There is definitely a certain glamour, thrill and romance associated with casino games, but unless you live near Atlantic City, in the state of Nevada, or (in some parts of the country) a major Indian reservation, chances are that opportunities to play real in a real casino don't exist. That has all changed, thanks to the Internet. Through the World Wide Web, casino games are available to virtually everyone.

What Are Online Casinos?

Simply put, an "online casino" is like any other online business - it is a virtual, "cyber-version" of a traditional brick-and-mortar institution. Also called "virtual," and/or "Internet" casinos, these websites enable people to place bets on traditional games, and include:

In general, odds and payback percentages for casinos online are about the same as they are for brick-and-mortar casinos. In fact, here in the Digital Age, you may find a great deal of the same technology used in online games as you will in Las Vegas, especially with online slots; modern digital slot machines use random number generators. The more reputable websites that offer online games will publish verifiable payout percentage audits.

Are Online Casinos Trustworthy?

This is certainly a common - and quite valid - issue. Those who run online gaming websites often lease software from a reputable third party, and as indicated earlier, will often publish payout audits.

That said, following the old advice of caveat emptor is wise when playing games on the World Wide Web. There are documented cases of fraudulent casinos, but interestingly, this fraud usually has little to do with the virtual games themselves. Usually, the fraud involves unreasonable delays or outright refusals to pay withdrawals.

The good news is that on the Internet, reputation spreads fast. When fraud on the part of a casino website has been documented enough times, the online gaming community labels it a "rogue casino;" pos4d player's forums often maintain lists of such dishonest casinos, and these do not remain online for very long.

It works both ways, incidentally; some players attempt to cheat by signing up with multiple identities in order to claim sign-on bonuses, or take a screenshot and alter it with graphics editing software in order to create a faked image of a winning online video poker hand or online slots jackpot in order to attempt to claim winnings. Such players can be tracked and may find themselves locked out permanently.