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.