This wonderful country is associated with pubs, leprechauns, and the green color all over the world. Ireland has incredibly beautiful nature, rich history, interesting traditions, and friendly people. Every day online casinos in Ireland are visited by millions of gambling fans and it is not surprising. After all, the local gambling industry is constantly growing and offering new options of online gaming and attractive bonus programs. Moreover, Irish websites are always improving the quality of graphics and opening up limitless opportunities for the most sophisticated players
It has to be said that Irish casinos are some of the most popular in the world. And in this article, we are going to talk about the main interesting features of the Irish gambling industry and 5 interesting facts about Irish casino websites. So, let’s begin.
The Irish gambling Industry
Gambling in Ireland is legal, although the legislation is a bit outdated as it has many grey areas. The horse racing and sports betting industry is well developed here. Bookmakers have been successfully operating in the country since the 18th century. The casino industry is emerging in the form of private clubs that offer gambling activities. The land-based gambling market in Ireland (excluding casinos) generates gross revenue of about 2 billion euros a year. The lion’s share comes from betting — about 1 billion euros in gross revenue. Casinos give away more than 200 million euros a year.
Different areas of gambling are regulated by different authorities. For example, the Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery is responsible for the state lottery. The Department of Justice and Equality deals with real and online betting. There are several gambling laws but in the nearest future the Irish government plan to create a new legislation system for all local gambling institutions.
5 interesting facts about online casinos in Ireland
1. Patrick’s Day is the main casino holiday
On March 17, you can find leprechauns with red beards on the streets of many countries, hear the sounds of bagpipes, and drink green beer in bars. This is St. Patrick’s Day, the patron saint of Ireland and the man who brought Christianity to this country. On this day, almost all the best online casinos for Irish players give away generous bonuses, free spins, and cash prizes to celebrate the holiday. Websites also integrate bright green details, fairy tale animations with leprechauns, gold, and
shamrocks into their design.
The date was first celebrated back in the 10th century. Over time, the Irish migrated, so traditions covered more and more new territories. Today, St. Patrick is revered in America, Canada, Malaysia, Argentina, and Australia. The strange creatures of leprechauns became part of the celebration recently. The organizers of the celebration needed a bright memorable image, but a stern Patrick didn’t fit. So the choice was made in favor of these colorful characters from Irish folklore.
2. English is not the main casino language
The native language of this country is Irish, one of the Celtic languages. Although English is common throughout the island, Irish is the official language. It is also taught in school as the main language. It is quite different from English as it belongs to the Goidelic subgroup along with Scottish. English appeared here only in the 12th century, and in the 18th-19th centuries, it began to replace Irish, becoming the native language for a bigger part of the population.
Most local casinos have the option to switch between Irish and English. But still, the most authentic websites are Irish-only. Of course, their audience is a bit smaller and they are harder to find. But these are the casinos where local gamblers like to play.
3. Most gamblers come from outside of Ireland
The number of Irish people in the world is much greater than the population of Ireland. While about 4.9 million people live on the island, there are 70 million Irish people worldwide. Most live in the United States, it is about 33 million people. The reason for this large-scale settlement of the Irish around the world was the famine of the 1840s. Because of the crop failure, two million emigrated between 1845 and 1855.
Thus the main share of users of Irish casinos are players from the United States. However, it is worth noting that local casinos have quite favorable playing conditions and bonus policies. This is why players from other countries often choose Irish websites.
4. Ireland has its own kind of poker
The main feature of Irish online casinos is the unique Irish kind of poker. The game is played with a deck of 52 cards. Poker players are dealt four cards in the preflop. After the flop, the two extra cards are discarded, and the further game does not differ from the Texas Hold’em. Having four starting cards introduces the dynamic play, as gamblers enter the hand to see the flop with a wide range of possible options.
Dealing four cards instead of two allows many players to enter the flop to make a better hand. It’s important to figure out which cards you should keep for a stronger hand. Players with a pair, high cards, or over-pairs have the least chance of winning. More chances to win have the straight, the flush draw, and the set. To play Irish poker you need to be well versed in the combinations and counting the odds. Unfortunately, the Irish game is not very popular in the world. Online rooms are not very eager to include Irish poker in their lobby. However, it is still possible to find it in traditional Irish online casinos.
5. The most popular is a Live Dealer game
Online casinos with live dealers have become incredibly popular among Irish online gamblers in recent years. Players can now easily go to Yukon Gold casino or any other great website with real money games and blur the line between actual and online play. Such sites provide the opportunity for players from different parts of the globe to meet at the same table and get the thrill of playing with a live dealer.
Live croupiers are real people, usually young girls, with the skills of a professional dealer. They are working in specially equipped gaming rooms, from which the live video broadcast. All the actions of croupiers are captured by a few cameras. In this case, all manipulation of the dealer is conducted in real-time. He takes bets, deals cards, spins the roulette wheel, as well as talks with players, and wishes them good luck. Each online player can choose their dealer or change the croupier at any time by connecting to another gaming table. Such features made live games so popular among Irish gamblers.
Conclusion
Ireland has long been famous for its love of gambling and entertainment. The country has many land-based gambling establishments and online casinos that operate every day. Local websites attract players with their unique and traditional features making them a perfect place to come back to. In this article, we have covered only a few interesting facts about the local gambling industry, but there are many more specific things that gamblers can find in Irish casinos.
