Choosing between gambling at online casinos and gambling at land-based casinos may pose some issues for those who don’t know how to make a decision. Each approach has its own strengths and disadvantages compared to the other.
We’re here to help you make your decision by going through the pros and cons of online gambling and making your own gambling.
“In the past, the only way you could legally play casino games would be to make a brick and mortar casino.”
This could prove difficult for some people and awkward for others. But it was the only game in town, so to speak, since there were no other real choices.
But as soon as the internet began to take hold and online gaming sites became prevalent, there was immediately another alternative.
Gambling at online casinos offered an option that was perfect for people who didn’t want to deal with the trouble of driving to a land-based casino, or simply couldn’t make it there for whatever reason.
And it makes the choice between using real money gaming sites and land-based casinos for your gambling.
This can be a challenging decision, particularly for those people who don’t know what the main differences are and how their experience might be dictated.
Gamblers who are worried about technology may not have just jumped into online gaming. On the other hand some people who are used to online gaming sites may not know what they can expect from betting at land-based casinos.
In the following post, we’ll be here to help by showing the pros and cons of online betting versus casino betting in person. We clarify the basic process between the two, and then we go through the discrepancies. On top of that, we answer a few commonly asked questions about the two encounters.
The Processes of Gambling Online and Gambling in Person
Before we can compare online gambling to gambling in person, we need to understand what each approach means.
After all, some of you might be using one or the other approach based on your past experience. You may have never engaged in any real-money gaming before, and you need instructions on both.
In any case, the first step in determining the pros and cons of online gambling and gambling in person is to identify the mechanism for both. Let’s just take a peek.
How to Gamble at a Casino In Person
Step 1: Travel to the Casino
The good news is that more jurisdictions legalize casino gaming every day, making it more and more likely that there is a casino near you.
In the United States for example, gambling in casinos could only be found in Nevada or New Jersey. Yet in the last few decades, the vast majority of the 50 states have jumped on the casino gaming bandwagon.
That doesn’t mean of course, that everybody in the world has a casino near them. But it does mean that you are now more likely to get one at a driving distance than was the case a decade or two ago.
Step 2: Get Some Cash
Most of the world’s casinos need you to have some cash on hand. Cash is used to buy chips at table games to make your bets. As for stand-alone casino games, you can put cash directly into slot machines, video poker, and the like.
Many casinos will have machines like ATMs all over the property so you can get some cash together. It’s not a lot of trouble, but it’s an additional phase to the process once you’ve arrived, if you haven’t done it before.
Step 3: Choose Your Game and Play
As we have said, casinos are loosely broken down into table games played by several people at once and stand-alone experiences such as slot machines or video poker.
“Obviously, if the casino is crowded, finding places to play can often be troublesome.”
The good news is that many casinos are open 24 hours a day which increases your chances of finding a spot to play.
Step 4: Cashing Out
When you’ve agreed to quit playing, you’ll be able to cash out what you’ve earned. You’re going to have to do so because you’re not going to be paid back in cash at the actual games.
Instead you can collect chips from table games like blackjack or poker and redemption tickets from slot machines, video poker, and other one-person games.
If you have any winnings after it is said and done, you will have them redeemed. There are redemption windows all over the casinos where you can do this. And there are also self-contained kiosks that allow you to exchange from redemption tickets to cash on your own without the help of an employee.
How to Gamble at an Online Gambling Site
Step 1: Choose the Website
There are hundreds of gaming websites that give you the chance to play casino games for real money. You can also find apps that allow you to do the same thing in a mobile environment. As a result, the first step in online gambling is to determine which online casino to play.
This can be a confusing operation, since there are so many websites that make gambling possible. And it’s an important choice, because you’re going to have to include your personal and financial information to get started.
Step 2: Signing Up and Funding Your Account
Once you have found a gambling website that makes sense to you, you can start the registration process. This will require you to include your personal information and, normally, to select a username and password that you can use to sign in at any time.
You will need to find a way to finance your account so that you can make wagers and earn money in return.
Most gambling websites are built in a way that you don’t need to download anything you just play games directly from the site. With gambling apps, you may need to import them to the computer you’re planning to use.
Step 3: Choose and Play Your Games
When you’ve set up your account, you’ll take the money out of your account and add a bankroll to the games of your choosing.
The best gambling websites will give you a wide variety of games you can choose from. You’re going to play the game for as long as you want or until your bankroll is drained.
Step 4: Getting Your Money
This is where the method of online gambling varies slightly from that of gambling in person. To get access to your winnings, you’re going to have to apply to withdraw your funds.
“You will determine the withdrawal form and start the procedure. The length of this process can vary depending on the website.”
You can deposit and withdraw money in the process as required by your gambling needs.
Pros and Cons of Different Forms of Gambling
Now that we’ve identified the way that the different forms of gambling are accomplished, it’s time to look at the pros and cons of each. As you’ll see, what works as a benefit for one way of gambling also turns out to be a drawback to the other.
Pros of Online Gambling
Convenience
It’s pretty clear that online gambling offers you a chance to get your act anywhere at any time. You don’t have to go any farther than your living room to make your bets big and win. All it takes is to get the system attached.
If you select your gaming site right, you will usually get a greater range of games than the average casino, which has to worry about getting enough space and availability for a certain number of games.
“And you don’t have to think about not finding your favorite game because it’s too crowded.”
Mobility
Many of the best gambling websites have reached the point that they make it easy for you to play on the go. These sites may have an app linked to them. Or they have a special mobile website that can be used on devices such as phones or tablets that are much more portable than a computer.
For most people, the thought of making a trip to a casino on a daily basis is not practical. Yet mobile gambling on websites allows you the freedom to play sometimes while keeping your everyday life going.
Pace
By this, we mean the amount of play you get in a certain amount of time. When you play at a casino, you’re relying on the player running the game, such as a dealer or a croupier, to decide when the next round of play begins. The speed could be either too fast or too slow for you to like.
You get to have control of the speed of play in online casinos. You can burn through more hands or rounds than you can in a casino. Or you can take an occasional break and never worry about losing your spot.
Cons of Online Gambling
Technology
If you’re the sort who isn’t used to dealing with computers or mobile devices, the process of playing at an online casino might seem odd to you.
It’s really an intuitive operation, but that doesn’t mean that some people don’t get confused. Such issues also discourage people from attempting to use online casino websites
Payback Process
When you play at the casino, you’ll get your money back immediately after the game is done.
“If you’re gambling online, you’re going to have to wait for the withdrawal process to finally realize your winnings.”
This can be troublesome if you’re going to get your money quickly.
Lack of Atmosphere
Very literally, there are people who love to go to the casino. And all the cool graphics and fun sounds on online gambling sites can never recreate the feeling.
This is one admission that online gamblers would be forced to make.
Pros of Gambling in Person
Amenities
Typically, when you go to a casino, you get a lot more than just gambling. Many casinos are fooled into high-end restaurants, shopping, and even live shows. It’s a kind of one-stop entertainment store that’s hard to recreate in the online world.
On top of that, casinos also sell loyalty cards that players can use when they play various games. You will gain more points as you play more. These points can then be used for some of the facilities on-site.
Instant Payback
“As we have described above, many of the characteristics of gambling that are a con for the digital environment are a pro for casino gambling, and vice versa.”
We spoke about how you usually have to wait to get your money back from real money gaming sites. That could remove some of the excitement of the experience.
You can take chips or redemption tickets instantly when you go to the casino and claim your cash. In that sense, it’s more immediately gratifyingly.
Social Experience
It’s usually a lonely experience when you play at an online casino. Maybe that’s what you’re looking for, so this isn’t exactly a knock on that part of it. But if you’re trying to have a more social experience, the casino is the perfect place to do it.
A lot of people are playing casino trips as a group experience with friends. Some also schedule a holiday around a casino trip. It can be a lot of fun with a lot of people involved, even though you’re not going to win big.
Cons of Gambling in Person
Pressure
When you play online, it’s a trouble-free world where you can play at your own pace. If you play at a casino, it can be intimidating if you don’t know the protocol for such games.
“And you might find that the thought of gambling with a lot of people around you watching every move can be overwhelming.”
Hassles
First of all, you’ve got to make a trip to a casino, which may mean coping with traffic or, whether it’s a long trip, making travel arrangements. On top of that you’re always going to have to deal with huge crowds, which isn’t for everybody. You don’t have to deal with all of that when you play online.
Lack of Variety
When you play a casino, you’re limited to the games they have. As a consequence, you will not be able to play the game you want.
This is the opposite of online gaming on the website, where you can keep browsing the internet before you find the game you want to play.