Start an Online Casino
Many people want to open up their own online casino but they can't imagine actually going through all the steps to get one started. They see online casinos as being extremely complicated and difficult to open. But this is not as hard as it seems, as long as you follow this clear set of directions guiding you through the process.
Steps
- Choose an online provider.
- Before you start, you have to decide what casino software and games (content) you will be using. The software is going to run your gaming site, and will be the backbone of your casino, helping you manage your entire operational activity, including account management, payment processing, fraud management, and marketing campaigns. If software is going to be your backbone, gaming content will be your face. Games are what will attract people to your casino and you should consider that as one of the main factors in deciding which supplier to chose.
- There are two types of suppliers - ones that develop games and platforms themselves and ones that offer packages with gaming content of other suppliers (B2B - business-to-business model). Both have their own advantages. If you go with the company that develops games itself, you will probably have to pay lower fees and there will be a lot of flexibility in meeting your requirements. In case you decide to go with the B2B supplier, you can get games from multiple developers without the need to sign multiple contracts, but there will be larger fees to deal with.
- Additionally, you must decide if you will choose a casino provider that asks you for monthly fees (this would be like paying a monthly rent + a fee from your profit), or if you will choose a casino provider that asks for no monthly fees and will send you the source code files after your purchase, granting you maximum access over your casino and full data privacy.
- Playtech.com, Net Entertainment and Micro Gaming (game developers) are top three game developers that cover over 60% of the worldwide market with their premium casino products. Their award-winning games are considered as the top converting. If you can't include all three, your casino should feature games from at least one of them. They charge a minimum of 10 000 EUR per month while also demanding a minimum of 15% cut of the royalties from the casino. If you choose to buy a complete solution from these guys you will end paying them a minimum of 120 000 EUR in just one year.
- On the other hand, companies like EveryMatrix.com, 1ClickGames.com and Finnplay.com are aforementioned B2B suppliers. Aside from a wide variety of solutions, they offer games from up to 10 different developers, including the most popular ones.
- If the main factor of your decision is related to your budget and you want to minimize your long-term costs, you can go with CasinoWebScripts.com, which is a casino software provider that aims to provide people interested in starting their online casino with options that do not involve any monthly fees. Their pricing policy lets anybody buy as many games as they want, even with source codes, while letting the casino owners keep 100% of their profit. They also offer a complete casino software solution as well as game customization or custom game development (this means they can develop any game you want). If you choose to buy a complete solution you will end paying them around 100 000 EUR and you can use their products for the next 100 years. They have over 150 games available with free updates and lifetime support.
- Choose your business partners carefully and never do that in rush. Request information and contract templates from at least ten suppliers so that you can compare them before the final verdict. Never be shy to ask questions you are interested in or might have concerned about.
- Obtain a Casino License.
- If you choose to go with B2B supplier, you probably will be offered a sub-license that will allow you to freely operate legally without the need to obtain one yourself. This would save you a lot of time and funds on your initial investment, but eventually it is better to get your own license when your casino will start generating you serious money.
- In case there is non such option, obtaining your casino license must be your first step. Without the casino license you aren't allowed to have a casino running legally. Alternatively you can start a BitCoin casino, which does not require a license.
- Decide in which country you will obtain your casino license, it does not have to be your current residence. Some countries, such as Curacao or Costa Rica, are very cheap to obtain a casino license in (around 20 000 EUR/year), while others like UK, Malta or Romania are far more expensive (over 150 000 EUR/year). If you get a license in Curacao or Costa Rica, you can accept players at your casino from non-regulated jurisdictions all over the world.
- Use a service like Slogold.net to set up an offshore company that will be the face of your casino in the process of obtaining your casino license.
- Pay the fee to get your casino license and provide them with any other information that they require.
- Choose Your Accepted Payment Methods.
- After you have your casino license you have to set up your payment options so that you can take deposits from players, payout prizes, and withdraw money from the casino back into your business.
- Credit cards are the favorite method of payment around the internet, and by allowing credit cards at your casino you are going to improve the chances of getting customers.
- You will need a credit card processing service in order to verify they have enough money and to get the money sent to your company account.
- Shop around for affordable processing services, many large agencies offer these services at low rates.
- Market your casino.
- When you have the casino up and running it is time to populate it with players who are going to make it into a profitable business. The only way that you are going to get anyone playing at your casino site is through casino marketing and it is important that you spend most of your time on this step of the venture if you want to be successful.
- Decide on the countries that you want to target the most and setup local marketing campaigns. These can include television ads, magazine ads, radio ads, and search engine optimization that focuses on local cities within the country.
- Focus on delivering unique content and unique games that will make your casino stand out of the crowd. Find a development company and ask them to create a unique game exclusively for your casino. CasinoWebScripts is one of the companies that offer such service.
- SEO or search engine optimization is going to be the long-term method of increasing the number of players at your site. Pay an expert to create optimized content to draw players into your casino from search engines, this will keep a steady flow of new players heading your way.
- A Google adwords campaign is a good way to get immediate customers to your casino. Make sure that you direct them to a very convincing website that talks about the benefits they will get by using your casino.
- Support several different languages from countries who are likely to use your casino. The more languages that your website supports the greater the player base you can build up.
- Be sure to hold events regularly to keep players coming back to the casino while enticing new players to the casino for the very first time.
- Using a system of deposit promotions is also a good idea for increasing the number of players who decide to give the casino a try in the first place.
- Always make sure that you reward the players who are spending the most at your casino. This small portion will end supply a large portion of the casino’s money. Offer incentives and rewards to the high paying customers because you want them to come back over and over again
- Learn how to Deal with Challenges.
- Running an online casino forces you to deal with a whole slew of challenges that you probably wouldn't have to worry about with most other businesses.
- One of the most significant risks that a casino has to worry about is hackers. It's vital that you hire professionals to make sure that your server is very secure, the first time that you are hacked and money is stolen people will lose faith in the casino and you will lose customers.
- When your marketing efforts are driving a large number of people to the casino website but those people are not signing up you may have a few different issues that have to be dealt with.
- It is possible that you are not offering enough methods to deposit money into the casino if you only have one or two methods available. Make sure that you have as many different ways to deposit money as you can.
- You may not be covering the language of the country that you are marketing to. If the website isn't in a language that they understand they aren't going to sign up.
- You may need more promotions or bonuses to make them feel like there is a reason to try your casino. Without an incentive most players will stick with their current casino over yours.
- If your players are joining up with the casino and then leaving it very soon after then you probably need to improve the games that you are offering.
- Make sure that the games are easy to understand and they come with rules and help;
- Only choose games that are pleasing to look at, and avoid games with sharp graphics or games that hurt the eye when playing;
- Purchase games that will run in most web browsers and offer an instant play option. Many players can't wait to download a game client to their desktop in order to play;
- Get games that cover popular casino games such as slots, poker, and scratch cards;
