I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me that I get the occasional strange look from my friends when they find out that I gamble online – for real money. I’m a retired insurance agent – shouldn’t I be out yachting or playing golf or doing something, you know, sensible with my money? I keep my gaming mostly to myself – though I do brag to friends when I get a nice win at an RTG craps table – but I’ve decided it’s high time I come out and talk about how I got involved with Internet betting in the first place. It will also explain my love for Real Time Gaming casino software. Kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

I was never much of a gambler before I found casinos on the Internet. Once every three years our insurance agency had a big to-do in Las Vegas, and my wife and I would dutifully attend, mostly spending time with each other or taking in live shows. My experience with real-world gambling is actually limited to a single half-hour session with a slot machine once when I was waiting for my wife to get ready for dinner – I put in a $10 bill, and half an hour later I had enough to pay for a much nicer dinner than we’d anticipated. So I had a good early experience with gambling in general, though the bug didn’t catch me and I never played again.

About a month into my retirement, after I’d tried my hand at gardening, bird-watching, and even crocheting, I was in a bit of a rut. Work had occupied all my time – what was a guy to do? My son-in-law casually mentioned that he played poker online in an email, and my interest was piqued. Investigative guy that I am, I set my mind to finding a legitimate online casino that offered games like the one I’d played that one time in Las Vegas. What can I say, something about the thrill of placing wagers scratched an itch in me that nothing else could.

My search led me to a company called Real Time Gaming, a name that had been a part of the online real-money wagering industry since its beginning. The first RTG-powered gaming site I had the courage to point my browser at immediately offered me a few games to play totally for free, and I thought “If it’s truly free – who can it hurt?” I was hooked. I tried out every free game this site offered, then pretty soon after that I had my own bankroll and set about learning the ins and outs of Internet betting.

I’ve stayed pretty loyal to RTG software casinos since then, mostly because of familiarity. The sites I do business with have never been difficult to contact, and have always paid out winnings in a timely manner.

About those winnings – I have a set budget, an amount I’m comfortable with losing for a given month, and I only ever bet 1% of that amount (at most!) on any one gamble. That way I’ve actually profited a little from my RTG love affair. Not enough to buy a new car or (God forbid) a yacht, but enough to keep me interested. That’s how I fell in love with RTG casinos – it’s an inexpensive way for me to have a few hours of fun each week.