Most casinos offer occasional promotions but those in the Fortune Lounge Group like Royal Vegas Casino have a new promotional line up every month, and these line-ups are usually packed with multiple events for you to enjoy. This month is no different and from their promotional releases is sure to be supercharged with action.

During the month of May these casinos will be celebrating the classics and awarding players with extra loyalty points every time you play selected classic 3-reel slot games.

They will also be celebrating Mother’s Day in style with special Mother’s Day promotions and giveaways, so make sure that you check your inbox and the noticeboards so that you don’t miss out.

The Eurovision 2012 Song Contest will also be taking place between the 22nd and 26th of May, so play and see what surprises await you!

To wrap up the month, these prestigious online casinos will be running a Bumper Progressive Slots Tournament with a guaranteed $1000 prize pool and the more people who enter the greater the final payout will be!

Royal Vegas is an award winning online casino offering 390 games, huge progressive jackpots and fast payouts. As a new player in addition to this exciting promotional line up, you will receive a generous welcome bonus of up to €1200 across your first 6 deposits. So what are you waiting for? Play now!

When it comes to card games, Poker and Blackjack are two of the most popular and played casino games across the globe. Online casinos have however revolutionised access to more niche and specialised games and here we look at 5 of the most popular card games and what makes them attractive to casino players.

Pai Gow

The game of Pai Gow which is said to be the precursor to Baccarat originated in China centuries ago but is now easily accessible at reputable casinos like Jackpot City Online.

Played with 52 cards and a joker card which substitutes as an ace, Pai Gow is a highly entertaining game. The table resembles that of blackjack but players may act as dealers too. The main objective is to beat both of the dealer’s hands and ties may result if only one of the player’s hands equals or beats that of the dealer.

Baccarat

Baccarat was made famous by James Bond and has intrigued many for decades. While it may seem like an intimidating game it really is quite the opposite! This game is easy to learn, fun to play and has the potential for high returns thanks to a low house edge of 1.06% on the best bet.

While Baccarat is usually reserved for VIP rooms at brick and mortar casinos, you’ll have easy access to it at online casinos and can play for free while you familiarize yourself with the three betting options, namely Banker, Player and Tie until you feel comfortable enough to play for real money.

Punto Banco

Punto Banco is a variation of traditional Baccarat that is popular in the US, Canada and many European countries. It is also widely available at both Playtech and Microgaming powered online casinos.

Similar to Baccarat, players are able to wager on either the banker or player in the game with the goal of scoring 9 or as close to it as possible with the main aim being to play a better hand than your opponent.

Casino War

This game is a popular variation of the children’s game of war. It is simple to learn and play and while it doesn’t have the best odds, is still highly entertaining.

In a game of Casino War, players compare their cards to those of the dealer and either declares “war” or surrender if a tie occurs. If a surrender results the player loses half of his/her original wager.

This is definitely a fun departure from the usual casino card games and definitely worth your time.

Solitaire

Based on the classic card game, Solitaire is often available at online casinos. There are also a number of variations of this including Aces Up and Aces High Solitaire which will keep you entertained for hours on end and even offer you the opportunity to pick up some cash wins along the way.

For the more adventurous player, look out for 3D Battleships solitaire games where you have to break a record before the time runs out.

“Is it possible to cheat at Online Casinos?” This question comes up from time to time by people who do not necessarily want to cheat at an online casino but rather that are interested in whether or not this is possible and so we’ve decided to address the issue of whether a player can in fact cheat an online casino in this article.

Over the years there have been numerous attempts by less than scrupulous players to defraud and/or cheat at online casinos. If you ever encounter an online casino operator they will be able to tell you more than a few stories of players who tried and of course, failed.

More than a few hackers have attempted to access online casino’s remote gaming servers and in the infancy of the industry there was a story about a certain player who managed to hack in and manipulate the odds of certain casino games in their favour. Obviously this caused huge issues for the group concerned and steps were taken to tighten security. Today, online casinos have state of the art security and encryption and are always improving their anti-hacking and detection systems so issues like this have not arisen again in over a decade.

There are also players who attempt to cheat the casinos by seeking out weak casino bonuses where terms and conditions are not altogether clear or present loopholes which can be abused by players. While this still happens, online casinos generally present solid terms and conditions on their bonus and promotional offerings and if issues arise, work very quickly to rectify terms and conditions that cause issues, thus closing the door on bonus abuse.

Some players attempt to cheat by alleging that the online casino software has “cheated” them. They then take screenshots of a hand of cards, modify the image in Photoshop and send the screenshot in as proof that the software didn’t pick up their “win”. Online casinos are however able to check the same play check type systems that players have access to which record every game transaction and cross check these against other systems in order to verify each hand dealt, roll of the dice or spin of the slot, thus catching out any devious would be cheats.

Extremely tech savvy players have also employed blackjack strategy bots which play a perfect hand of blackjack on their behalf in an attempt to cheat. Online casinos however employ specialised algorithms to analyse game play patterns and if they pick up anomalies, even if you are using perfect game strategy, they reserve the right to retain any winnings and ban you from playing at the casino.

In short, there are many ways that players can attempt to cheat at online casinos, but with the level of technological advancement and security employed by reputable establishments like Europa Casino, their success is almost non-existent. For every attempted cheater, online casinos have measures to prevent fraud in any shape or form.

So if someone is promising you a sure way or system to cheat at online casino games, rather keep your money and don’t waste your time.

Online casinos offer a wide variety of traditional casino games from blackjack to craps as well as many modern variations of these like Caribbean Stud.

If you’re a seasoned player, playing these types of games repetitively can become a little boring. Casinos have recognised this fact and as such have added features like side bets which add more action and excitement to classic games. In general side bets can be made at a fraction of the wagering cost of normal bets in the main game. For example, blackjack tables may have minimum wagering requirements of $5, $25 or $50 per hand but you will also find that the side bet is available at $1.

You may be wondering why online casinos offer these types of bets and the reason is quite simple, the more action they can offer on their various games, the more players they will attract and the more money they will make. This is also why you’ll find much advice cautioning players against side bets, but that said, not all side bets are created equal and like with all betting options across games, some bets offer better odds than others!

Another advantage of the side bet is that because they are generally rather small bets they can help you to add a little excitement to your game when you’re getting bored without costing you too much if you lose.

Here we discuss a few frequently encountered side bets that you may consider next time you play online:

Side Bets in Craps

Craps is a game with a plethora of betting options so it may seem absurd that side bets would be added to this game, but occasionally they are. The most well-known and popular side bet is known as the Fire bet. In this bet players are paid if a shooter is able to hit four of more different points before losing the dice (by rolling a seven or crapping out before a point). Each point is unique, so if the shooter hits a 4 and has a 4 point on their next “come” roll and hits a 4 again, then this will only count as one point made. If you’re betting the standard $1, the following payout rates are applicable:

Four Points Made: $25
Five Points Made: $250
Six Points Made: $1,000

While these payouts may seem generous, always keep in mind that this game has a house advantage of over 20%.

Side Bets in Blackjack

When it comes to blackjack the most regularly encountered side bet is that of Super Sevens. This game is very simple to play and all you have to do to get in on the action is place a $1 chip on the designated Super Sevens spot. You will win this bet if you receive sevens in your next hand, beginning with the first card dealt.

Payouts generally are as follows:

If the first card is a Seven – 3 to 1
If the first two cards are Sevens - 50 to 1
If the first two cards are suited Sevens – 100 to 1
If the first three cards are Sevens - 500 to 1
If the first three cards are suited Sevens - 5000 to 1

The house advantage in this game is generally around 12% but may vary according to the rules and number of decks used in playing the game.

Side Bets in Let it Ride Poker

Occasionally you’ll find a Let it Ride poker table that allows a three card bonus bet. This type of bet is similar to the Pair plus bet in Three Card Poker games.

Players are paid according to the cards in the initial three card hand dealt and does not include the two community cards dealt by the dealer hereafter. Pay tables for this game are as follows:

Mini Royal Flush (ie Ace,King and Queen of the same suit): pays 50 to 1
Straight Flush: pays 40 to 1
Three of a Kind: pays 30 to 1
Straight: pays 6 to 1
Flush: pays 3 to 1
Pair: pays 1 to 1

When the above paytable applies the house advantage is generally in the region of 7% on this type of bet.

Ready to play? Find these side bet options and more at Spin Palace Online Casino now.

When it comes to casinos and gambling it seems that everyone has a story and some are pretty weird and wonderful. Here we look at some of the most bizarre bets and events that revolutionized the history of casinos and gambling as we know it.

William Lee Bergstrom’s winning streak

While old school Las Vegas casinos traditionally only accepted “small”” bets with the aim of slowly and steadily capturing player bankrolls, casino magnate and owner of the Horseshoe Casino, Benny Binion revolutionized Las Vegas casinos by allowing patrons first bet to be their only limit. This meant that if a player wanted to bet $100k on his or her first hand of blackjack that was acceptable but stakes could not be raised any further later in the game.

This novel approach to betting was something one seasoned gambler, William Bergstrom wanted to take advantage of. So in the mid 1980’s Bergstrom visited the Horseshoe casino armed with a suitcase filled with $777,000 and headed straight to the Craps table and bet every cent on the Don’t Pass Line. He won the bet and began what looked to be one of the most amazing hot streaks in history.

Bergstrom returned to the tables and later doubled a $590,000 bet, followed by further doubling a $190,000 wager and to top it off added another $90,000 to his casino wins. With so much cash added to his bankroll Bergstrom got caught in the age old trap and didn’t know when to stop.

The next day he returned to the Horseshoe Casino with one million dollars in cash, wagered it and lost. Tragically three months later he wagered his life and lost a game of Russian roulette.

Rags to Riches and back again

In the mid 90’s a down and out Las Vegas resident claimed his $400 social security cheque and headed to Treasure Island Casino.

According to those in the know, the man’s hygiene was less than savoury and nobody wanted to play at the same table as him, nevertheless without using even the slightest basic blackjack strategy he won $1 million. Instead of walking away the man of course continued to play and at the end of his day left Treasure Island $400 poorer.

Johnny Moss makes a knockout bet

Legendary poker player Johnny Moss met a man in a bar who claimed to have never lost a fight in his life. Moss’s friends decided to get in on a little impromptu action and bet Moss that he couldn’t knock the man out and even offered him 15 to 1 odds.

Being a gambling man, Moss couldn’t resist and ended up throwing a punch at the self-proclaimed fighting expert. Of course Moss lost the bet and even sustained broken bones and needed a trip to the hospital but didn’t regret his decision in the least, because as he stated “15 to 1 was too good to pass up“.

Putting it all on red or black

In 2004 Ashley Revell from the UK sold everything he owned from his car to his clothes, he also emptied out his entire bank account and poker bankroll. In total his life savings amounted to $136,000.

He then headed to Las Vegas and in a ceremonious event put it all on the line with a single spin at the Roulette table. With the spin of the wheel Ashley immediately placed his bet on red and seconds turned into days as he and the crowd around him waited with baited breath to see the outcome.

The Roulette ball landed on Red and Ashley went home to England with $272,000. Unlike other gamblers however, instead of gambling his winnings away as many had predicted, Ashley invested it in his very own poker site and hasn’t looked back

The largest novelty bet of all time

These days you can bet on almost everything from American Idol winners to when the human race will discover life on other planets. These types of novelty bets are often bizarre and definitely entertaining, but usually are long shots and very few professional gamblers win on novelty bets on a consistent basis.

There are however, always exceptions to the rule and in 1989 an unknown Welshman placed a £30 wager on a number of events that he believed would take place before the year 2000 at his local bookmaker. His predictions and the corresponding odds were as follows:

• U2 remaining together as a band (3 to 1)
• The knighting of Cliff Richards (4 to 1)
• The Eastenders soap opera continuing to be aired on BBC (5 to 1)
• Popular soap Neighbours continuing to be aired on British TV (5 to 1)
• Home and Away continuing to be a live TV show (8 to 1)

The odds on these bets all taking place were a whopping 6,479 to 1 and once the millennium was brought in the lucky Welshman claimed his £194,400 from his local Ladbrokes. This was the largest novelty bet and win of all time.

With the Easter week-end upon us, if you’re looking for some holiday themed fun, there are a few Easter and chocolate themed slots available online, so check these out and enjoy!

Easter Surprise Video Slot

Easter Surprise is a 5 Reel, 20 Payline Playtech powered Easter themed Video Slot available at online casinos like Europa Casino.

This slot machine is packed with amazing Easter themed graphics including the Easter Bunny, baskets full of Easter eggs and more. This exciting online slot boasts a number of features including Free spins, Bonus Games and a Gamble feature. The jackpot tops out at a whopping 10,000 coins with betting limits ranging from $0.01 to $5.00 per line.

This is one definitely not to be missed this Easter, so play it today!

Lucky Rabbit’s Loot Online Slot

Lucky Rabbit’s Loot is a newly launched Microgaming powered video slot which boasts a whimsical Easter bunny haven offering an abundance of Easter Eggs, carrots and flowers.

The game features 5 reels and 50 paylines packed with the excitement of Free Spins, Multipliers, Wilds, Scatter symbols and HUGE possible rewards.

With coin sizes ranging from 0.01 to 0.20 credits it’s definitely a game that will suit every pocket and bring you loads of joy as you play, so check it out at Roxy Palace Online Casino now.

From the Yours4Money Team…Have a very Happy Easter!

With Easter fast approaching there are sure to be a number of Easter promotions at the various online casinos across the web, but Roxy Palace has been the first to announce theirs which is entitled “Easter Millions” and is sure to be one that will have you on the edge of your seat all the way through.

From the 4th of April until the 8th of May 2012 Roxy Palace Online Casino will offer players the opportunity to win a share of 5,000,000 loyalty points! The loyalty points prizes will be divided amongst the top 125 players who earn the most points during the promotional period and the player at the top of the Easter leader board will walk away with a whopping 1 million loyalty points!

The prize pool is divided as follows:

Looks great doesn’t it? To take part in this exciting promotion, all you have to do is deposit and wager on any casino game during the promotional period and earn loyalty points as you play. You will be able to keep track of your position on the specially designed Easter leader board which details the top 200 players. As always at Roxy Palace, the loyalty points that you earn can be redeemed during the promotional period, so you don’t have to keep them until the end and doing so will not affect the total that you have earned or have any negative effects on your position on the leader board.

At the end of the promotion the top 125 players will have their loyalty points prizes credited directly to their accounts and the wagering requirement on these will be 30 times according to the promotional terms and conditions.

If you simply can’t wait until the Easter Promotion gets under way then Roxy Palace Online Casino also has a number of other events on the go including Weekend Power points and more, so visit them today!

It has become increasingly obvious that more and more online casinos are giving away prizes in the form of gifts, cars, holidays and cash than ever before, which may lead you to wonder where the money to pay for these actually comes from and if it comes out of their net profits or the gross sums earned by the casino.

Recently we have received questions regarding this issue from player who are concerned that if the cash is taken from the gross income of the casino then this may affect the casino games payouts adversely and players will not receive the full payback percentages as advertised by the casino.

While this is a very legitimate question, it is important to understand and distinguish the difference between prizes that are awarded when a winning bet or combination is hit and prizes that are awarded through promotional draws and loyalty points.

When a prize appears on the paytable of a slot machine or video poker machine then the value of this prize is built in to the long-term payout of the machine. So for example, instead of a payout of $50,000 in cash, a car to the value of $50,000 is offered in its place. This means that in the long run the machine has the same long term payout rate which is paid from the casino’s bankroll and so these do not affect the payouts of the machine adversely.

Prizes that are awarded from promotional draws or loyal promotions are on the other hand, usually covered by the casino’s marketing budget.

Then there are prizes which are awarded randomly to a player currently playing a machine and where the money for these comes from can be either out of the payout or from the marketing budget. A classic example of this in a land based casino is the case of the opening of Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. While the machines were tighter than the norm for the strip, the casino made up for this with random bonuses. While the machines would have paid back 90% on their own, the casino awarded players with an extra 2% in random bonuses increasing the overall payout rate to 92% although these prizes could also have been covered by the marketing budget for the casino.

So in conclusion, no matter where the funding for prizes comes from, it generally does not affect the payout percentage of the casino game concerned. A 90% payout rate remains 90% regardless of what prizes the online casino chooses to give away, so just enjoy the games and if you happen to win a prize, then great but if you don’t you are not getting cheated in any way when it comes to payout percentages.

Not all online casinos are created equal and there are some significant differences from one group to another. This means that apart from certain rules and regulations set out by the online gaming commission, casinos can offer very different rules, odds and promotions that can give them a better edge. For example, one online casino may offer line odds of 3 times the line bet while another may offer 10 times the bet.

Bonuses and games also differ and one casino may offer a variety of Pai Gow tables and bonuses on specific hand while others will not offer the game at all or just have one table. Baccarat is another game that sees very different bonuses, odds and numbers of tables at casinos. You can always tell by the number of variations of a certain game whether or not a casino wants to have a great deal of action on it. For example, there are thousands of different types of slots with many different themes available at online casinos (and land based ones for that matter); this shows that the casino generates most of its revenues off these types of games. There are usually also a number of blackjack and roulette tables whereas games like Sic Bo, Baccarat and Pai Gow enjoy lesser numbers.

It is very important to always review games rules, especially across games with newer variations as these can affect your enjoyment of the game a great deal and rules that are at the discretion of the house need to be fully understood to ascertain whether or not they are fair or just a way to increase the house advantage.

While reading rules before playing your favourite game may seem like as much fun as reading the casino terms and conditions, it really is something that needs to be done to ensure that you enjoy your casino experience, rather than ending up in disputes because you didn’t realise that a game had certain rules or odds after you have played.

Remember that if you don’t like the rules on a certain game you can always look elsewhere because these do differ from one casino to another and you will find one that is a good fit for you.

Casino Tropez has been in business since 2001 and recently announced its official re-launch which not only features a new design in both its website’s look and feel but also in casino software usability and added player resources.

While players can continue to enjoy the same benefits as before including over 350 exciting casino games, a rewarding VIP program, regular promotions, outstanding customer service as well as quick and easy payment processing, there are also a number of new standout features including:

• Instant Web Play – while a download version of the casino software is available, players can also login to the casino and play via the Casino Tropez website. Both platforms are accessible by the same username and password.
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• A Casino School – this is a completely new addition of casino game and strategy related articles which has been made available to assist players in learning game rules and strategies to enhance the complete gaming experience.

So if you’re in the mood for a completely awesome gaming experience built on years of experience and a trusted brand, then visit Casino Tropez now.