Instant withdrawals and anonymity are two of the main features that drive players to choose Bitcoin casinos over conventional online gambling. Bitcoin promises the possibility of being able to gamble privately and to cash out quickly, and this is also the reason that bettors must be reassured that strong safety measures are put in place to allow them to play securely.

Even with strong, site-site security, there is no question that gamblers must do their own due diligence and keep themselves safe from common scams and hacks.

1. When signing up for a website, check for any obvious signs that it’s a scam. How long has the site been in existence? Where are they registered or incorporated? If there’s a problem, can you get in touch with a human being? IF something goes wrong, what kind of legal tools will you have available to remedy the situation? Always check the reputation of sites that you plan to use, but even then be aware of and wary of sock puppets – people who have been paid to give false-positive reviews.
2. Provably fair games are one way to say ‘hey, we’re not a scam,’ but are they really provably fair? Some players may think that just because a site says their games are provably fair, it is safe to gamble there. The smart thing, though, is to learn how the site’s system works and then verify whether or not the site is true to its word.
   
3. Friendliness does not equate to trustworthiness. Anyone can fake a warm ‘hello.’ The real test of customer service is how well they respond to the real issues that are brought to them. Do they dodge questions? Do they stay calm? Do they start to blame the customer? Or, do they ask questions to get to the bottom of the issue and make sure the customer walks away satisfied, if not happy. If it turns out the issue is on the customer’s side, then when all the facts are laid out, it should be clear to the customer as well.
   
4. Only bet what you can afford to lose. OK, this one seems to be a bit of a no-brainer, and maybe even not really a security question. But the fact of the matter is that Bitcoin, as magic internet money, might not seem enough like real money for people to use adequate caution when they place their bets. Taking this a bit further, always make sure you use good practices to secure your own bitcoins: Don’t store significant amounts of money in any web wallet, if you use a desktop wallet, make sure you use a strong password, if don’t use a wallet that generates it’s keys from a 12 word seed, make sure you back up your wallet after you have made transactions (losing bitcoins to change addresses after a computer crashes is sadly all too common), and, in general, never have money invested in bitcoins that you are going to need tomorrow, next week, or next month – gambling with the volatility of Bitcoin is never a good idea for non-professionals.
   
5. Use strong passwords. If you go on r/Bitcoin, you’ll see lots of posts by people who have lost their bitcoins. The vast majority of these people lost their coins not because of site insecurity, but because they themselves used poor passwords. Using short passwords, words, birthdays, a single password over many sites are all good ways to lose your bitcoins. Invest in a password manager and a random password generator and you’ll sleep easier at night.
   
6. Get your money out. It’s often said that if you don’t have control of the private keys, then you don’t have the bitcoins. If a site goes off-line or in any other way starts to act suspiciously, if you don’t have the private keys, there is really nothing that you can do. If you want to keep your coins safe, after every betting session, sweep those coins back into your own wallet.
   

As Bitcoin continues to develop and to expand in adoption, it’s a safe bet (all puns intentional) that gambling will be a major driver of that adoption. The anonymity, the ease of moving money onto and off of platforms, and the ability to interact anywhere in the world without regard to type of currency means that gambling is a perfect use case for the digital currency. Along with that interest, the hackers and scammers will not follow, they are already preparing for the onslaught. Just acting sensibly and in your own interest can keep your own gaming experience enjoyable and ensure that it’s the scammers and hackers who have a frustrating time of it.

About the Author: Barry Goldwon is Customer Service Manager for Bitcoin Casinos Review. They provide the best and most thorough information about Bitcoin gambling, Bitcoin casino games, Bitcoin casino software providers, Bitcoin exchanges, Bitcoin trading, Bitcoin Binary Options, Alternative cryptocurrencies.