online casino gaming

Online casinos, also known as virtual casinos or internet casinos, are online versions of traditional ("brick and mortar") casinos. Online casinos enable gamblers to play and wager on casino games through the Internet.
Online casinos generally offer odds and payback percentages that are comparable to land-based casinos. Some online casinos claim higher payback percentages for slot machine games, and some publish payout percentage audits on their websites. Assuming that the online casino is using an appropriately programmed random number generator, table games like blackjack have an established house edge. The payout percentage for these games are established by the rules of the game.
Reliability and trust issues are commonplace and often questioned. Many online casinos lease or purchase their software from well-known companies like Microgaming, Realtime Gaming, Playtech, and CryptoLogic Inc in an attempt to "piggyback" their reputation on the software manufacturer's credibility. These software companies either use or claim to use random number generators to ensure that the numbers, cards or dice appear randomly.
Contents [hide]1 Online casino types 1.1 Web-based online casinos 1.2 Download-based online casinos 1.3 Live-based casinos 2 Games offered 3 Bonuses 3.1 Signup bonuses 3.2 Cashable bonuses 3.3 Sticky bonuses 3.4 Cash back bonuses 3.5 Comp points 3.6 Bonus hunting 3.6.1 Casino games 3.6.2 Sports betting 3.6.3 Poker 3.7 Bonus abuse 4 Fraudulent online casino behavior 5 Fraudulent player behavior 6 Legality 7 See also 8 Notes 9 External links
Online casino typesOnline casinos can be divided into three groups based on their interface: web-based casinos, download-based casinos, and more recently live casinos. Some casinos offer multiple interfaces.
Web-based online casinosWeb-based online casinos are websites where users may play casino games without downloading software to the local computer. Games are mainly represented in the browser plugins Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Shockwave, or Java and require browser support for these plugins. Also, bandwidth is needed since all graphics, sounds and animations are loaded through the web via the plugin. Some online casinos also allow gameplay through a plain HTML interface.
Download-based online casinosDownload-based online casinos require the download of the software client in order to play and wager on the casino games offered. The online casino software connects to the casino service provider and handles contact without browser support. Download-based online casinos generally run faster than web-based online casinos since the graphics and sound programs are located within the software client, rather than having to be loaded from the Internet. On the other hand, the initial download and installation of a download-based online casino client does take time. As with any download from the Internet, the risk of the program containing malware does exist.
Live-based casinosLive-based casino gaming allows web players to interact with games played in a real world casino environment. Online players can see, hear, and interact with live dealers at tables in casino studios worldwide.
Games offeredA typical selection of gambling games offered at an online casino might include:
Baccarat Blackjack Craps Roulette Online slot games Online poker
Bonuses
Signup bonusesMany online casinos offer signup bonuses to new players making their first deposit. These bonuses normally match a percentage of the player's deposit with a dollar maximum, and almost all online casino signup bonuses require a minimum amount of wagering before allowing a cash out. Gameplay at specific casino games might be excluded from the wagering requirement calculation.[citation needed]
A fictional signup bonus offer follows as an example:
The online casino offers new players a deposit matching bonus of 100%, up to $100 The player must wager 25 times the total amount of the deposit plus the bonus before withdrawing Wagers on baccarat, craps, roulette, and sic bo do not count towards meeting wagering requirements For this particular example, this would mean that a player depositing $100 would start with $200 in his account. The player must make $5000 ($200 × 25) in wagers before being allowed to make a withdrawal.
Some bonuses require no deposit to claim them. Types of no deposit bonuses include[citation needed]:
A no deposit in pure monetary form, for example $10. Free spins no deposit, this is where they allow free spins on particular games, and then allow you to keep the winnings. Play for a predetermine period of time with x amount of dollars.
Cashable bonusesThe most common form of casino bonuses is the cashable bonus.[citation needed] Cashable bonuses can be cashed out after completing a wagering requirement. A casino might offer a 100% match bonus up to $100 with a wagering requirement of $2000. After wagering $2000 in the casino, the player is able to cash out the $100 bonus.[citation needed]
Cashable bonuses often restrict play on certain games.[citation needed] Wagers made on roulette, baccarat, craps, and sic bo usually do not count towards the wagering requirement because these bets give the player the opportunity to simultaneously bet on winning and losing outcomes, greatly reducing variance.[citation needed] For example, betting on both red and black in roulette. Wagers on games with a low house edge, like blackjack and video poker, are also often excluded. Some casinos increasing the wagering requirement above the default for low-house-edge games.
On games without raises or doubles, the expected loss while completing a wagering requirement is wagering requirement * house edge. This makes the expected gain of a cashable bonus equal to bonus - wagering requirement * house edge. House edge is defined in terms of initial bet, so the above equation does not apply to games with raises and doubles where the final bet size may be larger than the initial bet. The equation becomes bonus - wagering requirement * average loss per wager. WizardofOdds.com has proposed calling the latter average loss per wager variable "element of risk".[1] For a more precise estimate, one must also consider the benefit from being able to bet the bonus prior to completing the wagering requirement. This effect becomes noticeable when making large bets, such as betting the full balance (deposit and bonus) in a single bet. After considering this benefit and "element of risk", the formula for return becomes bonus - average wagering * element of risk.[2] If games without raises or doubles are played and the bonus is not given until completing wagering, then the formula can be simplified as bonus - wagering requirement * house edge.