JackpotCity Online Casino Blog

 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

I had the misfortune of watching Rush Hour 3 on Sunday night.  It was offensive on so many levels and Chris Tucker’s voice makes Fran Drescher sound sultry and seductive.  But what did get my attention was the scene in the Parisian casino.  Tucker’s character tries to get the attention of a beautiful woman with all the subtlety of a rhinoceros on viagra, at one of the casino tables where she is playing a card game.  Tucker gets 3 Kings in his first hand and thinks he has won.  The ever so snooty croupier says to him ” Messeur, this is Baccarat, that is the worst possible hand”.  I realised I had no idea how Baccarat works and thought others like me may want to know a little bit about the history of the game and how it works.

The game arrived in France from Italy in the 15th century and is similar to Faro and Basset.  It was first played by Italian Felix Falguierein with a pack of Tarot cards in the middle ages before it moved across the Alps to France where it became the game of the French aristocracy.  There are 3 versions of the game.  Punto Banco or North American Baccarat, Baccarat Chemin de Fer, and Baccarat Banque.

The rules are basically this.

• Cards 2 to 9 are worth their face value.
• Aces are worth 1,
• 10 and the face cards are worth zero.
• Unlike in blackjack where you aim to total 21, in Baccarat the aim is to total 9.
• The name Baccarat, meaning zero, is the name for the worst possible hand which is zero.
• To make it slightly more conmplicated, if for example, you have a 6 and a 7, totalling 13, the 10 is dropped meaning the total of your hand is 3.
• There are only 3 possible results.  Player, Bank or Tie.  The idea is to bet on whether the Player or Banker will win or whether there will be a tie.
• Player and Banker dont represent the gambler or the casino, they are simply the names for each hand.

Each versions has different rules but I think you get the gist.  In the 2nd to last James Bond, the remake of Casino Royale, Bond plays Texas Holdem against Le Chiffre due to the popularity of that game at present.  However, in Fleming’s novel and the original version of the movie, the game was Baccarat.  This game is popular with high rollers with players winning and losing tens of thousands of dollars per hand.  Another reason the game is probably not as well known is that the tables are usually tucked away in the more exclusive parts of casinos.

However with the growing popularity of online casinos you and I are able to step into the shoes of the French nobility and give it a go.  Just remember what happened to them though and that your card playing experience from those all night poker sessions counts for nought…or baccarat.

Good viral ads are the ones that stay with you long after you’ve logged off.  They get mentioned in online and offline conversation.  And of course they make countless appearances in email inbox’s around the world. But the really good ones are those that use established hype, breed spin offs and keep us hanging on for the follow ups.

Piggs Peak got the ball rolling with this ad. You have no idea what the advert is for until the end and you can’t stop watching.  They could never have got away with this in above the line media.

But the stroke of viral marketing genius came from the guys at Cool Hand Poker.  Filming it all in their office bathroom and using staff members they created this spin off.  It made me realise that some of the best marketing minds work in Online Casinos.  Sometimes toilet humour rocks.

Ever since I saw it I’ve been thinking of poker hands and what the next instalment could be.  Nothing’s come to me yet.  Have you got any ideas? Let’s see them here.

I’ve been very lax over the past few months with my blogging, but it’s not because I’ve forgotten about Online Casino! On the contrary, I’ve just been so busy with the launch of our new Online Poker site (Cool Hand Online Poker) and preparing the final stages to some very exciting changes here at JackpotCity.com that I’ve just not had the time to blog. That though is now a thing of the past (for now) and I’m going to throw myself back into this casino blog with gusto!

I thank you loyal readers for still sticking around even though there has been little or no action here. I promise, there is still plenty more to come

Cheers

Justin

I’ve just been going through a list of promotions in the casino and I must say things are looking very good!

First up we have a Jackpot Cruise on offer and it’s one that I wish I could take part in. 50 players and their partners can win the chance to spend 7 days on an amazing Mediterranean Cruise. The trip takes in the sites of Barcelona, Nice, Florence, Rome, Naples and Palermo. Man I can just see the fun being had in all those beautiful cities and in the casino, bars and lounges of that cruise ship. It makes me a little jealous!

Next up is the Oktoberfest promotion and I can tell you that all that hearty fare and barrels of beer is a laugh a minute. I’ve been to Munich a few times to celebrate it and I can highly recommend it. This promotion is only running until the end of August, so if you want to win you better start to spin.

Lastly we have our €500 FREE sign up bonus. This will allow all new casino players to play with €500 without making a single deposit. This in my book is a great deal and I can tell you it’s a great way to start your JackpotCity.com online casino experience.

That’s all from me for today. Hope you have a great time entering our promotions.

Justin

PS: Remember that terms and conditions apply to all of the above.

Holy cow it’s official! I don’t think the good people of Nevada are used to this sort of thing, but with the US economy faltering it seems that casinos across the State are feeling the effects. For the second time since last year the June figures report that casino revenue is down 1.9%. Fortunately this still translates to a win of $12.5 billion so it’s not complete doom and gloom. (For more on this read my casino blog post: Casino Revenue Down in Nevada)

I know I was a little flippant with my previous posts (see link above and here) but I’ve changed my mind after reading more and more reports about the downturn. This is not such a great thing. Yes I guess the fact that less people are driving to Nevada (causing less pollution and greenhouse gasses) is a good thing, but I’m a little worried about people losing their jobs in a tight economy.

Do any of you have thoughts on this subject? How do you think casinos (and not just those in Nevada) can get more people back at the tables? Do you think this is a bonus for online casinos because it makes online casinos a more viable casino destination? Leave your comments below…

Cheers for now

Justin

Dude! I’ve just finished my first full game session (uninterrupted that is) on the Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure pub fruity and I have only one thing to say – IT ROCKS!

All the characters from the movie are there, Bill, Ted, Rufus, the Princesses and of course all the famous figures from history that Bill and Ted meet on their fun filled trip through time. In fact the images of the movie characters are so good that I have this overwhelming urge to watch the movies (yes there is more than one Bill and Ted movie) again. But it’s not just the imagery that I enjoyed; the game play is also second-to-none and the sounds (as would be expected) are rocking!

For those of you who have never watched Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, here is a short plot synopsis:

Ted “Theodore” Logan and Bill S. Preston esquire won’t graduate from high school if they don’t do well in their oral history presentation (they’ve already failed the written exam). To make matters worse, if they fail Ted’s father will place Ted in military school, thereby ending any chance the boys have of their band the “Wyld Stallyns” ever making it big. But, just when it seems all is lost they receive help from a dude from the future – Rufus. It seems the future is based on the teachings and music of these two heavy metal misfits and they are sent through a journey in time to retrieve a few historical characters for their oral exam so as to save the future of mankind.

Sounds a bit zany I know, but trust me (ok I am a big fan of the original movies) the online slots game captures the craziness of the movie perfectly. But don’t just take my word for it, play the game in our no download casino and you’ll see for yourself – Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is one really sweet game.

Party on!

Justin
 

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Break out your air guitars and get ready to save a princess or 2 because Bill S. Preston, Esquire (Alex Winter) and Ted “Theodore” Logan (Keanu Reeves) are here to save the day! Yes you read that right, the WYLD STALLYNS from the Bill and Ted movie have jumped straight from the cult movie screen and onto your desktop with the Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure Pub Fruity!

Join Rufus (George Carlin) as he leads the world’s “saviours” through history so that they can graduate from school, fall in love and most importantly form the universes most triumphant rock band! This 3 reel, five payline pub slot offers up two bonus feature games, a wild (or should that be WYLD) symbol, multi-line cascading reel wins AND fixed win lines. This is the best thing to hit online casinos since… Well since online casinos!

So what are the stakes on this most excellent game? Well, they begin at only 10p and rise to an impressive £10 with winnings of up to £70,000 and a payout percentage of between 96 and 97%!

Bill and Ted is only currently available in our instant no-download casino, but make no mistake it still holds all the irreverent fun that fans have come to expect from one of the biggest cult movies of all time.

Party on dudes, party on!

Justin

P.S. I can’t leave you without a few lines from the movie, so here goes:

One Of The Three Most Important People in the World: It’s you!
Ted: Yeah! It’s us!
[to Bill]
Ted: Who are we?
[the strangers start playing air guitar, so Bill & Ted play also; more people come out and join them]
Ted: Bill, I think they want us to say something.
Bill: What should I say?
Ted: [shrugs] Make something up.
Bill: Be excellent to each other.
[room murmurs appreciatively]
Ted: Party on, dudes!
[room approves]
Bill: [to Ted] Good one, dude.
[to room]
Bill: Well, we gotta get back to our report.
Ted: Yeah. We’d take you with us, but it’s a history report, not a future report.
Bill: Later.
All Three Most Important People in the World: Later.

Oh what the hell, why not a few more for good measure he, he, he:

Evil Duke: Put them in the iron maiden.
Ted: Iron Maiden?
Bill, Ted: Excellent!
[air guitar]
Evil Duke: Execute them.
Bill, Ted: Bogus!

I saw it at the cinema, I’ve blogged about it here, here and here and now it’s out on DVD and Blu-ray! The release date is set for next week and i for one can’t wait to see the movie again.

For those of you who don’t already know what 21 is about, it’s based on Ben Mezrich’s 2003 book Bringing Down the House. It centres on Ben Campbell (played by Ben Sturgess) who as a senior at MIT was drafted into professor Micky Rosa’s ( Kevin Spacy) maths wiz kid Blackjack team. The idea behind the team? Too count cards and take the Las Vegas casinos to the cleaners. If you’ve not seen it, then get yourself a copy, I highly recommend it!

DVD Details

2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Dolby Digital 5.1 (English, French, Spanish)
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Closed Captioned; Extras Subtitled in English and Spanish
Release Date: July 22, 2008
Suggested Retail Price: US Only $28.96
Single-sided, dual-layered disc (DVD-9)
Black Keepcase with Cardboard Slipcover
Also available in 2-Disc Deluxe Edition DVD
and on Blu-ray Disc

All versions are available from Amazon.com.

Well, that all from me for this week. I hope you guys have a great weekend and I’ll see you in the software!

Justin

PS: Look out for my top 10 online casino and casino related sites early next week. It’s going to be an absolute corker!

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Online casino is coming to Belgium according to business publication Markets & Research! This means another country has possibly seen the advantages of legitimising what is fast becoming the world wide phenomenon known as online casino play.

This is great news my fellow casino fanatics! Once again sanity has prevailed and even more people will get to enjoy JackpotCity.com online casino and online bingo in the comfort of their own home. And if the rumours are correct, this could all happen in early 2009.

This news also follows hotly on the heels of a joint study done by the Universities of Western Ontario and Nevada that recommends that Canada and the US legalise and regulate online gambling. The authors of the report even went as far as saying that governments should even encourage the large corporations that run the major Las Vegas casinos to enter a new regulated online gambling market.

Could we be hearing the changing of the old guard? Is the way the world gambles changing? I’ll keep you all updated as and when it happens. This I promise you!

Cheers for now and I’ll see you in the software!

Justin

PS: For more on countries that have or are considering legalising online casinos, read my posts here and here.