All About Online Casino, Casino Bonuses, Casino Games, how it works, and how can you benefit from knowing the secrets.
Online casinos, popular now through the use of computer technology have become also known as Internet casinos existing in a ‘virtual’ world not a physical building on a named street in a real town or city. They offer gamblers the same gaming or playing opportunities that a traditional casino does through the screens of their PCs while the modems connect to the site so that bets can be placed and wagers made online.
The similarities between the traditional casino venues and online casinos make it hard to differentiate between the two. The level of payment and odds are comparable though some online casinos claim they offer better payback on ‘slots’ even going as far as declaring the audits for these at their domain addresses. Some games like ‘blackjack’ have their percentage payout, or the ‘house edge’ regulated by the rules inherent for play and the online casino using randomly generated numbers from software programmed specifically for that purpose is mostly governed by these.
It is not in the interest of online casinos to bluff their visitors by pretending they offer fair, randomly generated numbers. If they did not offer fair play, regulatory authorities (like those in place in Mauritius or Gibraltar) could soon check the figures and expose any fraudulent activity resulting in hugely negative media coverage and possible legal action. The industry is too large and too profitable to run the risk of a quick hit, scamming players. Gambling has evolved over a long time and the built-in profits tend to be enough for most businesses. But there are always a few who wreck it or everyone else, aren’t there?
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Online, or computer, opportunities for casinos exist in three different forms, dependent upon the interface they have. They could be web, or download style or perhaps real-time ‘live’ interaction based. Any online casino might offer any or all of these options from its site.
In order to take advantage of a web-based online casino, a player would have to have installed one of the browser plugins that permits a user to link up with a website offering games, such as Macromedia Flash or Shockwave or perhaps Java. There is no need to actually download any software in order to play the casino games but your computer must be able to support them. Not every computer will be able to access the games successfully if it does not have sufficient bandwidth to cope with the sound and motion in the images loaded. It is possible with some online casino providers to play simply via an interface that has only its HTML.
The opportunity to download casino game software may be free (usually) or may require a purchase just the same as any other download offered to someone browsing the Internet. Successfully downloading of the software client enables a player to enter the content and place bets on games selected through that connection to the service provider with no requirement of browser support. Eliminating that need enables quicker connection and superior sound and vision. Though a download may take some time many people think it is worth the effort for the better gameplay it ensures and worth too the risk of potential viral infection that can be incurred from any Internet download.
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Linking up to real games in play and interacting with real people just as if you were there is an option known as live-based casino gaming. It is like bidding on an auction via videophone, seeing and hearing all that is going on in the room and contributing to the action yourself with actual croupiers or dealers and other players in situ around the world.
Some of the Casino Games you may find at online casinos around the web:
- Video Poker
- Pai Gow
- Let It Ride
- Baccarat
- Blackjack
- Roulette
- Australian Pontoon
- Craps
- Online slot games
- Online poker
Signup Incentive (often named as Welcome Bonus, Initial deposit Bonus etc.)
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In order to attract new players, like many other businesses, there is an incentive offered for ‘first time buyers’. On signing up a new player may be offered an incentive to encourage them. There may be conditions attached like matching the initial deposit in order to claim the incentive and a certain minimum play before any money is released. There may be different rules for particular casino games that the casino has deemed exempt from the introductory offer.
By illustration imagine an incentive as described below:
The offer by the online casino is an introductory sign-up incentive for new players where the deposit matches a bonus of 100%, up to $100.
The conditions of the incentive are that the player has to wager 10 times (either in single plays or as a total one off bet) the total amount of the deposit and incentive combined before withdrawing.
Limitations on the incentive exclude the following named games: baccarat, craps, roulette, and sic bo.
Thus, a player depositing $100 commences with $200 in his account and must make $2000 ($200 × 10) in wagers before any withdrawal is permitted.
There are incentives that do not require deposits in order to claim them such as free spins on specific games with permission to retain any winnings resulting from them or playing for a predetermined period, like a free trial, with a given amount of money.
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One of the most popular forms of bonuses in online casinos is a cashable bonus.
A cashable bonus usually requires some kind of wagering before the casino players can cashed it out. For example, an online casino can give you a bonus after completing conditions such as wagering €1500 by playing casino games.
There are few games that online casino usually not including in wagers calculating.
The reason is that those casino games giving the players the option of balance their bets without risking losing (or taking the chance of winning) money.
For Example; betting the Roulette and putting your money on both black and red. This kind of betting (almost) not risking losing money but still wagers money.
Other games that does not include: Craps, Baccarat, Sic Bo.
Blackjack and Video Poker games also can excluded from the equation since the House Edge in this games is low.
Games that cannot be raised or doubled have a formula for the expected loss while completing a wagering requirement: ‘wagering requirement * house edge’. Based on this we can calculate: ‘expected gain of a cashable bonus’ = ‘bonus - wagering requirement * house edge’. With ‘house edge’ defined in terms of initial bet, the formula above cannot apply to games where the final bet size can exceed the initial bet.
Should that be the case then the formula now becomes: ‘bonus - wagering requirement * average loss per wager’ = ‘expected gain of cashable bonus’.
WizardofOdds has put forward a proposal to call the ‘average loss per wager’ variable "element of risk". In order to calculate with finer precision, the benefit from being able to bet the bonus prior to completing the wagering requirement must also be taken into consideration. It is when larger bets are placed that this effect becomes more readily observed, such as betting the total money in one bet. Having considered this benefit and "element of risk", the formula for ‘expected gain of cashable bonus’ is now = ‘bonus - average wagering * element of risk’.
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Incentives that cannot be cashed are often called "sticky” incentives, they have a clause, they are attached to the play, stuck to it and cannot be removed from it. ‘Stickys’ can be wagered, but cannot be cashed out. When it gets to the point where the player wishes to make a withdrawal, the ‘sticky’ is usually debited from the total and is only permitted to do this as long as there are sufficient funds – that is their balance (minus the sticky) is not below their deposit.
Like all gaming paraphernalia involving numbers, they get crunched, analyzed and equations are formulated. For ‘Stickys’, target gain is the relevant term.
Average return = (chance of reaching target) * (target - bonus - deposit - wagering requirement * house edge) - (chance of not reaching target * deposit).
With a target of 2*(bonus + deposit) and 50% chance of reaching the target, the equation reduces to 50% * (bonus - wagering requirement * house edge).
Writing in terms of chance of bust and "element of risk", the formula for return becomes bonus * chance of bust - average wagering * element of risk.
Unsurprisingly, this is also known as a "phantom bonus" in that it may or may not exist and may or may not be realized. Occasionally, very occasionally, there might be a variation of a sticky where you do not need to exceed your original balance in order to make a withdrawal but any win is immediately cashable.
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When backing horses a bookmaker can let a losing bet in an accumulator carry over to another when a Yankee or a Canadian bet has been placed. Similarly in casino gambling, cash back incentives are given following a player’s loss at an agreed percentage. It’s a form of consolation to take the sting out of losses incurred and to make it appear that they actually did get some money from the casino therefore encouraging them to ‘invest’ their capital once more on the gaming tables. Only players who have lost money would be entitled to the percentage cash back (on their losses only), winners receive nothing; they’ve already had their result. Cash back incentives are not commonplace.
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Just as the High Street grocery stores offer customer loyalty points for purchases that can be exchanged for cash, normally the value being $0.01 per dollar spent, casinos too operate a similar reward system. Casino incentive complimentary points or ‘comps’ are widely used and easily transferred. ‘Comp points’ may be exchanged for cash, prizes, or further comps just like the tokens or tickets you get in amusement arcades for success on different skill-based games.
The amount of comps you may get depends on the game you have been playing and not all the games award the same amount though when cashing them in they do have the same value. There might be a greater amount of comps awarded on the dollar at slots than there is offered on blackjack. The amounts are small but anything that seems like taking money from the establishment seems like a win for the little guy. It would take a lifetime accumulation of comps to threaten any bank.
Incentive Hunting
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Incentive hunting/ bagging/whoring, as you can imagine from its fragrant associations is considered petty and ‘ungentlemanly’. It’s the sort of activity you’d expect from small players. In theory it is the mathematical possibility of cleaning up the incentives an establishment has to offer in such a way as to actually make a cash profit even with a loss.
For example, If the promised bonus is €100 after wagering €5000 and the house edge in blackjack is around 0.5%. The player will loose €25 (0.5% House edge, out of €5000 wagers). But, since the player complete the bonus wagers requirements he will receive €100 and make a profit of €75 (€100 bonus - €25 loses)
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Online casinos offer players signup bonuses as incentives to play. These are usually one-off bonuses for signing up to the casino and opening an account. The terms and conditions attached to each bonus vary but share two common features:
- Restricted games or bets.
- Wagering requirements.
Wagering requirements prevent players from withdrawing the bonus money immediately after receiving it. Before the bonus money can be withdrawn the player must wager a certain amount of money on unrestricted games. The wagering can be spread out over many bets. To meet a $2000 wagering requirement, a player could make 1000 $2 bets on blackjack, provided blackjack is not a restricted game.
When the ‘house advantage’ is low, in games like blackjack or video poker understanding that an average is calculated based on amounts above and below that figure is important. However, the expected value is an average value and of course the actual value can fluctuate above or below the expected average. It could be winner takes all, loser leaves everything; there is always the ‘risk of ruin’ and luck does come into play even when factored into mathematical equations addressing variance and normal distribution.
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Anything free is bound to cause problems, argument, debate and dispute. ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch’ as they say. Both players and casinos may commit or accuse the other of fraud. In creating multiple accounts in order to take advantage of introductory incentives or bonuses a player may be committing fraud. This is largely avoided in other promotions where claims for offers are restricted to one per household – a physical and identifiable address.
Online addresses are not physical and the ease with which identity theft can be made is evidence to how multiple claims can be made by one individual online. Who is to say he/she is not part of a group sharing a computer and playing together, each entitled to their own claim of the sign-up bonus? An example of casino fraud is shifting the goalposts by adding new requirements before the bonus is awarded even though the original wagering requirements may have been met. Terms and conditions apply…indeed.
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It’s money, it’s gambling, it’s not going to get away with fraudulent behavior, its been documented. Most commonplace of the documented information is the casino disinclination to fulfill their payment obligations and/or software that ‘cheats’ and has been manipulated disadvantageously for the players, though is seldom proven.
There was proof that certain casino software could cheat and that operators could adjust the odds on some older products. Any online casino that has been reported with multiple confirmed cases of fraudulent behavior soon becomes known as a rogue casino by the online casino player community and blogs web-wide. Those casinos that join the rogue category are said to be on a blacklist, maintained by concerned players on casino gambling portals.
Reluctant to pay timely withdrawals, the casinos haven’t refused payment…they’re just a bit slow in processing them, casinos sometimes quite deliberately hold on to a player’s winnings in their account (healthily in credit) in the hope that they will ‘reinvest’ their winnings rather than realize it as cash. Other rogue online casinos try to renege on players’ payments by citing, retroactively, unfair terms to their house rules that preclude them from rightfully claiming their winnings.
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As well as the multiple account claims discussed earlier, known as ‘gnoming’, another fraudulent activity is the manipulation of screen graphics by those with the software and the technical ability, to present a picture or screenshot of a fake ‘winning’ jackpot on a slot machine which hasn’t paid out. It really isn’t worth the effort, plays and winning can be tracked through archives and in the event of fraudulent behavior the online casinos simply lock or block the account and many suspect, inform other online casinos of dodgy customers who go on a blacklist.
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