Slots Play Casinos feels that responsible gambling is one of the elements at the core of the dichotomy between online casinos and land-based casinos. So, we hereby present a few top responsible gambling tips to improve your gaming and show how online casino gaming is better than gambling at a land-based casino.
Gambling or Gaming?
The first tip we would like to present is that online casino play should always be viewed as gaming. Although the land-based casino advocacy groups like to call the activity at their casinos gaming, it is a lot more like gambling than the activity responsibly done at an online casino.
Here’s why.
Set Sound Time Budgets for Gaming
It is exponentially easier to set a sound gaming budget for online casino gaming than for the same activity at a land-based casino. Online gamers can set even 30-minute time budgets since they know that the casino will be available to them whenever they wish to avail themselves of an online casino’s services.
This is dramatically not how things happen at any land-based casino. Who travels for a long weekend at a land-based casino only to play in short sessions?
Time budgets make online gaming more fun, less stressful, and more of an entertaining activity. At a land-based casino, players feel a great deal of anxiety. Most players at a land-based casino run through their initial budget and have to decide whether to just hang out and do nothing or take more money through there wallet or credit card.
The enormous amount of time available for gambling at land-based casinos, when compared to the short amount of time gamers will allocate for gaming at an online casino, show that online casino play is a lot more like gaming while land-based casino play is a lot more like gambling.
Set Monetary Budgets for Gaming
At an online casino, if the gamer has set 30-60 minutes for gaming, the budget for doing so can be very modest as well. By setting time for a short session, in most cases the gamer is saying that he or she intends this to be a fun activity.
As such, there is no felt need to make extraordinary bets. At a land-based casino, there may also be no need to make large bets but, since there will be a lot more betting, the effect is that the gaming is more like gambling.
Travel Is Also a Cost
At an online casino, there is no cost at all in getting to the casino. It costs money to get to a land-based casino unless the gambler lives in the town where the casino is located or very close to it.
Going to Las Vegas usually involves flying which is a nightmare these days for reasons unrelated to land-based casino gambling. Flying can be very expensive. Staying in the hotel can also add up.
Add in restaurants and pubs and the cost of a long weekend at a land-based casino can be quite high. Gaming at an online casino incurs none of these costs and none of the inconvenience, discomfort, and general hassle of travel to a casino.
Stay Away from Alcohol
We do not ask gamers to stay away from alcohol entirely; just during the gaming, which should be for a relatively short period of time. Land-based casinos offer free alcohol; because they know that even one drink will reduce a gambler’s cognitive function. This leads to gambling mistakes and returns the cost of the drink back to the casino many times over.
Stay Away from Gaming when You’re Tired
Gamblers at land-based casinos often play when they are too tired to make good decisions. Land-based casinos get gamblers tired by having no clocks and no windows. Gamblers lose track of time and show it.
Gamblers at land-based casinos also play after getting a free meal at the buffet. These meals tend to be big and gamblers’ bodies struggle mightily to digest the food. This causes the rest of the gambler’s body to feel tired. This includes the gambler’s brain. Thus, after a big meal, it is a major mistake to play casino games. It puts the gamble into the after-meal play.
Get Paid What You Deserve
It shows a great deal of fortitude for a player to forego playing blackjack where the house pays only 6-5 for a blackjack or video poker where the house pays only 8-5 or 7-5 for a full house or a flush.
All of the online casinos we recommend pay 3-2 for a blackjack and 9-6 for a full house or flush in video poker.
Players who play games where they know up-front the casino will pay them less than they deserve are gambling, not gaming!
In addition, many land-based casinos have the game provider calibrate the random number generator for slots to return closer to 90% instead of the 96-97% the top online casinos return in slots. This turns gaming in slots to gambling in slots and is a common occurrence at land-based casinos.
Enjoy Playing a Wide Variety of Games
Online casinos have the space to offer many varieties of blackjack and video poker. They can also offer several table games that land-based casinos can’t offer. Finally, land-based casinos carry specialty games such as Fish Catch and Banana Jones which are simply fun to play.
By playing a wide variety of games, online casino gamers get the benefit of variety. Land-based casino gamblers tend to become rooted to one or possibly two games. They miss out on the benefits of flexibility that online casinos offer.
What if a Gamer Feels Out of Control
At a good online casino, the casino itself sees if the player is betting more than usual, is making wilder bets than he or she ever made, is playing for longer periods of time, or is showing erratic behavior in any way. Land-based casinos do not track players like online casinos do.
Is Tracking Gamers a Good or a Bad Thing?
There are some who for political reasons think that an online casino tracking players is a bad thing. Casinos do not let politics enter their management equations. An online casino has to track gamers in all areas from wins and losses to bet size to wagering requirements and so on. Land-based casinos do not track in the same way. They let the players’ cards do the tracking for them.
The upshot of the tracking online casinos do is that they can detect when a gamer is suddenly gambling instead of gaming. The online casino will ask the player if he or she is alright.
Slots Play Casinos and Responsible Gaming
We have written about responsible gaming in the past. Most of the tips you find here are tips we give in other contexts all the time. We feel that, while land-based casino play is primarily about gambling and that online casino play is mostly about gaming, it is always possible for the gaming at an online casino to segue into gambling.
Thus, the need for frequent reminders as to best practices when playing casino games for real money. We urge all gamers to read our many articles on the theme of best practices for happy, fun, and entertaining gaming.
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