Our choice of online casino games is still increasing almost every week

There are many theories as to why online gambling has taken off in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe, but here at onlinecasino.ie we believe that along with the obvious convenience of using the internet rather than needing to visit a casino or betting shop, it is the vastly improved choices we now have as a result of introduction of online gambling sites. When the leading bookmakers decided to follow the lead of the big high street retailers and invest in the technology and software necessary to establish online sports gambling sites, the first and most obvious aspect of those sites from the point of view of the customer was the huge range of sports and sporting events those sites featured. Most sports gambling fans in Ireland were used to placing their bets through their local betting shop, and very few of those displayed odds on anything other than horse racing, greyhound racing or football. Suddenly the online gambling sites gave them easy access to gambling on sports such as snooker, golf and even the GAA sports of football and hurling. This fantastic increase in choice was probably even more pronounced when the sports gambling site operators started to add a few games on their sites and created what we now know as the online casino sector. We are told that the original idea behind that decision was simply to encourage their sports gambling customers to spend a little more time on the site, but what actually happened was that the idea of playing casino games online appealed to a whole new group of people. There is no doubt that part of the reason for the immediate success of these new online casino sites was in the choice of games they decided to offer. There were already a large number of casino games enthusiasts who regularly visited their local casino, and even more who enjoyed a night at the bingo on a regular basis. These two groups of casino games enthusiasts were an obvious target for the new online casinos, and the traditional casino games such as roulette and blackjack, plus a range of numbers games based on the concept of bingo were among the first casino games to be featured on those sites. Then came the addition of huge numbers of slots games, again a decision which was almost bound to be successful. After all very few of us have not enjoyed playing a slot machine at some time in our lives, and even if we have never set foot in a real casino or a bingo club we will undoubtedly have come across a whole range of slot machines in our pubs and clubs. In retrospect the idea of setting up an online platform for people to play a large variety of different casino games was always going to be a success, but the bookmakers who started the online casino sector took quite a risk at the beginning because introducing casino games online was not as easy as you might think. Operating an online sports gambling site is very similar to setting up an online retail site, and they both require good management software to handle the financial and security aspects of dealing directly with the public. An online casino site however requires a totally different type of software, because the software is not only required to manage the site efficiently, the software designers are also responsible for the graphics associated with many of the traditional casino games and even the original invention of most of the slots games. We have applauded the huge range of casino games we can now play online and praised the bookmakers who first started the online casino sector, but the reality is that it is the casino software companies which have created what we know today as the online casinos, and without their innovation we would not have anything like the choices we now enjoy.

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Our online casino reviews have identified several good new online casinos

Playing games and gambling can be traced back through hundreds of years of human history, and many of the traditional casino games we now enjoy are also based on gambling games played many years ago. Even throughout what we would consider to be modern history in the later stages of the 20^th century many of us have enjoyed playing casino games at real casinos, or playing bingo at our local bingo club, but the introduction of online casinos has brought the idea of playing casino games to the attention of a whole new audience. There are now far more people in Ireland regularly playing casino games at an online casino than there ever were visiting our casinos or bingo clubs. Playing online casino games has become a major online leisure activity over the last few years, and its popularity is still growing as more and more online casinos come on stream. Here at onlinecasino.ie we have been monitoring this growth in popularity almost since the first online casinos were established, and during this time we have also carried out regular online casino reviews which we have then used to compile our published list of recommended online casinos. When the big bookmakers first decided to introduce a few gambling games onto their online sports gambling sites, it was intended to try and encourage their sports gambling customers to spend more time on their sites, and clearly it was also a bit of an experiment on their part. It also required a significant investment, because making what we now call online casino games available to play online required a whole new type of software. Every online gambling site requires the same sort of management software to handle the financial transactions as that used by any of the online retail sites, but the computer graphics associated with a range of online casino games is a whole new ball game as far as the necessary software is concerned. When it comes to the huge range of slots games now featured on every online casino site, the quality of casino software is even more relevant because these casino games are actually designed and supplied by the software companies. It would be easy to argue that our online casino reviews are actually assessments of the quality of the casino software rather than that of the online casino operators. Our first online casino reviews were obviously limited to assessing the casino games offered in the online casino sections of the big online sports gambling sites operated by the big bookmakers, and to be fair to those companies it was their selection of games which attracted the public interest and led to the success of online casino gambling as a popular leisure activity. Those first online casino games included roulette and blackjack which certainly appealed to existing casino fans in Ireland, plus of course several numbers games based on the concept of bingo which were again aimed at an existing group of gambling enthusiasts. As it became apparent that the idea of playing casino games online was going to prove successful, the site operators and their chosen software suppliers began to add more and more games ranging from other traditional casino games such as baccarat and poker, plus a variety of dice games and then of course the first of hundreds of slots games which have since become the major element of every online casino site. (more…)

Ensure you understand the terms of any online casino bonus offers

There is no doubt that the internet has provided us with more choice in almost every aspect of our daily lives, particularly when it comes to shopping for anything except perhaps food. It is clearly much easier to browse a few websites for product information and price comparisons than it is to go from shop to shop on the high street. The online retail sector also has many businesses which do not even have a high street presence, which often means that they can be very competitive on price because of having lower overheads, as well as offering tailor made products which may not be found on the high street. The growth of internet shopping has provided us with a wider choice of product in many areas and more outlets for us to buy from. This in turn means that every business needs an effective marketing strategy to survive in such a competitive environment. The same applies of course to the online gambling sector, which has also grown significantly since the first online sports gambling sites were established by the leading bookmakers. The most obvious marketing strategy for the online retail sector is of course concentrated on price, with discounts and special offers often taking priority over everything else. The equivalent approach in the online gambling market is usually some sort of bonus offer to attract new customers. Clearly an online casino or online sports gambling site can’t offer cheaper bets than other sites, so the most common approach is a welcome bonus. Most online sports gambling sites tend to offer free bets or a cash back deal to attract new customers, whereas the most common online casino bonus is one which matches a new customer’s first deposit with a 100% bonus. The importance of these bonus deals varies a little across the sector, because there is still not that much choice when it comes to online sports gambling whereas the number of online casino sites is increasing all the time. All the sports gambling sites are still operated by the big bookmakers, and although those same companies were also responsible for establishing the first online casino sites there are now also several new specialist online casino operators competing with them. The online casino bonus is therefore probably more important in terms of operating a successful online business than the bonuses offered by the sports gambling site operators. Unfortunately whereas it is relatively easy to understand the offer of a free 10 euro bet, or cash back offer on certain results, the online casino bonus offers commonly used are often not so straightforward and here at onlinecasino.ie we regularly hear of serious misunderstandings leading to problems. Most of the online casino bonus deals offered by the leading site operators take the form of a promise to match a new customer’s first deposit with a 100% bonus, therefore doubling their available stake money to play casino games. Many online casino operators also promise an additional, although reduced bonus applicable to the second and even third deposits, but they all come with a list of terms and conditions and this is where the misunderstandings can occur and the problems can begin for some people. Clearly the opportunity to play casino games with somebody else’s money is going to look like a very attractive proposition to most people, but as we all know very few things in modern life are totally free and there is often a catch. In the case of these online casino bonus offers the catch lies in the terms and conditions, particularly what are known as the play-through requirements associated with accepting the offer.

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The choice of casino software is extremely important for online casinos

There is no doubt that the march of technology is showing no sign of slowing down anytime in the foreseeable future, with advanced robotics appearing to be the next life changing development to affect us all. To a certain extent robots and other forms of automation have been present in many of our manufacturing industries for a number of years, but the next generation of robots are forecast to go much further than ever before in taking over more and more of the menial tasks both in our factories and in our homes. The engineering advances which have made these developments possible are very impressive of course, but we should not ignore the fact that none of these engineering miracles would be viable without the appropriate software to make it work. All our computers, tablets and the latest mobile phones are dependent on the operating software necessary to make them function, and the new generation of robots will be no different. In fact many would argue that the software designers are more responsible for many of the technological advances we admire today than the engineers. Whether that opinion is right or wrong will no doubt continue to be debated by interested parties for a long time, but for those of us who use any of these devices the importance of the operating software is obvious. As far as we are concerned here at onlinecasino.ie, we know that the efficiency of the online casino operating software is only part of the story as far as our favourite leisure activity is concerned. The online casino software certainly needs to provide a safe and financially secure online environment, but the software is also responsible for the majority of the casino games we all enjoy playing. The online casino sector is probably the only online business in which the product, namely the casino games is also designed and supplied by the software designers who created the management software for the site. This unusual situation has led to the casino software companies having a significant impact on the success or failure on individual online casinos, and has created some very influential companies as a result. Less than twenty years ago casino software companies did not really exist, because in the early days the only online gambling sites were solely concentrated on sports gambling enthusiasts. What we now call online casinos only began when the big bookmakers who were operating the online sports gambling sites decided to expand the gambling options for their customers by adding a few games to their sites. Clearly the original online sports gambling sites required good operating software to manage the financial aspects of the sites, but to provide casino games for their customers to enjoy required a new type of software entirely. Even traditional casino games such as roulette and blackjack required appropriate casino software to create acceptable graphics, but it was the introduction of a vast range of other games which really kick started the online casino software industry. The slots games in particular were almost entirely the result of inspiration from the casino software designers.

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