The year 1994 is generally considered to be the year when online gambling was born. That’s when the first internet casino went live, starting a sort of revolution in the gaming universe. Over the years, the online gambling industry has grown so much that its estimated market size in 2023 is close to $70 billion. To put it in perspective, that’s more than the GDP of countries like Croatia, Lithuania, or Belarus.
Despite the fact that the online casino industry is huge, people still don’t know too much about it. There are all sorts of mysteries surrounding internet casinos, as well as some myths that really need to be debunked.
We’ve decided to do our part in exposing misconceptions about online casinos that persist among the general public. In this article, we’ll examine some of the most common myths in order to set the record straight. So, let’s start with the most common myth, which is that online casinos are rigged.
Myth #1: Internet Casino Games Aren’t Fair
Even though there are examples of gamblers winning millions of dollars gambling on the internet, there are still some people who claim that online casinos are rigged. This myth comes from misunderstanding how online games are developed.
All of them are based on random number generators (RNG), which determine the outcome of every hand. The RNG is there to ensure that the outcome of a game is truly random and free from any manipulation. For instance, in the game of online roulette, the RNG generates a set of numbers that determine the stopping position of the ball in every spin.
Whether you win or lose is something that’s completely up to chance. If you win, however, the amount that will come your way depends on the return to player (RTP) percentage of the game. The higher the number, the better the chance that money will come your way.
Myth #2: You Can't Win Big at Online Casinos
Another common myth is that online casinos offer lower payouts than their land-based counterparts. However, in reality, it's the opposite. Casino games developed for the online market have a higher return-to-player percentage than the same games at traditional casinos.
The jackpots can also get extremely high. For example, a player hit an $18 million jackpot while playing the Microgaming-powered Mega Moolah slot in 2019. A year before, another player won $17 million playing the same game.
Keep in mind that Mega Moolah is a progressive jackpot slot, which is the type of game in which the main prize grows as players wager more money. Other progressive slots include NetEnt’s Divine Fortune, IGT’s Mega jackpots Wheel of Fortune, and others.
Not all online casino games have progressive jackpots; some have fixed payouts. For example, in roulette, the payout for hitting the right number is always x36 (or x37 if you're playing the American variant of the game). This means that in order to win big money playing roulette, you need to wager a big sum. Something that helps players win more at online casinos is the casino bonuses, either free no deposit bonuses or extra cash or spins, matching your own deposit. All types of bonuses will increase the time you can gamble without increasing the amount of money you spend. Even mobile players can get no-deposit bonuses.
Myth #3: Online Casinos Aren’t Safe
There’s a misconception that online real-money casinos can compromise players' personal and financial information. In reality, most online casinos use encryption, firewalls, and other technologies to protect users' sensitive information. Keeping their players 100% is in their interest, as players wouldn’t want to stay put if their privacy and/or funds were at risk.
However, unlike the previous two casino myths, which are complete nonsense, this one does have some truth to it. Some online gambling platforms use none of the aforementioned features. The good news is that such platforms are rare.
Plus, it’s very easy to spot them. For instance, if you’d like to check whether a site uses SSL encryption, simply click the padlock image in the address bar (left of the website URL). A small window will pop up, where you can see whether the connection is considered secure or not.
Myth #4: Online Casinos are for Gamblers-Only
You don’t have to be a passionate gambler to fall in love with online casinos. In fact, most players do not belong to that category. Instead, a big majority of them only gamble online for fun, rather than obsessively trying to win money.
The thing is that online casino games are incredibly fun to play, which makes them a favorite pastime of millions of people around the world. Some love the flashy graphics and enchanting audio features of pokies; others love the challenge of virtual table games.
Then, there are also those who love the social aspect of live-dealer games, which allow them to connect with others.
Myth #5: Online Casinos Want to Get You Hooked
Every business on the planet aims to make money, and internet casinos aren’t an exception. However, this doesn’t mean that they’ll go out of their way to get you hooked on gambling. On the contrary, a great majority of online casinos promote responsible gambling.
This is why most casinos have tools that promote safe gambling, such as self-exclusion tools, deposit limits, and so on. Many casinos also work closely with NGOs that battle gambling addiction, including BeGambleAware and GamCare.
