Survivor Blackjack Tournaments at Jackpot City Casino
June 30, 2011
Good news for Blackjack lovers, Jackpot City Online Casino will be holding a number of regular tournaments, and they have added a Blackjack Survivor title to the schedule so hurry over now!
Space is limited and only 250 players will be able to participate in this new format and registrations are open! A minimum of 14 players will be required for the tournament to go ahead but because of the popularity of Blackjack Survivor tournaments the 250 quota will more than likely be quite easily reached.
If you’re new to this format, Survivor games are played on the 6 deck European blackjack variant and the entry fee is a mere $20 with a guaranteed $280 prize pool. The prize money may not seem all that lucrative but it is only shared by the top three players and is distributed with $130 for first place, $90 for second and $60 for third.
The tournament will be played over three rounds with only the top 10 players surviving the first round. Each player commences the round with 2,500 with the minimum wager at 10 chips and the maximum at 250 chips. The round is then played over 8 hands.
Competition heats up in the second round with only 6 of the 10 players being able to make it through to the next stage. This round is played over eight hands and is started with 3,500 chips for each player, a minimum wager of 50 chips and a maximum of 500.
The third round sees the fiercest competition of all and requires you to make aggressive bets and bold decisions. Unlike the other two stages, this round is played over 6 hands only. Players begin betting with 5000 chips and limits are upped to 100 chip minimums and 1,000 chip maximums with only the top three players walking away with the prize money.
If this all sounds too much for you, never fear! Jackpot City Casino has a host of blackjack games for you to choose from and play at your leisure without the tournament stress. So whether you’re up for the tournament action or just in the mood for a truly superb game of Microgaming powered blackjack, visit Jackpot City now!
Understanding House Edge and House Drop
June 23, 2011
You’ve probably come across the term “House Edge” and to a lesser extent the term “House drops” in articles about online casinos and games odds and we’re often asked questions about these terms, their meanings and if they are the same thing or not. So we decided to write a short explanation on these terms to help players better understand their meanings and how these can affect game play at both land based and online casinos.
To answer the last question first, House Edge and House Drops (also known as casino gaming drops) are not the same thing.
House Edge
The House Edge refers to the house advantage, usually expressed as a percentage that a casino has over a player in a particular casino game. To put it simply, the House Edge is the money that the casino will keep in the long run. If the house edge is 5% on a certain game, then out of every $100 that the player wagers, the casino, on average, will earn $5. We say “on average” because it is possible for players to win big or lose everything, but over a long period of time the average will hold true.
In a game of blackjack, skilled players playing according to blackjack strategy can lower the house edge to around 1%, while the house edge on the same game variation can be considerably higher for unskilled players. Slot machines on the other hand, usually maintain a uniform house edge as they are not influenced by strategy. On both though, the longer you play the more likely it is that you will begin to lose, even if you win initially and the house edge will begin to claim its percentage of your wagers.
House Drops
House Drop or Casino Gaming Drop is the amount of money the average player spends (or “drops”) at the casino (also called “the house”).
The longer a player plays, the more likely it is that they will begin to lose, even if the house edge is low, because inevitably the law of averages will play out. If a player loses 25% of his/her money in a visit to the casino, this amount is said to be the “house drop“. Unlike the house edge, the house drop continues to accumulate over time as the player loses money it accumulates into the overall deficit total. Obviously if a player plays for a short period and wins, this offsets the house drop for that gaming session, but if the player decides to play winnings back to the casino, and loses, the house drop comes into play once again.
As you can see from the above explanation, it is very important to monitor your game play time in a session, if you win big rather cash out and enjoy the money because putting it back in in the hope of winning even bigger will give that infamous “law of averages” the chance to affect your balance. Winning streaks are great, but they don’t stay “winning” forever, so rather play wisely.
Celebrate Wimbledon Fever with the new Tennis Star Slot
June 17, 2011
It’s summertime and tennis fever is in the air and the sportsbooks have been heating up with tennis betting this month. The illustrious 2011 French Open at Roland Garros recently came to an end with Rafael Nadal defeating long-time foe Roger Federer in the men’s singles finals and Li Na defeating Francesca Schiavone to become the women’s champion.
Later in June the Grand Slam that most tennis fans are waiting for will commence at the ever famous Wimbledon, but you don’t have to wait that long to get some centre court action thanks to Playtech’s latest tennis themed Tennis Stars Slot.
This 5 reel, 40 payline slot features the usual array of wilds, multipliers, scatters and free spins that you’ve come to expect from these types of slots, but also offers a great bonus round. Apart from the tennis player images, the symbols are made up of a variety of tennis themed items including tennis rackets and balls, shoes and trophies.
The trophies are what you’ll want to look out for as these are wild and when they appear on reels 2, 3 and 4 they trigger the free spins bonus feature which pays out 10 times your wager amount! You’ll also get 15 free spins that can be re-triggered as many times as the same combination of symbols continue to appear on the reels.
But that’s not where the fun ends! The pair of tennis rackets is the scatter symbol and when two or more of these appear on the reels payouts are made. Five of these appearing payout 100 times the total bet and three or more trigger the Championship Bonus Game. In this feature, you’ll get to play a tennis game against the computer wherein you can choose the gender of your tennis player, either a flat or slice serve and then play the point. The points awarded will depend on the match score and the number of aces you serve, and a game win at love gives a payout of 50 times the total bets and if four aces are served then you’ll benefit from a 5x multiplier.
There is also a gamble game option which can be enabled after every payout - it is the standard Playtech game in which the player is required to guess the colour of the subsequent card with correct guesses doubling payouts and wrong ones resulting in a total loss.
Tennis stars is not only a great game to play but also offers a jackpot of 10,000 coins which can mean a grand slam win of up to $500,000 from the maximum 20 coin wager.
So why not indulge in a little tennis fever this month and play the all new Tennis Star Slot at Euro Grand Casino now.
Spin Palace Player Wins Grand Slam of Slots II
June 10, 2011
Microgaming’s Grand Slam of Slots II (GSOS II) mega tournament reached its conclusion on the 23rd of May 2011 and the Isle of Man based software giant recently released the much anticipated results.
First place went to a player identified only as A.P who played through the Spin Palace Casino platform and won a whopping $157,515.83 in the final tournament. According to Microgaming’s recent press release, A.P adds this total to his former wins of $1000 in the Network $25k Monthly Monster Tournament. In second place was a player known as Lucko who won $78,780.75 in the tournament and the third place winner who remains anonymous won $39,367.54.
The press release also revealed some other quite surprising information regarding the latest Grand Slam tournament. While the initial prize pool was projected to be $290,000 with the original first prize at a total of $100,000, increased participation in the tournament resulted in a 50% increase in the prize pool to a massive $456,700 and prizes were adjusted accordingly for all winners. According to the statistics, 1,588 players from various Microgaming powered online casinos took part in the online tournament and 290 lucky people walked away with cash winnings in their pockets. There was however one huge disappointment and that was that no player managed to complete a full pay table on the Thunderstruck Slot, leaving the bonus prize of $2.43 million in cash or gold bullion unclaimed.
But don’t despair, according to Mike Hebden, Head of Microgaming, the company will be allocating the $2.43 million towards an even better prize offering in the Grand Slam of Slots III tournament, which means it is definitely going to be one to look out for! As usual we’ll keep you updated on all of the details as they emerge.
Evaluating Online Casino Tournaments
June 2, 2011
Online Casino Tournaments have become more prevalent and popular in recent times, largely due to the fact that players are able to play in these, competing against others in a more social environment that usual gambling for a limited investment. There are therefore a number of tournament options and formats to choose from and that can get confusing!
Evaluating tournaments will definitely depend on how serious you are about winning. Obviously everyone likes to win but for some, the pure enjoyment of the tournament experience can outweigh not receiving a return on investment. For others a return is an absolute must. Most online tournaments require a buy-in or entry fee (which can be seen as the “investment”) that allows the player to play through only once but once the player is out of the tournament there is often the option to rebuy back into it and gain added chips by paying a fee. The rebuy option is not mandatory and the total costs of this in one tournament will depend on how many times one would like to re-enter it. In this situation the best thing for you to do is consider your wagering patterns carefully. If you don’t rebuy, then the original buy in amount will remain the only investment but if you’ve indulged in re-buys you’ll have to add these to the total you’ve spent.
Next you will have to calculate your return. While the prize pool does play a part in this equation, one has to bear in mind that tournament prize pools are generally shared amongst a number of winners. Usually the larger the prize pools the more winners there are, so each player effectively gets a smaller prize than on limited tournaments. Given this, prize pools aren’t the best indicators for evaluating returns. More suitable indicators depend on your temperament. If you are a risk taking aggressive player, you will see the prize paid to the top player on the tournament leader board as a return indicator. You won’t really be concerned about the other positions in the tournament of a share of the prize pool, you’ll really just want to win. If you’re of a more conservative nature you’ll probably see the average payout (the total prize pool divided by the number of winners sharing it) as more of a return indicator. Either way, both factors will influence which is the best choice of tournament for you.
Obviously when it comes to return on investment, the larger the potential return in an online casino tournament the better it will be than others on offer. But this is of course, not the only factor in play, the type of game and tournament period must also be considered as these will also affect the total “value” of the particular tournament for you.
For most, gambling and playing in casino tournaments is more about having some fun in their leisure time than making money, because if it’s all about making money, let’s face it, there are far better and safer ways than gambling to ensure returns. So always play responsibly! Put your newly found knoweledge to the test at Roxy Palace now.
