I am always being asked this question. The answer is mixed. Some understand that we are two sides of the same thing and others do not. I have been saying publicly since the last century (in the 1990s) that online gaming is good for land based gaming. Many others are now in agreement with me. I am writing this to try to bring more over to my position on this. Once again here is my argument for this. Online gaming is not as exciting on a per instance basis as land based is. If you had a choice of being by yourself in room at home or all dolled up and in an exciting Casino what would you do? Nearly every normal gambler would want to be in the casino playing the James Bond role. However this is not possible for many. Either they cannot afford the time away from work or don’t have enough money for this right now, or are just not confident enough.
This is where online gaming comes in. It’s a nice handy compliment for land based casino gaming that lets you have your entertainment conveniently (and cheaply if you want) and also give you a comfortable place to bone up your skills for that big day that they get launched in public at a real Casino. I want to particularly focus on the “feeder system” concept of online gaming’s relationship with Casino gaming. When I was first old enough to gamble (legally) I went to Vegas, sat at a Black Jack table and proceeded to lose all my money…well not all. I had noticed that the guy next to me had slipped the dealer a chip when leaving the table. So I quit when I had only enough to pay the table “tip”. After I did this and was walking away a more seasoned casino regular leaned over and told me nobody tips the dealer when they are losing big like I just did. I got kind of red faced and as usual ended up laughing at myself, but the point was made and I never did that again.
In today’s world you can find websites that will teach you everything you need to know about operating in a land based casino, most importantly how to play the games so you don’t just dump all your money on the table like I did. That is the role of online gaming, constantly educating a new flood of players who will eventually graduate to the sensory enhanced experience of a land based Casino. My prediction is that eventually most of the major brands will be doing both…some online and some land based. The big brands in both spaces will evolve into the other in one way or another and brand strength, product and service will carry the day. Its going to be an exciting ride from here to there.
