According to research findings from Media Man Australia, classic slots games are the most popular online gambling games in most parts of the world. It’s no wonder with some of the themes and designs of classic slots like Cleopatra, Tomb Raider and Monopoly. These games have been around long enough to be considered classics but with no sign of slowing down in terms of popularity.

Super heroes are a popular theme and have been since back in the 50s. Several have been considered as classics these days, including The Fantastic Four, Spiderman and The Hulk. Television games shows have even become a part of the classic slots genre with Wheel of Fortune still being one of the most played classic slots games.

What will be considered classics in the future? Chances are that anything with a very popular following could turn into a great theme for a slots game. You can expect to see wrestlers like the Rock or “Stone Cold” Steve Austin immortalized in a slots creation. One old time wrestler, Andre the Giant, is already a theme in development with NextGen Gaming.

Slots games will always remain a big part of the online gambling scene. They are one of the easiest online casino games to learn. You bet, you spin, you hopefully win – it doesn’t get much easier than that! Not only are slots games easy, they still can offer some very significant potential for winning big money. Particularly with any slot game with a progressive jackpot, the pots can be positively huge when a large network is involved.

With the dizzying array of online casinos already on the internet and more being launched every day, it can be quite confusing to the novice online gambler. They are often eager to test the waters but also wary of being taken advantage of. Unfortunately, in the online gambling industry as well as any other industry, there are reputable companies and less than reputable companies. Someone new to internet gambling may not know what to watch out for and how to tell the good from the bad.

The first thing you usually notice is the bonuses being given. Those who affiliate with the online casinos tend to advertise on this basis so it becomes a game to find out which site is offering the biggest bonus for new sign ups. Bonuses are great, don’t get me wrong, but it can’t be the only factor that you take into consideration.

You should always read carefully the entire policies and terms of service of any online casino before you pony up any real money. Each online casino has different rules. Sometimes the differences are slight but sometimes they can be quite a bit of a variance from site to site. Each one handles the bonuses differently, for example. Some sites give you the bonus to try out the games but there is no way to cash out any possible winnings from that bonus – they’re strictly for fun. Other sites will allow the winnings from a bonus to be cashed out but almost always have some conditions such as needing to wager the bonus 5 times before cashing anything out.

Read around the net and get a feel for what real players are saying. Review sites are useful, to a degree, but keep in mind that most review sites are affiliated with the casinos they review. It’s pretty hard to give a negative review when you get paid to send them new players, isn’t it? There are plenty of forums and blogs around that are written by actual players. Those are the people who will tell you how it really is and if a site is paying or not.

So, while getting a big bonus is cool, make sure you read all the fine print before giving over your personal details or credit card information. See what other players are saying about the online casino, too. Trust me, other players will talk if a site doesn’t pay them.

If you have ever played five card draw poker then you know how to play video poker. Although you are dealing with software and not a live dealer, the principles are the same. You choose the cards that have the likelihood of being a winning hand and discard the rest. You are dealt cards to replace the discards and what you have now is your final hand. There are many variations on the game including wild cards that take the place of any card to form a winning hand, but they are all played the same basic way.

Jacks or Better is a very popular variation of poker. It is played the same basic way as any other video poker except that you can only form a winning combination that contains a pair of Jacks or higher. In other words, a pair of 10s won’t win anything but a pair of Aces would.

When playing Jacks or Better video poker, there are some things to keep in mind. First of all, don’t rush. This is software – there are no other players tapping their feet or a dealer waiting for you. Think about the odds when you choose which cards to hold and which to discard.

Remember that each hand has exactly the same odds when dealt. In other words, don’t start thinking in terms of “which cards are left in the deck” as that won’t hold true for video poker. Each hand starts with the same 52 cards just as if the dealer were using a brand new deck with each hand.

Finally, don’t forget that with Jacks or Better, just as any other video poker game, your best payouts only come when you place the maximum bet. By maxing your bet, you may lose 3 hands in a row but when you win on the next, it will payout a lot more than a single coin bet so you still come out ahead.

There has been a lot of confusion over the legal aspects of online gambling for many people since the UIGEA was passed back in 2006. It’s not surprising that it causes confusion among players, considering the lawmakers are still confused by it! Although it has been billed as the anti-online gambling law, the UIGEA does not make online gambling illegal. What it says is that state laws must be followed and enforced.

When those who try to use the UIGEA to say it’s illegal to gamble online, ask them to show you where it says that. There are some states that have specific legislation in place about online casinos but it’s actually only about 20% of the states. Unfortunately, because the burden has been put on the credit card companies and financial institutions to block unlawful internet gambling transactions, what happened is they just block them all. They are just as confused as the rest of us on which is which!

States that have specific legislation about online casinos are Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington and Wisconsin. Now three of those states have a vested interest in the offline gambling that happens in those states. Kentucky is the leader when it comes to horse racing, New Jersey has Atlantic City and Nevada has Las Vegas. Naturally those three don’t want the competition from online casinos.

There still are some online casinos around that will allow US players but you may have to search a bit. The largest online companies pulled out of the US market pretty quickly after the Dept. of Justice started arrested gambling executives during flight layovers on American soil. Some of these companies have settled for millions of dollars to the US government. Keep in mind that it is riskier because of the withdrawal options and you have little recourse should an online casino simply decide not to pay you.

The European Gaming & Betting Association (EGBA) is the premier trade association for the European online gambling industry. Their mission is “to promote fair competition for European online gaming operators and freedom of choice for consumers throughout Europe”. The organization fights on behalf of this mission against excessive restrictions imposed by governments on the industry or those who are trying to maintain state monopolies on gaming. They do advocate regulation but on a fair, non-discriminatory manner.

The EGBA has a list of technical standards that all members must adhere to. These standards are based on nine fundamental principles that emphasize consumer protection. Following these principles ensures that member groups are adhering to the highest standards of socially responsible practice. These principles are enforced through an annual assessment process so that compliance is fully documented and proven.

The Nine Fundamental Principles:
1. Promote responsible gaming and betting – members must provide customers with information regarding the possible risks of online gambling and provide links to qualified help
2. Know your customer and prevent underage gaming and betting – there must be a clear message of underage play on the home page and members must carry out random checks of customers to make sure there are no underage players whatsoever
3. Zero tolerance of fraudulent and criminal behavior – members must have anti-money laundering policies in place and enforced; they must document and verify any changes to a customer’s name and/or banking information
4. Protect customer privacy and safeguard information – all members must have a clearly posted privacy policy and must do whatever they can to protect the customer’s personal and financial information
5. Prompt and accurate customer payments – members must pay when requested providing the transactions are all documented; customers may only have one account and must have at least name, age and address as well as a unique username and password
6. Rigorous independent assessment of product fairness and randomness – there must be a product testing policy in place that ensures all games and software are working correctly; testing must be done both internally and externally
7. Ethical and responsible marketing – members must not target the underage in their advertising and all adverts must contain factual information; members must not spam themselves or allow their affiliates or any third party to spam
8. Commitment to customer satisfaction and support – all members must have readily available customer support around the clock, 24/7; they must provide for an independent third party in the event of a dispute
9. Responsible practices underpinned by a secure, safe and reliable environment – members must have a license form a European licensing authority; they must be audited annually by an external firm; a third party must be able to assess compliance with EGBA standards on an annual basis

The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) is an organization that focuses on online gambling concerns in the UK, the European Economic Area, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Their objectives include collective negotiations with pretty much any entity necessary as well as considering lawsuits should they feel they are necessary to protect the concerns of the organization and its members. One of the most activist associations for the online gambling industry, the RGA keeps up to breast on all hints of new legislation or regulation that could affect the online gambling market.

The RGA was founded in 2005 with the merging of two older organizations, the Association of Remote Gambling Operators and the interactive Gaming, Gambling and Betting Association. Rather than adopt the codes adhered to by the earlier groups, the RGA formulated and adopted their own unique Codes of Conduct. All members must be completely compliant with these codes if they want to continue their membership in the association.

The Codes of Conduct focus on social responsibility and prevention of underage gambling mainly. The RGA offers assistance to member companies in order to help any customers who feel they may have or develop a gambling problem. Of course, RGA members must run a fair gaming business and follow best practices for online casinos.

The IGC is a non-profit organization dedicated to establishing fair and responsible practices and guidelines among its membership. These practices are focused on the customers in a large part but they also provide advocacy and information for both their members and the public. The group was begun in the US back in 1996 but relocated to Canada and incorporated there in 2000.

All members must agree to comply with a detailed Code of Conduct that includes aspects of how they do business and how they treat their customers. To begin with, member online casino businesses must be licensed by a sovereign jurisdiction and adhere to all laws and regulations of that licensing jurisdiction. They must ensure fairness with all the games by having an independent check of the software on a regular basis.

Other parts of the Code of Conduct specify that the casino must have controls in place to prevent minors from gambling, the casino must be honest in all promotions and advertising and that they will support and promote responsible gambling. Members are even watched as to how they deal with financial aspects of the business and making sure there is adequate working capital at all times.

The section dealing with corporate citizenship is particularly reassuring:

“IGC Members must display good character, honesty and integrity to operate in the gaming industry, will act ethically and responsibly at all times and shall not, directly or indirectly, take any action or conduct any activity that is contrary to the best interests of the public or the industry, or which is unlawfully harmful to their fellow members. IGC Members undertake not to become involved in any activity that is, or which the Member reasonably suspects to be, unlawful. IGC Members shall endeavor to support public service initiatives in harmony with the jurisdictions from which they conduct their business, to design and implement their services in order that they preserve and protect environmental resources, avoid depiction of violence, do not target minors and are user friendly and generally accessible to the handicapped.”

There are several large trade associations for online casino owners and operators. These organizations have a self-policing affect upon the industry because each of them requires certain standards to be adhered to by their members. Members of the organizations will usually indicate that by text or a seal provided by the trade association. If you familiarize yourself with the standards expected of the association, you will know what rules apply to the online casino you’re considering.

Three of the largest online gaming trade associations are the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC), the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) and the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA). Each organization is dedicated to building the gambling industry and ensuring that their members are completely legitimate and aboveboard in every way. Members must agree to detailed codes of conduct in order to maintain membership and must allow for independent auditing to ensure continued compliance.

Often the trade associations help to lobby the various governments in order to legalize and fairly regulate the online gaming industry. They also provide information and research to their members as well as being a place where consumers can find out more about the various online casinos. They are constantly working to ensure fair gaming practices for all players as well as guiding their members in terms of responsible and fair business practices. Over the next few days, we will give you more specific profiles on these three gaming organizations so you will know what to expect from their members as well as knowing where to complain if needed.

Almost every online casino offers some sort of affiliate program where they reward those who send them new customers. That’s the main reason why you see so many online casino review sites on the web. Some of these sites are less than honest in their reviews just to make some cash, which can make it difficult to find out the real scoop on the various online casinos. However, those who can provide objective reviews on the different casinos have the potential to make a lot of money from the affiliate programs.

If you love online gambling, why not start a blog or website to share that love with others and get paid to do it? If you provide detailed reviews that tell about the good and the bad of the online casinos, you are actually providing a valuable service to newcomers. It’s hard to know who to trust in the internet gambling field simply because there are so many sites coming online these days. By sharing your actual experience with all aspects of an online casino, readers will trust you and see you as expert. Once they trust you, you have a much higher chance of them signing up to the recommended online casino.

Of course, once you have your site up, the next step is to get traffic to it. There are many ways to do this and many are completely free. Make sure your content has keywords that are actually searched for so that your site will come up high in the search listings. This is called organic traffic and is the best kind of free traffic. Another way is to write articles and submit them to article directories. Your resource box would contain a link to your website. If the article is written well and useful to the reader, they will be more likely to click through to your website.

If gambling is your passion, why not make an income from it? Follow the guidelines above of building a site, offering objective reviews and then driving traffic to your site. The online casinos pay highly for you sending them customers. Not only could you pay for your own gambling entertainment, if you do it right it will make you a good extra income along the way.

This is rather a big debate in the United States and has been for the past three years since the UIGEA was passed banning most forms of online gambling. Some of the largest poker organizations have lobbied to have the bill repealed on the basis of poker being predominantly a game of skill. Though the debate rages on, no one has reached any universal conclusions.

Chance, or luck, is obviously involved as there isn’t any skill that will help you with a cut of the cards or a dealt hand. You receive the cards you are dealt without any effort on your part. Chance also plays a hand in whether your opponents get a better hand than you do.

On the other hand, skill is very much a part of poker as any good player will attest. Not only skill at estimating what cards might come up, but also skills related to how a player is perceived by the other players and how closely they observe the rest of the players. Many will tell you that bluffing is a skill (although most of us believe it to be more of an art).

Obviously, poker has elements of both skill and chance. It’s hard to quantify either element so it’s impossible to truly say whether it’s predominantly skill based or not. No wonder the debate has been going on for so long!