100%
Turnkey Poker, Casino & Sportsbook Gaming Sites
Loaded
with State-of-the-Art Casino Software and Poker Software
Ace Media provides
detailed information on how to start your own online casino,
sportsbook & multiplayer poker room online gaming business,
which is one of the most booming and profitable industries on the
Internet today.
Revenues in online
gaming business rose from only $800 million to over
$2 billion in 1999! By year 2010, it is estimated that
online gambling industry will top over $16 billion in
revenues! London-based Merrill Lynch analyst Andrew Burnett
says online gambling could generate more than $150 billion
in revenues by 2015.
As Internet use
spreads across the globe, online gambling business will continue to
be one of most profitable online business opportunities of the 21st
century! Now is the perfect time to get onboard. Take your share
of the Multibillion dollar online gaming industry today! Click
here to request free information on available turnkey packages
and pricing.
Gambling
Articles and Tips - Online vs Land-Based Casino: Which is Better?
No,
this isn't the main event card at Caesar's Palace. It's the fight
between Internet casinos and the traditional land-based alternative
for the public's gambling dollar.
The question is: Which is better?
Both have unique and powerful advantages weighing in their favor.
But while they are very much similar, they couldn't be further
apart.
The biggest advantage that a hotel-casino in Las Vegas, for example,
has in its favor is the atmosphere. Try as they might, the biggest
and best online alternative will never be able to replicate the
atmosphere that is part and parcel of the Vegas experience. Try as
they might, software manufacturers haven't yet been able to capture
the neon glow on The Strip and impart that into the online gaming
experience.
The roar of players surrounding the craps table isn't yet present in
the artificial craps environment offered by the Internet brand of
gaming. In Vegas or Atlantic City, cheers echo throughout the casino
floor when a player gets the roll of the dice. Unless you are
playing at an online casino that offers multi-player chat, the only
cheers you hear in front of your computer, are your own.
The best, and perhaps easiest, way to compare an online casino to a
land-based hotel is to use baseball as an example.
If you have ever played video games at home, you'll know that
software manufacturers like EA Sports have done a tremendous job in
making the playing environment as realistic as possible. Players
today have a fluid movement that puts similar products from a decade
ago to shame. The grass looks authentic; the crack of the bat is
eerily realistic; the crowd cheers; and they now have play-by-play
announcers calling the game as you play.
But nothing can replace the sights and sounds of attending a live
game at Fenway Park. Until EA Sports can manufacture a way to embed
the artificial smell of hot dogs and cracker jacks into their
software, they have a long way to go before they can replace the
real thing.
But that is where the comparison should end in the debate of online
vs. land-based casinos.
Because while gambling is a form of entertainment, it is definitely
not a game. Where the hotel-casinos fall short, is in the most
important area of all --- issues that directly effect the player's
chances of winning.
There are far too many variables involved at an offline casino to
favor it over playing online. Below is a list of ways in which
online has surpassed its offline counterpart in offering players an
environment that is more conducive to winning.
COMPS
In terms of getting freebies from the casino, playing online in
2001, is what Vegas used to be like in the 1970s. With roughly 1,300
casinos vying for your business, online operators bend over
backwards to get, and maintain, your gambling dollars. Rarely, if
ever, do you make a deposit into a casino account without being
comped. These offers include no-deposit-required comps, percentage
bonuses, match bonuses, and existing player bonuses.
The knock against online casino comps has been that they have
conditions attached to them and that they must be played several
times over. But if you pay attention to your playing methods, you'll
notice that $50 can go a long way and in no time, you'll have
wagered more than $1,000 on that free comp. For example, I recently
played at an online casino and deposited $50 into an account, the
match bonus resulted in an ensuing $50 match bonus. A $100 bankroll
may not sound like much, but I managed to wager a total of $2,800 at
the end of my session, due in large part to the comp I received.
Again, this is free money that you're playing with, so any profit
you make on top of that is icing on the cake.
If you're playing at a hotel-casino, you must spend hundreds of
dollars to even be considered for a comp of any sort. For example,
at a major Vegas casino, you must bet $75 a hand while playing
blackjack for at least two hours, to be considered for even the
smallest freebie. Unless you put together a good run, you'll be
looking for handouts at places other than just the casino. They do,
however, love to give you free drinks. Sit at a table or machine
long enough, and a kindly waitress is bound to offer you booze at
some point during the course of your gambling session. But before
you think too highly of the operator, think long and hard about why
alcohol is referred to as "chip remover" by most experts.
If you shouldn't drink on the job, drink and drive, or drink while
operating heavy machinery, you certainly don't want to drink while
you are playing with money. These are your finances, not poker
chips, that you are playing with, so politely ask the waitress for a
Coke without the rum.
VARIETY
Look at a map of the Vegas Strip at night, and it appears as though
there is an endless array of casinos where you can play. In reality,
there are only a handful of options and they aren't necessarily
within walking distance. In total, there are just 80 casinos in
Vegas.
Online, however, with more than 1,300 options available, the
competition is only a click away. If you don't like online casino X
because of poor customer service, comps, or game selection, a simple
search will reveal a variety of alternatives and online casino Y is
only the click of a mouse away. That brings us back to the
competition aspect. Operators are Netizens like yourself, and while
they know the advantages of housing an online operation, they are
more aware than anyone of the potential drawbacks that could be of
detriment to their ability to compete in this burgeoning industry.
That results in a wider variety of games, bonuses, software options,
language, and customer service.
Competition
breeds success, and while Vegas has proven beyond a shadow of a
doubt to be the success story of American commerce in the 20th
Century, it hasn't necessarily resulted in benefit for the player.
The same could be said for the online casino industry 5-10 years
down the road, but because the business is still in its infancy, it
is a buyers market. The potential is there for the Internet to fall
subject to the same fate as Vegas if a company with deep pockets
eats up smaller casinos, but until that day arrives, it's a
free-for-all, and you are the benefactor.
STRATEGY
Time is your friend online.
If you have ever played at a land-based casino, you'll know that
sitting at a table brings with it inherent external pressures that
aren't present online.
If you are playing Blackjack, for example, and are unsure whether to
hit on a 15 when the dealer is showing a 7, there is a sense that
the other players are staring a hole through you to hurry up and
hit, stand, surrender, or whatever. Just something!
At home, though, the only pressure to make a hurried decision comes
from within yourself. If you hurry and make a dumb play, the only
person you can blame is yourself, because unless there are little
voices in your head telling you to do otherwise, you are the source
of your own pressure. If you are unsure of what the proper strategic
move is, you can keep the program running in the background, and
refer to the volumes of data that have been produced about
situational moves. It stands to reason, then, that the more time you
have, the more you stand to make.
Taking a few minutes to contemplate the merits of doubling down on a
face card when the dealer is showing a nine would be suicide at a
land-based casino. But online, you can play at your leisure and be
secure in knowing that when you play a hand, you've put some thought
into it, and have not played as a result of impulse or peer
pressure.
REAL MONEY
When is $100 not $100? When it is in the form of a plastic chip.
When you place a bet at a land-based casino, the value of a bet is
the color of the chip you lay down, or the token you put into the
machine. Because you are not playing with a monetary note, your
sense of money management is hampered.
You would likely think twice about careless, or risky bets if you
were putting a $20 bill on the table as opposed to a pair of $10
chips.
When you are playing online, the software clearly shows how you are
wagering and how much you have remaining in your bankroll in real
dollars. Unless you are a highroller and don't give much thought to
the amount of your wager, you will pay far closer attention to the
rate at which your cash is dwindling, or hopefully increasing, and
then base your decision on when it is time to cash out based on
those factors.
ENVIRONMENT
While the atmosphere is the biggest drawing point for land-based
casinos, there is something to be said about environment. Don't
understand the distinction? The two are similar, but noticeably
different.
After all of the glitz, roaring crowds, waitresses and shows
subside, your favorite chair is as good a spot as any to gamble.
Because you know your home as no other, you have all of the
conveniences at your disposal.
If you don't smoke, you can escape the cloud that hovers over the
table and concentrate on winning. If you do smoke, you don't (and if
you don't, you should) have to worry yourself about imposing your
nasty habit on others, and distracting them from their play. It is
generally frowned upon to open a bag of Doritos at the roulette
table, but your home is your castle, so eat yourself into a coma if
that's your preference.
Also, when is the last time you noticed a clock in the casino? There
is a very good reason why they are absent, and it's not because the
operators are hesitant to stop using the sun dial. If people
actually paid attention to the time they spent in a casino, they
would be amazed. I was recently at Casino Niagara and noticed an
80-something-year-old grandmother playing slots at 4 a.m. I was long
since exhausted, so she should have been nestled cozily in her bed
many, many hours ago. Your digital alarm clock will let you know
just how long you have been playing and if it's time to get some
shut-eye before you go to work the next morning.
These aren't the most vital of differences, but comfort goes a long
way towards producing positive results. I prefer to make certain
that I have tended to the most miniscule of details to ensure that I
have covered even the smallest of bases to make my experience a
successful one.
COST
Going to Vegas is great. You get to see The Strip, Wayne Newton, the
Hoover Dam, etc., but they all cost money. Unless you live around
the corner from the MGM, you will most likely have to fly to Nevada.
The cost of a plane ticket alone is a major consideration, but then
factor in meals and hotel rooms, and you're looking at a hefty bill
to do what you could have done online for much less. You might be
able to get a comp for the hotel and meals, but in order to qualify,
you'd likely have to gamble close to what you would have spent on
the room and food to begin with.
Also, as nice as the lovely waitresses in Vegas may be, they are an
expense. Suddenly, all of those free drinks aren't so free anymore
once you begin to tip. Don't forget to drop a few bucks on the
dealer while you're there either, else you'll be shot an evil eye
from the dealer and experienced players, and the gambling gods may
no longer be with you. At home, the only tips you need to concern
yourself with, are those which will better your game so that you
might one day be able to afford that elusive trip to Vegas.
PRESSURE
As much as we like to think that blackjack or craps are individual
games, that point is debatable.
A poor play while playing blackjack, and you'll hear rumbles under
the breath of your tablemates. A bad roll of the dice will elicit
jeers, not cheers, from those wagering alongside you at the craps
table. There are external forces --- those same forces which can
make Vegas so attractive --- that make it a pressure cooker and can
have a devastating impact on your game. The same can be said for
other players who make debatable plays during the course of a game
and affect your outcome.
So-called experts are more than happy to suggest how you should
play, even though your gut tells you to buck to odds and go with
your instincts. Where are the experts when you listen to their
advice and their fool proof plan goes awry? They certainly aren't
handing chips over to you lost because of their tainted advice.
Keep yourself focused on the task at hand --- winning. This is why
most experts will advise you to stay as far away from multi-player
chat-enabled games online. You should keep yourself focused on the
task at hand, which is, of course, winning.
Anything, no matter how seemingly trivial, that distracts you from
your goal to make money, is a distraction that you should avoid at
all costs. Putting yourself in a situation where another player can
directly impact your ability to win is not only risky, but outright
careless.
EASE OF ACCESS
My most recent visit to a land-based casino was mostly spent
hovering around the blackjack table, waiting for a seat to open. You
can spend hours waiting to play blackjack, slots, video poker or
most other games even on weeknights. If you ever have any of those
problems online, please let me know immediately because it would be
an experience that I have never, ever heard of. I'll dream up some
sort of certificate for you to mark the occasion and mail it to you.
But having easy access to the games is not the only difficulty
you'll experience at a hotel-casino. The variety of online operators
and resulting competition, have fostered games and machines that
offer better odds for the player. By and large, when you are playing
on land, the odds remain constant no matter the game or location.
Each of these arguments shouldn't be considered as knocks against
land-based casinos, particularly Vegas, because anyone who enjoys
gambling as a hobby should experience the buzz and electricity that
lives in a major land-based casino at least once. Casino operators
have spent billions upon billions of dollars constructing the ideal
atmosphere for their customers and it's success is shown in the
state of the industry. They have defined the industry and have grown
it from its infancy since the middle of the 20th Century.
In closing, Vegas is not an annual ritual for everybody. It is a
considerable expense, and for some, it is a once in a lifetime
experience. But anyone with a computer can keep a hand in gambling,
and in terms of making money at it, online is by far the most
advantageous for the player. Of course, there are issues with the
industry that will be incurred by any industry that is still in its
infancy. But even at this early stage of its development, the pros
far outweigh the cons when deciding if online or land-based is the
place for you to place you wager
