Been trying a few different online casinos lately and I swear the flashy homepage tells you basically nothing. First thing I care about now is whether the place feels smooth once you actually sign up and have a poke around. If the lobby is a mess, half the pokies lag on mobile, or the cashier page feels dodge, I'm already halfway out the door.
The big one for me is cashouts. I can put up with a pretty average promo page if deposits are easy and withdrawals don’t turn into some bloody week-long drama. Same with verification — don’t mind sending the docs, just don’t keep asking for one more thing every second day. I also rate sites way higher when support answers like an actual person instead of copy-pasting rubbish.
Game range matters too, but not in the "5000 games!!!" sort of way. I’d rather a site has the good providers, decent search, and the popular slots actually loading properly than heaps of filler no one touches. And if the wagering is cooked or the terms are buried somewhere weird, yeah nah.
That’s pretty much how I size them up now. Keen to hear what other Aussie players look at first when you’re deciding if a site is worth sticking with or binning after one session.