Bingo online – the search goes on

Of course online bingo is found on the internet. “Where else”, you may ask! Well, many advertisements are starting to appear on a regular basis in national newspapers, advertising boards and television. With sites like 888 and mansion also appearing as sponsors of sports teams, it seems that site owners are finding new ways of promoting and attracting new players, increasing the advertising audience, but causing a new headache for governments. Many of the advertisements that are being seen (particularly in newspapers) have been in breach of the advice issued by the UK government on gambling advertising. Ahead of the new UK Gambling Legislation (which is to be implemented from 2007) the gambling commission has issued guidance aimed at remote operators.

Online searches still count for around 80% of natural site discovery. Keywords being searched for by players have not really changed from the outset, with the obvious words still being used. Below is a list of the typical words and the amount of times they were used in the past 90 days (figures obtained in July 2006 from Dogpile and Metacrawler).

Bingo – 1654 searches
Online Bingo – 470 searches
Bingo Games – 180 searches
Internet Bingo – 74 searches
Play Bingo – 53 searches
Free Bingo – 50 searches

Site owners are still using these keywords within their site design, with only a few attempting to find niche markets with key phrases such as “Win Big Cash Prizes”. There is an obvious reason for this. Bingo online is what it is. It does what it says on the tin. The difficulty for a player is to try to find newly released sites when there is a cat and mouse game going on between search engines and competitors. The problem is made more difficult for the site owners by the fact that search engines like Google seem to reveal similar results each time the word “bingo” is entered, even though it may be entered within a phrase, and alongside other words such as “games”, “sites” or “play”. This never allows recently released sites to gain exposure and limits the immediate availability of the variation of sites available to the public. The key for a player is to search a little deeper and perhaps use phrases which are not typical to the same results. The more words used in the keyword setup for the site, and then in the users search, the easier it will be to find the site.

Sign-up – your bingo site needs you

First impressions last, so when someone first discovers a new bingo game site the look and feel is most important. Most bingo sites adopt a fun-based graphics approach. This is in keeping with the fact that bingo is a fun game to play. The majority of sites use software provided by development companies such as Parlay or Playtech, and that makes it difficult to adjust the game window design specifically for each site.

The trick is to try to balance the fun approach to graphics with a professional and quality look. This allows players to feel that the design has been well thought out, and that it is being run by a company who knows what they are doing. Even the top sites have made glowing errors in site design, using dodgy colouring, little attempt at professionalism and bad structure of site. Aside from a good logo clearly identifying your brand, it is important to use only a limited set of colours, achieve a balance between text and graphics and change the content on a regular basis. This helps attract new players and also keeps regularly players interested. There is nothing more off-putting than visiting the same site over a period of time to see the same homepage graphics and text as the previous months before. That can lead to players feeling that the site is being neglected.

Software and Playability

Except for the various pattern match games that are commonly used in American, bingo is bingo. There are no differing strategies to work out, and no need to spend hours learning how to play before joining in the fun. This is what makes bingo games easy to adopt by players and easy for operators to run. The software should therefore be easy to use and simple to play, in keeping with the game itself. Of course nice little features like being able to select your auto-dauber icon and perhaps create a character representation of the player all adds to the fun, but the basics should be simple, neat game windows and no annoying bingo callers. The speed of the game can and is often adjusted.

Proprietary game software is easier to manage in terms of graphics, gameplay and features etc; as the site does not have to rely on the development company for updates or changes. However, with software provided by developers (though more rigid in terms of updates and likely to be similar across many sites) you can be sure that the product will have gone through advance tests, and is likely to have been audited and approved by a licensing authority. Parlay, Playtech and Chartwell are to name a few who provide bingo software.

Bonuses strategies

With the numbers of UK bingo sites available, site owners are using various methods in order to attract players to their site. Offering sign-up bonuses, loyalty points and free money are a few ways of attracting new players. But these marketing strategies will mean nothing if the site itself is unattractive, the software is dated and the chat rooms offer no opportunity to enjoy the community spirit that is so important in online bingo.

What keeps you coming back for more?

Of course attracting new players is the single most important factor in establishing a new bingo site and achieving continued growth. However, once the site is launched, loyalty plays a big part in maintaining a healthy bank balance and popularity of the site. Without the loyalty, particularly of VIP players, a site will soon discover the difficulties in operating and maintaining a respectable bingo product, and the numbers of players signing up and the total value of jackpot will soon diminish. Sites can enter into an ever-decreasing circle, a catch 22 situation, without a healthy number of players, no healthy jackpot, without a decent jackpot, no new players and so on.

Of course many of the newly released independent bingo sites can boast a healthy bank balance, as most new bingo sites are bankrolled by wealthy businessmen who want to grab a piece of the bingo pie. However, without an established liquidity of players, most independent sites have to rely on the quality of the brand and a precise and effective marketing strategy if they are to remain as a competitor in the ever increasing online bingo market.

The alternative for a newcomer to the industry to join a network of already established bingo sites. This allows them to enjoy the benefits of player and jackpot liquidity. St Minver’s site, the International Bingo Network, shows a list of white label media brands that have entered the world of online bingo games. This allows names such as Virgin and Yahoo to benefit of established healthy jackpots and players, while achieving the benefits of an already established brand and in-house marketing strategies.

Community plays its part

So the best bingo sites must take care to implement all the above mentioned elements. They must make their site easy to find. Produce nice graphics, with attractive and easy to use software. Implementing loyalty and promotional offers are important. They must do everything to ensure that you find the game fun, provide customer service 24 hours and ensure that their jackpots are at a good level and “winnable”. A site advertising, for example, £100,000 in 35 calls gives you little chance of winning, and doesn’t help towards making the site the best.

However, the single most important factor to the best site is having a good friendly bingo game community. Bingo is a social game, providing a chance for people to get together and have a chat, while enjoying the thrill of a win. The chat rooms in online bingo are the most important element in continuing this social aspect. Bingo at home is fun. Bingo at home alone is not. Be sure to view the numbers online and join in the chat rooms before you decide to part with your well earned cash.

A basic overview of the game can be taught in a mere fifteen minutes, however, the bulk of mastering it like a seasoned casino pro does come from devoting a strenuous effort to the discipline and strategy of this classic French card game standby. For beginning players though, it takes little more than controlling simple math principals like basic addition, combined with a cunning observation of human behavior and a touch of strategy to learn the card game of blackjack.

Because of the varying levels of chance and yet still the opportunity to employ strategic tactics, blackjack is the only casino game at which one stands a chance to truly outsmart and beat the house. Gaining a sharp rise in American player popularity in the 1960’s, blackjack, once called “21” based on the maximum card count total before a hand busts, is now one of the most sought-after card games in casinos worldwide. Another reason this game has sustained and increased in its number of players, is because of the increasing accessibility of online blackjack games. This card game is an “every man’s” game and due to its quick learning time and the advent of Internet gambling sites, there has been a modern revitalization of the game in both real-time and virtual environments.

There is a level of independence in blackjack, and perhaps that solitary sense that a player is facing off individually against the dealer might be part of the appeal. As each player tries to beat the dealer one-on-one, other players are simultaneously doing the same. There is both a social and non-social element to the game play.

Simply learning the ropes of the game is enough to get one started, however, devoting a few hours to attaining the basic strategies of card prediction and card counting is the key to having a higher payout and a better grasp of the more advanced techniques. A short time of practicing these strategic maneuvers will propel a basic player from a run-of-the-mill neighborhood poker night player to a player who would have a great edge in a public casino. If a player knows the more popular and assured strategies like card counting, which is mentally tracking the high and low cards of the deck, blackjack is much simpler to sweep than other card games. Although the house will always have a statistical edge, the component of player choice makes the game sway positively toward the player in a way that no other card game can.

As with most games, experience is another essential component in mastering blackjack play. The casino circuit is the best way to collect the practice needed to excel, because the environment is tense and the play is quick, which can teach a player to acclimate to the speedy wit necessary to win big. However, the online blackjack options and home play are also beneficial and probably more practical for most new players.

The benefits of mastering blackjack are more rewarding than most people imagine. The time invested in learning the game and blackjack strategy produces a feeling of exercising the mind while at the same time enabling a player to take home a little quick pay dirt – a great monetary reward for a few hands of fun card playing.

A soft-hand is an ace and any other card below the value of ten. This hand gets its name because the ace can be either one or eleven as necessary. The big advantage to a soft hand is that you can take hits with less risk of busing. But that doesn’t mean you can be carefree about how you play your hand. Take a look at the dealers’ showing card and play your cards as follows:

If you have an ace with an 8 or higher then hold your hand and don’t take a hit. By playing the ace as 11 you have 19, which is a hand you should always stand on.

If you have an ace with 7 take a hit if the dealer’s showing card is 9 or better.

If you have an ace with six or less then you should always take a bit. Even though this means you are taking a risky hit on 17 you can always bail yourself out if you bust by using the ace as a 1.

Doubling down is another situation you need to master if you want to win at Blackjack. Doubling down allows you to double you initial bet in certain circumstances. If played correctly you can offset the house advantage and that is an opportunity not to be missed! Bear in mind though that casinos have different rules as to when you can double down.

You should double down according to following rules:

If your have card values of 9 to 11 then double down. Statistically you have great chance to win because there are so many cards with a value of 10 to draw.
However, if you have a 9 then only double down if the dealer is showing a weak card of 3 to 6. This is because the dealer as likely to bust if he/she is showing any other card.
When holding a soft hand you should double down only when you can exploit a weak dealer card. The way to play an soft hand for doubling down is as follows;

If you have an ace with 8-9, just stand. This is a strong hand so don’t double down.
If you have an ace with 6.-7 then double down and take a hit if the dealer is showing a weak 3-6, and especially 4.-6.
If you have an ace with 4.-5 only double down if the dealer is holding a weak 4.-6.
If you have an ace with 2-3 then only double down if the dealer is showing a 5-6.

By knowing how to play these strategies you can take advantage of favorable hands when they come you way.

Baccarat or Baccara – basically this means “zero” and refers to the value of face and 10 cards during play. The aim of the game is to get a hand which totals 9, or at least get closer than the dealer.

Bank Bet – this bet bets against the player, in favour of the bank.

Banker – the banker can be a player or the dealer. How refreshing! It is the name given to the person who deals the cards and monitor the table. OK, so it’s usually the dealer, but some casinos are generous!

Bankroll – this is the same as always; the amount of money to be gambled with. The bit that you want to grow.

Basic Strategy – all games have a basic strategy that suggests when to stand or take another card. The idea is that if followed strictly, it will provide the best possible return. Don’t forget the money management side though!

Croupier – the name of the person with the grand job of being in charge of the Baccarat table. There are variations; the croupier doesn’t deal in American baccarat, unlike with mini and online versions.

Dealer – obviously the person who deal the cards but in mini and online baccarat, this job falls to the croupier. In American baccarat it is the banker that deals the cards, with secondary dealers at the ends of the table handling the bets.

Face Card – important cards in any game. Jacks, Queens and Kings all have a value of zero and enable a strong hand including a natural.

Ladderman – only found in live casinos but a cool name and job! The person that oversees the baccarat game from a chair that sits above the table.

Loss Bet – a bet which bets against the bank. So a player bet would be a loss bet as it needs the bank to lose.

Mini-baccarat – A miniature version of the game with a smaller table and fewer seats. Much more up close and personal.

Natural – the best possible hand which totals 8 or 9 and is dealt immediately.

Player Bet – this bets against the banker, in the player´s favour.

Push – a different name for a tie between the player and the dealer: the player’s stake is returned. So if both got a total of 7, the player doesn’t lose out. Bets on the dealer or player lose, but a tie bet will pay out.

Tie Bet – a bet that predicts the player and the dealer will get the same result. More popular than you might first imagine.

Today, I’ll continue on this great journey of ours. We all should strive to be smart gamblers. The last 4 smart gambling tips will fly at you fast, so get ready. And remember, these are just primers to get you started. If you’re super serious, you could go deeper. For instance, you could read an entire book’s worth of information on bankroll alone. Here are smart gambling tips 3 – 7:

3. Know thy game

Don’t play any casino game seriously unless you know it really well. It’s one thing to spend a few bucks while learning or just having fun, but it’s another to play it over and over without knowing the fine details of odds, strategy, etc.

4. Know more than one game

It’s fine to “specialize” in one game, but you should know two games or more well. There will be times when it’s smart to walk away from a game. Maybe your head just isn’t working well at that time or the game is too hot the wrong way.

5. Slots are for fun

Show me one player that’s played slots a ton and has won a lot and I’ll show you either someone that happened to get lucky by hitting a very large jackpot or a liar. Slots are for fun, not profit. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying them in doses, but don’t make this your main game.

6. A tip is a loss

This is for the guys and gals playing in the real world. It’s a common courtesy for players to tip good dealers or the cocktail waitress. This is fine, but it’s money lost, so you need to treat it as such. If you’re playing $1 Blackjack and you’re up $10 when the cocktail waitress comes around think for a minute. If you tip $1, you’ve just lost 10% of your profits. I’m not saying don’t tip, but you need to keep it relative. And all money out is money lost-good cause or not.

7. Love what you do

It doesn’t matter if Baccarat (House Bet) is the best bet in the house if the game bores you to tears. You’ve got to love what you’re doing. If not, you’ll get mentally lazy and that’s when money is lost for sure. Stick with your passions. And there you go. That’s 7 solid tips to becoming a smart gambler.

A while ago Camelot, the UK National Lottery Official Operator, used to release combinations that were played most commonly. Unsurprisingly, combination 1-2-3-4-5-6 was one of them in that it was entered into each Lotto Draw by many people. And by many I mean thousands!!! If I recall correctly, at some stage there were about 10,000 tickets purchased for each Lotto draw containing this combination. This brings me to the reason number 1 why such combination should be avoided like the plague.

REASON NUMBER 1:

There are so many tickets being bought containing combination 1-2-3-4-5-6, the jackpot payout would be very low indeed should this combination win!

Let’s say you play 1-2-3-4-5-6 and it does win (yippee!). Let’s say you are in to share an average £3,000,000 jackpot with 10,000 other jackpot winners. This would mean that your share of winnings would be a miserable £300! Yeah, okay, still good money, beats the tenner that you get for guessing 3 numbers, but definitely this is not the money you have in mind when you dream about winning the jackpot, right?!

There are many reasons why so many of us play this combination. It’s easy to remember… It’s easy to mark on a lottery ticket… Some are lazy/short of time to pick out a good non-biased non-ordered combination…Statistically combination 1-2-3-4-5-6 has the same chances of being drawn (1 in 13,983,816), so why not play it… Some people play the same combination every time, so it could be that they played this combination for a while and do not want to give it up now in case if it does come up… Camelot no longer announces combinations that are played most commonly, so many are simply unaware how many people they will have to share their jackpot with should this combination be drawn.

Whatever the reason, it’s a pound down the drain when 1-2-3-4-5-6 is played because of the above reason alone. There is however another reason why you should NOT play this combination.

REASON NUMBER 2:

As mentioned above, statistically the combination 1-2-3-4-5-6 has the same chances of being drawn, in other words you have 1 chance of winning the jackpot with this combination and 13,983,815 chances of NOT winning it. That’s statistically.

However, if you look at vast amount of literature that is now available with regard to lottery analysis and probability laws, you would see that most authors give out a slightly different story. Most believe that the combination 1-2-3-4-5-6 is biased and is guaranteed to loose because it is far out of balance to come up in a random drawing. This opinion is based on vast research undertaken by many who analysed the draws of past lottery games from around the world!!! If six consecutive numbers have never been drawn in any of the lotteries worldwide, and six numbers from one number group have never been drawn either, then what chance does the combination 1-2-3-4-5-6 have?

It is believed that the least likely combinations to be drawn are those at the tail ends of a bell curve. These are the lowest six numbers and the highest six numbers of any lotto game.

Now onto the good news. The good news is that Lottorino can help with Lotto combination selection. It incorporates many filters and checks whether a certain combination is biased or not. Lottorino consults probability laws rather than those of possibility. The idea is that whilst it’s possible for any combination to be drawn, certain combinations are less probable to come up.

If you ask Lottorino to analyse 1-2-3-4-5-6, it would assign a low Lottorino score of 2%, meaning that this combination seems to be biased in some way and as a result assigns the probability of it being drawn as 2% (the percentage would depend how many rules/filters have been broken). By sieving out this and many other combinations, your lotto ticket simply stands better chances of being a winning one!

If you look at Lottorino’s scores of all officially drawn UK Lotto combinations in the past, you would see that some do appear to have a low Lottorino score (i.e. Lottorino would have advised NOT to play it), but 95% of time, Lottorino score is 50% or above (Catchalotto’s recommended advisable limit). So 95% of time, the odds would have been indeed improved by Lottorino.

Mini Baccarat

This is the most commonly found form of Baccarat in American Casinos and online casinos; it is very similar to traditional baccarat but with lower limits to enable wider accessibility. Other variations include: a smaller table, only the dealer handles the shoe, and the table is worked by one dealer only.

Chemin-de-fer

If the name wasn’t enough of a give away, this is a French variation of the originally Italian game, Baccarat. It’s translation ‘railroad’ doesn’t sound quite so romantic but quite fitting due to the main difference between Chemin-de-fer and traditional baccarat; namely that the French variation insists on the passing of the shoe from one player to the next when the first player has lost his hand; this ensures a railroading of the shoe around the table.

Super Pan Nine

This is a slim lined version of traditional baccarat; the decks are reduced by having the 7, 8, 9, and 10 cards removed from the decks. To compensate for the low numbers present three cards are dealt rather than two, with an option for drawing a fourth. In this version a hand of 3 or 4 only will result in the banker drawing a fourth card.

Private Baccarat

This is an unusual variation of baccarat in which the banker may choose whether to deal one or two hands to the player. Should he choose to deal the player two, the player then has the choice to play them both or to pick which one to play. If he picks one the game is as a traditional baccarat game. If however he choose to play both hands he must win both of them in order to beat the dealer; winning one and loosing one results in a tie.

Baccarat en Banque

In this French variation the player is dealt two hands, whilst the dealer is dealt one; betting on the dealers hand is prohibited in this game, and the shoe does not pass from player to player but rather stays with the dealer constantly.

Those are all the variants I know of; I’m sure that 007 could probably enlighten me as to some more, and maybe if I was lucky give me a little tutelage. For the most part it is traditional baccarat or mini-baccarat that you will find; however, it’s always good to be prepared.

Comparing to other casino card games Baccarat has clear advantage for players because of the low house edge, so the odds to win for players are higher. It is a game of guessing, therefore no real strategy will work in this game.

In the Baccarat gambling game there are three possible betting options available- on the player, on the banker and on the tie. Betting on the player and on the banker both have about the same house edge percentage, so you have almost a 50% chance of picking the right outcome and in the event of a tie winning you get your initial bet back. Your odds are slightly better for betting on the banker. Sometimes the game offers a commission on the banker bet (usually 4-5%) which reduce the advantage of this method. Above all avoid betting on the tie, the the house edge is the highest for that.

You should not waste your time trying to spot a pattern of the game and then to chase it pointlessly. There can not be a pattern in the Baccarat gambling game simply because one hand has no bearing on the next, and is never influenced by the preceding hands. Same as trying to guess how the previous slots spin will affect the next one.

Usually Baccarat gambling game is played with eight decks of cards. The less number of decks you play with, the higher your odds for betting on the banker.

Mini-BaccaratBaccarat and mini-Baccarat have the same rules except they have lower table limits and less players around the table. Mini-baccarat is good for beginners.
Try your luck, hope for the best and have fun!

Seat position is not important in Baccarat like it would be in Blackjack as you are not playing against other player or the house, the only concern you have are the cards. Do not let the amounts the other players may bet distract you, it is of no importance to you.

Baccarat is played with eight decks of cards without Jokers. At the beginning of a new game or when the Cut Card in the Shoe is dealt, the dealer will shuffle all decks together and put them back in the shoe, also called “The Bank”. Then he will take the very first card out and whatever the value of this card is indicates how many cards will be burned. If the value of the first card is a four, for instance, the dealer will take the next four cards out of the shoe and discard them in a tray next to it along with the first card. At the beginning of the new game the shoe or the bank is given to the player on the right of the dealer. Each player is given the bank in turn and can hold the bank as long as the bank wins. Once the bank loses it moves on to the next player. Before the cards are dealt each Baccarat player has to make his bet.

The player with the bank deals two sets of two cards, if of course the game is played by two players. The hand closest to nine wins. If the first two cards dealt count Eight or Nine it is called a “Natural” and wins automatically, unless both hands have the same value then it is of course a Tie. When nobody has a natural additional cards are drawn to determine the baccarat winner. If the hand you bet on wins you get a one to one payoff.

The perfect hand consists of two cards that total nine, with the second-best hand being two cards that have a total point value of eight. These are the two “natural” hands in the game of Baccarat. If any player in the current game has a two card hand equaling a natural eight or nine then the other players may not draw a third card. The hand closest to nine always wins. When neither hand has a natural, there is no automatic winner, and additional cards are drawn to determine the outcome of the hand. The only hand that beats the natural eight is the natural nine. If there is a tie, all bests are called off.

Aces have a value of one, picture cards (Kings, Queens, Jacks) have a value of 10 and the remaining cards keep their face value. If your hand total is in double figures, then the first figure is ignored, meaning a hand totaling 18 would count as eight. Drawing two picture cards or two tens would give you a value of zero. A draw of a picture card or a ten and an eight or nine gives you the natural hands and no further cards would be drawn in this case with the natural hand being declared the winner.

The banker deals three hands of two cards each, face down. These hands are for two players, one to the right and one the left of the banker, plus his own hand. Other players at the table may bet on either hand or both to beat the banker’s hand. If a player declares “banco”, it means they are betting the total value of the bank’s funds and all other bets are withdrawn.

If either player has a count less than eight or nine, he may stand or get one more card face up. The player must stand on six or seven and must draw on four or less.