A night out at a land-based casino is generally an occasional event for all except the most voracious gamblers. When online casinos first rose to prominence, they granted even the most casual players unlimited access to casino games. Nowadays, one can easily join a poker game, play slot machines, roulette, and countless other games of chance from any location at any time.
This innovation vastly increased the amount of play time for the average gambler. Now, instead of visiting your local casino once or twice a month, you can log on to your online casino of choice from your smartphone, tablet, or laptop 24 hours a day. Online gambling has also allowed those who live far away from land-based casinos to play with ease.
Social Playing
There is some dispute as to whether online gambling is more or less socially fulfilling than gambling at a brick-and-mortar casino. While land-based casinos allow for face-to-face interaction with your peers, the pool of gamblers is infinitesimally small compared to the vast network of online gambling enthusiasts.
Playing online allows you to gamble with people from all over the world, apart from those unfortunate few living in countries where online gambling is illegal. The social reach you have while playing online gives you access to games, tournaments and connections that would otherwise be far out of reach.
Gambling Software
Since the vast majority of casino games rely on random chance, online casinos have to find a way to simulate true randomness in their games (which is harder than one might think). To accurately simulate the throwing of dice or drawing of cards, specific software had to be developed. There is now a massive market for this type of software.
Online casinos use random number generators (RNGs) to ensure that the outcome of each spin of the slot machine or online roulette wheel is completely unpredictable. This is achieved through the employment of complex algorithms developed by software companies.
Online casinos are regularly audited to ensure that their software is not giving an unfair advantage to the house or rigging games of chance in any way.
Free Play
Online casinos often give their users an option to play “no deposit” games as a way to get familiar with the platform and the various gaming styles before choosing to play with real money. This is an effective method for attracting new businesses and garnering interest in online gambling.
Bonuses and Promotions
While each establishment is different, online casinos generally have more resources and opportunity to provide enticing bonuses and promotions to their users. With these offers, the player can frequently earn free plays on certain games, cashback rewards, and sign-up bonuses that make regular visits all the more rewarding.
Land-based casinos have their own advantages but cannot hope to compete with online casinos in terms of special offers and bonuses due to their crippling overhead expenses. Online casinos capitalize on their low cost of operation to enhance the user experience with excellent promotions.