Island Stud Player Scoops Over $100K at Online Vegas
Early on last Saturday evening, a player at Online Vegas Casino, struck it rich when, rather than playing the slots games, he chose instead to have a go at the Island Stud Progressive Poker game. In exchange for drawing an elusive Royal Flush, the unidentified player walked away with the game’s accumulated jackpot prize of $104 834 and, no doubt, an extremely large grin.
Island stud poker is a game that is not found just anywhere. That is because the online version of this game, made popular at land-based casinos, was developed by Canadian gaming software company, Vegas Technology and is exclusive to those casinos that form part of the company’s progressive jackpot network.
History reveals that the full progressive jackpot is won, on average, just once in every twelve months or so but, following this most recent payout and the surge in interest that it has drawn in its wake, its new value has already climbed to a little over $94K. Could this mean another win may be imminent despite the statistics?
Although the full progressive total is only paid to players with a Royal Flush, it also pays out lesser portions for other premium hands. Ten percent of the jackpot prize is awarded to any player that can produce any other straight flush combination while lesser amounts may be paid for four of a kind, a full house or a flush.
A shot at the progressive jackpot is, in fact, optional. In order to be considered for a share of the various progressive bonuses, players must first place a secondary bet of $1 in addition to their normal ante. Naturally, this secondary bet must be placed before the hand is dealt.
The game is quite simple. Play is against the dealer and players receive five face-down cards while the dealer receives four concealed cards and one face-up, at which point players must decide whether to place a bet, equal to double the ante, or to surrender (fold). The dealer now shows down and must have, at least, an Ace / King to proceed or else all challengers are paid evens. If the dealer meets the minimum requirement, players must then show down to determine winners.
As part of the Vegas Technology Progressive Jackpot Network, the Online Vegas Casino has long been known for its frequent and generous progressive jackpot slots payouts. Currently, newcomers can score up to $5 000 in welcome bonuses over their first ten deposits and proceed to enjoy a choice of more than 100 superb games. This site is awash with great promos and US players are not only welcome but their unique payment needs are well provided for.
Online Vegas has become the online casino of choice for many and could be your chance to benefit from one of the site’s numerous big progressive jackpots including Island Stud Poker.
Playing Keno Online can be Fun and Fruitful
For certain, some of you who read this article are going to be asking; “What on earth is Keno?” and, in fact, although enormously popular among peoples of Chinese origin it is still unknown to the majority of other races. Despite this, many internet casinos now offer players the chance to learn and play an online version of the game, including venues such as Rushmore Casino and Cherry Red Casino, that is really most enjoyable and, potentially, quite lucrative.
Keno is not a difficult game by any means and fans of bingo will be immediately aware of both its similarities and its differences. The simplest comparison to the Western game of bingo might be to say that; in Bingo the cards are pre-printed with randomly generated numbers whilst in Keno, the cards or tickets, to give them their correct name, carry all of the possible numbers so players must tick just those that they wish to play and pay accordingly. Both games tend to use a simulated air blower to eject numbered balls that determine their outcomes.
In Bingo players hope that all of the numbers on their pre-printed cards will be drawn or, often, sufficient of their numbers to form a prescribed pattern, whilst in Keno, a player may select as many or as few numbers as he or she wishes and will be paid accordingly if they are drawn. That sounds easy enough doesn’t it?
Keno is fun and fast paced and, as it has gained in popularity, the rewards have increased in parallel. Some online casinos now offer a progressive jackpot for certain Keno games and, as the payouts have been known to exceed a million dollars on occasions, Keno is no longer just great internet-based entertainment but has become a pursuit with the potential to change a player’s life forever.
The main objective of Keno is to pick up a big ticket win and, unlike when playing games such as poker, the simple process of grinding away with small bets is unlikely to achieve this. Big wins in this game require bold bets that cover larger numbers of options.
The game has its own system and language of betting just like roulette and many sites will assist players to familiarise themselves with betting conventions through helpful tutorials and videos. It is, however, quite unnecessary to learn the system as picking numbers at random is equally acceptable and carries much the same chances of winning.
If you are brand new to the game, it may well be advisable to get in some practice by playing the fun money version for a few sessions before graduating to real money play. Most online casinos that offer Keno will also support free play. At YPC we recommend that you get your introduction to this enjoyable game at Cherry Red Casino or, perhaps Rushmore Casino, both sites that you can trust and that offer first class support.
Fantastic February for Fortune Lounge Punters
Even though we may not have experienced big wins in person, it is, somehow, always good to read of other’s successes. In noting the windfalls of others, it is often possible to discern trends regarding the performance of particular games or the casinos at which they are found. A recent deluge of substantial wins by slots players at online casinos belonging to the prestigious Fortune Group seems to suggest that it could be a good idea to take the time to explore some of these popular, UK online venues.
In just one week of February 2010, Vegas Palms Online Casino and Royal Vegas Online Casino, both Fortune Group members, have each paid out three very substantial wins that, together, totalled more than $115 000.
At Vegas Palms, fans of the popular Microgaming Bonus Slots series were the ones making all of the money. The casino’s three big payouts during the week in question were scored by punters playing “Bomber Girls Bonus Slot”, “Pharaoh’s Tomb Bonus Slot” and “Gypsy Queen Bonus Slot”. Together, the three lucky punters succeeded in amassing a total of $61 000.
The winning mix turned out to be quite different at the other Fortune Group online venue, Royal Vegas Casino. Here, it was the aficionados of the video poker scene that took down all of the big pots. Between the three pokie lovers, they managed to take home another $56 000, playing three of the best loved games in the genre; “Bonus Poker Video Poker”, “Cyber Stud Poker” and “Aces and Faces Video Poker”.
Curiously, there have not been any progressive jackpot wins at these venues for quite some time. It is, however, an ill wind that blows nobody any good and the cumulative jackpot total currently stands at well over 3 million Euros. In light of this, one of the progressive games seems certain to begin offering up some life-changing sums sooner rather than later, making the Fortune Group Casinos a definite online venue of choice right now.
The group is noted for its awesome promotions such as their current “Diamonds are Forever” promo, now in its eighth week and with four more weeks still to go. Last week alone saw punters receive more than 3.5 million free loyalty points and almost 4 000 casino credits.
If you are looking for a new and enjoyable experience, look no further than a Fortune Group casino. As the UK’s oldest and largest online casino group, they guarantee the very best in online gaming entertainment. YPC strongly recommends that you try both the Vegas Palms Online Casino and the Royal Vegas Online Casino and try your hand at those tempting progressives.
Baccarat is your Best Bet at Online Casinos
OK, so you have often dreamed about strutting into some plush casino, with a beautiful blonde on your arm, taking your place at the tables, tossing down a pile of big value chips and proceeding to break the bank. Sadly, you are probably no James Bond and you may have little knowledge of how best to play the tables. Do not despair. Not only is 007’s favourite game of chance extremely simple to learn but Baccarat, as it is known, also pays remarkably well, especially when played online at prestigious casinos like Platinum Play, one of our top ten.
In the majority of online gaming sites, the edge or margin required by casino operators in order to remain profitable is actually at its lowest at the Baccarat tables. Very simply this means that these very tables offer players the greatest chance of a win. So, especially if you are a newcomer to the world of online gambling or are not too familiar with card games, Baccarat represents the perfect game with which to ease your way into the scene.
You may have you eye on the Blackjack table or find yourself drawn to the roulette wheel but, if you have your mind set on making some money as well as having fun, I would strongly recommend that you begin with a game in which the strategy is both simple and more often profitable. That game is Baccarat.
Let’s take a look at how it works. Baccarat is a two-man contest in which the punters have three possible betting options. They may either bet on the Banker’s hand or on the Player’s hand to win or for the two hands to draw. The obvious winning strategy in this game is not really rocket science but simple arithmetic. Because of a minor difference in the rules that apply to the house (Banker) and those that apply to the Player, the house edge on the Banker’s hand is just 1.17%. By contrast, that applicable to the Player is 1.36%. This means that consistently betting on the banker carries the best possibility of maximising your wins and minimising your losses.
It is true that a draw pays great odds at 8 to 1 but, on this bet, the house enjoys an edge of more than 9% so you could certainly lose a packet long before you ever win a cent.
Once you have begun to feel confident and are experiencing some wins, you may want to extend your use of strategy by researching one of the popular betting systems such as Martingale or Parlay. However, it will still pay to focus on the banker’s hand.
You can learn to play and enjoy the game of Baccarat at Platinum Play Casino. If you sign up now you can enjoy their special promotional offer of 1500 free games without the need to make a deposit.
Mastercard in Controversial Online Funds Seizures
Online gamblers resident in the United States will need to be a lot more careful in future. It may even be time for them to cut up their top branded credit cards and start looking for a more reliable and cheaper e-wallet or prepaid online payment solution.