Before there were online sports betting sites, there were bookies, and before bookies, people simply went to the casino to put bets down. Now, with the rise of sports betting sites as the preferred method of wagering for most bettors from beginners to the biggest sharps, they have seemingly eclipsed casinos as the top breadwinners in the industry.
And yet, many online sportsbooks still have casinos and casino offerings and bonuses connected to your sports betting. They have remained a constant in the gambling world despite the fact that they’ve faded from the main attraction to the side trimmings.
You’re more likely to come across an online sportsbook without an adjoining online casino than with, but they’re still pretty common. If you’ve never experienced gambling in an online casino, it won’t be anything too surprising, it’s basically the same as gambling in a real casino without the exciting atmosphere but with all the convenience you could ask for.
Sportsbooks add casinos to their online offerings for a pretty simple reason: it’s an added stream of revenue for them. They can marry the income they get from their sportsbook business with a casino business that is in the same industry but can attract a completely different segment of the population as new customers.
Casinos have been around for decades, and the most popular casino games will often provide sportsbooks with an entirely new revenue stream from each one: poker, blackjack, and slots all attract a very different clientele from one another as well as from the sports bettors.
There is a lot of crossover, of course, but a lot of the people playing at an online casino related to a sportsbook probably wouldn’t have been visiting the sportsbook’s platform without those casino games.
The most common tactic that sportsbooks use to attract non-sports betting gamblers to their site is through enticing bonuses and signup offers that include not only advantages on the sports betting side, but free chips or free plays on the casino side as well. There’s nothing to bring people into your business like the promise of free stuff!
If there’s any casino game you’re already familiar with, using your free chips on that one is usually the smartest way to take advantage and make the most of them.
The most common online casino games because of both popularity and ease of translation into the online platform are the aforementioned trio of blackjack, poker, and slots, though there are some sports betting sites where you can find other casino games such as craps etc.
Sportsbooks don’t often allow their users to transfer their free chips from the casino side into bets on the sports betting side, so if you do want to take advantage of sportsbook casino offerings you will have to take your shot in the virtual casino. Godspeed.