Why are UK Players Choosing Online Over Land-Based Casinos?

Think of a casino, and you probably imagine a super-sophisticated environment with plush carpets, dimmed chandeliers, and the gentle sound of roulette wheels spinning. The clientele are probably in tuxedos and evening dresses, and there’s an atmosphere of understated opulence.

It sounds appealing, doesn’t it? However, fewer and fewer of us seem to be willing to enjoy the experience of going to a land-based casino, and even some of the country’s most prestigious ones have had to close down in the last few years. Instead, there has been a huge increase in the numbers of people choosing to play in online casinos instead. These have been a feature since the 1990s and the UK has led the way in both welcoming them and ensuring the right legislation and regulatory bodies are in place to control them effectively.

To see how popular online casinos are, you just have to look at the figures. Between April 2023 and March 2024 remote gambling raised £6.9 billion in revenue with the land-based alternative only accounting for £4.6 billion, and it’s a gap that’s growing wider. So, what is the appeal of the online experience over being in the casino in person?

Convenience

The first, and certainly the most obvious, edge that online casinos have is their sheer convenience. Anyone aged over 18 with a computer or a mobile device can play in them wherever there’s a connection to the internet. Compare this with having to head into town and all that entails, and the advantage is easy to see.

Atmosphere

One of the weaknesses of the first online casinos was that they were fairly simple video games with poor graphics and quite clunky action. But today’s generation of casinos is very different indeed. Most have live games, such as roulette, blackjack, and baccarat. In these, the games are run in real time, controlled by live dealers and streamed directly to the player’s PC or mobile device. The result is an ambience that’s very close to being in the same room with the dealer, hence their huge popularity.

Choice

This is another key element of the online casino sector. There is a huge choice of brands to choose from, all licensed and fully regulated so players can be confident they’re in good hands. Within each one there is a far wider choice of games than you would typically find in a land-based casino. For example, there are likely to be hundreds of different slots games and many different variations of table games. Some of these will have been adapted for extra fast play, others to accommodate either high or low stakes. Some casinos are also starting to introduce new games like spin the wheel draws and innovations like slots tournaments.

Bonuses

The world of online casinos is a very competitive one. So, to gain a commercial advantage over their rivals all offer welcome bonuses of some kind. This is something that land-based casinos tend not to do and may suffer as a result.

Online bonuses include offers to match a new player’s initial stake money up to a specified limit, as well as free spins on selected slots. They are often a big attraction for new players, so they can get a feel for the games and play for free before risking their own money. The bonuses and providers are reviewed by experts at Casino.org. They link you directly to the casinos in question, where you can complete the registration process and start claiming your bonus straight away.

Once players visit a few times, they are also often enrolled into a loyalty programme that sees them continuing to get rewards that may gradually increase in value.

Privacy and security

In the past, some people may have felt a little intimidated by the prospect of going into a casino. After all, knowing the protocols and the practicalities is something that has to be picked up over time. But playing in an online casino is something that can be picked up in private. Most sites also have tutorials and FAQ sections that can gently lead new players in, free from embarrassment at getting things wrong. There’s also the anonymity of playing online with no one else finding out your identity, or how much you may have won or lost.

Different ways to pay

Go into a land-based casino, and the first thing you have to do is pay for chips to play. This involves either handing over cash or using a bank card. Online, there’s far greater flexibility with the option of using digital wallets like PayPal, Neteller or Skrill. These also mean that winnings can be withdrawn almost as quickly as they can be in a land-based casino.

There are plenty of reasons why online casinos are seeing so many new players register. Whether land-based casinos will also go the way of the nation’s bingo halls remains to be seen. But it must be said that the signs for them aren’t all that encouraging.