Here at onlinecasino.ie we are often quoted as saying that online casinos are successful primarily because of the enormous range of casino games they offer. In fact online gambling as a whole relies on the much greater range of gambling options that can be featured on an internet site compared to any real casino, betting shop or bingo club. Even the enormous American super casinos can’t compete with any of the current online casinos featured on our recommended list, most of which offer well over a hundred different casino games for us to enjoy. Those of us who began playing casino games at a real casino here in Ireland were however usually restricted to playing either blackjack or roulette, so many of the other traditional casino games we can now play online are actually new to many of us because they are not available in our real casinos. This is of course why we have devoted a large part of this site to detailing the rules of most of the traditional casino games that are now available at our online casinos, but it also brings us another feature of online casinos which contributes to their increasing popularity. The free online casino option which has become a common feature on almost every online casino site allows us to learn how to play a new game without risking our hard earned cash. The much lower operating costs associated with managing an online casino compared to running a real casino allows the online casino operators to let their customers play their casino games free of charge for a period of time while they get used to how a particular game works, whereas no real casinos could ever afford to do that. There is no doubt that the free online casino option has also allowed online casino games players to take full advantage of the much bigger choice of games, particularly when it comes to the traditional casino games most of them are unlikely to be familiar with. The game of baccarat for example is commonly available in almost every real casino in the rest of Europe, but rarely if ever featured in Irish casinos. That is also why baccarat in particular has acquired almost a mythical reputation which in reality is totally undeserved. There is a tendency for those of us who have never played the game to believe that baccarat is an extremely complicated casino game, and that it is only played by the high rollers of the casino gambling world. Nothing could be further from the truth, particularly when it comes to playing baccarat online. The free online casino option has enabled us to discover that playing baccarat is no more difficult than calling the toss of a coin. In fact you do not even need to know or understand the rules of baccarat to play it online, because the game is totally controlled by the dealer. All the player has to do is to choose which of just two hands will win the game. A tie is possible but very rare and hardly ever backed by regular players, so most hands are a 50/50 bet.
Another traditional casino game which was hardly ever available in Irish casinos is the game of backgammon. In this case the free online casino option is a very valuable learning tool because although there is still an element of luck involved in Backgammon because of the use of two dice to determine how many moves a player is allowed, there is also the skill and experience necessary to move the checkers around the board. It is generally agreed that backgammon is a traditional casino game in which experience is always likely to tell in the end. While we are talking about traditional casino games which normally favour the experienced player, we must obviously mention the game of poker. The advent of online casinos has led to a huge surge in interest in the game of poker, to such an extent that there are now even specialist online poker platforms which allow serious poker players to compete with each other twenty four hours a day if they choose. The big poker tournaments are almost always oversubscribed nowadays, and are no longer simply the preserve of the professional poker player. Poker has become the traditional casino game of choice for a whole new group of casino games enthusiasts, with the Texas Hold’em format of the game in particular having become the favourite game for serious players. Once again the free online casino option has contributed to the popularity of online poker because it allows potential new players to at least learn the basics without losing any money. All the online casinos on our recommended list offer a whole range of different versions of poker, and they can all be played for low stakes and fixed odds against the house. Anyone thinking of playing poker online on one of the popular poker platforms would be well advised to take advantage of the free online casino option first, and then go on to play at a regular online casino for small stakes to acquire some skill and experience before taking on players who may be far more experienced. So far we have only considered how important the free online casino option is when it comes to learning how to play the traditional casino games, but most of the games featured by the online casinos are in fact slots games in various forms. It would be easy to assume that nobody needs any knowledge or skill to play a slots game, but the online slots games are a far cry from the slot machines most of us are accustomed to. They can involve as many as five reels with a huge number of winning lines and many of them also involve a number of in-play decisions to be made which can either improve your winnings or cost you dear. A few free spins is always a good idea and it is also great fun to play for a while free of charge.