by ·Comments Off on First Skill-Based Slots Are Ready To Be Installed

Casino chipsI assume that most of us have, at one point or another, asked the question “Why are slots so limited? I’m sure that they would be a lot more fun if they added a lot more features, such as more varied mini-games”. After all, in Japan (where gambling is prohibited, but Pachinko machines – which are basically slots – can get around that limitation by listing themselves as arcade games) video slots enjoy tremendous amounts of success, and many of them are practically built around stuff like skill-based videogames and storylines that play out as you win. That sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? Imagine a Pac-Man based slot that actually had a story about Pac-Man and Mrs. Pac-Man going into marriage counseling or something (I don’t know, I’m no writer), and whenever you activate a bonus round you actually get to play a real game of Pac-Man, which determines how much you win. How awesome would that be?!

Well, sadly, Japan is the only place in the world where that’s legally possible, thanks to their legal gray area when it comes to slots. The rest of the world has very strict rules regarding what is acceptable and what is not in a slot machine, and believe it or not, these rules are actually unbelievably limiting. Have you ever wondered why many reviews of UK online casino sites complain about their slot games being too identical? It’s exactly because of those very strict limitations which require developers to get really creative and essentially present the exact same thing in a different way in order to remain on the right side of the law. In the majority of the world, it doesn’t seem like that’s about to change – markets like the UK, Germany and Spain have generally shown little interest in implementing skill-based slots. However, there might be one place in the West where they actually become a reality!

Gamblers in New Jersey in particular have been pushing for a legislation that allows skill-based gambling for a really long time now, and it actually seems like it might finally be happening! As a matter of fact, a company called GameCo is so utterly confident that they’re going to receive approval from the New Jersey’s Division of Gambling Enforcement that they’ve already designed and manufactured several skill-based slot machines which are ready to be placed in three Atlantic City casinos! According to GameCo CEO and co-founder Blaine Graboyes, who made a statement for the Daily Mail, the new skill-based slot machines will be aimed at millennials who are rather used to playing videogames on consoles, mobile and social media platforms. Honestly, to me the idea sounds spectacular! Now all we can hope for is that the games are successful enough to warrant attention in the rest of the world. Us Europeans want to play skill-based slots too!

by ·Comments Off on Protip: Learn All You Can About Casino Games

moneySeneca, a stoic philosopher who lived between 4 BC and 65 AD, was a pretty brilliant guy. He was best known for being the tutor and advisor of the infamous Emperor Nero (who you may know as being incredibly insane, murdering his own mother and committing various atrocities, or if you’re like me you know him as that cute anime girl from “Fate/Extra”), and was ultimately forced to kill himself by him. At some point beforehand, Seneca said something quite smart, something that I believe many should base their lives around. I mean, he said a lot of smart things, but for the purposes of this article, let’s just focus on one particular, phrase, alright? That phrase, of course, is “As long as you live, keep learning how to live” – something that has evolved over the years into the much simpler “Live and learn”, because if there’s anything history has taught us, it’s that for all of our scientific advancements people somehow seem to be getting stupider as time passes. If you don’t believe me, just ask the nearest anti-vaxxer or flat earth truther.

This advice, which I personally interpret as a call to constantly learn new things and develop your skills for as long as you are alive, can be applied to numerous areas of life, because honestly – we can all stand to learn something new. I, for example, love to go to the library and just grab a random book, see what I can learn from it. I know it sounds clichéd, but it’s true – I’ve learned so many things about mental and neurological conditions, proper police investigation procedures (spoiler: it’s not like on TV), history and more. Learning new things is great, but if there’s something that’s even better, it’s learning about things you already know. When they reach a certain point in their knowledge, a lot of people just stop developing that area altogether, which is a pretty big shame. Let me tell you – there’s ALWAYS something new you can learn, especially in areas that encompass a huge amount of information.

I most often see this when it comes to casino games in general. Let’s be honest, guys – most online casino games aren’t really THAT complicated to understand. I mean, sure, you may need to do some research in order to play them well, but it takes seconds to grasp the rules of each game, be it slots, blackjack, roulette or something a bit more obscure, like baccarat. But just because you know how to play doesn’t mean you know all the ins and outs of the game. There’s plenty of variations and options that you may or may not have known about, and even then there’s still all the ins and outs of each individual game that you may not be aware of. For example, in this TED lesson on live casino games (and if you don’t know TED-Ed, I HIGHLY recommend just taking a day, or, like, a week, and browsing through everything it has to offer because it’s spectacular and amazing) I managed to learn quite a lot of things that I didn’t even suspect about something that I use so frequently, namely – live casino.

My point is that, while it’s always fun to learn new, fun things about stuff that’s way out of your comfort zone, you shouldn’t forget about all the things that you think you already know… Because chances are you’re not as familiar with them as you might think. Especially if that something is casino. Have fun, happy learning, and heed Seneca’s words! Just… do as he said and not as he did and don’t tutor a crazy Roman emperor, okay? It’s not gonna end up well for you.

by ·Comments Off on Boom of Female Slot Players in Spain

SlotsMost areas of gambling are predominately male-driven – we’ve known that for a fact now. Stereotypically, online casino, sports betting and poker are areas that have been populated primarily by males around the world, and have been advertised as such. Ads such as this one are targeted specifically at males in their 30s, featuring good-looking women, well-dressed men in positions of power and dark-toned, muted colors clearly set to appeal to men. Meanwhile, bingo is presented as being exclusively the domain of women, with ads like this being targeted specifically at the fair sex. Notice the bright colors, the women who seem like your neighbors and not some supermodels and the disempowered men (to the point where they want to be women because it offers more benefits than being a man). This clear divide has been very clearly established since the dawn of online casino, and advertisers and casinos has seen it fit to indulge it… But according to statistics, it seems to be very gradually disappearing in at least some areas.

According to a brand new report by the Spanish Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego, which is an authority that regulates gambling, gaming and other similar activities, female players who gamble across the various gambling sites regulated by the DGOJ have increased in numbers by 53.5% over the last year, which, as you can imagine, is a significant increase. Of course, that doesn’t really mean much, considering the fact that men still make up 83% of all gamblers, but progress is definitely being made towards diversifying the Spanish player base. If this keeps going, very gradually, year by year, the gender disparity will begin to disappear. No effort even needs to happen on the part of the casinos – this will happen naturally as more players of both genders begin to play. And more players ARE coming, with casino seeing an 80% increase in players, bingo getting a 37% increase, and sports betting being third with a 34.4% increase. Next year, chances are that the numbers will be even better.

We’ve already seen the exact same thing happen in a different, yet slightly relevant market – videogaming. For years, videogames were the domain of boys thanks to Nintendo’s strategy of marketing their revolutionary NES system as a toy (and toys at the time were segregated by gender). Up until the early to mid 2000s, videogames were a niche, with a major game being considered a success if it sold only 2-3 million copies. But as the market expanded naturally with the flow of more players who wanted to try videogames out, more girls and women began playing, and as a result the market gradually adjusted to accommodate them. Much like how gambling has its bingo sections now, “games for girls” were a very real phenomenon in the 2000s, but they’re almost gone now, as the amount of males and females who play videogames is more or less equal. The same thing will likely happen to gambling on a global scale – the only question is when, and whether the industry will actively try to prevent it.

by ·Comments Off on State of gambling regulations in Germany 2016

Last week was somewhat important amongst betting operators in good old Germany, since its 16 state ministers agreed and officially published the number of sports betting licenses that will be permitted in the country. The regulations of the gambling market over there has been in a bit of a pickle since it was declared illegal under European Union laws. It has been rumoured that there are even proceedings in the happening against the country by the EU commission.

German gambling laws background and perspectives for 2016To bring things into perspective, in 2014 only twenty sport betting licenses were awarded but even those never came to fruition since the applicants eventually failed to comply with regulations. Now after their last meeting, it has been agreed to increase the number twofold – to 40 in total. That means that all applicants (which so far are even below that number – a humble 35), if they were to meet all the requirements in the licensing process, will be automatically granted the permission to offer sports betting in Germany. Don’t get too happy just yet, poker and casino games are not included in the package. So hopeful Germans will have to still wait and see if (and when) they will be able to benefit from a wider range of services.

History proves that this is achievable – to take 2012 as an example – it was an ïnteresting year for German gambling, when the existing gambling regulation from 2008 was replaced by the new “Interstate Treaty on Gambling 2012”. The new law was criticized widely in the EU on the grounds of monopoly for games of chance and the general ban on online gambling. This was the case under the previous gambling regime as well. Still, since July 2012, the ISTG has been put in place in all federal states except for Schleswig Holstein. To get you in the know, this is an area with nearly 3 million inhabitants (around 3% of the German population). They passed their own gambling law, much more liberal and enabling operators to be granted licenses for most games – sports bets, poker and casino. That would not have been possible at all as the remaining 15 federal states are not permitted to legislate online casino and poker games and can only give away 20 licenses for sports. As a result, today Schleswig Holstein is one of the most important gambling legislators in Europe. They were even awarded the International Masters of Gaming Law “Regulator of the Year” and are presently the “gate” to Germany’s gambling market for all operators regardless of their geographic origins. To get back on topic – we will have to wait until June this year to see if the amendments in the existing regulations will come into play.

On a positive note and to sum it all up, so far the odds are on the side of players and bookies. So however you look at it, there’s gonna be change and it has to be for the better.

by ·Comments Off on Gambling Addicts Prescribed Drugs

Addiction is a very, very serious matter, right? It can destroy lives, ruin relationships, and can even lead to death… Except it really depends on the addiction. Sure, an addiction to drugs or alcohol is very serious and requires extraordinary measures, among which hospitalization, medical treatment, even rehab which can last for months, even years. If I started listing the various celebrities whose lives have gone downhill, at one point or another, due to addiction to drugs or alcohol, then we’d literally be here all day and then some, and that’s just about celebrities – it’d take years to list all the normal people whose lives have been affected negatively by addictions. But what about picking your nose? That’s an addiction that has never really hurt anybody. Or videogames, which have killed a few people, but the overwhelming majority of those addicted to them (as in, spend more than 30 hours a week playing) is pretty happy.

So where does gambling addiction stand? In practice, that’s a loaded question. There are numerous cases in which addiction to gambling has cost people their livelihoods, leaving them on the verge of bankruptcy. But then there’s also been less severe cases of gambling addiction in which people have actually managed to use it to their advantage and make a big winning. What distinguishes an addiction from just a healthy dose of playing? Do you need to lose a lot of money in order to be accurately diagnosed as an addict? According to The Times, NHS doctors seems to think so. The British health association has dedicated £10,000 a year for prescription drugs to help combat the effects of gambling addiction.

The Belfast Telegraph reports that the medicine used in the process, naltrexone, is nearly identical to the one used to combat much more severe issues, such as severe alcoholism and drug problems. The treatment will cost approximately £800 per patient, most of which will be covered by the government. According to Dr. Henrietta Bowden-Jones, who is the lead researcher behind this rather experimental treatment, the medicine will only be used on the most extreme cases. “The medication is used to stop the most compulsive gamblers who are resistant to treatment. It helps stop craving”, she explained in a press statement. Studies show that there are more than half a million people in the UK addicted to gambling, with the numbers rising by over a third since online gambling became mainstream and popular.

So, what do you think? Do people who are addicted to gambling truly require to be medicated? On one hand, the doctors associated with the experimental procedure claim that this will only be used on the most non-susceptible to other kinds of therapy, but I don’t know, it still seems a bit extreme to me. Especially since doctors have neeeever been known to prescribe pills patients don’t really need because they get a commission from the manufacturer every time they do, no, sir! In any case, please let us know what you think!

by ·Comments Off on Mobile Casino In A Nutshell – Casino Journal

Mobile gamingMobile phones have become a staple of the 21st century. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone without a phone anymore, and with good reason – since the dawn of the smartphone, our mobile devices have evolved into an integral part of our daily lives. We’ve actually reached the point where a lot of people don’t even use their phones for talking anymore, opting instead to treat them as pocket computers. And when you think about it, their point of view is quite understandable, considering you can do pretty much anything on your phone – check your e-mail, watch movies, browse online shops, play casino games… Wait, what? You can gamble wherever you are, whenever you want? You better believe it! Stay with me, dear reader, and I’m going to tell you about what’s undoubtedly one of the best ways to indulge your inner gambler on the go!

A Satisfying Selection Of Mobile Games

The thing about casino games (and, well, computer games in general) is that most of them need to be developed independently for mobile and for PC. What this means is that while online casinos on desktop offer hundreds upon hundreds of games, only a portion of them will be available on mobile. In all honesty, though, when I say “portion”, I still mean “dozens of games”. How many exactly are available depends on the casino in question, but chances are you’ll be able to play at least fifty different games while on the go. The most prominent are, obviously, the slots. In the casinos I tested, slots absolutely dominated the selections, with over 90% of all available games being one-armed bandits. So if that’s your forte, then rest assured that you will be perfectly able to play your favorite slot machine wherever you are (as long as you’ve got a good Wi-Fi or 3G connection, of course).

Still, that doesn’t mean that you’re our of luck if you prefer to play table games – while there generally aren’t too many of those on mobile, as they tend to be harder to port than slots, there should still be more than enough to itch that scratch while you’re on the go. Roulette and blackjack are pretty much always a given, and depending on the casino you’ll also most likely get baccarat and casino poker. All the games work absolutely great, and playing blackjack on my iPad in bed was definitely one of the highlights of my online gambling life. Sure, you can’t expect the same kind of variety as you would from the casino’s desktop counterpart, but honestly, who cares? If you’re the type of person who’d honestly complain about there not being too many varieties of poker, then I’m afraid we just can’t be friends!

Live Casino, Also Known As The Best Part

What’s a good mobile casino without a live section? For those of you who don’t know, the live casino is a special section where you’re able to play table games such as blackjack or baccarat against real life dealers, video of which is streamed live directly to your device from the casino’s physical location. It’s one of the best features that any self-respecting online casino should have, as it places you right there in the middle of the action, just like if you were in a real casino! And, for the most part, it works great on mobile!

Keep in mind that not too many games are available on the live casino in general, especially on its mobile counterpart. This makes sense – I mean, it would be rather pointless to have something like live slots or live scratch cards, right? As such, the games you’ll have at your disposal are generally roulette, casino poker and blackjack, with some casinos also offering baccarat, but as far as I’ve noticed that’s relatively rare on mobile. Still, where the live casinos excel at when it comes to variety isn’t the number of games – it’s the number of tables. Most, if not all tables that would be usually available on desktop are also at your disposal when you play on mobile.

The Software Providers – The Unsung Heroes

It’s always important to give credit where credit is due, and in this case, I just won’t sleep right if the casinos hog all the recognition when they’re only responsible for hosting the games and not for creating them, or even porting them to mobile. No, that honor falls to the so-called software providers, the teams of very talented people who are in charge of creating your entertainment. Keep in mind that while the ones listed below are some of the most prominent software developers who bring us mobile casino games, the list is very far from being comprehensive. With that said, let’s learn a bit about them!

NetEntertainment

NetEnt have been around since 1996, but they only launched their mobile division, NetEnt Touch, at the end of 2011, catching the wave of the mobile revolution as it was happening. You may notice that they don’t really offer that many games, but the ones that are there are always of superb quality, with their slots often based on interesting properties such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and South Park.

PlayTech

If you’ve ever played an online casino, any online casino, then chances are you’ve experienced at least one of PlayTech’s games. Believe it or not, most mobile casinos actually feature a good chunk of PlayTech’s games, which are notable for being the only ones featuring Marvel characters such as Iron Man, Spider-Man or the Avengers. I’m still waiting for a “Guardians of the Galaxy” slot, PlayTech!

Spin3

If you’re looking for a recognized provider, it doesn’t really get any more prestigious than a winner of the EGR award for “Mobile supplier of the year”. Indeed, Spin3 have come a long way since the beginning of their partnership with Microgaming, which you may recognize as the leading developer of online gaming solutions. Their light platform is bound to run on most mobile devices, so rest assured!

Requirements

If you’ve made it this far, that probably means you’re rather interested in trying out some casino games on your mobile device. And let me guess – the only thing that’s worrying you is whether or not your own phone or tablet even supports casino games, right? Yes, I am a telepath. And yes, I know you just thought of that incident from middle school. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anybody. What I will tell you, though, is that if you’ve bought a device in the last 3-4 years, chances are that you’ll be able to play with absolutely no trouble whatsoever. Mobile games are really not taxing on the processor, so as long as your phone can realistically be classified as a “smartphone” you’re going to be good to go! All iPads, as well as tablets that run on Android, are also supported, but in case you’re not sure you can always check a few apps out for yourself for absolutely free.

Final Words

Online gambling is pretty much one of the greatest thing to ever happen to gambling in general, period. And while its mobile branch may not be as big of a step in the grand scheme of things, it’s certainly a rather welcome addition, giving you the opportunity to play the best casino games literally wherever you are (as long as you’re not in, say, the desert, North Korea or that one spot in my college dorm room that mysteriously cancels out all electronic signals). Really, the only reason why you wouldn’t want to play on your mobile device is if you don’t have one, but then again, in an era where phones have become pretty much an extension of ourselves, that’s not really much of an excuse. For seasoned gamblers, especially those with busy lifestyles, mobile gaming will open up a whole lot of opportunities. And even rookies can enjoy a few nice games of roulette before bed every now and again. No matter how you look at it, mobile casinos have something for everyone.

by ·Comments Off on 3 Things You Need To Know About Online Gambling – Casino Journal

Three thingsLike it or not, folks, online casino’s here to stay – its growth over the last few years has been too big to ignore, as much as some people would like to. And honestly, I don’t get those people. Sure, nothing beats holding real chips in your hand, feeling their weight as you wonder whether you should have the dealer hit you just one more time, but then again, you can’t really go to a physical casino every day. Going to a place such as a casino often requires preparation and a good investment. Many respected casinos demand formal wear, and most of us don’t really have a suit pressed and ready to go at a moment’s notice – nor the capital to bet, say, more than $10 for the entire evening. Not to mention, some people have made entire careers out of exploiting online casinos, working with the bonuses they were given and manipulating the random numbers generators in their favor, which isn’t only nearly impossible to do in a real casino, but would most likely get you banned if you attempted it. But many are reluctant to even try online casino gaming, due to various concerns or just a general lack of knowledge on where to start. Fear not, for I shall be your guide to the world of online casinos! Keep in mind that the following 3 facts, while essential, are by no means comprehensive. They’re just here to give you a good, general idea on where online casino stands in relation to physical casinos, and what you can do to start your online adventure. Without further ado, let’s dive right into it!

1. Online Casinos Are Watched More Closely Than Physical Ones

Yes, believe it or not, most big online casinos actually go through more certifications and testing to confirm their legitimacy than physical casinos do! Yes, really! Of course, that fact depends on the country you live in, since regulations aren’t the same everywhere, but in the US, UK, Germany and Australia, you need to jump a whole lot more hoops before you can open an online casino than a physical one. Again, this is highly subjective and dependent on your country, but physical casinos generally only need an up-to-date gambling license in order to operate, with additional testing and investigation done only in case the authorities have been alerted to potential unfairness. However, online casinos are certified by an authority to confirm their legitimacy (paperwork in order, all employees have proper contracts, the government knows where money is coming and going, etc), just like regular casinos need to, but on top of that they also need to go through numerous legitimacy checks where all of their games are tested by software to deduct their RTP (return to player – the amount of invested money that is dispensed back to the players randomly) and make sure it’s within the norm. Online casinos are not legally allowed to present one version of a game for certification and then upload a less fair one to their site, and the testing bodies regularly conduct tests to make sure something like that hasn’t occurred – it’s why you see RTPs changing slightly from time to time, especially on games such as blackjack or roulette. What you see is what you get. But if that wasn’t enough to convince you…

2. You’re Also More Likely To Win There

I have to admit that the actual sums that you can win aren’t all that huge – the largest jackpot ever won from an online slot was only about 17 million euro, which, while definitely a life-changing sum to be sure (if you invest that money in the bank the yearly interest alone would be more than the average salary in the majority of Western countries), is a far cry from what people have made, and continue to make, in physical casinos. It all has to do with size and the economy – currently, way more people bet way more in physical casinos than they do in online ones, and they bet bigger sums, so it’s only natural that the winnings are also bigger. But to make up for that, online casinos make it more likely to win thanks to the aforementioned RTPs. The thing is, card games and roulette in real casinos, quite obviously, don’t have RTPs – which means that theoretically they could return more money to the players than players bet, or they could keep 100% of the deposits and assure that nobody wins. It’s up to the whims of the cards, honestly. Meanwhile, blackjack and other games in online casinos have very particular RTPs which determine roughly how much of the money deposited is returned to the players and how much is kept (keep in mind that those percentages, while influenced by internal factors, are not “set” by the developers – they come up during testing), which is good news for both the casino and the players. On one hand, the casino is sure that no matter what it’s going to turn in a profit, even if it’s not a gigantic one – out of every $100 deposited, it’s going to keep $3 for itself. Meanwhile, the players can rest assured that the remaining $97 will be returned back to them – sure, somebody who deposited $10 could lose them all, but they could be won by someone who deposited $5. On a similar subject, the RTPs for slots (which exist in both physical and online casinos, since, well, all slots are electronic now anyway) in physical casinos are usually lower than those in online slots, so take what you will from that.

3. It’s Surprisingly Easy To Get Into Online Casino

A lot of people think that online casino is one of those niche things which are pretty much impossible to get into, like stamp collecting or comic books. Actually, most online casinos have made it unbelievably easy to join them and start playing, with numerous bonuses exclusive to new members (for example, they’ll give you some money for free and also double your first deposit, giving you, say, $50 to play around with instead of just the $20 you deposited, but only the first time). Picking an online casino is also not too hard, as there’s plenty of options no matter where you are in the world – hell, we’re going to showcase a lot of them right here in the near future! For the most part, feel free to just ask where your friends are playing and get that in order to be able to receive recommendations, ideas and tips from them. If you’re the only one among them who’s treading this new ground, then a simple Google search should bring up the best of the best in your area! Just make sure to look for the certificates in the footer of the page. After you’ve browsed several and compared the number of games and the bonuses each offers,

I hope those tips and facts were enough to dispel some of your misconceptions regarding online casinos! If I caught your interest, or strengthened your resolve, then go out there and find some online casinos! I hope to see you there, and as always feel free to message me with any of your questions!

by ·Comments Off on Man Injured After Assault Near A Casino Sues Casino

gambling gamesLet’s go back to the year 2014, when ebola was all the rage, you couldn’t get away from people singing “Happy” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” blew everyone’s minds. It was a fun year for most, for sure, but not for one Craig Redmond. On February 1st of that year, Redmond was enjoying a nice, quiet evening of casino entertainment inside the Mohegan Sun Pocono casino in New Jersey. It is unknown whether he was winning or losing, but regardless, late in the night he decided to call it quits and leave the casino, heading the parking lot in the region (which was private and not owned by the casino) in order to get his car. As he was leaving the casino, he noticed a mysterious individual following him, supposedly stalking him, but didn’t pay him too much mind. Sadly, that proved to be a terrible mistake, as the man ended up assaulting Redmond horribly with a metal pipe. As a result, the casino player sustained horrible injuries over his face and body, to the point where one of his eyes had to be removed.

Redmond spent the next few weeks in the hospital recovering from his injuries, while police were, sadly, unable to catch the perpetrator of the attack or discern the reasoning behind it. Flash-forward to the present day, and the victim has finally decided he’s had enough and would like to proceed with some good old-fashioned justice slash vengeance. His plan for punishing those responsible for his traumatic ordeal? Suing the casino, of course! … Wait, what? Yes, indeed, Craig Redmond has decided that the best way to seek retribution is by suing the casino that had absolutely nothing to do with what happened to him. His reasoning is that, since the parking lot was a “high-crime area” and was located relatively close to the casino, they were supposed to warn him about potential danger. I don’t mean to be rude, Mr. Redmond, buuuuuuuuuut… You’re walking alone in the middle of the night in a high-risk neighbourhood. I am fairly certain that any reasonable adult would be quite aware of the dangers even without being explicitly warned.

Craig Redmond is seeking $50,000 in damages, and currently the judge presiding over the case will decide whether it’ll be thrown out of court or will go on to trial. While one would presume the former would be obvious choice, a whole lot of people have succeeded in similar endeavours, such as the famous case in 1994 when a woman bought coffee from McDonald’s, took it to her car and then accidentally spilled it over herself, resulting in a lawsuit where McDonald’s paid her over half a million dollars in damages (almost $1m in today’s money). More recently, a man sued Red Bull for $13 million for false advertisement because it does not, in fact, give you wings. All things considered, it’s unknown whether Redmond will be able to win his case, but anything’s possible – we’re going to keep you posted as soon as we have all the facts!

by ·Comments Off on The Very Best Online Slots on the Internet

Online Slots on the InternetThere are so many slot games on the Internet that more often than not it’s quite hard to pick one and then discover the right place to play it for real money. If you are in a search for a game that will give you the adrenaline rush that you are craving for but you’re feeling stuck, then I have some great suggestions for you.

In order to find the best slot games to recommend, I took it upon myself to first do a little research as to which are the most popular games of the type. Unsurprisingly, Mega Moolah turned out to be the top game in terms of popularity, with over 1600 searches a month in the UK alone. The reason for that is that this game still holds the Guinness World record for the biggest online jackpot win of all times – in 2015 one lucky player became an instant millionaire after hitting the jackpot which at the time has reached the staggering number of €17.9 million euro.

Another slot that boasts huge popularity among casino fans is the Cleopatra slot with over 1000 monthly searches on Google.co.uk. The reason why this game is the second most searched one in the UK is that it’s a real casino classic which can be played also in many brick-and-mortar casinos. The third place in this list goes to Starburst with around 400 monthly searches. Here’s the full list of the most popular slots in the UK.

  1. Mega Moolah
  2. Cleopatra
  3. Starburst
  4. Pixies of the Forest
  5. Golden Goddess
  6. Tomb Raider
  7. Batman
  8. Jack and the Beanstalk
  9. Immortal Romance
  10. Gladiator
  11. Mermaids Millions
  12. Balloonies
  13. Kitty Glitter
  14. Siberian Storm
  15. Thunderstruck

Of course, if a slot is popular, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s also of good quality. What better example to give than Kitty Glitter? I can honestly say that this is one of the worse-looking video slots, yet there are obviously many people that enjoy it. On the other hand, there are many slots with spectacular graphics and features that are still not that popular because they are relatively new. Good examples for that would be Aliens, Cosmic Fortune, Mega Fortune and Illuminous. There are also some slots that are both popular (even if they didn’t make it into the top 15 listed-above) and great-looking. Examples for such slots would be Gonzo’s Quest, Jurassic Park Slot, Game of Thrones and Avalon II. You can learn more about all these games at one of the best online slot machine sites. If you dig deeper into the information collected there, you will notice that the titles that are developed by certain software providers are way better looking and functioning compared to others, so in the next paragraph we’ll cover exactly that topic.

Software Houses That Develop Great Slot Games

There are many companies that develop casino games but, as we mentioned, the slot titles of some of them are definitely better than the others. Since I started playing online ten years ago, I’ve tried the games of at least two dozen different casino software providers, and I can honestly say that the best looking slots are the ones developed by NetEnt. If you try one of their more popular titles, such as Gonzo’s Quest, Starburst, Mega Fortune, Jack and the Beanstalk or The Invisible Man, you will immediately understand what I’m talking about. These games are obviously superior to the titles of others suppliers in terms of graphics, functionality and engagement. This is due to the fact that, as opposed to other software houses, NetEnt focuses more on the quality of the games than on their numbers. My personal favourite out of the 150 slots of the provider is South Park, not only because I’m a huge fan of the show, but because the game has four different bonus rounds and many other exciting features.

Another famous casino games developer is Microgaming. This is, in fact, the oldest casino software provider and as such has the biggest selection of games. To be perfectly honest, most of their games have pretty poor graphics and sounds, due to the fact that they’ve been created a decade or more ago. Their newer slot games, on the other hand, such as Jurassic Park, Immortal Romance, Game of Thrones, the Dark Knight Rises, Terminator II and Battlestar Galactica, look pretty damn well and show the provider’s commitment to offer better products to their customers.

The third very famous slot developer is undoubtedly Playtech. Though their game selection cannot boast the best graphics and sounds, it has one huge advantage: it’s the only one that contains Marvel-themed slots. This is due to the fact that Playtech is the only casino software developer that has the right to develop games themed around the famous comic-book characters. Their most famous Marvel titles include: Spider-man, The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers, The Fantastic Four and Iron Men.

NetEnt, Microgaming and Playtech are undoubtedly the biggest names in the casino software development field, but they are definitely not the only ones. Other famous names in the industry are IGT, Random Logic, Cryptologic, NextGen, Blueprint Gaming, Williams Interactive, Novomatic, Play N Go and so on. Each of those suppliers’ slot selection has its perks and is definitely worth trying.

Where to Play?

Now that you’ve learned more about the most popular slots on the market, it’s time to find a trustworthy casino where you can play them. And by a trustworthy casino I mean one that is licensed by the gambling authority of the country you’re residing in. In case that country is Great Britain, then the casino you’ve chosen should be licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. Being a British player myself, I can honestly say that 888 Casino is a good choice for all the slot fans, as it offers a really interesting slot game selection which contains titles from different software providers, as well as ones that are internally developed by the company and therefore exclusively offered by them.

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International Journal for Slots and Casino News

poker casino gamesLet’s face it – the Online Casino industry has been boming for a while now, and physical casinos have been raking in billions of dollars a year practically forever… And yet both industries saw an absolutely gigantic increase in revenue over 2015, to the point where they’ve began catching up to other huge entertainment industries such as movies and videogames. For reference, the highest grossing movies released in 2015 (several of which are in the top 10 highest grossing films of all time) didn’t even come close to what the casino industry got for the year – the top 10 most profitable films of 2015 got a total of $10 billion globally, while the casino industry earned more than 18 times that amount. If you think that’s pretty insane, then you’re absolutely right!

So, what does this data tell us? Well, first of all, that there’s a lot of high rollers who like to spend big on casino games – no surprise there, those people have always been around. But it also tells us that more and more newcomers are coming to the industry. Casinos are opening worldwide, and online gambling has been making slots and other games more accessible to the average Joe more than ever. 40% of the entire world population today is connected to the Internet – that’s three times more than 10 years ago. And since the online and physical casino industries generally help each other out (someone who’s had a fun time in a casino may want to keep playing online, or someone with online experience may want to try the real thing), is it really a surprise that both have been growing so much recently?

With all of this in mind, we decided that casino players – new ones and old ones, fans of real chips or online aficionados, from all over the world – will need a place where they can keep up with the latest in the world of casino. Reviews, news, strategies, guides and more awaits you right here, on the Journal! We hope you have a lot of fun!