With internet gambling you are not restricted by local opening hours of casinos and betting shops. You can bet 24 hours a day, seven days a week in the privacy of your own home. With poker, for example, you will always find a game on. Games can be played for money or simply for amusement.
Betting over the internet does have its financial advantages. The costs of operating online gambling firms are considerably cheaper than those of offline firms. These savings are often passed on to the customer in the form of low commission charges and bonuses. For example, betting exchanges charge commission of just 5 per cent or less, with loyal customers often being charged lower rates. As a comparison, a traditional bookmaker will charge around 17 to 20 per cent. With horse racing and sports betting prices can be up to 20 per cent better than with traditional bookmakers. There are also savings to be made with online casinos. With bricks and mortar casinos, you may have to pay admission costs, membership fees and travelling costs. There are none of these costs with online casinos. Many internet betting firms are located offshore. This means that bets are often tax free although this may change later with any new legislation. Players do, of course, have to bear some costs. You will need to invest in a computer and subscribe to the internet.
In casino games, software is used to make the games random. For example, with roulette there is no dealer spinning the ball in most online casino, although some of them have started having live games with live dealers, instead a random number generator selects the winning number. With card games computer software with a random number generator determines the order of the cards dealt. Games are played at a much faster pace. This is because the human factor is removed and computers are used to deal cards, place bets and calculate payouts.
Social contact is limited. With online poker, for example, you don’t see your opponents. This means that you cannot assess someone’s likely hand through body language as you would in a traditional game. You can, however, chat to them via the site’s messaging service.