Online Casino Glossary for Australian Gamblers (Read It! No Worse than Reddit!)

Land-based gambling is legal in Australia, it is lobbied for, it brings in money to the treasury and the businesses are obliged to give some back to the needs of the local communities. Up until 2017, online gambling was also legal, but the new Interactive Gaming Amendment Bill restricted access to virtual wagering and forced a lot of businesses to close. Along with the in-country places to bet and win, many international gaming venues also cut Australia access to their lobbies. As you are getting started, you will see many experienced players on forums reminiscing about how much fun they had playing on slots from Microgaming or enjoying live dealer lobbies from Evolution Gaming. All of this was available until 2017.

That being said, Australians are still welcomed in many offshore online gambling brands. They will have certain licensing from jurisdictions of Curacao, Panama, Cyprus, and a few others. They will also have a limited selection of software developers that can legally work with Aussies. There will be no repercussions for the players for registering at such betting venues.

The first thing you should be looking for is the license. A proper place to bet and win should always have one. There is a number of jurisdictions that will allow businesses to accept players from Australia.

Also, properly tailored brands will always have certified software. The international arena is a niched one, with a few certain brands offering services to certain countries. This list is small and you will soon understand that a glance at a lobby might be enough to understand whether the brand will accept Australia.

We strongly advise against using a VPN. It is better to stick to a list of online brands that were tailored to welcome Australian traffic than to try and get into those that clearly state it in their T&C that Australia is among restricted locations.

In a nutshell: the websites are getting better at catching VPNned traffic. Even if you manage to slip though, you might run into troubles later. It is unlikely that they’ll care if you deposit, lose money, and leave. But what if you win? Or better yet, win big? You will want to cash out the wins.

According to the latest regulations, every online place to bet and win, if it is certified, has to verify its customers. They will ask for your ID, copy of a credit card, and the latest utility bill, and will see that you are in fact Australian. If they find that you are breaking the website’s T&C, this may lead to your wins getting confiscated.

This is a frequent question because there are plenty of unregulated online brands out there. Their list of games and promotions may be longer, their T&C are more attractive, and in the heat of a moment, it will seem like a license is not such a big deal when the content is so appealing.

Well, licensing is a major factor in choosing an online operator. There are only that many jurisdictions that are authorized to certify online casinos. To get a license, the brand’s management team has to assemble documents proving the company’s liquidity. It has to pay a fee for a permit, as well as submit to audits, get the games RNG-certified, and provide a third party that will be able to manage players’ complaints.

When playing in an online lobby that is certified, you can be sure that even when things go south there are certain measures you can apply to get justice. Plus, it is insurance that the games you are playing are not ripped off, the RNG is not messed up, and that you can request assistance in case there is a problem. Non-licensed casinos won’t do any of that.

The most popular ones are from the jurisdictions of Curacao and Cyprus. These two, while still have a certain percentage of casinos that were later listed as rogue ones, manage to do a good job. Also, websites with permits from Panama, Costa Rica, and Antigua and Barbuda will accept Australian players. With these three, we recommend to also check feedback on gambling forums, especially comments on payouts.

Search for the corresponding review on our portal, where we always mention whether a brand has a license. Also, scroll down to the footer of the online operator and check for an icon of a license. It has to be clickable, too, leading to the registration page with the license number and expiration date.

For Australia-based players, all of the licensed and friendly brands will come with registration as a requirement. You will need to set an account, which usually takes under five minutes. The brand asks for your personal information, contact details, and the preferred banking method. At either of these stages, it might be a good idea to consult with the help desk representatives of the particular brand.

This is a reasonable question, even if you’ve already done your research, know that you are registering at a legit online lobby from a reputable owner and with certified software. In this case, looking first for online operators that offer a no-deposit bonus may be the safest bet. This way, you will get to test the games, check the insides of the lobby, and get an overall feeling of whether you’d like to stay and wager some of your money.

KYC stands for Know Your Customer. The industry is getting more and more regulated and now most of the licensed brands are required to vet their clients prior to moving on with cashouts. Usually, the verification procedure means that you will need to forward some additional documents: a copy of an ID, of a credit card, and of the latest utility bill with your address on it is usually the set of requirements. 

Usually, the brand reserves between 48 to 72 hours to verify the account and process the paperwork. At this point, we also suggest scanning feedback on gambling forums per chosen brand. Most of the websites will stick to the deadlines and will then forward your wins to you. However, it is best to eliminate those that collect lots of complaints from their members for delaying the verification and to avoid such gambling locations from the very start.

Absolutely not. The sign-up deal is just something you might be interested in to boost the initial deposit. Many players decide not to choose it because it comes with T&C and the wagering requirements. We will talk about those more in the Bonuses section of this FAQ publication.

In addition to making sure the brand welcomes Australian players, you should check whether the cashier supports convenient banking methods and currency. If you decide to use the promotions be sure to read the Terms and Conditions section to understand what you are signing up for. Also, make sure the cashout method suits you.

Banking is the cornerstone of any online casino. So, if you are considering registering at a website that claims it welcomes Australians but there are no proper ways to deposit and withdraw, it might be best to reconsider and to continue looking.

Normally, international brands with Australian targeting will offer Visa and MasterCard cards and bank transfer. Plus, the ones that really did their homework, will also provide POLi payment system and Neosuf, the prepaid voucher, for depositing. 

Most likely, you will be offered either bank transfer or withdrawals to cards. Make sure the brand has either of these prior to depositing any real money.

Digital currencies have come a long way from being a new and suspicious payment method to becoming the currency of choice for thousands of gamblers. This type of cash is reliable. It is easy to use and fast. It saves a lot of time when compared to all the hassle that bank transfer and card payments come with.

Our portal has a detailed guide. In a nutshell, though, you choose the type of crypto to proceed with (BTC, BTC Cash, Litecoin, and Ethereum are just a few out of many available), head to the official website of the currency and set the e-wallet. Digital cash is bought and purchased online. Once you’ve topped up your e-wallet, the process is like with any usual e-wallet. You choose it in your casino account, specify the amount, and verify the transaction.

Digital currencies are peer-to-peer networks where funds are being transferred instantly. If you ever ordered bank transfers, you know that these are nowhere near being instant.

The risks of non-payment are the risks of the casino not verifying the account, finding a breach in the T&C if you used bonuses, or overall – choosing not to pay, which is a common risk in non-licensed lobbies. Normally, if you did your research, scanned the reviews and checked with the gambling forums, these risks are minimal as you’d probably end up choosing a proper site.

At no point during gambling will the casino offer you bonus cash for free, even when it is a no-deposit deal. There will always be the so-called wagering requirements attached to it, and by claiming the bonus, you automatically agree to fulfil these requirements.

This is the number of times you need to roll the cash over. You will either be asked to roll over the bonus cash (xB) or bonus and deposit (xBD). For instance, you are looking at the 100% cash match up to 100 AUD and the playthough terms of 30xB. You are depositing 50 AUD, claiming the bonus, and getting 50 AUD from a casino on top. You will now need to play that 50 AUD worth of bonus 30 times. In other words, you will need to rollover 1,500 AUD prior to meeting the requirements. If the requirements were xBD, you’d need to roll over 50 AUD of your deposit and 50 AUD of the bonus cash 30 times. That’d be 3,000 AUD in the rollover terms. 

You should check whether the bonus is for slots, table games, or the live dealer content. Let’s say that your bonus 50 AUD has the rollover terms of 30xB attached to it, and the T&C say that slots contribute 100%, while table games contribute 30%. This means that every dollar you roll over on slots counts just that – 1 dollar towards the wagering requirements, while if you decide to run this bonus though the table games, only 30 cents from each dollar contribute to the rollover terms, which means this will cost you much more to complete the terms.

Normally, the casino limits the amount of the maximum bet per spin/round and also excludes certain games from the list of allowed content. There is usually also a deadline attached to the offer. It can be up to 30 days for cash match deals. On the other hand, you might only have up to 24 hours to roll over wins from the bonus spins.

It used to be really no-deposit back in the day, but today more online operators choose to make sure their players can meet the rollover requirements so they might ask for the proof of your financial compatibility. Even the no-deposit offers come with the wagering requirements.

We are glad to say that the market of live dealer gaming for Australia continues to grow bigger and bigger. Right after the year 2017, there were hardly any lobbies that could offer live content. Today, you can look for the lobbies with ViG, Vivo Gaming, and Authentic Gaming among a few others. They accept Australian gamblers.

The three of the most popular brands you will be coming across are RealTime Gaming, Rival, and Saucify. Each of these three accepts players from Australia and is a legit and certified content creator. The list also includes certain games from BetSoft, and its international mirror – Octopus Gaming.

Back in the day, this would be the only way to go, and all the major developers, from Microgaming and Playtech to Rival, Saucify and RTG would have the so-called clients – ZIP files with their games ready in online lobbies. You’d register, download and install the client, and would only then be able to gamble. Today, however, installation is more of an option. Even such conservative studios as RTG and Rival have ditched full installation in favor of browser-based play and even added portable mobile gaming modes.

There is plenty of classic, video, and progressive pokies to take into consideration, including Roo Riches, Wolf Treasure, Sakura Fortune, and Fishin’ for Gold, to name a few.

RTP stands for a return to player percentage. The higher it is, the bigger the chance that you get some of your money back. Normally, something around 94.5% to 95.5% would be considered a low RTP. Games exceeding 97% would be among the most preferred. This is the average for pokies. With table games, the RTP is usually above 98%.

Volatility is the math model that lets you know in advance whether you will be winning more frequently, but in smaller amounts, or less frequently, but in bigger amounts. 

Here, everything depends on the risks you are willing to take. Per usual non-progressive slots, the volatility will most frequently be medium to low. Per progressive games, the bigger the advertised jackpot, the higher the volatility. Progressive pokies also encourage players to set higher stakes as this increases the chances of entering the jackpot level.

Pokies are games of chance. This means that other than being smart with your money there is not much else you can do to attract the win. Some progressive games state that higher bids increase the chances of triggering the jackpot. This can hardly be called a strategy but this is definitely something you need to be aware of.

Online casinos are not the source of income and should not be treated as such. They are a source of entertainment and with that, you should also realize that they may be addictive. If you are a newbie you may not be aware of whether you can form a gaming addiction. We strongly recommend you register with the certified brand that also has GambleAware seals at its footer. These are quick links that you can use to get assistance. Stay safe and remain aware.

Make sure you’ve submitted all the documents that were required of you as per KYC. Also, make sure that you have not violated the T&C. If at this point you feel like the conversation with the brand’s representatives is at a dead end, you can file an official complaint with the licensing authority and demand the issue be resolved by a third party.

Contact the help desk representatives and make sure there is an alternative way. Most likely, they will offer bank transfer as a universal and most popular way to receive wins.

It can be frustrating but the common practice that many operators reserve is paying out massive wins in equal instalments throughout several months.