Primarily, on-line casinos offer a place to gamble from your own home (or
office or anywhere you have internet access), saving you the expenses
(airfare, restaurant meals, and hotel bill) that would be incurred
traveling to a brick-and-mortar establishment. Over time, that alone may
make up for the losses, and will usually exceed the amount that you might
recoup as "comps" in a brick-and-mortar casino.
It's also a more comfortable environment for the novice player, as casino
games can be intimidating (which is why most people stick to the slots).
It's much less embarrassing to be corrected by a computer in the privacy of
your home than to be reprimanded by a dealer in front of a table of seasoned
players.
Technologies
There are a number of types of online casinos at which you can play. Many of
them are Java-based and load directly in your browser. Some of them use
Flash or Shockwave, which also runs in your browser but may require the
Flash (or Shockwave) plug-ins available from
Macromedia.
Both of these types are usually referred to as no-download
casinos, even though you have to download graphics and sounds every time you
play. The biggest advantage of a no-download casino is that it can be played
on most computers and operating systems such as Windows, MacOS and Linux.
Then there are the downloadable software casinos, which will only run on
Windows-based platforms. File sizes generally range from 5-15 megabytes, so
you should make sure you are definitely planning to play at this casino
before investing the time to download. If you run Windows, I recommend that
you stick to these download casinos. They are generally more stable and
secure, and once downloaded minimize communications between your computer
and the casino game server, making them ideal for those of you with dial-up
connections.
One of the biggest advantages to online gambling is the wide availability
of bonuses that online casinos offer. Some casinos give you money right off
the bat for you to test out their games. Others require you to make a
deposit in order to receive a bonus, which is either a percentage of your
deposit added to your account, or a fixed amount received for an exact
deposit of X dollars.
For example, Casino A might give you $10 free just for downloading, and $40
additional when you make your first deposit of $100 within seventy-two
hours.
Casino B may offer you a bonus of 25% of the amount you deposit up to a
certain limit.
The reason that online casinos can offer bonuses like this is simply because
they have a much lower overhead cost. Less staff, less equipment, no
construction required, etc. And on top of that, they make you wager your
deposit (and usually your bonus) at least three times over before you can
collect your winnings.
It is very important that you read the terms and conditions which are either
posted on the web site or included in your email offer—how many times you
must wager the deposit and the bonus, the validity period of the bonus
offer, and which games you can or cannot play in order to ensure your
winnings are valid.
Making a Deposit
So you’re ready to make your first real money bet? There are usually a
number of methods by which you can send the casino money.
Firstly, there’s your credit card: Visa and Mastercard are commonly accepted
by nearly every online casino. However, many of you in North America may
find that your credit card purchase will be rejected.
This is not because the casino doesn’t want your money; it’s because of a
regulation at credit card companies, which forces the merchant (the casino)
to identify the transaction as 7995: the purchase of tokens for the purpose
of Internet Gambling. Most banks in the US are afraid to accept these
high-risk transactions and automatically reject the purchase.
If this is the case, you have two alternative methods of using your credit
card—by opening up an account at either PayPal or FirePay. You can tie your
credit card to these accounts and the purchase will be identified as a
pseudo-cash transaction instead of Internet Gambling transaction. These two
methods are now the most common ways by which North American residents
deposit money into online casinos—and in some cases casinos will offer an
additional bonus if you make a deposit by one of these methods.
Many casinos also offer incentives for making a purchase by Western
Union—you can use your credit card to send funds by Western Union online, or
you can always go to your nearest Western Union agent and hand over cash.
Some casinos will even allow you to deposit money by other methods such as
ACH (which is basically an electronic check), or by wire transfer, Neteller
or Layeway.
Playing the Games
Most casinos offer a pretty good selection of table games. At the very
least, you should be able to find blackjack, baccarat and roulette online;
many casinos offer additional table games like Caribbean Stud, Craps, Red
Dog, even Casino War and Three Card Poker—but sometimes the names are
slightly changed.
Video poker is one of the more popular gambling games—while a few casinos
only offer one or two types of video poker, the best casinos may offer as
many as 10–15 different games, and some even offer multi-hand video poker.
And then there are slots: hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of different
slot machines. Whether it’s single-line, three-line, 9-line, 3- or 5-reel,
progressives, bonus games, you name it, they’ve got it somewhere on the Net.
The best are the progressive slots, which often pay more—and hit more
frequently—than the progressives you’ll see in Vegas. The two largest
portals that feature these games are Jackpot Madness and Jackpot Mania.
All of these games are simple to learn—usually just a click or two—and they
play as fast as, or faster than, land-based casinos. Some are multi-player,
some are single-player; but after you take a break for dinner, or perhaps
take the dog out for a walk, there will always be a seat waiting for you
when you come back.
