Online casinos have soared in popularity, and online gambling is a vast, multi-billion dollar worldwide industry, spanning every continent. This has been largely driven by the advent of mobile casinos, where players who may never have set foot in a brick-and-mortar establishment can learn, master, and enjoy classic games and cutting-edge variations wherever they may be. This has widened the demographic of people playing casino games considerably, across the globe, particularly in North America, with Canadians lapping up blackjack, poker, roulette, and slots.
But can online casinos match the excitement and glamour of the real thing? A night out at a casino is great fun, and a full-on gambling blow-out in Vegas or Macau is on many a bucket list. Let’s compare and contrast the two, and see which options best suit Canadian players in 2024.
A Great Night Out
Going to a casino is great fun, whether you’re just out to party with your friends, or heading for the high-roller tables. It’s time to get dressed up, enjoy some cocktails, hit the slot machines or settle into a tense game of Texas Hold’em at the card tables. Many go to major gambling destinations for a full-blown holiday, each with their unique flavours — favourites are Las Vegas, Macau, and Monaco — and take their cash to potentially win or lose (remember to stay within your limits though!).
Canada has its share of great land-based casinos, graced by locals and worth a visit for tourists, should they fancy a spin of the roulette wheel while visiting the Great White North. Casino giant Caesars has a swish, modern venue in Windsor, Ontario, while the striking exterior of Casino Montreal matches the excitement inside — aside from the gambling action, visitors can find restaurants, cabaret shows, arcades, and bars. And if you take a trip to Niagara Falls, you’ll find, built on a cliff overlooking the Horseshoe Falls, the impressive Fallsview Casino Resort, again full of dining and entertainment options.
Canadians and Online Casinos
Despite the excitement and atmosphere of land-based casinos, the clear winners in terms of popularity in Canada are their online counterparts. There are many reasons why Canadians are logging on to casino sites and apps, and one look at playcasinos.ca will show you the range and scope of the great operators and their bonuses and games on offer. These sites are professionally vetted, and give a rundown of all the crucial information that concerns the average player. So why are online casinos so popular?
Game Selection
Just like land-based casinos, online casinos are based around card games, roulette, and slots — sometimes you’ll find bingo, or local variants such as Mahjong. But, unlike land-based casinos, the options and games on offer are enormous, with ever more advanced, immersive game features, such as live dealer poker and blackjack, live croupier roulette, and of course, the range of slot games that all casinos offer.
Slots are perfect for game developers to have fun with, as such a simple premise gives a great foundation to build on. Sure, the premise of each game stays the same — spin the reels and win the prize — but developers are using this basis to add cutting-edge graphics and sound design, different levels and missions, and gameplay that makes slot games as immersive and fun as regular video games. Plus, you can win some money!
Accessibility
Roll into the lobby of the Monte Carlo Casino in your dressing gown and slippers and you’ll probably be making a swift, involuntary exit. Online casinos offer accessibility that makes them appealing to many who have never been to a land-based casino, whether they live in a remote area (of which Canada has many), or simply fancy a quick hand of poker while waiting for the train.
The massive boom of the online casino industry is driven by accessibility, although feel free to don a tux or a gown in your living room, should the mood take you.
Mobiles are Amazing
It’s true — the little gizmos we carry everywhere with us in purses and pockets are more powerful than the computers we had 20 years ago. With graphical capabilities, live video streaming, and increasingly responsive and intuitive touchscreen tech, mobiles are getting better and better.
This goes in tandem with the kind of incredible apps available too — casino apps are built to be extremely responsive and dynamic, and the same goes for apps across the board, which operate without lag and have intuitive controls in-built, from banking to gaming to health and wellbeing, the power of mobile is driving our lives, and casino players are benefiting from it.
So, as far as this article is concerned, online casinos have the house edge. But ultimately, while they share a lot of common factors, visiting a land-based casino and playing online, either on your computer or mobile, are different ball (or card) games.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
