Live vs. Online Casino: Where Should You Play & Why?

Written By Ivan P

The world we live in has experienced some significant changes over the past few decades. The way we learn, travel, and perform some everyday activities like shopping has been heavily influenced by the rise of modern technologies. The entertainment industry that gambling is a part of hasn’t been left unaffected, either.

Back in the day, if you wanted to try your luck at a casino, you’d have to dress up (at least to some extent), leave your home, and actually go to a physical venue offering slots and table games. There was no other way to go about it.

Then, online casinos started popping up, changing the way we gamble forever. Not only that you no longer need to leave your house to play but you don’t even have to get up from your bed. Simply fire up a casino on your mobile phone and you’re good to go.

But, with all these changes, live brick and mortar casinos didn’t seize to exist. While online gambling has certainly affected their foot traffic, brick and mortar operators around the globe are still going strong. Despite all the convenience offered by internet casinos, people still frequent land-based venues and enjoy their time.

So, one must ask, if you feel like gambling, what is the better option of the two? Are you better off staying at home and finding an online casino you like or is taking the trip to your local place of gamble worth the time and effort?

Your Money Will Last Longer Online

If you’re on a limited budget and want to play for a while without breaking the bank, playing online is usually the safer option. Not only that you’ll find a much better range of stakes online, but you’ll also be able to get more bonuses and free spins even if you deposit as little as $10.

Furthermore, online slots usually have much better RTP, so that $10 or $20 will last you longer. Walking into a land-based venue with a few bucks in your pocket will usually result in a very short and rather unsatisfying session.

So, taking a drive to a casino only to play for half an hour (if you’re lucky) probably isn’t worth your while. You’d be much better off just sticking that tenner with an online site and trying your luck.

Online Casinos Offer Hundreds of Games

If you enjoy trying new games and discovering fresh slots, you’ll have much more fun playing online. Internet casinos have a lot of freedom to add new titles as they see fit and many of them have game libraries containing hundreds or even thousands of slots, table games, and, these days, even live dealer tables.

Brick and mortar venues are much more limited in this regard. First of all their floor space is limited so they can only add so many slot machines before the place become crowded. Secondly, installing new games on existing machines takes time and is often subject to different laws to ensure everything is on the up and up.

However, if you’ve been gambling for a while, your local casino may have certain games that are very hard to find online. This is especially true for old slots that aren’t considered interesting anymore with all the fresh, fleshy titles coming out. Even if the game you like doesn’t have the best RTP or the smoothest graphics, sometimes we just enjoy playing games we’re used to.

Live Casinos Have Free Drinks & Real People

While there are many aspects in which online casinos are better than their land-based counterparts, they’ll never be able to create the buzzing atmosphere found in brick and mortar joints. When you sit down to play in an actual casino, you’ll usually be served free drinks, there will be other people around you, and there are all the sounds and lights that will get your blood flowing.

Sure, the slot you’re playing may only have RTP of 82% and you could be playing the one with 96% online instead, but you’re still home alone at your computer or on your phone. In a live setting, you have an opportunity to strike a conversation with someone, meet new people, and, if you so choose, get drunk for “free”.

And that’s the biggest reason while brick and mortar casinos will continue to thrive.

While we all love winning, it’s not what the experience is all about. Sometimes, it’s nice to see someone else winning, too. Or just have a chat with another human being while waiting to finally trigger that elusive bonus. So, your value for money might be better online all things considered but live casinos have a certain allure to them that internet joints just can’t replicate.