Online Casinos Real Money - 2018 Guide To Real Money Casino Sites

Gambling has been around in many forms since almost the beginning of recorded history. Back to the days of gladiators, if there was an outcome of an event, it was very likely that there was someone taking action on that outcome.

One of the most common forms of gambling today is the casino. From the seedy back rooms of restaurants to the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas, people around the world have enjoyed playing games in the casino for real money. Many of the games that you see today haven’t changed much if at all from their introduction decades and sometimes centuries ago. What has changed, however, is the way that players can access real money casino games.

Online Real Money Casinos

In the mid-1990s, as the internet was starting to take off commercially, everyone was starting to figure out how they could make money from people accessing the Internet from their computers. One of the early leaders as far as industries to take their business online was the real money casino industry.

As soon as they could be programmed, casino games were developed and posted online for players to play. Of course, this required being able to take payments online for those willing to play the games for real money. The fledgling online gambling industry was one of the first to accept credit card payments over the internet. This meant that for the first time, casino players were able to play some of their favorite games without having to leave the comfort of their own homes.

Below is a list of links to our various guides covering almost all of the popular deposit options used presently by players:

The Early Days of Real Money Online Casinos

Of course, there were some serious limitations to the online casino when it was first introduced. The first major stumbling block was the speed of internet connection. Most people in the 1990s had a dial-up connection, which was slow when just accessing information from a news site, so just imagine how slow a hand of blackjack might take!

In order to keep gameplay speedy, casino developers decided that it was best for players to install a piece of software on their local machines. This software would hold the majority of the graphics, meaning that only the gameplay itself needed to be transmitted from a casino server to the player. While this was for sure going to speed up the game, getting the software downloaded was often a pain. As download speeds were incredibly slow, especially on dial-up connections, you could find yourself waiting upwards of several hours just to download the initial client software. For that reason, back in the early days of online casinos, you could ask to receive the software on a CD in the mail. Yes, you read that correctly…through the regular mail. In fact, direct mail was one of the leading acquisition tools for several years in the industry.

As speeds started to improve online, developers were able to move from the downloadable casino to an instant play version of the games. This was originally coded in Java, which had its drawbacks from a quality perspective. The games being played directly in a browser had far inferior graphics than their downloadable counterparts, however for many players that did not seem to matter.

For the years that followed, it seemed that there was a new casino being released every day. In fact, the industry quickly mushroomed in size with the introduction of broadband connections, and then took yet another huge step forward with the advent of Flash as a programming language. These days, the majority of real money casino games being played online are via this method.

Why Play At Real Money Casinos?

Well, there are several pretty straightforward answers to this question. Let’s take a look at some of them here.

First off, the reason most people play real money online casino games is to WIN MONEY! OF course, there is risk involved with all forms of gambling, but many love the idea of turning a small bankroll into a large on or spinning the reels to turn themselves into an instant millionaire!

Next, players like to gamble online for the entertainment factor. For many real money players, the amount they are wagering per spin or hand is very small – for the most part, they are not going to have a life-changing experience online. However, just having any real money being bet on a game still gives most players a great thrill, knowing that there is something on the line with every game they play.

Finally, there is the convenience factor. The majority of people on this planet do not live in the vicinity of a land-based casino. Being able to play online for real money means that the thrill of casino gambling is now extended to anyone who can access the internet. This is a total game-changer for many players, as now they can use real money games online as a way to entertain themselves, or as a stepping stone to making a trip to a land-based facility.

Real Money Casino Concerns

The two major concerns that arise from online real money casino gambling are fraud and problem gambling.

When it comes to fraud, many players still don’t feel like the games they are playing are completely fair at an online casino. This could not be further from the truth. In fact, most casino operators and all preferred casino software vendors use third-party auditors to ensure all the gameplay and business transactions are legitimate. In the reviews you will read on our site, we make sure to let you know if a site has been audited and if they have a gaming license from one of the many jurisdictions around the world.

As for problem gambling, it is, in fact, easier to spot online than in a land-based casino. As a player has to give a lot of information to create an account and make a deposit, and then all the gameplay is tracked by the software, operators can easily see when someone’s playing behavior has passed the entertainment factor. Players are given the option of self-exclusion or setting limits, so they don’t get in too much trouble.

Overall, while there are some instances of sites not being truthful with their players, those are few and far between these days. Yes, there is some risk in sending your money to an offshore casino. However, if you read our reviews, you will see that there are hundreds of reputable, recommended sites to choose from.