your customer), they have to prevent money laundering and guard against the funding of terrorism, not to mention keep minors from gambling and protect all of their customers from identity theft and other financial fraud.

This stipulation means you will be required to provide paperwork to the casino or payment processor and the level of due diligence is about the same as you will find at any online banking institution. It's not all fun and games - players and operators have certain responsibilities to keep real money action safe, sane, and fun.

Banking

Regulations and the attendant paperwork bring us to real money action banking. Online game house cashiers are hyper-secure internal banking systems that support not only deposits and withdrawals but also have another component for separating and comingling bonus funds.

The internal banking systems need to support a variety of payment methods, and behind the scenes, usually a few different payment gateways. Debit cards and credit cards can be used for transfers in both directions in some cases, but can also be used only for deposits, not withdrawals.

Real money action requires players to be aware of their options so they don't end up depositing at an international casino that might not support a familiar or available withdrawal method. At the end of the day, some players end up going with a cryptocurrency exchange and a crypto wallet. The method is the fastest and easiest way to bank with most online operators.

That's not to say you will have to get familiar with crypto-banking, it just makes life easier in most cases. The most important thing is to simply make sure that if you deposit with a vehicle such as a payment voucher you will be able to collect your money even if that is through a slower process such as a bank wire or even a paper check in some places like the US.

The convenience of real money action online…

…in your nightclothes, at the kitchen table, or even on the go with a mobile device carries with it some set-up and maintenance of the personal systems you as a player will need to rely on.

Once you have your own pathways for cashier banking determined, you will be able to deposit and know how you will collect your winnings when that happy day comes around. You should have a bankroll management plan, know whether you want to play with bonus funds or not, and you could have a responsible gambling plan including an offramp or simply a way to reach out if you start to experience any problems.

More on Welcome Bonuses and Promotions

The welcome bonus is a major part of the real money action experience for many players so we’ll take another look at this type of incentive. There’s more to a welcome bonus than might be apparent when you first explore the subject.

Is it all about the Welcome Offer?

The grandeur of deposit matches offered to new sign-ups usually grabs the attention of most players, but the largest percentages don't necessarily represent the best promotions. It's a tedious process, but we encourage you to read the terms and conditions associated with the casino and its offers. Luckily, we've done the majority of the homework for you, so, at the very least, check out our reviews and the ratings provided by players. Here, at RMA, the rating scale is based on 5 stars with the brands scoring the highest displayed at the top of the list found on this page.

When claiming an offer, please note:

The max bonus amount
The max cashout
The wagering requirements
Games that count toward wagering
Any actions that could void the bonus

A welcome bonus might be the first thing you explore when shopping for a new gaming site. It’s the number one marketing tool used by operators to attract a player’s attention and try to raise some excitement in you to try the platform, games, and more. We can consider it a first impression and recall that people and businesses only get one chance to make a first impression.

While the offer may include a massive percentage match of 100% or more, it can also hold terms and conditions that make the final value less than it might seem at first. A 300% match (adding $300 in bonus funds to your account for every $100 you deposit) will give you plenty of extra play time, but if the wagering requirement is so high that you are never likely to complete it with funds in your account, or if it has a maximum cashout level is so low that all those “extra chances” to hit a jackpot simply don’t matter, another opening offer might be more valuable to you.

However, if you prefer to play randomly chosen or specifically low-volatility slots with lower bets per spin, this particular configuration might be just what you are seeking. An instant boost to your bankroll before you even start playing will allow you to experiment with more games. Depending on the maximum bet allowed when using bonus funds, you might be able to play with stakes of 2x, 3x, or even larger multiples of your customary bet size per spin.

There’s also a chance that the operator’s generosity, or even seemingly generous offer could make a lasting impression, creating a level of trust and goodwill in the player that might otherwise take much longer to build.

We don’t want you to be taken in by what seems like a warm handshake and a reassuring arm around your shoulder as your host walks you through the virtual doors. It’s better to be able to determine the value of any particular offer to you, personally. To come to that place, you will need to not only know the mathematical value of a bonus, at least the ballpark value, but you will also need to come to know just what type of player you are.

In the barest sense, it can come down to your appetite for risk and how strongly you thirst for the big wins. As long as you understand your motivations and the actual value of any given bonus or choose to not use a bonus at all, there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking your weekly gambling budget and hitting a highly volatile slot with bigger bets than usual… as long as you have a plan!

That is no more risky to your financial or social health than a low-risk gambler who simply does not know when to stop. A purely social gambler, simply out to have some fun, can easily cross lines they don’t even know exist and create negative consequences in terms of time spent gambling rather than on other things, not to mention money spent if they just keep hunting a jackpot after a series of losses.

Whether you are a high-risk player who seeks highly volatile games with potentially very short gambling sessions…

…or someone who prefers happily spinning away at the latest “cute kitten” type of slot, the goal must be to think and act like a recreational gambler by having a bankroll budget, a management plan, an offramp or failsafe, a sense of when to stop whether you are ahead or behind, and the ability to stop gambling at any time - win or lose.

Playing with bonuses is not a requirement and some players simply refuse to be tied down to extra terms and conditions and especially to encumbering their funds until wagering requirements or other terms have been met.

However, if you approach them smartly, if you know your gambling personality to some degree, and if you understand the terms and conditions, you can add a lot of value to the real money action gambling experience with a bonus.

Understanding Terms and Conditions

Bonus terms can present a minefield of potential pitfalls. The best operators will keep the terms simple and you will be able to drill down through them in a sensible and meaningful way and find additional layers beneath the simplest terms that are usually one click away.

Window shopping on our lists is simple once you understand the basics. Recall, that the best operators are at the top of the list, and the less-than-best reside at or near the bottom.

Next to a gaming house’s logo, you should see your country’s flag and a note telling you that players in your area are welcome. We presort the offers using geolocation elements of your web browser. Operators do the same thing for other reasons but with thousands of online casinos out there, it’s simply a device to help save you time here.

You will also see the brand or house name, the basic offer (i.e. 300% up to $2,500), our rating on an incremental scale of 00 - 5.00, a link to our review of the gambling site, and a button that will take you directly to the operator's website.

If you venture too far down the rated and ranked list you are likely to find operators with more murky terms or even what we would consider unfair or predatory terms. We mention this in the reviews when possible but terms can and do change over time, so it’s best to use our dynamically generated basic terms and then review the time-stamped official terms and conditions when you visit the casino before making your final decision.

Wagering requirements

Nearly all bonuses come with wagering requirements. This tells you how many times you will need to bet the bonus amount, and sometimes the deposit, before you will be able to cash out. It’s sometimes referred to as “rollover”. Imagine a $10 bonus with a 25x wagering requirement. This means you will need to put $10 through the game 25 times or bet $250. Since many bets will return something, whether or less than your stake, you will be churning these funds through the game as well until you clear the bonus or lose your bankroll.

Game weighting and excluded games

Some games, such as baccarat or video poker may be restricted or excluded from play until the bonus is completed one way or the other. Be sure to check the terms so you know if you can simply clear the bonus and then play whichever games you want, or if you will have to cash out or do something else to conclude the bonus terms.

Some games might be allowed during bonus play but might not count 100% toward the wagering criteria.

For instance, you might be able to play blackjack with a bonus but it might only be weighted at 5%. That means only $0.05 of every $1.00 that goes through the game will reduce your wagering - it effectively multiplies the wagering requirement 20-fold so $250 in wagering would become $5,000 in wagering. Thankfully, the house edge is much lower with perfect blackjack strategy than an assumed 4% house edge on a slot game, ignoring the volatility of a slot roller coaster ride for comparison.

Actions that could void the bonus

Each bonus and operator will have their own rules that could ruin your day if you think you are beating a bonus but break a critical rule. Game limitations are probably at the top of the list but other actions such as betting more than is allowed on a slot, trying to cash out before wagering is completed, or even playing a highly volatile game to build up your bankroll and then trying to grind out wagering on a low-risk game could end your chance of ever cashing out, even after you put all the hard work into the effort.

Types of Welcome Bonuses

Online casino promoters are sharp people. Over the years they have crafted some truly unique and fairly phenomenal promotions to draw new players in and to retain existing players. In the early days, many were sharper than they were “smart”. Far too many of the early sites got out ahead of their skis to attract new players. While it’s a fair approach to lose some money to recruit new players some of the pioneers simply didn’t practice much if any risk management.

Big promotions with easy-to-beat bonuses were common and so were the crews of bonus hunters and individual advantage players who were happy to take all the money they could from the new gaming houses. Needless to say, if the astute exploiters got their hands on all the money, there wasn’t enough to pay regular players sometimes and operators suffered damaged reputations for slow pay or worse, they went out of business completely.

Welcome bonuses today are structured in such a way as to try to attract new players and make them happy but also to not allow the wholesale slaughter of operator reserves. That means that while you might still “beat” a welcome bonus now and then, they are designed to make it either very difficult to do that or they will have max cashout terms that allow the operator to manage its risk. Yes, you can win, but the total amount you can cash out might be rather small, more of a loss-leader “gift” than a trophy.

Match bonuses

The most common type of welcome bonus today is still a percentage match. It will usually be 100% but can be more or less. Usually, if it is more than a direct match of funds (100%) there will be very high wagering requirements and a fairly low maximum cash-out cap. That's not always the case, but almost always nowadays.

Still, a doubling of your bankroll might be all you need to set yourself off in style with a new gaming house.

Casino spins

Another popular welcome offer is extra spins - these can come by themselves or as part of a welcome package. They can have separate wagering requirements and a distinct max cashout. In its simplest form, this type of welcome offer would be a set number of spins worth a set amount on a certain game chosen by the operator. Once the spins are completed you would likely have a wagering requirement applied to your bonus balance. Once wagering is complete you would likely have a maximum amount you could cash out. These can be included in a welcome package but separate from the match bonus.

No deposit offers

No deposit bonuses can be given as a tranche of bonus chips having a certain value, a set of multiple sets of extra spins, or a combination of both. This is usually a risk-free offer on its face, but to cash out you might have to make a small “verification deposit” which becomes part of the KYC process. You send a little money their way, confirm your identity and ownership of the payment method, and the operator sends your winnings to you.

Cashback

Another welcome bonus that can also become an ongoing incentive is the cashback bonus. In this case, you could be offered a percentage of your losses back for a certain deposit or even a period of time. Fewer sites today actually treat cashback as “cash back”, with few or no conditions. Many will treat it more as a “free chip” with standard wagering requirements and a max cashout. That is far from always the case, so be sure to check the terms and shop your bonuses for the best values out there.

Benefits and other impacts of using bonuses

Bonuses can add a lot of value, monetary and experience-wise to your real money action, but they are not required. Some players prefer not to use them and to keep the gambling contract to its simplest form - a winning bet laid is a bet paid.

Many players enjoy the extra play time they can offer and, depending on the way the offer and terms are structured they can give you more opportunities to hit a jackpot and collect on it.

Bonuses can allow you the freedom to explore more games and even bet bigger than you might normally bet.

It’s of paramount importance that players read and understand all of the nuances and conditions that come with that “free money”. It’s never safe to assume anything when playing with a bonus. Even if there is a mathematical certainty that you will clear the wagering requirements playing just as you have, it’s not safe to deviate and break max bet terms, play excluded games, or in some cases even play games with different weightings.

When used properly within the terms and in the spirit they are given, bonuses can supercharge your real money action.

Real Money Action Casino Reviews

Our reviews offer insights and original ideas that are gleaned from in-depth study and the reviewer’s personal experience.

The reviews represent a significant investment in resources for our readers but almost as important is how easily they allow the average visitor to use these tools. If you view them as a valuable source of advice, as much as a way to identify the type of places you might gravitate toward and enjoy playing at yourself, you stand the best chance of realizing their full value.

Some readers may prefer to skim through reviews but we suggest you at least land eyes on the breaks between paragraphs, especially if you find a bolded comment - these are usually followed by important considerations such as a lack of payment processing options, difficult wagering requirements, or even something more general that will help you navigate mindfully. These augmented points are as likely to bring up negatives as they are to highlight positive aspects of an operation.

If something catches your eye, by all means, read the detailed report to glean subtleties such as how easy or difficult a site might be to navigate, if we have detected any compatibility issues with specific mobile devices, any stand-alone app for the game lobby, or simply how responsive or standoffish customer service might be.

Each review contains crucial information but some of it may not be of particular importance to all players. A crypto-only player simply may not care that it could take three days to process a card withdrawal or 5 days for a bank wire, but they will care if Bitcoin payments take more than 48 hours or even 24 hours. The casual visitor might miss those points, but we include as much information as we can in each review.

May we suggest you take the experience and words of the reviewer in balance with a gambling house’s overall reputation as well as its ranking on our lists and the ratings applied to it? The more well-rounded approach is probably best because it gives you more to digest when forming your initial opinion of a site.

What's in a Real Money Action review?

Ease into a new gambling adventure by perusing the reviews and also become aware of rogue casinos. We'll give you a glimpse of what's to come in the form of various images of the casino homepage, lobby, game selection, cashier, and more. A quick rundown of licensing, deposit/withdrawal limits, software, number of games, and mobile compatibility is provided to give you the tools to make an informed selection.

For your convenience, we've also gone through and indicated all the accepted banking methods for each operator. Perhaps you're interested in whether a deposit is accepted via Neteller, or withdrawal is possible with ecoPayz, our handy comprehensive list of banking options displays the availability at a glance.

Licensing and certification are crucial for players in the market for a new online gambling destination. A gaming license and 3rd-party certificates are an indicator of fair play. Operators are required to maintain industry standards and regulations dictated by the licensing jurisdiction, while a certification generally covers periodic audits of operations as well as Random Number Generator (RNG) testing.

Narrow down the options by viewing casinos for US players, Canadian, UK, and other locations around the world. Interested in Live Dealer games? View brands offering a live casino here.

Even if your initial attraction to an online casino was through the welcome offer, you stand a better chance of long-term happiness playing somewhere if the site is a joy to navigate the way you like to travel and if you are aware of any potential friction in document approvals or even the cashout process before they arise in real-time.

While no single casino can be perfect for every person, our reviews and other tools can empower readers with the ability to choose a gaming house where each transaction, not just the monetary kind, flows smoothly.

The value of member feedback…

…is imperative to us and your fellow online gamblers. One player's dream experience may be another's nightmare. While reviews provide an overview of a casino, it's your first-hand knowledge that helps to create the bigger picture. Amazing customer service, great game selection, and speedy cashouts? Tell us about it! Slow response times, delayed or non-payment issues, outrageous wagering requirements? Let us know!

Spread your wings!

Informational sites, such as ours, and forums are designed to help you find your wings and fly away into the vast world of online gambling. Come back for a visit and exchange tales of your escapades in the review comments.

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