Category: Gambling and Casinos

If you check to see where the headquarters of the online casino gambling establishments that you like to visit are located, you’ll discover that a great percentage of them are based in the Caribbean (there and Gibraltar) — on the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, specifically. But as of late, a global pool of lawmakers and online casino gambling detractors, including the WTO (World Trade Organization) itself are trying to get these establishments shut down.

Fortunately for us players, the boom in online casino gambling has a life of its own — one that will not so easy be quashed. In fact, a panel investigating the dispute ruled that the U.S. was in violation of its own financial regulations when it gets in the way of American financial institutions engaging in transactions with Antigua-Barbuda online casinos. Score one for online casino gambling.

Actually, score more than that. Numerous countries are starting to face facts about the lucrative business of online casino gambling and finding ways for their local economies to capitalize on the craze. Not only does online casino gambling provide to the local communities that license and regulate them enormous sums of money in the form of tax revenues, but the online casino gambling industry also fosters huge job growth in whatever geographical areas it touches. Consider Antigua-Barbuda, where 30% of the residents are employed by online casino gambling establishments.

It is surely with incentives like those in mind that Prime Minister Tony Blair is trying to enact new legislation in the U.K. that will likely encourage more casinos to be built and a rise in casino gambling throughout the country. Supported by 53% of British voters polled, the new Bill if enacted will, among other things, remove all slot machines from around 6,000 different places and allow them to be placed together in new casinos with extended hours of operation. This legislation may even coax existing online casinos to move their bases of operations to Britain. Many observers and analysts believe this will inevitably lead to other similarly supportive measures aimed at online casino gambling as well.

Meanwhile, the French reportedly gamble 2 times more and for 3 times longer than their British counterparts. France’s citizens have been enjoying online casino gambling for years, especially since a loophole in European Union policy that heavily restricts land-based casino gambling (essentially requiring any French citizen who wishes to gamble to do so exclusively in state-run operations) has no bearing on online casino gambling, practically ensuring the industry a steady stream of eager participants. In fact, many believe that the popularity of online casino gambling is responsible for the skyrocketing demand for high-speed, broadband internet service.

The Australian government is getting into the action as well, granting an online casino gambling site a license to open a customer service center in the state of Tasmania. Recruiting has already begun, and an estimated 300 jobs will be created in the high-unemployment area.

A growing interest in online casino gambling in Asia has led to one of China’s most popular pastimes – the 4,000-year-old card game Mahjong – being offered as a multiplayer online casino game. Approximately 45% of Chinese people polled report that they play Mahjong regularly for money and whether China permits online casino gambling or not, there will be no shortage of players worldwide flocking to any site that offers the game.

Recently a campaign has been put into motion to legalize online casino gambling in Japan as well, supported by the country’s Liberal Democratic Party, currently in power. Several departments in the government have been brought in to figure out how to make this work for Japan’s economy, and it is expected that online casino gambling operators may be invited to contribute to the talks in due time.

And online casino gambling may be right around the corner for Israel, the country’s social and economic cabinet having just given permission for two horseracing tracks to be built, equipped of course with full-fledged betting. In order to make this work, the Israeli government will be obliged to lift its long-standing ban on sports gambling.

Today, virtually every online casino will give new players a bonus to entice them to play. Some casinos offer No Deposit Bonuses; others may match your initial deposit giving you a 100% bonus. There are even a number of casinos that will give you 125%, 200% even 400% of your initial deposit.

How do casinos stay in business while still giving away “Free Money”? Well, as with most things that sound too good to be true, there are restrictions. In this article we’ll look at the most common online casino bonus structures and what you’ll need to do to actually cash out that nice bonus.

No Deposit Bonuses

A very popular way for a casino to attract new players is to offer a no deposit bonus. In this situation, the player is required to download and install the casino software then create a new “real player” account; some casinos also ask you to register a valid payment method. Next the new account is credited with the “free money”. Typical amounts given are $10 to $15, usually just enough for the player to try a few of the games. To cash out the free money the player will usually have to wager the bonus amount some number of times (Twenty times the original deposit is a typical number). Further, there is usually a maximum amount that can be cashed out, say a $50 max. cash out on a $15 freebie. So, by all means take advantage of the no deposit bonuses, just don’t expect to get rich doing so.

Deposit Bonuses

Deposit Bonuses are the most common online casino bonus. This is a bonus you’re given for making a real money deposit. Casinos are much more generous with these types of bonuses because the players have already deposited some of their own money. It’s not uncommon for a casino to match first deposits of $200 to $300. Many casinos also offer deposit bonuses of over 100%. For example, some casinos will give you $200 for a $50 deposit (a 400% bonus). As usual, there are restrictions that apply to these types of bonuses. Typically, you’ll have to bet or “play through” the bonus amount and the deposit amount some number of times (10 to 15 times), before you can cash out. With this type of bonus, once the play through has been met there should not be a maximum cash out amount.

Specific Game Bonus

With this type of bonus, the casino is giving you a bonus that can only be used for certain games. This is typical when a casino has just launched say a new slots version and wants to get people playing. You may get a “no deposit bonus” or possibly a larger then normal deposit bonus. Again, there will be play through requirements and if it’s a No Deposit Bonus, there will probably be a maximum cash out amount.

All online casinos offer a tremendous variety of bonuses to their players. Some of these bonuses are so huge that we have to raise our eyebrows and ask: Is it really possible to give away thousands of dollars and stay in profit at the same time?

The answer is simple – yes it is. Although some very skilled Danish players (or if I may – bonus abusers) made constantly big profits and financially devastated some smaller online casinos who had to stop giving bonuses to Danish players. How did they do that? Well, they were good at calculating their edge when choosing games with a skill factor to clear out their bonuses. Some claim that main reason those Danish players got banned from so many casinos was because they used gambling bots. Yea right…

What do you have to know about the bonuses before you dive in? Don’t be fooled by big numbers, don’t be fooled by absurd percentages that some operators seem to offer to their players. Heck, there are sign-up bonuses as big as $3000 given away and even more. You’ll get clearer picture if you read their terms and conditions. For example, if you learn about Europa Casino infamous $2400 annual welcome bonus, you will find out that it consists of 5 different bonus types and has tons of terms attached to each and every one of them.

Some casino affiliate webmasters like to promote this casino as an “online casino with biggest welcome bonus to high rollers”, probably not knowing that biggest one time bonus new player can get is $500 – that is if player deposits $2000 and wagers a minimum $30000. Silly? Yea! It’s not a problem for me to offer you online casino bonus as big as $1,000,000 if you wager $100,000,000. Get the point? I would still earn millions offering this promotion and there are still people who think I am a Santa Claus! That’s what casinos do, they are giving you back some of your own money.

Most generous online casino bonus type is welcome bonus, also known as sign-up bonus, which is generally a lump sum of money deposited to player’s account after first deposit. Lately there has been a sudden increase of first and second deposit match bonuses, which give player certain percentage of their deposit, usually less than welcome bonus.

There are also bonuses as the payment methods bonus and the most popular bonus of them all – no deposit bonus or free casino cash bonus, as some say. No deposit online casino bonus is indeed a tricky one. Many casinos want you to deposit before you can cash out your winnings, or wager the amount of bonus certain number of times. You should always check the terms and conditions before you start playing. It will save your nerves in the long term. Guaranteed!

What’s there to know? Before you start playing in an online casino, make sure they are reputable, make sure they have a NAME. Do not focus on sign-up bonuses or free casino cash giveaways. Make sure they have a loyalty points program with cash-back bonuses and frequent deposit incentives, which in long-term are much more worth than one time monster cash injections.

The increasing growth of online gambling industry surpasses all the expectations when compared with land-based casinos and betting places. From the times when Internet Casinos, Inc., the first virtual online casino started operations back in 1995 until nowadays, not only the effects of online wagering on the established land-based industry came up, but also the need of broadening gambling laws and regulations.

Most of the online casino companies are located outside of the United States to avoid government prosecution because the United States Federal Appeals Courts has ruled about the Federal Wire Act prohibiting electronic transmission of information for sports betting across state lines, but there is no a specific law prohibiting gambling of any other kind. In fact, several states rule in favor of land-based gambling but having specific laws against online gambling of any kind.

While the internet has no frontiers, gambling seems to be ruled by physical country delimiters-boundaries. Gambling is legal and regulated in Caribbean Nations and most European countries, such as Malta and the United Kingdom from where wide arrays of online casinos operate.

However, in America, law says that owning an online casino or gambling related business without getting a license first may result as an illegal act, but if any individual would be willing to get one, however there are no states nationwide that are currently granting online gaming licenses, and regulations vary from state to state.

Government of Antigua and Barbuda, which licenses Internet gambling entities, sent a complaint to the World Trade Organization regarding the U.S. government’s actions forbidding online casinos and gambling activities. They won the preliminary ruling but later the Word Trade Organization’s appealed and partially reversed such ruling in April 2005.

The appeals panel decision allows state laws prohibiting gambling in Massachusetts, Louisiana, Utah and South Dakota, but ruled that the United States may be violating global trade rules as well, coming as the result of the American laws regulating horse-racing bets because equitably to foreign and domestic online betting companies is not applied.

With this panorama, online casinos await ruling; decision full of ambiguities as the global gambling online regulations. The Caribbean panel held that several online gambling restrictions imposed under American regulations have been inconsistent related to the trade services agreement with the body’s GATS.

The economics of online casinos are amazing in comparison with land-based casinos costing up to $300 million to build, while online the cost can be as little as $1.5 million, but US Federal Laws insist to say that gambling is “risking anything of value for a profit whose return is to any degree contingent on chance”.

On the other hand, traditional casinos may employ thousands of individuals, while an online casino is easily operated by less than 20 and not necessarily located in the same place, causing an economic impact due to the loss of jobs; so many people believe the regulation benefits the national workforce.

Except for the gambling sponsored by the state, including riverboat gaming, horse racing and lotteries, an online casino is forbidden all over the United States.