Gambling at home

Updated In September, 2010 - Have you ever wished that you could gamble at home? It will please you to know that this is not only possible but common-place these days. In the last 10 years online gambling has went from an obscure past-time for the web-savvy to an everyday hobby for millions of Americans. Online gambling is regulated and perfectly legal in nearly every county in the world. Here in the U.S.A it falls into a gray area, depending on what you are playing. Many people mistakenly believe that all forms of online gambling is illegal, nothing could be further from the truth. This web site will breakdown the different forms of gambling and provide you with information about each. By the time you are done reading this gambling guide you will know the ins and outs of gambling at home.

Online poker is definitely one of the most popular ways to gamble at home these days. Did you know that playing poker online for real money is not against any federal laws in the USA? Online poker isn't regulated yet but Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee recently (August, 2010) drafted a Bill that would regulate poker and other forms of internet gambling. The Bill passed the House and is awaiting a vote in the Senate. It is important to remember that no one has ever been arrested for playing online poker. Here are some interesting facts about online poker:

• Traffic - The two leading online poker rooms, Pokerstars & Full Tilt Poker, have an average combined traffic of around 200,000 players. At Pokerstars alone there is never less than 100,000 players at the tables, most of these being from the United States. Over the course of an entire day no fewer than 3,000,000 American poker players sit down at the real money tables at Pokerstars alone.
• Is Online Poker A Scam? - This is a common question new online poker players ask. I seems like there has to be some kind of catch. It is important to remember how the poker rooms make their money though. Unlike a casino, poker rooms do not care if you win or lose. If you sat down and won a million dollars on your first hand it wouldn't effect their bottom line at all. Internet poker rooms make their money via rake. Rake is a miniscule amount of money they take out of each hand. At small stakes games it only adds up to a penny or two and at high stake games it can go up to $3/hand. This may not seem like a lot but when you play online you can easily play 3-4X faster (avg: 100+ hands/hour) than when you play at home since everything is automated. Multiple this by the fact that even small online poker rooms have more players at the table than every live poker room in the world combined and it adds up quite quick. Online poker rooms use a random number generator (RNG) that is monitored and tested by 3rd party companies and organizations so everything is completely legit.
• Banking - You can deposit at an online poker room using a credit/debit card, electronic check, e-wallet, bank wire or a money transfer service. When you want to cash-out you can receive your money via a wide range of methods. I prefer to use either e-checks and paper checks. E-checks at Pokerstars for example will be in your bank account within 2-3 days. The paper checks take around 5 days and are from a respectable U.S. bank so everything is on the up and up.
• Bonuses & Promotions - Online poker rooms always offer some kind of bonus to new depositors. At Pokerstars you will receive a 100% match bonus on your first three deposits, up to $600. They also run a wide range of promotions such as free to enter tournaments (freerolls) with huge prize pools.This means that you can win huge sums of money without ever making a deposit.
• Play For Free - Online poker rooms are 100% free and there is never any pressure to deposit. Every poker room has two types of tables, Play Money and Real Money. I suggest that you start off at the Play Money tables to get used to playing online.

Online poker rooms also offer a wide range of games, usually 15-20, that can be played in fixed limit, pot limit and no limit formats. They also offer tournaments, many of which have huge prize pools. Please read the reviews below to learn more about Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker.

• Pokerstars Review
• Full Tilt Poker Review

Casino gambling at home is very popular. There are thousands of online casinos and many have been up and running for nearly 15 years. If you want to gamble at an online casino you'll need to be a little more cautious than if you were just looking to play online poker. This is because the poker rooms mentioned above are main stream companies that are well known and have become household names in the last decade. There are many online casinos that are well known, publicly traded companies but there are also many that are not. Since casinos win money from your losses it creates an environment that can be abused. Luckily though there are plenty of brand name casinos that have been in business for a long time due to their fairness. Most online casinos offer a payout percentage of 98%, which is higher than most live casinos. This means that on average they make 2 cents out of every dollar wagered.

The cool thing about casino gambling from home is that you never have to wait for a machine to open up and they never close their doors. The top online casino these days is the Planet 7 Casino. They accept U.S. players, have an excellent history and the best casino platform in the industry. Signup now and you will receive a 100% bonus on your first EIGHT deposits! This unique bonus allows you to receive up to $7,777 in free casino money.

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• Gamble At Home