Generally, online casinos, also known as virtual video slot demos, offer odds and paycheck percentages comparable to real-life casinos. Some online casinos claim higher payback percentages for slot machine games, and some publish payout percentage audits on their sites online. The rules of the game establish the payout percentage for the games. Gamers get to play online casino games either through leasing or purchasing membership slots in online casino sites through companies like Microgaming, Realtime Gaming, Playtech, International Game Technology, and CryptoLogic Inc.
Some casinos offer “live gaming” exclusively or as part of a wider offering. Popular casino games such as roulette and blackjack are dealt by real dealers in casino studios in a live online casino. It is an attempt to let the online “feel” as if it is on real-time. Chat and other player actions could be passed to the dealer to the opponent for interaction. Players usually can also choose to observe a video feed of the action. However, if there is for example, a lack of bandwidth, the feed will only be a visual cue.
There are two groups of online casinos based on their interface-web-based and download-only casinos. Web-based casinos are sites where the players may play the games without downloading software to a local computer. They are represented in the browser plugins of Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Shockwave or Java, and they all require browser support. To play, a large bandwidth is required since the graphics, sounds, and animations are loaded through the web via plugins. There can also be games on a plain HTML interface.
On the other hand, download-based internet casinos require a software client to be downloaded in order to play and wager on the casino games offered. The software connects to the casino service provider and handless contact without browser support. Generally, this type of online casinos runs faster than web-based casinos since the graphics and sound programs are located within the software client, unlike the latter which is to be loaded from the Internet. The graphics and sounds are usually better than those in web-based casinos most of the time. However, like any other downloads, the initial download and installation does take time. Also, the risk of the program containing malware exists.