The UK’s Biggest Online Casinos

What Sets the Biggest Sites Apart?

There are a multitude of reasons as to why playing at one of the biggest online casinos is worth your while. How these factors are ranked in terms of importance will depend on the gambling preferences of the individual, but excelling in all of the areas below is often what sets the biggest sites apart from the rest of the field.

You’ll notice that one area we haven’t listed here is bonuses. This is because often, smaller, newer online casinos pull out all the stops to offer their customers outstanding bonus deals – a tactic that’s seen as their best opportunity to outmuscle the more established competition and attract as many new players as possible. So while the biggest sites offer an awful lot, this doesn’t mean there isn’t something worth pursuing at a smaller or newer online casino.

Range of Games

You don’t become one of the UK’s biggest casinos without a suitably impressive games library. This doesn’t just mean ticking all the boxes in terms of games categories – such as slots, table games, live dealer experiences, bingo, and scratch card games – it also means offering significant depth within these categories.

For example, the best online casinos will be able to break their collection of slots down in a variety of different factors. This includes being able to arrange these games by theme, variance, and style, as well as by their mechanics, such as progressive jackpot and Megaways titles.

In their table games portfolio, the biggest casino sites will also offer great depth by way of game variations. If you’re heading to the roulette wheel at a top casino, you’ll want to see the latest innovations alongside standard European, French, and American variants, all available to play in both a random number generator (RNG) and live dealer context.

Mobile Capabilities

At the risk of sounding redundant, big casino sites are wealthier than small ones. This means they have more resources at their disposal to keep up with modern gambling trends. Although mobile gameplay can hardly be thought of as a new concept, the ability of larger sites to excel in this area is of significant benefit to their players.

All online casinos – no matter how big or small – will make efforts to optimise their site for the mobile screen. But the casinos at the top of the food chain will go beyond this, developing their own bespoke apps for members to download. These apps almost always offer a superior gambling experience to betting in the web browser, with faster loading times and quicker access to bonuses and promotions.

Casinos and Sportsbooks

When betting sites reach a certain size, they’re able to offer their members the two main verticals of online gambling: casinos and sportsbooks. Marrying these two betting options under one account allows gamblers to switch between the two with minimal fuss, dabbling in a hand of poker in one moment and placing a bet on the football in another.

Payment Options

This isn’t always a given, but larger online casinos tend to give their customers more options at the cashier page in comparison to smaller sites. Offering a decent range of payment options for both deposits and withdrawals is beneficial in two ways: one, it offers gamblers convenience when they come to pay for their bet; and two, it opens the casino up to the possibility of executing fast withdrawals. The best online casinos in this category will include bank transfers, e-wallets, prepaid cards, and pay by phone services on their payment method menus.

Customer Service

Things can occasionally go wrong at a betting site, whether it’s a problem with a withdrawal or a member struggling to gain access to their account. In these moments, players need to know they can rely on decent customer service to resolve the issue as soon as possible. The UK’s biggest casinos are able to allocate more resources to ensuring their customer services are smooth, responsive, and helpful, which goes a long way to enhancing their reputation. The best sites in this area will make use of a range of communication channels 24/7, 365 days a year.

The Biggest Casino Bonuses

Here are some of the bonus types you can expect to come across at the biggest online casinos. These will be offered both as part of a welcome bonus and throughout your time at the casino. Before taking advantage of any casino bonuses, remember that terms and conditions will apply.

Matched Deposits

Matched deposit bonuses will see the casino match a portion of your deposit up to a certain limit. If matched deposits are included as part of a welcome bonus, these offers can be as large as 100% up to £200, which would land the recipient £400 in their account from a £200 deposit. Some sites offer considerably more, going as high as 300% and even 400% matched deposit bonuses, although the wagering requirements are sure to be extremely restrictive with such offers.

Free Spins

Free spins are to be used on the casino’s collection of slot titles, with players being given a bundle of extra spins on the reels. Free spins bonuses are usually contingent on a minimum deposit of some kind, such as an offer of 20 free spins when depositing £10.

No Deposit Bonuses

Like the sound of receiving a cash injection without staking any of your own funds? Well that’s exactly what happens with a no deposit bonus. Compared to matched deposits, these offers tend to be significantly smaller, but are no less valuable as a result.

Payment Options at the Biggest Online Casinos

We’ve touched on payment options briefly above, but let’s go into this in more detail. Below is a breakdown of the most popular banking options at the biggest online casinos – in all the examples, withdrawal times are given from the moment the request has been processed to the time it takes for money to appear in the designated account. An online casino’s processing checks can take anywhere up to 72 business hours.

Debit Cards

No matter their size, almost all UK online casinos accept debit card payments. While this accessibility is handy, it comes at a price: debit card withdrawals are among the slowest of any payment method at casino sites, taking anywhere between two and five working days.

e-Wallets

If debit cards are among the slowest, then e-wallets are the opposite. Not only are deposits incredibly quick – authorised simply through linked account information, such as usernames and passwords – but payouts can be completed in an instant at fast withdrawal casinos. PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, ecoPayz, and MuchBetter are the leading brands offering e-wallet services at the UK’s biggest casinos.

Prepaid Cards

Given that only preloaded funds can be spent with a prepaid card, this is a popular option for many online gamblers due to its inherent money management facilities. Prepaid card users purchase vouchers either in store or online before using the funds to make casino deposits via a unique PIN. Even at the biggest sites, however, there are very limited opportunities to request withdrawals with prepaid card payments.

Pay by Phone Bill

Many of the UK’s leading mobile network providers now support pay by phone bill transactions at online casinos. Here’s how it works: you select pay by phone at the cashier page, enter your mobile number and the amount you’d like to deposit, and your network provider will pay for it before charging the bill to your monthly account. This option is incredibly quick and easy, but users aren’t able to make a withdrawal with this method and there are tight deposit limits.

Trustly

There are similarities between Trustly and e-wallet payments, both of which offer lightning-quick deposits and withdrawals. Trustly payments are, however, directly linked to a bank account – not all UK banks support Trustly, which is one potential drawback to bear in mind. The service doesn’t require you to set up an account, and this extremely secure method doesn’t hold on to your details once the transaction is complete.