Having played in Las Vegas casinos and online casinos I decided to analyze the differences between the two. Which would come out on top, the bright lights, sexy waitresses and general party atmosphere or computer generated graphics games and the comfort of your own home?

I had the chance to experience Las Vegas first hand a few years ago and loved it!  It really is a 24 hour party town.  I couldn´t go to Vegas and not gamble a few dollars away – so that is exactly what I did.  I won a little then lost the lot!

Las Vegas casinos are like medium size towns with bars, restaurants, shopping malls, hair salons and everything and anything else you would expect to find in your town center.  Enter the main casino games section and you will find a whole floor dedicated to slot machines, a section of table games with dozens of roulette tables, blackjack and poker tables.  The friendliness of the staff is second to none and soon you will be enjoying your favorite drink for free.  If you gamble on the casino games, all your drinks are free.

The catch for free drinks is that the more drinks you have the more drunk you become and the less you care about putting another few dollars in the machine or another $100 on a game of blackjack.  Slots machines have huge jackpots and often you can see a Ferrari or Harley Davidson Motorcycle spinning around overhead as the jackpot prize.

So what happens if you hit the jackpot on a $1m slot machine?  I asked about this and a hotel/casino employee told me that the casino lights up like the 4th of July and then you are surrounded by a mafia of security to escort you to the manager’s office, where he presents you with a briefcase containing the $1m. You are then offered a limo and the security team to escort you to the bank to deposit your winnings. Apparently no-one has turned down the security offer.  I personally would not like to walk out of a casino with a briefcase containing $1m that the whole casino saw you win.  Not gonna get too far without someone trying their luck!

Casinos cater for everyone so it does not matter what your budget is, you can always find a game to play within that budget, 10cents slots machines to $100,000,000 a spin roulette tables and everything in between.

All in all, Las Vegas is a fun town with fabulous casinos that anyone who likes a flutter would get a kick out of.

So what can the online casino give us that Las Vegas cannot?  Also having played in online casinos, I can give you my opinion of my online gaming experiences.

Like Las Vegas, online casinos are also open 24/7 and offer players multi-million dollar jackpot games.  Of course the atmosphere is slightly different, you don´t get bunny girls offering you free drinks, you don´t have the hustle and bustle of people moving about the casino and you will never get a limo and security guards to escort you to the bank with your winnings.  But to many this is a plus side to playing online.

Playing in online casinos means you don´t have to travel to play your favorite casino games, meaning you can play anytime you want from the comfort of your own home.  You can also jump from one game to another without having to move.  You still have the games you expect to see in a casino and in some cases there are even more games to choose from.

Apart from blackjack, poker, roulette, slots and other well known casino games you also have online arcade games such as bowling, horse racing, darts, penalty shoot-out and rock, paper, scissors all in computer format.  Not all online casinos have these games but many of them do.

Online casinos vary from one to the other, depending on the software provider. There are a handful of online casino games software providers. The major ones are Playtech, Microgaming, RTG and Boss Media; each one has their own style of graphics and games.  It is difficult to say who is the best – it depends on each individual, what they like in games, their particular taste and style.

There are many games available and many are available in a progressive style which means the games are linked and a certain percentage from each coin wagered is added to the progressive jackpot. These jackpots can be as much as $5m for a single spin or hand.

One major thing that online casinos have that land based casinos don´t have, is the bonus system.  Practically all online casinos offer a welcome bonus which is free cash for you to open an account at their casino.  Anything from $100 free or 100% matching bonus to $5000 over a ten week period is offered to new players.

It is always wise to read the terms and conditions of the welcome bonus first and all the general rules so there is no confusion when requesting a withdrawal of any winnings.  The biggest welcome bonus to date belongs to La Isla Casino which offer €6700 over a ten week period and also offer bonuses on every deposit made, plus weekly promotions, loyalty bonuses and many other great promotions.  They also have some of the best casino games and software to complete the whole package.

As well as the welcome bonus most casinos offer extra bonuses on certain deposits and reward you for your loyalty with even more free cash.  You will also receive comp points (complimentary point) every time you play on a game.  These comp points can be exchanged for real money to play on the casino games.  A lot of money is thrown at new casino players to keep them playing at their casino.  There is a lot of competition between online casinos, so it is recommended to look round before you decide on a casino.  In saying that, you are not limited to playing in only one casino.  You may have accounts with several online casinos.

A drawback to any online gaming site is the depositing methods.  Credit cards are often blocked by banks and/or credit card companies as they don´t like people gambling with their money.  Due to this many alternative payment methods are available to help with your online gaming experience.  Moneybookers, Neteller, UKash, Click2Pay and other reputable companies give you alternative options to help you deposit in online casinos, bingo sites, and poker sites as well as internet shopping.

These casinos offer between 80 – 200+ games including online casino slots, online poker, online blackjack and online video poker. All this is available at a click of a mouse without leaving your lounge. They have a strict security process to protect the player and casino from fraud and although winnings payouts are not as quick as a Las Vegas casino you will still get your money within 2 – 5 days (depending on the casino) if all rules have been abided by.

So which of the casinos comes out on top?  Las Vegas Casinos or Online Casinos?  Well, they are equally as good as each other depending what you are looking for and what the individual prefers.  Some prefer online casinos while others prefer land based casino.  Not everyone lives close to a land based casino so the only option is the internet.