Internet casinos differ primarily because their running costs are minimal. Once they have the software and the server, then if they can attract people to play at their casinos with their own money it also a guarantee that they will make significant profits. Online gambling has now become an estimated $7bn industry, many casinos have been incredibly successful online and they're all desperate to get a bit more of the 'action'. 

BUT the industry is still relatively new with new sites springing up every day all looking for new players. In trying to attract customers nearly all online casino's are prepared to make generous bonus offers to entice you to try their particular casino, changing the odds that you face dramatically. Generally these are a match on your first deposit, so were you to put in £50 they would give you £50 of their own money. However, before you are allowed to withdraw this amount you will be required to bet it (called wagering) a certain number of times. This can vary from 1 (meaning that you would have to bet 50 in total stakes before withdrawing), up to 40 (meaning you would have to bet 2000 in total stakes before withdrawing). The lower the wagering requirement the less you have to bet, the higher the chance of winning.

Imagine this scenario. I ask you to play heads or tails with me at £1 a game, but in order to entice you to play I say that if you put down £20 I'll give you £20 out of my own pocket so that the amount you had to stake was £40. My only condition was that you had to play at least 100 games with me. The vast majority of people would correctly tell you that you'd be very wise to take up an offer like this. This is in essence what most of the sites listed here are offering you and the odds, when playing blackjack perfectly (which we show you how to do in the blackjack tables section), are actually very close to those of tossing a coin, meaning that the odds overall are vastly in your favour.

How do I know the games are fair?                                                                 This is a tough one to answer. Virtually all the sites recommended here are audited by PWC the biggest accountancy firm in the world, or another similarly reputable auditor. If you click on the links you will see the link where you can view the payout reports. All the casinos here are also verified by their country’s gaming commission (generally Canadian, Caribbean or British). Virtually all of the casino’s listed here also use one of the 6 major casino software ‘brands’, made by major and often publically listed companies- Microgaming, Playtech, Odds on, RTG, Crytologic and iGlobalMedia . These have all been stringently tested and over millions of hands the payout has proven to be exactly what it statistically should be. While we firmly believe that all the sites and software brands we detail here are legitimate and fair it's important to be very careful with other gambling sites you may find that aren't listed here at BeatTheHouse, particularly if you feel that they look dubious in any way and don't carry any licensing or auditing logos.

And how can I be sure I’ll get paid?                                                                 The majority of casino transactions are carried out by a small number of huge merchant companies, processing millions of gambling and non-gambling transactions a day. Virtually all the casino’s have UK freephone numbers to check on the status of your payment. All casinos listed here have also been approved by their relevant countries gaming commissions and any failure to act properly usually results in the software companies or gaming commissions stepping in very quickly.

What are the chances of me losing my money?                                                 As you're playing at a casino there is, in most cases, a chance of losing your own money, though sometimes you are allowed to withdraw your deposit at any time. The calculator (currently only works with windows XP) gives you an idea to the % risk involved with the individual offers.

What else do I need to take into account?                                                        It's always very important that you read the terms and conditions of the offer. This site is kept as up-to-date as possible, but you should also check yourself the wagering requirements on offers and whether, as is sometimes the case, blackjack is excluded from the list of games available to play. If this is the case then Jacks or Better video poker offers almost identical odds, though with a much greater variation in results.

You’ll notice that a large number of casino’s operate in dollars. With a growing number of Microgaming casinos (the most common software) there is the option to play in pounds or alternatively have your dollars converted to £GBP before being refunded to you. Despite this we highly recommend you open a neteller account- a free, secure online account if you intend to play at a large number of US$ casinos.

Casino offers are generally getting less and less 'generous' as time goes on, with blackjack being excluded as an available game more and more. The window of opportunity won't be around for ever, so get in while you can- click here for our 10-step getting started guide, or here to get straight on to the bonus offers.