Setting up an online casino might seem like a great way to make some easy money. However, there are a number of different steps that have to be taken before this can be achieved. We’ve taken a look at the things that you need to do, and decide whether it is possible if you’re working on a budget.
Getting Regulated
This is the first, and the most important aspect of running an online casino. Having a regulatory license will achieve a number of things that are vital to your success. The first, is that it makes your site legal within your chosen jurisdiction. Without a license, you could be subject to fines if you are caught within that jurisdiction. You have to remember that some countries won’t allow you to get a license, for example in Norway, which has a state monopoly on online casinos. It’s for this reason that NorgesCasino.com used to be an online casino.
This can be quite expensive, so it’s important that you set aside a good portion of your budget, in order to pay for your license. The second thing that’s important in relation to having a license, is that it instantly provides you with a level of trust from players. If you have a license, then players will automatically know that you’re a legitimate enterprise, and therefore they won’t carry out dodgy tactics.
As already mentioned, regulation will be different across the world, so you will have to do a lot of research to ensure that you choose the right regulator for your site.
Choosing a Platform Provider
While it is possible to set up your own casino platform, which will require signing partnership deals with different software developers, and then carrying out the coding yourself, it’s a lot quicker and easier to get someone else to set up your platform for you. This is something that many big name casinos have chosen to do, which is part of what has allowed the industry to grow at such a fast rate.
A platform provider will offer you lots of different aspects when it comes to creating your site. It’s not just about the game providers, which we will come to a bit later on, it’s about the other things that you can offer.
So, if you choose a platform provider that allows for gamification, you will be able to create your own tournaments, and VIP schemes for your site. This will provide some added bonuses to players which will help your site stand out from the crowd. The platform provider will also give you the opportunity to get up and running much faster than if you had done it all manually.
One of the best things about platform providers, is that a lot of them can be customised to be compliant with local regulations. So, if you have a license with the MGA, then you can enter this information into your platform, and nothing that is against the regulations will be possible. It ensures that you will be able to stay within the remit of what you agreed when getting your license. This helps to stop honest mistakes from taking place, which can lead to significant fines being an unlikely occurrence.
Choosing Game Providers and Games
As online casinos have started to increase in popularity, the importance of a high quality selection of games has come to the fore. Players will often choose the site that they want to play at based on the games that are available. This is why many players stick to sites that offer games from certain developers.
When you choose your platform provider, you will have the opportunity to select from a range of different providers that can be offered. It’s important that you choose wisely. Especially as the more providers, and games that you have available, the higher the potential cost of the platform will be.
As such, you should do the research required at this point to ensure that you offer the most popular games possible. This doesn’t mean providing the games that you like the best, you will have to look over what’s popular on the market, and then from there, select a wide range of games.
This will usually be centred around video slots, as they are the most popular games at the moment. It could also include progressive jackpot slots. As these games offer higher prizes to players, they do tend to be quite popular. One positive about these games, is that the pay out is covered by the developer, so your own costs won’t be impacted too much by a large pay out from these games.
Payment Methods
This is another important aspect. It will have to cover a number of different areas, in order to be put in place correctly at your site. The first thing to look at, is offering as many payment methods as possible. Because players tend to use a lot of different methods, you want to give them access to your site without them needing to sign up to a new payment provider.
However, depending on the regulator that you are using, this might not always be possible. Some regulators won’t allow cryptocurrency payments which means that you would not be able to offer them to players. It’s important to ensure that you’re covered both in terms of offering a good choice to players, and in terms of adhering to the regulator’s requirements.
Budgeting
It’s safe to say that running an online casino on a budget is a difficult task. Many regulators require the operator to have significant cash in reserve, in order to make sure that pay outs can be honoured. As such, if you don’t have these cash reserves, then you won’t be able to set up your online casino. Make sure to check this before your commit to the task.
