Suckout King
04-19-2006, 08:29 PM
Online casinos have many advantages over casinos in the “real world”. First and foremost you can play anywhere, anytime. You can play for five minutes after work if you want to or when you get up in the morning. You can play in your work clothes or in your pyjamas.
Whatever your game is you can find it online and you can find it with some of the most favourable rules possible for you to play with. The house edge in many of the games is lower than it would be in the real world so take advantage of this! If progressive jackpots are your thing the online world is full of them. You just need to look a little.
As well as everything else online play is a lot quicker than in the live world. Firstly you don’t have to travel anywhere to play, just do a little bit of web browsing. Secondly dealer times, machine times etc are much quicker than their real world equivalents. As well as “the house” you can also speed up your own play with the use of various auto-play buttons and settings so as well as speeding up your play if the tension gets too much you can go and make yourself a cup of tea and still be wagering.
The speed of online play is a double-edged sword as well as wagering a lot quicker you can lose money a lot quicker. It’s very easy to click away a lot of money and not even realise it. So be careful. Similarly it is easy to bet 500$ in one blackjack hand without any eyebrows being raised or even feeling any pressure about the whole situation. Also the fact that you do not see the money means that many people do not fully appreciate what they have won or lost, what they are wagering etc. This is one of the reasons I recommend everyone setting up a Neteller account. The quicker access you get to your money, the more real it will feel to you and the more chance you have of treating it with some respect. Online play is a lot of fun, do not get too worried but you need to be sensible with it.
Bankroll Management
If you are engaging in any form of online gambling it is important that you make decisions about what you are willing to wager each day/week/month and what you will do with winnings. People who do not do this will often find even when they have been lucky it all gets wasted on future bets etc. You can deposit almost instantly to and from many accounts make sure you do not bet more than you can afford. Make realistic rules before you start playing and stick to them.
As well as issues relating to depositing you also have issues relating to cash outs. You need to record all the details of any cash outs including any deposit code, the time, date and site etc. Some sites will transfer the money pretty much straight away others will take weeks etc and will need to be chased up. If you are needing 25$ in Intercasino to play in a tournament there then make sure that you actually have 25$ that can be in your neteller account (if not in intercasino) in time. Similarly if you want to take 1000$ out of your gambling accounts for Christmas then do not do this on Christmas Eve. Allow reasonably large periods of time for the casinos to give you the money.
Depositing
Next step depositing. Firstly set up a Neteller account if you have not done so already. You will often not need a Neteller account to deposit but you will need some sort of account to withdraw. The harder it is to withdraw the harder it is to view casino winnings as real. That is a bad thing! So create a Neteller account first off. You do not need to deposit with neteller (though you will often get better bonuses if you do) but you should have an account in place.
Choosing where to play
Any site that we have links to is worth playing on. It’s as simple as that. We do not recommend bad casinos. You need to decide what factors you want most. Do you want to be offered great bonuses, do you want good support, how important is the feel of the site, how safe is my money and how quickly will I get my winnings if I get some luck on my side…all these things are important but are not all equally important to everyone.
I have included a list of all the sites that winningstart has a relationship with including (where appropriate) short reviews of mine and others experiences there. Highlighting what sort of player it would suit, warning players of any clauses in the terms and conditions that could effect their play etc. Click here to see my list.
If slots tournaments are your thing (I might be in a minority here) then don’t go for a site that does not have them. If you like black jack then does the site have blackjack tables? Do they have favourable rules such as Surrender and the ability to resplit aces? Do you like the look and feel of the blackjack tables there?
If you are new to casinos you might want to start with sites that give you some free money to play with or free spins (from which you can win) at the slots machines. See my guide to this here.
what sites are respectable and safe?
Most of the sites I recommend (through links) I have played on, deposited on and got the money withdrawn easy enough. Casinomeister.com is a good place to go to get some more information on good safe sites. However they exclude some sites for fairly arbitrary reasons and for some reasons that you may or may not agree with. For example a site that spams affiliates or gets women to streak at a football match to me is not a reason why a customer shouldn’t deposit there. Still any site that is on there avoid list is there for a reason and you should think long and hard before depositing there.
Before you deposit on a site not recommended by here or Casinomeister check to see if the site is on any blacklists (see Casinomeister for example). Just because a site is listed as safe though does not make it safe, there are risks that you undertake any time you give money to someone and this is true with online casinos as well. The casino could go bust or could get taken over by someone adopting unfair practices etc. Just because a site is not listed in Casinomeister (or anyone else’s) blacklists does not make them safe. It is easy to set up a rogue casino site do not let them get your money.
Generally speaking sites with badly written (with errors or contradictions or just spelling errors) text, links not working etc. suggest a fly by night operation who are best avoided. If you do not see anyone talking about a site it might be better to avoid it and stick with sites where you know other people are not having problems with cashouts or anything else.
OK what games do I want to be on the site i am going to play on?
Do you want Blackjack straight up – Starluck casino has this – but so do many others. Intercasino has nice blackjack tables in my view as well. Its part a matter of taste – what LOOKS good, what feels good, what layout will stop me putting all my chips in by mistake etc. Also which site has the best rules, slots with the lowest house edge etc.
If you like Blackjack tournaments then Global Player are well worth a look.
If you like slots I can strongly recommend Platinum play. Some sites have loads of games that are all actually just the same thing. These guys have a good deal of variety (although they are far from alone in this). Riverbelle has pretty much the same games as Platimum Play.
If you try a few sites you will soon find out what set ups you like, what looks, feels and works good for you. Some sites enable you to play with “play money” before you deposit. These are good ways of learning how to play the games.
Some sites are much quicker for cashouts than others. Long established sites are always to be more strongly recommended than other sites. Quite often casinos start online without sufficient start capital and they pay withdrawals from new sign ups etc. This can take time. With some casinos going out of business you want to make sure you will get your money. Sometimes a small site with a great bonus is actually something to avoid.
Understanding software and casino groups
If you like say platinum play and want to try another site. You are happy with the set up their and most of the games you can play then playing on some of the other fortune lounge sites would be a good idea. The terms and conditions are similar (but not the same so be careful) and they use the same software (microgaming). If you didn’t like certain aspects about the customer service etc that would not necessarily rule out the other casinos in the group but you might be better looking somewhere else first.
Certainly microgaming is great software but I quite like getting variety and going on to different sites where 90% of the games are the same as each other is not exactly what I want. There is nothing wrong with jumping about to sites with different software providers but you might want to do a little more background research before choosing a site with software you have not heard of before. Many sites have their software audited by third parties. This is useful because it would be so easy for sites to “fake” odds in their favour. Just remember though that just because someone says they have been audited it does not mean that they have been.
Whatever your game is you can find it online and you can find it with some of the most favourable rules possible for you to play with. The house edge in many of the games is lower than it would be in the real world so take advantage of this! If progressive jackpots are your thing the online world is full of them. You just need to look a little.
As well as everything else online play is a lot quicker than in the live world. Firstly you don’t have to travel anywhere to play, just do a little bit of web browsing. Secondly dealer times, machine times etc are much quicker than their real world equivalents. As well as “the house” you can also speed up your own play with the use of various auto-play buttons and settings so as well as speeding up your play if the tension gets too much you can go and make yourself a cup of tea and still be wagering.
The speed of online play is a double-edged sword as well as wagering a lot quicker you can lose money a lot quicker. It’s very easy to click away a lot of money and not even realise it. So be careful. Similarly it is easy to bet 500$ in one blackjack hand without any eyebrows being raised or even feeling any pressure about the whole situation. Also the fact that you do not see the money means that many people do not fully appreciate what they have won or lost, what they are wagering etc. This is one of the reasons I recommend everyone setting up a Neteller account. The quicker access you get to your money, the more real it will feel to you and the more chance you have of treating it with some respect. Online play is a lot of fun, do not get too worried but you need to be sensible with it.
Bankroll Management
If you are engaging in any form of online gambling it is important that you make decisions about what you are willing to wager each day/week/month and what you will do with winnings. People who do not do this will often find even when they have been lucky it all gets wasted on future bets etc. You can deposit almost instantly to and from many accounts make sure you do not bet more than you can afford. Make realistic rules before you start playing and stick to them.
As well as issues relating to depositing you also have issues relating to cash outs. You need to record all the details of any cash outs including any deposit code, the time, date and site etc. Some sites will transfer the money pretty much straight away others will take weeks etc and will need to be chased up. If you are needing 25$ in Intercasino to play in a tournament there then make sure that you actually have 25$ that can be in your neteller account (if not in intercasino) in time. Similarly if you want to take 1000$ out of your gambling accounts for Christmas then do not do this on Christmas Eve. Allow reasonably large periods of time for the casinos to give you the money.
Depositing
Next step depositing. Firstly set up a Neteller account if you have not done so already. You will often not need a Neteller account to deposit but you will need some sort of account to withdraw. The harder it is to withdraw the harder it is to view casino winnings as real. That is a bad thing! So create a Neteller account first off. You do not need to deposit with neteller (though you will often get better bonuses if you do) but you should have an account in place.
Choosing where to play
Any site that we have links to is worth playing on. It’s as simple as that. We do not recommend bad casinos. You need to decide what factors you want most. Do you want to be offered great bonuses, do you want good support, how important is the feel of the site, how safe is my money and how quickly will I get my winnings if I get some luck on my side…all these things are important but are not all equally important to everyone.
I have included a list of all the sites that winningstart has a relationship with including (where appropriate) short reviews of mine and others experiences there. Highlighting what sort of player it would suit, warning players of any clauses in the terms and conditions that could effect their play etc. Click here to see my list.
If slots tournaments are your thing (I might be in a minority here) then don’t go for a site that does not have them. If you like black jack then does the site have blackjack tables? Do they have favourable rules such as Surrender and the ability to resplit aces? Do you like the look and feel of the blackjack tables there?
If you are new to casinos you might want to start with sites that give you some free money to play with or free spins (from which you can win) at the slots machines. See my guide to this here.
what sites are respectable and safe?
Most of the sites I recommend (through links) I have played on, deposited on and got the money withdrawn easy enough. Casinomeister.com is a good place to go to get some more information on good safe sites. However they exclude some sites for fairly arbitrary reasons and for some reasons that you may or may not agree with. For example a site that spams affiliates or gets women to streak at a football match to me is not a reason why a customer shouldn’t deposit there. Still any site that is on there avoid list is there for a reason and you should think long and hard before depositing there.
Before you deposit on a site not recommended by here or Casinomeister check to see if the site is on any blacklists (see Casinomeister for example). Just because a site is listed as safe though does not make it safe, there are risks that you undertake any time you give money to someone and this is true with online casinos as well. The casino could go bust or could get taken over by someone adopting unfair practices etc. Just because a site is not listed in Casinomeister (or anyone else’s) blacklists does not make them safe. It is easy to set up a rogue casino site do not let them get your money.
Generally speaking sites with badly written (with errors or contradictions or just spelling errors) text, links not working etc. suggest a fly by night operation who are best avoided. If you do not see anyone talking about a site it might be better to avoid it and stick with sites where you know other people are not having problems with cashouts or anything else.
OK what games do I want to be on the site i am going to play on?
Do you want Blackjack straight up – Starluck casino has this – but so do many others. Intercasino has nice blackjack tables in my view as well. Its part a matter of taste – what LOOKS good, what feels good, what layout will stop me putting all my chips in by mistake etc. Also which site has the best rules, slots with the lowest house edge etc.
If you like Blackjack tournaments then Global Player are well worth a look.
If you like slots I can strongly recommend Platinum play. Some sites have loads of games that are all actually just the same thing. These guys have a good deal of variety (although they are far from alone in this). Riverbelle has pretty much the same games as Platimum Play.
If you try a few sites you will soon find out what set ups you like, what looks, feels and works good for you. Some sites enable you to play with “play money” before you deposit. These are good ways of learning how to play the games.
Some sites are much quicker for cashouts than others. Long established sites are always to be more strongly recommended than other sites. Quite often casinos start online without sufficient start capital and they pay withdrawals from new sign ups etc. This can take time. With some casinos going out of business you want to make sure you will get your money. Sometimes a small site with a great bonus is actually something to avoid.
Understanding software and casino groups
If you like say platinum play and want to try another site. You are happy with the set up their and most of the games you can play then playing on some of the other fortune lounge sites would be a good idea. The terms and conditions are similar (but not the same so be careful) and they use the same software (microgaming). If you didn’t like certain aspects about the customer service etc that would not necessarily rule out the other casinos in the group but you might be better looking somewhere else first.
Certainly microgaming is great software but I quite like getting variety and going on to different sites where 90% of the games are the same as each other is not exactly what I want. There is nothing wrong with jumping about to sites with different software providers but you might want to do a little more background research before choosing a site with software you have not heard of before. Many sites have their software audited by third parties. This is useful because it would be so easy for sites to “fake” odds in their favour. Just remember though that just because someone says they have been audited it does not mean that they have been.