At many online casinos you can play for free without creating a player account, and this is a great introduction to casino games. You still do not win any prizes by playing for free. If you want to win, you must create a player account and transfer money to it. Creating a player account is quick and easy, but feel free to compare several casinos before choosing where you want a player account.
What games can you find at an online casino
There is a big difference in the selection of games at different online casinos, because it is not the casinos themselves that develop the games. These buy the games from game developers who let the casino offer their games. The more game developers a casino has a contract with, the more games they can offer their players. Et online casino with many providers gives you a far greater variety of games than a casino that only offers games from one provider.
Today it is one of the rarities that a casino only has games from one provider. The same goes for downloading software to play. As a rule, you can choose from games from many game developers, and the games open directly in your browser. Thus, they are also adapted to different devices, whether you play on PC, Mac, mobile or tablet. The most common groups of games are
- Video slots and slot machines, collectively called slot machines
- Virtual table games
- Video poker
- Scratch cards and lotteries
- Live casino
Some casinos also offer poker, bingo and betting, while others only offer what are called casino games. The market's best online casinos can have many hundreds of slot machines, in addition to a wide range of other games. A large selection of games is one of the things you need to think about when choosing a casino. The most important thing, however, is safety and fair play, because you want the gaming experience to be safe.
Virtual table games and live casino
Virtual table games and live casino are often played according to roughly the same rules, but the difference lies in how the games take place. In virtual table games, computers control the game and select random winning numbers. Almost all online casinos offer virtual table games such as casino poker, blackjack, roulette and baccarat. Virtual games can be tested for free. Here you can choose whether you want to use real money or play money when you play.
The games in a live casino are often the same as virtual table games, because the live offer also includes games such as baccarat, blackjack, casino poker and roulette. In addition, there may be other live games such as lottery and dice games. Live casino games, the dealers are real people, and the games take place at regular tables in a gaming hall. Everything that happens is transmitted through streaming services while you sit and click the buttons on the computer screen at home.
Slot machines and other games
Slot machines include both fruit machines, video machines and progressive machines, and within this category you will find a very large variety of games. Fruit machines are usually traditional, with three reels and only a few paylines. They rarely have extra features, and are very easy to play. Video slot machines are more comprehensive, and have five or six reels, with some paylines. These can also include bonus games, free spins and re-spins.
Although video slot machines can hand out big top prizes, there are slot machines which entices with even greater gains. These are called progressive machines, and here the pots can be in the tens of millions of kroner. The money collected in the pot comes from the players' efforts. A small percentage of the money you spend on the game goes into a giant pot that is handed out randomly to a lucky winner.
Other games you can find at an online casino are video poker, scratch cards, lotteries, keno, bingo, virtual sports games, poker and odds games. Video poker, scratch cards and virtual sports games are computer animated games. Keno, Bingo and lotteries can be both virtual games and live games. Betting games are based on real sports, and there are many casinos that have their own betting site. Poker is not offered at all online casinos, but here you play against other players.
Deposits and withdrawals at online casinos
You must have real money in your player account to be able to win money on casino games. You can create a player account by clicking on Create Account, or similar buttons on the online casinos website. Fill in the required information and confirm the account by clicking on a link you will be sent. Then log in and verify that all account details are correct.
Deposits are made by clicking on the banking service on the casino account. This service can be marked in different ways, so here you just have to see what is on your particular casino site. Click on Deposit to deposit money into your account, then select one of the payment solutions the casino offers. Which solutions you can choose is a little different at different casinos. Choose a payment solution you are familiar with.
Feel free to consider that withdrawals should be made with the same payment solution as the deposits, so choose the one that suits you best. Deposits via bank account or bank card have become increasingly difficult for Norwegian players, because the Norwegian Lotteries Authority is trying to stop transfers to foreign online casinos. An e-wallet can often be the best solution. Here, no one investigates who your money is sent to.
What is a Norwegian online casino
The name Norwegian online casino can often seem a bit misleading, because Norway has a gaming monopoly where only Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto can offer games. What is usually called a Norwegian online casino is a foreign casino that has its own website in Norwegian. One and the same casino can have websites available in many languages, and the casino does not need to have Norwegian owners to be called a Norwegian casino.
The casinos are operated from countries where they can operate legally. They may even have Norwegian employees, for example within customer support. Norwegian customer support is definitely an advantage, and this is something you should look for when comparing different casinos. You also want good Norwegian language on the casino's website, so see if the text looks like a machine translation or if the language is good.
There is nothing wrong with using machine translation, but a casino that does not bother to hire Norwegian translators probably cares more about money than about its players. Good or bad language therefore says something about how professional the casino is. As there are very many good Norwegian-language online casinos, you do not need to choose an amateur casino to play at.
Is it safe to play at online casinos
It is safe to play at online casinos as long as you choose a reliable casino. This is a very important consideration to take into account when creating a player account. Unfortunately, there are some dishonest players in the casino industry as well. Always start by checking if the casino is licensed, and not least where they are licensed from. As a Norwegian player, you should choose a casino with a license in an EU country.
The license in the EU means both good security, as well as some tax benefits for you as a player. Casinos licensed in the EU must comply with the EU Data Retention Directive, which provides extra security for the private information you send to the casino. They are also controlled by strict authorities. This is not always the case for licensed casinos outside the EU. The EU country Malta is particularly well known for the strict requirements they set for online casinos.
The license from Malta is a good thing, but the license from any EU country is good. If the casino has a license in the EU, you can in some cases avoid paying tax if the winnings are less than 10,000 kroner. Another thing you can check is whether the casino's games are controlled by a third party that approves the games' random number generator - ie whether the games are fair or not.
Bonus schemes at online casinos
Online casinos can offer a wide range of bonus schemes, and they like to try to outdo each other when it comes to attracting new players. Therefore, a welcome bonus can be very large. This is the first bonus you meet at the casino if they do not also offer a no deposit bonus. You only receive this by registering as a player, ie before you make a deposit in your player account.
However, the welcome bonuses are the most generous offers, because here it is important for the casino to stand out from the competition. At online casinos you can get offers of many thousands of kroner in deposit bonuses, and you can get a large number of free spins. Welcome bonuses can be linked to one or more deposits, and often the bonus money is based on a percentage match of your deposit. This deposit match can be very big.
If you get free spins from the casino, they are linked to one or more selected games. You activate the spins by logging in to the player account and clicking on the link. Such spins must often be used quickly, so do not wait too long before activating them. How many free spins the casino gives out is very different. You can get from ten spins to many hundreds, depending on which casino you choose.
Of course, the casinos do not forget the players they already have, so they lure with loyalty benefits and promotions. Here there is also a very big difference between the casinos. A loyalty program can consist of regular offers every week, or you can earn points that are exchanged for bonuses or free spins. It is also common for you to receive personal offers by e-mail, or that you can receive bonuses through newsletters.
Bonus terms and conditions
No bonuses are completely free, so take the time to read through the casino's terms. The first condition is the size of the deposit you must make to receive the bonus. Note that you may not receive a bonus if you make a deposit with e-wallets, but this varies. The most important condition for bonuses is wagering requirements. This can be different at different casinos, and even at different types of games.
The wagering requirement shows how many times you have to play through the bonus value, and this must happen within a specified deadline. Find out if you have to trade both your own money and bonus money, or if only the bonus itself is to be traded. Find out how much the different games count in relation to the wagering requirement, and whether any games are illegal to play until the bonus conditions are met.
Is it legal to play at online casinos
The Norwegian gaming monopoly means that only Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto can have a license in Norway for their games. Therefore, many people believe that it is forbidden to play online casino games. It also does not help that the Norwegian Lotteries Authority is trying to stop casino deposits from Norwegian players. All this contributes to the fact that casino games seem illegal, but fortunately this is not the case. You can freely create an account at the online casino you want to play at.
However, be aware that some payment solutions may be difficult to use, even if the money is sent through a third party. The authorities are constantly looking for intermediaries who forward money from you to the casino, therefore more and more such intermediaries are blocked. You can possibly use an e-wallet for casino deposits, as the money then does not go through Norwegian banks. How to prevent the transmissions from being stopped.
The online casinos are still licensed in countries where casino games are legal, therefore they operate within the law. Check that the casino is licensed in a strict country. Even if casino games are legal, you should of course play responsibly. The strict Norwegian gambling laws must prevent gambling addiction, and this is a risk you must be aware of. Both in relation to your own gaming and the gaming of people you know.
How to choose the right online casino
Choosing an online casino is not an easy task, because there are very many casinos to choose from. It is also not always easy to tell the difference between them. Also, all players have their own favorite games and casinos, so you and your friends may not agree on which casino is best. However, there are some things to consider when choosing a casino.
Security is the most important thing, so only stick to licensed casinos. It is a great advantage if you get a welcome bonus, but also remember to look at the turnover requirements. If these are very high it is not certain the bonus is as good as you think. Also, check out the casino's loyalty program, as this is more important in the long run. After all, you only get a welcome bonus once.
Good customer support and user-friendliness are also important assessment factors. If the casino is very user-friendly, you may never need to contact customer support. If you need help, it is still important that they are present and can offer quick help. Norwegian customer support is always best for Norwegian players. Daily, 24-hour customer support is important if you like to play outside the late night hours or on weekends.
The game selection is of course also an important factor, especially if you like games other than slot machines. Slot machines can be found at all online casinos, although the number of games and the providers they come from varies slightly. Other types of games, such as bingo, virtual table games, video poker, lottery and live casino can vary much more in availability. Some casinos still do not have a live casino, and they may have few or no virtual table games.
Who can help choose the right online casino
If you know someone who plays online casino games, they may be able to give you some tips on where to play. However, not everyone likes the same casinos, and your friends can therefore enjoy their friends at a different casino than you do. Then you can do a search for Norwegian casinos online and visit the websites of a handful of casinos to compare them.
It is very time consuming to compare casinos, because there are many factors to examine. Therefore, it is even smarter to read casino reviews. In a casino review you get a summary of what the casinos have to offer, and you can easily compare the advantages and disadvantages of several casinos. This saves time, but you have to make the final choice yourself by visiting the casino sites and seeing how much you like them.
Once you have chosen some casinos you want to visit, you should start playing for free, without registering. Not all casinos allow this, nor can you test all games this way. Nevertheless, you can get an overview of the game selection by browsing the pages at the casino. Look at the page layout and usability. It should always be easy to find your way around a casino.
Play online casino on your mobile
Many people still play online casino on PC, Mac or laptop, but you can actually take the games with you anywhere by playing on your mobile. A large number of casinos have their own mobile casinos, and even if they do not, you can often open the games in the browser. In the beginning, the selection of games at online casinos was limited, but this is about to change. You will now find a large selection of games for your mobile.
However, it is not certain that all games can be played on mobile, because the oldest casino games were made before anyone thought of mobile casinos. It is only in recent years that casino games on mobile have taken off, and now this is a rapidly growing trend. New games that are launched will almost always be available on mobile at the same time as they become available on computer.
You can play both for free and with real money on your mobile. You can even make deposits and withdrawals via mobile, so you do not have to buy a new computer to play casino games. The mobile works just fine and allows you to take the games everywhere, well and good if you have good coverage. If not, the games can easily hang up.
Own bonuses for mobile casino
Some casinos distribute their own bonuses to mobile players, but the most common is that you play with the same bonus no matter which device you play on. This also has its advantages, especially if the bonus money is to be traded. If you have one account, both games on PC and games on mobile will help to wager the same bonus. Many people naturally want to combine gaming on a small and large screen.
If you are going to collect loyalty points at the casino, it is also an advantage that you collect points for the same account no matter which device you play on. Then the points get into the account faster so you can exchange them for benefits. If you would like to have two accounts, for example at two casinos, it is also okay to have a separate mobile casino account at one casino.
Tax payment of casino winnings
Should you win money at a casino, you need to think about whether they are taxable or not. It is not the case that winnings you receive from foreign gaming companies are tax-free. The rules, on the other hand, state that winnings under $10,000 are exempt from tax if the casino is licensed in an EU country, and if the games correspond to games or lotteries that are legal in Norway..
There are many who are a little confused, and there are even many casinos that say that the winnings you win with them are tax-free. That is not the case. Only games that are legally offered in Norway can give you tax-free winnings, and there are often not that many such games with the foreign gaming companies. Therefore, you have to pay tax on most casino winnings.
Even if you were to play a game that gives tax-free winnings up to $10,000, all winnings above this will be taxable. If you win 10,500 kroner, you can not deduct the first 10,000 and say that they are tax-free. You must then pay tax on the entire amount. If you win big, you can get a tax break. This is very important to be aware of.
Summary and tips
You can play casino in a completely legal way also at foreign online casinos. There has been some confusion about this, as banks are not allowed to transfer money to foreign gaming companies. However, it is not individual players the authorities are looking to take. However, you must be aware that most casino winnings are taxable, and you must take responsibility for playing in a sensible way..
Online casino games are a lot of fun, and do not have to be dangerous if you stick to a strict budget or play for free. However, be wary of gambling addiction in yourself or others. That said, there is no reason to say no to the exciting entertainment you get at an online casino. Just take the time to compare the benefits of different casinos first.