Online gambling is nothing new – sites have been taking real-money wagers since the mid-90s. What I’ve done to make my Internet gambling hobby more enjoyable is connect my fancy TV to my computer and incorporated live dealer gaming to create a prettier and more realistic experience.

I’m going to show you a few ways of playing casino games on your TV, so you can turn your living room, man cave, or anywhere you have a nice television into a miniature casino. I never enjoyed Internet betting as much as I do now until I learned to play on my television; it’s easy to do and most of the time inexpensive or totally free if you have the right components.

1. Figure Out What Connections Your Computer & TV Have

The good news is most modern computers and TVs are already set up for this kind of connection and all you have to do is link the two. The trick is figuring out which connections you have. The three most common ways of connecting a computer to a TV are using an HDMI, VGA, or a DVI connection.

I’ll give you my experience for an example: my TV allows for any of the above connections (they’re plainly labeled on the back), but my PC only had an HDMI port. All I did was use an HDMI cable and connect the two and instantly my beautiful plasma display became a computer monitor.

2. Buy the Right Hardware

If you don’t already have the correct hardware to connect your laptop or desktop to your computer, you’ll need to be sure to buy the right cables or other pieces of equipment. This is where things can get a little confusing, especially for people who don’t have a lot of experience working with audio/visual equipment.

The best thing to do is talk to an employee at your chosen retailer – most of these guys either have the knowledge or know where to look to find it. Connecting computers and TVs is common, and most of the time just asking for help is enough to get you the right hardware to turn your television into monitor display.

3. Install Hardware & Run Casino Software

Once you have the right equipment in hand, such as an HDMI cable or a connector for a VGA hookup, just install it as spelled out in the instructions or according to what you learned when you bought it. Most of the time, all you’re doing is running a single cable from one port to another.

Once you’ve made the connection and set your television to display the port (sometimes labeled PC or Computer), all you’ll need to do is log in to your casino account and play games like you would, only with a much larger and nicer display.

This only makes sense if you have a nice TV, one with a better display than your computer. Playing live dealer games in this setup is the closest thing to actually being in a casino that you’ll get without leaving your house – a live dealer broadcasting on your TV and interacting with you is as close to real casino gambling as you’ll get.