By Jerry Whittaker

Most people who are aux fait with the online gambling casino genre, have some knowledge of the processes of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and how it affects this industry. This act was promulgated in 2006; and quite literally saw gambling casinos online going out of business overnight. It also saw many casinos moving their businesses elsewhere to escape the draconian tenets it encompasses, but what this effectively did was take the freedom of choice away from US people and casino operators – and this was thrust upon them.

It did not make online gambling illegal, but it made it virtually impossible for many gambling casino operators. Some continue to plod away at the market place, but if you take the US facing gambling market and look at it, this is a massive marketplace. There are online bingo networks in the US who count themselves lucky for having 13 000 members. In the UK the best bingo sites count members in the millions. And this is the difference between “regulation” as apposed to “restriction”.

What this act has also done is have the effect of making the big operators even bigger, they are able to get away with a lot of things small traders cannot. In particular this can be said of US facing poker rooms. The big guys keep on doing what they have always done and the smaller guys get gobbled up in the process, which really makes it a war of attrition and completely against the principles of free trade.

UIGEA has essentially not been something that was enacted for the greater good of all, and whether or not it will be the demise of the US gambling casino, now lies at the feet of the new presidential dispensation. If I were president Obama, this act would not be high on my agenda; he certainly has bigger fish to fry. However the masses of the world wide population who want to be able to gamble online, should make a difference.

The issue does not only lie with problem gambling, the issue of UIGEA lies with massive losses in income for small island states such as Antigua and Barbuda. It lies with the capability of online employment. Thousands of people lost their jobs and livelihoods as well as their ability to make a living with the implementation of this act. It went against the tenets of the WTO, and free trade.

The Department of Justice is already initiating prosecutions against organization who allow online gambling casino financial transaction to take place for their clients and demanding millions of dollars in reparations. UIGEA rules are being implemented now that it is 2010, so it is highly unlikely any new US gambling casinos will come online and chances are those that do exist will be put under even greater pressure.

By: Jerry Whittaker

Not all online casinos are created equally and to say we can advise you of the best casino to play with may be stretching the truth. There are quite literally thousands of casinos online and what we generally advise is sticking to one with a brand name you can trust.

There are various features that the best casino will have. One of these features is the sign-up or registration bonus. All casinos offer these and any potential player should read the terms and conditions pertinent to the sign-up bonus first – the biggest bonus is not necessarily the best. The other feature which is important is the games and getting the best odds from your games is an absolute must.

Online casinos offer the same games if they are operating from the same software, so learn to compare your favorite games. If you get better odds on the same game at another site and higher percentage payouts, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know what the best casino choice should be.

Once of the most prominent examples might be keno, where for the same wager at a Real Time Gaming site, there are much better chances of winning a bigger prize than at Vegas Technology sites. It is easy to make these comparisons, so make sure you do.

Online casino portals are potentially geared for providing players with all the information they need. They will actually even provide comparisons, so if you are a first time player, consult a portal first before playing. We also mentioned sticking to tried and trusted brands and Virgin Gaming is just such a brand. Ladbrokes, William Hill and the like are all big brand names too however these sites are more geared towards a UK and European facing market.

Unfortunately it is much easier to find a site that will accept UK and European facing players and this is chiefly because of US laws governing online gambling. Don’t worry, this is not a lost cause and there are still many choices for US players. Take Bodog, Rushmore and English Harbor for example.

Finding the best casino online is all a matter of tastes, every player has different tastes. It may be about software for some gamers and about prizes for others, this really all depends and what you like. If you enjoy playing with sophisticated 3D graphics you will also have to download software and if you just like a quick spin on the slots every now and then, then playing Java or Flash based games will be fine.

As technology advances, the best casinos online will regularly update their software. This means you get all of the latest gaming advances and the newest games the moment they become available.