When it comes to online and land-based casinos, there are a number of things that come to mind regarding the advantages and disadvantages of both. Land-based casinos have a thrilling, real-life atmosphere going for them. However, when you take into consideration the time spent to reach them, as well as the travel expenses, the sheer convenience and vast diversity of online gaming options make online casinos the far better option.
Since not everyone lives in the world’s gambling capitals, such as Las Vegas or Macau, players are driven to join various top-notch online casinos. This article will guide you through our thought process and why we think online casinos are taking over the gambling industry and leaving real casinos in the dust.
Online Casinos
In all honesty, there are many more pros than cons when it comes to online casinos. So to bring our thought process closer to you, letâs go over the details and note all the advantages that online casinos have to offer.
Convenience and Atmosphere
For starters, online casinos can be played from the comfort of your home at any time of day, as you are aware. That makes it possible for you to save the time spent on a commute to a land-based casino and cut down on expenses. Many players need to spend hours driving in order to reach a casino worth their time and money.
Understandably, some players need more convincing than merely saying that online casinos are convenient. Players who are afraid they will miss out on the thrilling atmosphere of real casinos can make up for that by playing numerous live dealer games streamed from real casinos or studios worldwide.
Live dealer games have bridged the gap between online and land-based table games. Technology has advanced significantly, making it easier to enjoy the excitement of playing with real dealers handling your cards. So, if youâre afraid you will miss out on anything â donât be.
Abundance of Games
Not surprisingly, online casinos have more game variety than brick and mortar casinos. The reason behind that lies in the fact that it is challenging to put thousands of slot games on one or two casino floors. The number of slot machines that you witness in large casinos worldwide is not even a small fraction of what is possible in an online casino.
With that in mind, well-established online casinos have thousands of available games, including slots, video poker, table games, live dealer games, and other specialty games. Moreover, you can quickly become a multimillionaire because online casinos have an abundance of progressive jackpot games. More importantly, these jackpots are updated daily, giving you a chance to win large sums of money.
Similarly, some online casinos allow you to try out games for free. This is not likely to happen in a real casino, as you know. Playing games for free is an excellent way to determine if an online casino meets your needs, as you can check out the games and brush up on your skills at the same time.
Hefty Bonuses and Promotions
The online casino industry is a large and competitive field. As with any industry, online casinos strive to attract more users. These casinos are continuously updating their welcome bonuses and regular promotions in order to entice new players to join their casino.
With such competition, it comes as no surprise that plenty of online casinos offer generous bonuses and promotions to new members. With rewarding bonuses and promotions, you can boost your bankroll, thus extending your playing time in a particular casino.
Many different exclusive deals can attract new users. Some of these deals donât even require an initial deposit, and these deals are known as no-deposit bonuses. Other, more common rewards, include deposit match bonuses and package deals. Whichever you opt for, you will enjoy a great starting point as a new player. You could even end up making some real cash without ever depositing any money of your own!
Better Success Stories
Something that land-based casinos donât like to admit is that online casinos offer better winning chances. Since the online gambling market is enormous and the costs of running an online casino are much lower, online casino operators are able to offer a better RTP (Return To Player) than land-based casinos.
RTP is shown in percentages, and it represents the percentage of stakes a game is programmed to return to users. Typically, this number is calculated over one million plays, making it a generally accepted guide to how a game will perform.
As we said, online casino operators offer much higher RTPs (usually over 90%) to online players than regular brick and mortar casinos. Table games generally have the same RTP, while slots significantly differ. Before you decide to play any game online, you should check the gameâs RTP to save time and money.
Lower Stakes
Aside from considering convenience and game selection, responsible players usually calculate the minimum amount they can invest to win a large sum. Luckily, this is easier to do in online casinos compared to land-based casinos.
As mentioned before, operating land-based casinos comes with many costs. Since online casinos donât have these factors to worry about, they can direct their attention to something else. With this in mind, real casinos cannot accept low stakes at table games. However, online casinos can.
When you donât want to lose large sums of money, you should turn to low-stake games and try to navigate the small stakes into more significant wins. Do your research, find a casino that suits you, and start with $0.50 or $0.10 blackjack or roulette games.
However, if you prefer to play slot games with lower stakes, it doesnât matter where you play. Both online and land-based casinos offer low-stakes slot games.
Land-Based Casinos
We want to give credit where creditâs due, mainly because land-based casinos have made it possible for online casinos to exist in the first place. With that in mind, land-based casinos have peaked, and few real casinos can top the advantages that come with joining an online casino. However, we would like to mention some pros that come with grand land-based casinos, such as those in the world’s casino capitals.
Instant Payouts
A factor in which online casinos still lag behind is the possibility of instant payouts. Players will need to wait a couple of days for the online casino to process their request and pay their winnings. But to be fair, high-grade online casinos are trying to change this by introducing crypto payments.
On the other hand, land-based casinos are unlikely to drag out the process of paying your winnings, especially if you play in high-quality casinos. Most casinos will immediately cash out your winning chips, and you can walk away with money in your hands.
Social Interaction
Another feature that online casinos cannot currently compete with is social interaction. Yes, there are live chat features where you can talk with other people, but that barely counts.
A night out to a land-based casino can lead to many interesting interactions and encounters. If youâre a social person, you might prefer to stick to brick and mortar casinos solely for this reason. Moreover, if youâre a social person that likes table games, land-based casinos are probably your best bet.
Additionally, a land-based casino is an excellent place to spend some time with friends or family if you are looking for a fun night out.
Club Memberships
In the same manner as online casinos, land-based casinos have found a way to keep customers coming back. For this purpose, many high-grade land-based casinos have introduced exclusive club memberships or club cards for new and regular players.
With this in mind, not all casinos will present you with cards like this. Players can expect many amenities from casino club memberships that they cannot get from online casinos. These amenities include free accommodation, meals, show tickets, additional playing chips, free slot play coupons, and much more.
If youâre interested in this offer, you can ask around at your local brick and mortar casino, but keep in mind that most casinos will reach out to you with advertisements once youâre in their system.
Final Thoughts
As you can tell from the pros and cons listed above, online casinos are the clear winners in this battle. In online casinos, you can enjoy extensive game portfolios, low house edges, the convenience of playing anywhere at any time, while taking advantage of hefty bonuses and special offers. However, land-based casinos are not easy to dismiss because of their ever-lasting and unique appeal.
In our opinion, online casinos have yet to reach their highest point, whereas real casinos did that years ago. There is much more that we can expect from online casinos, such as virtual reality gambling, and hopefully, we can expect more state-of-the-art innovations in online gambling soon.
