What is perhaps most notable about playing online casino games, is the fact that players who love a gamble, can indulge in their favourite games. They can play these games any time of the day or night, 365, and they can play them for free, for as little as a penny a pop, or even for high rolling wagers. Just about everyone likes taking a gamble …it is a universal pastime, with no one culture, not having a list of games they indulge with a flutter. Advanced technology has brought any and every gambling game known to man, into the convenience and comfort of our living rooms. Now we may even play casino online games wherever we go with the advancement of mobile gambling.

The British online gambling industry has fast advanced into massive demand, for a product which appears to be recession-proof, and now hosts a sophisticated audience. This is the epitome of the online gambling industry, where the world is sitting up, taking notice and emulating industry leading concepts. It is paradoxical in fact that the UK is leading the way, while the USA falls further behind by the day. This is not for want of trying, millions of US gamers across the board, from poker players to Pachinko, want these games online. The government however is at loss of how to control it sufficiently well to allow online gambling inside their borders. The scary thing is that in the land of the ‘free’, these are a series of games which residents are simply not free to play.

While it is fine for a US resident to purchase prescription drugs (without prescription) online and pay with their credits cards, they are not allowed to swipe their card in an attempt to bag a prize playing bingo. One of the softest gambling games known to man! This ‘banning’ of online gambling is in an attempt to ‘protect the public’ I ask you with tears in my eyes – does it not matter where the Viagra and even worse comes from? But a game of online poker for money is a criminal offence – something Joe Public cannot be trusted to spend his ‘own’ hard earned money on.

UK players who gamble at casino online games, do so under the protection of a regulated market; this also offers them the option to continue to pursue their faith in their favourite brands. While US players who are tempted (and many are) have to play with illegal brands; many which may not be above board. So, in the UK we have super choices and the country with one of the most massive choices in consumerism, has very little choice at all. There is no coin toss needed to see who has it better – the US or the UK? This massive ‘Superpower’ is going to find itself, hanging onto Britain’s red-coat-tails, if and when they ever legalize casino online games.

It has been touch and go for years for some of the best online casinos in the world; what with the American market looking so exciting to operators, and yet it not really being legal to offer these games. Operators argued that UIGEA contained too many grey areas and this is how they justified continuing to accept US players. Bodog is just such a site, but how they escaped US Department of Justice notice, since this authority closed down PokerStars, FullTilt and other gambling sites in the US; I really don’t?!

These sites were closed for business after their domains were seized by the DoJ on the 15th April. Gambling operators and fans alike, have dubbed this day ‘Black Friday’. So far it does not seem as though the best online casinos were affect, but the best poker sites certainly were and now one of the last men standing is getting out of the game. Bodog Europe is a very well-known online brand, and a modicum of their notoriety is garnered by the fact that they still accept US players. Up until now these real money gamblers have not been considered persona non grata. From the end of 2011 however this will change and no longer will any players from this country be allowed to use their accounts. At least they have been given time to close accounts and withdraw funds, unlike member of Full Tilt, Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. Bodog has also taken out a brand new license and been granted this by the UK Gambling Commission, and this is unusual in itself, as most operators choose to license offshore to escape the massive tax implications of running a gambling operation in the UK. But that is another story entirely.

Another implication for US players is – they will have to be extremely careful where they play, if they do. It could give rise to a spate of new charlatans coming online, in an attempt to part hard working Americans from their gambling money. Americans want to be able to gamble online, but the Government can’t see the woods for the trees and believe that they know better what residents should be allowed to partake of in the ‘land of the free’. Aaron Burr once said that freedom of speech in the USA was only as free as the politician they are allowed to repeat?!

Anyway – that all said and done, Bodog is on their way to concentrate completely on the UK and European market and US players are losing one of the last best online casinos – at least until these operations go legal, if this ever takes place.

There is a brand new game of poker, and to play it you really need to be able to flex your poker muscles. It encompasses a variety of skills and poker strategies, as well as knowledge of rules across a cross-section of poker games. The game is known as Poker Legs and if you want to find your poker legs, there is a great place to learn many variations of poker; this is to play online poker games. The expected value and degree of knowledge progresses much fast for players of online poker games, than it can ever do in the live poker realm.

Poker legs is a blast to play, it is being played from local pubs to casinos in Vegas, and it’s only a matter of time, till it becomes available online. The global poker craze is still sweeping the globe, and it never takes very long for a new game to take-up online. This is a game of poker for players with balls, regardless of gender. It is the ultimate gamblers game, and we have even heard it called ‘degenerate’, so, true to form it is taking the world by storm! The stakes can be very low, but as the betting continues in frame after frame; these prize pots can mount up into massive amounts of money.

The aim of this game is to collect three “legs”, because apparently three is better than two, especially when you’ve been drinking. There is a specific way to collect the legs while the tension mounts, as round after round and frame after frame of the game takes place. A new game kicks off with Round 1 and 2-card Hold em; where no flop is played, and a two card poker hand is the deal, we all know this is not easy. Round 2 is 3-card low and the next Round is 5-card Holdem. The final round is a 2-7 lowball game; meanwhile during the rounds, there are very specific rules to be adhered to. Bear in mind three legs still need to be collected.

This is a very brief and cobbled together outline of the game, but one can see right away that it is vital to know various poker game strategies. As we said before, the fastest way to pick up on these strategies is to play online poker games. If you receive an invite to play Poker Legs, the biggest favor your could do yourself, it to start playing poker online right away, this will put you a step ahead of the pack (hopefully), which ultimately may mean being in a better position to collect legs and win the prize pot. The game has all kinds of features such as collecting discounts for legs, and is a thrill a minute to play. Let your hair down too, and find out who has the biggest balls. It highly recommended to only play this game amongst very good friends – with 7 players tops.

Anything for nothing is a bargain according to my old mum, in a way she is right, but we also have to remember that everything comes at a price. Online Casino Bonuses, may mean free chips, spins or money for the newly registered member, as well as existing players – but again, the rule of thumb is, everything comes at a price. Always read the small print.

In this instance the small print is Terms and Conditions, and every good online casino, makes these conditions clearly known to members. It is the sites which don’t make the T’s & C’s of their online casinos bonuses clear…that we really need to steer clear of. If we know what we are in for, we may opt in for bonuses or not, so, that the decision to take-up a bonus or not, also becomes an educated decision.

All casinos online offer bonuses as part of their marketing plan. They budget for these in their cash flow and this factors into the prizes paid out, as well as a whole lot of other conditions. It is for this very reason that the casino which offers the lowest bonuses, also offer the biggest prizes, and the best wagering requirements. Bonuses may consist of all of these factors, any/or various combinations:

? No deposit bonus
? First deposit bonus
? Ongoing deposit bonus
? Bonuses for using alternative payment methods
? Bonuses for taking part in promotion
? Friend referral bonuses
? Birthday bonuses
? VIP bonuses

Taking advantage of online casino bonuses means in essence – value for money. While this is true in the most part, we need to know what we are doing when we claim these free gift, and this is why it is so important to understand wagering requirements and how these work. Terms and conditions tell us what the wagering requirement is, and it is from this information and our budget that we determine how much money to deposit. For example; €/£/$10 is generally the minimum deposit and the maximum can go up to the thousands. The bigger and better-name a site, the more likely it is to be that bonus amounts are capped. In this instance; wagering requirements are either non existent or extremely fair.

On a scale of 1 – 10, we would say “no wagering requirements” is excellent, while 10 x is “good”, 20 x is “fair” and anything above that is simply outrageous. We do however see some sites which offer 50 or even 100 x wagering requirements. Why any sensible person would want to join any site with such ridiculous terms is completely beyond our comprehension. Making a small deposit and claiming a small bonus, means players who are not millionaires can get conditions met much more efficiently.

One thing you are not going to get when you walk through the doors of a live casino – is a bunch of free chips, thrust into your sticky little, spend-thrifty paws. Play at no deposit casinos online and they can’t give you enough free chips, and we are not talking about the deep-fried kind, the sort that comes with battered fish! We are talking casino chips here and these are worth real money. Virtually every virtual casino hands a certain amount to every new member, as they take their first tentative steps through the doors.

For example, 888casino.com; they are one of the best no deposit casinos. They let you try before you buy, but not every online casino does this. What all other sites do, do however, is, give you free casino chips when you make a first deposit. There are definitely industry standards when it comes to handing out free chips. The absolute minimum is 100% and this is on varying amounts. There is a pattern we see which generally works hand-in-hand with brand faith, and the biggest brands never hand out the biggest bonuses. There is a very good reason for this, and it pays for the online casino player to catch onto the reason early.

Here is the thing about giving free bonuses at online casinos – they offer these as incentives, and every incentive comes at a price. In the case of bonuses, the price is wagering requirements. Wagering requirements are a multiple of the first deposit plus the bonus. This is the very reason why the best brands keep bonuses low. It enables the player to take advantage of the offer without getting their knickers in a knot. One can understand why a players knickers would get in a knot, when they aren’t able to make a withdrawal or cash in their bonuses until they have spent a million pounds/dollars first. OK, so, maybe not a million, but we are talking big bucks.

Look at this for an example – a casino offers a small bonus of up to maximum of £50 in a 100% cash match to welcome the new member. Their wagering requirements are 20 x deposit + bonus to clear funds/winnings from the account in the case of a withdrawal. This means if the player deposits £50 and receives a £50 bonus, they have to wager a total of £50 + £50 = £100 x 20 = £2 000 to clear their funds. When we look at it from this point of view, those free chips might start to lose their free appeal.

It is for this reason we always maintain, that when it comes to making first deposits at online casinos, biggest is never best. To coin a phrase – if it looks too good to be true – it very definitely generally is. We have seen anything like up to 50 or even 100 x wagering requirements on maximum deposits of anything up to thousands of pound/dollars. With numbers like this – we are talking really big bucks!

In 2006, the United States Government passed a law we now call UIGEA. This is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act, and short of actually making online gambling in this country clearly illegal, it totally confuses matters. The Act is tagged onto an obscure Wire Act – dated 1961? – which is relevant to the transfer of funds over the airwaves or something. It essentially makes things really difficult regarding credit card payments and also e-wallet transactions.

Financial institutions are penalized severely for allowing online gambling transactions to take place. Then a swoop on the four major US online poker sites took place on the 15th April 2011, this was the ultimate death knell for most online gambling in the US. There are very few site who wish to go to the trouble to offer games to US players any longer, and even BODOG has pulled out of the US industry as of the end of this year.

Any US online casinos still left operating are taking a very big chance – who knows when they might not also have their domains seized. It is drastically unfair, against World free trade principles, and completely paradoxical that the United States of America considers itself to be a government whose people are living in “the land of the free”. To all intents and purposes online gambling laws in this country are to protect people from themselves, or to be completely brutal – from their own stupidity. Honestly it is all just about money, and about this government wanting ‘total’ control.

Back in the 1930′s Ayn Rand said “We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force”, and UIGEA is only one example of this type of control.

While the rest of the civilized world has realized online gambling is here to stay, the US Government is being manipulated by money, or should I say – their lack of ability to manipulate this industry’s money. But let me get off my soap box.

Suffice it to say that US online casinos don’t have it good as far as free trade is concerned. Online payment processing companies are struggling to find more loop-holes and the DoJ is closing in on all big operators. Any US player wanting to gamble online is then also now taking a risk. When a mainstream industry is made illegal in this way, there are always bootleggers out there trying to make a fast buck. This means no regulation, and no recourse for any US online gamer who is willing to take even more of a risk. Sadly even online casino listings which promote US sites, are – in good conscience – dropping long-time clients as fast as hot-cakes. Essentially folks, if you gamble online in the US, you are taking a really big chance.

Top online casinos in the UK have had an incredibly easy life up till now, and although the free ride is not over yet, things could be changing soon. These ‘things’ could be a taxing problem! It is not easy to understand online gambling licensing jurisdictions for the UK, but I am going to try and simplify it. Online, real money gaming in this country is legal, but the rate of tax for gambling operations is prohibitively high. So, years ago in 1994 when the UK National Lottery was established; this paved the way for all kinds of legal gambling activities, but also for the British Government to get their hands on their share of the loot, through the vehicle of tax, which is quite normal .

Then, came online gambling, and operators in this industry fast learned that the UK Gambling Commission, although a fantastic licensing jurisdiction – was also prohibitively expensive in terms of tax – 15% prohibitive in fact! The UK being a member of the EU, meant that top online casinos could license their wares offshore, in tax shelters such as Gibraltar, Malta, Alderney, Isle of Man, and others. But, still advertise to sell their wares in the UK, while paying offshore tax rates of something stupid like 1%.

EU offshore licensing jurisdictions enjoyed the freedom of almost instant White Listing, which also allows the freedoms of free trade principles. Any operators licensed in non-European licensing jurisdictions such as Kahnawake, Antigua, Curacao and so on, do not enjoy White Listing status. Many top casinos companies have even moved their UK business to Gibraltar; for example, William Hill, Betfair, Littlewoods and so on. None of this big UK business is licensed in their own country for online gambling operations!

Realizing that they should get their share of this massive potential for excise, the British Government is waking up to the fact that top online casinos, even if they are licensed offshore, should have a secondary license to ply their wares to a UK facing audience – which is only fair as far as I am concerned. You want to do business in a country; you should have to pay the price, especially if that business is generating billions of pounds in revenue! There are 36 million adults in the UK, who have had some sort of flutter this year!

After years of getting away with paying no tax, and pretty much no dues at all for tapping into the gold-mine of UK gambling business, non-domiciled operators are going to find things changing for them, and not before time. If land casinos and other gambling businesses in the UK, have to pay 15% tax; the principle is that if offshore ops also have to pay licensing fees and tax, then, all operators can get away with paying less.

How would the UK govern this? Well…this is another taxing problem, but Italy and France are doing it, and we have the technology. It’s a simple matter of making it illegal for those offshore operators to take wagers, the US DoJ has just done this with the biggest online poker sites in the US!

Needless to say the UK is not painting this as another tax grab – although I think they should be honest. They are supposedly changing regulations as a way in which to improve customer protection…but let’s call a Spade a Spade!

Online gambling casinos are becoming more sophisticated by the day, so much so that it also becomes more difficult for us to know where or what to play. Now that the US online gambling marketplace is virtually non-existent, we, as well as the majority of casino software developers are looking to the UK and newly emerging European market place to ply our wares. One of the ways in which we have found it best to judge the best sites, is to look at the software developer and make our pick based on who they are, and what kind of action they take.

One software developer which has been going places for a long while; is still constantly moving and shaking – they cannot be faulted for their products. This mover and shaker is Playtech. The support they offer to their online gambling casinos clients is as unshakeable as the company seems to be.

In a recent massive new win for this company, they have taken on the mighty UK, Gala Coral as a client. The intent of the new agreement is for Playtech to develop and manage all of their online gambling offerings, with particular reference to developing and managing a new mobile sports betting platform. As part of this massive multi-year deal Playtech also gets to manage Gala Bingo, as well as others. Fortunately they have a brilliant online bingo item for consumption in Virtue Fusion – definitely one of the best on the market!

But Playtech do not have a mobile online sports betting product, so, what do they do now? They go out and spend €8 million as an initial payment – from their own cash flow, we might add – and they buy up all the shares in Mobenga Mobile. This is an up-and-coming mobile sports betting, software platform developer, who have been responsible for designing Apple iOS, Android and HTML platforms, for big names such as Stan James, Unibet and Paddy Power amongst others. The overall deal is worth a maximum of €23.8million, with the balance of payments after adjustments for working capital – based on profit before tax X 6 for 2013.

This spend alone, on a purpose-bought acquisition, should give you an indication of how much the Gala Coral deal is worth to Playtech. In turn, it should also reassure anyone considering playing at online gambling casinos under the Playtech brand – that they will be in for an entertaining as well as reliable time.

According to Mor Weizer, the CEO of this company; recent trends in the mobile industry are becoming far more important to online sports bettors and other gamers. Mobenga provides a flexible solution which thoroughly reflects brand and integrates advanced functionality, with features such as live video streaming, TUI – touch user interface and others. This is the time, this is the place and Playtech are taking advantage of more mobile, are you ready to take advantage of more mobile too?

There are not a great many mistakes we can make when playing blackjack, the same applies to playing online blackjack, however, the ‘no mistake’ rule only applies when playing by Basic Strategy, or Basic Strategy Plus. Stick to the strategy plan, and everything turns out OK, but just in case you have decided to break all the rules, there are a few mistakes to avoid and we take a brief look at some of these.

Don’t play because it “Feels Right” – There is no such thing as feels right when playing online blackjack, this is a very straightforward game, and unless you are John Edwards, we don’t even contemplate feel. Losses due to bad luck don’t cut the mustard, there is only bad play. If you have got a feeling ignore it and stick precisely to basic strategy.

Forget about insurance – Insurance is not the only sure bet in blackjack, no matter what the dealer says. The dealer has always been wrong on this wager and he does not want you to win anyway. It is a complete waste of a bet, and you never make more money in the long run by taking out insurance – unless of course you are a card counter, then it’s a different story.

Double down more regularly – sometimes the timing is right to double your bet, sometimes its not. Not enough players double down and there are specific situations when doubling down should take place. Statistically speaking when the edge is yours to win the hand, you should always take the plunge. Don’t see this as a leap of faith, see it as good strategy. If you are too afraid to take the risk, you shouldn’t be playing online blackjack – go back to the penny slots. Tip: memorize as many double down combinations as you can.

Never think you are due – you are not! No online blackjack or any card player ever is. If you are on a losing streak, you can and will lose again; the same applies to winning. Hand histories carry no influence on the outcome of what the next hand will be, and odds remain unchanged. Tip: card counters use advanced statistical techniques to calculate winning odds, it is not only about counting cards.

There is no bad table position – in poker this applies, in blackjack there is absolutely no bad position at the table – get over it.

Cut your losses and surrender – there is a reason why some games of blackjack allow the player to surrender, take advantage of this when need be. Again, revert back to blackjack strategy.

Speaking of strategy – always have your strategy card up to date and at your right hand, even in a live casino; it’s allowed! Play by strategy, strategy, strategy and blackjack is one of the few casino games, where you can almost beat the house edge, but only when using strategy!

It is a good deal more difficult for US casino players to find an online casino or any gambling website, than it is for players in the UK. With a good online gambling guide however, everyone can get the chance to play for real money and be completely safe. Although it pays to bear in mind that online gambling in the US is illegal, and any site still offering real money games to players needs to be thoroughly checked out. For new UK players however, there are thousands of sites to choose from – most of them completely legitimate, although not all created equally.

A good online gambling guide offers insight and comparisons to get the most bang for your bucks, as well as great entertainment. It also helps newbies to explore sites and games, with a certain amount of confidence that they might normally not have on their own recognisance. Obviously it takes some luck to find the right fit, but once you know what you are doing, it is simple to dispel myths and as UK casinos and gambling activities online are completely legal, the player is better protected.

Look for sites in the online gambling guide which are White listed in the UK, and although this scenario will be changing some time, we don’t see this happening very soon. Licensing jurisdictions are mostly offshore, but when you stick to EU destinations such as Alderney, Isle of Man, Gibraltar and Malta, there is very little that can go wrong, and there is definitely room for recourse if a site is eCOGRA approved.

Casino software providers are also a good rule of thumb; good guides always let us know what these are, and this helps us to get the best product. When you see names such as Playtech, Microgaming, IGT, and Net Entertainment you are definitely onto a good thing. Big brand names are another thing a good guide should mention to their members. If the names of the gambling sites are completely baffling and don’t ring any familiarity bells, don’t even bother looking. No matter the size of the bonuses, biggest is never best, while big names is a completely different concept and UK players can cherry pick these. For example William Hill, Victor Chandler, Virgin, Betfred, Mecca, Gala, Ladbrokes, Littlewoods and other familiar names; all provide brilliant games, and excellent (while not over the top) incentives to play.

Effectively we want to find the best online gambling guide that will enhance our playing experience; again there is any number of these. Based on this small information we have provided here, this can also be used as a guide. Look for UK specific sites if you are a UK player, and many of these books (metaphorically speaking) may be simply judged by their covers. If the online gambling guide looks good to you, then it is regularly the right fit. They don’t try to take your money, just hook you up with the right site for your gambling needs.