Amy Kane

Is Betfair safe & recommended?

Betfair is a betting exchange and also a sportsbook that has been online for almost 15 years, founded in the year 2000. Betfair is acknowledged as the world's largest betting exchange which took years to grow. There are more betting exchanges on the market that will certainly challenge Betfair to be the best in the business. Overall Betfair are still a quality betting exchange so lets cover all the important questions about Betfair

Is Betfair safe?

Overall Betfair is a safe sportsbook to play at but here is what you need to know about this bookie and betting exchange. Betfair will pay you when you win, but the only thing you need to be concerned about is when they offer certain promotions. You see in their terms and conditions they have the right to void a promotion so say for example Betfair offers a promotion and make a mistake on that promotion, and they lose a few million from a mistake on their end, well this is where they can void a promotion and it has happened once before. This is a rare event and in reality you'll find this happening at every other bookmaker so this is not much to worry about. Betfair will always pay you and their name and reputation is too big to tarnish over a cashout.

Is Betfair a recommended betting exchange?

When you look at many websites, the consensus is that Betfair are highly recommended. e-sportbets.org has Betfair as a recommended betting exchange. The fact is the site has been around for so long and you struggle to find many player based complaints. They are licensed in Gibraltar which is not the best gaming jurisdiction around but it is certainly a quality one as you look at the list of licensed bookmakers there, it is an impressive list of quality sites.

At esportbets Betfair is the first recommended free bet bonus available. A free bet is a great way to enjoy any sportsbook as a new player where your bet is essentially a risk free bet if your loses. This is one of the greatest betting offers you can get to start betting on any sport you like without having to worry much about the details of the terms and conditions of a bonus. 

Other betting exchanges

There are others like Matchbook, Betdaq, and WBX to name a few and certainly more will open in the future. What you need to know about betting exchanges is the more players are in the network, the more betting options you'll have to be able to place or accept odds. That is perhaps the downside of a new betting exchange is you don't have the number of bets available as Betfair. That said usually a new exchange will have an enticing offer to try to make up for the lack of volume. 

Are there any online casinos left that can be trusted?

I have nearly given up with online casinos and it has left me wondering if any online casinos can be trusted?  The answer to that question is maybe.  You see if land based casinos could reject your attempts to cash your chips into money and leave, they probably would but there are a few things holding them back from doing it.  One of those things is laws and regulations.  If the casino did this they would face legal consequences whereas online there seems to be zero accountability at all.  The next thing is people would flip out and probably revolt.  Who would want to go to a casino that doesn't pay out when you win? This would be in the local newspaper and word would spread around fast.

Now in the online world some casinos think they can get away with this sort of things.  Even larger groups like Betfair have tried to do this to their players and they have these ridiculous terms stating they can reject your cashout for basically any reason whatsoever. 

After being given a $5 free chip at a casino for loyal play I was able to turn that into over $600 and I won't name the casino but they first made it difficult to get my money.  They asked for copy of my identify and proof of address which I promptly sent.  Then they said they required notarized documents.  Seriously?  They want me to pay a lawyer $200 just for them to notarize my documents.  This was insulting and I drew the line.  I found some casino forums where their player representatives frequent and I made posts about my problem and within a few days I got my cashout sent to me by Moneybookers.  I was happy to finally get paid but it's sad I had to bitch and complain in order to get the stupid casino to listen.  If I hadn't of said anything they would have just kept my money and I would have been the sore loser. 

Since then I have joined another casino forum and site that I believe does the best job of looking after their players.  They are called the POGG and you can visit their website here

http://thepogg.com/

I wish more of these sites would exist or better yet that they didn't have to exist.  Perhaps one day online casinos will be held to the same standard as land based casinos.  I love online casinos more for the bonuses and value but I hate it for the lack of player protection. 

Casinos for Christmas

Online casinos are now everywhere and if you are going to play at any of them the best time to do it is in December. Why is that so?  Well the main reason is casinos are in the giving mood during this season and it is your chance to get the most out of them. If you join any casinos what you can expect are bonuses galore and they will come in many forms: special Christmas signup bonuses, no deposit casino bonuses, free spins and many contests where you can win yet more money or prizes.  This year expect some of the nicer prizes to be things like ipads, iphone 5, computers, video game systems, various trips around the world and a whole lot more.

All you have to do is just be signed up to any online casino and if they are a good one they will send you promotions to you through email and you can stay up to date with certain sites to stay on top of it. One great site for this is Christmas Slots which lists many casino bonuses and all the Christmas themed slot reviews you can think of. 

One game that is worth playing is from Slotland called Santa Sleigh which is a Christmas themed video poker slots game. Don't let the video poker aspect scare you off as this casino really has more slots than anything and all of their games come with a progressive jackpot! Usually the jackpot varies in size but is around $200,000 and has a winner an average of once a month. If you want to read more about the game you can find it at this website address

http://christmas-slots.com/reviews/santa-sleigh/

So obviously tis the season to be jolly but if you want a nice bonus for Christmas then it is highly recommended that you take advantage of all the various no deposit bonuses and free spins as you can. You can turn these bonuses and free spins and if you are lucky, it will become free cash.  There are approximately 20 no deposit bonuses, it not more available at any given moment so all you have to do is find them, register at the casino for a real money player account, avoid making a deposit and just claim the bonus using either a bonus code or sometimes they are automatically added to your casino account and you can play it most of the time instantly.  For 20 no deposit bonuses it is quite realistic to be able to win on one of them and in some cases people get lucky and end up with many cashouts without having to make a deposit. How cool is that?!

So forget the stress of shopping during the christmas season and get your moneys worth with all the christmas bonuses you can get your hands on. It usually takes about 5 minutes to register at any casino and it won't cost you anything other than just your time. It is a great way to relax after work and you can either let the Santa slots do the gift giving for you or rely on luck and hope that it is Santas way of rewarding you and knowing who has been naught or nice!

Comprehensive Reviews of online slots

Many people review online casinos but forget to review all aspects of the games involved. What about online slots for example? Many people play online casinos just for the slots and couldn't be bothered with table games like blackjack or video pokers. There are many aspects of online slots that are always of interest to gamblers and we have them broken down. One good source of comprehensive slots reviews comes from grem casino portal.

http://www.grem.net/slots-reviews/

Slots Jackpots

If people wanted to flip a coin all day and bet on it, they would play blackjack. However players want to win big and that's why they love slots. This is a true game of chance and if people believe in luck, slots is for them. No decisions to make other than to spin or not to spin. Knowing the maximum jackpot is useful information if you want to play especially for optimizing for the max number of coins and always playing with all the lines selected. 

This is especially true of progressive slots where the jackpot keeps growing especially as more players are playing it. The largest progressive jackpot to date was for over $13 million!

Payout Percentages

What is the house edge of a slot? This is very useful info and it will tell you at what rate you'll keep your money. Avoid slots with house edges of 4% of higher as this will eat away at your bankroll too fast. If you can find house edges under 3% this is ideal and it means your bankroll will be conserved especially with a casino bonus in play. 

Trusted Software

Make sure you are using a trusted online casino software provide. The following casino software companies are recommended:

• Microgaming
• Playtech
• Real Time Gaming
• Net Entertainment
• CTXM
• BetonSoft
• BetSoft
• Espresso Games
• Sheriff Gaming
• Rival Gaming

Here is one review of the biggest progressive slot in history called Mega Fortune Slot

You can watch the video here to watch the jackpot being won.

What are your chances of winning at online casinos?

Ever wonder what your real chances of winning at online casinos are? 

This post will aim to answer all of your questions related to online casinos and get the truth as to what your real chances are of winning.

Random Number Generators (RNG)

The random number generator, short for RNG, is a basic program that produces random numbers and as a result, this is how your odds, cards or slots are supposed to be chosen from. That is they are random and not rigged. How do you know if a game is rigged or not? Unless you are a stats major, you might have a hard time yourself knowing if the game is legitimate or not. Thankfully there are plenty of people out there that are and regularly test the games for randomness and also check the payout percentages. Most of the major online casino providers can't afford to rig their games and when they do, players read about this if they get caught and websites that refer players to them don't want to have anything to do with them at all. There have been many casinos that end up in the graveyard for doing this so the result is a self regulated environment. Just find yourself a good casino guide you can trust and if they have a forum, it helps to join a community where you can chat with other members and share experiences like big wins and more importantly, processed cashouts.

Casino Bonuses

Let's face it, playing without a casino bonus at an online casino is a waste of time. You might as well just go to Las Vegas where if you lost $1000 they might give you a free meal. At online casinos you can get signup bonuses to match your deposits of around 100%. The loyalty points are usually might larger than land based casinos and what about cashback? Yes many online casinos have a cashback program where you get money on losses, sometimes as high as 25% and on a consistent basis. 

Check the Stats

Some online casinos will list one of 2 things on their website or have this information available upon request: casino payout percentage and house edge of all the games including slots. Casino payout percentages sometimes can exceed 100% and this usually only happens when a progressive jackpot is hit. Also if you like playing slots you should be aware of the house edges associated with each game. Some online slots have a house edge of 5%, which is a 95% player return and this is high for online casinos and some slots can be as low as 1 to 2% house edge. If you play these games, your money will last a lot longer in the process. If you want this information you can get it most of the time by emailing the casino customer support or just go to their live chat. 

If you are looking for more gambling tips we recommend a blog worth following that has lots of tips and updates regarding online casinos: 

http://mycasinosreview.com/