One in three casinos worldwide is online. Monte Carlo, Las Vegas or Macao may be legendary locations for glamorous destinations for the rich and famous, including James Bond, gathering to dabble in an evening of roulette, blackjack or chemin de fer (baccarat), but they are not really for the common man. The legendary casinos are few and far between and the stakes can be more than most of us can afford. The other almost 2000 land-based casinos offer many forms of entertainment besides the traditional table games, with the most popular by far being slot machines.

With the advent of the internet, online casinos sprang up opening up the world of gambling to every ton, Dick, Harry or Jane with a computer and an internet connection. An off-shoot was sites dedicated exclusively to poker, with an estimated 5.5 million players competing in online games for real money either in individual games or online tournaments. Online gambling is easily accessible twenty-four/seven – from the comfort of your own home, and stakes are usually low. They have, however, one big drawback: how do you know they are legit?

Of course, there are concerns about the honesty of any casino, but at least if you are present you can see if the dealer or croupier is acting shiftily. Online casinos do have security systems in place, the most effective of which is perhaps the webcam, which is the next best thing to being there in person.

So, how do online casinos or online poker games convince potential users that they are above board and honest? One way is encouraging people to give them a try, through incentives and bonuses. If the in-loss ratio is about the same as in a physical casino, the assumption that the online casino is trustworthy is justified.

Another way that online casinos and poker games can reassure their players of their bona fides is to issue advertorials. An advertorial is a paid editorial, usually written by the advertiser. Because it looks like genuine newspaper content (or magazine, or website), the reader is reassured, taking the publication of the advertorial to be some kind of endorsement. Even without this kind of endorsement, the advantage of the advertorial is that one can say a lot more than is possible in the traditional advertisement. It is possible to chat with the reader, give details and examples which would muddy a regular ad. A well-written advertorial will educate and inform the public about the integrity of a given online gambling site. As a welcome side effect, advertorials boost sales more than any other advertising form.