Types of Casinos

Web-based / Flash Casinos

Web-based online casinos, more commonly known as "Flash Casinos", are sites at which players can play casino games online, without having to download and/or run any software from their own computer. These games are represented in your browser and use software application plug-ins like Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Shockwave, or Java. These plug-ins are generally installed on your computer already so you shouldn't have any trouble getting started. If you do not have the plug-in installed, the casino site will guide you to the download section in order to download the plug-in. This is simple and safe to do.

Users who choose to play on web-based casinos must have considerable bandwidth to load the graphics, sounds, and animations, since these all come from the site itself and require the web-browser plug-ins. You can rest assured that most computers and internet connections of today can handle these web-based casinos.

A very small number of casinos allow games played through a plain HTML interface and the graphics on these sites are generally quite inferior to those provided through down-load based casinos. Another huge difference is the speed of games. This is generally hampered by bandwidth restrictions, traffic, etc. Disconnection problems can be a huge disturbance as well. Generally speaking, most of the bigger casinos prefer to use download-based software and you'll find a much larger choice of games and options with these sites. Most, if not ALL, of the sites reviewed by World Casino Guide rely on download-based software. However, most also offer a web-based version for you to play on. Take a look at the Flash Casinos listed on World Casino Guide.

Download-based

Download-based online casinos are the most common and popular casino sites on the web. Here, users have to download certain software in order to play that casino's games. Once the software is installed, it connects to the casino service provider and handles contact without browser support. The biggest advantage here is SPEED. All the graphics and animations are included in the software and run from the computer instead of the internet.

The only downside, of course, is the initial download and the need for the installation of the program. Bare in mind that most initial downloads can be completed in less than a minute. We've seen downloads completed in less than half a minute. Some people worry as well about the risk of downloading a virus and/or spyware but so long as you're acquiring software from reliable sites and use a solid anti-virus program, this shouldn't be a problem. In any case, read the fine print before downloading any of this software and if you find something you don't like, choose another casino - there are MANY out there!

In essence, download-based casinos offer a much more enjoyable gaming experience. The benefits include better graphics, optimum speed, enhanced sounds, reliable software and much more. Check out our list of reviewed and approved download casinos.

Important Note:

We'd like you to bare in mind that download and web-based casinos offer the same security, fair play and customer support. The only difference is the means in which you play at the casino. Nothing else changes regarding these important aspects.