Whilst we focus on the world of the online casino we realise that casino players are also likely to place  a little wager on other forms of gambling and this week we have one of the greatest events of the horse racing year, namely the Cheltenham Festival so we thought we could do a little investigation for you. There are many races on each of the four days but let’s concentrate on the feature race of each day starting with the Champion Hurdle tomorrow (Tuesday). This is one of the most open races for years and although Go Native is the clear favourite at 7/2 with practically any bookmaker it gets pretty interesting after that. Some will say that Go Native whilst being a very classy horse struggles in the latter part of the race and at Cheltenham that is not a good trait so another Irish horse Solwhit could be an answer. If you fancy Solwhit go to William Hill or Bet365 where you can get 6/1 versus only 5/1 at Ladbrokes or Betfred. It is a close call between last years winner Punjabi and Medermit and Binocular and William Hill are offering the best odds on all three at 8/1. On the other hand we have Triumph Hurdle winner Zaynar who some say might require a stiffer test of stamina but at 10/1 with Ladbrokes might just be a good each way bet. We are not tipsters in any way shape or form but our money is going on Solwhit and with the winnings we shall look at the Champion Chase on Wednesday.

Recent reports are suggesting that the new online gambling addicts are not men but women and Bingo in particular is proving popular. These are women who have previously not been near a betting shop due to the stigma attached to that but who might have gone to a Bingo hall once or twice a week; but now with the anonymity provided by being at home some are spending many  hours each day behind their computer screen. Bookmakers have also not been slow to pick up on this phenomenon and are specifically targeting the female population by using a lot of pink in the advertising and even resorting to male pin ups. Unusually it is the younger women in the 25 to 35 age group who are gambling; presumably young stay at home mothers; and not the stereotype blue rinse brigade. The reason for this is not clear; we know that the average male gambler enjoys the buzz of competition and therefore prefers card games or for that matter other sports where they can demonstrate superior skill or knowledge but ladies tend to go for games of pure chance such as slots or in particular Bingo where some suggest there clients are 80% female. The start is always innocent enough, after all you can play a lot of Bingo for a few Euro especially if you don’t buy too many tickets but often these same ladies are sidetracked into other offerings on the site which can be played with much higher stakes.

Blackjack is an interesting game and one in which the player has a good chance of winning if the cards are played correctly and of course if luck is with you. The dealer has only one advantage over you as a player and that is if you bust the dealer wins regardless of what he/she has or does. We go into a lot more detail on our tips page which is well worth looking at but the way to win is still be in the game when the dealer busts which will happen. If you are going to pull 17 or above on every deal then it is pure luck whether you win or lose because you will stand every time. If you don’t, it gets more interesting and you need to consider the dealers card which is face up and showing. The dealer has strict rules which say that they must draw on any number 16 or less and must stand on 17 or more. Drawing a card on 15 or 16 has a greater than 50% chance of going over 21 so that’s when we want to be around. If the dealer is showing a 5 or a 6 it is a weak hand and we should play cautiously. If you have 12 and draw a ten that’s just bad luck but if you have 15 or 16 with the dealer showing a 5 or a 6 think carefully. Remember they have to draw on 15 or 16, you don’t. Of course luck still plays an enormous part in the game; a dealer showing a 6 can always draw a 5 and end up with 11 but if you consider the chances of something happening, in the long run you will do better than blindly drawing to 16 like the dealer has to. Try it out at any of our online casinos and see what happens.

A few years ago now the UK Government announced plans for a single Super Casino and invited bids from cities across the country; there was talk of using the Millennium Dome in London or building one at Blackpool which is already a centre for tourism in the country but at the end of the day Manchester won the bidding process only for the project to be shelved in early 2008 so where are we now? The thinking was changed and it was proposed to have large regional casinos rather than one huge one in cities such as Leeds, Hull, Middlesbrough, Great Yarmouth and Milton Keynes and possible smaller ones in places like Luton, Swansea and Scarborough, but has anything actually been done? Leeds for example was given permission  in February 2008 and at the time it hoped to start selecting the license holder by the end of 2009 but a few days ago the local authority said it did not expect to start looking for bidders until February 2011 and it hoped to issue a license before the end of that year. Some have suggested that the scheme could generate up to 700 jobs and even a possible site has been identified which is close to the Elland Road football stadium.

Leeds is not alone; in Wolverhampton the council has said it needs to review its gambling policy before it can issue any licenses which will take until spring of 2011. Again a possible site has been identified and in this case it is the racecourse at Dunstall park which would create the country’s first combined racecourse and casino dubbed by some a “racino”. It would seem that despite all the hype and the potential benefits not much is being done so maybe online casinos is the answer.

If somebody said to you “let’s flip a coin and if you win I will give you €10 but if you lose you give me €5”, most people would jump at it as the gains far outweigh the possible loss on a 50/50 chance. Consider next if the stakes were raised to €100000 if you win and €50000 if you lose and most people would decline to take part despite the odds being exactly the same at 50/50. The reason for this is apparently “risk aversion” which is controlled by a small almond shaped part of our brain called the amygdala. Scientists believe that this stems from the fact that most animals need to balance the need for food for survival with the danger from predators; too much risk can end in disaster. We humans do not have too many predators these days but our survival does depend on having enough money and hence the amygdala tends to control our financial risk aversion which is why when offered a gambling opportunity which is out of our comfort zone we decline. American Scientists have studied  two women that have damage to the amygdale and discovered that compared to a peer group of a similar age they were much more likely to gamble even when the odds were actually against them. Age is also a factor because as we grow older our brain shrinks as does the amygdale which makes us more likely to take a financial risk in older age; others would put this down to realising that we have less long to live and are therefore simply willing to take more risk. But there you have it, if you like to take larger risk in a casino than others it could be your amygdale.

The chances of your Doctor recognising or even asking about chronic gambling problems is pretty remote according to the Royal College of General Practitioners which means that symptoms such as depression while possibly being linked to debt problems are not being linked to the cause. The vice chair of the college, Dr Clare Gerada, thinks more could be done and is being backed by the gambling charity GamCare who think that less than one percent of problem gamblers are getting help. A case in point is that of Mr Ian Semmell who says he thought of gambling as a way of making money but realised that compulsive gambling is a way of creating debt and losing houses, jobs etc. We hasten to add that we are talking serious addiction here and not someone who enjoys the odd flutter on the horses or controlled gambling at an online casino. He says that on numerous visits to his GP he was often asked about drugs or alcohol but never about gambling. Ian is one of the lucky ones and was eventually put in touch with GamCare who referred him to a residential centre. Andy McLellan who is the Chief Executive of GamCare also thinks that GPs are lagging behind in their approach to the problem; “They themselves are not particularly aware of the issues to do with problem gambling, and perhaps the connections with some of the symptoms they may be seeing” He also suggested that some GPs would not know what to do even if they discovered a problem. As a responsible online casino site we would encourage anyone who thinks they may have a problem to get in touch with GamCare but we hope the vast majority of our readers are in it for the fun and if a jackpot falls then well done, but don’t expect it to but enjoy the thrill of “maybe”.

One of the most popular ways of attracting new customers to online casinos or online bookmakers is to publicize huge bonuses for signing up, usually in the form of an initial matching bonus but also sometimes for second or third deposits but even though we all like to get something for nothing it can sometimes be difficult to get your bonus. We recently saw a casino (not one that we recommend so it shall remain nameless) that had a headline joining bonus of up to €7200 so we investigated only to find that joining bonuses were up to €600 and to talk about the €7200 bonus you had to phone them. We didn’t do that as we can do without the sales pitch but the point is to investigate fully what is being offered and the terms and conditions attached to the offers. It is not uncommon for bonuses to be credited only after  your deposit has been played through a number of times and even then you may find that not all games contribute to the play through in equal ways. It is very usual for games such as roulette or blackjack to count for only 50% or 25% or sometimes not at all. Generally speaking the higher the advertised bonus the more difficult it will be to get your hands on it; we came across another one the other day which said in the small print that the bonus would only be paid when your account was empty which means to us that you have lost your initial deposit. The best joining bonuses are the simple ones but always read the terms and conditions and never select your casino based purely on the joining bonus. Remember the bonus is a one off but a good casino can be good for a lifetime.

It would have been the best of both worlds with the magnificent beaches, music  and atmosphere of Hawaii coupled with a bright shiny new casino in which to amuse yourself until the small hours but it is not to be. Only two US states currently have no legal gaming  and that includes casinos or lotteries and they are Hawaii and Utah and with the Hawaiian budget  forecasting a deficit of more than $1 billion dollars brought about in part by the reduction in tourism it was proposed to build a casino along Waikiki beach to generate some income. Proponents of the idea suggested that such a move might bring in $86 million in taxes and would help regenerate the tourist industry but despite this, the bill to issue a 5 year gaming license was rejected. The State lawmakers suggested that public opinion was strongly in favour of rejecting the bill and as might be expected, the Honolulu Police Department and the offices of the Attorney General were also opposed. The Police department quoted as reasons for opposing the bill that a casino would increase crime, consume tourists money that might be spent elsewhere and would not fit in with the family friendly image that the state has. So for the time being at least it seems that Hawaii will remain a casino free zone.

We all know the dangers of gambling addiction but what many may not have realized is that the youngsters of today are probably the first generation to have online casinos available at the touch of a button and computers and internet in every home all of which adds to a potential problem. Couple this with heavy advertising and televised poker tournaments and you can quickly realize the attraction to a world of excitement and the possibility to make some real money. CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) in association with Eyesteel Film is however the first to make a documentary about the potential problem by studying three youths between 14 and 21 years old and their gambling habits. The film called “Gambling Boys” may never make it outside Canada which might be a shame. The youngest of the trio loves to play poker and if it wasn’t for his mother limiting the time he is allowed to play would be on all day and night. The middle boy is 18 and is addicted to sports betting and is reported to wager up to $10.000 per day but he got into difficulties and is now in rehab. A familiar story is that his mother was worried about drugs and alcohol but never about gambling. The oldest boy lost two years of school due to poker addiction spending all day and night playing instead of attending classes. He is now back at school taking an accountancy course but still gambles. This is a stark lesson to all parents to be watchful about online gambling by teenagers; in principle there is nothing wrong with the excitement and the challenge of winning but control is everything.

Opening an account for the first time at an online bookmaker can be a difficult step to take because we think  there are so many things to worry about whereas we would happily walk into a shop and hand our cash across the counter. In actual fact nothing could be further from the truth and once you have done it you will be glad you did. The main worry of most people is security but with any of the 8 bookmakers/casinos we recommend on this site you need have no worries. They are all well known names and have millions of customers; if security was not perfect they would not be in that position. Depositing money is also not an issue as there are many different ways of doing it; the only word of caution we would give here is that if depositing with a credit card, the credit card company will make a charge as if you were withdrawing cash. Once you have made a deposit you have an account and you can use the money in that account to play games or bet on sports or gamble on anything that particular site offers. Did you also know that the odds at an online casino are often better than in a shop? but the way to get the best odds on football or horse racing is to open accounts with different bookmakers and shop around. Did you also know that slot machines which you find in bookmakers shops or other amusement premises often have payout percentages of less than 80% whereas online casino slots are usually in the region of 95%? and of course it is only online that you can grab a really big progressive jackpot. There is also the question of whether you want to download the casino or play instant casino. Generally the download versions are better and give more choice but if you are playing on somebody else’s computer that is not going to work so the instant versions are available. It may seem like a big step to open your first account but it is one that you should not regret.