As readers know, we here at Slots Play Casinos primarily report on online casinos. We readily acknowledge the draw of land-based casinos but focus our main attention online.
We recently came across an article in Forbes from 2014 that perfectly describes the dubious attitude many people had just 10 years ago as exemplified in an article in a prominent economic journal. In order not to distract you from this article, we will link to the Forbes article at the end.
Fun and Excitement
Both land-based and online casinos talk about having fun at the casino. There are huge differences as to how fun and entertainment are attained at the two types of casinos.
Land-based casinos draw players through the bright lights, the sounds of hundreds of slots being played, the whooping and hollering that always emanate from the craps and roulette tables, and the omnipresent bells and whistles.
Online casinos don’t have any of those attractions. We might say that these attractions are artificial but that isn’t a real argument. Movies are artificial but are also wildly popular forms of entertainment. A football team may be called after a city but have not a single player or coach who hails from that city.
What Do Online Casinos Have to Attract Players?
In a single word, convenience. The Forbes article underestimated the importance of convenience. At the time, the US was fully into the convenience society. For example, Americans buy a lot of food that has already been prepared. It isn’t just fast food which by 2014 was well established as the main way many Americans got their meals.
The freezer section at any supermarket will have prepared food that you just have to heat up.
Americans like the convenience of drive-throughs. Banks and other services can be had at a drive-through. The mass marketing of weddings in Las Vegas also has a drive-through service!
What are the Conveniences Online Casinos Offer?
The first and most important convenience is the freedom to play casino games without traveling. Travel costs a lot of money, of course. In addition to the high financial cost of travel, there is the high-stress factor inherent in much of modern travel.
Play Hundreds of Games
Another big convenience of online casinos is that you can play all of the casino’s games. It takes time to do that and you have a lot of time since you are not at a land-based casino for a few days over a weekend or holiday.
At a land-based casino, a player may spend several hours on the casino floor and play a very small number of games. That, of course, is because you lose your seat at a land-based casino if you move to another game. Cyberspace has no seats so you can play a game, go to another game, and come back to the original game with no problem.
Instant Play Gives Online Gamers Great Freedom
Instant Play means that you play on your internet server. It also means that you can go from casino to casino easily. The convenience of not having to walk between casinos is a factor if it is raining or snowing or brutally hot as it gets in Las Vegas.
Online Casinos Give Deposit Bonuses
A deposit bonus can only work at an online casino where you have a casino account. At a land-based casino, your casino account is your player’s card. Now, all deposit bonuses have a wagering requirement which prevents some gamers from taking a bonus and cashing out right away.
Almost no players at a land-based casino could complete the wagering requirement for a deposit bonus in the few days they are at the casino. Therefore, land-based casinos do not offer these kinds of bonuses.
Do Land-based Casinos Have Any Benefits?
They do have benefits to the local governments and to players. For players, the main benefit is the palpable excitement they feel when they enter a casino. People who like craps and roulette love the whooping and hollering they are encouraged to do when the wheel spins or the dice roll.
A lot of people like getting free alcohol at a land-based casino. This often serves to benefit the casino more than the people as the alcohol produces less than excellent gambling decisions.
In our opinion, here at Slots Play Casinos, the benefits to players at online casinos far outweigh the benefits to players who go to land-based casinos.
Underestimating the Tax Revenue Generated by Online Casinos
One of the big mistakes in the Forbes article was in how popular online casinos were going to be. The first online casino came online in 1994 so by 2014 Forbes should have been able to see the trends that favored online casino gaming.
One state allowed online casinos because they were under the impression that revenues would be at a given level and after one year, they were lower than expectations.
In fact, all it took for online casinos to generate the tax revenue states wanted was by instituting regulations that caused the casinos to make sure that taxes on winnings were paid.
Forbes Talks about Jobs Lost to Online Casinos
One of the major points that the Forbes article tried to make is that online casinos need far fewer employees than do land-based casinos. The salaries of these employees, the taxes they pay, the money they spend locally, the money travelers spend in the area of the casinos, all benefit the local economies and online casinos take away these benefits.
The Forbes article failed to recognize that economies have the ability to generate work when there is a willing and able workforce. Las Vegas is doing pretty well despite the giant influx of online casinos.
People not travelling to an online casino save money. They can save the money and invest it. They can spend it on a different type of vacation that benefits the places they travel to. They can spend the money in the area they live in strengthening their local economies.
Slots Play Casinos Has a Few Other Thoughts about Online Casinos
We have spoken at length here about the convenience of online casinos. However, convenience is far from the only reason to play casino games online.
At an online casino, gamers can and do set short time periods for gaming. Then they get on with their evenings or weekends with friends, family, a work project with a deadline, or hobbies. The sense of being responsible by gaming for fun and entertainment follows them in their other pursuits.
As such, online casinos, when the gamer plays responsibly to the utmost degree, is a major emotional and psychological benefit to the gamers.
Slots Play Casinos covers the online casino gaming business niche. We talk about all sorts of ideas that relate to online casino gaming.
Here is the link to the Forbes article:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2014/08/07/the-battle-of-online-vs-land-based-casinos/
For excellence in reporting about online casinos….
COME TO SLOTS PLAY CASINOS OFTEN!