Archive for the ‘Online Casinos’ Category

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Low Entry Online Blackjack Tournament

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Many online blackjack players enjoy taking a break from regular game playing and take some time to play in an online blackjack tournament or two. Some of these players are serious high rolling players and they will seek out online blackjack tournaments with higher limits.

But not everyone wants to play in such a tournament; they would rather play in an online blackjack tournament with less pressure—especially if they are just breaking into online tournament play.

For online blackjack players who are new to tournaments or who are just new to playing their favorite casino game online, low entry tournaments are a nice alternative.

And thankfully there are a couple of online casinos that offer low entry tournaments. How low is low? Try a $0.99 entry fee. Now, that is low. In fact, it does not get lower than that unless you are playing in some low entry online slots tournaments. But you are a blackjack player, and $0.99 is as low as blackjack tournaments online get.

These online blackjack tournaments happen every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8pm on the starting day to 8pm on the next day. In other words, these are 24 hour tournaments. Players are given 50 tournament credits to play with; rebuys are $2.49. Players are playing for a percentage of the Pot. As for the variation of online blackjack being used, it is Vegas Strip.

This type of online blackjack tournament is great for those that are novices at online tournaments and for those who like the thrill of a tournament but do not want to drop a large entry fee or “invest” a large entry fee.

Now the names of the two online casinos that were nice enough to offer novice tournament players and for-fun tournament players to play for such a low cost: Online Vegas and Go Casino.

Online Vegas is a Vegas technology powered online casino and licensed out of Cyprus; it has a payout percentage of 97.8%.

Go Casino is newer online casino licensed out of Curacao with a payout percentage of 97.1%, it also is powered by Vegas Technology.

To get in on this $0.99 online blackjack tournament action every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, click over to Online Vegas or Go Casino.

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New Jersey Might Be First State to Regulate Online Gambling

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

New Jersey is one of the leading regulators of the brick and mortar casino industry. So it isn’t any surprise that those in the U.S. are eyeing them as the potential first to regulate online gambling for their state.

In fact, there are two bills in the state’s Senate and Assembly. And they both have bipartisan support too.

What these two bills are aiming to do is allow brick and mortar casinos the chance to apply for licenses to operate some online gambling services, which are to include online blackjack.

The way the bills are structured is that brick and mortar casinos that would like to add online gambling services to their casinos games would have to pay a $200,000 licensing fee for the first year. This would be followed by $100,000 renewal fee every year thereafter, as well as having the profits from online gambling games taxed 20%.

There are those that are opposed to these bills, saying that by legalizing and regulating online gambling within New Jersey the amount of people addicted to gambling will increase. However, to address these concerns, the two bills also have in them that $100,000 each year will be put into programs to prevent gambling addictions and to help those with gambling addictions.

You have to love a bill that wants to legalize online gambling and is still concerning itself with gambling addiction.

Recently California tried to put through a bill that would legalize online gambling in their state, but was met with opposition from tribes in the state. The bill never passed.

New Jersey has a more favorable chance of getting their bills passed because they don’t have any tribes within their state that are recognized by the federal government.

We’ll have to sit back and see how this one plays out. But here’s to hoping that New Jersey can get these bills passed and be the first state to legalize online gambling. Perhaps if the federal government sees states beginning to legalizing online gambling, they’ll work on it themselves.

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Legalizing Online Gambling: Struggle of the Politicians

Friday, May 14th, 2010

What needs to be done for the good of this country’s revenue seems to be taking a backseat to the clash of Democrats and Republicans. It’s no longer about do we legalize online gambling for revenue, but about who’s in power.

And it’s a back and forth thing.

First a review. Representative Barney Frank has introduced two bills to the House. One is written to do away with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The other bill is to pave the way and lay the foundation for the U.S. to have a regulated internet gambling industry. And that would mean revenue for this country, which is badly needed.

On top of Frank’s bills is one introduced by Representative Jim McDermott. McDermott’s bill is designed to set up taxation of a U.S. regulated online gambling industry.

Now comes the political power struggle.

UIGEA was supposed to go into effect in December, however, lobbying created a six month delay. Frank’s hearing for his bills was supposed to happen before the rules take effect.

So the Republicans get UIGEA created and the Democrats delay it so that their Frank could come in and try to get his bills passed, which would wipe out UIGEA and get the U.S. geared up to have its own regulation. (Republicans-1, Democrats-1)

Next, Frank’s hearing is delayed and the implementation of UIGEA is in less than three weeks. So it’s now unlikely that Frank’s bills will get passed before UIGEA goes into effect. (Republicans-2, Democrats-1).

Now here’s where it gets a bit clever. Frank is going to wait to have his hearing on his bills and McDermott’s. Why wait though? Why not fight right up until June 1st?

Think about it, if UIGEA goes into effect there will be millions of Americans who won’t be able to play their blackjack, poker and slots. They will be quite unhappy to have a preferred form of entertainment taken away “for their own good.” And in November is an election…

You see where this is going.

The Democrats are hoping that if enough online gamblers are angry enough at what the Republicans have done that it will give the Democrats the edge. With a majority, the Democrats can push through Frank’s and McDermott’s bills, opening up a source of revenue for the U.S. And giving us back our access to our blackjack, poker and slots. (Potentially, Republicans-2, Democrats-3)

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Cheeseburgers and Legalizing Online Gambling

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

John Stossel is a business anchor for Fox News, and when it comes to the concept of legalizing gambling, he’s a savvy and straight forward guy.

In a recent interview with Bill O’Reilly on The O’Reilly Factor, Stossel brings up several good points as to why the government should legalize gambling and leave “consenting adults alone.”

The government’s main problem with legalizing online gambling is that it’s a public safety hazard. Mainly one person could go out, be irresponsible and lose all his money and wipe out his family. Ergo, the government says that gambling is a danger to others.

But then Stossel points out that adults can go out, get drunk and crash their car. That would wipe out a family too, in addition to potentially wiping out the lives of others. Yet, as long as you are 21, you’re legal to drink alcohol.

To counter that, it was pointed out to Stossel that the government understood that and enacted prohibition. Stossel then asks us to consider how prohibition turned out. Americans still wanted to drink and they found ways of doing so. Just like how right now Americans want to gamble in online casinos from the comfort of their homes, and they are finding ways to do so.

The problem with this is that the money being made off of Americans gambling isn’t going back into America. It’s going to other companies overseas. We are, in essence, funding other countries.

O’Reilly then brings up the point that if it’s bad for you then it should be banned. Stossel counters that by saying that everything would be banned for public safety because some many things that we like could have a bad impact on us. Like cheeseburgers. Overindulge in those and you could give yourself a heart attack, die and hurt your family. Because you died from a long-term cheeseburger overdose.

Stossel sums himself up by implying that the government can’t mother us all, and to “leave consenting adults alone.’

I like this guy’s point of view. There are a good many things that we do that are harmful to us that are legal, such as cigarettes and liquor. Granted those have age limits on them, but if you’re at least 18 and 21 respectively then you’re legal to use them.

Stossel has another good point about legalizing online gambling. The tax revenue is going overseas rather than funding our own country. And if Americans are going to find a way to play games like blackjack, slots, roulette and poker then go ahead and legalize it and bring the revenue into our own country.

Besides Americans will find a way to gamble online if they really want to.

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Rushmore-No More Blackjack Tournaments

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

A good many online blackjack players like Rushmore Casino. Not only are they a reputable online casino with a high payout percentage (it’s 98.1% by the way), they like online blackjack players.

Rushmore offers blackjack players their own special bonus. But they also offer players some great online blackjack tournaments. Or they used to anyway.

Not only is Rushmore losing their blackjack tournaments, but its sister online casinos, Cherry Red Casino, Slots Oasis Casino and Pure Vegas Casino, will also be losing their blackjack tournaments as well. But of these four online casinos, Rushmore is the biggest and the most well-known for offering a superior gaming experience.

This actually doesn’t have to do with a decision made by Rushmore. This decision is actually thanks to Real Time Gaming and 21 Gnet. Rushmore is powered by a Real Time Gaming Platform, which is who creates and manufactures Rushmore’s games. But the blackjack tournament system is powered by 21 Gnet. But as of April 8th, Real Time and 21 Gnet quit working together.

This is a loss for blackjack players. There are a good many online casinos out there that are aimed at slots players, but not nearly as many aimed at blackjack. Online casinos like Rushmore were a major coup for online blackjack players because we had a place to play that had us in mind.

Such online casinos made a sure we had bonuses and tournaments. Now with the blackjack tournaments being nixed from Rushmore, blackjack players will have to find regular online casinos to play in. Such a loss to Rushmore.

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Bye Bye Visa and Mastercard

Friday, February 5th, 2010

It finally seems that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UICEA) is upon U.S. players. In light of the upcoming implementation, Mastercard and Visa have both stop processing payments to and from online gambling sites.

So it seems that they are trying to stop us from playing blackjack online. But where there is a will to play there is a way to play. U.S. players will now have to turn to other payments options. And, yes, they do exist.

Other payment options include eChecks, eWalletexpress and Usemywallet. Electronic checks are also an option. They can be deposited directly with the online casino. Then you’ll be off to play blackjack online. And once you have your winnings, you can have the online casino issue you an electronic check. It’s kind of like having a bank account on the internet without it actually being a real U.S. bank that will try to block your financial interactions with an online casino. These electronic checks are usually free of charges,

But maybe U.S. blackjack players can hope. Online casinos got around this sort of thing once in the past. The last time Mastercard tried this, within two months online casinos had removed code that identified payments from them as being from an online gambling site.

But it seems that this time around online casinos are just going to turn their backs on Mastercard and Visa and not even bother. Rather they’ll just rely on other electronic forms of payment and keep on providing games.

But a certain amount of pity should be directed at Mastercard and Visa, blackjack fans. While we don’t like paying fees to them, they are missing out on a lot of money in fees. And well, that is how they make their money so that they can go on giving us credit. But then it’s one more aspect that UIGEA hurts.

Really I must say that U.S. citizens are actually pretty lucky. UIGEA was supposed to take effect in December of 2009. So we should really feel lucky that we have until June now.

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Where to Find Free Blackjack

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

We’ve heard it everywhere we go: the economy certainly isn’t what it used to be. So since we’ve all heard it I’m not going to go on about it. But I will say that a very large number of people in America are looking for ways to cut costs and save some money. Usually it’s the extras that go first. And gambling games, such as our blackjack, are probably on that list.

But for blackjack players who play because they love the game, they don’t have to actually give it up. You can always play for free.

Granted, you won’t make any money playing for free, but you can still enjoy the game. And it also can serve as practice if you’re trying to bone up on your skills—after all, if you’re playing for free you don’t have to worry about losing money to practice.

And even though you don’t have any money at stake when playing blackjack online for free, you still want to play a reputable online casino just in case you run into some technical issue or need some help from customer support. You want to know that there are people that are there to help you.

Some of the best places to play free blackjack online are at the same online casinos you play at for money.

Online casinos also have the gaming software that is specifically designed for casino favorites. These aren’t little flash jobs. These have all the lights and sound of a real casino. And when you’re playing blackjack online you’ll get the view that you’re playing at a blackjack table.

The majority of online casinos offer free-play modes. Usually they use these to allow potential players to try out their interfaces and games in hopes that these new players will create a real money account. And they have the customer support staff to handle any concerns that you might have.

But established players can log in to their favorite online casinos to play blackjack and still play for free. Just make sure that you click on the Play for Fun option—you don’t want to accidently play with your money when you‘re wanting to play blackjack for free.

Blackjack doesn’t have to be out of your reach just because you might not have extra money floating around. The point is to enjoy this game. And playing for free online can give you that.

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Kentucky Looking to Say ‘Yay’ to Online Gambling—Sort of

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

In what seems to be a positive trend for United States’ gambling, Kentucky is now joining the list of states looking at gambling as a resource to help pull their state out of the recession. Kind of.

Kentucky Governor Steven Beshear is seeking to right his state’s budget, which is $850 million short for the next two fiscal years. Beshear is already speaking as if the revenue from legalizing and regulating interstate gambling will be a definite thing. He’s treating it like it’s the only option available for Kentucky. According to him, the $850 million he would have to cut from other spending would be reduced to $78 million in cuts.

Beshear has been quoted as saying, “[Gambling revenue] will provide a reliable source of income we can use year after year after year to make investments in the institutions and people of this state, to strengthen our efforts to emerge from this recession not shell-shocked and shattered, but ambitious and able.”

Pretty words from a man who is very opposed to online gambling and online casinos—this would include online blackjack. Beshear believes online casinos are “leaches to the state.”

But he’s perfectly okay with gambling face to face. Apparently, playing blackjack in a Kentucky sanctioned casino would be very different from playing in an online casino that is regulated by Kentucky.

Perhaps Beshear should reexamine his stance on online casinos and online gambling like New Jersey and Florida are doing. If it’s revenue for his state that he’s seeking surely he can see the benefit that online gambling being regulated in Kentucky could have for his state.

By regulating face to face gambling within the borders of Kentucky, Beshear would only be making money off of Kentucky residents. But if he were to work with the state’s Legislature to regulate online gambling within Kentucky the potential to reach out and pull in more revenue will increase. Online casinos make playing your favorites, like our favorite blackjack, more accessible. The more accessible it is, the more people will play it.

So perhaps Kentucky should be looking in the direction that New Jersey and Florida are.

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Florida is Waking Up for Online Blackjack

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

It finally seems that the states are waking up in regards to online gambling and online blackjack. Last week, in light of Pennsylvania approving table games, New Jersey is looking at legalizing online gambling for its residents. Now it seems that Florida may go down that road too.

Florida itself doesn’t seem to be really opposed to gambling. The state does have casinos and racinos. The legislature’s decision, I think, came down to which side had more money to lobby with. But anyway, the Seminoles have had their dreams of having a monopoly on blackjack tables done away with. Which is a shame because the Florida budget could use the income that would have come from the Seminoles.

And I’m sure Floridians would have loved to have blackjack tables at all seven tribal casinos.

But closing the doors on the Seminole blackjack tables doesn’t fix Florida’s need for revenue. So similar to how Pennsylvania turned to table games like blackjack to fill in the hole in their budget, Florida is beginning to look in that direction too…only they’re looking at online gambling regulations.

And I have to give them some kudos here. They are acknowledging that Americans gamble online.

Yes, Americans gamble. Don’t even pretend to be surprised.

Florida’s Office of Program Policy and Government Analysis (OPPAGA) is reviewing the good and the bad of legalizing and regulating online gambling, such as online blackjack, within Florida. They have accepted that Americans have turned online gambling into a past time. And they’re seeing the millions, if not billions, of dollars that are being funneled into the revenue of other countries where it has no benefit to the Americans who are playing.

In legalizing online gambling, Florida is hoping to find the money to fill in the holes in their budget, and then put that money to use for the Floridians that are doing the gambling. Hopefully, Florida will legalize online gambling and that will help turn the tide on a federal level.

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A New Blackjack Variation: Streak

Monday, January 11th, 2010

Mao Gaming has created a new blackjack variation: Streak. Like most variations, this excludes Pontoon, this new variation is based on a side bet.

The game of blackjack itself is played the same as it regularly would—there are no special rules here that change how you play. Streak comes down to its side bet. And in this one you’re betting on the how many games in a row you can win. Just win, not get blackjack. All you have to do is beat the dealer like you normally would.

At the beginning of a round of Streak Blackjack, after placing wager for that round, you can make one of four side bets: that you will win 2 times in a row, 3 times in a row, 4 times in a row or 5 times in a row. The payout for the streak bet pays out as follows:

Win 2 in a row: 3-1
Win 3 in a row: 7-1
Win 4 in a row: 17-1
Win 5 in a row: 37-1

In this variation when you have to push a hand it doesn’t count against you. And when it comes to splitting hands, if you win one split and lost the other, it will cancel itself out—think +1 and -1. If you win one split and push the other it will count as a win; and if you lose one split and push the other it will count as a loss.

Because you play to win at blackjack anyway, many players feel that this is a pretty decent variation and side bet. In Streak you’re betting on how many times you can win, which you’re trying to do anyway. But let’s look at the house edge on winning each of the streak bets:

Winning 2: 9.7%
Winning 3: 14.3%
Winning 4: 8.4%
Winning 5: 8.2%

Now other than winning three in a row, the house edges for the Streak side bet don’t seem that bad. But if you lose the side bet, that’s more money lost on top of the money lost while playing the regular blackjack portion of the game. And when you look at the house edge of 0.5% after basic strategy, which way looks like the better game to play?

As with all side bet blackjack variations, stick with a regular blackjack game.

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