The casino has been around for centuries but for a different purpose

Gambling is believed to have been in existence in one form or another for centuries but the word casino is thought to have originated in Italy and it was not really a place for gambling but rather for other pastimes of a sexual nature. Different countries have adopted different words for the gambling house from the saloons of America where people gathered for a drink and often to play cards to the Italian Ridotto which was established in Venice in the 17^th century for the carnival season. Today we recognise casinos as being places to gamble although they are often tied to other forms of entertainment such as in Las Vegas. Online casinos are thus a relatively new thing and are replacing the popularity of the land based casinos quite rapidly. There are several advantages to online casinos which include the ability to dip in and out. Many Irish casino players, for example, will play for 30 minutes or even less and then go and do something else before coming back later. This would be impossible if only land based casinos were available. Online casinos have been established to enable anyone old enough to enjoy casino games from the comfort of their own homes although with mobiles and tablets even this is no longer the only way to enjoy the casino experience.

The casino games which are available at an online casino are very varied but can be broken down into three broad categories namely table games, slots and numbers games of chance. The term table games is thought to mean those casino games that require a specific table in order to play and a prime example is roulette. Other table games found in casinos such as Blackjack are played at a specific table simply to prevent confusion about where bets should be placed but it could of course be played anywhere as long as you have a deck of cards. Casino slots which started life as fruit machines have grown exponentially in popularity and complexity. The simple three reel fruit machines, called fruit machines because all the symbols were fruit, are still available for those that enjoy that simplicity of being able to follow what is going on but there are considerably more complicated 5 reel machines with multiple winning lines where it would be virtually impossible for a player to work out all the winning combinations. Fortunately the machine does that for you. The simple casino slots can be found at Casinocasino.com and the 5 reel slots are everywhere. Some online casinos make a differentiation between slots and video slots with the video slots generally being 5 reel slots which follow a theme which can be movie characters or sports of one kind or another or anything else.

The final category is the numbers games such as the lotteries, Bingo and Keno. These casino games are pure chance and are very simple but nevertheless great entertainment. It was thought that bingo would die a death after the bingo halls were forced to introduce smoking bans but online bingo seems to have taken over the mantel and it is now probably more popular than ever. This can be explained to some extent by some players who would never visit a bingo hall but can now play incognito without going out. There are specialist bingo sites but as nearly all online casinos offer the same games but have much more choice of other games it is surprising that they are a popular as they seem to be. Keno is played in many places in the USA but is seen less in Europe and in fact if the online casinos did not carry the game we would probably not see it at all in Ireland.

As all online casinos have similar casino games except in the casino slots section it can be difficult to select a casino at which to play. You can of course select one of the big names but that will not necessarily be the best casino for you or the one that you enjoy most. Smaller online casinos such as All Irish Casino can often provide a friendlier atmosphere making play more fun. Casios.ie has created a short list of online casinos which are known to be reputable so it is better to try one or two before making your choice. These smaller online casinos generally also have free casino play as a default mode thereby making trying out the casino easier. There are others however that want you to create an account before even playing for free although of course no actual cash deposit is required. When you do eventually create an account you will have to provide proof of identity at some stage which is part of the money laundering prevention which online casinos are required to carry out as part of their licensing agreement.

Another feature that you will encounter when joining an online casino is the joining bonus. This is available at most online casinos and is generally what is known as a deposit matching bonus whereby the casinos will add funds to your account according to the size of your initial deposit. This is often 100% but the funds from the casino are placed in a bonus account rather than your playing account which means that it cannot be withdrawn until certain requirements have been met. These requirements will mean that you need to stake the amount a number of times which can often be 40 or 50 times before any cash is transferred into your playing account. This way the casinos have a better chance of recouping the money before you can get your hands on it. There are alternatives such as can be found at No Bonus Casino or Freespins Casino. Both of these do not offer a joining bonus but what they do offer is available to all players on every deposit. One is a cash back on losses and the other offers a number of free spins on a selection of casino slots depending on the size of the deposit.