Casino software companies have caused changes for casinos

One of the things that surprises some regular online casino players is that when they have a look around at other online casinos that they do not play at, all the same games seem to be there when the expectation might be that each online casino would have their own exclusive games. The cause of this goes quite a long way back. In the very beginning of online casinos the games were pretty simple and the casinos did indeed write their own casino software which meant that they were all different. They still all had games such as Roulette and Blackjack but they looked different. They also all had casino slots but they were very simple and the type that some of the older generation may remember in the clubs and bars  at the time. Mostly they were three reel slots with one winning line and used fruit symbols with possibly bars and bells. It did not take long however for computing power to be used to enhance these casino slots and make them ever more complicated which in turn meant that the costs for development became much higher to the extent that it became questionable whether a single online casino could support those costs. The solution came along in the form of specialised casino software companies who would develop the games and then market them to online casinos. This clearly spread the investment costs over several online casinos but at the same time meant that all the online casinos could carry the same games.

A secondary result of this was that the entry barriers to creating an online casino were lowered as the casino software could be bought rather than developed. This was good for Irish casino players as there was gradually more choice. Today there are quite a few casino software developers with the main ones being NetEnt, Microgaming and Playtech.  Amanet could possibly be added to that list as although it was rather a late comer it was quick to establish itself having been in game development for many years but not online. Also in the early days, online casinos tended to select one casino software supplier to work with and there are online casinos that still stick to this philosophy but many of the top online casinos as rated by Casinos.ie use several casino software suppliers together on their sites. This does of course create a much wider choice of casino games. For example, All Irish Casino uses all the four casino software developers mentioned as well as a few smaller ones. In this way they can pick up all the major progressive jackpot slots as well as many of the humorous fun games. This development also created issues for online casinos as to how they could differentiate themselves from the competition now that many of the games were the same.

One route taken was to offer incentives to new players in the form of a casino bonus and this is still popular today. The most common form of casino bonus is the deposit matching bonus whereby the online casino provides money which is a 100% match to your first ever deposit. It is not unusual for this offer to be extended to the second, third or even fourth deposit but these are likely to be at much less than 100%. It is of course great to receive a bonus but there are restrictions attached to this type of bonus the most important of which is that it is not easily withdrawn. If you register with an online  sports gambling company you may well receive a free bet. You can place your free bet and if you win those winnings are yours but not so at an online casino offering a deposit matching bonus. The casino gives you the money and you can use it to play any of the casino games but you will not be able to withdraw any of it until it has been wagered 40 times and to make it even more difficult wagers on those games such as Roulette and Blackjack which are considered low risk do not count towards the requirement. The other problem with this sort of casino bonus is that it is a one off when you join and after that you could be getting nothing. All Irish Casino does at least have similar offers for existing customers often on a Wednesday but many do not.

There are a couple of online casinos that have recognised that this system does not suit everybody and have come up with alternatives. The first of these is called No Bonus Casino which really is a great name and leaves the player in no doubt about the approach to casino bonuses. Unfortunately it does not hint at what it offers instead which means many players could be unaware that there is cash back available if you lose. Unlike the deposit matching bonus this works very simply. If you make a deposit into your online casino account on any given day and manage to lose the whole deposit on the same day then 10% will be refunded the very next day. There are no restrictions at all on which of the hundreds of casino games can be played and if you do receive the cash back there are no restrictions on you can do with that either. The cash back is placed into your playing account so you can carry on playing or you could even take it out of your account if you so wished. If that weren’t enough this offer is not only for new players. It is available to every player on every deposit they make into their online casino account no matter how long they have been registered.

Another option can be found at Freespins casino where instead of a deposit matching bonus every deposit entitles the player to a number of free spins on a selection of casino slots. There are three different levels of free spins to chose from and agin the offer is available to all player on every deposit.