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<H1 align="right">Online Gambling</H1>
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<P>In this chaprter we will take a closer look at the virtual world of online
gambling.
<P>Online casinos vary in appearance and in the ways their games are conducted.
As you know by now, most of the online gambling sites are actually junk sites
with banner farms, obnoxious ads and lot of annoying pop-up windows. But fortunately
there are also some gambling sites with real content and good services.
<P>Also, visit my blog post <a href="http://cardshark-online.blogspot.com/2009/12/virtual-casinos.html">Virtual Casinos</a> for additional information about
online gambling and online poker rooms.
<P>
<H2><A name="types"></A><STRONG>Types of Online Gambling:</STRONG> </H2>
<P>Before we even start to discuss specific issues pertaining to online gambling
sites, we need to define different types of gambling sites and list them into
appropriate categories. We can divide them into five basic categories: online
casinos, online poker sites, online sportsbooks, online bingo, and mobile
gambling.
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<H3><STRONG><A name="online_casinos"></A>• Online Casinos:</STRONG> </H3>
<P>Online casinos (also called virtual casinos or internet casinos) are online
versions of traditional land-based casinos. Online casinos enable players to
play and wager against the house, on various casino games. Just like land-based
casino, online casinos also make a profit from the house advantage, which is
a small percentage of each winning bet, that ultimately adds up to the entire
bankroll of any player that keeps betting and winning. Players actually lose
their entire bankrolls through a series of winning bets, because they pay a
small percentage to the house every time they win (not when the wagers are lost).
<P>Since online casinos have lower operating costs they generally offer odds and
payback percentages that are slightly higher than those of average land-based
casinos. Reliability and trust issues are commonplace and often questioned.
Many online casinos lease or purchase their software from well-known companies
like Microgaming, Playtech, Realtime Gaming, and CryptoLogic Inc in an attempt
to piggyback their reputation on the software manufacturer's credibility. These
software companies use Random Number Generators [RNG's] to ensure random results.
<P>Online casinos can further be divided into three groups, based on the type
of interface used: web-based casinos, download-based casinos, and more recently
live casinos. It should also be noted that some online casinos offer multiple
interfaces.
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<H3><STRONG><A name="poker" id="poker"></A>• Online Poker Sites:</STRONG>
</H3>
<P>Online poker sites are virtual card rooms where poker players can play online
poker. Unline online casinos, where players bet against the house, online poker
players play against each other. The online card rooms make their proffits through
the rake and/or tournament fees.
<P>
<H3><STRONG><A name="sportsbooks" id="sportsbooks"></A>• Online Sportsbooks:</STRONG>
</H3>
<P>Online sportsbooks online gambling on the results of sporting events. Sports
betting is the general term for predicting sports results by betting on the
future outcome of a sporting event. The legality and general acceptance of sports
betting varies from nation to nation. Due to the fact that this site is primarily
about playing cards and card games, we will not discuss sportsbooks in greater
detail.
<P>
<H3><STRONG><A name="mobile" id="mobile"></A>• Mobile Gambling:</STRONG>
</H3>
<P>In short, mobile gambling refers to gambling done on any number of remote wireless
devices, such as, mobile phones, etc...
<P>
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