7 Online Casino Facts You Should Know

If you're new to the world of online casinos, you should be aware of a few facts. The goal of this post is to list and explain the most important things you should know before making your first deposit.

Online gambling, particularly casino gambling, is not for everyone.

1. Online casinos are not legal in every jurisdiction

In the United States, for example, there are differing views on the legality of online casinos. Internet casinos are legal and regulated in three states: Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey. However, the other 47 states have ambiguous laws on the subject.

Many, if not most, states have some kind of law that makes it illegal to use gambling equipment that is not legal. This would presumably include Internet-connected computers.

Other states, such as Washington, have draconian laws prohibiting specific Internet gambling activities. (It is a FELONY in Washington to play online poker for real money.)

Federal law is also ambiguous. The Wire Act seems to apply, but the most recent interpretation of the law by the Department of Justice says that it only applies to sports betting. Blackjack and slot machines are most likely not included.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, on the other hand, did not make online casino gambling illegal. The only thing this law did was make it illegal to help move money for illegal gambling.

Looking at risk factors may be a more realistic approach to making legal decisions about online casinos. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever been arrested in the United States for participating in an online casino game.

In fact, arrests for Internet gambling are uncommon. I am aware of a couple of cases in which people were arrested and prosecuted for betting on sports over the Internet. Even in those cases, the individuals received only a slap on the wrist.

Running an Internet casino, on the other hand, is clearly illegal. The danger level is extremely high. Companies that offer online gambling seem to run into trouble with the US government all the time.

What does this have to do with the player?

It could spell trouble when it comes time to cash out your winnings. If the federal government seizes an online casino website and its assets, you may have to wait a long time to get your money back.

This actually happened to PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker players after poker's Black Friday. They eventually received their money, but it took some time.

This means you should avoid depositing money into an online casino that you might need for something else later. This would be true even if the legal situation were friendlier, but it is doubly true given the additional risk to your bankroll.

Of course, I would tell you to learn about the laws that apply in your area. Then, to the best of your ability, obey those laws.

However, if you decide to play at an online casino, be sure to read the rest of this post.

2. Not All Online Casinos Are Honest (But Not All Are Dishonest)

The most trustworthy and well-known online casinos know what the law is in the U.S. They do not accept real money players from within that country.

You're forced to consider the reputation of any site where you intend to play. Some of these businesses are as dependable as they come. Others are less trustworthy. There are also some outright crooks on the Internet.

Some examples of pre-screened online casinos include those listed on this website. Some of their names are:

• Bovada

• SportsBetting.ag

• BetOnline

• TopBet

• Slots.lv

• Las Vegas USA

• Cafe Casino

Our reviewers have visited these casinos. People with decades of experience in the online gambling industry all give them high marks.

The majority of rogue casinos that receive complaints are slow to pay out. In other words, if you win, you won't be able to get your money from the cashier in a timely manner. In some cases, cashing out completely is impossible.

This runs counter to the popular belief among the uninitiated that the worst thing you should be concerned about when playing at an online casino is a rigged game. They are not required to rig their casino games. That is taken care of by the house edge.

Instead, shady online casinos make it difficult to withdraw funds. Most of them are hoping that you will reconsider your withdrawal request and gamble the money back by playing more games.

This may be a wise business strategy, but it is unethical and unfriendly. In fact, it's a bad business strategy in the long run. By treating their customers well, online casinos can make far more money.

Because there are so few online casinos that offer quick payouts and customer-friendly terms, those that do end up with fanatically loyal players who deposit repeatedly throughout the year.

Sure, the casino occasionally loses money when paying out the players' winnings. In fact, some of those players never return.

Good, customer-friendly business practices, on the other hand, lead to a loyal player base that brings in steady profits over time.

3. The odds for online casino games are the same as those for land-based counterparts

I mentioned how many players seem to be concerned about online casinos cheating or using rigged software. That is a valid concern, and it does occur. I've read about casino patrons who played dozens of hands of blackjack or video poker without ever being dealt a winning hand. However, it is still more rare than you think.

The reason for this is straightforward:

Cheating is not permitted in the online casino industry.

Casino games already have an unassailable mathematical advantage over the player. If you play any of these games for a long enough period of time, you will eventually lose all of your money. That is how the games are designed.

Here's an example that everyone can understand:

Assume you're in a Las Vegas casino, and you're playing standard roulette. A black bet pays out at even money. At first glance, this appears to be a safe bet. But first, let's look at the wheel and the odds. A roulette wheel has 38 possible outcomes. There are 18 red ones and 18 black ones. There are two of them that are green. The odds of winning a blackjack bet are 18/38, or 47.37%. This means you'll only win about half of the time.

Here's another angle to consider. Assume you play 38 spins and bet $100 on each one. Furthermore, suppose you only hit each number on the wheel once. You will win $1800 and lose $2000, resulting in a net loss of $200. Divide $200 by the total number of bets (38), and you'll get an average loss of $5.26 per bet.

The house edge is that average $5.26 per bet that you're losing, and there's no way to beat it. Sure, you can come out on top in the short run. However, the odds are stacked against you.

To generate the results for their games, online casinos use a computer program known as a random number generator (RNG). These programs simulate the odds and probability of a live casino game.

Yes, all casino games are rigged in some way. But not in the way you think. The casino's management cannot turn a winning slot machine off. That is taken care of by the random number generator, which pays out less than the true odds of winning. Casinos are willing to accept short-term losses to keep you interested in their games. If no one ever won, no one would ever play.

Consider the following:

Assume you're playing a roulette game in which you could win every time you bet, but you only win $95 for every $100 you bet. In other words, every time you bet, you'd lose $5 or so. Nobody would ever play that game. Give someone a chance to win in the short term, and they'll be all over that game hoping to strike gold.

Cheating at casino games is not in the best interests of the casino. They create games that mirror the odds of playing in a traditional casino so that players will keep playing. The casino gambling business model is already a success. They don't have to steal your money to do so. Cheating would actually be counterproductive.

4. Online Casino Bonuses Aren't Quite as Expensive as You Might Think

If you've never played at an online casino before, you might see dollar signs when you first visit one. You could go to a website that offers a 500% deposit bonus of up to $5000. In other words, you deposit $1000 and receive $5000 in bonus chips. You have a total bankroll of $6,000 with which to play. With an offer like that, how can you say no?

The answer is that you can easily lose with that offer. Before you can cash out, online casinos require you to place a certain number of wagers. They do this so that the house edge can catch up to you and wipe out both the bonus and your initial deposit. You get to spend more time playing, but it's mathematically impossible to win on one of these bonus deals.

Here's an example of how this 500% bonus of up to $5000 might work:

• You can only use slot machine wagers to meet your wagering requirements.

• Before you can cash out, you must wager the entire $6000 60 times.

The concept of the house edge was discussed in the previous bullet point, but here's how it applies to a casino bonus. Before you can cash out, you must first make $360,000 in slot machine wagers. Assume that this casino has a 5% advantage on their slot machines. That's not a bad deal—slot machine payback percentages can range from 75% to 95%, with the majority falling somewhere in the middle. 5% of $360,000 is $18,000. Your initial investment is $6000. You could strike it rich and win $30,000 on the first or second spin. If you do, you might come out on top. But chances are you won't. In fact, chances are you'll go bankrupt long before you meet the wagering requirement. Is this to say that casino signup bonuses are bad?

That's not what I mean. Signup bonuses are an entertaining way to get more bang for your buck. However, you must enter such a situation with your eyes wide open. Casino bonuses are not a way for you to gain an advantage over the casino or profit. These gambling sites are more intelligent than that.

5. Not All Information Portals in This Industry Are Created Equally

I've mentioned it in several articles and blog posts, but here's the truth about gambling information portals:

Much of the information on these websites is questionable.

This is why:

Advertising online casinos is how an online gambling information portal makes money. This is typically done on a pay-for-performance basis. If a player signs up through a link on an information portal and makes a deposit, the webmaster who made the information portal gets a commission. By the way, there's nothing wrong with this business model.

Amazon has been doing business in this manner for many years. It's also common in the travel industry. But a typical casino player is so valuable to an online casino that they will pay a lot for referrals. In fact, they pay so much that many gambling portal webmasters write promotional pieces that look like reviews. If you read an online casino review that sounds like an advertisement or a brochure for an online casino, it is most likely just that. Some of the information in this ad may be true, like the size of the welcome bonus, where the license comes from, and how many games are available. However, most people who read product reviews on the Internet expect more than just an overview of what a product has to offer.

They want genuine feedback on the benefits and drawbacks of a product. These are the types of reviews that we provide on this website. ms. in the m., in the m., in the m. in the m. As I mentioned in some of my earlier bullet points, online casinos aren't always trustworthy. But, as it turns out, neither are online casino information portals. The more enthusiastic a reviewer's praise of an online casino, the less you should pay attention to it. Look for pieces that read like they were written by a fair-minded journalist, rather than PT Barnum. There are legitimate online casino reviews on the Internet, but there aren't many of them.

6. It Can Be Difficult to Transfer Money to and From an Online Casino

I mentioned in an earlier bullet point a law called UIGEA (The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act). This law made it illegal to transfer funds on behalf of another person if the funds are intended to be used for illegal gambling. This law made it difficult for an American player to deposit funds at an online casino.

Credit card deposits are the standard in the business world, but they are processed by companies called "credit card processing" companies. These financial institutions are typically banks. Most of them have heard about online gambling deposits and will refuse a charge if it comes from a company associated with online gambling.

PokerStars got around this by heavily investing in a bank and using that bank as its credit card processor at one point. This was an ingenious plan, but it was also illegal. It didn't take long for the Department of Justice to figure it out and take action.

But the people who run online casinos are smart and are always coming up with new ways for you to move money to and from their sites. Transfer services like Western Union and MoneyGram are now some of the best and easiest ways to put money into your account. BitCoin is another option that is gaining popularity.

New wallets and services will continue to emerge, but they all appear to share one feature:

They charge relatively high fees when compared to simply making a credit card deposit.

7. An online casino is not always the same as an online bingo hall, poker room, or sports book (But It Might Be)

Casino games are a type of game that can be found at online casinos. These are games in which the player competes against the house rather than against other players. They are also chance games in which the casino has a mathematical advantage over the players. Casino games include, among other things, baccarat, blackjack, craps, roulette, slot machines, and video poker.

Online bingo is a completely different beast. Most online bingo jackpots are made up of money contributed by players when they buy bingo cards. You are competing with other players, not the house, for this money. Online poker is a completely different beast. You're playing poker against other people, and the website makes money by taking a commission on each pot. This percentage is called "the rake."

Sports betting is also distinct from casino gambling. You are competing against the bookmaker, but you must wager $110 or $120 to win $100. That's where the book really shines. They draw the lines in such a way that they get roughly equal action on both sides of a contest. That way, they can use the money from the losers to pay off the winners while still making a profit.

If you're interested in the latter three activities, great—many casinos have one-stop shops where you can do them all.

However, the majority of online casinos specialize. Some only provide casino games. Others, such as Bovada, may provide casino games and sports betting. Ignition Casino has a poker room as well as casino games. In fact, only a few online casinos provide real bingo. They will frequently have bingo-style games that you play one-on-one against the computer. These can be entertaining, but real bingo players prefer to play in bingo halls where they can interact with other players.

Conclusion

There is a lot to the online casino industry that many people are unaware of. Some things are easily misunderstood.

I attempted to list the seven facts that the majority of people need to learn or be reminded of. If I missed something, please let me know in the comments section below.