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LegalitySee online gambling for a discussion of the legality of playing at an online casino. Casino typesOnline casinos can be divided into two groups based on their interface: web-based casinos and download-based casinos. Some casinos offer more than one interface. Web-based online casinosWeb-based online casinos are websites where users may directly play casino games without loading any software to the local computer. Games are mainly represented in the browser plugins Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Shockwave, or Java and require browser support for mentioned plugins. Also, bandwidth is needed since all graphics, sounds and animations are loaded through the web via the plugin. A very small number of casinos allow games played through a plain HTML interface. Download-based online casinosDownload-based online casinos are the most common casino web sites. On these websites, users have to download certain software to play casino games. After installing the software, it connects to the casino service provider and handles contact without browser support. An advantage of these compared to web-based online casinos is speed, since it does not need to load graphics from the Internet because all multimedia is inside the downloaded software. On the downside, there is an initial download and the need for the installation of the program, and the risk of the program containing malware (though this is very uncommon). Games offeredA typical selection of games on offer at an online casino might include: blackjack, roulette, baccarat, craps, pai gow poker, video poker, and slot machines. See also casino game. BonusesMany online casinos offer large bonuses, often a "100% match bonus". For example, common terms and conditions for a bonus might be:
For this particular example, this would mean that a player depositing $100 would start with $200 in his account. He must make $5000 ($200 × 25) in wagers before withdrawing. This can be played at a game such as blackjack. Some simple arithmetic shows that if the player leaves after meeting the requirements, he has a very large edge. For example, the house edge in blackjack is around or less than 0.5% at most online casinos. $5000 × 0.005 = $25. Therefore, the player expects to show a $25 loss — however, he was given a $100 bonus. Therefore, the player's expected profit is $75, a massive 75% advantage. Usually, taking advantage of such a promotion is the only way to gain an edge over the casino. This has often led to players playing at casinos to take the bonus, and leaving after the wagering requirements are met. These players are called by (and have adopted with pride) a variety of labels such as "advantage players", "bonus hunters", "bonus abusers", and, perhaps the most vulgar, "bonus whores". Strictly speaking, this behavior is usually prohibited by the casino, because their terms usually dictate that players may play for recreational purposes only. In practice, players are rarely caught doing this, and usually when they are they simply have their promotion privileges revoked. A player who wishes to do this at a large number of online casinos must be careful. Some casinos are rogues (see below) and do not pay. Others have terms and conditions that are not favorable to the player, such as most bonuses that are restricted to slots. RoguesOccasionally a rogue casino will be discovered. There are two ways a casino might misbehave: refusing to pay customers or cheating software. Cheating software appears to be extremely rare. There are some casinos that have been mathematically proven to cheat, such as Casino Bar (evidence by Michael Shackleford and others). Some players often accuse certain popular software brands of casinos of cheating, for example Boss Media, Cryptologic, and Playtech, but they are likely "finding" patterns that are not actually there, as tests for cheating at these casinos has never turned up positive. This does not mean that all software providers are honest (for example, Elka System/Oyster Gaming software is known to cheat, also confirmed by Michael Shackleford), but the most popular software is more likely than not. BlacklistsThese are rogue casinos to avoid. Different authors have different opinions on which casinos are worth avoiding, so always read the reason that they are on the blacklist and decide for yourself if you want to play there.
Player fraudAlthough there is the occasional rogue casino, sometimes it's the players who are deceitful or irresponsible. One of the most common cases is a player who signs up for multiple accounts at a casino using fake names to reap the bonus more than once. Another player might use Adobe Photoshop or a similar tool to manipulate the graphics of a slot machine screenshot to try to fool the casino into believing she hit a jackpot and didn't get paid for it. These are invariably gross violations of the terms of service of the casino and usually are frowned upon, even by many "bonus hunters". Casinos do not tolerate such behavior and will usually lock the account or accounts of the player responsible, and may inform other casinos and/or the software provider to keep the player out of other casinos.
See also
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