Real Casino or Internet Casino?

19 April 2022

By Frank Scoblete

As I write this, the Covid-19 pandemic seems to be fading in many areas of our country but a new variant has made its ugly appearance. Yes, the rest of the world is still under the gun so to speak but the real casinos have been open for a while now. Players are again flocking to them. Maybe things are almost back to normal?

[Please note: There are only certain states in our country that have remained (how do I say this gently?) under-vaccinated. If you wish to talk about gambles, not getting vaccinated against Covid-19 is certainly one. You might want to take that into consideration when you decide to go to a real casino.]

While the casinos were closed, many players drifted or sprinted to the Internet to play online games; be they machine games or table games. So how did regular casino players feel about playing on the Internet? I am using a single table-game player for this column,

Here are some of his reactions:

Kevin: “I did give in after several months and I got on the Internet because I really missed going to the casinos. They are my main form of entertainment. I didn’t realize just how much I would miss playing. I just took it all without thinking about it. With the pandemic I really started thinking about it.

“Here’s the thing. I find I am bored by most movies, I am getting too old for the loud music of nightclubs, and maybe an MMA or boxing fight or two at a casino is fun but, really, the real punches for me are playing craps, roulette and blackjack. They are really my thing. My favorite games.

“I used to go to the casinos once a month for a two-night, three-day stay. I’d play Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then head home late Sunday afternoon.

“I am a pretty disciplined player. I don’t drink too much and I play within a set budget. I am divorced but as I approach 40 years old, I am enjoying my life and my freedom.

“But staying home day after day and week after week and month after month during the pandemic really got to me. I could work at home but not going out was more draining than actually going out. I missed real free time as being home started not to feel like free time. I don’t know if that makes sense.

“I went on to the Internet. I looked up about a dozen casinos and took the plunge. The table games are weird. In reality you are playing a kind of slot machine because you don’t touch the dice when you ‘roll dem bones’ and there are no chips that you actually touch when you bet.

“At blackjack, some of the casinos had real dealers – very pretty ones I might add – but they didn’t really know you or relate to you. It was not like a real blackjack game in a casino. At least I didn’t feel as if it were.

“Roulette had real dealers too, just like blackjack. You could play the double-zero wheels or the single-zero ones. I chose single-zero as these are supposed to be the best games and you rarely see one of those games in the casinos I go to.

“Let me get to the bottom line. I played twice a week for two hours each. I had some wine and took my time. I will admit that I enjoyed myself. I had more fun at blackjack but I wanted the game to go really slow. Actually, I want every casino game I play to go slow. Fast is more in the casino’s favor than in the player’s favor.

“I did not find craps satisfying because, let’s face it, the fun of craps is actually rolling the dice. I basically quit playing craps. I want to hold the dice in my hand. Maybe not all craps players feel as I do.

“Roulette was fun. If you weren’t on a computer, you could fantasize that you were in a real casino. Also, the game is not too fast.

“Now, how does online match up to a real casino? Not really the same. Yes, it is fun to gamble but I really missed the ambience of the real casino. You go to a craps table in a real casino and there are plenty of interesting characters playing the game. Half the entertainment value comes from the other players.

“There is so much more excitement in a real casino. You just can’t get that in your home, alone, playing a game. Just walk though a casino and you can feel it is almost pulsating.

“Would I say that I would play online in the future. Absolutely. It is fun. But give me brick and mortar (are casinos made with brick and mortar?) first. It is the people and the place that make the real casino experience the real casino experience.”

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete’s web site is www.frankscoblete.com. His books are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books, libraries and at bookstores.