Author: Alissa Clarke

The past decade has seen the exciting rise of online casinos with the growth of mobile gaming, but for some there’s no replacing a more physical experience and offline casinos remain just as popular too. The past two years have caused some disruption here too as players seeking only alternatives could find more options here whilst brick and mortar sites remained closed – but when choosing between online vs offline, where are the biggest casino differences, and what should players keep an eye out for?

Game Selection

Perhaps the most notable difference will be the game offering between both – whilst brick-and-mortar casinos may be limited by space, they tend to have a good balance when it comes to game selection between machines, table games, and other offerings too. But this is an area where offline alternatives certainly come out on top – most of the big names will have thousands of different games across a wide number of genres to choose from, each with different themes and different bonuses or experiences too.

Online casinos often offer much better innovation here too, brick-and-mortar locations may be slow to adapt as new machines or new technology is harder to move into a location where online sites can make changes on the fly and regularly do – for the latest in gaming trends, online casinos are certainly the way to go.

Social features and a social environment

Online sites have come leaps and bounds here in recent years – the introduction of live casinos has certainly added some much-needed interaction between player and dealer, and social media and live chat has helped to bring some other social options too, but for most playing online casinos can be a very solo experience.

This is where brick and mortar locations have the online space beat, whilst some silent play is available at the machines or at some tables if chosen, there’s always the ability to interact with the many other players at a physical location and continues to be one of the big benefits to playing at a traditional casino location, and it’s often encouraged too as drinks flow and the chatter begins. There may be a shift that occurs in the future if things like augmented and virtual reality emerge and bring further exciting gameplay opportunities, but for now the online space remains somewhat limited for a social experience.

A bit of everything else

Other things to consider are things like bonuses and promotions which are vast with online sites – whilst many will see very similar, they do provide some unique bonuses that aren’t always available at a traditional casino location. But it’s hard to quantify the difference here as physical locations can often offer something quite different, whether free food or drink for example, and so this may be down to a player’s preference.

Payment methods are another big feature to be considered too – offline options are still very cash or card heavy to make the transaction into chips and to be converted back, but it is also an instant process. Take the chips back to the counter and you’ll get your cash for checking out. For the online space, there is a wide variety of payment option available from traditional methods to e-wallets and cryptocurrency, but there can be a transaction period and it’s not as instant as simply receiving cash in hand, and again is a preference to players which they’d rather choose.

Finally comes the convenience and may be differentiated by where an individual player lives. Not all players have a casino on their doorstep that’s easy to access, and many may have to travel long distances to gain access – on the other hand, mobile casinos are always available at any time, and no matter where a player may be so long as they have an internet connection. Again this may be mostly to layer preference or availability, but is a clear distinction between the two options too.