I have news to report that makes me sad. Though there may be a bit of good news at the end. The online casino and poker room Bodog recently applied for a  UK gambling licenses and was granted the licenses.  But because of the controversial view of whether or not offering online gambling in the US is legal, Bodog has announced that they’ll be leaving the US at the end of this year.  This move is being done to satisfy those in the UK gambling world who have concerns about recent actions the US Department of Justice has taken against online poker rooms.  Now there’s  no sign that Bodog is in any trouble. After all, they just passed a stringent UK review process. So I’m feeling sort of “hey, look a strong and reputable casino” followed by “and no longer available to me because I’m an American.”  I mean, we are America, we should have the BEST online casinos in the world, not wave good bye to them as they set sail for England.

Now if you’re a US player, you’ll have until December 31^st to use your Bodog account. But there is some good news here. It looks like the company  that licenses Bodog - the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group - will establish their own site when Bodog pulls out.  Since the MMGG group already accepts US players under Bodog’s current agreement, we should be able to switch to the new site when it opens in 2012.  I’ll have more info as it becomes available. 

I’m going to cover a video poker basic today. So if you’re an expert player, well, go check some of the links on VideoPoker365 and start winning some money. That’s what we’re here for.  But if you’re new to video poker, hang around. We’re going to talk about HOW to win money. Because I like winning money.

Now, there’s one rule of video poker that won’t change whether you play online or at a land based casino. Or even on a cruise ship. (I’ve done all three but only one requires heavy doses of Dramamine.) It’s a simple rule to follow. No pay tables or strategy cards to memorize or consult.  But this is the one rule you need to follow if you want to have any hope of winning the big jackpot win for the royal flush - you have to bet the maximum number of coins for the game.

When you go to play video poker, you’ll notice that you can play machines for different denominations. Now in a casino with solid machines, the denomination is determined by the machine itself. So there are nickel machines and quarter machines and dollar machines.  Online, you can usually set the denomination that you want to play for when you choose your video poker game.  But then you choose the number of coins you want to play for. Here is where you don’t want to make a mistake. Playing for five nickels isn’t the same as playing a quarter machine for 1 quarter. It isn’t the amount you spend that matters, it’s what you can win.

The jackpot win in video poker is the royal flush, but how much you win is determined by how many coins you wager. Five coins is the maximum bet and you need to make the maximum bet to win the big jackpot. So, play for a single quarter and hit the Royal Flush and you actually win less than if you hit a royal with five nickels.  So, check your bankroll and make sure you play a game where you can afford to play for five coins.

Today is a day for sad news.  Superslots.com has been one of the recommended casinos for video poker because they always have (or had it seems) great bonus and tournaments.  I’ve loved playing on their site.  But, alas, it seems that they are closing their doors completely. Oh, we’ve had casinos pull out of the US market and only remain open to the UK and EU market, but unfortunately that’s not the case with Superslots.  They are closing completely. 

So, what do you need to do?  Well, they should be sending emails out to players who have accounts with them.  But if you haven’t seen an email, you might need to check your spam folders. I know my emails from casinos sometimes get sucked into the spam folder, especially with my Yahoo account.  Log into the casino to see if you have money left in your account. Superslots is recommending that you request a payout or play through your balance before August 1^st.  Now many online casinos have a minimum amount that you can request to withdraw. If you have more than that, I suggest just requesting a payment.  If you’re like me with a couple of dollars in an account, you might as well play through that and see if goes up or down. I’ve turned a $5 bonus into $50 before and I might be able to do it again.

Of course if you have any questions you’ll want to call the casino’s support team for help.  They offer a toll free number for the US/Canada and another for International players. Remember this isn’t just affecting US players. So check your accounts.

So, what’s an RNG? It’s the tool that makes online games work but for games like video slots and video poker, it’s the tool that makes the game run either online or in the real world.  An RNG is a random number generator.  Basically, an RNG randomly generates series of numbers that correspond to symbols or cards. Then those symbols or cards are displayed on the screen.  Now, for blackjack players, the important part about understanding an RNG is that since the virtual cards aren’t being dealt from a real deck, card counting doesn’t work.  But video poker players don’t use card counting. (If you’re trying. Stop. Card counting doesn’t work in video poker. Each hand is a fresh deal.) But here’s what RNG also means.  When you decide which cards to hold and which to discard and hit the deal button, that’s when the computer generates the cards you’ll be dealt.  There isn’t a virtual deck of cards sitting back there waiting for you to hit the button. Those cards are randomly generated. So hit a fraction of a second sooner or later and you’d get different randomly different cards.

But also, the RNG means you should play every single hand based on the strategy for the game.  Each hand is a fresh hand. So, it doesn’t matter if you just had two Aces in that last hand. You still have an identical chance of drawing Aces in this hand.  Don’t fall for the “I just drew jacks three times so my chances of drawing again are lower” road of thought.  They really aren’t.  What happened in the last hand, the last two hands, it doesn’t affect this hand.  Play by the strategy.

I’m checking out Villento Las Vegas today because I’ve heard it has fifty, yes 50, games of video poker available and there has to be a game there that I haven’t played.  But with casinos is all depends on how the count a game of video poker.  Okay, let me take this apart a bit.  If I were playing slots and checked out a slot game called Big Spin slots, I might be able to play that slot game for one pay line or twenty-five pay lines just by choosing how many lines to activate in the game.  So, how many slot games does the casino count this as?  Well, usually that would be one slot game because it would be the same game regardless of how many pay lines I played.  Sound right?  Good because that’s how Villento Las Vegas counts their slot games.

But it really isn’t how they count their video poker games.  Let’s take Deuces Wild Poker.  There are 6 Deuces Wild games available for me to play.  The basic is Deuces Wild Poker which is a single hand game. That’s where you want to start if you’re learning Deuces Wild or practicing your strategy.  Then there are the Deuces Wild Poker Poker games. These are games that offer anywhere from 10 to 100 hand at once.  These speed up your chances of hitting a Royal because statistically you are playing more hands at one time.  They also speed up the amount you bet at any one time.  But that’s like choosing one pay line or 100 pay lines on a slot game.  And then there’s the Deuces Wild Level-Up poker. You know, I haven’t played that one yet. Another tempting game to try.

The 50 games of video poker offered at Villento Las Vegas might be a bit over stated.  But they still offer a number of different video poker games with variations on all those games. 

I’ll tell you a secret. Sometimes I play slot games.  Well, sometimes all the good payout video poker machines in a casino are taken or I just want a little change in my online game play.  The problem video poker has is that the games with the best odds look and play the same every day.  We don’t get exciting news like the slots players do that we can play the newest Lord of the Rings or Star Trek game.  But sometimes we’re attracted to the idea of playing a game with new features, new bonuses, new jackpots.  At least I know I am. Yes, I’ll play some level up video poker, even though in the long run I know I don’t fare as well as I do with a basic Jacks or Better game.

And casinos know we’re lured by the new and shiny. That’s why they come out with these new games for us to play.  They know that the knowledgeable  video poker player knows the best games, best pay out charts and the best odds.  But that the average video poker player can still be lured by the allure of a new game.  I’m going to say that it’s okay to check out the new games. I know I do. But to keep a close eye on your bankroll and to study that pay chart before you start playing.  Just what are you giving up in order to take a chance at that shiny bonus or jackpot?  Just what are you having to risk?  Casinos use these shiny new games to entice us to play video poker games with lower payouts and worse odds. They can be fun. But they aren’t smart.

I’m checking out a new video poker game over on English Harbour Casino. Bump It Up Jacks or Better Video Poker.  Bump It Up is a game that gives you a chance to win big by better on four hands at once.  Of course, you can lose more at once too. This isn’t a multi-hand game where you draw one hand, choose the cards you want to hold and draw on that hand multiple times.  In this game you bet on four hands at once and draw the first hand.  If you win that hands, it pays out at the standard pay table rate (note, this is not a 9/6 game).  Now the trick behind this game is that if you win the first hand, you move up to the second hand and that hand pays out at twice the pay table rate. Win that hand and move up again. This puts you at the third hand that pays out at 4 times the pay table rate.  And win there and you move up to the fourth hand which pays out at 8 times the pay table rate.  So the goal here is to win as many hands in a row as you can. To win big you have to win 4 hands in a row.  And it helps if you win that last one with a royal flush.   There is a “bonus” in the game. You can hit the Bump It Up card and that will bump you up one level, whether or not you win the hand.  But it only works for one hand. If you win that hand, the bump it up doesn’t carry over to the next hand.

Now the problem here is that since you’re placing bets on that fourth hand before you’ve even won the first hand, the hands where you would normally break even in the game will lose you money.  Take a Jacks or Better win.  I’m betting $2 per hand for 4 hands, so $8.  A pair of jacks is a win, which pays me $2. Enough to keep my money even in a regular game.  But this isn’t a regular game.  The jacks get me $2 and move me up a rung.  If I lose that rung, I lose the bets for the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th hand.  So I’ve bet $8 and won $2, leaving me down $2.  Now, if I win all the way to the top — which I just did, it looks something like this:  first hand - a pair of jacks ($2), second hand a bump ($0), third hand 2 pair ($4 x 4= $16) and the fourth hand three of a kind ($6 x 8 = $48), total win $66.  The problem is, I don’t get enough of those runs. So I’m down over $100 pretty quickly. 

I’ve come across the question — should I play online video poker for free — from a friend.  After a bit of research, it seems the question is related to advice on the web about that play online poker for free doesn’t truly advance your poker playing skills.  Now, I have to admit that I play poker games like Texas Hold ‘em less often than I play video poker.  But I’ve explored things like Zynga poker, where anyone can play for pretend money, and can see where the advice comes in when it comes to playing poker against opponents.  The folks who play poker for virtual money seem overly willing to bet on bad hands in hopes of bluffing their opponent.  After all, virtual coins can be easy to come by.  But I don’t think the strategy works as well when playing against opponents who are playing for real money.

But video poker is a different game than Texas Hold ‘em. Yes, both are based on poker hands and the hand ranking is the same in each game.  So, knowledge of poker hands is going to help you either way.  But while poker games such as Texas Hold  ‘em are played against real people where bluffing and reading your opponent plays a part, Video Poker is played against a machine.  The machine operates according to the same set of rules at all times.  So, your video poker strategy works the same way whether you’re playing for real money or practicing by playing for free.  In fact, playing free video poker is recommended to help players learn strategy.  Or to help learn and adjust your strategy for different video poker games.  So don’t hesitate to play video poker for free. But remember, winning real money can be more fun.

Now this is an usual question because usually video poker isn’t a game we try to play quickly. After all, there isn’t any real advantage to playing fast instead of taking time to make the best decision for each hand and many players like to take the time to consult their video poker strategy cards. (If you are a new video poker player don’t feel shy about stopping to check what you should play.)  But there are some online casinos out there that are offering new players an hour or so to play for real on the house. In other words, the casino either provides a starting bank roll or a starting number of wagers you can make and gives the player an hour to enjoy the casino.  But these offers often include a minimum requirement of placing 100 or more bets during the hour of play. 

Now, the online casinos are really gearing this toward the slots players.  Especially when you look at the offer over at Ruby Royal which is for 888 free bets but in a thirty minute time frame.  I did some testing and found out that is possible to do on a simple slot game with no complicated bonus games.  I’m talking something like a three reel slot where you just click as fast as you can. 

But all this had me wondering — if these types of offers include Video Poker games, how fast can I reasonably play without endangering my winnings.  So, I visited a casino in Free Play mode and made some trial runs.  I choose to play Jacks or Better because that is probably the game most of us are familiar with and besides it meant I didn’t have to slow down to think about wild cards.  Now results can vary depending actually on the hands dealt.  Some online casino software will hold good cards for you, which means faster spinning. But with other hands you have to pause to at least select the cards you want to hold. 

I found that my play varied from about 5 to 10 hands a minute.  Which means I could comfortably meet a requirement of 100 wagers in an hour and still have time to think.  But that 888 bets in 30 minutes isn’t something I want to try when playing video poker.

I have a casino offer to share with all you video poker players out there that isn’t about playing video poker or even about gambling. It’s about love and romance and of course about it being February and Valentine’s Day being right around the corner. 

Here’s what they’ve come up with over at All Slots Casino.  You write and share your love story with them. Make it as romantic  or sappy or as funny as you want. Because the folks over at All Slots are reviewing all the stories that come into them and putting them up on their site. (You have to submit under your All Slots account, so they’ll notice if you try to submit multiple stories. So one love per person for this contest.)  When the stories are up on the site, other players get to read about them and vote on them.  So even if you don’t want to participate by sending in a story, you can still enjoy the fun by reading and voting. 

At the end of the voting period, the most popular and highest ranking story will win the writer a romantic dinner for two.  So, you could win a chance to celebrate love with the one you love.  Now there are the usual terms and conditions for the offer.  If you don’t want to go out on a romantic dinner, you can claim 200 credits to play on instead. If the casino can’t supply dinner coupons for your area, they will give you $200 instead. Oh, and in the event of a tie, the person who wagered the most at the casino during the promotion will win. 

So, what’s your romantic tale?