Online Casinos
Online Casinos
Online casinos are also known as virtual or Internet casinos. These are online versions of traditional physical casinos, as in premises. The online casino business is conducted via the Internet, where gamblers can play and wager on casino games. The uptake in recent times has been significant, if not alarming, and controversial in some regions.
How do online casino games work?
The casino games themselves are created by gaming software development companies and are leased to online casinos under license. You may see the same game being offered by different online casinos.
Currently, nearly all casino games results and outcomes are driven by a Random Number Generator (RNG) program. This is especially true with slots (pokies), online bingo and online poker games, or roulette and blackjack.
The RNG will determine the result based on certain parameters, like the 38 numbers on a roulette wheel (black or red), or 52 cards when playing online blackjack. The RNG effectively recreates the same odds you’d experience in a physical casino, but done so programmatically in a virtual online environment.
How do online casino make money?
The common denominator for all online casinos is that the odds offered by the payoffs on whatever game you are playing is always less than the odds of winning. The margin becomes the profit for the casino.
By far the most profitable game for an online casino are the slot based games, which can generate up to 600 spins per hour, and like in a physical casino, there can be hundreds of them available to be played. This is where the term ‘big numbers’ comes in.
All casino games work in a similar manner. You place a bet, and you get paid out at a certain amount when you win, but know that it will still be less than the odds of winning. The gambler may feel like they have come out the winner, but so will the casino.
How to win at an online casino?
Maybe the question should be titled ‘how to stay one step ahead’ or ‘how to get out alive’.
The same principles you would take into a physical casino would apply to its online cousin. Preparation is one, familiarisation with both the online casino and its games is another. Having a strategy and understanding the odds is very useful, while displaying common sense and keeping to within a personal set of boundaries (such as budget, avoiding temptations, knowing when to opt out or cash out).
How to play online casino
You’ll need to do some homework on this one prior to starting, otherwise you could be losing money before you’ve even settled in!
Are online casino games legit or are they rigged?
One should never assume that online casino games are legit. Conversely, you could look at it with ‘the glass half empty’ view and take the stance that all online games are potentially open to rigging. However, doing so is bad for business, and online casinos know this only too well, as reputation management has a far more important role to play for the long term viability of their business model.
With the advent of technology improvements and subtle manipulations in the software, coupled with bottom line corporate greed, certainly the likelihood of rigged games is a distinct possibility. But bad news spreads like wildfire and online casinos don’t really need to cheat anyway, as they have mathematics and big numbers on their side.
If a gambler had an issue with the conduct of an online casino, taking up a case with them considering it’s usually an online help inquiry and because they are based overseas in a foreign country, your chances of proving such claims will probably fall on deaf ears.
Our advice? Cut your losses and run.
Are online casino games safe?
Like anything involving money, there is always a risk in losing funds, no matter what. Where there is an element of risk one needs to do two things: do your homework and secondly, use discernment, also known as a BS radar. We would also encourage you to trawl through the many and varied resources on this website to help you make a ‘safe decision’.
Where is online casino legal?
Firstly, from an Australian perspective, online casinos are totally outlawed and illegal within its borders. However, for Australians betting at online casinos internationally – it is not. And that is where many Australians flock, the Internet.
Some online casinos put a block on Australians signing up as they don’t want any legal trouble further down the track. A simple VPN connection masking your identity from another country can get around this loophole should you wish to consider it.
Some Governments have tried and failed to prevent people from participating in online gambling, but to be honest, the odds are much better at online casinos when compared to a state run national Lottery!
Many casinos who do play by the rules are registered in certain countries where they are regularly audited. Some of the better known countries of representation include: the UK, Malta, Gibraltar, Curaçao and some states within the USA such as Nevada and New Jersey.
If you are looking to sign up to an online casino, look for a badge of registration, which will give the site some credibility and give you some reassurance.
Can you win online casino?
Absolutely you can, but it comes with a few caveats, and things all gamblers need to know beforehand. Some of it might be off-putting, enough to baulk at continuing.
- First and foremost, you need to know this revelation. All online casinos operating on the Internet right now runs its casino games using the ‘house advantage’, or ‘edge’. It means that the casino has an unfair advantage over you in every game that you play – in what it pays you versus the actual odds of winning. No matter what you do, you will eventually lose your money based on mathematical statistics and sheer weight of probabilities. The house advantage is displayed in every online casino game. Once you know this, you’ll be going in with both eyes open. Either that or walking away with your wallet still intact.
- Secondly, we’ll repeat it time and again: do your homework about what online casino to sign up with. Do all of your pre-requisites, as this is primarily designed for one thing in mind: to make your cash-outs as problem free as possible.
- Avoid using deposit bonuses. Not doing so means the online casino can hold off your cash-out winnings until such time as your deposit and bonuses are reinvested to whatever the required level is (say 25x the initial investment). In between times, you could be continually fobbed off, and even worse, become impatient waiting, and spend what you have left in your account balance until its depleted. You lose, they win. Not using these bonuses means you can typically get your winnings back immediately because you have spent your own money and not theirs.
- There is a difference between games that have randomly generated results versus something with a bit more human skill involved. That line is a bit blurry now, but there are sites that have live dealer action if poker or blackjack is your thing.
Top 5 online casinos to win real money.
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