Never in the history of gambling have casino enthusiasts had so many options to access casino play. While traditional casino pillars such as Las Vegas, Monaco, and Macao are still welcoming casinoThere are occasions when we here at ReadyBetGo want to bring you interesting facts about the gambling industry When something catches our eye, we will publish it for your enjoyment.
players through their doors in their droves, a new world of casino action has come to people’s attention in the past couple of years.
Online casinos have taken the world by storm. So much so that Ontario passed its own legislation to legalize online gambling in April 2022. As the only province in Canada that legally permits the activity, Ontarians are reaping the full rewards of the access they have to online casinos. To the extent that online casinos are beginning to rival the revenue numbers achieved by land-based gambling establishments, including the lottery.
Generating close to $4.65 billion in the 2024/25 fiscal year, the $2.4 billion revenue made in online gambling in Ontario is slowly closing the gap to real-life gambling. Online gambling has also been able to evolve at rapid rates due to the huge popularity and number of users roaming the virtual casinos.
However, while revenue numbers in their millions and billions are beneficial for an individual market such as Ontario’s economy, this shot in the economic arm is generated by the user base in the same way land-based casinos are measured by the number of people walking their doors and the experiences they take away with them.
Besides the game play aspect, online casino versions of classic games such as blackjack, roulette, baccarat, slots, and poker offer a completely different casino experience. Cutting edge graphics and sounds form the modern-day format of casino entertainment, but even in the past few years, online casino players have witnessed a further step of evolution that is bridging the gap between online and reality and creating an experience that merges the online and traditional closer together.
Live casino play is already capturing the imagination of casino players in Canada, with many impressed by the operating speeds and reliability of the live video feeds of live dealers unveiling the outcomes on blackjack, roulette, and baccarat tables. More importantly, Canadian live casino sites add one aspect that players in online casino rooms lack compared to traditional casinos: realism. While the online world is innovative and exciting, the real-life turning of cards or spinning of roulette wheels still gets the adrenaline pumping.
Realism is the one aspect that separates online and traditional casinos. With both activities taking place in completely different venues, locations, and platforms, the main differences can be whittled down to certain factors. Below, we have highlighted some of these factors and benefits that encapsulate the experiences offered by live and traditional casinos.
Factor | Live Casino | Traditional Casino |
Accessibility | Ability to play from anywhere and on the full range of devices | Need to travel to a casino |
Games Available | 1000’s of games available | Only the games on the casino floor |
Atmosphere | More private, with the option to communicate with others | Greater player community and interaction |
Payment Methods | More options for making payment/depositing | Usually only cash, cashless payments dependent on casino |
Excitement Level | High | Higher, enhanced by general casino atmosphere |
Limits | Greater potential to set self-imposed limits | Reliance on self-responsibility |
The table gives an insight into some of the unique features of each version of casino play. Overall, it is difficult to compare the two because they are vastly different to each other in nature, despite sharing the same DNA of casino games. From the atmosphere, the interaction, with tables or fellow players, to the handling of cards, cash, or chips, there are several pros and cons for each. But the experiences offered by both formats are only an advantage for the casino enthusiast. Having more avenues to play popular casino games provides more opportunities depending on the circumstances.
If you are busy, then you can waltz through the online casino doors at the click of a few buttons. If you have the time to make the trip to the local casino, you will be welcomed by a cacophony of noise and excitement. Although the online gambling industry is taking Canada by storm, land-based casinos are still preferred by some players. And with advances being rapidly made in Augmented and Virtual Reality technology, another demographic of casino player could be created in the coming years.
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