How to Categorize Online Gambling Sites
One of my favorite ways to try to understand a subject is to divide it up into categories. For example, if I want to understand slot machines, I need to understand the different categories of slot machines available. Since this site is about online gambling sites, I thought it might be appropriate to approach the subject of online gambling sites in the same way.
How do writers and webmasters categorize online gambling sites?
Information Portals
The first categorization I think of is the information portal. That's probably because this site itself is an information portal.
What distinguishes a gambling information portal from other kinds of online gambling sites?
The main thing is that you can't play gambling games for real money on such a site. The purpose of the site is to offer explanations and information about gambling to the reader.
Some information portals are narrowly focused. You can find dozens of sites that limit their discussions to a single game. You'll find blackjack sites, slots sites, and video poker sites aplenty.
You'll also find information portals that offer casino recommendations and reviews.
And some information portals focus on math and strategy.
Some even try to cover every subject you can think of related to gambling. These comprehensive websites can be thought of as being online encyclopedias of gambling information.
The quality of these types of sites can vary dramatically though.
Online Casino Sites
An online casino site is one that offers online versions of casino games that you can play for free or for real money. For purposes of categorization, you can think of casino games as being games offered by the house where the house covers all your action. This distinguishes online casinos from online poker sites, for example.
The most commonly offered games at online casino sites include:
- Blackjack
- Craps
- Roulette
- Slot Machines
- Video Poker
Those are the "big 5", but dozens if not hundreds of other games are available, too.
Online casino sites can be further categorized by any number of criteria:
- Software - Most online casinos lease the software running their program from a software provider. One categorization might be all casinos powered by Realtime Gaming or Microgaming, for example.
- Countries Served - Not all online casinos serve a worldwide audience. Some online casinos specialize in a U.S. audience, while others might cater to a UK or another English-speaking country. Many casinos cater to multiple audiences in multiple countries. One way to categorize casino sites is by whether they serve customers from certain countries. Since the world has at least 200 different countries in it, there are at least 200 categories.
- Honesty - This one's less objective. The truth is that not all online casino sites run honest games. And some of the sites that offer honest games don't offer customer-friendly terms for withdrawals. You'll find many online gambling information portals which categorize casino sites by their trustworthiness.
- Currency - Some casinos only accept USD, while others specialize in making their games and special offers available in multiple currencies, like AUD or GBP, etc. This categorization resembles categorizing by country, but it's more specific. Some casinos might accept players from one country but require you to convert your funds into another currency.
- Live Dealers - This is almost a subcategorization of software. Some casinos allow you to play table games like blackjack, craps, and roulette via webcam with live dealers. They still use software to power their slot machine and video poker games. Some casinos offer both-table games powered by a random number generator, which look like video games, and table games played via webcam.
- Bonuses - All modern online casinos offer signup bonuses and ongoing player rewards. The nature of these bonuses is a categorization, too. For example, most casinos offer a matching bonus to first deposit. You deposit $1000, and the casino gives you a $1000 bonus. A smaller set of casinos offer real money bonuses with no deposit required. For example, a casino might give you a free $10 chip to play with in hopes that you'll like the games and deposit some money. Some casinos offer a certain number of free spins on a slot machine.
You can probably think of other ways to categorize online casinos, too.
Online Poker Sites
An online poker site is a site where you can play poker for free or for real money with other players. Notice that poker is distinct from other casino games because you're competing with the other players rather than the house. The site makes its money by taking a small percentage of each pot (the "rake").
Like online casinos, poker sites can be categorized by bonuses available, games available, countries served, and level of trustworthiness. I don't know of any poker sites with live dealers or webcams, though.
Commonly offered games (which can be used as categories) include:
- Badugi
- Draw
- Holdem
- Omaha
- Stud
One observation about online poker sites, too-you won't find many of them accepting action from U.S. based players any more. The United States government has acted against offshore companies taking poker players from the United States. They've been less aggressive tackling online casino sites and other gambling sites, though. This probably relates to the incredible popularity that poker saw over the last decade or so.
Online Sports Betting Sites
These are sites where you can bet on sporting events. In the United States, The Wire Act makes such sites illegal, but some of them still accept action from U.S. players.
Online sports betting sites can be subcategorized in similar ways to online casino sites and online poker sites. But many online sports betting sites offer multiple gambling activities besides just sports betting. Some of them also offer casino games and/or poker games, too, making them a sort of "one-stop-shop" for gamblers.
One way to further categorize sports betting sites is by looking at which sports they allow you to bet on. Most major sports are available to bet on at most major betting sites, but some sites offer bets on entertainment and political news.
Online Bingo Sites
Online bingo sites aren't as popular as online casinos, poker, or sports betting sites, but they do have a dedicated fan base. Most online bingo players are addicted to the chat functionality. Some online bingo sites also offer slot machines and/or video poker, too.
Skill Game Sites
One of the smaller niches in the gambling site world is that of skill games. These are sites which offer games where the outcome is determined by skill rather than chance. For example, a site offering a trivia tournament with real money on the line would be considered a skill game site. Another example might be a site where you can play online video game version of billiards for money.
Depending on where you live in the United States, such sites might be completely legal or still illegal. One of the factors many states take into account when deciding the legality of a gambling activity is whether it's a game of chance or a game of skill. But in other states, it's the money being wagered that makes it a gambling activity.
Daily Fantasy Sports Sites
The newest categorization is that of sites where you can play fantasy sports contest with a short time period. Traditionally, fantasy sports are played on a season long basis. But after the poker sites stopped accepting United States players, the people running the poker sites were looking for something new to do. UIGEA, the legislation that made it illegal to transfer funds for online gambling purposes, exempted fantasy sports from its purview. Entrepreneurs realized they could adapt the sit and go poker tournament model to fantasy sports, and it quickly became big business.
Future Categories
What does the future hold for online gambling sites?
It's hard to say, but one thing's for certain. The industry isn't going to stand still.
My best guess is that we're going to see a rise in virtual reality gambling. Instead of just webcams or animated games, you'll have virtual reality goggles that simulate walking around in a brick and mortar casino.
Of course, new casino games are launching all the time. Future gambling activities will probably, like fantasy sports, be variations of existing gambling activities. New versions of slot machines and video poker will continue to roll out. We'll see more house-banked poker games, too.
One other thing is certain, too-online gambling sites aren't going to disappear anytime soon.
It's fun to think of the number of ways you can categorize and subcategorize any topic. This site falls squarely into the "information portal" category of online gambling sites, but we include information on our site about websites in all the other subcategories, too.
