« How Atlantic City became top gambling destination | | Blackjack and wonging: a story of success »

Can it be better to gamble online?

When I was young, so many years ago I can hardly remember, gambling was so much easier. You either got in your car or on an airplane, and went where people were playing casino games for real money, or you asked around and found out where the floating games were for that night. I guess when I was starting out, the illegal kind was always more exciting until you got to know everyone then it was down to a routine.

I suppose some of the motivation for regulation is the sense that online gaming is not regulated. Go into any real world casino, and you should always be “safe” except from your own gambling habit, of course. There are security cameras everywhere making sure no-one is going to cheat you. Regulators check the slots to make sure they are all working properly. Once you are online, there are no external eyes looking after you.

For example, thanks to the random number generator, counting the cards in online blackjack is a waste of time.

So why should anyone want to play online? Worse, some of the games just are not the same. But because the overheads for running an online casino are significantly less than the real world equivalents, the online payout schedules are more generous. You no longer have to wait on other players or croupiers.

There is always another game ready to play. Because you do not have people looking over your shoulder (and judging you), you have more freedom to learn new games or try out different strategies without people getting impatient with you. So does that mean online gaming is a “good thing”? The only thing wrong with it is that it is too easy to play. But, so long as you have your gambling under control, you say when, where and how long you play. What can be better than that?