How we rate online casinos Netherlands
What our assessment system looks like
Want to play your favourite casino game online? Well, you have a challenge ahead of you. You have to choose a casino – from a pool of dozens, maybe even hundreds of possible choices. Of course, you can sign up at each one, make a deposit and play. But that’s the long way round. And who knows how much money you will lose in the process?
No, a much better solution is to visit several review sites and use their rating system. Let them do the research for you. But before you do that, let us give you a tip: a secret that might save you a few pennies.
Because the goal of every review site is to earn commission by sending new players to casinos. Some sites don’t care about your experience. They send you to the highest bidder. It doesn’t matter if the casino will treat you well.
Others, like us, are also biased. But we try to balance our needs with yours. But you should not take our word or anyone’s word at face value, instead have your BS radar on full alert and make sure we walk the walk as well as talk the talk.
The easiest way is to compare the information you read from reviews – perhaps even with your first-hand experience at an online casino. Then see how honest and accurate all the information was. But before you read our reviews, we want to tell you what we look for in each casino we review and how that affects the ratings we give them.
Security and trustworthiness of players
We start the process by assessing a casino’s security and reliability. We understand how important it is to you that your money and personal details are always in safe hands. To ensure that a casino offers a safe, fair and legitimate service, we check the following:
Licence from a legitimate body
It is crucial that casinos display a licence from a legitimate licensing body on their site. Holding a licence means that a casino can operate legally. Examples of the trusted authorities we look for are the UK Gambling Commission, Malta Gaming Authority, Kahnawake Gaming Commission and many others.
Independently regulated
Casinos must also prove that they are regulated for security and fairness by a reputable independent authority, such as eCOGRA. If we cannot find this, we instead check that the games themselves are fair. To do this, we run the games thousands of times to make sure the results are truly random and that an RNG is in use.
Valid SSL encryption
When it comes to security, we always look for a valid SSL encryption certificate on the casino sites we review. Encryption ensures that data exchanged between the player and the casino is not at risk of being stolen and that a site is safe to use.
Some review sites have rating systems. Others don’t. It’s not mandatory, but we do think it helps our visitors see how much we like or dislike a site. It’s more specific than saying “we recommend this casino” or “we don’t recommend this casino”.
We prefer to do that using a rating system. Everyone knows roughly what this looks like from when we were inschool. It is universal.
Casino games and software
As the main feature of any casino site, the game selection has to be downright great. With so many different game varieties and software providers out there, we want our readers to be sure they will enjoy the best of the best at our recommended casinos. A truly impressive game selection should include the following:
A wide range of games
When it comes to the games, a good selection is key. We always look for a good mix of slots, table games such as blackjack, roulette, baccarat and poker, live dealer and bingo / keno games. We also like to see a wide range of variants of each game. Since we don’t want to recommend something we haven’t tried ourselves, our team also tries out a few real-money titles.
Casino bonuses and promotions
Everyone loves a bonus offer to give that extra boost to their bankroll, and you can find them at most online casinos. Our experts not only look for the most impressive offers, but also make sure they really are as beneficial as they sound. The best casinos will tick all the following boxes:
Welcome bonus
A substantial welcome bonus should be expected from all top casinos. We search far and wide to find you the most generous casino bonuses on the internet and always recommend checking out the bonus on offer when you sign up. Whether it’s a deposit match, free spins, cashback or no deposit, a good bonus can make all the difference to your game.
Reasonable conditions
For a bonus to be truly beneficial, it is important that the terms and conditions are not too complex and that there are no extremely high wagering requirements. As we always read through the small print and point out possible complications when claiming a bonus for our readers.
Offers for all
Promoties zouden niet alleen voor nieuwe leden moeten zijn. We houden constant in de gaten hoe vaak elk casino nieuwe bonussen, geschenken en freebies aanbiedt aan hun leden.
VIP and loyalty rewards
In addition to special promotions, top casinos offer a well-structured loyalty programme. This allows you to earn extra benefits with every bet you make. VIP benefits can also be awarded to high roller players who bet a lot of money at the casino. We take a look at what is offered at each level of a casino’s loyalty programme and assess whether the rewards really make it worthwhile.
Incredible progressive jackpots
Progressive jackpots are a must for serious slots fans. These exciting games often pay out the biggest winnings of all online casino games and will feature in all good gaming catalogues. We always look for big names like Mega Moolah, Mega Fortune and the Age of Gods series, and of course we like to see a substantial total jackpot.
The ability to play for free
The opportunity to play free games is always high on our list. Free games give you the chance to test new games, practice their strategy and just have fun without risk! We always try out a few different free games ourselves to ensure quality and variety again.
Game software from top developers
Casinos are distinguished by the software they use, and the best ones will buy their games from the best software providers such as NetEnt, Playtech or Microgaming. The best software vendors are known to offer seamless graphics, high-quality sound and exciting animations among other impressive features.
High-quality downloadable software
Since some players prefer to download casino software to their device, we also like to test this out ourselves. This way, we can be completely sure that the software is easy to install, does not harm the device and offers as good an experience as the online version of the casino.
A smooth in-browser experience
For those who prefer to play on the casino website via a web browser, high-quality software without a download is essential, along with a quick and easy sign-up process. Again, we check that the website interface is easy to navigate and that everything runs smoothly.
What our assessment system looks like
Top-of-the-line casino. They have great promos. They have excellent software, thanks to working with multi-software companies. They have multiple banking options, low fees and fast payout times. Only casinos that have been online for two or more years qualify for an A. Bottom line: we don’t give A’s to just anyone.
A solid casino worth joining. They are usually strong in a few areas – maybe games and promotions – but are somewhat weak in others – maybe its banking options, fees or their software is not really good. This is the best rating we would give a brand new room (less than two years old). An average casino. It might be worth joining, but only as a back-up. A casino with this rank has good games, software, banking options, fees, etc. They may even be strong in a few areas. But we wouldn’t sign up to one of these casinos expecting something great.
A casino that is average in a few areas but falls short in others (probably). They may have very poor promotion conditions, bank fees or terrible wait times on payouts. Casinos that receive a D usually have something predatory about them. We recommend you avoid these casinos. A casino that fails on several levels. They may have predatory terms or fees, despite generally being a “fair” company. They may also be scams. We recommend avoiding these casinos at all costs. One thing to keep in mind is that our rating system is generic. These reviews vary if we have chosen a casino based on a specific game, promotion or software company. We also add a +/- if we think a casino is between two grades. But grades are only half of our rating system.
Casino banking and money
It goes without saying, of course, that safety of money and quick access to winnings are of great importance to all players. We go through the whole process of depositing and withdrawing money ourselves to give you a good idea of what to expect, and rate the performance of casinos on the following:
Simple deposit process
As part of our review process, we will see how easy it is to sign up at the casinos and make a deposit yourself. What we look for here include the number of payment methods available, the currency accepted and whether there are minimum or maximum limits.
Securing your money
We want to ensure that all payments are made through trusted and secure means. This involves encrypting personal data and not sharing unnecessary details with the casino. What’s more, to ensure that casinos are always able to make payouts when requested, we check that they separate player money from money used for general operations.
Fast recordings
When we are ready to claim our winnings, we make a withdrawal and check again for a wide range of banking options and currencies. We are also very curious to see how quickly the money is in our account.
Fast processing
Besides smooth banking processes, we want to know that casinos themselves do not take too long to process players’ winnings for release. As such, we would like to see them stay true to their word on processing times when requesting a withdrawal.
A fair RTP
To make sure that a casino offers its customers a decent payout percentage, we check whether the average RTP is high, and also look at that of individual games. All good casinos will have no problem displaying this information on their site.
Online casino customer service
Whatever site you play on, you will find that sometimes you need some help from customer support. We therefore make sure that every casino we recommend keeps the interests of its customers in mind in the following ways:
Data protection
When you disclose personal information, you want to be sure that it will only be used for the purposes you intended. We only recommend casinos if we are sure they do not disclose personal information to third parties without players’ consent. To make sure of this, we always go through their privacy policies thoroughly and encourage all players to do the same.
Safety and welfare
Customer safety should be a high priority for any reputable casino. We review those that offer features to track time/money spent gambling, to make sure players don’t take the fun too far. Of course, we always try these features ourselves to properly test their effectiveness.
Easy access to support
Customer support should be accessible 24/7 in several ways. When reviewing a casino, we look for support via phone, email and live chat, and a comprehensive FAQ section on the casino’s website is always a big plus.
To establish the quality of support offered by an online casino, we contact them through all possible means to see how well they respond to queries. Once contacted, we are looking for a support team to resolve the issue quickly. They should also be able to communicate with players in their own language
Casino localisation
Gambling is a global industry and when you play online, you have access to a large number of casinos from different countries. We like to see that casinos have adapted to the different needs of users around the world so that they can all enjoy a truly incredible experience when playing online.
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