Online casinos…to swap or not to swap

With over 1,500 online casinos to choose from, finding one that suits your playing habits and preferences can seem a really daunting task.   I mean they sound so fabulous and enticing, offering to provide you with a gaming experience akin to being transported to some far-off exotic location, amongst luxurious surrounds, golden sunsets, beautiful people and the promise of the potential to win a fortune.

New e-casinos seem to launch weekly and always promise a unique gaming environment to tantalize your senses.  And I guess the temptation is to check it out and see what all the fuss is about.  After all, if you don’t you could really miss out on something pretty special.

But when you go through the whole process of downloading, signing up and playing at this revolutionary new casino, you notice something pretty strange.  Behind the sleek new foyer and different soundtrack, the games offered are all the same as the casino last casino you played at, and the navigation menu, although a different color is also the  same.  And when you launch your favorite game, you are shocked that aside from a change in table colour and a different casino logo everything looks exactly the same as the equivalent game at the last casino you played last week.  

On closer inspection you realise that the game rules, deposit and withdrawal process, payments processor are all identical.

What you will also find, although it won’t be readily apparent, is that the outcome of all game events is dictated by the same random number generator, housed in the same software platform as the last casino you plated at.  The casino’s returns are even audited by the same ‘Big 4’ auditor (and seem pretty similar to that other casino you played at last week).

Coincidence?  I don’t think so.  

The fact of the matter is that while there are many licensee casinos out there, each with a snappy name and flashy themed front end, there are really only a handful of software platforms powering the vast majority of these casinos. 

In fact, quite a number of different casinos are owned by the same casino group, so not only is the software the same, but also the operator. 

So don’t be in such a hurry to swap casinos next time you get an email from a new operator.  The grass is said to be greener on the other side, but it me just be that the ‘other side’ in this case is the side that you’re already on.