This article is thought out to be a useful yet concise guide on online casinos. If you’re a complete beginner, then taking 10 minutes to read it might just save you hours of researching and scanning through useless articles. Here are the topics we’ll cover here:

• How It Works?
• Casino Games
• Software
• Bonus Offers
• Customer Support
• Payment Methods
• Safety & Security
• Online vs Land-Based Casinos

How Do Online Casinos Work?

Online casinos are websites or software platforms that offer you the chance to play real-money games remotely, via Internet connection. The player that enters the platform chooses a game to play and places a bet. Then, the game software uses a computational device called random number generator to determine the result of the game. If the players win, the software credits the winnings to their account, and if they lose the house collects the bet amount.

The Available Games

Every online casinos features hundreds of different games, most of which are video slot variations. Other types of games you can choose from are blackjack, roulette, video poker and other table and card games like baccarat, Casino Hold’em, Sic Bo, Craps, Caribbean Poker and so on. Each game is set to have such rules that in the long run the casino returns between 92% and 99% of the money wagered to the players as winnings. The percentage at which the game is set is called return-to-player percentage and is one of the most important factors experienced players take into account when choosing a game variation to play. The higher the RTP, the better for you. Of course, there are other factors to choosing a certain game out of the hundreds that are available, but this decision is mainly based on personal preference.

Casino Software and Game Developers

There are some casino operators that develop their own websites and software, but usually they use the software platforms of external companies which are specialized in real-money games development. The three hands-down most popular software providers are Playtech, Microgaming and NetEnt. You can learn a lot about the game selection of an online casino just by knowing which is the software provider. For example, Playtech offers both download and instant-play platforms and are the only company that offers Marvel-themed games. Microgaming, on the other hand, is the king of video slot games, while NetEnt is all about the quality.

As this is a very lengthy topic, later down the road I’ll prepare a separate, way more detailed article on casino software. For now, you just have to keep in mind that this software comes in several variations. There are download platforms, usually only compatible with Windows, which you can install and access directly from your PC. There are instant-play platforms which allow you to play directly in your browser. Then there are live-dealer platforms where you can play real-money games like roulette in the company of live dealers which you can observe via video stream – an interesting topic that I will definitely give special attention to in one of my next posts. Finally, there are the mobile casino platforms that allow you to play anywhere you go from your smartphone or tablet. Choosing how to play is mainly a matter of taste. If you like to have an easy access to the casino and you want a bigger selection of games, then the download version of the casino is the right for you. If you want to play from different devices or simply do not wish to go through the hassle of downloading and installing a new program, then you can simply play on the operator’s website. Both download and instant-play platforms usually come with a live casino attached to them, but sometimes you need to download the software to get access to the live casino. Last but not least, if you want to be able to play literally anywhere you go, then it’s smart to check out how many mobile-friendly games the casino features on its mobile platform.

Bonuses & Promotions

All online casinos offer their new players the chance to claim a cash bonus with their first deposit. For more detailed information on the topic you can visit also topcasinos.org.uk. Usually that bonus is equal to 100% of the deposit they make but sometimes it could be even more. Some casinos go as far as to offer no-deposit bonuses that the players get immediately after signing up at the casino. Furthermore, most operators have several active promotions for the regular players at all times, plus a comp point system which can secure them regular cashback. Last but not least, for the high rollers there are VIP systems which offer additional deposit bonuses, exclusive promotions and more.

All in all, online casinos offer the players many bonus opportunities, certainly more than land-based casinos, and if you know how to take advantage of them, you can actually reduce the house edge. Of course, these bonuses and promotions come with certain terms and conditions which you should get well acquainted with. As this is, again, an important topic that requires more attention, I will create a separate bonus article where I’ll cover all the details that you should take into account when choosing a casino bonus: promotion types, wagering requirements, wagering contribution of different games and more.

Customer Support

Another important aspect of every online casino is its customer support center. Every reputable casino has live chat, phone and email support available to the players 24/7. This means that if any problem occurs or you have some urgent question, there’s always someone to turn to. Out of all the methods to contact the customer support representatives of the casino you’re playing at, I recommend you use the live chat, as this is the fastest and easiest one.

Payments and Safe Cashier

If you want to play real-money games online, then you have to first register and deposit at a casino of your choice. While the registration process is always quite simple and takes no more than a minute, depositing seems to still scare the new players. In fact, depositing is usually also a pretty straight forward process, as you only need to choose a payment method that suits you, add your banking details and the sum that you want to deposit and confirm the transaction. Some of the most popular payment methods include: VISA or Mastercard credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, Skrill, Neteller, Paysafecard, Ukash and wire transfer. Of course, the different casinos support different payment methods so it’s up to you to check whether or not the website you’re planning on depositing at accepts the payment method of your choice. Furthermore, the different casinos have different minimum deposit requirements, so this detail is also something that is worth informing yourself about.

As far as withdrawals go, there things get just a tad bit more complicated. See, all legal online casinos are required by law to verify your identity in order to confirm that you’re over 18 and to prevent attempts at money laundering. This is why before you are allowed to withdraw any of your winnings, you’ll be required to send a copy of a personal document and some utility bill, so that the operator can confirm your address and identity. Then, another detail that you should keep in mind is that while all deposits at internet casinos usually are executed instantly, withdrawals in most cases take between 2 and 5 working days.

Security & Trustworthiness

In order to play real-money games online, you have to present the casino operator you’ve chosen with a lot of personal information and also with your payment details. This is why probably the most important aspect of an online casino that you should take into consideration is the security of the website. All legal casinos are licensed and regulated by the gambling authority of the country where they offer their services. For example, if a company want to offer gambling products to residents in Great Britain, then they have to get a license from the United Kingdom Gambling Commission.

Furthermore, all legal online casinos undergo regular audits by independent testing agencies which make sure that the games and the software of the casino are fair and that the outcomes of each game are completely random. Not only that, most casinos publish the reports they receive after each audit on their sites, so that the players can see how much out of all the money wagered at the casino has been given back to the players in winning.

Another side of security is the one that is concerned with third parties. When you’re playing at an internet casino, there’s always a communication between your computer and the servers of the casino. Therefore, if this connection is not in some way protected, someone can intercept it and get access to all your sensitive data. In order to prevent that, all safe online casinos use a special protocol called SSL which encrypts the data that is transmitted from your computer to the casino server and vice versa.

Online vs. Land-Based Casinos

Many players are still hesitant about giving gambling sites a try when, in fact, playing remotely is more convenient and even more profitable than playing at your local casino. At Internet casinos, the games are set at higher return-to-player percentage and also the game-play is faster and more exciting. You have more game choice and a lot of bonus opportunities. And you can play anytime anywhere! So, you see, there’s no reason not to give online casinos a try, just make sure you’re playing at a reputable casino!

Your brain is a very peculiar thing. It’s by far the most complex mechanism that human kind has ever discovered, to the point where we still, to this day, have no idea how it works or how it’s performing even the most basic functions, such as storing memories. On the other hand, it also sometimes does things that are really, really dumb, for example, it often tricks you into believing things that are not true and not believing things that are. The reason why some college sororities have such difficult ‘entrance exams’ is because the harder the entrance into a group is, the more loyal the people who do manage to enter are, even if they have literally no other reason to be loyal to it. Similarly, we more often than not really only notice change if it’s negative. If your office suddenly started smelling like wolverines in mating season, you’d notice, but if your office was smelling like wolverines in mating season before and suddenly started smelling like roses and unicorns, you’d put it out of your mind pretty quickly. That’s the reason why what I often like to call the golden age of online casino has remained mostly unnoticed by gamblers everywhere.

In 2011, the press predicted that gambling revenues would reach $183 billion by 2015. Come 2015, and we’ve reached that number in the UK alone, with the global online casino earnings far exceeding it. The casino industry worldwide is currently more profitable than the movie industry, if we take into account the costs of maintaining each. Think about that for a second – if you were an aspiring businessman with a few million dollars burning a hole in your pocket, you would get a bigger return investing in an online casino than in a Hollywood production. That is insane! If five years ago somebody told me that was the case, I would’ve assumed they’d just escaped from the mental institution down the street! And the fact that we keep on seeing new online casinos keep popping up over and over not only in the UK, but worldwide, is the clearest proof of that which we could possibly have!

But every coin has two sides, and the bad side of this particular penny is called saturation of the market. Sometimes customers may get confused over which online casino to pick out of dozens, and even guides such as bestcasinosites.net, which are often very useful in determining the, well, best casino sites, can sometimes fail to help with the inherent confusion that comes with having dozens of online casinos active in the market at all times. Still, it’s better to have options rather than to have none, and in that regard, 2016 is shaping up to be an even better year.

Have you ever wondered why our magazine is named “The Door”? I mean, sure, it’s a doorway to the world of online casino, but that’s a bit on the nose, isn’t it? No, the answer is a lot more discreet, to the point where I sincerely doubt that you’d guess my source of inspiration… Unless, of course, you read the title of this article. Yes, indeed – the godfather of this site is a 1991 movie based on the life of Jim Morrison, a famous musician active in the 60s. It may sound like a strange combination, considering the fact that Morrison had very little to do with online casino, and yes, in many respects it is, but so what? It’s the name of a movie I love and also one of my favorite bands, and I also love online casino, so I figured “Hey, why not combine two things that are close to my heart?”

But why do I love the movie so much? Well, to understand that, we need to examine its story first. “The Doors”, while technically being about the 60s band of the same name, is mostly about its lead vocalist Jim Morrison, played by Val Kilmer. We follow his life as he descends further and further into his rock fantasy and his drug habit, which gradually destroys his relationships with his band mates and friends. It’s a very difficult movie to watch, with every subsequent concert feeling like it might be Morrison’s last as he just keeps falling into this bottomless pit with no way out. Don’t get me wrong, the optimistic atmosphere of the 60s has been preserved in its full, nostalgic glory (keep in mind that by the time the movie came out it had been less than 30 years since Morrison last performed, so the memory of the real person was still alive in many people) and the music is absolutely great, but we all know from the very start where this is going, and it’s painful to witness.

It’s all made that much worse by the fact that, from a technical standpoint, the movie is glorious. Val Kilmer doesn’t just play Morrison – he is Morrison. I mean, just compare pictures of him with pictures of the real performer, and it’ll be extremely hard to tell the difference in both appearance and behavior. The same can be said about the concerts, which genuinely look like they’re the real deal. If you watch the movie, you’ll swear that they used videos filmed form his actual concerts rather than recreations, which is absolutely stunning. And last, but not least, this is one of the first movies shot in widescreen, which, as we all know, eventually became the norm which was used for all movies and TV shows, and even home video. Overall, “The Doors”, while not an easy movie to watch, is definitely a marvel that is worth being seen at least once.