I’m in the mood for some slots. Probably because I’m fighting a cold and just don’t have the energy for the math or strategy for video poker and certainly not for blackjack. So it’s a slots kind of day. I’m checking out Freaky Wild West over at Bodog Casino and still trying to make sense of it. I will admit that Freaky does describe it. This is a five reel, 30 payline slot game themed after cowboys, Indians and bandits modeled from plants and veggies. At least I think that’s a cactus and a carrot. The fat blue banker that looks like some sort of gourd is the jackpot symbol. The Shaman is the Scatter symbol and can win you free spins.
Okay, one of the oddest features of the game. You collect symbols to earn the bonus games. To collect a symbol, you need two of the same symbol to be in the center line of the second and fourth reel. Then it will go to your symbol collection. You only need 4 symbols to play the Indian’s Gold bonus game, 6 for the bandit’s Safe Crackers game and 8 for the cowboys Shoot for the Loot game. But all this means you can play the game for some time and still have something new to explore.
Indian gold bonus game is styled after a three card monte game. There aren’t a lot of instructions, so I’m going to give you an intro to it. First, you are shown a board with 5 cups, each with a pile of coins in front of them. When you click to start the game, the cups jump on the coins and shuffle themselves around the board. You then get to choose three cups, so the idea is to try to keep an eye on the cups with the most coins. Sometimes I can track at least one and guess at the others. So look for the biggest stack and try to keep track of that.
In the Bandits section, collecting 6 symbols will trigger the Safe crackers bonus game which gives you a collection of safes and you select 5 to have your bandit blow up. There’s no telling how much prize money might be waiting inside. And if you manage to collect the 8 slot symbols in the Cowboys section, you’ll protect the bank from bandits by shooting them with your mouse and collect a reward for each bandit.
Overall, this is great game that will keep you spinning the reels.
It’s still early in the week, but I’m already running across Full Tilt news. Now one of the issues coming out of the Black Friday Poker Shutdown on April 15th, 2011 when the FBI seized 4 poker domains in the United States is the question — why have three of those domains failed and one survived. Of course the answers are being traced back to management and other practices in the casinos. Now light is falling on one of the practices at Full Tilt Poker that shows they were digging themselves into a hole that they now can’t dig out of.
The problem comes with the deposit practices at the online poker room that they thought was keeping them ahead of the competition. When poker players joined Full Tilt, they needed to make their first deposit, but there is always a time lag between making that deposit and the money clearing from the bank. We’re all probably familiar with this with our own bank accounts. But to be competitive, Full Tilt decided to make deposited funds available immediately, rather than waiting for them to clear. Now, actually, my bank does that. I have a long established account with them, so if I deposit a check, they make that money available to me immediately – before they’ve cleared the check with the other bank. Of course if I take that money and the check doesn’t clear, my bank is going to come to me for the funds.
That’s what was missing at Full Tilt. Well, actually, it went further than that. Full Tilt made the player’s deposited amount available immediately, but when the check cleared the bank, they didn’t take that loaned money back. Instead they left it in the player’s account, giving them more money to play with. But players were never informed that this was happening. Which means poker players out there who think Full Tilt owes them money may actually owe Full Tilt money. It’s estimated that the amount may be as high as $128 million dollars. Which just adds further complications to the Full Tilt problem.
I don’t think I’d be writing about this as news if it didn’t tie in with the ongoing problem of legal and regulated online gambling in the United States. Poker Pros Network is a poker room that’s part of the Cake Network of online poker rooms. Now Cake is best known for its own Cake Poker poker room. It was also the poker network for Doyle’s Room poker until that poker room left for the Yatahay network. Though the reasons for the changes were different for Doyle’s Room. That online poker room wanted to take advantage of a more customized poker experience that Yatahay offered (at least that’s their story).
But it seems Poker Pros is jumping ship specifically because of the problem with legal online poker in the United States (at least, that’s their story). Though they also say they’ll be introducing “new proprietary software” later this year. So, it may also be that they want more control over their own fate than Cake Network is providing them. But they’re still changing their URL to PPNpoker.eu from PPNpoker.com. And are no longer allowing players from the US to register.
While new players from the US will no longer be able to register for the PPNpoker.eu site, they do say that those US players who have an existing account will continue to be able to play on the site. This indicates that they are completely fleeing the US market, just toning things down a bit. Which makes me wonder if they are also hoping for legalized poker in the US and don’t want to lose their existing players.
If you really, really want to play online poker on the Poker Pros Network and live in the US, you have until August 31st, 2011 to register for an account. If you play on Poker Pros and want to stay with a Cake Poker network, I don’t have information yet on whether or not you’ll be able to transfer your account over. Cake has allowed that in the past.
I’m on the lookout for new and interesting bonuses this week and I’ve found one that’s bigger than most over at WinPalace Online Casino. Now, this bonus is themed around a beautiful mosaic in the WinPalace casino. I have no idea why they’ve gone for that theme and it might be more fun if there was an actual mosaic involved. But casinos like to have themes for their bonuses and I like to have free money to play with, so we’ll go with the Mosaic theme if that’s what WinPalace wants. Because I’m seeing 65% bonuses at other casinos when I’m seeing a 192% bonus over at WinPalace.
Yep, 192% bonus money on your deposit if you deposit any amount. Just use the coupon code TILE1 when you make your deposit. Now, keep in mind that this is a bonus for slots games, which is part of the reason it’s so generous. But it becomes even more generous if you deposit more money. So, if you want to deposit $100 or more, use the coupon code TILE2 and get a 230% bonus on your deposit.
Are you a high roller? If you deposit $200 or more, then WinPalace wants to reward you with a 274% bonus on your deposit. Just use the code TILE3. But they aren’t stopping there. Use the code TILE4 for a bonus of 312% on a deposit of $350 or more. That’s going to give you a lot of money to play slots with. But if you want even more, use TILE5 for a 400% bonus on a deposit of $750 or more.
Just remember to check the terms and conditions before taking advantage of this or any other casino bonus. Because there is a play through requirement and a restriction on the games you can play. So you want to be prepared to play the required games long enough to play through you deposit and the bonus money.
Want to play with a little guarantee that you won’t lose it all? Well, Club World Casino wants to make you that offer (within reason). Now, the folks over at Club World Casino know that we all love to play at online casinos and that we want to win. But sometimes that doesn’t happen and we lose money.
So, the first rule that comes in before any casino offer — watch your bankroll and don’t wager more than you can afford to lose. I can’t stress that strongly enough. Look, I love gambling. I write about gambling. I want you to have fun gambling. But I also want to remind you that you can lose money when you gambling and full acknowledge that if you can’t afford to lose money, gambling might not be for you.
Now online casinos can make gambling more accessible and actually more affordable since it does eliminate the need for travel and accommodations expenses. Which means if you only have $25 is that entertainment budget, you can spend it at the online casino rather than spending most of it on gas to get to the casino.
But over at Club World Casino, they’re trying to take the sting out of losing money in that bankroll with a 25% cashback bonus now through Monday, August 29th. All you have to do is play at the casino where I really do hope you win and don’t need this offer. But if you lose money and don’t make an overall profit, you can email the casino promotions department at get 25% cashback on your money.
So, check your bankroll and watch your money, but check out Club World Casino for a little extra cashback to help you out.
I’m in the mood for playing some slots today so I’m checking for some new games and looking at Mermaid’s Quest because it’s a visually appealing game and includes a nice bonus game. Mermaid’s Quest is a five reel, nine payline slot game. Okay, I have to admit that the nine pay line games always drive me a bit nuts trying to figure out how much to bet. Nine cents is too little and there’s that jump from 45 cents to 90 cents. So, I’m at 90 cents right now. And then the nine pay lines mean I always think I’ve landed on a pay line when I haven’t. But that doesn’t make the game a bad game.
Mermaid’s Quest has an undersea mermaid theme with cartoon style mermails, fish and sea items. When you do hit on a pay line, the fish dance happily, so it’s easy to spot a match. The treasure chest is the wild symbol to help your slots winnings. And King Neptune is the scatter symbol who will win you some free spins. And free spins are considered the best bonus in a slots games. But the fun doesn’t end there.
The Mermaid is the bonus symbol and when you land three or more on a payline, she’ll dive beneath the ocean to lead you to the treasure chests. There are three levels of treasure chests and you get to open a chest on each one. You keep the prize that you find inside and the underwater scenes will have you wanting to win again and again.
Over all, Mermaid’s Quest is a fun slot game designed to keep you winning enough to be happy with the game. It’s also a perfect game for a hot summer day when you want to take a dive into the ocean.
“When you go to Vegas, play the slot game nearest to the entrance. They have the best odds.”
Have you ever had anyone give you advice like that? It’s one of the myths out there about winning at slots. I’ve heard it before though the exact placement of the “best slot machines” seems to vary. Some say near the casino entrance. Others say at the end of a row, near the aisle where people walk. Here, there, everywhere! Just find the right machine and you’ll win. Except, well, folks — these are slot machines. The odds are with the house no matter where they put that machine. And for the most part, you can throw the placement advice out the window on your way to the casino.
Here’s why. Yes, today slot machines can be programmed to offer different odds depending on what the casino requests. But that programming isn’t really something that can be done on the fly. The idea behind casinos placing higher payout machines in certain places is that people will see players winning on those machines and therefore, want to play slots at the casino. Now, the argument does have a certain rational. Yes, casinos want to attract attention to winners. That’s why they have flashing lights and ringing bells when someone wins. But does that mean the slot games near high traffic spots have better odds?
As players we need to realize that casinos move slot machines around. If a machine in a high traffic spot, which is going to get the most traffic and play, breaks, they need to replace it to avoid losing revenue. If a game with a certain theme is attracting players, they want that game where it can attract players. These considerations are more important than boosting the odds a fraction. And these considerations can also mean that the games in the high traffic areas will have consistent winners simply because there are in the most high traffic areas and get more play.
So, when playing slots, play the games that you enjoy and work with your bankroll. Enjoying your experience is more important than the placement of the machine.
I’m just reading the news that the bill that would have legalized online poker in California has been declared dead. Now, this isn’t “fully dead and never to be resurrected” which is good news for players. It seems that the California legislature has announced that they don’t have time to hear the bill before the September 9th deadline for their legislative year. But they did say that significant progress has been made on the proposal so they will exam it in 2012.
Now this is bad news for both poker players and possibly the California budget. Many poker players have been hoping that states will take a more favorable look at online poker and the potential it has to resolve some of their budget woes. And California is facing a big budget crisis so people where hoping that the need to find a budget solution would help push the bill for legal online poker through the legislature. But this temporary death of the poker bill won’t help either the budget or the players.
Now, there is still a lot of debate taking place around online poker and online gambling with some wanting the federal government to step in and resolve the issue at their level. This would mean online gambling would be legal and regulated throughout the United States as a whole, perhaps with states having the ability to opt out. But the death of the California poker bill can be just another sign that whatever changes come to the online gambling world and online poker world are not going to come quickly or easily. And none of our budget woes– state, federal or personal — are likely to end anytime soon.
Checking the news today I’m coming across some bad news for those who used to play at Full Tilt Poker — it looks like the negotiations may have fallen through.
Okay, so Full Tilt players will probably know what that sentence means all by itself, but for those who haven’t just put their fist through a wall, I’ll provide a little background. Prior to April 15, 2011, Full Tilt Poker was among the most active poker rooms in the world. Then on April 15th, the FBI seized the domain names of 4 online poker rooms operating in the United States and Full Tilt poker was one of those four. Now, the seized poker rooms couldn’t continue to operate in the United States, but that didn’t stop their Canadian or European operations. However even with the non-US operations unaffected, only PokerStars seems to have emerged from the shut down in working condition.
After the April 15th shut down, Full Tilt was unable to return the money held in the accounts of players in the United States. But they continued operating in the UK and EU. Until the Alderney Gambling Control Commission pulled their license because they weren’t able to pay back their US customers. So, now Full Tilt Poker is unable to operate. But there was a single ray of hope when a group of mysterious European investors showed interest in acquiring the poker room.
But now the poker room has announced that they’ve ended the “exclusive negotiation period” with the mysterious investors and said they’re entering negotiations with another potential investor. Which most are interpreting to mean that the investors are having second thoughts. After all, to keep Full Tilt operating, they’ll have to pay back all the money the poker room owes.
Have you ever wondered “why do I always lose at slots?” Well, the answer to that question is — because we often keep playing until we lose. Let’s take a look at how slot play often goes down. Let’s say I walk into a casino or log onto my favorite online casino with $50 to play. So, I spin the reels and I go down a bit, then I make a nice hit and I’m up to $60. So what do I do next? I spin again. Come on, we know we don’t stop playing when we win $10. So, maybe I go down a bit, say to $55. Then I hit again and bump up to $75. Some more ups and downs and I’m at $100. Wahoo, that’s a 100% profit on what I started with. So, I take my money and leave happy, right?
Well, not always. After all, now I have $100 to play slots with and there’s probably a tempting jackpot I haven’t won yet. So I keep on spinning the reels. And drop down to $75. Drat. But, hey, I won before. I can win again. So I keep spinning and looking for that good win. But I don’t win and the more my bankroll drops, the more I’m desperate to win. And then I’m below my $50 starting point, but I can’t quit because if I do, it’s like I’m losing $100. So I keep betting. And suddenly, I’m back at $50. So do I stop? Nah, of course not. I have $50 I can bet.
This is the real house advantage to slots. When we win, we keep playing because we might win more. When we lose, we want to win it back. So, make plan when you start playing. Decide when to stop playing, and stick with it. Or at least never play with more than you can afford to lose.
