Online casinos are what the name suggests, casinos that are available to play on the internet. You can play the same games as you would expect to find in a bricks and mortar casino.
You can expect to find similar odds that you would find at a land based casino; however, some online gaming sites claim better odds with their slot machines than bricks and mortar counterparts. Some publish their payout percentage audits on their websites, this is something you should definitely check out, if possible, when deciding on an online casino to join as you can chose the one with the highest payout percentage thus increasing your chances of winning.
Online casinos can be divided into three groups depending on how the player can play their games. These groups are:
o Web-based
o Download-based
o Live
Web-based Casinos allow the player to play the casino game of their choice directly on the internet, without the need to download any of the casinos software to their computer. The casino games are usually delivered in Macromedia Flash, Java, or Macromedia Shockwave and will require your web browser to have the relevant plug-in. The plug-ins are free to and easy install if you don’t already have them enabled on your web browser. Most browsers already have the plug-ins installed. You will also need a decent bandwidth as the casino games are made up of sounds and animations requiring decent band-with to run properly.
Download-based Casinos require the player to download the online casinos software onto their computer in order for them to play the games. The online casino software connects directly to the online casinos service provider and allows the games to be played without the need of you using your web browser. The advantage of this is that the game-play runs faster as the software uses the graphics and sound programs from the casinos software, as apposed to it being run through your browser on the internet. Obviously the software will take a little while to install itself on your computer and there is always the risk (as with downloading any software) that the online casino software contains malware and potentially infecting your computer.
Live-based Casinos is relatively new and allows the player to interact with games played in a real world Casino environment. The players can see, hear and interact with live dealers in casinos worldwide.
At online casinos you can expect to find the same games as you would find at a land-based casino. Slot Popular games include:
o Baccarat
o Blackjack
o Craps
o Roulette
o Slots machines
o Poker – Texas Hold’ Em, 7 Card Stud, Omaha
Due to the fierce competition between Online Casinos they all offer some form of sign-up bonus in order to entice you to sign up to their website. Usually they will double your first deposit, for example; if you deposit $200, the Casino will also deposit $200 in your account, meaning you have a total of $400 to gamble with.