Online casinos, also known as virtual casinos or Internet casinos, are online versions of traditional (“brick and mortar”) casinos. Online casinos enable gamblers to play and wager on casino games through the Internet. It is a prolific form of online gambling.
Online casinos generally offer odds and payback percentages that are comparable to land-based casinos. Some online casinos claim higher payback percentages for slot machine games, and some publish payout percentage audits on their websites. Assuming that the online casino is using an appropriately programmed random number generator, table games like blackjack have an established house edge. The payout percentage for these games are established by the rules of the game.

1.Online casino types

Online casinos can be divided into two groups based on their interface: web-based and download-only casinos. Some casinos offer both interfaces.
Web-based online casinos
Web-based online casinos (also known as flash casinos) are websites where users may play casino games without downloading software to their local computer. Games are mainly represented in the browser plugins Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Shockwave, or Java and require browser support for these plugins. Also, bandwidth is needed since all graphics, sounds and animations are loaded through the web via the plugin. Some online casinos also allow gameplay through a HTML interface. Apple devices such as iPod, iPad and iPhone cannot play Flash games as the technology is not supported.
Download-based online casinos
Download-based online casinos require the download of the software client in order to play and wager on the casino games offered. The online casino software connects to the casino service provider and handles contact without browser support. Download-based online casinos generally run faster than web-based online casinos since the graphics and sound programs are cached by the software client, rather than having to be loaded from the Internet. On the other hand, the initial download and installation of a download-based online casino client does take time. As with any download from the Internet, the risk of the program containing malware exists.
Virtual casino games
In a virtual casino game, the outcome of each game is dependent on the data produced by a pseudorandom number generator (PRNG). This determines the order of the cards in card games, the outcome of a dice throw, or the results produced by the spinning of a slot machine or roulette wheel. PRNGs use a set of mathematical instructions known as an algorithm to generate a long stream of numbers that give the impression of true randomness. While this is not the same as true random number generation (computers are incapable of this without an external input source), it provides results that satisfy all but the most stringent requirements for true randomness.
When implemented correctly, a PRNG algorithm such as the Mersenne Twister will ensure that the games are both fair and unpredictable. However, usually the player has to trust that the software has not been rigged to increase the house edge, as its inner workings are invisible to the user. Properly regulated online casinos are audited externally by independent regulators such as eCOGRA to ensure that their win percentages are in line with the stated odds, and this can provide a degree of assurance to the player that the games are fair, assuming the player trusts the regulator.
Instead of trusting the software, with the provably fair concept the player can verify that the casino plays fair and that the software has not been rigged. The idea is that the server creates a secret random seed and shows the hash (like SHA256) to the player. The player provides a random seed as well. Then the server combines the secret seed and the player seed to calculate the random number result. With the result the player can see the secret server seed, too. The algorithm to calculate the result is known, so the player can verify that the server didn’t cheat. It is often used for cryptocurrency casinos. The technical details are hidden in an easy to use web interface, but the user can verify it with external or local tools. The concept works very well for single player games, but is more complicated for multi-player games like poker, because the house could plant a player that has full knowledge of the cards and could cheat the player.
Live dealer casino games
In a live casino game, a human dealer runs the game in real time from a casino gaming table, which can be seen via a live streaming video link. Players can make betting decisions via a console on their computer screen, and can communicate with the dealer using a text chat function.
The results of the physical transactions by the dealer, such as the outcome of the roulette wheel spin or the dealing of cards, are translated into data that can be utilized by the software by means of optical character recognition (OCR) technology. This enables the player to interact with the game in much the same way as they would with a virtual casino game, except for the fact that the results are determined by real-life actions rather than automated processes.
These games are a lot more expensive for websites to host than virtual games, as they involve a heavier investment in technology and staffing. A live casino studio typically employs one or more cameramen, several croupiers running the various games, an information technology manager to ensure that any technical hitches are dealt with swiftly, and a pit boss that acts as an adjudicator in case of disputes between players and croupiers.
In most cases this requires at least a three room setup, comprising a live studio, a server/software room, and an analyst’s room. The configuration of these rooms varies from casino to casino, with some having several gaming tables in one room, and some having a single table in each room.
The high running costs involved with operating live dealer games is the reason why online casinos only tend to offer a handful of the most popular games in this format, such as roulette, blackjack, sic bo, and baccarat. In comparison, the running costs associated with virtual games are very low, and it is not uncommon for online casinos to offer hundreds of different virtual casino games to players on their site.
Online casinos vary in their approach to the hosting of live games, with some providing live games via their own television channel, and others offering the games exclusively via their website. In the case of televised games, players can often use their mobile phone or television remote controls to place bets instead of doing so via a computer connected to the internet.

2. Bonuses

Many online casinos offer sign-up bonuses to new players making their first deposit, and often on subsequent play as well. These bonuses are a form of marketing that may incur a cost (potentially justifiable in order to attract a new player who may return and deposit many more times), since the casino is essentially giving away money in return for a commitment from the player to wager a certain minimum amount before they are allowed to withdraw. Since all casino games have a house edge, the wagering requirements ensure that the player cannot simply walk away with the casino’s money immediately after claiming the bonus. These wagering requirements are commonly set to be sufficiently high that the player has a negative expectation, exactly as if they had deposited and not claimed a bonus.
Casinos may choose to restrict certain games from fulfilling the wagering requirements, either to restrict players from playing low-edge games or to restrict ‘risk-free’ play (betting for instance both red and black on roulette), thereby completing the wagering requirement with a guaranteed profit after the bonus is taken into account.
Welcome bonuses
The Welcome bonus is a deposit match bonus on the first deposit ever made in the casino or casino group. Welcome bonuses sometimes come in packages and may be given to match the first two or three deposits (First Deposit Welcome Bonus, Second Deposit Welcome Bonus, etc.). They can also be tied to specific games, such as the Welcome Slots Bonus or the Welcome Table Games Bonus. The casino may also offer Welcome bonuses for high rollers who make an initial deposit above the standard amount limit.
Referral bonuses
There are two types of Referral bonuses: one for the Referee and one for the Referrer. The Referee gets a bonus when he or she registers an account at the casino and mentions the Referrer. The Referrer gets a bonus when the Referee completes all the requirements, such as making the deposit and wagering it a certain number of times.
Cashback or Insurance bonuses
Cashback or Insurance bonuses are offered as a percentage of all losses in the player’s previous gaming activity. Typically, only deposits that were not matched with bonuses count towards this bonus.
No deposit bonuses
The most popular form of bonus is one that can be claimed without the need to deposit any of the player’s own money – known as a no deposit bonus. These bonuses are used as acquisition tools by casinos wishing to attract new players. No deposit bonuses don’t always take the form of real cash, as exemplified below.
Non-cashable bonuses
Non-cashable bonuses may be called “sticky” or “phantom” bonuses. In both cases, the bonus forms a part of the player’s balance, but cannot be cashed out. The difference comes at cashout time. A phantom bonus disappears when the player cashes out, while the sticky bonus ‘sticks’ to the player’s account until it is lost.
Comp points
Comps are commonly available at land-based casinos, but also exist online. Comp points can usually be exchanged for cash, prizes, or other comps. The amount of cash given per wager is usually very small and often varies with game selection. A casino might offer three comp points for each $10 wagered on slots and one comp point for each $10 wagered on blackjack. The casino might give $1 for each 100 comp points. This example is equivalent to returning 0.3% of wagers on slots and 0.1% of wagers on blackjack. In addition online casinos may offer comps such as free tickets to online tournaments, free slots online, tickets to other special events, extra bonuses, souvenirs and pay back.
Bonus hunting
Bonus hunting (also known as bonus bagging or bonus whoring) is a type of advantage gambling where turning a profit from casino, sportsbook and poker room bonus situations is mathematically possible. For example, the house edge in blackjack is roughly 0.5%. If a player is offered a $100 cashable bonus requiring $5000 in wagering on blackjack with a house edge of 0.5%, the expected loss is $25. Therefore the player has an expected gain of $75 after claiming the $100 bonus.
Bonus disputes
A large portion of online casino disputes relate to bonuses. Casinos may label players who win using bonuses as “bonus abusers.” Both players and casinos may commit fraud. An example of player fraud is creating multiple accounts and using the accounts to claim a sign-up bonus several times. An example of casino fraud is changing terms of a bonus after a player has completed the wagering requirements, then requiring the player to meet the new bonus terms.

3. Fraudulent online casino operator behaviour

Fraudulent behaviour on the part of online casinos has been documented, almost exclusively by player advocacy websites and forums. The most commonly reported behaviour is a refusal to pay withdrawals to legitimate winners. An online casino with multiple confirmed cases of fraudulent behavior is often called a rogue casino by the online casino player community.
Some casino software has been mathematically proven to cheat, such as Elka System/Oyster Gaming and Casino Bar. Other examples of cheating software have been proven by leaked screenshots of the back-end administrative interface available only to the casino operator.
Many casino gambling portals and player forums maintain blacklists of rogue casinos. While some carry more authority than others, all blacklists constitute individual webmaster and player opinions rather than an official list from any type of regulating body.
Often, casinos use buffer sites that offer free play of their casino games but in reality use different means of deceptive strategies to redirect or lure the visitors into signing up to their services via appealing bonus offers or exclusive reward programs. Majority of these deceptive “free” sites lead to an equally deceptive casinos.
Since almost all existing online casinos offer free play of their casino games, recognising whether a casino is deceptive based on whether they offer free gameplay is no longer viable.

4. Legality

Online gambling legislation often has loopholes that result from the rapid development of the technology underpinning the development of the industry. Such countries as Belgium, Canada, Finland, Sweden have state gambling monopolies and do not grant licenses to foreign casino operators. According to their law, operators licensed on the territory of these countries can only be considered legal. At the same time, they can’t prosecute foreign casino operators and only block their sites. Players in these countries can’t be punished and can gamble at any site they can access.
Australia
The Australian Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA) criminalises the supply of online casino games by an operator anywhere in the world to persons located in Australia. It only targets operators of online gambling sites, resulting in the curious situation that it is not illegal for a player in Australia to access and gamble at an online casino. No operator has even been charged with an offence under the IGA and many online casinos accept Australian customers.
Belgium
The Belgian Gaming Act[10] allows online gambling, but only under very strict conditions and surveillance.
Canada
The Canadian criminal code states that only provincial governments and charitable organizations licensed by provincial governments may operate a casino in Canada. It also prohibits residents from participating in any lottery scheme, game of chance, or gambling activity not licensed or operated by a provincial government. In 2010, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (“BCLC”) launched Canada’s first legal online casino, PlayNow, which is available to residents of British Columbia. The province of Quebec also operates a legal online casino through Loto-Quebec.

Despite this legislation, the Kahnawake First Nation in Quebec has taken the position that it is a sovereign nation, able to enact its own gambling legislation, and has licensed and hosted nearly 350 gambling websites, without ever being prosecuted.

Online Casino

Scarlett Johansson (born November 22, 1984) is an American actress, model, and singer. She made her film debut in North (1994). In 1996, she was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo, garnering further acclaim and prominence with roles in The Horse Whisperer (1998) and Ghost World (2001). She shifted to adult roles with her performances in Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) and Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation (2003), for which she won a BAFTA award for Best Actress in a Leading Role; both films earned her Golden Globe Award nominations as well.

Roles in A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004) and Woody Allen's Match Point (2005) earned Johansson two more Golden Globe Award nominations. Her subsequent films included The Island (2005), The Black Dahlia (2006), The Prestige (2006), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) and He's Just Not That Into You (2009). She has played the Marvel comic book character Black Widow / Natasha Romanoff in Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and is set to reprise the role in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Johansson's roles in Don Jon (2013) and Under the Skin (2014) received critical acclaim and she won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in the 2010 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge. As a singer, Johansson has released two albums, Anywhere I Lay My Head and Break Up.

Scarlett Johansson

Xenia Tchoumitcheva (Ксения Чумичёва, born 5 August 1987 in Magnitogorsk, Russia) is a Russian-Swiss model, actress, blogger and entrepreneur.
Tchoumicheva was born in Magnitogorsk, Russia. When she was 6 years old her family emigrated to Lugano, Switzerland.
She graduated in 2010 from the Università della Svizzera italiana with a Bachelor Degree in economics. She speaks five languages, Italian, Russian, German, French and English, and as of 2014 is studying Spanish.
Tchoumitcheva has interned at several financial institutions such as Merrill Lynch, The London Hedge Fund Duet Group and JP Morgan Chase. In 2011, at the end of her internship at JPMorgan Chase, the executives offered her a full-time job but she turned them down to build her own business.

Xenia Tchoumitcheva

Lee Ji-eun (Korean: 이지은; born May 16, 1993), better known by her stage name IU (Korean: 아이유) is a South Korean singer-songwriter and actress. Her stage name is derived from the phrase "I and You", symbolizing that we can become one through music. Her fan club name is Uaena, where each syllable has a different meaning: "U" is "You" from English, "ae" is Sino-Korean for "love", and "na" is Korean for "me".

Lee Ji-eun (IU)

Natalie Dormer (born 11 February 1982) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Anne Boleyn in the Showtime series The Tudors, Irene Adler in Elementary, and Margaery Tyrell in the HBO series Game of Thrones. She also played Cressida in the science fiction adventure films The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and the upcoming The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.

Dormer was born in Reading, Berkshire. She attended Chiltern Edge Secondary School before moving to Reading Blue Coat School, an independent boys' school that admits girls in the sixth form. She grew up with her stepfather (a builder), mother, sister Samantha, and brother Mark. She has said that she was the victim of bullying while at school, but "still to this day [she] can't place why". At school, Dormer was head girl, a first class student, vice-captain of the school netball team, and she also got to travel the world with her school's public speaking team.

During her school years, Dormer trained in dance at the Allenova School of Dancing.[4] She describes herself as the "academic hopeful" of the family and hoped to be offered a place to study history at Cambridge; but, in her A-level History exam, she did not achieve the A grade she needed to attend.[2] Dormer decided she would audition for drama schools and decided to train at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Natalie Dormer

Antonia Clara Iacobescu was born on 12 April 1989 in Bucharest, Romania. At the age of 5, she moved to the United States along with her parents. She spent her childhood and adolescence in Utah and Las Vegas, where she finished high school. Antonia also began her modeling career in the United States, working alongside agencies such as Ford.

Antonia has been singing since she was 10 years old and attended music school in the United States. While she lived in Las Vegas and Utah, the African American culture heavily influenced her musical style.
In 2013, Antonia released her own clothing line called "MOJA" and is currently working on her first studio album.

Antonia Iacobescu

Lisa Tomaschewsky ( 22 July 1988 in Itzehoe ) is a German actress and former model .
Tomaschewsky grew up in Gluckstadt on. She attended the cooperative Gesamtschule Elmshorn (KGSE). At the age of 14, she started modeling, first without their parents' knowledge. The school she finished with high school . Your high school she took later in distance learning after.
After initially stayed with part-time jobs over the water and moved to Hamburg at 18, she was of the modeling agency Elite Models in Milan under contract. She stood among other things, the company Triumph Lingerie , Tommy Hilfiger and Mexx front of the camera and put it in several campaigns, the "face of the brand" is. In February 2009, was Tomaschewsky the " Playmate of the Month, "the magazine.

Lisa Tomaschewsky