JackpotCity Online Casino Blog

Two articles did the rounds at the JackpotCity mothership this week.  Both Mediapost and Canada.com picked up on the story of Representative Barney Frank’s plan to introduce a bill that could legalise online gambling in the US.

This bill will challenge the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, Mr Franksaying the current law ” burdens the financial service industry at a time of economic crisis”.

He tried unsuccessfully in 2007 to introduce the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act which would control underage and compulsive gambling, money laundering and fraud.  While Mr Frank seems to agree their is need for control he clearly disagrees with the Republican’s somewhat draconian outright banning of online gambling.

This conincides with the European Commission’s investigation into whether the US is singling out EU based companies for different treatment to American online gambling businesses.  European gambling sites have petitioned the Commisssion to investigae and report their fidnings at the World Trade Organisation in a bid to reverse the laws that have cost them millions of dollars in revenue.

Will the change of leadership mean a change in online gambling regulations.  It has been widely reported that in his days as Senator of Illinois, President Obama was a keen poker player.  This, however, is in contrast to his concerns about the dangers of gambling in poorer communities.  His words in 2003, “I think the moral and social cost of gambling, particularly in low-income communities could be devastating.”

It seems that despite support from the European Union, Mr Frank is going to have his work cut out for him getting his bill passed.  Whatever the outcome, Online Casinos the world over will be paying close attention to the result.

Throughout time, the game of baccarat has been seen to be a card game reserved for very exclusive and wealthy gamblers. The more well known players tend to be players in land-based casinos rather than online baccarat players.

In terms of land-based baccarat as opposed to online baccarat, one mentionable name would be Akio Kashiwagi. He first rose to fame through a record breaking win in Atlantic City, USA. This win in Atlantic City was of $6 million which he achieved through betting up to an astonishing $200,000 per hand. His luck turned a few weeks later when he reportedly lost a record $10 million.

Before online baccarat came about, Tommy Renzoni was a casino executive in Havana, Cuba in the 1950s. Renzoni is the man that took baccarat to Las Vegas.  The game quickly became a huge success and he is widely regarded as the father of baccarat in the United States.

And last but not least, there is one man who’s name has been synonymous with the game of baccarat for some time. That is of course James Bond. Baccarat is the secret agent’s favourite casino card game although the novels were written before the introduction of online baccarat.

These, of course, are famous people that play baccarat at land-based casinos. There are not as many well known online baccarat players. This could be due to the fact that any large wins in terms of online baccarat can  of course be kept relatively confidential. The introduction of online baccarat to casino sites means that you no longer need to be a member of the gambling elite to play. Online baccarat has succeeded in increasing the variety of different people playing the game of baccarat. Online baccarat has also become very popular as a standard game offered by online casinos.

 When playing slots games, whether land based or online slots, there are some terms that are helpful to know. While you don’t have to know these terms in order to play, it’s a good idea to know what everyone else is talking about. Following you’ll find some often used terms.

• Bonus Feature – There’s a special feature added to some newer slots that when activated automatically gives you free spins or a bonus round that allows you to win extra coins.
• Coins Size – This describes the amount of each bet. Most online slots allow more than one coin to be played. Typical coin sizes go from 1 cent to 5 dollars.
• Hit Frequency – This means how often winning spins happen. Obviously, larger hit frequencies are better than lower ones. However, you need to also consider the pay cycle.
• Multiline – Online slots as well as land based ones that have more than two pay lines to make winning combinations.
• Free Spins – Spins awarded for free occur when a specific combination, typically three or more, scatter symbols appear.
• Pay Line – Typically, this means the line in the center of the slot window. It can also be three – five lines. You can only win from symbols on a pay line.
• Reels – These are where the symbols of a machine are shown. A machine usually has three reels but can also be two, four, or more. The more reels, the harder it is to hit a jackpot.
• Scatter – A combination of two or more symbols that win regardless of where they appear.
• Symbols – The icons appearing on the reels.
• Pay Cycle – It’s believed that slots, either online slots or land based ones, go through cycles. This means once a certain amount of coins are played, the machine must pay out to keep up with the payout percentage programmed into that machine’s software.
• Wild Symbol – A symbol appearing on the reel that is substituted for other symbols to make a winning combination.

By studying this list, you can be as slots savvy as the next player.

See you in the software

Justin