Category Archive : Gambling

Omaha poker is a derivative variant of Texas Holdem. Each of the players in an Omaha poker game is dealt 4 hole cards or private cards and such cards exclusively belong to the player that receives them. In addition to the 4 hole cards, there are also 5 community cards that are dealt face-up on what is referred to in poker parlance as the board. One of the basic rules in Omaha poker that differentiates it from Texas Holdem is the requirement for players to use 2 of them and exactly 3 of the 5 community cards on the board.

Key Differences between Omaha Poker and Texas Holdem Poker

Omaha poker adopts several rules that are also applied in Texas Holdem, although there are few distinct differences between the 2 poker game variants. A game of Omaha begins with the players being dealt 4 cards each facing down, in contrast to Holdem where 2 cards are involved. A player uses the 4 cards that are dealt to them face down and the 5 community cards that are dealt in order for them to come up with the strongest poker hand that can be possibly formed from such cards.

It is important to note that one of the key differences between Holdem and Omaha poker is the manner by which the best hands are formed. When it comes to Holdem poker, a player uses any of the possible combinations involving the 2 face-down cards or private cards and the 5 community cards in order to come up with the best hand. As options, a player may use a card from their hand and combine the card with 4 cards from the board, 2 cards from the player’s hand can be combined with 3 cards from the board, or play all the 5 community cards.

On the other hand, a player in an Omaha poker game is required to use both of their hole cards when forming the best possible hand. This means that there is no option of just one card. For instance, if a player in an Omaha poker game is dealt with Ah – Kd cards face down and the community cards are composed then the best possible hand for the poker game is an Ace high hand and a high Flush is not possible, since the player must use both of the face-down cards.

For the same set of face-down cards and community cards, a player in a Holdem poker game can come up with an Ace high flush hand with hearts, since players are allowed to use just one of the 2 hole cards, although this is not possible in an Omaha poker game. In addition to the points earlier discussed, there is also another slight difference between Omaha poker and the other poker game variants. The former variant is typically considered a high/low split card game and it is sometimes called Omaha/8 or Omaha HiLo. This is a poker game where the pot is split between the lowest and the highest hands.

There are Main Types of Omaha Poker:

No Limit Omaha Poker Game This is the type of Omaha Poker where it is possible for a player to make a bet of any amount and up to a maximum bet corresponding to all of their chips.
This is the type of Omaha Poker where the bet of a player is limited to what is actually inside the pot.
Limit Omaha Poker This is the type of Omaha Poker game where a betting cap or limit is applied for each of the games as well as for each of the betting rounds.

Playing a Game of Omaha Poker

The betting for each round starts with the player occupying the seat immediately to the left of the poker game’s big blind. And when each of the players has received their respective 4-hole cards, the betting action commences following in a clockwise direction and the first bet is made by the player who is under the gun or the next player immediately next to the big blind following a clockwise sequence

The betting actions for Omaha poker as with the other variants of the card game include fold, bet, check, raise, and call. The betting option that is chosen by the player will largely depend on the action or decision of the previous card player. A poker player will always have the choice of folding and disposing of their cards and such an action means the player is giving up their interest in the poker game.

If there are no bets that have been made, then a poker player may choose to either check, which means to decline to make a bet while deciding to keep their cards or place a bet. In the event that the player decides to place a bet, then the subsequent poker players can call, raise or fold. When a player decides to raise, this means that they increase the previous bet and when a player decides to call, this means that the player matches the amount of bet made by the previous player.

This action commences with the one occupying the position that is on the left side next to the big blind. And this is considered in the bet for the betting round. This is the card player who has the option to raise, call or fold. For instance, in a round of the poker game where we have $2 as the big blind, it would cost the player $2 when they decide to call and it would cost them at least $4 when they decide to raise. The same action is replicated by the other players as it proceeds following a clockwise direction around the poker table. The betting action of the players proceeds until all of the players that have not folded have placed their respective bets in the pot that are of equal amounts.

The Flop

Once the initial round of betting has been completed, the, which is the collective term used to refer to the first 3 community cards that are made available to the active poker players, is dealt on the board face up. The play begins with the first active poker player immediately to the left of the button following a clockwise direction. In a Limit Omaha poker game, all the bets as well as the raises by the players occur in amounts that are equal to the small bet.

The Turn

When the betting action by the players for the flop round is complete, the turn, which is the term used to refer to the 4th community card, is dealt on the board face up. The play also commences with the active player immediately from the button following a clockwise direction. And just like with the flop, the bets as well as the raises made by the players occur in amounts that are equal to the big bet.

The River

As soon as the betting action by the players for the round is complete, the river, which is the term used to refer to the 5th and 6th community card, is dealt on the board face up. Betting action commences with the active poker player immediately left of the button following a clockwise direction.

The Showdown

If there are at least 2 active poker players that remain when the last betting round ends, the last player to make a bet or raise will reveal their cards. However, if there are no more bets during the final round, then the player occupying the seat immediately left of the button following a clockwise direction will have to reveal their cards.

The poker player who ends up with the best 5-card combination is automatically declared the winner of the pot. You have to remember that the players in Omaha poker are required to use 2 of their hole cards and these must be combined with exactly 3 from the community cards. In cases where there are identical cards, the pot for that round will be equally shared by the concerned players. After the pot is won by the player with the best hand for a particular round, a new round of poker is played, and the button now shifts to the next player following a clockwise direction.

This might sound shallow, but my first impression of Royal Panda Casino was positive because their website looks great and the logo cleverly and subtly manages to make a crown look like a panda’s face, or should that be the other way around? This casino is one of a seemingly endless batch of new web-based casinos featuring games from Net Entertainment and Microgaming’s Quickfire platform. These games are everywhere these days, and it takes something more special than a well-designed logo to make a new casino stand out from the crowd. We took a look to see how Royal Panda stacks up.
Software and game selection

The game collection at Royal Panda is very good. The Microgaming Quickfire platform integrates a selection of the best games developed by Microgaming over the last decade. Some of Microgaming’s more well-known slot machines include Playboy, Jurassic Park, Immortal Romance, Avalon, and Thunderstruck II. These first-class games are bolstered by fresh new titles from smaller independent developers such as Quickspin, NextGen, Leander Games, and more. There are also a full collection of Net Entertainment slot machines, which are up there with the best on the market today. New and popular titles include South Park, Starburst, Gonzo’s Quest, Jack Hammer, and Aliens. In all I counted over 200 slot machines to pick from, mostly 5 reel video slots, but also including 20-odd 3 reel classic-styled machines.

The majority of the table games at Royal Panda are provided by Net Entertainment. This is a good thing as the games are more modern and polished than Microgaming’s offerings. There are multiple variants of Roulette and Blackjack, along with Baccarat, Caribbean Stud, Texas Hold’em, Casino Hold’em, Red Dog, Craps, and Oasis Poker. Those of you that prefer your action dealt with by a live dealer have the choice of live Blackjack, Baccarat, Casino Hold’em, and Roulette. The studio-based tables are supplied by specialist live gaming provider Evolution Gaming. Table limits go as high as 500 per hand on blackjack for the virtual games, and up to 5000 on the live dealer tables. There are also 12 different video poker games to choose from, along with a few miscellaneous parlor games and scratchcards.

Compared to the many similar web-based casinos that I have played at recently, I was not blown away by the interface at Royal Panda. It uses a standard grid layout of game logos and categorizes the games into sections using tabs. There are two sorting options that you can apply to each tab: by popularity and alphabetically A-Z. The site has a search box, but despite not having an accompanying submit button, it is not “live” like many other sites and instead relies on you to hit enter to perform your search. I was a little miffed the first time I typed something there and waited while nothing happened (yeah sure, first-world problems). When you change the tab, sort preference, or perform a keyword search, the site re-lists the games without reloading the entire page which is nice, but the indicator that tells you it is working is so small and inconspicuous that a couple of times I missed it and thought that the site had not registered my clicks. So overall it is not the best user interface I have seen, but it is far from the worst.
Banking and support options

There is an extensive list of payment methods that you can use to deposit your money into a Royal Panda account. Almost all of them credit funds to your account instantly and allow you to be playing without delay. deposit, and a bank wire transfer. , the withdrawal to a Skrill account was paid in a little over 24 hours, which is very good.

There is a useful help tab located on the right of your browser window everywhere you go on the website. . responded to via email call to Malta. The live chat facility is one of the better ones I have ever seen at an online casino. The chat client keeps a history of your discussion even after you close the window, My talk with the staff via the live chat was handled politely and professionally,

This might sound shallow, but my first impression of Royal Panda Casino was positive because their website looks great and the logo cleverly and subtly manages to make a crown look like a panda’s face, or should that be the other way around? This casino is one of a seemingly endless batch of new web-based casinos featuring games from Net Entertainment and Microgaming’s Quickfire platform. These games are everywhere these days, and it takes something more special than a well-designed logo to make a new casino stand out from the crowd. We took a look to see how Royal Panda stacks up.
Software and game selection

The game collection at Royal Panda is very good. The Microgaming Quickfire platform integrates a selection of the best games developed by Microgaming over the last decade. Some of Microgaming’s more well-known slot machines include Playboy, Jurassic Park, Immortal Romance, Avalon, and Thunderstruck II. These first-class games are bolstered by fresh new titles from smaller independent developers such as Quickspin, NextGen, Leander Games, and more. There are also a full collection of Net Entertainment slot machines, which are up there with the best on the market today. New and popular titles include South Park, Starburst, Gonzo’s Quest, Jack Hammer, and Aliens. In all I counted over 200 slot machines to pick from, mostly 5 reel video slots, but also including 20-odd 3 reel classic-styled machines.

The majority of the table games at Royal Panda are provided by Net Entertainment. This is a good thing as the games are more modern and polished than Microgaming’s offerings. There are multiple variants of Roulette and Blackjack, along with Baccarat, Caribbean Stud, Texas Hold’em, Casino Hold’em, Red Dog, Craps, and Oasis Poker. Those of you that prefer your action dealt with by a live dealer have the choice of live Blackjack, Baccarat, Casino Hold’em, and Roulette. The studio-based tables are supplied by specialist live gaming provider Evolution Gaming. Table limits go as high as 500 per hand on blackjack for the virtual games, and up to 5000 on the live dealer tables. There are also 12 different video poker games to choose from, along with a few miscellaneous parlor games and scratchcards.

Compared to the many similar web-based casinos that I have played at recently, I was not blown away by the interface at Royal Panda. It uses a standard grid layout of game logos and categorizes the games into sections using tabs. There are two sorting options that you can apply to each tab: by popularity and alphabetically A-Z. The site has a search box, but despite not having an accompanying submit button, it is not “live” like many other sites and instead relies on you to hit enter to perform your search. I was a little miffed the first time I typed something there and waited while nothing happened (yeah sure, first-world problems). When you change the tab, sort preference, or perform a keyword search, the site re-lists the games without reloading the entire page which is nice, but the indicator that tells you it is working is so small and inconspicuous that a couple of times I missed it and thought that the site had not registered my clicks. So overall it is not the best user interface I have seen, but it is far from the worst.
Banking and support options

There is an extensive list of payment methods that you can use to deposit your money into a Royal Panda account. Almost all of them credit funds to your account instantly and allow you to be playing without delay. deposit, and a bank wire transfer. My test withdrawal was held while I was asked to provide proof of identification via email. Once this was supplied and approved, the withdrawal to a Skrill account was paid in a little over 24 hours, which is very good.

There is a useful help tab located on the right of your browser window everywhere you go on the website. One-click of that and a sidebar slides out with the option of contacting support via live text chat, email, or telephone. Royal Panda responded via email call to Malta. The live chat facility is one of the better ones I have ever seen at an online casino. The chat client keeps a history of your discussion even after you close the window, so there’s no chance of accidentally closing it and losing the transcript that you wanted to copy and paste or refer to.

Royal Panda’s website is protected by an encrypted SSL connection that ensures the privacy of your gameplay and financial transactions. As mentioned earlier, identity verification is carried out via email, instead of the preferable upload over an encrypted SSL connection. The casino is licensed and regulated by the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority, and it has a provisional license to accept UK players from the UK Gambling Commission. The Net Entertainment games all publish their theoretical RTP numbers in the game help files, but apart from that I was unable to find any audited payout reports or RTP figures for the other games on the site.

The bonus system used at Royal Panda is worth commenting on because it is a little unique. When you deposit, you may be given a bonus, but when you start playing you will play with your cash deposit first. Should you hit a big win and want to withdraw while playing with your cash deposit, you can forfeit the bonus right there and then, and withdraw your cash winnings. I have seen similar systems at other casinos, but what makes this one different is that only wagers made with your cash deposit count toward meeting the bonus wagering requirement. This means that once you dip into the bonus funds, you can keep playing and win more bonus money, but your wagering requirements will never go down until you deposit more cash and wager that. In that sense, the bonuses at Royal Panda are more or less post-wager rewards, rather than upfront bonuses.

There are comprehensive responsible gaming controls available in your player account settings. You have the ability to set daily or weekly deposit limits, loss limits, and wager limits, or you can self-exclude yourself from the casino up until a specific date, or forever. There is also a unique session limit feature that allows you to set a reminder that will appear on the website at a defined interval, which presents you with the option of stopping and logging out or continuing playing. It is impressive to see a casino giving its customers options such as these, rather than just talking about how they care for their players’ welfare.

casinos and the fortunes that have been won and lost there. Villento Las Vegas Casino has all the glitz and glamour you would expect from a casino named after the famed jewel in the Nevada desert. Originally owned by an independent operator, Villento Casino was acquired by the reputable Casino Rewards group in mid-2011.

Games at Villento Las Vegas

Powered by Microgaming, this casino offers over 400 Las Vegas-style games including Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat, Video Poker, and Slots – from the classic 3-Reels to Progressives. The progressives are particularly attractive as they are pooled amongst all Microgaming powered casinos which means the jackpot contributions build up fast and are won frequently. The flagship jackpot of the Microgaming network is Mega Moolah, and it has been won multiple times for upwards of $5 million.

Speaking of Slots, Villento Las Vegas Online Casino has some of the best slot tournaments in the business. They have some great Sit and Go tournaments, as well as top Free Roll tournaments. Whichever way you choose to get in on these you’re guaranteed lots of excitement, action, and possibly some cash.
VIP promotions

In addition to their welcome bonus and regular promotions, Villento runs what seems to have become an annual promotion that provides their customers ‘with real casino elegance packed with the best online action’. The last Villento Brands Event took 20 lucky winners and their partners on an unforgettable weekend in Monte Carlo incorporating a helicopter ride, wining and dining at some of the finest restaurants, 5-star spa treatments, and of course a visit to the world-famous Monte Carlo Casino.

Support and Banking Options

Villento Las Vegas offers a huge range of deposit and withdrawal methods for their players. In addition to the usual credit card and e-wallet options, there are many localized transfer methods that are specific to a player’s country. So you should have absolutely no trouble transacting with this casino. The banking is backed up by a support team that is available to answer questions via the convenient live chat facility at every hour of the day or night, 365 days a year. If you prefer the old-fashioned way, there are telephone numbers for various countries available too.

Malta-licensed and GVC Holdings-owned Casino Club is a Boss Media-powered casino that features a regal theme, unique games, and the chance for players to take advantage of some unique bonuses. All of these things led us to believe that the casino would hold up well in our review, but how does it fare when placed under the Casino Listings microscope?

Software and Games

As noted above, Casino Club is powered by Boss Media. The casino’s website offers several promotions on its main page, and registering with the casino is as easy as downloading the software provided on the site. Everything went smoothly when we downloaded the software, and we were impressed with the look and feel of the general casino software.

The casino itself offers a healthy variety of games for punters to partake in. Among these are five variations of blackjack, three types of roulette, six varieties of other casino games such as craps and baccarat, eleven types of video poker, and even more variations of slots. Although there aren’t as many games in this casino as in some others, you can rest assured that the games are of high quality and offer nice graphics and smooth gameplay. Casino club also offers an instant play casino available on their site, which allows players to wager on any computer.

Banking and Support

Banking options at Casino Club are plentiful, offering players several different ways to deposit and withdraw funds from the casino. The casino promises speedy transactions of funds, although we were not in a position to do so, as our luck did not quite pan out the way we had hoped during the review.

Customer service is provided 24/7 by helpful representatives that are able to offer assistance in English, German, French, Dutch, and Russian. There are multiple ways to contact the casino should the need arise, including telephone, email, and instant messaging. We found the reps to be helpful and willing to answer all of our questions during the session.

SummaryWe really enjoyed our time with Casino Club and found just about everything there to be what we want in an internet casino. While the selection of games is somewhat limited, they play smoothly and have good graphics. Banking and support are also better than average. We definitely recommend this casino to any reader considering it.

The experienced and well-regarded Fortune Lounge Group’s 7 Sultans Casino is a Maltese-licensed online casino. Operating with Microgaming’s Viper software, players expect to see quality games with safe and secure transactions. Do 7 Sultans live up to expectations?

7 Sultans Software and Games

As stated above, 7 Sultans Casino operates using Microgaming’s proprietary Viper software. What this means to players is that they can expect to play some great licensed games in addition to the standard casino games such as Craps, Roulette, Slots, Video Poker, and Blackjack. There were over 400 games to choose from at the last count.

The graphics at 7 Sultans show true polish and are really a testament to the Microgaming software. While working my way through the many variants of games at 7 Sultans I was happy to see more than 30 variations of blackjack and more than 20 variants of table poker to be played. Then you have the slot machines which make up the bulk of the games on offer. There are literally hundreds to choose from, and they have both the old-style and modern video slots covered.

Furthermore, 7 Sultans has a variety of progressive jackpots to be won and prominently features the popular multi-million dollar Mega Moolah slot among 19 other games with staggering jackpots. Customer Service and Support7 Sultans allows its back-end software to be independently audited and has eCOGRA’s seal of approval.

Monthly audit reports of the casino games are available on their website, which shows an average payout percentage of around 97%.In terms of support, there are almost as many ways to contact support as there are blackjack variants. The casino offers phone numbers for 26 countries so that players can speak with someone via the telephone if an issue arises. Web support is also available with instant messaging and email, should a player wish to communicate electronically.

Saint Tropez, the beautiful coastal town on the French Riviera, is known as a summertime playground for the fabulously rich and famous. Tropezia Palace Casino, on the other hand, looks to be an ideal playground for the online casino enthusiast, boasting an almost unheard-of number of games from multiple different game developers. Who knows, maybe if you hit the jackpot at Tropezia Palace you might just be able to afford to stay for a night or two in Saint Tropez.
Huge game selection

At this point in time, this casino has the most games that I have ever come across at a single online casino. There are currently over 700 to choose from, with the casino’s games being supplied by Microgaming’s Quickfire library, Sheriff Gaming, Betsoft, NextGen, Leander Games, Rival Gaming, and Betonsoft. You can choose from the latest and greatest licensed games such as Battlestar Galactica, The Dark Knight, Megadeth, Tomb Raider, Superman, or Wonder Woman, or go for tried and tested slot machines that are too numerous to mention. Apart from the slots, there are over 30 different variants of Blackjack, 18 versions of Roulette, Craps, Baccarat, Casino War, Caribbean Stud Poker, 3 Card Poker, Pai Gow Poker, Casino Hold’em, 50 games of video poker, keno, bingo, and assorted parlor games.

There are around 40 progressive jackpots available to win at Tropezia Palace, with the largest being Microgaming’s Mega Moolah or Dark Knight jackpot – a progressive that is won around the 3 million mark on average. Others available include Microgaming favorites like King Cashalot and Tunzamunni, along with jackpots from Rival and Betsoft.

Tropezia Palace has gone for a full in-browser presentation for their games, so there is no software to install and every game is playable in your browser window. As you can imagine, with so many games to choose from there needs to be a clever interface to keep things organized and manageable. It’s pleasing to see that the casino has put some thought into this, and the games can be filtered by such things as their software developer, the number of reels on the slots, and whether the game has a progressive jackpot.

It is not as featured or comprehensive as the free casino games page here at Casino Listings, but it is still miles better than most other browser-based online casinos (I see what you did there – Ed). In addition, the preview images of the games only load as you scroll down the page, not all at once when the page loads, saving your internet connection from being choked by downloading hundreds of game screenshots at once. Thumbs up to the site’s developers.
Support and banking options

The support and banking options offered by Tropezia Palace are not quite as comprehensive as the library of games. Customer support can be reached via email, telephone callback, and live chat, but they only operate between the hours of 10 am and midnight GMT. In an age when 24-hour live chat support at online casinos is almost ubiquitous, you might end up feeling a little miffed if you need to speak to someone urgently during that 10-hour gap.

Transacting with the casino is not a problem, provided you use one of the small numbers of payment methods accepted by Tropezia Palace. Visa, Mastercard, Neteller, Moneybookers, Ukash, and Paysafecard are your options if you are looking to deposit, and you can add a bank wire transfer as a withdrawal option. The casino accepts deposits in US Dollars, Euros, British Pounds, and Canadian and Australian Dollars. The casino’s terms specify that withdrawals have a three-day reversal pending period – which would normally be too long for my taste – however, in practice, our test withdrawals were handled in under 48 hours after undergoing identity verification on the first withdrawal. The penny-rollers among you should take note that the minimum withdrawal amount that the casino will process is $100.

River Belle Casino was launched in 1997 and uses MicroGaming software. It is part of the Belle Rock Entertainment brand, owned by Carmen Media Group Limited, and is licensed under the government of Gibraltar. It is one of the oldest casinos on the internet and is a top-notch gambling site with experience.

Players have the option to play for fun or for real cash by downloading their software. Visitors can also try out some of their pre-installed games. Flash versions of some of their games are available on the site. You can also order a free CD of the gaming software. The online site has also been given the eCOGRA (eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance) seal of approval which ensures that the games are fair.
The Games

River Belle Casino offers a wide variety and a huge selection of games. There are over 300 games being offered on the site. The casino is powered by MicroGaming so you can be sure that the quality of the games is excellent. The interface, graphics, and effects of the games are realistic enough. All classic table and card games are present. There are many variations of poker and blackjack. Flash versions provide instant play but computers have to meet system requirements.
The Prizes

Promotions are mediocre when compared to other casinos. Instead of getting regular bonuses, free gaming opportunities are given to all players. There are no daily promotions (except for a welcome bonus) or VIP programs. Two features that stand out are cashback and auction. Players have the opportunity to earn cash-back points depending on the amount they wager in a game. These points can be converted into casino credits which are deposited in your account monthly.

Players can participate in auctions to bid for an item. Auction points are earned by completing certain tasks listed on the website. They have an average payout rate of 96-97% with $4.3 million in a total of progressive jackpots. Banking and SupportRiver Belle Casino has been known for prompt payouts. They offer a wide variety of payment methods including NETeller, Click2Pay, and all major credit cards. Deposit and withdrawal methods are the same.

When it comes to Blackjack and Blackjack strategy there are two camps. Those who use blackjack card counting and those who don’t. Card counting tends to be the domain of the more experienced blackjack players. The casual blackjack player who is only going to play a number of hands doesn’t need to go to the extent of card counting. Maybe they have just started playing online blackjack and don’t yet know what they really want. But for a blackjack player who is going to spend hour after hour and night after night at the blackjack table, everything makes a difference and card counting definitely does that.

Over the long run, card counting can represent a gain of hundreds of thousands of dollars to serious blackjack players. This is the exact reason why casinos want to try and prevent it. A professional blackjack player will know what to do with a 12 against the dealer’s 9 but the social player will have no idea and just play with their instincts. The same thing when it comes to other aspects of Blackjack such as splitting and doubling. If a person becomes more serious about their blackjack, well then maybe counting cards is the way to go, but they have to be prepared to be committed and dedicated to their blackjack.

Single Deck vs Multiple Blackjack Card Counting Techniques When it comes to Blackjack card counting there is a general rule of thumb when the more decks there are in a shoe the trickier it is to count cards and keep track of the count. A single deck means there are 16 of the 52 cards worth 10. Keeping track of things via card counting isn’t that simple.

Increase that to four decks and you have 64 of 208 cards worth 10. This is a lot harder and you will have both of your hands filled but you can manage it if you concentrate. Change that to eight decks and 128 of the 416 cards are worth 10. This is almost impossible to keep track of.

In addition to that, there are 32 aces you want to look out for. Suddenly your Blackjack betting technique isn’t as confident as it was when there were only two decks. This is why more decks reduce the effectiveness of Blackjack card counting – because it is so much harder to maintain. More experienced blackjack card counters are able to maintain their count during an eight-deck shoe. If you want to count cards, you are better off starting at a blackjack table with as few as possible decks in the shoe. You want to master that before you increase to more decks.