Since the online games came storming into our lives 10 years ago, questions keep arising for the online industry: has gambling changed? Are online players different than land based players? And most of all - Has the online gambling culture evolved to be different than land based gambling?

Gambling culture has changed. The days have passed since Vegas and Monte Carlo were the only alternatives for one to find class gambling. One of the biggest signs of this was the U.S government pressure to ban online gambling. Pressure that obviously came from a public of land based casino owners. Today, online players are not that complicated as compared to land based players, as they were during the first days of online gambling . To get a better understanding of the nature of these differences, we'll compare a few points of perspective between these two cultures, and find out how to raise the cultural differences to gain a better online income.

The History Land Based Gambling - They have been around since we can remember. In North America they started out since the 17th century, as the first gambling wave that has lasted a good 200 years. Online Gambling - Started out about a decade ago. The first online gambling sites popped out at around 1996/7

Popular Games Land Based - Most of the land based casino players often play slots, blackjack, roulettes and craps. Online - The vast majority of online players choose slots, poker and bingo

The Fun Land Based - The principle of the players' fun comes from the casino's atmosphere - the sounds, colors, crowd and of course - alcohol Online - Online players get their kicks from the great variety of games, graphics, sound effects, anonymity and privacy, and the availability of the games.

The Thrills and Senses Land Based - Players' use their hearing, seeing and feeling senses. By that, the thrill comes from the mere being in the casino, and the basic interactions. Online - The player doesn't actually feel the chips, or talk to the people. In fact, he gets the thrill of the chances of winning, and the privacy of gambling at home.

Bonuses Land Based - Very few, usually get handed out to VIPs and heavy rollers Online - Bonuses are given out along with coupons in a number of ways, to a great number of players, including newcomers.

Customer Relations Land Based - Usually done by joining a membership club Online - It's easier to retain the average player, using personal records, activity tracking and gaming habits.

Revenue Growth Land Based - Raising the number of tables and machines, along with the minimum bet. Online - Combining different games in the program, adding supplementary games, and gaining international demand without geographical limits.

Analysis The great clash between the two worlds occurred in 2004, where an anonymous poker player, by the name of Chris Moneymaker, won the esteemed poker title - the WSOP champ. The funny thing is that Chris managed to get into the tournament by participating in an > online poker site tournament. His unusual story, flooded the online poker sites with new upcoming poker players that just realized the world had changed, and you don't need to be a pro to play big and earn a lot. A college student can find himself at a table, playing poker for 2 grand, at 2 a.m. and move on to class the next morning.

After finding the differences between the two worlds, we have come to realize that the biggest meaning is the understanding that these are 2 different gambling cultures. The Land Based player sees the game as a social experience, where his visit to the casino doesn't come very often, and thus takes into great detail the interaction between the crowd, the live atmosphere and not as much to the actual game itself. Apposed to him, the online player enjoys the availability, variety, bonuses and coupons that come from the game itself. The major mistake that online sites have been making, is trying to imitate the land based atmosphere. It is virtually impossible to try and capture the crowd, feeling, thrill and rush of the actual casino. It should be noted, that today's slot machines and video poker often come close to the one's offered at online sits, meaning, they don't use chips, and the bet is done through charged cards. IGT has taken this a step further, coming up with Multi Layer Display, helping casino owners, which use these cards to figure out a player's gambling habits. So it comes to an absurd situation, where casino owners don't even recognize their advantage (sound of coins, feeling of the chips) and gradually take a step, willingly, to the online world. Understanding the cultural gap and the relative advantages of online gambling lets online sites go out to existing and new potential players in new ways, and offer a great majority of the games, playing different games at once, tournaments, player to player chat, and the possibility to chat with online assistance.

Conclusion The differences between the two cultures are easily seen, and lead us to a number of important conclusions, where the most important is the fact that today's casino sites are in a great disadvantage to the vast supply of games, languages and technology that are offered at online sites. The online player wants to have unique online advantages, and he is willing to be faithful to whoever gives him that extra edge, with availability, fairness and appreciation. Players are only now beginning to understand that the online gambling world has great advantages - from a great variety of games in different languages to different currencies, no dress code, speech recognition, and seniority reference. At online casinos , one can reach a payout that is relatively a great deal higher than most land based casinos, with the help of cash bonuses reaching up to 500% of the actual deposit. The world of opportunities to the online gambling industry is immense, and the potential is yet to be reached. All that these online sites need to do is channel their efforts to the right directions - large game supply, more social communications, new technology adaptation (like via cellular), and greater win ratios. IGT, who is known for their services with land based casinos has already identified the great potential in the online world, and realized that between the clash of the two cultures, they were on the losing side. So as the saying goes - if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. And in 2005, they did, by acquiring Wager Works, a company who introduced IGT to the online world. And since then, the company managed to penetrate to online gambling in a strong way. We are all looking forward to the day that the great players from MGM and to Las Vegas slots Sands will penetrate the online market with a diverse offering of their own. Then, we will really start having fun!