Back in the day, if you wanted to indulge in the thrill of a table game like blackjack or roulette, you needed to get out of your home and travel to your local casino. Nowadays, though, with the sheer number of online casinos available freely on the internet, convenience means we can play the same games from the comfort of our homes.
However, the question is, without the same excitement and glamour of physically playing with others in a casino, why are these online table games still so compelling in 2019?
Online Gambling Continues to Grow in Popularity
It’s been forecast that the US online gambling market could exceed $4bn by 2020. Which is a massive accomplishment for the industry and goes to show that online gambling is only going to increase in popularity.
This is particularly due to a younger generation of players being introduced to table games by playing online.
What Makes Online Table Games So Popular?
The obvious answer to the growth of online casinos is the idea of convenience. Most of us own at least a smartphone, if not a tablet or computer, which is a fact that makes online casinos so accessible.
Any adult can go and play online table games in a matter of minutes. No travelling, just a click of a button and you can be playing your favourite game in no time at all. You can even play wherever you like due to mobile data and wi-fi hotspots. Maybe that’s on your commute to work or sitting on the couch in front of the TV; online casinos are available 24 hours a day, all year round.
This means that a person who might have only gambled at the weekend in a real casino can now use an online casino any time they like.
Online casinos also offer various codes and discounts. These will typically give you a sum of money to play when you first start. Not only are these codes tempting to new players, increasing the number of people using online casinos, but they also encourage people to play new table games that they may never have tried before.
Online Table Games Don’t Have the Same Atmosphere?
Technology has advanced incredibly over the last decade, especially in the last few years. This is exceptionally important when it comes to online casinos, as the more technology advances, the more the experience of a real casino is reflected in the variety of online table games.
Many online casinos are now offering live dealer games. Here you can play with a live stream of your dealer for games such as roulette. This can really pump up the excitement for online players, as you get to see the table spin yourself and play in real time. This gives you all the atmosphere of a real casino, just with the convenience of playing where you like.
There’s also the concept that playing at an online casino has no judgement from other players. True, you might not enjoy the cheesy casino music or the bright lights, but you also avoid the looks from seasoned players, who can look down on newer players, which can make walking up to a game of roulette or poker just too daunting for some.
The anonymity of online casinos also works for women, who can prefer to play without the idea that they may be less able or talented due to their gender. Indeed, there are now online casinos which are marketed entirely to women.
Together, this has meant that online casinos and their table games are now appealing to a whole new demographic, many of whom may have never visited an actual casino.
The Most Popular Table Games
Like physical casinos, some of the most popular table games for the online community are poker, roulette and blackjack, as these are the casino games in movies that many of us have seen, like poker in Casino Royale or blackjack in Rain Man.
However, many less known table games such as baccarat and craps are becoming increasingly popular.
This again brings in the idea of the anonymity that online casinos bring. If you’d like to play a new game that you’ve never heard of, you can easily learn the rules and methods online through tutorials on YouTube. Most crucially, though, you can play these games at online casinos without feeling intimidated.
If you do lose, you can just brush it off and move to the next game as you practice. If you were in an actual casino, many of us wouldn’t feel brave enough to play a new game in front of others.
What is the Future of Online Table Games?
As technology advances and with the growing trend of themed table games (many with celebrity endorsements) it’s likely that online table games will continue to thrive into the future.
These games should be thought of as a new form of entertainment, like the joy of playing video games. Be sure to check out our reviews for more about that. As the years go on, more and more demographics across the globe will be introduced to table games within online casinos, which means that their popularity will only increase and expand in the coming years.