Key Gambling

What constitutes bonus abuse?

karen — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:48:05 +0000

Don’t be fooled. Casinos can and do take action against players they consider to be abusing the bonus system. Many a player before you has been stripped of their bonus privileges and a huge proportion of disputes with online casinos are centred around bonuses. A typical casino response where they suspect abuse is to freeze your gaming account and to return your deposit.
So the question becomes: what constitutes bonus ‘abuse’ and how do you make sure you are not considered to be abusing the bonus system? The answer is a bit murky and some casinos take a stricter approach than others. It is the sign up or welcome bonus that is the subject of most abuse. Opening multiple accounts at the same casino will definitely land you with the label ‘abuser’ and whilst I don’t agree with this type of behaviour (and is clearly against the rules of most if not all casinos) I don’t think bonus abuse the correct term. However, it is pretty hard to register more than one account these days and if you ever intend on cashing out your winnings you should always use your real name as you will have to go through some pretty serious identification checks.
It is because of bonus abusers in the past who thought that bonuses were free money to take home that we now have higher (actually, very high) wagering requirements and can only be meet on certain games that have a higher house edge (like the slots). Sticky bonuses are the next step after wagering requirements (these are bonuses where you can withdraw your winnings but not your actual bonus).

Poker bots: good or bad?

karen — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 08:47:55 +0000

Personally, the jury is still out for me on whether poker bots are a good development or not for the online poker industry. In case you’re not familiar with the term, online poker bots are computer programs that help poker players to win based on the statistical data that is fed to them. It’s obviously argued by many that those players who rely on poker bots receive an unfair advantage over the others players at the table as they can dramatically increase your chances of winning. I agree to some extent. Why should I continue to play online when I’m probably playing against artificial intelligence? Not all online poker rooms allow the use of bots understandably so I tend to stick to these ones but it is very hard to detect the use of bots and enforce. On other hand, you could argue that bots aren’t perfect anyway and are only as good as the programmer who built them. There is a lot more to poker than just statistics and odds such as bluffing. Poker is an extreme complex game and it will be a long time until anyone can build a 100% effect bot. In any event, if you are planning on using a bot, you should read through the T & C’s carefully beforehand.

Poker Playing Priest

karen — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:40:47 +0000

In one of the more bizarre gambling related news stories that I’ve come across, I just read that a South Carolinian priest took a gamble – literally speaking – on a poker tournament to raise the remainder of his church’s 5.5 million goal to build a new facility. I should add that he did seek (and was granted) approval beforehand from his pastor. Reverend Andrew Trapp took part in the PokerStars.net. The priest apparently holds the position that whilst he was playing in a poker tournament, he wasn’t actually gambling since the tourney was free to enter, and to gain access to the final round, a player had to finish in the top ten in the free tournament, and also submit an audition video. In the end missed out on the top prize of $1 million but he did win a respectable $100,000 which he donated back to his church (although this wasn’t quite enough to reach their target goal). Check out the video here and I’m sure he won’t match the image you had in mind for a priest. It was certainly a good PR exercise for the priesthood!

Australia in Top Ten Gambling Countries

karen — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 04:57:31 +0000

There is apparently now one poker machine per every 110 people in Australia which means that the country now ranks amongst the top 10 international gambling centres in the world. Yep. That’s right … Australia is up there next to the likes of Macau and Monaco even. Actually, Monaco took out the top spot (with 1 machine for every 16 people!) but other surprising appearances in the top 10 (well, to me at least) were Japan and the Netherlands.
Unsurprisingly there is a reform movement pushing the Australian government to develop and adopt safer gambling regulations. For example, making the pokie machine automatically cut off after a certain period of time to reduce the potential for harm and loss.

Regulation vs. Prohibition

karen — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 08:08:03 +0000

This 60 Minute clip is a bit outdated now but I’d say that the warning still rings true about the poker cheats that are still out there and that you shouldn’t ever let your guard down.
I support regulation of the industry rather than prohibition. I think that tales such as these just strengthen my argument that the US shouldn’t be taking the approach of outright prohibition against online gambling but rather should be introducing legislation to regulate the industry and issue licences (just as Switzerland is likely to do shortly). This would offer great consumer protection against shonky sites and players who cheat. Implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in the US has been delayed for now thankfully but who knows what the ultimate outcome will be.

At the end of the day though, don’t let stories like this scare you away from online gambling. You just need to be aware of them and take it as a precautionary story. It’s simply a reminder that you should take all the regular safety steps to make sure you’re playing with a reputable casino or online poker room.

Longest Losing Streak in History

karen — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:41:15 +0000

I recently came across the shocking story about the man who managed to lose nearly $127 million over the course of a year in the Caesars Palace and Rio casinos in Las Vegas sometime during 2007. Its believed to be one of the biggest losing streaks in history. The unlucky player is now in an ugly legal battle with the casino companies involved about whether they are partly to blame and should share some of the responsibility of this losses. The player claims that the casinos plied him with alcohol and preyed on his vulnerable state. Whilst this story is interesting in and of itself it lead me read more deeply about the world of high rollers (not being one myself unfortunately) and their relationships with casinos – or rather, the extent that they go to just to lure in high rollers. There doesn’t seem to be much that they won’t do just to please a high roller including luxury suites, private jets or even fishing trips to Alaska. Ahh, to live the life of a high roller just for a day …. Competition for these high rollers has become even more fierce in the past year or so because casinos have suffered from the global economic downturn and these players are splashing out even more on their gambling habits than usual. The relationship is often uneasy and more often than the not the casinos run into trouble trying to manage these high rollers who usually have compulsive gambling habits and frequently try to pin the blame on the casino when it all goes pear shaped.

Guy bets lifesaving on roulette

karen — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:33:30 +0000

This clip where a guy bets his whole lifesavings on the single spin of the roulette wheel has been pretty widely circulated around the net.

Whilst he got lucky (actually extremely lucky), I’d say there are at least two reasons why he’s a bit of an idiot (not mentioning the most obvious being that he bet every penny to this name!).

First, he apparently placed a wager of US$138,000 on normal American roulette rather than European roulette. In case you’re not a roulette player, there is a major difference between the two roulette variants. That is, European roulette has only one zero (0) whereas the American roulette wheel one additional green pocket market double zero (00). And there is a very simple, mathematical reason why you should never place a bet at an American roulette table. The odds paid are 35 to 1 for both European roulette and American roulette even though there are more pockets on the American wheel! So it’s obviously a much better deal to play European roulette. Let use this guy as an example – he placed an even money bet (which is black/red, high/low even/odd) on a wheel with two zeros which has a house edge of 5.26%. However if he had he simply gone to another casino that offers European roulette he could have reduced the house edge to 1.35% because when playing European roulette you can receive back half an even money bet (which he placed) if the ball lands in zero. In European roulette, you have a 1 in 37 chance of winning but when you place the same type of bet in American roulette, you have a 1 in 38 chance. European roulette offers a lower house edge. In fact, that extra pocket on an American roulette wheel nearly doubles the house edge meaning that in the long run you’ll lose money nearly twice as fast compared to playing European roulette!

Plus, as I noted in last week’s post, the lad probably should have also made a trip to Canada to pull this stunt so that his winnings were tax free.

Tomb Raider Slots

karen — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:46:58 +0000

Google ‘Tomb Raider slots’ and you get nearly half a million hits which may give you some indication of just how strong a following this particular game has amongst the gaming community. There are scores of online slot machines these days cashing in on the cult-like following that Tomb Raider has generated. Microgaming is the software provider for the Tomb Raider themed slot game so you can expect first class graphics. The game itself has a number of impressive and entertaining features (such as a wild and scatter symbols) although it is not a progressive slot machine. There are five reels and fifteen paylines. There is a free practice mode so you can give it a try with pretend money before playing with real hard earned cash. There are also two different bonus feature games, as opposed to the regular one available with other Microgaming slot games. Should you be lucky enough to hit three Lara Croft symbols, you win 10 free spins. Coin sizes range from 1 cent to a dollar and the maximum number of coins you can use are 75. Thus, the betting spread is 75c to $75. 7500 coins are the jackpot total.

Playtech joins the World Lottery Association

karen — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:51:03 +0000

Playtech, one of the leading gambling software providers, was just approved as an Associate Member by the World Lottery Association (WLA) … meaning that Playtech will expand its already enormous business even further around the world. WLA membership offers Playtech the chance to enter new markets that it couldn’t previously.

In case you haven’t heard of them before, the WLA is the global professional association for State lottery and gaming organization and currently has members from over 76 countries, generating more than US$180 billion in revenue. WLA is good news for us players because its members are expected to adhere to the strictest standards of accountability, responsible gaming, security and risk management.

Approval from the WLA is recognition of Playtech’s position as a provider of online platforms for private and State-owned lottery operators in regulated markets worldwide.

Pachinko anyone?

karen — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:11:57 +0000

I only recently learnt about Pachinko machines which are a Japanese invented gaming device for amusement and gambling. Pachinko machines are unique to Japan and are apparently found in pachinko parlors all over the country (which are easily identified by the bright, gaudy decoration and flashing neon lights). It’s kinda like slot machine meet pinball, but vertical, without flips and with a number of little metal balls.

The only control the player has is over the speed with which the balls (up to 250) are fired into the machine by using a throttle. Most balls just fall down through the machine through pins to the bottom and you lose them. But if you manage to get one or more to fall into special target holes, it becomes like a slot machine. There’s a digital screen in the center of the layout and if the same three pictures appear, you win! And you get whole new bunch of balls as a jackpot which you can then exchange for goods in the parlor’s gift shop (since gambling is prohibited in Japan). You can apparently take these gifts outside and around the corner to a little enterprising business and trade them in for cash (these businesses are commonly owned by organized crime).

Check out these really bad commercials that Nick Cage did for Sankyo (a maker of Pachinko) for a good laugh. It’s little wonder the guy just declared that his going bankrupt!