Many people enter the world of online gambling with a number of questions. Here we have tried to answer some of the most frequently asked questions, so you can enjoy playing online poker knowing that it is completely safe.
The legality of online gambling is one thing that worries many people, especially those who are new to it. In many countries across the world, online gambling is legally accepted. In the UK, the UK Gambling Commission oversees the internet gambling operators and companies to ensure that people can enjoy online poker in a safe and trustworthy environment. Online gambling is also legal in many other countries in Europe and Asia.
The industry in the US, however, is quite different. Legality of online gambling is currently a gray area, as the laws pertaining to it are not entirely clear. According to the US Department of Justice (DoJ), online gambling, in all forms, is illegal. But according to the federal courts, US citizens can partake in all forms of gambling online except sports betting activities. At the state level, however, the laws can differ. Individual states in the US are allowed to have their own laws with regards to online gambling and while most are ‘pro’ online gambling, some like Washington and Louisiana have completely outlawed it in any form.
Today, there are a number of online casinos and poker rooms that accept players from the US, and allow them to indulge in their favorite games in a safe and secure environment.
If you’d like to learn more about this topic in-depth, please see our page about US legal online poker sites.
The odds of your winning at an online casino are much better than your odds of winning at a brick-and-mortar casino. Online gambling sites have a better payout percentage, which makes the odds of winning better. The payout percentage is defined as the amount of money you will hold for every hundred you spend at the casino, in the long run. Most online casinos have a higher payout percentage of around 95% to 98% compared to land-based casinos, to attract a higher number of players.
So if the casino has a payout percentage of 96%, you can expect to have $96 for every $100 you spend. However, as the payout percentage is calculated over the long run, there is no guarantee this formula will hold in the short term. Instead, you should expect both winning and losing streaks. As most casinos are audited by reputed agencies, the payout percentages that the casinos advertise can be considered genuine.
Yes, you will get your winnings provided you have chosen a casino that is reliable. All the sites we promote are reliable and among the best in the industry today. So when you decide to play at them, you can rest assured that you will receive any winnings once you meet the terms and conditions, if any.
The money you win is usually paid through the same mode of payment that you used to make a deposit into the casino. Payments made this way are processed faster. Some online casinos and poker rooms allow withdrawals via bank draft and also wire transfer. Typically payments will be made within the time-frame specified by the casino, unless the casino goes bankrupt or closes down, which happens very rarely.
Spam is one thing that all of us hate. So when you share your email address and other personal details with the online gambling site, you may worry that you could get spammed. In our experience, this is not something to be concerned about. Reputable online casinos (such as those recommended by us) only take your email address to keep you informed about the latest promotions and offers, which is not considered spam as you have the option to ‘opt-out’ at any time. Also, most casinos have very strict online privacy policies that prevent them from sharing any of your details with third parties. To be sure, review the privacy policy of the site and only join if you are comfortable with everything you read.
The top poker sites for Mac are always kept up to date in our poker sites section. Most Mac friendly poker sites do not require a download and can be played anywhere from almost any web-browser. I highly recommend reading a few of our reviews and even playing at a few of these poker sites before making your first deposit.
Yes, just about every online poker site that has an instant play client is compatible with Safari, as long as you have Java installed. If you are using Mac OS X, then you should already have Java on installed on your Mac. However, if you are using OS 9 or earlier, then you will probably need to install Macintosh Runtime for Java 2.0 or higher to play Mac online poker. You can download Mac Java from Apple’s website.
PC emulators are a thing of the past. Talk of these was popular in the mid 2000’s but they are really outdated unless you seriously want to play poker on a specific website for a specific reason. There are just too many Mac compatible online poker sites to worry about going through the process of installing a PC emulator.
Yes. Online poker sites give poker bonuses out to anybody that signs up to their sites. If you are a Mac Poker player and sign up to an online poker room through our site, you’re usually eligible for special bonuses that are above and beyond what you would receive by going there directly. To get the most value, you should consider signing up at every online poker site you can and playing until you cap out your bonus before moving on to the next one.