Best Online Casino Promotions & Casino Bonus Codes

Archive for November, 2008

Yes, I play slots online. Who does not? Any gambler worth his salt should take a gamble and play slot machine games. Slot machines are a great leveler. This game is based on luck and luck alone. This means a player like me who dabbles in Blackjack card counting and wins regularly at online casino slots can be humbled when I play slot machine games.

A player who has never entered a casino in his life, can pull the lever and win a fortune in a second the very first time he decides to play slot machine games.

People are increasingly opting to play slot machine games. It is easy to see why. There are no complex strategies involved. The payout percentages are invariably good. On an average, for 5 cent bets, the average payout is 96.8%; for 25 cent bets, the payout is 97.6%; for a $ 1 bet, the payout is 98.2% and for a $5 bet it is 98.5%.  Those who play slot machine games, are sold on the constant cashflow with pre-determined payout percentages.

Though the odds are different for each game, people know that they stand to gain when they play slot machine games. In fact, when I play slots online I am always astounded by the payoffs—they are in excess of one million dollars for relatively small bets!

A great inducement to play slot machine games is the pots and jackpots attached. Other casino games do not give back in such a spectacular fashion on small wagers. Another reason why people play slot machine games is the huge and ever increasing variety of themes introduced regularly.

From the viewpoint of casinos , earnings from the vast populace which play slot machine games is actually helping the business make its bottomline. Not just online casinos, even the land casinos give pride of place to slot machine games. It is no exaggeration when they say that regular slots, progressive slots and video poker machines fuel the casino engine. When you play slot machine games, you are providing the gambling industry with its bread and butter.

All I have on my mind these days is money. Now there are many ways to earn money, especially if you are into online gambling. As you know, I play Blackjack online every other day and make a tidy sum. When I get bored I move on to play Roulette online. If I really tired and feel too exhausted to bother with Blackjack card counting, I play slots online. All of this fetches me money. But you know what is really cool? It is all the free casino cash I get in the form of free casino bonus.

Of course, I am well aware that most casinos make a series of tempting free casino bonus offers to get players to sign-up. But I have found a way to outsmart them. You know what I do? I go casino-hopping. I know those casinos out there are lying in wait for “loyal” customers who stay long after the bonus dries up. But that would mean my loss and the casino’s gain.

Every week, I track down at least half-a-dozen online casinos with generous free casino bonus offers. I then log on to one, earn my bonus, play on till I clear the free casino bonus and then move to another. I make the most at every site I stop by and believe me, whenever I have stopped to check what I made, the returns from a free casino bonus are simply awesome.

But then, there are a few things to keep in mind when I sign-up with an eye on the free casino bonus. I go through the terms and conditions on the site with a magnifying glass. Though a free casino bonus is basically free money that you get to play with to satisfy play through requirements, it is not uniform across the sites. Remember the 10x max cash out stipulation? It means you need to bet ten times the bonus before you qualify to withdraw the free casino bonus.

Though this may sound daunting at first, if one is adept at the game cashing a free casino bonus is no big deal. So I have concluded that while the free casino bonus is aimed at fresh players, it is veterans like me who get the most out of them. What say you?

I think I am coming down with the blues. The weekend is upon us and strangely, I am not ready to play Blackjack online. No, that does not mean I plan to play roulette online. In normal circumstances that would be the logical conclusion as all of you know I like to play casino online. But have you not wondered what I do when I am not visiting online casino sites? Weekends are often spent preparing for and hosting awesome barbecue parties in the backyard. But then, this weekend is not one of those.

I told you I am coming down with something –may be it is the flu, or may be it has to do with Obama’s victory and the media going to town with it. The latest is the Obama press conference. It is definitely getting to me.

I just want to go away somewhere and blow up all the money I have earned last week –thanks to a basic Blackjack strategy I tried out. Gosh! Now, I know what has been eating me. I was surfing the Net to find some good places to hang out and guess what I found? Some really awesome drinks that they serve at Las Vegas. Check them out at http://www.top10-lists.com/2008/10/top-10-most-expensive-las-vegas.html

I just took a look and I am convinced that I am missing out on all good things in life, cooped up here in Des Moines. That’s it. After the mowing the lawn tomorrow, I will just get back to some online casino sites where I have saved up lots of free casino money. I may as well try my luck and win some more money. After which I can plan my trip to Las Vegas with the wife. I am sure she would be happy with the Gotham Martini that comes with pearls. For me, nothing less than the High Roller Martini! When you play casino online, the sky is the limit.

It is Obama, Obama all the way. I am no racist, but look what America has gone and got itself –a Black President who thinks abortions and gay marriages are okay. I am not against this African American, but then, conservatives have little choice these days. Look, I am proud that America is a happening place, making history and all that. If there is change, I hope it is for the better.

Like online casino sites changed gambling. Don’t you think they are a cool option over those land casinos that one has to go all the way to Las Vegas to find? It is another matter that I plan to go to Vegas one day and try video slot machines. But I am really sold on these online casino sites. The one change I want is to see online casino sites legalized all over America. Do you think Obama will do it? I am told he is open to it –after all he is a known poker player.

Someone at the chat forum at an online casino site commented that Obama would be too busy with other issues like the recession. But don’t you see the economy can be propped up with online casino sites. We know what Maryland just did …it has legalized slot machine games just to rake in funds for education. At the same time new land casino projects in Ohia and Las Vegas have been voted out.

I have been taking a close look at who has made it and I find Barney Frank has retained his seat. He is the chap who is pushing for clarifications on that Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Of course any move to legalize online casino sites would also mean regulation and taxation of the business of online casino sites. But I am sure nothing will be attempted without a study of online casino sites. That lady from Nevada, Shelley Berkeley has also made it… she is pushing for an in-depth study on online casino sites before any legislation is framed.

Another friend of online casino sites is Robert Wexler. He is trying to get skill games exempted from laws that govern online gambling and online casino sites. Skill games include poker, chess, bridge and other online games.

I think there are good times coming for online casino sites. The writing is on the wall.

One of my blog post readers, Cynthia warned me not to be reckless while playing at the free online casino. Aggression gets into the blood, and it can prove lethal at Texas Holdem Poker, Cynthia said. But I reckon playing at free online casinos gives me that extra courage to dare and do and learn to win, instead of playing defensively all the time.The game I just played at one of the free online casinos, makes it clear that being aggressive pays, but do it discerningly.

I noticed one reckless player at a free online casino who did not hesitate to raise and re-raise. I thought he was aggressive and would definitely win. But then, he did it once too often. With a non-hand like a 3-8 offsuit, he bluffed without winking an eyelid. Well, it may work sometimes at these free online casinos. Trying it often is plain foolish.They have a term for free online casino players who bet mindlessly like him: loose aggressive.

In contrast, a tight aggressive player is one who forces others to leave the pot, by taking the occasional risk with confidence. I count myself as one, after my experience at the free online casino yesterday.
I held an A-6 offsuit. Normally, players muck this hand. But I was at the dealer’s position –that is, on the button. The others folded, leaving me and the two blinds after me. Aware that it was a free online casino, I was hit by a streak of daring. I decided to play. Instead of merely calling the big blind as you may have expected me to do, I went a step further and raised. There was a strategy behind my decision. Had I called, the small blind would have had to place only half a bet. The big blind who had already put in a bet, would then get to see the flop for free. A call on my part would have at best given me a big blind with no guarantee that I held the better cards.
In contrast, a raise was just one bet after which the decision would rest squarely on the two blinds. It so happened that they chose to fold!  I had effectively managed to bluff my way through. See my point, Cynthia? Free online casinos can help you master a game

Free online casino can really spice up life. Here I was playing regular Poker for years, often bored by the predictability of my evenings. A chance visit to Dallas introduced me to Texas Holdem Poker, a community card game where players get to bet four times.

On returning to Las Vegas, I slipped back into my old habit of Draw Poker. Watching James Bond play the game in Casino Royale prodded me to try it at a free online casino.  Here are the basics:

You play the game with a standard deck of cards even at the free online casino. Each player is dealt two personal cards face down. Five other community cards are dealt face up on the table. One had to make the best five-card poker hand among players at the free online casino, combining the personal and the community cards.

At the free online casino also, the game starts from the left of the dealer, with a forced bet (small blind) which is doubled by another player (big blind). The money wagered is the pot, and the rest of the game is devoted to staking claim to this pot. Here is how:

After the bet, the two personal (pocket) cards are dealt. This if followed by a series of moves by all players. If you ‘call’ you opt to match the amount of money bet earlier and see the next card; if you ‘fold’ your cards, you choose to stop betting and relinquish your hand; if you ‘raise’, it means you increase the stakes by betting more than what has been bet. This can either prompt others at the free online casino to fold, call or make a ‘re- raise.’

As the game unfolds, the four rounds of betting are completed in the ‘flop’, the ‘turn’, the river card’ and the ‘showdown’, when each of the five community cards are revealed one by one. Guess what? You don’t have to use your pocket cards, if you have useless ones. Last night, at a free online casino, I played “the board,’ quite sure that the best cards were there. I was right and I won at the free online casino. It’s a simple game, but calls for a lifetime of learning, they say. So I am rushing back to pick up some more tricks of the trade. Thanks to free online casinos.

All of you know I am smitten with online casino games. The first thing that attracted me to online casinos was the fabulous bonuses on offer. Of course, I am no sucker and was very cautious when I saw the 100 % and 300% sign-up promotions. Soon I realized that it better to  understand the way bonuses work at the online casino and use it to my advantage.

My first lesson was that there is nothing “for free.” A free sign-up bonus is not money that you can cash right away. There is a pre-condition: a player has to place a minimum amount as wager on online casino games, before accessing the “free bonus.” As very few people are lucky enough to win large amounts of money, the amount wagered eats into the free online casino bonus.  Remember, not one of the myriad online casino bonuses offer any player a free money bonus that can be withdrawn straightaway.

The more you play, the more you are likely to win. So all online casino games will carry a playthrough requirement to “hold” you to the game. Let us say you opt for an online casino bonus amount of $ 100. Online casino bonuses always specify that you should play through a multiple of this amount, to win it. If 3x is the multiple given, you have to wager $ 3000.  The average win-lose ratio will allow you to wager this requirement without exceeding the $ 100 free online casino bonus.  But in effect, you would be left with less — say, just $ 60 of the original bonus which you can withdraw. Remember, if you are the lucky one you may even get to withdraw a very large amount of winnings.

The casino house edge or the ‘hold’ is a term arising out of this scenario. Due to the exacting requirements imposed on players, online casinos will always stand to gain 2 -3% more. This money is also used to pay the big winners. Unless this is done, the casino business cannot thrive and players cannot compete for huge wins.  A good online casino will not let greed overtake business sense and fleece its customers.  Remember, it is better to read the terms and conditions to check if the odds are stacked heavily against you. If so, move on to another online casino with better offers.

When it comes to offers, nothing can beat online casinos. Readers often ask me to simplify and explain the jargon. Let us start with the ‘free no-deposit bonus.’ Now, this is nothing but a clever ploy to get you to download the online casino software and try your luck. Of course you do receive anything between $5 and $25 in free money. But only the naïve would assume, the money is there for the asking. Play through stipulations and minimum wagering requirements mock the usage of the term ‘free.’ As for bonus, that is the very least casinos can give you, considering the business you generated.

Then comes the sign-up bonus. Most online casinos announce a 50% - 600% deposit bonus. That is, if you deposit X amount, you will get an additional Y amount to play with. This is the form of match bonus and percentage bonus. When an  online casino matches every dollar deposit with a dollar, it is dubbed a 100% welcome/sign-up/ or new player “match”  bonus. A 50% match bonus would mean every dollar you deposit would get 50 cents as the online casino bonus.

To keep you at their site, many online casinos offer loyalty and reload bonuses as well. These are on-going benefits and often take the shape of programs where you earn points as you play. These points are converted into a cash bonus after you reach a certain amount. For customers who have wagered a lot, it morphs into a VIP programme with additional incentives.

An online casino –either to save banking expenditure or to adhere to software functionalities –may want players to use a specific deposit route. So it offers a “preferred deposit” bonus. This online casino bonus ranges between 5% and 15%.  Watch out for the “up to” phraseology though. If an online casino promises a preferred deposit bonus of up to $ 3,000, it does not mean you earn 15% by depositing $3000.  It means the online casino’s high-end limit of  15% bonus  equates to $3,000. Which means to receive that bonus, you have to deposit $ 20,000.

So while offers are galore, so is the fine-print. Be sure you understand this before you grab those offers.