Offshore gambling is a term that you will come across pretty frequently if you hang out on online gambling blogs and forums very much. It is used by both those want legalized online gambling and those who do not so it can be pretty confusing to those who hear it. Is this a bad thing or a good thing?

The truth is offshore gambling is neither a bad thing or a good thing. Or should I say, it has its pros and cons just as any other term. Offshore gambling simply means that the online casino is not licensed or operated in the jurisdiction of whatever country you reside in.

Opponents of gambling will say that offshore gambling means that the businesses are not regulated or under the oversight of any governing body. They try to make it sound insecure and unsafe, like the wild west of the gambling industry. While in the early days of online gambling this may have been true, it really is far from the truth today.

Most of the online casinos are fully licensed by governing bodies such as Aldernay, Malta and Gibraltar. These places fall under the province of the UK government and are overseen and monitored by agencies there. There are also a number of independent agencies that monitor the offshore registered online casinos.

These third party organizations can’t force an online gambling establishment to join them, of course, but they have stringent rules of conduct for all those online casinos who voluntarily become members of the group. Both players and competitors can go to these organizations to lodge complaints against their members. The group investigates and tries to mediate any disputes for the good of the industry.

That’s not to say that there aren’t any disreputable online casinos because of course there are some around. However, they are few and far between these days. Most online casinos know that their players want reassurances that everything is on the up-and-up. For that reason, you will find that most offshore online casinos are members of one or another of the independent organizations.

To be sure that the site is being monitored, check the website to see which group they are affiliated with. You can double check this by going to the organization’s website as they generally provide a list of member casinos for people to view. You can then read the rules of conduct for the group to see what standards the online casino has pledged to uphold.

In 2026, the United States passed a law known as UIGEA that charged all payment processors, banks and credit card companies with blocking any illegal online gambling transaction. The problem is that the bill failed to clarify exactly what was and was not legal and instead deferred to the state laws already on the books. However, despite saying that it was laws already in place, online gambling is also being blocked in states that have no such laws on the books.

The Department of Justice has even arrested and fined executives from major online gambling companies, not for activities since the law passed, but for activities prior to the UIGEA passage. According to them, online gambling activities other than lottery and horse racing were already illegal in the US. Despite the fact that all major companies completely pulled out of the US market once the law went into effect, the companies still fear retroactive punishment. Confusing, isn’t it?

Any Americans who think that they should be allowed to gamble online, like most of the rest of the world, can take some action to let their politicians know how they feel. There is currently a bill making its way through Congress, introduced by Rep. Barney Frank, that is an attempt to repeal or mitigate the effects of UIGEA. He has been trying to do this since the day the act passed but this time he has a lot more support. At least 45 other Congressmen have added their support to the proposal at this time. They are responding to what the American public wants.

If your Congressmen aren’t onboard with this but you think it should be passed, you can take steps to let the politicians know how you feel. Many politicians have websites where you can contact them or leave comments so start with that. Do a search online and you can find addresses to mail each of your representatives. You can also be vocal in your local area by blogging about the issue or writing letters to the editors of the local newspapers. The more publicity this issue gets, the better.

The best thing about America is that the common people do have a voice in what goes on. Unfortunately, too many have forgotten that and left things up to the politicians for too long. If you want to see changes made, then you need to lift your voice and make your wishes known.

A video poker machine in a land casino looks pretty much like a slots machine without the lever to spin the reels. For online video poker games, the software also looks very similar to that of video slots games. There is a big difference in how they are played, though. Video poker involves a lot more than simply betting and taking a spin. You actually need to have some skill in order to win consistently with video poker, just as you do in regular poker games.

In a most basic video poker game, you will choose how much to bet to begin with. As with most online gambling games, the larger the initial wager, the larger the potential jackpot will be. Once you’ve placed your bet, you will hit the "deal" button. On your screen, five cards will appear. Underneath each card is a "hold" button. You choose which of the five cards you wish to hold and push that button.

Once you’ve decided which cards to hold, the next step will be to press the "draw" button that replaces the "deal" button. The software will automatically replace the cards that you didn’t choose to hold with new cards. The resulting hand is what decides if you have won or not. Since video poker does not have a competing hand to play against, if you make any winning combination then you win the corresponding prize. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?

The standard game of five card draw that all video poker games are based on would be pretty easy for a poker professional or even a good amateur. It would also tend to get rather dull after a while. So the software creators keep creating new variations to make the game more exciting for players. Not only are the theme variations fairly endless, the actual game variations are pretty wide, as well. Game developers have added rules like "jacks or better", extra reels, extra paylines, wilds, multipliers and more to make each game more thrilling than the last.

When you try a new video poker game, keep in mind the general rules and strategies for any other poker game. Read the rules of that particular variety carefully so you understand what the best hands would be and if there are any wilds, etc. Don’t get stuck in the mindset of offline poker, though. You can’t keep track of which cards have been played as the deck begins fresh with each and every round in video poker.

There are many advantages to gambling at an online casino vs. traveling to a land based casino. Online gambling is very attractive to many people as you can tell by the number of players as well as the number of new online casinos that continue to launch.

Many people don’t care for the crowds you usually encounter at the land casinos. It may be because they’re shy or it could be just the noise and commotion makes them anxious. With online casinos, the people are there but you can choose whether or not to interactive with them in the chat rooms that are often available.

Playing online is much more cost effective in these economic times. Sure, you have to pony up the cash to do any real gambling but you don’t have all the additional expenses of going to a land casino. Unless you are lucky enough to live right in a casino town, you have to gas up the car and drive several hours to the nearest casino. Then chances are you will need to buy food while you’re there and possibly a hotel room for the night.

Playing at home, on the other hand, entails no extra expense beyond depositing the amount you want to use to gamble. You don’t even have to get all dressed up and can sit there in your bathrobe without anyone being the wiser.

You will never find the variety of games that are available online in any one land casino. Not only do the individual online casinos have huge assortments of games, when they don’t have something it is a simple matter to just log in at a different online casino.

Another thing that is rarely mentioned because most people don’t know is that you have an increased likelihood of winning something playing at an online casino than you do in a land casino. Land casinos cannot afford to pay the percentages out that online casinos can because land casinos have huge overhead costs. This keeps their payout percentages averaging 90%. Online casinos have extremely low overheads compared to land casinos so they can afford to give back more of the money to the players. That’s why you see online casino payout percentages often around 96%.

I frequent a number of forums dedicated to the world of online gambling and am disturbed by a growing trend I’ve seen lately. Yesterday, at three different forums, I saw discussions started by people who were gambling at public computers. They were saying they did this for various reasons. One had a dead computer at home but still wanted to play poker. Another said they couldn’t gamble where their wife could see them. The last didn’t give a reason at all. All are in for a world of hurt if they continue to use public computers for their onine gambling activities.

Any computer that you do not control has the potential for being infected with a virus, trojan or keylogger. Particularly at open internet cafes, it is common for hackers and thieves to install keylogger programs on all the computers that they can. These programs can copy any form you fill, including your log in information for the online casinso, and transmits it to the thief’s computer. Now the thief has access to your account and can change your password or bank information in order to steal your money.

Most libraries and schools have software that may block your use of online casino sites but not all do. Just because you know a lot of the other people who use those computers, never assume that they are not dishonest. Even if someone doesn’t change your information but simply gambles with the money in your account, that is still money that you will lose access to. Some online casino account profiles contain every piece of information needed to steal your identity. Not only could you lose your gambling winnings but soon you could start getting bills for things you never purchased or bad credit reports from the thief opening new credit cards using your information.

It’s easy to avoid this situation. Always play from a computer that is completely under your control. Your computer should have good up-to-date security programs installed and always running including anti-virus software and malware blockers. Don’t become a statistic in the rising rate of identity theft – do your online gambling only from your own computers.

Remember the very simple card game called War that you likely played as a child? Well, there is a version that can be found in quite a few online casinos called Casino War. The basic premise of the game is the same as the one you played as a child – highest card wins. Unlike the childhood game where the winner took the pair of cards, however, in Casino War the winner takes the pot.

There are, of course, some differences in the grown up version of War. To begin with, it is normally played with six full standard decks. Suit makes no difference and the cards rank as in poker with aces being the hardest, then kings, queens and so forth down the line. In the casinos, you play against the dealer with the house edge being pretty favorable as it’s under 3%.

To play, you start by placing your bet. The dealer will then deal first you and then himself a card face-up. If you win, you have even money but if the dealer’s card is higher, you lose. It starts to get a bit more complicated and a lot more interesting if you have a tie.

In that case, you have two choices. You can surrender and lose half of your wager or you can choose to go to war. If you decide to pursue it, you must raise at least as much as the first wager. The dealer will then discard face down the next three cards and then deal you one face-up. Next he does the same for his own hand. If your second card beats the dealer then you win even money on the raise and the beginning bet is a push. If the dealer’s second card is the highest, then you lose both the intial bet and the raise.

Not quite as simple as the childhood favorite we all remember but still a very easy game to learn. You could come out ahead if you can remember the cards that have been played but when there is a war situation and six cards get discarded unseen, that will interfere with knowing what cards have turned up already. Fun and fast-paced to pass the time but this game is best viewed as strictly entertainment as there is not enough of a element of skill to make it a real money maker.

Doyle Brunson is one of the best known poker players of all time and we thought it fitting to write a brief profile of this famous modern day gambler after the recent wrap-up of the first part of the World Series of Poker 2026 (WSOP). The table is set for the main event to be held in Feb and while Brunson won’t be at that table this year, he has won more than his share of WSOP bracelets.

He was born and raised in Texas where he was a star basketball player and runner. He was even drafted by the Lakers while they were still in Minneapolis but a professional basketball career was not in the cards for Brunson. He broke his knee in two places while working in a local gypsum factory, an injury that left him using a crutch to this day.

He went on to finish college, earning a master’s in Administrative Education but he didn’t end up with a career in that field after finding he could make more playing poker than he could earn in a job. Poker satisfied his competitive spirit and he became one of the best poker players that has ever been seen. He was a member of a group called the Texas Rounders which played many high stakes poker games while it was still considered a criminal act.

Brunson wrote and published a book that is still often referred to as the bible of poker. Super System remains the definitive guide to the popular Texas Hold’em poker and has the distinction of being the top selling poker book of all time. Later he also published a sequel, fittingly called Super System 2, which details even more strategies for that game as well as others.

Throughout the history of the WSOP, Brunson has been a well known face. He has won the second highest number of bracelets in the popular poker tournament, surpassed only by Phil Hellmuth.

Brunson has won 10 bracelets:

• 2026 $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship $220,000
• 2026 $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw $80,250
• 2026 $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship $340,000
• 2026 $1,000 Seven-Card Stud Split $62,500
• 2026 $5,000 Seven-Card Stud $68,000
• 2026 $600 Mixed Doubles (with Starla Brodie) $4,500
• 2026 $2,500 No Limit Hold’em $208,000
• 2026 $1,500 Seven-Card RAZZ $93,000
• 2026 $2,000 H.O.R.S.E. $84,080
• 2026 $5,000 No Limit Shorthanded Texas Hold’em (6 players per table) $367,800

If you do a search on the internet for gambling systems, you can find all sorts of people that promise that they have a system for you to beat the house every time. Any so-called system for any casino game that guarantees you to beat the house every time is something you need to steer clear of. While there are some systems for various games that can help you win more often, there is no sure way of beating the house every game. It’s just not possible as long as there is an element of chance involved.

I find it funny that people still fall for slots machine winning systems, though. Slots games are the ultimate in pure chance. You place your bet and spin the reels and whatever comes up is what comes up. You hear people say that if you play a few times in a row without a win to switch machines or games because you have a "cold" machine. Perhaps years ago when everything was done mechanically, this may have been a valid strategy.

Today’s slot games, whether a machine in your local casino or an online video slots game, are all based on a random number generator. It’s completely computerized to be as random as it possibly can be so each spin starts from zero as far as statistics go. It doesn’t matter if you just lost twenty times, that doesn’t it make any more or less likely for you to win on the next spin. Each time you play, you have exactly the same odds.

Upon reading a recent story of an online casino player who won almost £3 million combined from two jackpots, I was struck by one very good reason to play at more than one online casino. The player from the story, by the way, won those two jackpots at the same site on the very same game both times. He played the online progressive video slot game called Beach Life and won the jackpots several months apart at Europa Casino. Do you have any idea what the odds are for such a double win?

According to the story, the chances of this happening are almost nonexistent. You are far more likely to be struck by lightning than you are to win the same game for a huge jackpot on the same site. Sounds like a really good reason to play at several online casinos, rather than focusing on just one.

This would be even more important if you happened to win a big jackpot at one site. There is no reason to quit going to that online casino but playing the same game that you won on is pretty close to a sucker bet, wouldn’t you say?

So if you play a progressive game at one site, try playing a different progressive game at the next. We all know gambling is entertaining but it’s still a whole lot more fun when we in than when we lose. Spread yourself around a bit to give yourself better chances of winning large pots more than once.

Blackjack is always a popular gambling game at both land-based and online casinos and it has been that way for many, many years. The main reason for its popularity is the ease of learning the rules and actually playing the game. The main goal of the game is to get 21 points in your hand without going over. Of course, your hand must beat the dealer’s hand in order to actually win. Sounds pretty easy, right?

While it might be an easy game to learn, mastering blackjack so that you can win fairly consistently most of the time will take some time. You must learn the odds of any given card combination as well as to read the dealer. You know that each deck of cards has only 13 of each card, with 16 of those being tens or face cards and four being aces (can be scored either 1 or 11 in blackjack). By being aware of which cards have already come up, you can determine roughly the odds of any given hand.

There are two things that you absolutely must know to play blackjack well:

1. Always, always, always assume that the dealer’s down card is a ten. Then base your decision on what to do and what to bet only on the card showing. For instance, if the dealer’s showing card is a 6, there is a good chance he will bust if he takes a card.
2. Know when to stand. Learn the odds and remember rule number one so you will know when it’s wise to stand and when it’s better to take a card. This is partly learned by experience so you may want to find an online casino that offers free play before you risk any real money. Get your training for free whenever you can.