Online Gambling vs Betting Shops and Casinos

Author: G. Kingz

Some giant corporations that own land-based casinos, card rooms, and sportsbooks would like you to believe that their bricks and mortar offerings are somehow superior to the gambling that you can do on the Internet. These companies have a vested financial interest in convincing gamblers because of the collateral monies that they earn when you opt not to gamble online.

But the reality is that online gambling offers many pros, and while there are some cons they are dwarfed by comparison.

In the intesrest of a fair debate let's present those cons and see how much weight they actually bear...

There is a sensual pleasure to gambling in a casino - hearing the bells and whistles of neighbouring machines (although many punters are annoyed by those sounds and would put it in the pro online casino column); seeing the attractive cocktail waitresses (again, this argument holds more water at the Wynn than it does when the lady brings you an orange squash at the Coral shop in Putney); feeling the chips on felt as the roulette wheel whirs in the background.

Countering that argument is the fact that land-based casinos are physically more challenging. You have to get to them for a start, which requires a car, money for petrol and parking, and then you have to walk around to switch games often breathing in tons of second-hand smoke in the process. If you want to play poker you usually have to wait for a seat to open up for the game of your choice, or any game. If you want to bet on sports you have to fill out forms manually and then stand in line. All annoying!

Sensual pleasures there may be, but they are kicked to the curb by the physical comforts of gambling while lying on your bed with the laptop discreetly balanced on your belly.

There is a genuine con to some forms of online gambling, namely the presence of cons. First of all let's not pretend that bad elements are exempt from land-based operations. Every time you sit down at a fruit machine, take your seat in a live poker game, or bet on a tennis match featuring a Russian you are vulnerable to being cheated. The fact that you can touch the machine does not mean that the owner hasn't programmed it to fleece you naked. If you don't think anyone has ever cheated you personally in poker than you either haven't played enough or I would personally like to invite you to play any time in my home game, you little rabbit you. But there are some bad apples out there on the Internet who will offer gambling games that are dodgy at best and completely crooked at worst.

The counter-argument here is the reason why sites like Gambling Kingz exist in the first place and then become insanely popular. Only play online at trusted, secure establishments that are regulated, audited, and recommended by a guide that you not only trust, but who puts their own cash behind that recommendation. If an online casino or bookie doesn't pay you out and we told you to play there we'll refund you up to 1000 pounds. But even without us you should be able to tell the difference between a legitimate online casino and the one that sprouted up off a Croatian server a week ago. If bonus offers and payout percentages seem too good to be true they nearly always are, and if you keep losing high-stakes poker hands on Ultimate Bet or Absolute Poker chances are you're being cheated there as well.

Online gambling is incredibly convenient, which can also be advanced as a con, because it can be hard to stop betting when all that action is just a click away on top of your belly. if you're going to gamble you need to know your limits, you must have discipline, and good money-management is what separates those who show a profit from those who have fun but ultimately lose. Unlike America we at Gambling Kingz don't believe in nannying adults.

Now on to the reasons why online gambling is simply the better way to bet. It is easier on every level, as safe and secure once you do your homework and go with a regulated operator, and most importantly the probability of you showing a profit is mathematically higher online.

Online sportsbooks offer less juice, cash rebates, sign-up bonuses, and in the case of online betting exchanges you also get better odds for sports and horse racing. Online poker rooms also offer rake back in the form of rewards points or cash, and the sheer volume of games and opponents means that skilled poker players have a substantial edge especially compared to playing against the same foes at your local haunts. Online casinos have vastly smaller overheads and so their percentage payouts are often significantly higher than at land-based casinos. In America you cannot play roulette without 0 and 00 to ruin your odds. You cannot help but find online casinos that offer "European Roulette" (with only the 0) but now there are even online casinos that offer roulette without the 0! If you're going to play slots it makes a lot of sense to play them online where audited payouts are generally higher than you will find at your local pub or casino.

Gambling is an individual vs the odds, and of course we all know that those odds are against us in the long run. That's what makes gambling so thrilling; that balancing act of risk and potential reward, and the knowledge that we're all Davids going up against the Goliath of probability. But there is no harm in making that giant a little bit smaller, and shaving the edge, the house odds, the juice, the rake, the vig, and all those other hidden costs that most casual punters choose to ignore. Online gambling will give the individual punter that precious advantage, and for that reason alone there is really no debate here.