Online casinos, often referred to as virtual casinos, involve players wagering cash on casino-style games from the comfort of their own homes or on the go. These types of websites allow people to gamble without needing to venture into a brick-and-mortar casino or bookmakers, making the thrill of gambling more accessible than ever. But how does this style of gambling work and what do players need to do to get involved?

It wasn’t until the late 1990s that internet gambling started to become increasingly popular, with greater advancement in technology. It’s since evolved into a reported £200 billion industry and while online casinos have drawn their share of criticism, there’s no denying that they’re incredibly popular with players. Casinos today are well-regulated to ensure that players are treated fairly and to protect them. Even though each casino has its own rules and measures in place, there are standardised rules that each online casino uses to deliver a consistent service to players:

• Players create an online account and deposit funds into it.
• The player then chooses the games they wish to play and decide how much they want to wager on each game.
• If the player loses their funds, the casino retains them but if the player wins, they can either withdraw their funds into their bank account or use the money to play more games.

There are plenty of games that online casinos offer, from slots and blackjack to poker and card-based games, which far-exceed the class table games that are associated with land-based casinos. Casinos typically don’t self-host their games but they ‘rent’ them to software providers instead which means that players are often connecting to the game developer’s server each time they play rather than the casino itself.

Almost all casinos offer some type of bonus to customers, both new and existing, in order to encourage them to get involved, you can check out casino offers from timeform here. These might take the form of welcome bonuses that are offered to new players on their first deposit, or no deposit bonuses which are given to players without them needing to part with any of their own cash and usually involve free spins or casino credits. Virtually all bonuses have what is known as a wagering requirement, which means that players have to wager their bonus a certain number of times before they are allowed to withdraw it. The most common number is 35 times and it is used as a way of ensuring that casinos don’t lose too much money in bonuses and offers.

Online casinos make their money through what is known as a ‘house edge’, which is the same method that land-based casinos use to make a profit. This means that over a period of time, the casino will earn a certain profit from a game compared to the player. Games like Craps and Blackjack have a relatively low house edge, while video slots and instant win games have a higher house edge, which means it’s more difficult for a player to earn their deposit back and make a profit.