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How to Start Playing Online Casino

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Do you want to start playing games through an online casino? Well, my friend, that can be a very smart choice for a number of reasons. The first and most obvious is that if you know what you are doing and having a bit of the old lady luck on your side then you can make yourself some money. Whether you are looking to put some extra change in your pocket for the holidays or you are trying to make a living as a professional gambler, playing casino online games can help you earn money. However, first things first: How do you get started?

For me, this was a tough question. I’d been around gaming all my life. My Pops took me to the track every Sunday when I was a kid and as I got older I’d often sit in on friendly card games with uncles and neighbors. With all this experience though, I still didn’t know which site to go to when I first started playing casino online games. Did some pay out more than others? Were any of them just big scams? How would I know if I was getting fair odds or the games were on the take? All of these questions lurked in the back of my mind as I began to search these casino games. It was through this searching, however, that I was exposed to and became familiar with the tons of online casino sites out there and subsequently learned about gaming forums. That’s right, there are forums out there where people judge and discuss what casino sites are better than others and why. Meaning, you don’t have to lose any money to learn which sites pay out more and which sites are a bit dodgy. Once I read through a handful of these forums and found a few online casino sites that I felt were respectable, I then created an account.

Next, I utilized the free casino games. Now, for those of you who have some real life gaming experience and then switched to the casino online thing, you know there’s an adjustment period. Because you aren’t in the same physical space as the other players there’s a different feel which can make a familiar game feel a bit foreign. I anticipated this and used the casino free games feature to gain first hand knowledge of how to learn and interact with the other players in an casino online cyber setting. I’m pretty sure most sites have these features, but if they don’t you may want to find those that do. With no risk involved you can quickly learn your favorite or new casino games and how it feels to play them. Once you have a decent handle on these dynamics you’re ready to start laying money down.

Now, for me, I didn’t just go all in with these casino online games. I’ve been around the block too many times to get caught up in my emotions: I started small. Five and ten dollar bets here and there and I never bankrolled myself for more than a $100 at a time. I’m not a fan of bringing more to the casino than I’m willing to lose and I saw no reason to deposit a grand or so when I know it’ll just make me play more loose. Again, you need to draw from your previous experiences in this new arena. And if you don’t have any previous experience with casino online gaming then I suggest you keep your bets small until you start seeing the trends and getting a true feel for it. Anyway, after I won a few hands I watched and waited for the casino online to start giving me bad cards so that they could get their money back. I still had suspicions that they would never let anyone get on too big of a run. I found though, that the casino games played a lot like they do in real life. Meaning, they’ll let you get greedy and lose your money all on your own.

All in all, online casino play can be fun and like I said before, it can be a way to put a little extra cash in your wallet or help you become a more lucrative gambler. What I say to anyone who’s thinking about getting into the online casino world is the same thing I say to anyone who’s thinking about getting into real world gaming: Make sure you have some skills and then take it slow. There’s no reason to get yourself into trouble with online casino poker or roulette or whatever. That’s why they call them ‘games’ – they’re suppose to fun.

The Rise of Online Gambling

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Recently it has been hard to ignore the great influx of advertising for online betting sites. It seems that wherever you look there is a commercial or billboard encouraging you to join some form of bingo or poker website. So why the sudden increase in interest? Why has gambling gone from being a pastime viewed with suspicion and hidden behind closed doors to a nationwide online phenomenon?

The answer seems to lie in the ease, anonymity and universal nature of the internet. One of the main reasons leading to the popularity of online betting seems to be the convenience of using the internet. Whereas in the past you had to take the plunge and search out a decent betting shop to place your bets, or (if you really wanted to flash the cash) indulge in a trip to the races, now you can do all the same betting from the comfort of your own living room. Clearly, for those people who are nervous of being judged by people around them for placing bets that are either too large or too small, the privacy that online betting from home allows is a major selling point. The same can be said for the rise in online casinos or bingo (a game that was formerly the preserve of those prepared to brave the bingo hall itself, but is now easily accessible for all on the internet).

Another advantage to using the internet to place bets is that it allows for much more variety. Whilst the races or the dog track are geared towards one form of gambling only, most betting sites will encompass a vast range of different things on which you can place your bets: from sports to bingo, from lotteries to casino and beyond. Ultimately, it’s easy to see why online gambling has taken off in such a big way – with the ease of betting from home, and the ability to cater to more than one interest at once, online gambling with companies like 32Red.com has staked a place for itself in the future of the casino.

5 Easiest Skill Games

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Which skill games have the simplest rules? Which are easiest to learn? Here’s our list of the 5 easiest skill games — games that require no more than 5 minutes to learn.

Keep in mind that “easy to learn” does not necessarily mean “easy to master”. Some games, such as Othello, have simple rules but complex strategy.

Also, not all of the games on this list are traditional skill games. We’ve included card and puzzle games. The only criteria is that the game must require some level of developed mental skill to win consistently.

Now on to the list.

#1 Sudoku

If you aren’t a numbers person, this game may seem intimidating. But part of the game’s broad appeal is the simplicity of its rules, which can be summed up in a sentence or two. Sudoku is easy to learn but playing and completing the game is a constant challenge. Although Sudoku is more of a single-person puzzle game than a traditional skill game, there is no doubt that developed skill (and brain power) is required to win.

#2 Tic-Tac-Toe

Even a child can learn to play this game with a simple demonstration. Unfortunately, games this simple tend to get boring awfully fast.

#3 Blackjack

As long as you aren’t the dealer, you can learn to play blackjack in minutes. Basic strategy can be memorized in an hour. Advanced strategies (that is, card counting) take much longer to master. Blackjack is generally considered more of a casino game than a skill game. PartyCasino.com is one place you can test your blackjack skills with live play.

#4 Othello (aka Reversi)

The concept of this game is pure genius. The rules are succinct and clear. Instead of arguing or debating technicalities, players dedicate themselves to out-thinking their opponents. Fantastic game.

#5 Rock Paper Scissors

Is this a game of skill or pure luck? If the game is pure luck, why do some players win more regularly than others? Clearly, on some level you need to out-think your opponent to win. Perhaps we can call it a game of psychological skill?

Virtual Currency for Pay and Play

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virtualcurrencyImagine asking to borrow a few dollars from a friend and, instead of reaching for a wallet, he reaches for a phone. He’s not confused, he’s just transferring a few dollars into your bank account. Virtually all large banks and most smaller financial institutions offer mobile banking, but where is this currency trend heading?

Were Debit Cards the Forerunner for Virtual Cash?

According to Quezi.com, The U.S. Census Bureau expected almost 484 million debit cards to be in use by 2010, as debit card use has eliminated check writing for many U.S. consumers. Mobile banking is fast gaining popularity too, with online payments, debit cards and mobile banking—some experts are beginning to wonder if we really need cash in our technology-based world.

Virtual currency is used predominantly on Internet social gaming sites, or as a way for charitable organizations to raise funds from donors. According to Matt Parker’s July 11, 2012 article on AAAComment, the biggest negative for virtual currency today is that many people don’t know it exists. Parker’s article introduces Bitcoin, Ven and Virtual weaponry as three of the currencies used online for purchasing products and supporting causes. The number of restaurants and merchants that accept virtual currencies online and offline is slowly increasing as well.

Can We Really Afford to Keep Minting Coins?

Technology reporter David Aaron recently reported on some changes virtual cash could bring. His article reminds people that large sums of cash change hands during criminal activities— reducing cash might reduce crime. He hints at the financial burden governments face to print or mint money for the citizenry. The cost of printing a penny in FY 2011 was 2.41 cents and a nickel cost 11.18 cents, according to CoinUpdate.com. The two smallest denominations of coins claimed 73 percent of the profit for US coin currency minting activities between 2006 and 2011.

There are some concerns surrounding private management instead of government backing, regulation enforcement and finding mechanisms to allow exchanges between the various currency styles. However, virtual currency seems to be working very well for social gaming sites, such as bingo from JackpotJoy.com, which allow players 18 years or older to earn cash-redeemable points

How Will We Pay and Play Tomorrow?

65 percent believe that virtual currency will replace tangible cash by 2020, suggests an online poll by Pew. These experts are aware of the pros and cons, but are confident the drawbacks can be overcome more easily than the security issues of the current financial crisis.

On TalkingPayments.com, it is theorized that with virtual currency:

  • There are no processing fees for most virtual currency transactions, eliminating ATM fees for many debit card users.
  • You can pay with virtual currency from anywhere with an Internet connection.
  • Less susceptible to fraud and theft utilizing “no contact cash” payment methods.
  • Can be combined with other credit card options to design your own “mobile wallet.”

Contemplating the disappearance of paper money and jingling change in our pockets is somewhat disconcerting for some people. Embracing the Internet was difficult for many people when the mysterious portal first appeared. However, in the future we might be paying our mortgage, gambling and pre-paying for a doctor’s visit from our phone. Millions of people are already paid through direct deposit—is virtual currency so hard to imagine?

Skill Games Defined

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This website is all about skill games. But what exactly are skill games? How do you decide which game is a game of skill and which is not? Who decides? We’ll try to answer these questions in this article and help you learn how to win playing online cash games.

First, “skill games” is a broad category of games that can include board games, card games and other types of games that require some level of mental strategy to win. Games that immediately come to mind are card games like rummy or bridge or blackjack, board games like checkers or reversi, word games like scrabble, or number games like sudoku. The thing all these games have in common is that they require brain-power, mental skill and strategy to win.

Not all skill games rely 100% on strategy. For example, let’s compare chess to backgammon. Chess is a pure skill game. There are no dice, no cards, no element of luck. But backgammon is not a pure skill game since the outcome of the game also depends on the roll of the dice. But even though luck plays a role in the outcome of backgammon, it is still a game of skill and the player who plays the better strategy will win more often than not.

A game doesn’t have to be as complicated as chess or reversi to be considered a skill game. Tic-tac-toe is a skill game. You need to know the proper strategy to win, even though that strategy is simple enough to be mastered by a nine-year-old child.

What about video games? Almost all video games require skill to win, although the skill of video games is often the skill of hand-eye coordination rather than mental skill, or strategy and logic. Take for example driving games like Need for Speed or Project Gotham. These games require tremendous skill and ability with the game controller but less skill as far as planning out a mental strategy.

In any case, video games are generally not included in the traditional category of skill games simply because the video game category is so big and so broad that it is a separate category all by itself.

In some countries the definition of skill games has legal implications since different laws may apply to games of skill than games of chance.

To sum up, one definition of skill games — the one we use at this site — is any game that requires mental skill and strategy to gain an advantage over your opponent or, in the case of one-player games, to increase your chance of winning.