Online Casino Gambling

Traditionally, slot machines are solo devices that player’s play alone. You may strike up a conversation with the player next to you, but slot machines do not offer near the community involvement and group spirit that a poker table does. Walking around a casino, you will notice most of the noise and good times are coming from the poker tables. While slot machines are a quieter game- that is, until AC Coin & Slot developed the first community slot machines.

What are Community Slot Machines?

Community slot machines are a both one large slot machine and several individual slot machines. Typically, the community slot machine is made up of several individual slot machines tied together in front of one larger, interactive screen. In community slot machines, players have a shot at winning individual bonuses as well as sharing in the communal bonuses when it comes around.

How do Community Slot Machines Work?

When a player sits down at a community slot machine, they will notice that they have a small independent slot screen in front of a much larger bonus screen. The player will start playing the smaller slot screen. This works as any slot machine, offering payouts and bonuses. However, the larger screen will all give out bonuses, (some community slot machines offer more then one.) While the player is plugging away on his or her own slot, the bonus screen will start at random. Any bonus achieved on the community screen is paid out to every player participating in the game based on his or her betting amount.

What is the Upside to Community Slot Machines?

For one, community slot machines dish out far more bonuses then standard slot machines. However, most players enjoy the community slot machines for the sheer fun of it. A community slot machine can be as active as a poker table, with players routing for each other and joining in on the phone. In addition, since these slot machines are state of the art, the game play is highly interactive and most of the slot feature popular movies, companies, or themes like Monopoly and Ebay.

Overall, the community style slot machine was a huge step forward for AC Coin & Slot. The games draw in many players, both for the community aspect as well as the highly recognizable themes. For example, the Monopoly based community slot machine has bonuses based around the popular board game that many players are drawn too. The games are fun to play and worth checking out at the casino.

The newest luxury resort and casino megaplex, CityCenter in Las Vegas, has released model penthouse suites available for sale in their Mandarin Oriental building. These units are the height in luxury, at the best location, and selling very well despite the economic downturn.

The Mandarin Oriental Suites

The Mandarin Oriental offers one, two, and three bedroom permanent residences inside the CityCenter megaplex. These suites range from 1,000 to 4,000 square feet and cost about one million a piece. Each unit was built with the newest designs and luxuries in mind, but the biggest selling point to these homes is the location. Mandarin Oriental is located in the middle of CityCenter and offers residents access to all of the action of Las Vegas’ latest and greatest building development. The suites cost in the range of one million a piece. So far 29 units have been sold in the development.

CityCenter

For those not in the know, CityCenter is the latest and greatest Las Vegas, Nevada has to offer. Construction on the megaplex hit a major turning point earlier this year when the first casino, the Aria, was opened to the public. So far CityCenter has been a success, despite economic downturn and early profit losses. MGM, a major holder in the CityCenter idea, did see an initial loss in profits. However, these are expected to turn around as the economy takes a turn for the better. The CityCenter project blends a combination of Las Vegas style gambling, luxury, and entertainment with modern technology and green friendly building. It is truly a work of modern art.

Suite units are still available for sale in CityCenter, both in the Mandarin Oriental and other locations across the megaplex. While these suites will not go cheap, there has been a high interest in the location, and it likely the center will fill up quickly.

The action and the objective of online craps are both pretty straightforward. A shooter tosses a pair of dice down the length of a table – that’s the action. The players surrounding the table predict the result of each roll or alternately of each round by betting on them – that’s the objective. As they say, the devil is in the details, and when it comes to mastering craps those details are the bets.

For such a simple game, craps offers a surprisingly large selection of bets. These bets fall into three basic categories: line bets, single-roll bets and multi-roll bets. Line bets are those bets that revolve around the come out roll and point. Single-roll bets, as their name implies, are bets made on the outcome of a single roll of the dice. Multi-roll bets are more complex bets made on certain “either/or” possibilities.

Single-roll bets are as straightforward as the rest of the game – basically at any time during a round a player other than the shooter may wager on the end value of the next roll. Though they are the most common bets in the game, line bets are the ones that tend to trip new players up. All shooters are limited to line bets, so if you’re planning to control the dice at any time in your craps career these bets are especially worth learning. Here’s a basic rundown of each.

Pass Line Bet

A pass line bettor wins instantly if the shooter rolls a 7 or 11 in the come out roll. Alternately, they lose instantly if the shooter rolls a 2, 3 or 12. A roll that results in any other value (4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10) sets the point. To win now, a pass line bettor must hope that the shooter will roll the point again before rolling a 7.

Don’t Pass Line Bet

A don’t pass line bet is the exact opposite of the pass line bet. This bet wins instantly if the shooter rolls a 2 or 3 in the come out roll, pushes on a 12, and loses instantly if 7 or 11 is rolled. If a point is set, then a don’t pass bet pays if the shooter rolls a 7 before rolling the point again.

Come Bet

The come bet is identical to the pass line bet except it starts on the second roll instead of the come out roll.

Don’t Come Bet

The don’t come bet is the opposite of the come bet in the same way that the don’t pass bet is the opposite of the pass bet. It follows all the same rules as the don’t pass bet above, but those rules are not in place until the second roll of a round.

Not long ago lucky slot machine winners were forced to gather up their spilling coins and carry them to a cashier, quite often leagues from where they were initially playing. Today, the majority of casinos have opted for a more convenient, and much safer voucher system. These vouchers eliminate the need to keep track of hundreds of quarters and make it easier on casino employees to deal with the cash flow.

How Does a Coin-Less Slot Machine Work?

A coin-less slot machine uses a paper voucher instead of a coin slot and dispenser system. With a coin-less slot machine a player will sit down and the machine, insert their player’s card and insert cash in to the receptacle. The player can then play at will. When they are ready to leave the player will select the “cash out” button on the controls or on the slot machine itself. The slot machine will then print out a cash voucher. This voucher can be taken to another machine and played or redeemed for money. Typically, the player must take the voucher to a cashier to collect their winnings, but more casinos are starting to offer ticket-redeeming machines that eliminate the need to stand in line at the cashier booth.

What are the Up-Sides to a Coin-Less Slot Machine?

A coin-less slot machine benefits the casino by cutting down on the amount of human interaction they have to do with the slot machines. Players are visiting the cashier’s desk less often because they do not have to carry around buckets of quarters. The casino also no longer has to keep track of all of these quarters going in and out of the machines, freeing up their time for other tracking activities.

Coin-less slot machines also have benefits for players. Players are better able to enjoy the game when they have less to worry about, such as keeping track of loose quarters. Players also find the ticket system more efficient, as they are able to hop from machine to machine without having to collect, count, or head to the cashier’s desk.

Coin-less slot machines are the wave of the future, there is no doubt that more, and more casinos will continue to switch to these devices. Coin-fewer slot machines are safer, more efficient, and better for both the players and the casino.

Despite many doom and gloom predictions about the future of the gambling industry, many of the top names in both live and online casino entertainment are posting very positive numbers this season. On the brick and mortar scene, Macau continues to be the gambling destination of choice among international travelers. As proof that 2010 is going to be a very good year indeed for Macau’s casino operators, they posted record-breaking numbers last month with over $1.76 billion in combined revenue – a 70% increase over April of 2009.

Even Las Vegas’ operators, many of whom had a dismal winter, seem optimistic as the city’s big tourist season rapidly approaches and as the newest attraction – City Center – continues to post solid numbers. There are even signs that the regular crowd is starting to return; local gambling giant Boyd Gaming also posted a profit in the first quarter and is projecting growth in the next, largely due to the pending acquisition of their primary competitor, Station Casinos.

Even online casino operators experience occasional lulls, but April wasn’t a month that saw many of them. One of the leading casino software providers – Playtech – announced significant growth (29%) in their gross income during the last quarter. As their new collaboration with William Hill gains momentum, and once France officially opens its doors to outside operators, the company expects to see even more growth in the quarters to come.

Speaking of France’s recent decision to fully legalize online gambling, many online casino industry insiders are predicting that the move will positively affect the second quarter numbers of many different operators. With poker’s biggest live event – the World Series of Poker – rapidly approaching, many online poker rooms are also expected to get a revenue boost this season.

Even companies like the ubiquitous 888 Holdings – which had mixed results between revenue gains in their casino sector and small losses in their poker branch – are making optimistic statements about their expected revenues for the whole of 2010. This logical but hopeful attitude seems to be spreading throughout the industry as many of the biggest operators are taking chances and expanding their offerings this year.

These days new casino games seem to pop up every week. There are literally thousands of unique slots titles online, and many casinos are now taking liberties with classics like blackjack, bingo and video poker. As millions of new online players log on every day, gambling industry insiders speculate that casinos are reviving previously overlooked game variations in hopes of finding a new hit. That’s just what happened with the game in question. Lately 3-Card Poker has been generating a lot of buzz, but the original version of the game is actually more than 15 years old.

So why is 3-Card Poker suddenly hot?

The game incorporates elements from three of the most popular gambling diversions – blackjack, poker and video poker. Combine the audiences of these three games, and you’ll have a steep majority of online gamblers (sans the significant slot crowd). Jaded fans of any of these three games looking for something similar but new will find just that with 3-Card Poker.

How does the game work?

Players may make one of two bets by placing chips in either the Ante or the Pair Plus area of the table. Players making an Ante wager will be privy to an experience that’s like a hybrid of blackjack and poker. Three cards are dealt to each player, and then three more are dealt face down to the dealer. Once you have considered your hand, you must decide if you want to double your original bet by placing an additional wager in the Play area beside the Ante, or if you want to fold your hand. Should you fold, your ante is forfeited, but should you play the dealer will reveal their cards and players with a hand that beats the dealer’s will be paid.

Players that choose to make the Pair Plus wager instead are basically playing a live version of video poker. The dealer’s hand is now irrelevant. To win, you must receive a 3-card hand that includes a pair or better. Anything less is an automatic loss.

What’s different about 3-Card Poker?

Unlike many of the games it borrows from, 3-Card Poker doesn’t allow for much strategy. Players cannot draw new cards, bluff or bully with their chips. In fact, the Pair Plus version of the game has no strategy at all, and the Ante half of the game’s strategy is limited exclusively to a player’s decision to play or fold. For the most part, knowledge of your fellow players’ hands is insignificant since you’re only competing against the paytable or the dealer, though some strategists theorize that card counting could give 3-card players an additional edge when choosing when to play or fold.