An online casino is preferred to a land casino in Ireland

The term Irish Land Casinos is a bit of a misnomer as there are strictly speaking no casinos in Ireland and despite attempts recently to build a huge complex which would include a casino no agreement has been reached. There are of course establishments which refer to themselves as casinos such as The Sporting Emporium Casino in Dublin or Fitzpatricks of which there are more than one but the more normal name is a card club such as the Penthouse Casino and card club. Unfortunately or possibly fortunately gambling in Ireland is still governed by the Gaming and Lotteries Act of 1956 which means that casinos are illegal but at the same time means that online casinos are free to operate and more and more people are therefore turning to online casinos. Gambling in Ireland has historically been visiting the local bookmaker and betting on horses or dogs and more recently any other sporting event but when online casinos came along the range of gambling opportunities was increased considerably. Irish gambling has of course been happening for centuries but it was always underground as were the original card clubs. Even today you need to be a member to play at one of the casinos or clubs and of course you need to be a minimum of 21 years of age which is strange as online casinos only require an age of 18. Even online casinos however require some kind of proof that you are who you say you are. The major casino operators such as can be found all over the rest of Europe and the USA are not present in Ireland probably due to the rather outdated licensing agreements. The good thing about Irish land casinos is that any winnings are not taxed which is also applicable to online casino winnings but the bad thing is that alcohol and food  are generally not served whereas at casinos in America in particular it is not only served but it often free of charge or at least a minimal cost. Entertainment can also be a major feature at American casinos which is not the case in Irish land casinos or for that matter in most other European casinos. In the North gambling was legalised in 1985 which means that casinos are free to operate but even in the North there seems to be no appetite for opening a casino complex. This could be something to do with the fact that some years ago the first poker club which opened in Belfast was raided by police and many customers and staff were arrested despite the club being legal. This means that Dublin has become the centre for gambling clubs or casinos for the whole of Ireland. Poker is of course one the hottest gambling games around at the moment and Dublin does not miss out as it holds one of the biggest tournaments of the year although not at one of the Irish land casinos but at a top hotel.

For some reason Bingo gambling is free from restrictions and bingo halls are everywhere. Although mostly seen as a gambling game for ladies and indeed most players at bingo clubs are female, online bingo has encouraged many of the male population to take part. When playing bingo online it is not possible to know whether a player is male or female unless they wish you to now as a player name can be anything so there could be more male players than most realise. Possibly the most played gambling game is the lottery although many people will not consider lotteries to be gambling at all which is highlighted by the fact that the minimum age to buy a lottery ticket is 16. Lotteries from all over the world are available at online casinos so if you want more than just the Irish lottery go to your online casino. A word of warning however that online lottery gambling is not exactly the same as buying a lottery ticket for the Irish lottery. Online lotteries are what is known as fixed odds lotteries which means that the online casino will give you odds of matching any number of numbers and you are paid those odds times your stake. When buying a lottery ticket however your winnings are determined by the number of people taking part which determines the prize pot and the number of people who have matched the same number of numbers. This can either work in your favour or not. With the small number of land casinos in Ireland it is no wonder that online casinos have taken off quite rapidly here in Ireland. Instead of driving for miles and not having a drink you can now sit at home and enjoy whatever tipple takes your fancy dressed in whatever you feel comfortable in and play a much greater variety of casino games than you ever can in a land based casino. There are a number of online casinos available to Irish casino players which range from the well known gambling companies such as Paddy Power and Ladbrokes to smaller specialised online casinos such as No Bonus Casino or Allirishcasino. Interestingly enough none of these online casinos is actually operated from or based in Ireland as they are all based in low tax countries where they have good licensing systems  and where legislation has been created specifically for online gambling. Countries such as Malta and Gibraltar along with one or two of the Channel Islands are the most popular. The advantages that online casinos have is that they can be based anywhere and the customer is none the wiser as long as they operate correctly. Casinos or card clubs do exist in Ireland but they are definitely struggling to compete with the online versions and until the Government decides to update regulations this will probably remain the case. For the casino player in Ireland it is all legal so choose your favourite online casino and play way to your hearts content.