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Online Gaming
Guide: A Primer Gambling Teachers offers this online gaming guide: a primer for casino players who are considering online play.
Online Gaming Guide: Finding the Best Sites
Despite
the fact that becoming a successful online gambler will
involve different steps, the most important one is also the most
obvious which is finding a casino or poker room in which to play.
Following are basic steps when searching for a casino gaming site.
Online Gaming Guide Basics
The
first thing you want to do is to make sure any casino site that you are
interested in is reputable. Always learn everything that you can about
any online gaming site before you drop any money. Most are, but there
are a few rogue operations out there.
If a particular site is rogue, it won’t take you very long to find out about it if you do your homework.
Simply
read site reviews in the respected gambling magazines and take a good
hard look around at some of the online gambling portals to see what is
posted about the different sites.
Another suggestion to consider
is visiting some of the forums that are readily available on many
gambling portals with possible chat rooms. These forums are used to
meet and discuss various matters about the online gambling industry
including the good and not good online casinos.
To start,
you need to examine whether or not the casino site has the amenities to
meet your needs. Choosing one of these sites requires a lot of
objectivity, but personal taste also plays a hand.
If you don’t
like the software, it could be you won’t have very much fun regardless
of the sign up bonus. It doesn’t matter if the site is praised on every
forum, in every magazine and in every country around the world.
Simply put, if they don’t have what you are looking for, opening a player account is going to be useless to you.
Online Gaming Guide: The Games
For
example, if you are the type of player who likes mixing things up a bit
by playing a few hands of Blackjack and then taking a few spins on the
slots while you’re waiting on the results of the Yankee’s game, then
the type of site you choose is going to have to be one that
accommodates both casino gamblers and sports betters.
On the other
hand however, if bingo is your one true love, then your search is going
to have to be refined a little to include only those sites that offer
it to you. Once you get your selections narrowed down to a level that
is manageable, you’ll want to begin visiting the sites and checking
them out.
You’ll want to know if they have quality graphics and
examine if the site looks like it was simply thrown together or if
there was some thought behind the way the site is designed.
If
there is anything about the site that makes you feel wary or
uncomfortable, then it’s probably better that you simply move on.
Online Gaming Guide: Customer Service Check
If you
want a little more insight, then you should consider giving the
customer support desk a call. Just ask them some basic questions about
the casino, the payout methods, etc to determine how the call is
handled.
The idea behind this is to see how helpful they are going
to be with you. If the associate that is handling your call is
hesitant, seems uninterested or is unable to answer your questions or
rude to you, this should throw up a red flag and be an indicator that
this is likely the same service that you will get should you come up
against a real problem or issue.
Remember that there are a number
of casino sites out there, and you don’t have to patronize those that
give you anything less than excellent customer service.
Once you
have found a casino that is worthy of your play, the next step in
this online gaming guide is to get down to the business at hand by
becoming an online gambler.
Online Gaming Guide: Becoming a Player
Back
in the days when the number of online casinos could be counted on one
of your hands, getting on the internet, downloading some software and
opening a player account was a tedious, sometimes trying series of
events that many times would make taking a trip to a land-based casino
seem more than worth the time and travel it took to get there.
As
technology advanced however, so too did the process as a whole and we
are left with a streamlined version of that which once was.
Online Gaming Guide: The Proper tools: Hardware and Software
At the most basic level, gambling online requires two components that are critical to the ability to play online.
o A computer that is compliant with the gambling software, which in this case is a Windows-based computer.
o Internet Access – Dial-up will of course work, but it is going to be incredibly slow. DSL or a cable modem is best.
Any
computer that was purchased in the last 5 years is most likely
compatible with the current versions of casino software provided the
computer has the Windows OS. There is no version for MAC.
If you
have a MAC computer, the type of casino that you will be able to
play at is a “flash” casino or one that you otherwise do not have to
download.
OK. Let’s get back on track now. While it is true that
you don’t have to have 'the latest and the greatest' computer, the
reality is that if your computer is an older model then it may not have
the ability to run the software because of limited memory, graphics
drivers, etc. The majority of the online casinos will tell you what the
minimum requirements are to run their software. This can typically be
found in the Frequently Asked Questions pages (FAQ). It will also
usually be present on the download page as well.
Generally speaking however, the minimal requirements will be:
Windows XP/2000/98/95/NT
64 MB of RAM (Random Access Memory)
256 color VGA monitor
30 MB of Hard drive space
14.4 Kbps modem
Besides
those minimal requirements, you are also going to need an internet
browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. There are many
other browsers available, but remember that not all sites will work in
some of the obscure browsers that are available.
If you don’t have updated versions of those browsers, you can always download them from Microsoft and Netscape respectively.
Now
that we have determined that your computer is capable of running the
necessary software, we have to install the software from the site
that you have chosen to your computer system.
This special
software contains all of the necessary information that will allow your
computer to connect to the casino and allow you to gamble.
What it
boils down to is the software that you load on your computer IS the
casino, poker room, or bingo hall that you have chosen to play.
Note:
The online sports books typically do not require any special software.
In this case, you would simply have an active account with funds in it
so you can play.
The software is free to download and install and
will be available for download directly from the casino site, though
many casinos will send out CDs with the software on it through the
mail. You can request a CD from the casinos and they will be happy to
send you one.
Most sites favor the downloadable software.
However, most of those that do have the downloadable software will have
some versions of games that are JAVA-based, or the previously mentioned
flash type in reference to the MAC computer.
Just because a casino’s software will not work on your computer does not mean that you cannot play at that casino necessarily.
It
does mean however that you will likely be playing with a more limited
selection of games. These web-based games don’t usually have a
selection as diverse as the download version.
On the other side of
the coin, even if your computer is able to handle the download version,
you can skip that process if you like and go straight to playing once
you have registered.
In any case, most sites do offer both
versions, so you’ll definitely be able to choose what you want and
prefer. Once you have selected the platform you want, the rest is easy.
If
you have chosen to download, simply click the download link and the
rest is almost automatic. For the other versions, simply click the
version that you want and proceed to playing.
Online Gambling Guide: Opening a Player Account
The
final 2 steps are the opening of a player account, and then funding
that account. To register once the casino software has opened up, click
on the register account button and complete the form using your
information as required.
It requests basic information from you
such as your name and address. In some casinos, you will have to select
a username and password, while in others, they will select your
username, but you select your password.
Write this information down and keep it in a safe place in case you forget it.
Payment methods will vary vastly among all of the casinos.
The best resource to gather this type of information is
Casino City Online Gambling Payment Methods.
You
can gather a lot of information about payment methods of sites listed
by popularity, the number of sites accepting that method, by country
and much more than that--very informative.
While banking options
will vary by site, the process itself is the same among online casinos
with perhaps some minor variations.
You simply click the deposit
or bank button, choose your deposit method (credit card where
available, e-check, UseMyWallet on any of the others as available),
choose your deposit amount and make the transfer to your player account.
An Expanding Industry
You have now learned, with the help of this online gaming guide, just what it takes to become an online gambler.
In
the beginning, it will give the appearance of being a complicated
process but it really isn’t anything more than finding a site to play,
downloading the software, registering and making a deposit.
As we know, it really doesn’t end there. Just like any gambler, as you learn and grow, so too does the industry as a whole.
Sites
are constantly evolving, coming up with new ideas, adding new games and
so forth. They make the software faster and are on a constant quest to
make the games more realistic.
Let’s not forget about the constantly
evolving player rewards programs and the bonuses that offer the
opportunity to play with a bigger bankroll—always a good thing. There
are some companies that are expanding into new directions such as
mobile gaming and interactive television that allows players to play
their favorite games as easily as making a phone call or changing a
channel on the television.
There’s no end in sight so while you
are playing at the online casino that is perfect for you today,
tomorrow may end up bringing you something better that has greater
accessibility and an even better game selection.
As these things
evolve and change, so to will this online gaming guide to make sure
that you have the latest information available about online gambling.
Online
Gaming Guide is followed by 10 reasons to play online
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