We aren’t going to go out on a limb and say with absolute certainty that online casino gaming is better than playing at a land based casino. However, we will say that many players, especially those who have never joined an online casino, have some misconceptions about casino gaming online and also some exaggerated conceptions about gaming on land.
Commitment of Time
If you have always been a land based casino gamer, you naturally think of a trip to a casino as a long weekend type of excursion. You have to budget time and money for travel, hotel, gaming, shows, food and drink, and any other expense you might incur “on vacation”.
Online casino gaming is diametrically opposed to the land based gaming experience. You can play for hours if you have the time and inclination to do so. However, most online casino gaming sessions last about one-half to one hour. In other words, gaming at an online casino is more a pastime than a commitment in time. Online casino play is far more gaming than gambling while at a land based casino it is a lot more gambling than gaming.
Mobile
The great convenience in mobile gaming has reached the online casino niche big time. It is kind of sad that land based casinos now offer a mobile platform so people can continue to play while in their hotel room, at dinner, or lounging by the pool.
We might argue that it makes no sense to travel to a land based casino if you’re going to play casino games on your mobile device. However, in the course of your everyday lives, you might have a few minutes as you are waiting in line or on the commute home after work. In those moments, playing an online casino’s games on its mobile platform may relax you or keep you occupied.
Most gaming these days is done on mobile devices. You lounge about on your most comfortable chair or sofa. Many couples spend some time playing together on a mobile device while they are relaxing in bed or on the front-porch swing.
Flexibility
One of the aspects of playing at an online casino that many players never thought of is the ability to play every game the online casino offers from the comfort of your seat at home! When you play online, you never have to go from one seat to another.
Online casinos also offer more individual games than land based casinos can offer. For instance, a land based casino might have hundreds of slot machine terminals but many are repeats of the most popular slots. So, you can usually play one of those popular slots. But if you want to try out a different slot, you might have to wait and wait and most players finally just give up and sit down at a terminal that wasn’t their first, second, or even their tenth choice!
Online casinos have one “terminal” for each game because they exist in a land beyond what anyone imagined existed just a few decades ago: cyberspace! In cyberspace, there is no limit on space a cool million people can play the same game at the same time and, if another player comes along, everyone can squoosh over, as Ross might say, to make room for them!
Higher Return to Player Rates
Online casinos have a lot lower operating expenses so they can calibrate the Random Number Generator to return a larger percentage of all bets to the players. In some games, such as video poker and blackjack, you can play with the best strategy and after an hour session be either a little ahead or just a little behind since the return to player rates with top strategic play is close to 100%!
Free Play
Online casinos have so many games that they encourage their players to try all of the games. To make it easier for players to learn new games, online casinos offer unlimited free play. No land based casino can do that!
The free play you can access at an online casino contrasts sharply with the situation many gamers experience at a land based casino. They go for a long weekend and find that their budgeted bankroll is exhausted on the first day.
In most cases, these gamers will simply add more money to their gaming budget. At an online casino, you can schedule an hour of free play whenever you want to thus conserving your gaming budget and still having fun playing casino games!
Bonuses and Wagering Requirement
Online casinos can offer many more bonuses than land based casinos can. One very important reason has to do with the wagering requirement. This is a factor of the bonus you have to play before the casino will approve a withdrawal. The fairness in this policy comes from the former practice of some gamers of getting a bonus and then immediately cashing out!
When you get a bonus from an online casino, you have days and even weeks to work through the wagering requirement. At a land based casino, you won’t have weeks to work through the requirement.
The same factor applies to the comp points promotion all casinos have. The comp points promotions turn bets into points. When you have enough points, you can turn them back into casino credits. At an online casino, comp points are a kind of bonus without a wagering requirement since the comp points come from previous bets.
Land based casinos also have comp points promotions but many gamers never come back so they don’t get the chance to convert the points into money.
Proximity to Casino
It would seem that online casinos have it all over land based casinos in all ways! However, there are two areas where some of the disadvantages of land based casinos may not apply.
The first is your proximity to a land based casino. If you live so close to a land based casino that you can go there on a day trip, you don’t have to buy accommodations, restaurant meals, and so on. If you can go to the casino often, you can use your comp points.
You might be able to go there during non-peak hours and be able to play every game without waiting.
Excitement
The second aspect of land based casinos that cannot be replicated at an online casino is atmosphere. There are certainly some gamers who love the atmosphere at a land based casino. However, there are just as many if not more who are taken aback by the atmosphere at a land based casino.
So, it really depends on why you play casino games in the first place. Online casinos are still far more accessible than even the closest land based casino and the excitement of land based casinos might be compensated for by playing with friends or your one special friend.
Many players have casino parties on a weekend night where they provide the games and people have fun gaming, dancing, singing, and being jolly all without having to travel many miles to have gaming fun!
