For many years, Mac users got the short end of the stick when it came to playing at online casinos. Since the vast majority of computer users were using Windows, casino operators didn’t see a reason to invest in solutions for Mac users, which often left those who owned Macs with few (if any) options for playing their favorite casino games in the online world.
But over time, this attitude started to change, and online casino operators began finding ways to allow Mac users to take part in the action. These days, there are numerous solutions available for players who use Macs to play at virtually any online casino in the world. In some cases, a Mac casino may not have all of the functionality or games of the standard online casino, but even that has begun to change for many users who are willing to do a little work to improve their casino experience.
If you have a Mac and you’ve thought that you were shut out of the online casino experience, think again! Below, we’ll show you two very popular and simple ways to get into online gambling – one that takes absolutely no technical know-how at all, and another that’s simple enough that anyone can learn how to do it with very little trouble.
Instant Play Mac Casinos
The classic way of hopping into an online casino from a Mac is to utilize the instant play, browser-based version of the online casino software. While having a Flash or Java-based online casino used to be a special feature offered only by a few sites, today’s online casinos almost universally offer two ways to connect: either through the traditional downloadable program that installs a client onto your computer, or by quickly launching the no download version in your web browser. And while the downloadable versions are still almost always created only for Windows users, the browser-based programs are designed to be usable on any computer, whether it runs Windows, a version of the Mac OS, or a Linux OS.
Using a browser-based casino program is extremely simple. Just fire up your favorite web browser and navigate to the casino website of your choice. Chances are that they’ll heavily advertise their instant play version right on the front page, but even if they don’t, there’s likely a page devoted to it somewhere on the site.
Once you find the appropriate link, click on it, and the client will open in your browser. Now, just put your account name and password in, and you’re all set to play! It’s really that simple; as long as your browser is up to date, you shouldn’t have any problems operating a browser-based casino program.
The advantages to using an instant play Mac casino are obvious. It’s an extremely simple solution, and it allows you to instantly start playing no matter when you feel the need to get a few hands of blackjack or rounds of craps in. In addition, you can even use it if you’re at a friend’s house or any other time you’re on the go.
Perhaps the biggest advantage to the browser-based casino is the fact that it requires no installation at all. While casino programs from reputable sites aren’t going to cause any problems for your machine, some players may not like having casino programs visibly available on their computers, and the instant play casino offers a way to avoid this. Plus, if you share the machine, you never have to hear complaints from other users about the programs you’ve been installing.
Not surprisingly, there are some disadvantages to using these no download casino programs. While these programs have gotten much better over the last few years, they still don’t have quite the same level of stability and reliability of the downloadable programs. In many cases, you won’t get the same graphical quality from an instant play casino, either.
Most importantly to many players, instant play casinos usually have fewer games available than the downloadable casino option. Often, new games are not released as quickly for the browser-based casino, so if you want access to the latest slots and other new games, you’ll need to use the downloadable version. That said, the no download casino almost always has a good representation of the games available; there are just likely to be a few games missing from every section (slots, table games, video poker, and so on).
Downloadable Mac Casinos: Boot Camp and Other Options
Earlier, we mentioned that casino clients aren’t really made for Macs. While that’s technically true, that’s not the same as saying that you can’t use a Windows client on your Mac computer. In fact, there are several solutions out there that are designed to allow you to use Windows programs on your Mac!
On newer Macs (OS X v10.5 and newer), the Boot Camp functionality allows you to run any Windows program with very little difficulty. With Boot Camp, you can install the Windows OS of your choosing onto your Mac, and choose to boot up into Windows mode whenever you like.
There are other solutions other than boot camp, including virtual machine programs and various methods of software emulation that allow you to operate in a virtual Windows environment. But Boot Camp is by far the best solution, as it allows you to simply run Windows as you would on any PC – and because you’re running the full Windows OS, you can be sure that any programs you want to use in there, including any casino clients, will work just as well as they would on a normal PC.
The advantage to using this method is that you’ll be able to enjoy the full functionality of your favorite casino, including any special games that are only available in the downloadable version. The downside, of course, is that this method is slightly more complex; you will have to perform a few installations to get started, and as we mentioned earlier, if you’re on a shared computer, that might not be an option for you. Still, if you’d like to get the most out of your online casino experience and don’t mind putting in a little work, this is probably the easiest way to use a downloadable casino client on a Mac.
