The digital age has made everything readily available online.
As we all know, we should be wary of something that’s too good to be true online. So it makes sense to wonder if online slots are legit.
Let me tell you right now:
You definitely can win real money while playing online slots. And lots of it!
However, this depends on a lot of factors.
- Gambling must be legal in your country
- Your online casino must be licensed to operate in your country
- Choose real money slots over free slots & freemium slots
- The slot game’s RNG must be certified and truly randomized
- Bonuses and withdrawal methods must be fair
Online vs. Land-based Slots
Here’s the thing: the games you play online are usually developed by the same companies that sell games to land-based casinos.
So, the only real difference regarding the slots themselves, is that the games have been optimized to be played online.
This means that there are as many chances to find an online slot with a non-randomized RNG, as there is to find a land-based slot machine with a non-randomized RNG.
You have to choose games with certified RNGs.
Once you’re certain that the slots you’re playing are truly randomized, you’ve got to look at the online casinos or app stores that are hosting those games.
That’s where you might come across issues with casino policy, bonus policy, app store policy, and a whole slew of other things.
We’ll touch upon those issues later. But first, let’s see how you can win real money with online slots.
Casinos and Bonuses: How to Get That Cash
Because of anti-gambling policies on most mobile app stores, you won’t be able to find real money slot apps. The first thing you want to do is find a good online casino.
You can start doing your research by looking up Top 10s and reading casino reviews to find what’s best for you.
It really depends what you’re looking for. There are two types of players:
- Those who prefer to play a certain type of game by a specific provider
- Those who prefer to stay loyal to a certain casino & its community
In either case, you’re going to have to look up rec lists and check all the things we mentioned previously.
Let’s say you’ve found a great casino that hosts the games you want. What now?
Choosing a Payment Method
Before you sign up, you’ve got to ask yourself what you want to use to gamble:
- Your regular bank account
- A new, separate payment method
It’s generally more advisable to open up a new gambling-specific account. That way, you can be more in control of how much you spend.
Generally, most good casinos offer different types of payment methods for depositing and withdrawals, including:
- Bank wire transfer
- Credit/Debit cards
- E-wallets (PayPal, Neteller…)
- Pay by Phone (Boku, Trustly…)
- Cheques (rare)
Responsible Gambling
You must do your part and be responsible as soon as you start gambling for real money.
E-wallets are a good option, as you can create an unlimited number of accounts for every purpose. Certain types of debit card are also a great option.
For instance, with the Visa Electron, you don’t have an overdraft and you can set a limit to your weekly/monthly spending.
Of course, online casinos should do their part, too. Make sure you sign up to a casino that allows you to freeze your account for a set period of time, or has other such tools for responsible gambling.
Claiming Bonuses: You’re not “Getting Money for Free”
Chances are you’ve seen these types of ads everywhere. “Get a free $100 bonus when you sign up!”
Well, that’s not quite how it works.
Here’s the thing about casino bonuses. As you may have noticed after signing up, you have two different accounts at your online casino:
- A regular account: where your deposited money appears
- A bonus account: where your casino bonus money & bonus winnings appear.
Let’s make one thing very clear: the money in your regular account is withdrawable, whereas the money in your bonus account is not immediately withdrawable.
All of those exciting “free money” sign up bonuses, deposit bonuses and no deposit bonuses will stay in your bonus account until you convert them to your regular account.
But that’s not all. If you get free spins as your welcome bonus, any winnings you get by spinning slots with those free spins also count as bonus money.
So how do you go about converting all of that, you ask? Well, most of the time, it’s a pretty long process.
Wagering Requirements
Bonuses exist for you to play at the online casino before you can withdraw anything. The casinos require you to fulfill “wagering requirements” to convert your bonus money.
When you look at bonus policies, you’ll find the wagering requirements for each “free” bonus. Some casinos have an overall wagering requirement for all their slot games, too.
Here’s how it works:
If you have a 30x wagering requirement on a £10 bonus, you’ll have to wager £10, 30 times.
This means you have to be lucky enough to keep £10 in your bonus account at all times as you play, because wagering requirements can only be fulfilled with bonus money.
Playing with Real Money
It can be fun to play with bonuses, but if you want to have a good shot at winning real money, you’ll be better off playing with real money.
After you sign up, you’ll want to make a deposit. Starting from that point, any bets you make while playing slots will be deducted from your regular account.
Any earnings you get by betting regular money on slots will be credited to your regular account.
This means that when you play slots with real money, your earnings are instantly withdrawable.
How to Withdraw Slot Winnings
It’s usually quite simple to do this. In your user profile, you’ll have different actions available, including a “Deposit” tab and a “Withdraw” tab.
Navigate to that “Withdraw” tab, and type in the amount you want to withdraw.
According to the payment method you choose for this transaction, it might take more than a few minutes for your linked account to be credited.
It's as simple as that!