Virtual Casinos
Virtual casinos, also known as online casinos or internet casinos, are online versions of real life ("bricks and mortar") casinos. Online casinos enable players to bet on casino games through the web.Virtual casinos usually offer odds and payback percentages that are comparable to their bricks and mortar cousins, and some offer a higer % (audited by third parties).
Most virtual casinos lease or purchase the games platform that they use from well-known games developers like Microgaming, RTG, Playtech, and WagerWorks so that they do not need to incur the cost of developing the games from scratch. The software use random number generators (RNG´s) to ensure that the wheel spins, the cards are dealt and the virtual dice land randomly.
Virtual casino sitess can be spilit into a couple of groups: flash-based and download casinos. Most casinos offer both playing types.
Many virtual casinos these days offer 'Live gaming', where the roulette, baccarat, sic-bo and blackjack are dealt by real dealers in studios, to mimic the atmosphere of a land based casino.
Players watch the action on a video feed.
Flash-based virtual casino Games
Flash-based virtual casinos are those where players may play without downloading software to their hard drive. Games are mainly driven by plugins such as Flash, Shockwave and Java - so you need to have the relevant plug ins installed. A high speed connection is preferable.
Download Casinos
You can also play at a download virtual casino which you´ll need to download a software client in order to play and bet at the casino. The game platform then communicates with the casino server to determine the outcome of the games, and the complicated graphics and sound is run off your pc or laptop. So these types of virtual casinos are faster. But you will need to spend time downloading the software in the first place.
Typical games you get at virtual casinos include:
Baccarat
Blackjack
Craps
Roulette
Online Slots
Sic Bo
Online Video Poker
Virtual Casino Bonuses
Most virtual casinos offer signup bonuses & incentives to new players making a first deposit, and often on subsequent deposits as well.
These bonuses are a way of the casino attracting new players- ie a marketing cost. As the casino is basically giving away money, they normally ask for a commitment from the player to bet a certain amount, usually a multiple of the deposit and/or bonu.
Since all casino games have a house edge, the wagering requirements ensure that not all players simply walk away with the money.