Gamble - Universe

Recently I took ten days off and went to Las Vegas! This was my sixth trip there in the last three years In the last 6 visits I think I have found out some great places to eat gamble and sleep- So I am posting this as my offical Las Vegas Review.

If you have never been to Las Vegas or haven’t been there in 2 years than this review will be helpful to you. The city is constantly changing and growing. I love playing Texas Holdem poker online but after playing everday for quite some time it is nice to get away. And it is nice to be able to afford to take a nice vacation like this. Before I became an online poker player as a profession I would never have dreamed of going to Vegas for ten days and satying at one of the most beautiful hotels in the world- The Venetian….

Transportation

On my first trip to Vegas we didn’t rent a car. We took a shuttle for 8 bucks from the airport to out hotel and walked or took the bus/ taxis for the rest of the trip. Ever since then we have rented a car. If you go midweek or offseason It is very cheap to rent a car in Vegas. We never payed more than 25 bucks a day. If you add up the cost of taxis and shuttles, it seems much smarter to rent a car.

Beware if you are a timid driver, people drive like maniacs there! If you prefer to get the exercise than the shuttle may be the best bet for you. There are buses every 10 min going up and down the strip, and there are many free mono rail trams going beetween many of the casinos on the strip.

My reccomendation is to rent a car and bring a wad of singles with and valet it. If you are like me you will want to go and see all of the beautiful casinos. There is nothing better than driving to the front door and having it parked. I usually tip a buck or two. Otherwise you can park in the parking structures for free.

Hotels

On my most recent vacation I went with my friend Kurt. Below are some pics of our hotel room at the Venetian. If you can afford to I would highly suggest staying here. It was by far the nicest hotel I have ever been to. The bathroom was HUGE, with a jacuzzi tub, double sink, seperate shower, the toilet was in a seperate room with a phone, marble floors.

Our Room

The Venetian and the Bellagio are the 2 nicest hotels in Las Vegas. They are expensive. I have been to many hotels in Vegas and it all depends on what you want out of your vacation. Most people will gamble and drink into the wee hours of the morning so the hotel won’t matter much. If you want to stay at the cheapest hotel possible and stay close to gambling I reccomend staying downtown. I stayed at the Las Vegas Club downtown last year. Midweek you can get a room for 35-45 bucks a night. On that trip we only slept about 10 hours total the 3 nights we were there, so the hotel didnt matter much.

However the Las Vegas Club was pretty nice the rooms were very large thay had a couch. I have stayed at other hotels downtown and most are in that price range and more expensive weekends and peak season. So If you want to be pampered and stay somewhere nice find a hotel on the strip- The Venetian and the Belagio are very nice, and very expensive. The MGM or Luxor or New York are mid priced.. If you want to go cheap stay downtown.

Drinks

If you love to gamble and love to drink PERFECT- If you are gambling drinks are free. So dont spend 8 bucks at the bar, hit the tables or slots and drink on the house.

Gambling

I have gambled at many-a-casino in Vegas. I think on this last 10 day vacation we hit most of them. My suggestion for gambling comes down to preference and cash. On weekends and peak times it is hard to find a blackjack table with a 5 dollar minimum on the strip. Most are ten bucks and up. So If you are on a budget I suggest gambling downtown. They have plenty of five dollar tables and even three dollar tables. They also have single and double deck blackjack games downtown for lower limits. We found most casinos on the strip use auto shufflers and are 6+ decks- This makes for very bad odds. On this trip I mostly played blackjack. I consider online poker my profession and being on vacation I needed a little break. So I played mostly blackjack and the horses.

Some must see casinos are the Venetian, there are shops and the Venice canals, and beautiful paintings and artwork. Also the Belagio is a stunning casino, they have a water show in front set to music. If you are going to bet on horses or sports I suggest the sportsbook at the Belagio. They have personal flat screen TV’s leather chairs and they have plenty of cocktail waitreses supplying the drinks. We spent a lot of time here.

Food

Where to eat? We ate so much food on this trip, I must have gained 20 pounds…Lets start out with the buffets:

The best buffet I have ever had is The Spice Market Buffet in the Aladdin Casino. It was around $25 and the food was amazing. They had food in diferent categories, American, Mexican, etc. Everything I tasted was delicious. The fruit they had was fresh, the desserts were amazing. I highly recommend this buffet.

Another great buffet is The Buffet at the Belagio. This buffet was very close in price and taste to the Spice Market buffet. If you like seafood I would recommend this one. They also have Beef Wellingtion, Prime rib and Colby beef, very delicious.

The largest buffet would have to be the buffet at the Rio, The Carnival World Buffet. This buffet was 25-30 bucks. It had a huge selection but I was not impressed with the food.

The worst buffet we had was breakfast at Bally’s buffet. The food was not very poor. The Orange juice tasted like Tang.

Non- Buffet Eats

Burger?

The best burger would have to be at The Burger Bar in Mandalay Bay. they have Colby Beef burgers, which are not cheap. Around 16 bucks, but the were very good.

Want a great steak? The best steak I ever ate in Vegas was at Alan Alberts on the strip. It is a very nice restaraunt, great service, great food. Pricey but well worth it if your looking for a mouth watering steak. 3763 Las Vegas Blvd

Italian Food

Want some great Italian food, at a great old school eatery? Try Batista’s Hole in the Wall. The restaurant walls are lined with celebrity autograpghed pictures. They even have an accordion player walking from table to table. The food is excellent. Meals come with your choice of wine, a salad, entree and complimentary cappuccino. I had the Chicken parm and it was very good. It was around 20-25 bucks a meal.

Cheap Eats

Lost all your cash at the tables? There are some great deals on meals all over Vegas. Kurt and tried most of them. If you are looking for upscale dining skip this section!

At The Las Vegas Club’s Upperdeck downtown- We ate NY strip steak, eggs, hashbrowns and toast for $2.95!!! And it was actually very good.

Another great deal is the Prime rib at San Remos across from the MGM. You get bread, salad, prime rib, baked potato, vegetables all for $5.95. The slice of prime rib was pretty thin but for 6 bucks it was worth it. Another cheap meal we had a few times is, Steak and Lobster dinner at Careful Kitys in the El Cortez downtown. It was like 10 bucks and pretty good.

Bars and Clubs

Wanna hit the clubs? One of my favorites is the Ghost Bar on top of the Palms casino. They filmed MTV’s Real World las Vegas at the Palms, and the cast frequented the Ghost bar.. Its part outside on the top of the building. The views of the strip are amazing. Mostly a younger crowd.

Tangerine at Treasure Island was also pretty good. You could also go outside with views of the strip and the Pirate show.

If you run out of cash and still want to get some drinks- go to a sportsbook. Kurt perfected this method! Grab a program and a seat and wait for the cocktail waitress to come around. Make sure to tip her and she will keep coming back!

TRAVEL- The following is my penny pinchers guide to Las Vegas. The best way to cut your vacation costs is to travel cheap. The cheapest flights are mid-week, Tues & Wednesdays are best. If you are “self employed (a professional online poker player who sets his own hours)” Go last minute. There are almost always last minute deals to fill those empty seats. So travel midweek and even better travel off-season. This will cut you total vacation expenses down greatly.

TRANSPORTATION- When in Vegas you can get around for free by walking and using trams. Or you can take the bus, which covers the entire strip and downtown for two bucks a fare. But I found renting a car works best and is sometimes cheaper than taking buses or taxis. If you go midweek you can get a car for 15-20 bucks a day, cheap!

LODGING- The cheapest hotel I can think of is Westward Ho rear. They have some of the lowest rates. Otherwise I usually stay downtown. Midweek you can find a room for around 30-40 bucks.

FOOD- For a buffet try the Gold Coast, its pretty good and only about 7 bucks. When in Vegas you have to try the $.99 Shrimp cocktail at the Golden Gate Casino. Want a larger serving? Try a half rack of ribs for less than $5 at the Riveria. The Riveria is also famous for their 3/4lb hot dog. It is HUGE and only cost a $1.49. If you stay at Westward Ho you can get a cup of coffee for a nickel. You can get a 1/2lb burger and fries at Key Largo for $1.99. And back at the Westward Ho for a drink. You can get a 27oz Margarita for $.99.

GAMBLING- You can play blackjack for a buck a hand at Slots a Fun. The Gold Spike has all sorts of penny and nickel slots for your entertainment. And I always play a game of Texas Hold’em at the Excalibur. They have a 1-3 game that’s the lowest in town!

So have fun on your next Las Vegas vacation and remember it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg.

Kerry Mann is an online poker pro. He makes his living playing online poker, using his proven system. His website http://www.pokerliving.net tells more about him and his poker strategies

Poker is not entirely a game of luck, but rather a game of skill and how you can take the cards you are dealt and make them win. This requires knowledge of odds, bluffing, and the general rules of the game not to mention the other cards opponents have showing. So, if you are interested in playing poker online you can really learn how to play well and win money. It’s not just about what you are dealt, it’s how you play the cards you are dealt so focus on learning rules and strategy before you begin playing poker online for money.

Learning how to play poker in a real casino or with other people can frequently be intimidating and your nervousness and anxiety will take over making it more difficult to think and play your hands efficiently. Of course, in time, this wears off as your confidence builds, however there is a way to avoid this situation altogether and that is with online poker. You can easily enter an online poker room and start practicing and learn how to play. Also, most of the top poker sites have poker rooms where you can practice and play for free, so take advantage of this situation and log some hours in the practice poker rooms. You will build your knowledge of the game as well as your confidence and once you have become good enough you can give a paying room a try. You wouldn’t enter a marathon without training and you should not enter an online poker site without practicing if you do not want to lose your money.

Strategy Strategy is important and this is the key factor that will help you win many games even if the cards did not fall just as you were hoping. Also, many players lack strategy and are too cocky to think they need it, so simply do some research on the strategy for your preferred poker game and implement these as you are practicing. The more your practice the easier strategy will become and before you know it your brain will simply be thinking in a strategic way. This is important and it will train you to become a really great poker player.

Of course, the online free poker games seem silly to many and just a way to pass the time like Solitaire or any other computer game. However, if you are truly interested in becoming a better player all you have to do is really focus on the practice games as if they were real games and the money was real as well, implement the strategies you are learning, focus on mistakes and why certain moves did not work, and you will really become a better poker player. When you are a better poker player you may begin playing for money online and will be prepared to play against the many talented card players that are in the online poker rooms.

Keep in mind, however, that the play tables are not as well laid out as the money tables, so after a few hands you should be able to learn and start winning a few hands. However, if you are not winning with the play hands after a couple hours of playing then you either play poorly or are not implementing the strategies you have learned, and likely a combination of both. Remember, if you are losing on a regular basis in the play tables then there is no reason to enter the money tables because you will lose again and this time real money. So stay focused when you are learning how to play and understand that if you can’t win at the free tables you will never win at the pay tables. Once you have played the free games for a while and start winning some, then you should move on to some of the cheap real games. There are games for one cent and two cents online, so you should consider playing those as your second step in the quest to become a good poker player. While the free games will help you learn how to play the game and the basics, you must take a step up every once in a while to challenge yourself and to learn more in order to become a better player. As long as you continue practicing and moving up a step at a time you will become a great poker player and win a lot of money. However, if you try and join the professional players when you still are learning the rules of the game you will simply lose money and your self esteem. Don’t let this happen and take it one step at a time.

Becoming a Player Now that you know how to become a player you need to start practicing. Check out some of the top 10 poker room sites on the Internet and then start playing the practice hands. By doing this you will be able to learn a lot faster and save your embarrassment for a bad move because you are in front of your computer screen and nobody can see you. In the past, learning to play poker took a lot of time and guts because individuals had to endure playing with those better than themselves and individuals who would surely beat them for some time. However, you can avoid this situation altogether by simply playing the free games online and taking advantage of all that is made available to you. Then, when you finally do make it to the money games you will be able to hold your own and will likely win which is a ego booster and will only help you to continue playing well. Don’t think the free online poker games are a waste of time, but rather utilize them and make them teach you the ins and outs of poker so you become a truly great player.

When arriving in one of the most exciting cities on the planet, Las Vegas, Nevada, I could not help but think about how interesting my Company’s meetings would be. I knew it was a time for serious decisions and keeping a focused mind, the meetings were a great success and it was now time to relax and enjoy my environment of bright lights and all night Las Vegas entertainment.

My first encounter in my luxurious hotel’s casino was the sound of a woman behind the roulette wheels screaming for joy after hitting a jackpot of 12,225.00 dollars on a slot machine that took quarters and the crowd that had gathered around her seemed to be just as happy for her as she was for herself. That’s entertainment!

Myself, well, I have always liked blackjack gambling as well as poker, roulette and craps and sought out a black jack table where I could try my hand at it. The Vegas hotels are always full of gamblers. Every gambler around me seemed eager to part with their gambling money and their wagering spirits were high and I fell right in with them and placed my bet. Lost my first two hands but as I visioned, after thirty minutes and two dealers into my evening, I left the table 375.00 dollars ahead. That’s entertainment!

A great accomplishment for an amateur casino gambler such as my myself.

Sheldon Adelson, founder and owner of Las Vegas Sands (LVS), won $690 million on December 15 2004, in the most profitable initial public offering (IPO) in the American gaming industry.

Las Vegas Sands is the company that owns the [aid:venetianresorthotelc label:Venetian Hotel & Casino] on the Las Vegas Strip and Sands Resort in Macau, a former Portuguese colony, nowadays reinstated to China.

The company sold nearly 24 million shares, that sum as little as 6.8 percent of LVS. According to some financial analysts, being such a tiny percent, it certainly put a pressure on the price, that went up 60%. “Today’s price was a matter of supply and demand,” said John Futrell of Futrell Financial Management on Wednesday. “Too little supply and a lot of demand. The fact that so few shares were available influenced the price.”

LVS set an opening price of $29 per share Tuesday evening; it is probably worth mentioning that bankers involved in the sale prophesied an initial price between $24 to $26, prior to the IPO. However, the stock priced at $36.01 when the market opened and reached a high of $49.45 by 1 p.m. EST, when it started to scale back.

This was a record gain for American IPO’s this year and the best since Jet Blue in May 2002, that surged 67%.

LVS Chairman Sheldon Adelson, 71, owns an 87.9% slice of the company, while company managers and directors share together 5.3 %.

The money are to be invested in the development of The Palazzo - a $1.6 billion Beverly Hills-themed resort, additional to the Venetian and a $1.8 billion Venetian-style casino/resort in Macau. Palazzo will feature 3,000 suites and double the size of Venetian’s casino and retail space.

The Venetian is one of the most famed Strip locations, built by Sheldon Adelson on the former site of Sands Hotel & Casino, home of the fabulous Rat Pack boys in the sixties.

Sands Resort in Macau has 329 table games and about 670 slot machines or similar gaming devices. The company plans to build a hotel and convention center with 3,000 suites, 546,000 square feet of gaming facilities and 1 million square feet of gross retail space.

Macau tends to become the leading gaming destination in the world, with the Chinese government recently loosening travel restrictions in Macau and the Asians having such a natural attraction for gambling.

Las Vegas, my favorite destination doesn’t have to cost a fortune. I would consider myself a sharp spender, good with my money… Ok I will admit it I am CHEAP! Over the years I have found some great deals in Las Vegas. Lets start out with my favorite, food.

The cheapest food is found in downtown Las Vegas. I usually start out with a $.99 shrimp cocktail at The Golden Gate Casino downtown. This has been a favorite for years and was recently featured on the travel channel. The casino takes a loss on this one, granted they get it all back at the tables!

Next up on our menu is Steak and Lobster for dinner, or lunch, or even breakfast depending on if you sleep or not. The best deal on this is $7.77 at the Plaza. I also get it at Careful Kity’s in The El Cortez down the road. It tastes a little better there, and will run you a whopping $9.99 24 hours a day.

Another great dinner choice is not downtown but on the strip. San Remo’s across from the MGM on Tropicana has a great prime rib dinner. $5.99 will get you prime rib, baked potato, bread and a dinner salad. The cut of prime rib isn’t huge but its an excellent deal at 6 bucks!

Back downtown for breakfast. The Las Vegas Club’s UpperDeck diner has a steak and egg breakfast, with hashbrowns and toast for $2.99. And it is really good.

Buffet Time…There are some great buffets in Vegas, but the great ones are expensive. The best in my opinion is the Spice Market buffet but that will run you 20-30 bucks. Were on a budget so try the buffet at The Gold Coast $6.99, great selectiona and great food.

Now for the drinks, you have to drink in Las Vegas! My method is this- never pay for a drink. If you are gambling they are free. So don’t gamble to get a free drink, because its not free if you drop a hundred bucks at the tables. If you are going to gamble anyway then drink away. A great way to get some free drinks is to play the sportbook. You can sit sown with a program, and make a bet or two, or NONE! and get your drinks there. Just remember to take care of the cocktail waitress and she will take care of you.

Enjoy your next trip to Las Vegas….

Playing poker is a wonderful hobby and an engaging form of entertainment. Although many times in the past you may have found that you wanted to play poker but were not close enough to a casino to just hop in your car and run on in to take a seat at the poker table. This is where online poker gaming comes into the picture. Online poker is an increasingly popular way of playing poker from within the confines and comfort of your own home. As you are able to play many different types of poker games at casino establishments, online poker websites also make this type of variety with regard to poker games available to its poker players. Playing poker online via an online poker website is different in a few ways from playing in a physical casino environment. It is important to focus on those differences thereby enabling yourself to make the decision of whether or not playing poker card games online is the right option for you.

One way in which playing poker online and playing poker within a casino differs, relates to the betting limits which are imposed on the poker players. When playing poker online by way of an online poker website, the online poker player may not be required to put up as much money for an ante as the poker player that is playing this type of card game within the casino limits. This is one of the many advantages of playing poker in an online setting. Many individuals just want to play poker for fun or to make a little spending cash perhaps and are wary of risking large amounts of money in the process. The various online poker websites will allow the prospective online poker player to bet smaller amounts of money than the casinos will at times. This is an attractive feature of the online poker websites. If you are looking to spend small amounts of money, this might be the type of gaming situation for you. If money is no object, then maybe you will prefer to go to a physical casino. However, keep in mind that certain online poker websites will host higher betting limits.

Another way in which playing poker on an online poker website differs from the casino atmosphere is the lack of other players in your physical vicinity. Casinos can make a person become a bit claustrophobic after awhile and if you are the type of individual that likes his or her own space, then online poker gambling on a poker gaming website might just be the answer. When you are playing poker online you are playing against other individuals; however, the upside to this is that you are not crowded in a small, stuffy area with those other players breathing down your neck, trying to get you to hurry up and make a move. Not only can this type of player behavior on the part of your peers be obnoxious but it can also make you decide to play in a way which you would not have done had you been given the time and space to think the move through. This is a definite plus to playing poker online as opposed to in a casino. If you are keen on the idea as well, then again, maybe online poker playing is your cup of tea.

A third way in which an online poker website may be right for you is if you enjoy excitement and would like to play more than one game at one time. By playing the poker game in an online setting, you are able to play more than one game at one time. This is not possible in a physical casino setting since the only way an individual could be playing at more than one table at one time would be if that person had really long arms, which is highly unlikely. Therefore, by utilizing online poker websites you are able to play two or three games at once. The choice is up to you. If you have the concentration skills to pull this off, then this would be another attractive detail that might pull you into playing in an online poker game setting.

A final way in which playing poker games via an online poker website might be right for you is if you want the convenience of not having to leave your home in order to enjoy some gaming entertainment. Online poker websites are extremely convenient for a number of reasons. First of all, you do not have to drive anywhere in order to play poker. You simply log on to the internet via your internet provider, connect with a specific online poker website and get down to business. A second reason why online poker websites are extremely convenient is that they allow you to jump right into a game without ever having to wait for a seat to open up. Lastly, online poker websites are extremely convenient options for the avid poker player in that they enable you to pay money and collect money via a few quick touches of the keypad. Payment systems companies that act as a go between from online poker player to online poker website enable money to be transmitted quickly and efficiently from online poker player to online poker website thereby ensuring that either or both individual(s) are paid in a swift manner.

Online poker websites are a wonderful alternative to the casino businesses of the past. Not to say that casinos are out of date, this is just to provide an alternative to poker players that may be interested in checking out this different type of gaming avenue. If any of the aforementioned items seem of great interest to you, then maybe online poker playing is something that you should take a look at. It never hurts to give it a try. It may just be something that you are happy to have discovered and will change your impression of gambling forever.

The state of online gambling has found another highly viable ally. The opportunities offered by mobile gaming can be highly rewarding for online casinos as the stakes are increased by the popularity of hand-held devicessuch as PDAs, mobile handsets and palmtops. Soon we could see a growth in various synergies and partnerships between the hugely popular online gambling market and the even trendier mobile gaming industry which could just be the ticket to adding legitimacy to the exceptionally lucrative world that is online gambling.

Mobile gaming is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States of America and it is expected to increase from “1.2 billion dollars of annual revenues in 2005 to 7.6 billion dollars by 2010″, according to reports published online. This means that the growth of the mobile gaming population is set to jump by a rapid 200 million people who will be using their cellular phones for extra curricular activities like mobile gambling.

There is no limit to the opportunities that mobile and wireless devices afford the gambling community and it is great that games like poker, slots and Roulette are already being played using mobile handsets. Wireless applications like WAP, GPRS and OTA are making the lives of million simpler and faster, and some say this adds to the overall mobile gaming experience.

However, there are some limitations that cannot be overlooked when considering a leap into the mobile gambling market and these are usually legislative, technological and cultural hurdles. In order for these factors to be properly addressed, they will need to be negotiated carefully and strict security will have to be thought out when dealing with problem gamblers.

Considering mobile gambling like its online counterpart has more anonymity than is offered at land-based casinos, there is a threat to its integrity because it is harder to pin down and track underage gambling due to the lack of real interaction with a customer.

Even though these problems could provide serious setbacks for the market, this is in no way hindering the speed at which consumers are joining in the fun that is being offered by mobile gambling. Mobile handsets are becoming more and more advanced, and with the hardware comes the same technological advancement in the software, which means an increase in use and the more people are buying into them. It is a never-ending cycle when it comes to technological advancement and one can only hope that the mobile gambling market is not just another passing trend.

I

f you’ve read any of my articles before, you know I always emphasize the fact that there are many viable systems for any type of gambling. Sports betting is no exclusion. I’ve tested and found success with several sports betting systems (see http://www.insidersystem.com/sports.html), several of which would allow someone to quit their job and make a full time living at it. Here is just one simple system for you to test for yourself…

Take your fixed odds coupon and decide on one of the following three numbers - 13 - 32 - 38. For this example we will choose number 32. Once you have made your choice place the score of 1-1 in the correct score section next to the teams that are playing at number 32 on the coupon for that week.

We simply back this number every week until we have a win. The three numbers I gave you have proved themselves to be quite consistent at attracting the score of 1-1 (One all).

With this bet you will need to increase your stake after a few weeks if you haven’t won by then. The following is recommended;

- Weeks 1 to 5 use a 1 point stake.
- Weeks 6 to 8 use a 2 point stake.
- Weeks 9 to 10 use a 3 point stake.
- Week 11 - 4 points
- Week 12 - 5 points
- Week 13 - 6 points
- Week 14 - 7 points
- Week 15 - 8 points
- Week 16 - 10 points
- Week 17 - 12 points and so on….

A point can be anything, £1 or £2 etc. If we assume that we have a win on week 6 we would have placed a 2 points bet here. This would win us back 11 points at odds of 11/2, plus our 2 points stake, making 13 points. During the previous 5 weeks we lost 5 lots of 1 points, so all in all we’ve made 8 points profit.

As you can see, this system played consistently over the long term can bring you regular winnings. Until next time, please bet responsibly, and continue to educate yourself to master your skills and gain the edge over the casino, the bookie, or whoever you’re playing against!

With literally thousands of online casinos on the internet, it can sometimes become very confusing as to which ones are safe and reputable, and which casinos are not. So many of them are beautifully designed, look very professional and offer great signup bonuses, so how does one go about choosing the “reputable” online casinos while avoiding the “dodgy” ones?

When choosing an online casino to play at, one should always take into consideration the following points:

Licensed casino

Is the casino licensed? While many online casinos are licensed, a significant number of casinos are not. There are plenty of unlicensed, illegal gambling casinos which are nothing more than money scam operations. One should always avoid these casinos at all costs.

Where is the casino licensed?

While online casinos licensed in Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Kahnawake, Netherlands Antilles, United Kingdom and the West Indies are recommended, online casinos licensed in Eastern Europe should be approached with extreme caution.

24/7 Support

Does the casino offer 24/7 phone, fax, live chat and email support? Test the casino’s customer service department by asking them a few questions about their games, bonuses, etc and measure how long it takes to receive a decent response.

Professional Recogition

Is the online casino officially recognised by various gaming bodies and authorities? For instance, are the payout percentages of the online casino independently reviewed by auditors such as PricewaterhouseCoopers? Is this information made publicly available?

Blacklisted

Is the online casino blacklisted for any reason? There are many casinos which have been blacklisted by several gambling portals for one reason or another. Although not all blacklists are credible sources of information, one should avoid online casinos which appear in several blacklists.

Software

Casino software providers such as iGlobalMedia, Microgaming, Playtech, Random Logic, Real Time Gaming and WaterLogic are very popular and have excellent reputations in the online gambling industry.

With so many online casinos coming and going, and with so many cons and scams surfacing on the internet everyday, one needs to be especially careful when registering one’s credit card with or transferring money to an online casino. The above set of guidelines may not completely safeguard the player, but they are nevertheless a good set of common sense points to go by when choosing an online casino to play at.