The Online Casino Gambling Blog

One of the most telling factors of an online casino’s integrity is the software that it uses. When looking for a fair online casino, be sure to research their software provider. Most online casinos buy or license their games from a software developer, while others create their own.

Many people argue that software companies who develop their own software can manipulate it to suit their own needs. However, determining whether or not they are publically-listed companies will tell you if their software is fair. Check out online gambling review websites to determine the status of a casino that develops their own software.

When it comes to software developed by a third party, look for these names: Cryptologic, Micogaming, Playtech and RTG (Real Time Gaming). These are some of the most popular and most trusted casino software developers on the internet, and they have gained that reputation by providing their customers with fair online gaming.

They all have received Random Number Generator (RNG) certification. This means that a third party auditor has examined their shuffling and randomizing practices to determine that players are receiving the exact same experience they would at a reputable land-based casino when playing at online casinos that use software from these companies.

Some software developers will even go the extra mile to ensure that players will receive fair treatment. For example, RTG does not allow casinos to change their pay tables or the odds, but they will make changes if the casino makes a justified case for a change within a 2% to 4%. As well, Cryptologic is known for putting strict regulations on the casinos who license their games.

Always check the latest casino news and Licensing and Software section of an online casino to ensure they are providing you with a fair experience. On these pages you can find out their payout percentages, odds and sometimes even read the RNG reports.

The UK gambling Commission has been doing such a bangup job on policing online gambling, making it safe for players both new and experienced that in the last two years since its implementation gambling amongst UK citizens has increased greatly. The Commission at the end of 2008 surveyed a random sample of eight thousand adults across the country on their gambling habits. 9.7% of those surveyed claim to have gambled virtually using computers, phones or even special interactive television programs which shows a steady increase from 8.8% in 2007 and 7.2% in 2006. We can only presume that 2009 will continue this rising trend in online gambling from this constant increase.

So well done UK Gambling Commision. We wish more governmental agencies like this could be formed globally.

In this age of video streaming and high speed internet online casinos with webcam enabled gambling is becoming more and more popular. Be aware before you log into one of these casinos that sometimes having the other players able to see your reactions can make a game tougher than if they were just reading your commentary through a chat window. But if you’re set on taking advantage of your new crystal clear webcam then go right ahead, but keep in mind that if you have a webcam then people can see you too including that really ugly picture of your aunt Carol hung on the wall directly behind your computer so you won’t have to look at it. Or those dirty dishes piled up in your sink that no one wants to wash. And that hole in your shirt that you’re only wearing because it’s laundry day and you weren’t planning on leaving the house anyway. Yes these are things people don’t think about.

Now that you’ve double checked that both you and your environment are presentable here’s another tip - be sure you check out the casino before you sign up as you can’t be too careful nowadays. Now I’ll admit it’s pretty hard to pick a casino just by reading up on the specs so what I’d advise you to do is have a look at reviews written by real players at the different casinos and use their expertise to help me decide on which one to sign up with. Then comes the real hard part – picking your game. Any game will most certainly not do in this case. The game you choose has to be something that appeals to you and more importantly something you feel you have the skill to win at. Be sure and read all the rules posted at the casino even for games you’re familiar with as some casinos have casino-specific rules for their games.

Now the benefits to playing at Casinos with webcams are that you can see exactly what the dealer’s doing and can hopefully read enough of the body language of the people you’re playing against to gain some sort of advantage in the game. So be sure and use that advantage by brushing up on your body language interpreting skills. And remember, be aware of the ‘tells’ that you’re putting out there as well.

So if you’re like most gamers you use an E-money exchange outlet where you transfer money from your bank accounts or use your credit card to purchase units and then use those units to gamble at online casinos. There are dozens of these sites on the internet like Neteller, Firepay etcetera.

One of these E-money exchange outlets that’s been gaining in popularity lately is E-Gold. E-Gold has a swank website and they deal in gold, silver and troy ounces making it feel like you’re gambling like pirates or kings or something which you have to admit is pretty fun! However there’s a huge problem with security on the E-Gold site, software to hack into it is readily available for download over the internet. This software is called Dumaru and is used to gain the passwords of E-gold customers. I don’t know about you but I definitely wouldn’t want to risk having my online gambling winnings stolen so I won’t be using this site.

Recently players at online gambling casinos have devised programs that function much in the manner of a gaming robot, these ‘gaming bots’ press the button to play the slots rather than have the player sitting in front of their computers and actively pushing the spin button themselves until they get a win.

Online casinos have counteracted this advancement in making game play easier by banning these gaming bots citing that they are an unfair advantage to the player. While it’s true that some gamblers do make more mistakes and thus lose more when they have to play for themselves this seems to me to be a banning that is staunchly in favor of the casinos! After all if a player has honed his or her skill to play as reliably as a robot the casinos could not ban that player, these game bots save players both time and money while cheating the casinos of very little if any money they might win if a player happened to make a mistake. Two thumbs down on this rule online casinos, two thumbs down.

Alright so gambling’s not just a pastime for you, it’s a hobby and you enjoy it and maybe you’ve brought it home from the casinos with you. You’ve gone online and played at a few casinos and seen how fun it is. Well now you can make your online gaming experience even more true to life with a poker table mouse pad like this one that I found on www.pokerpadz.com. I think it’s a really neat idea. It’s made out of the same felt poker tables are made of and is excellent for mousing around. 

  I particularly like the ’signature poker pad’, the manufacturer suggests you take it with you to your next big poker tournament and have your favourite poker players autograph. The world poker tournament one is a great one too, while the ‘pokerpadz’ logo doesn’t really do much for me. What do you think?

If you haven’t been living under a rock lately then you know that socializing on the internet has been taken to insane new levels with websites like myspace, facebook, etcetera. These social networking sites may have like all viral media spread from the teeny-bopper crowd but nowadays even my grandmother has a myspace! For those of you in on the facebook craze you know all about those fun little apps that allow you to play games, war against your friends in a zombie horde or send them smilies. Well now thanks to RummyRoyal.net a play-for-free website Rummy will be available as a facebook app. It will be designed around teaching the game, playing against live opponents and eventually tournaments will be had.

Now I know what you’re thinking: Rummy on Facebook? That’s awesome for me! Now I can get my gambling on without having to download anything and it’s true you don’t! It’s good business sense for RummyRoyal.net too as a company spokesperson proclaimed: spreading the word of mouth on such far reaching communities like Facebook is key to making players aware of and enticing them into the parent site RummyRoyal.net and its sister company RummyRoyal.com which is a pay per play website where you can bet actual cash on your rummy games once you’ve used your Facebook to master the how of playing. RummyRoyal.net also plans to have Myspace and Bebo this year as well.

You ever wonder what the odds are on your hand when you’ve got two pair or when you hit a royal flush or when your hand is so crappy you might as well flush it down the toilet? Well there’s a really useful poker odds caclulator found here http://www.cardplayer.com/tools_tips where you can find out your odds for ‘regular’ poker, Texas Hold Em and Omaha style poker with a few clicks of your mouse. 

We live in a time of ever expanding technology, never before have so many options for entertainment and communication been laid out at our finger tips. Cell phones especially have been making leaps and bounds in versatility over the last few years you can play music on your phone, check email on your phone, you can even check stocks on your phone now, well right around the corner according to Casino Phone Technology is the ability to gamble via your cell phone from wherever you are waiting in line at the bank, stuck in traffic on the way home, wherever.

Casino Phone Technologies, a Nevada based company, is in the process of developing m-Casino which will allow you to import casino software onto your phone to play the games you know and love, making casinos completely portable to you. The company is enthusiastic about their product and look forward to launching it fairly soon.