Casino News

Whether you call it vingt-et-un, twenty-one, pontoon or blackjack, this simple, fast and exciting card game has been around for a very long time and is now enjoyed by millions daily. The objective is simple enough. Players must collect cards whose face values sum to as near 21 as possible without actually exceeding that total. The game is played against a dealer with the same goal.

Blackjack has been a basic at just about all land-based casinos in existence but, since the development of the internet and the technology to support online gambling, it is now available at hundreds of internet casinos like Blackjack Ballroom as well. The latter, of course, are available in far greater numbers than their bricks and mortar counterparts. So how do the two games compare and is it best to play blackjack on the ground or in cyberspace?

A steady migration of players from the traditional casinos to the new electronic platform seems to suggest that there is a lot to be said in favour of the modern alternative.

Firstly it must be stressed that the fundamental blackjack rules apply equally in both environments with only minor variation and these can occur even between one land-based casino and another. Perhaps the most fundamental difference is that online blackjack tables are always open and never further from your favourite chair than arms-length. It’s this kind of convenience that probably influenced most players to make the initial move to online casinos such as Blackjack Ballroom. There’s no travelling time or expense involved and you will not be paying out for accommodation. Even if you live close by, the internet still remains a cheaper and more convenient option. You can play in your pyjamas and take a break whenever you feel like it.

For those on a budget, the online game carries the big advantage of offering games with very low stakes as compared to the real world. Frequently they also provide opportunities to win additional payouts and prizes that are almost unheard of in land-based casinos.

The online game does have one draw-back, however. If you’re a skilled card-counter your strategy is unlikely to help much in the internet game. The sophisticated blackjack software generates digital cards that are truly random and, furthermore, shuffles the virtual pack after each hand so card-counting becomes futile. If, by contrast, your memory is merely average like mine, this feature will protect you from the sharks.

For those who would be inclined to say that they miss the atmosphere of the live scene, developers have created the perfect compromise. You can now play online and be served by live dealers via streaming video technology.

So, what’s stopping you? Try online blackjack today at Blackjack Ballroom.

Millionaire Online Casino has long been known for offering players some of the best tournament opportunities to be found anywhere on the internet. It’s pretty much guaranteed that anyone who cares to drop in on this prestigious online gaming site will be able to find a tourney that is to his or her liking.

In order to meet the growing demand for tournament action by players on their site, Millionaire Casino has taken the step of completely reorganising the way in which they display tournament information.

Details of tournaments have always been published in a special tournament lobby that can be accessed from the main games lobby but now, this specialised area has been totally reorganized to display its content in a more logical manner as well as providing the facility with a new and far sleeker appearance.

The new lobby structure is divided into two distinct sections. The first, located on the left of the screen, is the “Choose a Tournament” section and contains outline information on all of the tournaments currently in progress as well as those scheduled to begin soon. The right-hand panel provides the visitor with a much more detailed description of any event that is selected in the other window. The new facility is expected to reduce considerably the tine taken to select a suitable tournament and register.
 
In the earlier version of the tournament lobby, each tournament was displayed, together with all of the relevant details, in a small box alongside all of the others. The result was a somewhat cluttered interface that required a lot of scrolling up and down and that made it difficult for players to quickly identify their tournament of choice. The new, cleaner and more logical display should go a long way in eliminating this kind of frustration for players in the future.

When viewing the new lobby, the punters will see more than a dozen events arranged in single rows simultaneously, eliminating much of the need for scrolling. Tournament details are displayed in headed columns that identify the tournament name, the prize, the entry fee, the designated game for that event and the tournament status. The latter is now shown by means of suitable icons as ‘In Progress’, ‘Register’, ‘Registered’, ‘Ended’, ‘Closed’ or ‘Cancelled’.

Another useful new feature has been included by the provision of tabs that allow one to filter only certain classes of tournament such as table games, slots, video poker and freerolls.

For those who have always enjoyed the great tournament action at Millionaire Online Casino, the experience has just become even better. If you haven’t experienced it yet, now might be a good time.

You will probably recall that, in an earlier article, a number of prominent US authorities expressed the view that despite the recent implementation of the hated UIGEA legislation, the nation’s online gamblers are likely to be largely unaffected if they so choose.

The legislation does not ban online gambling outright but rather directs banks not to process transactions that they believe could involve transfer of funds to online gambling providers. In the meantime many states are permitted to license the sale of lottery tickets and sports betting, which they appear to regard as a less of a moral infringement than playing cards or video poker on the internet.

Now, the State of New Hampshire has found a glaring loophole in the system that will allow its citizens to return to cyberspace for their thrills and to do so without fear of breaking the law.

Because the law addresses only banks and payment processing the State will now undertake to sell a new form of physical ticket, similar to that issued for the lottery but with one big difference. The ticket will act as a voucher that may be redeemed at online casinos and poker rooms that participate in the scheme.

Each ticket carries a unique code number that the purchaser will be asked to type into the payment interface of the online gaming outlet. This simple action will result in the online account of the player being immediately credited with the equivalent in available funds for play.

This clever legal workaround also means that players will not need to expose their credit card details to an online gambling outlet but that, instead, they may be purchased for cash or by credit card in denominations of up to $100 from trusted State lottery outlets. The State is also said to be providing the option to obtain the lottery tickets online.

The new project has been christened “PlayNowNH” by its creators and the first lottery tickets are due to go on sale to the public next month. Just as in the case of the traditional lottery and sports betting operations, prospective players will need to be 18 years old or over to buy tickets.

The newly legal internet punters will have a reasonable portfolio of games to choose from with slots, poker and speed bingo on offer initially and, no doubt, much more to follow.

This smart move by the New Hampshire administration is likely to attract the interest of other states and could very well constitute an opening of the floodgates that could provide a brand new headache for the nation’s lawmakers and maybe a heart attack for one or two of its “Granny Grundys” also.

Over the past year or so, more and more online casinos have been turning to the use of live dealers and croupiers in a bid to offer their clients a gaming experience that is much closer to the live casino environment. The move seems to have been a good one as a steadily increasing numbers of punters are flocking to casinos that offer live games.

The concept is a clever one in which a visual interaction between the live operator, either a dealer or a croupier, and the player, takes place over a streaming video channel. The live operator performs his or her task in the normal fashion while the result is digitized and presented through the gaming software interface as a hand of cards or the result of spinning a roulette wheel. Betting and all other online functions are completed in the normal fashion using the online interface.

A number of casinos have even capitalized on the interests of their male players by offering them a catalogue of attractive croupiers from which a player may pick his favourite. Recently, one Canadian online casino appears to have gone one step further in offering the opportunity to be served by young ladies in various stages of undress and even totally nude.

Temptations aside, the whole process of interacting with a live dealer lends a whole new dimension to the world of online gambling that is particularly seductive to those who are less able to afford the higher expense of playing at casinos or card rooms.

Until this point, it has been only the lovers of table games such as poker, blackjack, baccarat and the various forms of roulette that have been able to enjoy this type of live interaction. Recently, however, a United Kingdom company named Atac Media announced its intention to expand its live operator games to include Bingo.

The proposed live Bingo games will operate rather differently from other live dealer games, at least in the interim. Instead of online video, the live component will be presented by a TV broadcast to be transmitted every evening by Britain’s Sky Channel 166. They will watch and listen to the caller on TV whilst checking their virtual Bingo cards online.

With the roles of the traditional television set, the mobile phone, PDAs and personal computers becoming increasingly entwined, it should not be too long before some enterprising service provider succeeds in porting the entire online gambling operation to your outsized flat-screen, high-definition, 3D goggle-box for the most realistic live gaming experience ever.
I can’t wait!