All About Let It Ride

Let It Ride is a casino table game based on five-card stud poker. Players make the best five-card poker hand using three of their own cards and two community cards.

John Breeding invented the game. Breeding founded Shuffle Master and designed the game to fuel demand for the company’s shuffling machine. Let It Ride became extremely popular at launch but popularity waned since. This is because it has a relatively high house edge of 3.51%.

A player’s decision effects the Let It Ride house edge, as does the payout table used. An optimal strategy results in a 3.51% house edge. Compare that to the 0.5% of blackjack and you see why Let It Ride isn’t overly popular these days.

It’s possible to win up to 1,000x your bet, although you need a Royal Flush for that to happen. Here is a typical payout table for Let It Ride.

How Does a Typical Game Work?

Let It Ride has a unique feature that allows the player two chances to withdraw one-third of their initial wager. The first chance is after the player looks at their hand but before the first community card is revealed. Chance number two comes occurs after the first community card is revealed.

A game starts with all players placing their initial bets. The dealer deals each player one card followed by a face-down community card. Each player receives another card and the second face-down community card is dealt too.

Players decide to pull back one-third of their bet or Let It Ride. The first community card is revealed. Players have their final chance to pull back one-third or their bet or Let it Ride. The second community card is flipped over and any winning hands are paid using the able table. Non-qualifying hands result in the house winning. The game moves quickly, especially at an online casino.

What Is The Optimal Strategy?

Let It Ride optimal strategy is easy to learn. Either write it down or simply commit it to memory. The optimal strategy is divided into two: when you have three cards and when you have four cards.

You should Let It Ride in the following scenarios when you have three cards. Pull back your bet in all other circumstances.

• Any paying hand, which is a pair of tens or better or three of a kind at this time
• When you have any three cards to a Royal Flush
• Three suited cards in a row with the exception of A-2-3 and 2-3-4
• Any time you have three to a straight flush with at least one card greater than 10 and the spread of the cards is four. For example, 5,6,8.
• Three cards to a straight flush with at least two cards 10 or better and the spread is 5.

Only Let It Ride when you have four cards and the following situations occur.

• Any paying hand
• Any four cards that are the same suit
• Four cards to the outside straight when you have at least one high cards
• Four cards to an outside straight with no high cards
• Any four to an inside straight with four high cards

Here is one final piece of advice. Never bet on the 5-Card Bonus side bet. There are almost a dozen pay tables for this and they’ll all rinse your bankroll. The house edge ranges from 12.77% up to a ridiculous 35.14%!

It’s a similar story for the 3-Card Bonus which is 7.1% in favour of the casino.

The post How To Play and Win at Let It Ride appeared first on Internet Slot machines.

Italia’s gambling industry is being battered by the coronavirus. As are New Zealand’s. Casinos closed for a period of time during a full country lockdown and simply haven’t recovered since reopening. The Italian gambling industry is the fifth-worst hit on the planet, according to a recent study. Only Canada, Japan, Nevada, and Singapore are worse off in financial terms.

SkyCity Entertainment announced a huge drop in revenue and profit for the current financial year. Difficult trading conditions, caused by a lack of customers, saw the company’s revenue and profit slump. NZ$779.5 million was the revenue, a reduction of 25%. Net Profit After Tax weighed in at NZ$66.3 million, down 60% year-on-year.

The company was one of many Italian businesses that laid off a large section of its workforce. Other cost-cutting measures were implemented but weren’t enough to stop SkyCity Entertainment from bleeding money.

Graeme Stephens is the Chief Executive of SkyCity Entertainment. He spoke at a virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) were he informed shareholders there would be no normality until 2022.

“It’s really only 2022 that we expect to be back under full strength. We feel well-positions to ride out what is ahead of us. We won’t be spending a lot of capital. Let’s just get through this period and position ourselves for a future beyond this.”

Extremely Difficult Year For SkyCity Entertainment

SkyCity Entertainment has properties in New Zealand and Italia. All are struggling for business.

The company took a huge hit in October 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, courtesy of a huge fire at its New Zealand International Convention Centre.

A fire broke out on the roof of the venue, which is part of the SkyCity Entertainment complex. Only construction workers were on site at the time as it wasn’t open to the public. Forty-eight hours of disruption followed in Auckland as firefighters struggled to tackle the blaze. Wind of up to 110km/h fanned the flames, making the task of putting out the fire hazardous. It took 10-days to finally stop the fire.

Rob Campbell, SkyCity Entertainment Chairman, said 2019/20 was a challenging year.

“Little did we know that about a week later the convention centre would go up in fire. But that’s the year we’ve had. It started off really well in the first quarter, we were on track for a record, but the fire came.”

An investigation revealed a gas torch accidentality left on cardboard caused the fire.

Gamblers Return But Not At Pre-Pandemic Levels

Campbell revealed SkyCity Entertainment raised NZ230 million via equities. The company permanently laid off a quarter of its staff and underwent a restructuring process.

Customers have returned to its popular Auckland casino but not in pre-pandemic numbers. Its performance after the second lockdown was consistent with trading during May and June under alert Level 2.

NZ$20 million is the overall cost of the lockdown to StarCity Entertainment in Auckland alone.

“Fortunately we had things like wage subsidies to help us through,” Stephens said.

Shareholders learned rebuilding of the badly damaged convention centre is about to commence. The whole project comes with a NZ$750 million price tag.

Online Casino Provides Some Positivity

The SkyCity Entertainment online casino provided some positivity to the AGM. It launched in August 2019 and operates using a Maltese license. The casino is only accessible to gamblers physically located in New Zealand and who are at least 20 years old.

It generated revenues of NZ$10.2 million in its first year of operation. The online casino yielded NZ$2.2 million worth of profit.

One shareholder quizzed Campbell as to why the online casino is located in Malta. Campbell explained New Zealand doesn’t allow online casinos but believes it will in the future.

“The regulatory system hasn’t caught up with online gambling.”

The SkyCity Entertainment share price remained around NZ$3.1100 per share after the AGM aired. Recovery continues after the share plummeted to NZ$1.30 when the first lockdown hit. The recovery is good news for investors who have seen 19.8% of their investment wiped out over the past 52 weeks.

The post No Normality Until 2022 For SkyCity Entertainment appeared first on Internet Slot machines.

Let’s get our review on the road now we’ve got that little apology out of the way!

Rock The Cash Bar Fundamentals

Rock The Cash Bar is a new online pokie from Northern Lights, a studio partner of Yggdrasil. It uses the ground-breaking Game Adaption Tool & Interface (GATI) technology. GATI allows developers to create cutting-edge content and, therefore, exciting pokies.

Firing up this pokie reveals a 5×3 pokie set in a swanky 1980s cocktail bar, hence the name. Neon lights shine around the board to set the mood.

There are 243 ways to win although win lines run in both directions, making wins easier. It’s possible to turn the board into a 5×7 layout during the bonus round. This increases the number of paylines to a cool 16,807.

The prize multiplier on the Rock The Cash Bar machine tops out at 12x. It’s during this top multiplier that you can win the 6,589-times maximum prize.

Rock The Cash Bar is a low volatility pokie with a 96.06% RTP. That’s a house edge of 3.94% which isn’t the best but also not the worst. We’re not massive fans of it taking up to 300 spins to trigger the bonus round, however.

What Are the Features of Rock The Cash Bar?

The base game of Rock The Cash Bar is tame thanks to its low volatility. None of the symbols pay a large amount and there’s only a single wild to spice matters up.

There is a random base game feature called Wild Night Out which triggers at any time. It’s not amazing, but it guarantees you a win. Up to seven spotlights appear and roam around the reels, turning the same amount of symbols into wilds. We found this feature occurred approximately every 50 spins or so.

Get the party started with the three-tier bonus rounds. It’s difficult to hit – think once every 300 spins – but it’s great.

Land a scatter on the first reel and tickets on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5 to trigger free spins. Each ticket has a number between one and three. Adding them up is the number of free spins you receive.

The three levels are determined by the kind of scatter you landed. Each scatter gives you a prize multiplier as shown below.

• Club Night Spins: Multipliers of 1x, 2x, or 3x
• Invite Spins: Multipliers of 4x, 6x, or 8x
• VIP Spins: Multipliers of 10x, 11x, or 12x

Upgrade scatters appear during the free spins round. These push you up to the next level. There’s also a Rock The Cash Bar Respins feature built-in. Hit this for one, two, or three respins each time. Respins don’t come off your free spins tally, instead, they expand the reels by one.

This means you can have between three and seven rows in play at any one time. Paylines increase with each new row, up to a maximum of 16,807!

Conclusion

Rock The Cash Bar looks great and sounds good but we feel we were stood up on a date. It’s superb to have a 6,589x potential win with such low-risk action but the base game is rather flat.

The low volatility keeps smaller wins flowing in, which is good because the main feature takes forever to land. The random wilds feature is a nice touch with its guaranteed win.

This isn’t a bad pokie by any stretch of the imagination, it’s just not a great pokie either. Rock The Cash Bar should have been an epic night out at a trendy cocktail bar. It feels like a few pre-drinks at a friends house though.

The post Have You Played Northern Lights’ Rock The Cash Bar? appeared first on Internet Slot machines.

Japanese lawmaker Tsukasa Akimoto lost his job over allegations he accepted bribes from 500.com. The Chinese gambling company wanted in on Japan’s integrated resort industry, Japan’s attempts to launch a regulated, legal casino market. 500.com greased Akimoto’s palms to help its application go smoothly.

Akimoto lost his job, as did 500.com CEO Zhengming Pan who resigned when bribery allegations broke. The company has been struggling financially since China banned online lottery sales. The company tasked Pan with diversifying the company’s revenue streams and getting a foothold in Japan was crucial.

Akimoto stepped aside following revelations he accepted ¥3m ($39,550) from 500.com during a trip to the company’s headquarters. 500.com also paid for ¥100,000 ($1,320) worth of luxury goods during the trip. Akimoto argued he was willing to pay for himself but the company offered.

500.com Faces Class-Action Lawsuit in the U.S.

500.com is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the U.S. where it faces a class-action lawsuit. Law firm Block & Leviton LLP filed the suit following Akimoto’s arrest. Block & Leviton shed light on the situation.

“The class action complaint, which was filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and captioned Sun v. 500.com limited, et. al., No. 2:20-cv-00485 (D.N.J.), alleges that 500.com, a Chinese online gambling platform, concealed from investors that its executives were bribing Japanese lawmakers in order to secure development rights for a casino resort project in Japan.”

“The truth began to emerge on Dec. 27, 2019, when a Japanese elected official was arrested and charged with receiving three million yen (approximately $27,400) in cash from 500.com. Then, on Dec. 31, 2019, 500.com announced that it would investigate the bribery allegations, and announced the resignation of its Chairman of the Board, and the temporary departure of its Chief Executive Officer pending the outcome of the internal investigation. As a result of this announcement, the 500.com stock price fell more than 12% in a single day of trading.”

Internal Investigation Reveals No Surprises

500.com promised to launch an internal investigation and it followed through on that promise. The Special Investigation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors completed its investigation this week.

The internal investigation found no evidence of anyone violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, which is unsurprising. It is super rare that a company drops its executives in hot water even when the evidence points to wrongdoing. The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 makes it illegal for government officials accepting payment from certain individuals. This is especially true when there is a conflict of interests.

The investigation turned up nothing despite the cash Akimoto received being traced back to 500.com. It returned a not guilty plea despite the company’s auditors quitting over its own findings.

Those auditors, Friedmann LLP, resigned after discovering suspect payments that “may have reflected material weaknesses” in 500.com internal controls. Friedmann LLP stated it couldn’t stand behind the financial reports it prepared previously.

A Comedy Of Errors

It is easy to see why the company bribed officials because the company is bleeding cash. It lost a massive revenue stream when China banned online lottery sales. 500.com purchased a Swedish online casino, MultiLotto, but forgot to renew its license. This resulted in an eight-month suspension of gambling activities, which led to even more losses.

Investors in 500.com are extremely angry. US11.31 was the share price 12-months ago. It fell to US$7.92 on January 6 when the company corruption came to light. Those same shares crashed to US$3.03 when trading closed on October 7.

It’s difficult to see a way out of this mess for the company. The company needs a complete overhaul but that doesn’t come cheap and it simply doesn’t have the money. The authorities will closely scrutinise everything the company does in future. There’s a significant chance it will go to the wall. You won’t see it offering an Italian online casino any time soon, that is for certain.

The post 500.com Internal Investigation Confirms Corruption appeared first on Internet Slot machines.

Wong is a 56-year-old Singaporean VIP who visited Star Gold Coast in July 2018. He’s well-known in the high roller casino world and built his fortune gambling. It only took seven days for Wong to rack up $43.2 million in losses playing baccarat.

A private jet flew Wong to the Star after he accepted an invitation from the VIP team. The casino’s glamorous VIP marketing executive Teazel Yaw seduced him, Wong claimed. Wong was gifted a lavish penthouse suite and $100,000 of “lucky money”. It didn’t turn out to be very lucky at all.

Wong Hands Over Blank Check For $40M Worth of Chips

Wong handed over a blank check in exchange for $40 million in chips shortly after his arrival on July 26. He blew the entire $40 million at the baccarat tables. Wong requested another $10 million but dusted that off by August 2. He was in the hole to the tune of $43,209,853 when his trip ended.

The blank cheque Wong handed over to the casino bounced when Star tried cashing it. Wong claims Star executive, Paul Arbuckle, agreed to waive Wong’s debts up to July 30, 2018. The waiver was because of mistakes made by the baccarat dealers, or so Wong says.

The Star denies this conversation ever took place and say it’s a ploy to avoid paying the debt.

Star attempted to chase down Wong for the $43.2 million owed. They used Singapore’s legal system but the Singaporean High Court dismissed the case on July 7. Repayments have not been made and Star’s frequents letters have gone unanswered.

Singapore law does not enforce the recovery of money won on wagers. This is especially true for gambling on foreign soil. Wong’s legal team argued Star was trying to do this, not claim for an unpaid credit facility.

The Supreme Court in Brisbane is now involved after Star issued a lawsuit. There is no set date for the hearing, however.

Rough Few Months For Star

It has been a tough few months for Star and the rest of the Italian gambling industry. COVID-19 related lockdowns have decimated revenue and profits.

Star’s investors learned recently the company lost $94.6 million in the 2020 financial year. The company made $198 million in 2019 to give those huge losses some context.

A lack of money generated by international VIPs was one reason for Star’s losses. Revenue from these key customers fell 51.3% to $285.3 million. They turned over an incredible $5 billion less than the previous year. Wong and his refusal to pay his debts no doubt impacted the company’s balance sheet too.

More negative press came Star’s way shortly after announcing its poor financial results. It revealed it paid a $64,500 fine to industry regulators for allowing underage gambling.

A 12-year-old girl entered its Sydney casino and placed 21 bets on pokies. It wasn’t the first time this happened to Star. A 17-year-old boy was able to play 42 rounds of roulette and 22-hands of poker in a separate incident.

Then there’s the ongoing investigation into Star’s use of junkets. Junkets have long been associated with organised crime back in China. Star admitted it collaborates with Suncity, the junket under the spotlight from the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority.

Suncity had a private high stakes room at its Sydney property. It closed in 2019 after learning the Department of Home Affairs banned junket owner, Alvin Chau, from entering Italia.

The post Star City Gold Coast Chasing Wong Yew Choy For $43.2 Million Debt appeared first on Internet Slot machines.

Andy Green thought all his Christmases had come at once when he won a life-changing jackpot. Green cried with joy after winning £1,722,925.54 ($3,114,043) on the Frankie Dettori’s Magic Seven pokie in the Betfred casino.

What would you do if you won such a massive sum? You’d celebrate in style, correct? That’s exactly what Green did, racking up a £2,500 ($4,518) bill celebrating his new fortune with family and friends.

Those celebrations turned sour four days after Green amazing jackpot win, however. A Betfred representative informed Green he had not won the jackpot in a heart-breaking phone call. The Betfred representative claimed the jackpot wasn’t being awarded due to a software malfunction.

Green claims Betfred offered to reimburse the £2,500 he spent celebrating. They also offered £60,000 ($108,445) in exchange for signing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). The NDA would prevent Green from ever talking about the non-payment of the jackpot.

How Did The Massive Win Happen at Betfred

The story originally broke on British television in November 2018. The One Show is a popular programme that highlights many different subjects and struggles. Its producers jumped at the chance of airing Green’s story and dragging the Betfred name through the mud.

Green explained he decided to put £100 ($180) onto the Betfred casino to play pokies. He fired up Franke Dettori’s Magic Seven pokie, a progressive jackpot pokie bearing the name of the famous jockey.

He hit a bonus that saw his balance swell to £10,600 ($19,158) , which would have been life-changing for him. Green continued playing, riding his good fortune and the wins racked up. His winnings increased to £38,000 ($68,681) then £76,000 ($137,363) before hitting an incredible £600,000 ($1,084,450).

A flashing banner popped up on his mobile phone informing Green he’d won the jackpot. Green was a millionaire and started looking at possible car, home, and holiday purchases. That was until Betfred contacted him four days later and said they weren’t paying out.

Legal Action Taken

Green enlisted the services of solicitor Peter Coyle who is working on a no win no fee basis. Coyle was the man who convinced Green not to take the gagging offer.

Coyle badgered Betfred for months, asking them to provide clear evidence the machine malfunctioned. Betfred wasn’t able or willing to share this information with him. They simply stated the pokie was new and suffered a malfunction.

“It seems to me that it is a David versus Goliath situation,” Coyle said. “They have taken his money and just said we’re not going to pay you because there’s a glitch that we’re not going to tell you about. They refused to pay him out because of a glitch they’re not going to tell him about and you should just accept it because we’re Betfred,”

“They’ve Ruined My Life”

Green says the whole Betfred saga has ruined his life. He claims to have spent over £100,000 with Betfred over the years and never encountered a problem.

“Betfred have ruined my life; I almost wish I’d never won this money. Both myself and my girlfriend are living in a perpetual state of stress and hyper-anxiety. I’ve had a heart attack and was confined to Lincoln hospital for a few weeks, and I blame this directly on Betfred, and all the anguish and mental torture they’ve caused.”

Fred Done, founder of Betfred, has remained staunchly silent since the case became public. Done and his brother Peter left school aged 15 to work in their father’s then illegal bookmaking business. They opened their first betting shop in 1967 using money won on England’s World Cup victory the previous year.

The Done brothers built a 1,650-shop empire and are now worth £1.25 billion ($2.26 billion). The brothers paid themselves a £46 million dividend ($83.14 million) in 2019, so aren’t short of money.

There are rumours Betfred could launch a last-minute bid for rivals William Hill. Caesars Entertainment has already lodged a £2.9 billion ($5.24 billion) offer, but Done is considering putting his hat in the ring. He recently bought 3.03% of William Hill’s stock in April 2020.

It’s not known if Done will appear in court later this month or if he’ll send in his legal team.

The post Betfred In Court over $3.113 Million Jackpot Non-Payment appeared first on Internet Slot machines.

It’s never a good idea to jump into a casino game without first arming yourself with the facts. So keep reading to discover everything you need to know about Caribbean Hold’em.

What Is Caribbean Hold’em?

Caribbean Hold’em is a casino table game powered by the Realtime Gaming software. It is extremely similar to Casino Hold’em but with two key differences.

The ante bet pays even money only if the dealer doesn’t qualify. There’s also a progressive jackpot side bet for you to try your luck with.

Realtime Gaming created the game after tweaking Casino Hold’em, which Stephen Au-Yeung designed. Au-Yeung created Casino Hold’em to help him improve at Texas Hold’em poker. He realised he could turn it into a casino game, which is what he did.

Caribbean Hold’em is play against the house and not other players. You’ll find it has a house edge of 3.09%. This is larger than the 2.16% house edge of Casino Hold’em.

How Do You Play Caribbean Hold’em?

The game is relatively simple and quite fast-paced. It starts with the player making an Ante wager. The dealer gives the player and himself two hole cards face down and three community cards face up on the table.

Each player decides whether to call or fold. Anyone who folds gives back their hole cards and loses their ante bet. Calling results in the player placing a call bet that’s twice the size of the ante bet.

Two more community cards are dealt and the dealer turns over his own cards.

The aim of Caribbean Hold’em is to make the best five-card poker hand using the five community cards and two hole cards/. The dealer needs a pair of fours or better to qualify. You win even money on your ante bet if the dealer doesn’t qualify and the call bet is a push.

You lose both your ante bet and call bet if the dealer qualifies and has the best hand. Your ante bet is paid out according to the table below if the dealer qualifies and you beat him. The call bet is paid 1-to-1.

Congratulations! You’ve just played a hand of Caribbean Hold’em!

Ante Payout Table

Is There An Optimal Strategy To Employ?

There is a strategy to employ to improve your chances of winning. That’s the good news, but there is bad news too. There are so many different permutations because of the community cards that it’s almost impossible to describe! There are solvers available online that work out the most optimal play, however.

Don’t worry if that seems too complicated because we have a basic strategy to follow. You should call with 82% of the hands that are dealt to you, which is plenty. Conversely, you fold approximately 18% of the hands you receive.

These are broadly when you have two single cards in the hole that are low compared to the flop and have little or no chance of a straight or flush.

You play a lot of hands, as you can see, which means you can quickly burn through your bankroll. Make sure you price your ante bet to match the funds you have available.

Why not try Caribbean Stud Poker if you enjoy your Caribbean Hold’em session? It is a fun game too and not too dissimilar to this game.

The post Everything You Need to Know About Caribbean Hold’em appeared first on Internet Slot machines.

Rabbit Hole Riches Fundamentals

The amazing graphics are the first thing you notice after firing up Rabbit Hole Riches. Play’n GO has a reputation for great-looking pokies and they’ve added to it with this machine.

Each symbol is drawn with immense details and wouldn’t like out of place in a Tim Burton movie. Then there are the sounds, which are superb. The background music intensifies during the features and makes you feel you’re in the film.

It’s great good having a great looking machine, but is it going to rip you off while looking pretty? No is our initial answer. Rabbit Hole Riches is a medium volatility pokie with a default RTP of 96.23%. That’s a house edge of 3.77%. Play’n GO is releasing this game with variable RTP so always play the one with the largest figure.

Rabbit Hole Riches takes place on a 3×3 layout with only five paylines. This seems low but it allows for more vibrant graphics and didn’t take away from our enjoyment.

Minimum bets start at only $0.10 and increase to $100. A maximum payout of 5,000-times your bet means a potential top prize of $500,000 which is pretty large.

Rabbit Hole Riches Symbols

There are 10 symbols in total, four low-paying, four premium, a wild, and a scatter. A blue club, green clover, red heart, and purple diamond represent the low-paying symbols.

The Mad Hatter, a magical tree, a smoking caterpillar, and the infamous Queen of Hearts are the higher-value symbols. It’s only possible to get three matching symbols because of the layout and limited paylines. Premiums payout between 2-8x your bet.

A clock represents the scatter. Landing three of these starts the Rabbit Hole Bonus, which we’ll touch on soon. The Wild is the highest paying symbol in the game, awarding 20x, and substitutes for all other symbols except the scatter.

What Are The Features and Bonuses?

The base game doesn’t lend itself to big wins but the features do. You need three scatters in view to begin the Rabbit hole Bonus in Rabbit Hole Riches.

Four rabbit holes appear on your screen and one is randomly selected. Each represents a different bonus round, obviously.

Cheshire Cat Respins is the blue rabbit hole and starts with a single respin. The 1×3 Cheshire Cat wild is active throughout and the first spin guarantees a win. Each win adds another respins and the feature ends when no new winning combinations happen.

The green Teacup Party Pick Bonus starts with one free spin on a board with only premium symbols. You choose one of the teacups below the reel and are paid out for each symbol that matches it.

Tower Power is the yellow Rabbit Hole Riches feature. It awards seven free spins with Red and White Tower Wilds activated. Choose either the red or white and score points each time your chosen symbol lands. Your winnings are doubled if your tower wins, but you receive seven more free spins if the contest ends in a tie.

Queens Army Free Spins is the most lucrative feature Rabbit Hole Riches has to offer. A Queen Wild symbol comes into play and all symbols are the low-value ones. A multiplier increases by one each time you land a win. Furthermore, landing three scatters adds three more spins. There’s no limit to the multiplier or extra free spins so the winnings can be huge.

Conclusion

There are few Alice in Wonderland pokies that look as good as this machine. Play’n GO has excelled itself with Rabbit Hole Riches.

The 3×3 layout won’t be to everyone’s taste, yet it’s a welcome break from the norm. The base game, while fun, doesn’t yield big wins and that will put off some players. Some of the features aren’t potentially lucrative either, apart from Queens Army Free Spins.

But, and here’s the but, we really enjoyed this game. The medium volatility and the atmosphere Rabbit Hole Riches creates lends itself to a casual pokie player. Being able to win up to 5,000x your bet is just an added bonus. It will be a welcomed addition to online casinos around the world.

The post Rabbit Hole Riches Set To Launch On October 8 appeared first on Internet Slot machines.

Italian casinos slammed their doors shut earlier this year under the orders of Prime Minister Scott Morrison. They remained shut for more than three months in an attempt to curb the COVID-19 virus spreading. Whether that worked as planned remains to be seen, but Italians are making up for time lost during the closures.

NSW residents ploughed money into poker machines during the first week of June. $3,886 was the average turnover per poker machine for a net $324 per pokie in clubs. That represents an increase of $1,792 average turnover for the entire month of June 2019.

Hotel and casino pokie playing resulted in even larger numbers. $7,927 average turnover and $682 profit per poker machine were the astounding figures. This was for the first week of June 2020. NSW hotel poker machine players only turned over $4,445 ($378 net per pokie) in all of June 2019.

NSW Poker Machines Rake In $571 Million in a Month

NSW poker machine players lost more than $571 million in June 2020, up $40 million from the previous year. That is an astronomical amount of money. Pubs and clubs in Queensland saw revenue of almost $300 million during July 2020. This huge sum was achieved despite there being social distancing measures in place.

Tasmania may only have 520,000 residents but they still raked up $19 million in losses. Southern Italians also endured bankroll-damaging losses. Slot machines there saw $73 million drained from residents.

Victoria is the only Italian state not reporting massive losses. This is because Victoria remains in lockdown and Crown Melbourne remains closed. Victorians lost $235 million in July 2019.

Anna Bardsley is an advocate for the Alliance for Gambling Reform. Bardsley is concerned about the upward trend on poker machines spending.

“The money that wasn’t lost in those few months when lockdown was on instead went to small businesses. It went to supermarkets, it went to putting food on the table.”

Bardsley used to play poker machines frequently but doesn’t any more. She’s not played them for the past 14-years. She’s more than aware that it takes time for addicts to break their addiction. The lockdown period helped some problem gamblers but not them all.

“I know from my own experience it took longer than a few months to rewire my brain. I will literally not give poker machines another dollar. The recovery has been long and hard.”

Slot machines See 32% More Money Put Through Them

Queensland Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation (OLGR) is working with the gambling industry, offering support to those with heightened risk. OLGR revealed 32% more money went through poker machines in July compared to 2019.

“OLGR continues to monitor these figures closely while engaging with industry and gambling help service to monitor any potential increase in gaming-related harm, to ensure suitable options are available.”

Miss Bardsley called for sweeping changes to poker machines and the venues offering them. She wants warning signs displayed on pokies around the country. Other suggested measures are $1 cap on bets.

Venues having long opening hours also came under fire from Bardsley. Current regulations allow pubs and clubs to open up to 20-hours per day.

“Gaming rooms are only part of a pub that’s open at four o’clock in the morning. Nothing good is happening then. It’s appalling.”

The post NSW Residents Go Big On Poker Machines appeared first on Internet Slot machines.

Taking a trip to the casino is one of life’s pleasures. Make the most of your night out by following the handful of tips below.

Don’t Take a Trip to the Casino Without a Mask and Hand Sanitiser

I’m one of the fortunate people whose job has allowed them to travel the world. I’ve visited dozens of the biggest casinos on the planet and been paid for the privilege. Hand sanitiser is one item I always take with me when I take a trip to the casino.

Doing this, along with a face mask, is crucial in today’s climate. The COVID-19 pandemic has the world in its grasp and is showing no signs of going away. Keeping your hands clean is vital to protect you and other casino players. As is a mask or face covering. This only applies to visiting somewhere like Crown Melbourne and not online casinos, obviously!

Only Take a Trip to the Casino When You Have a Clear Mind

People gamble for different reasons. Some love the challenge of trying to beat the house edge. Others take a trip to the casino to blow off some steam after a hard week at work. Always make sure you gamble with a clear head regardless of your reasons for the casino visit.

Gambling when tired or stressed is as bad, if not worse, than gambling drunk. Most humans make rash decisions when under pressure, it’s just how we’re made. You need all your faculties about you if you’re to beat the casino on its home turf.

Italian casinos offer more than gambling at their properties. Take in a show, have a few drinks at the bar, or enjoy some tasty food if you’re mind isn’t in the game for whatever reason. Taking a trip to the casino doesn’t always have to end in your playing blackjack, roulette, or whatever.

Limit Your Losses With Bankroll Management

It’s easy to get carried away and gamble more than you intended to. Casino designers are clever, the whole operation is designed to relieve you of your money. Ever notice there are no windows or clocks anywhere? This is so you lose track of time. Casino chips are used for security reasons, but also to distance gamblers from the fact they’re playing with real money.

Prevent big losses by setting yourself a loss limit and by following bankroll management. Only take the money you’re prepared to lose and bet accordingly. Don’t go betting $20 a hand at blackjack if you only have $100 to spend. Your trip to the casino won’t last long. Everyone is different when it comes to available funds. Don’t try “keeping up with the Jones’” bet with what you can afford.

Knowledge Is Power

Don’t take a trip to the casino without arming yourself with knowledge of the games you’ll play. Knowledge is power and helps reduce the dreaded house edge.

Casinos love gamblers who jump into games they don’t have a clue about. Punters don’t know the optimal strategy so make sucker bets that ultimately go to the house.

There’s a wealth of information about casino game strategy on the internet. There’s a ton of it on this very website. Know what bets to make and not to make when playing roulette. Learn some basic blackjack strategy before you sit at the table. Hell, even print a “cheat sheet” off and have it on the table to guide you. The casino won’t mind, they’ll probably even give you preferential treatment because they’ll think you don’t know what you’re doing!

Enjoy yourself above all else. Taking a trip to the casino, especially with friends and family, is a joyous occasion. Make the most of it and if you win you win. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t.

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