January 26th, 2008 by Beat Casinos, How To Beat The Casinos, www.howtobeatthecasinos.com

***Updated 31 January, 2008 – This promotion now finished. Watch out for future promotions here.***

There’s only 4 days left to take advantage of my generous promotion which gives you an extra £10 or $20 when you join any of the online casinos featured in this blog. (See full entry).

Online casinos give sites like mine a small thank you payment for each new player attracted via our sites (which is nice, as it helps to keep this blog free for all). But I don’t want your money – I make enough myself through blackjack and using / abusing land-based casino promotions. And so I’ve decided to give you back a fair proportion of this payment, to improve your chances, and to help you to beat the casinos! You still get the same casino bonuses directly from the casinos – but I also give you back this extra cash (sent directly to YOU!).

Why should you do this NOW? Like all good things in life, casino promotions are always for a limited time (as mine is, above). You’ll see I’ve been busy lately at my local casino making thousands from a local casino slot promotion (“milk those slot promotions“). You might recall that I’ve made good use of walk-in casino promotions in the past also. All of these promotions were TIME LIMITED – if you snooze, you lose!

So take advantage of my generosity while it lasts – this “cashback” to you is a pretty unique opportunity here on the Internet! I’m not aware of other sites doing this – I want you to WIN!

Mansion still accepts USA players (and all others) – so if you’re from the USA, feel free to join up! All of the other sites accept players from elsewhere in the world but not the USA (currently). Come and play with the casinos I’ve played with over the last few years!

January 23rd, 2008 by Beat Casinos, How To Beat The Casinos, www.howtobeatthecasinos.com

Hi, so it’s been a while since my last post – and I want to apologise. It’s out of character, it’s not acceptable, and it makes me look like a lazy idiot! But I do have an excuse…

Why the time between postings (which has been about a week)? Well, I’ve been milking a slot promotion at my local casino, which has a limited timeframe to exploit. If you read this blog regularly, you’ll know I’m not a huge fan of slot machines, due to their typically high house edge. And I’ll generally tell you to avoid them too. But this promotion gives US the edge. About a month ago, our local casino began to remodel parts of the casino floor, and as a result they removed a few banks of slot machines. Many of these had jackpot progressive meters (but not linked – one on each machine), and under our local law, the casino is required to pay that money out. They can’t just turn off a machine, and stop people having the chance to win that accrued jackpot – unless they pay it out in some other way…

So what are they doing to pass back the several millions of dollars of accrued jackpots on these machines back to players? Simply, for the next few weeks, they’re having daily promotions on selected banks of slot machines, which have linked progressive meters. If you hit a jackpot progressive on one of these banks, you get either an extra $1000 or $100 added to your win, dependent on jackpot size. But here’s the best bit: any player who is playing on that bank of machines when the jackpot is hit will automatically receive $20 free.

Now $20 may not seem like a lot to some people. And you might question why I’m there. Well, this blog is all about beating the casinos, and in my book this was a promotion too good to miss. Let’s look at the maths (and my rationale):

The banks they seem to choose have typical $100 – $200 mini jackpots, and these are hit very frequently. The machines themselves are 2c and 5c machines, and I’ve found that those mini progressive jackpots get hit on the bank on an average of 2 times per hour. So, with that being the case, every hour could be worth up to $40 in promotional cash (on average). The requirement in the official rules of the promotion is that it’s only 1 machine per player, and that you must be playing at the time the jackpot is hit in order to be able to claim the free $20.

Now, many players will bet $1 a spin or more as they normally would, whilst this promotion is on. That’s great, because the more money people are playing, the faster the progressive jackpot grows. Some of those players will win big – but many will lose big in that average half hour between jackpots. The casino is banking on players losing $100 each to get $20. But I don’t work like that. I look for a legal edge, and exploit it.

Therefore, although it might seem boring to some, I’m happy to bet a single 2c credit, on a single line, for each spin. That gives me 1000 spins to lose my $20 stake. And of course I’ll win on some spins, and lose on others. What I’ve typically been finding is that by restricting my play to this very limited stake per spin (the bare minimum possible on a 2c machine), I’m losing $2 – $3 in the time between each jackpot, whilst maintaining the “playing status” required to get the promotional cash, when the progressive jackpot is hit by anyone playing.

So, let’s take a typical 8 hour day (and I’ve spent a few of those there this week – which is why I haven’t updated the blog): each hour I make $40 in promo cash (on average – 2 jackpot hits per hour at $20 promo cash for all of us), and I lose $5 – $6 per hour in slot losses. My net “win” is $34 per hour. 8 hours x $34 per hour = $272 TAX FREE (or about $350 before tax). I don’t know about you, but that’s a pretty good hourly rate with no (or extremely limited) risk to my bankroll.

If you consider I’ve been there each of the last 7 days for an average 8 hours, then you won’t be surprised to learn I’m up about $2,000 TAX FREE for the week. That’s better than most (non-executive) workers earn. And of top of this I’ve been earning comp points on my Players Card… which total about $60 for the week to date.

I intend to do the same for the next week or so whilst the promotion lasts. It’s a great opportunity to “beat the casinos”, legally, following the rules. When the promotion finishes I’ll steer clear of the slots as I normally do, and again concentrate on my chosen casino game, Blackjack.

So I hope this quick post explains my “absence”. I’ll make sure I don’t neglect to post further articles over the coming week. I love the fact that you’ve visited my blog to read the articles I write – and I want to make sure you keep coming back! This is about building a community, a fellowship of gamblers – if we all beat the casinos, then they’ll close down, and we can celebrate along with the rest of society.

As always, I’m available to answer your personal questions / comments, at davewestlondon@yahoo.co.uk.

January 13th, 2008 by Beat Casinos, How To Beat The Casinos, www.howtobeatthecasinos.com

Several of the casinos I promote on this website currently have “additional promotions” on, over and above the free matchplay cash they offer to new members, and over and above the free money I’m personally giving to all new signups until the end of January 2008 (see top of each blog page). It’s a great time to join any of these casinos – each offers you a great opportunity to win!

MANCHESTER UNITED CASINO
Manchester United Casino – have increased their “£50 free each month” to “£100 free each month”, with a very workable 20x deposit+bonus playthrough requirement (some games excluded – see their site for full terms and conditions). With this offer, you really can beat their casino! Additionally, if you wager a minimum of £10 between January 10 and January 20, 2008, you’ll automatically be entered into the draw to win a signed Manchester United shirt (signed by Manchester United players), and 2 tickets to see them play Portsmouth on 30 January, 2008.

And, the “Unlucky for None” promotion will give any player losing money on the 13th of the month, 10% of their losses back. Details are on the Manchester United Casino website, but are repeated below for easy access:

“10% returned on all losses over £50, $100 and €100 (all other currencies based on UK Sterling conversion on 14/01/08).
Minimum payment will be £5, $10, €10.
The next promotion runs from 00:00 to 23:59 EST on the 13/01/08.
All funds will be added as bonus funds (ten times wagering) within 24 hours of promotion end. House Rules apply.
All losses will be rounded down to the nearest five units, for example losses of £747.53 will equate to a prize of £70, $336.58 equates to $30.
Maximum payout is £1,000 (or currency equivalent).
Any wagering on progressives will not count towards that day’s losses.”

TOTESPORT CASINO
Totesport Casino – are offering a huge 125% signup bonus to new players, up to a maximum of £125 (i.e. deposit £100, get £125 free). Additionally, Totesport Casino are now offering a monthly reload bonus of 50%, up to a maximum of £50. If you like playing on Friday’s, there’s an extra special “Free Cash Promotion” currently in operation:

“After giving away more than £250,000 in 2007, we are delighted to inform you that Free Cash Friday will continue in 2008! Make sure you log in and play on Friday’s to receive your random bonus between £5 and £100! Bonuses will be awarded from 10am on the day of the promotion. Please note that this promotion is only available to players who have completed the wagering requirements of the January monthly bonus!” See their website for full terms and conditions.

Totesport Casino are excellent for loyal / high-roller players, as you can join their VIP scheme (as I did) and become eligible for very special matchplay bonuses, and often get free tickets to major sporting events etc. The Tote are HUGE in the UK and run “the totalisator pool” of UK racing meetings – very reputable, experienced operators, who also have a large number of UK betting shops in the high street.

MANSION CASINO
Mansion Casino – offer their excellent match play bonus up to $500 – and they welcome players from all around the world, including the USA. Blackjack and Video Poker players are not forgotten – they’re eligible for a 50% deposit bonus. And you’ll get extra money from me for joining via this blog! What a brilliant start to Mansion! Additionally, Mansion Casino have the following promotions during January 2008:

“MANSION CASINO is celebrating the arrival of 2008 with some fantastic new BIG money promotions and prizes. So start the year with a Bonus bang!

Tuesday 1 January, 2008 – BIG $2,008 NEW YEAR’S DAY GIVEAWAY!
Wednesdays 2, 9, 16, 23 & 30 January 2008 – INSURANCE ASSURANCE
Thursdays 3, 10, 17, 24 & 31 January, 2008 – $50 JANUARY SALES
Fridays 4, 11, 18, 25 January, 2008 – BLACKJACK CASHBACK
Saturdays 5, 12, 19, 26 January, 2008
& Sundays 6, 13, 20 & 27 January, 2008 – SLOTS OF SKILL
Mondays 7, 14, 21 & 28 January, 2008 – HAPPY NEW YEAR $208 PRIZE DRAW!
Tuesdays 8, 15, 22, & 29 January, 2008 – GET TO THE POINTS!”

Their website has full details and terms and conditions of each offer.

VIRGIN CASINO
Virgin Casino – have their 100% match play offer up to £50, with a very reasonable playthrough requirement (full details on their website). Virgin also have some very special January 2008 promotions happening, as follows:

“Monday Magic 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th January 2008
——————————————————————————–
Start your week off with a £15 bonus when you make a £15 deposit every Monday in January.

Here’s how to qualify:
Make a single deposit of £15 or more on Mondays.
Enter the Bonus Code: monday.
Play through your deposit 25 times to receive your £15 bonus.
This promotion is only available on Mondays (GMT).

Tremendous Tuesday 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th January 2008
——————————————————————————–
Tuesday is cash back day. Get 20% back up to £25 on losses when you play every Tuesday in January.
Here’s how to qualify:

Play the Game(s) of the Day every Tuesday (GMT)
Collect 20% cash back up to £25 on any losses made for the day

Game(s) of the Day:

Tuesday 8th: All Slot Games
Tuesday 15th: All Table Poker (3 Card, Multi-Hand 3 Card, Wan Doy Paris)
Tuesday 22nd: All Texas Hold’em Games
Tuesday 29th: MegaJackpots®

Wacky Wednesday 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th January 2008
——————————————————————————–
Collect Double V*POINTS every Wednesday and cash them in for all sorts of fantastic Virgin goodies.
Here’s how to qualify:

Play the Game(s) of the Day between 10h00 on Wednesday and 10h00 on Thursday (GMT)
Collect double V*POINTS on all games played for the period
There’s no limit to how many V*POINTS you can earn

Game(s) of the day:

Wednesday 2nd: MegaJackpots®
Wednesday 9th: Monopoly with Pass Go Bonus
Wednesday 16th: Cleopatra
Wednesday 23rd: Double Diamond and 5 Times Pay
Wednesday 30th: Texas Tea

Thursday Thriller 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th, and 31st January 2008
——————————————————————————–
Collect a £20 bonus when you make a £20 deposit every Thursday in January.
Here’s how to qualify:

Make a single deposit of £20 or more on Thursdays.
Enter the Bonus Code: thursday.
Play through your deposit 25 times to receive your £20 bonus.
This promotion is only available on Thursdays (GMT).

January Reload Bonus 2nd – 30th January 2008
——————————————————————————–
Get reloaded this January.
Make your first deposit for the month and pick up a 50% cash match bonus.
A whopping 75 smackers could be yours.

Here’s how to qualify
Make a single deposit of £10 or more between 2nd and 30th January 08.
Enter the bonus code: reload.
Play through your deposit 18 times to receive the bonus.”

For all of these promotions, ensure you read the full Terms and Conditions available at the Virgin Casino website.

BETFAIR CASINO
Betfair Casino – have their £50 match play offer, for new members. But don’t forget, this is the excellent site where you can play ZERO ROULETTE, ZERO BLACKJACK, ZERO BACCARAT, and ZERO VIDEO POKER – games which give you an excellent chance to win, with either a Zero house edge, or a house edge very close to Zero! See terms and conditions around the signup bonus etc by visiting their site.

FOR ANY OF THESE CASINOS: Combine your casino matchplay cash, with my additional free cash, with these additional casino promotions, and on top of any comp points / VPoints / player loyalty points you’ll earn whilst playing, and you’re on to a winner! One of my earlier blog entries discusses “casino promotion double dipping” – this is exactly what I mean! Make the most of these opportunities while they last. And let me know how you get on – I want to see you win!

January 10th, 2008 by Beat Casinos, How To Beat The Casinos, www.howtobeatthecasinos.com

If you fit into the majority of casino visitors, you’re probably at least an occasional slot machine player. As you’ll know from reading various articles on this blog, I’m not a huge fan of slot machines – not because they’re not fun and entertaining to play, but simply because they fall outside of my “acceptable games to play in a casino if you want to have a chance at taking some money home in the long term”. Generally, I consider any casino game with a house edge of more than 2.5% to be a risk simply not worth taking (in the long term). And slot machines typically take between 4% and 15% dependent on denomination and game type.

That said, if you are going to play slot machines, you’ll want to find “loose” games to play. What’s loose? Simply, a machine that has a high payback percentage – the amount of money you get back for every dollar or pound you put into the slot machine. In general terms, I’d consider a slot machine loose if it paid back 95% or more. Slot machines which pay less than 90% I’d consider “tight”. Slot machines which fall somewhere in the middle band (90% – 95%) are simply “average”.

There’s been a lot of strategies / formulas ideas published over the years (some free, some chargable “systems”) which claim to tell players how to find a loose machine. General tips from these formulas / strategies (most of which I consider to be a total waste of time, and certainly not worthy of any money investment) are:

1) Look for slot machines near the ends of aisles – casinos put “loose” slot machines there so that people will see lots of winners and want to play the slots. REALITY: casinos got wise to this years ago, so don’t expect to find the machines there anymore. They might be in the middle of a slot bank, they might be at the end, they might be near a bar or restaurant, or they may simply not exist at all. All are possible.

2) Look for slot machines that have a “wobble” in the reels when they spin – they’re due for a jackpot. REALITY: The “wobble” proves nothing. It might just be that the slot machine in question needs maintenance – or has a fault developing, or simply that the plastic wheel has worked itself a bit loose. Besides, the vast majority of slots these days are VIDEO SLOTS that don’t have “reels” – so the whole wobble theory is pretty much redundant in any case.

3) Ask the slot attendants. They know which slot machines are due for a jackpot. REALITY: They’ll take your tip money if offered, but they have no better clue than you do about whether a particular machine will pay out today. Why? Machines are RANDOM devices that could pay out 3 jackpots in a row, then none for 3 months – or one a month for 3 months, or one then nothing for 5 years, etc. There is no way to know when a machine will pay out – the Random Number Generator in a slot machine is generating random numbers all the time, and it’s when the number is chosen that signifies a “jackpot” that you’ll get the jackpot. Not before, not after. (Note: UK Readers – UK Fruit Machines (Crazy Fruits, Bar X, Barcrest machines etc) DO work on a cycle of sorts… don’t confuse these with true “slot machines”).

4) Watch the machines, and when the little old lady who’s been playing for 2 hours and exhausted her slots budget finally gets up, go to her machine and play it. You’re going to win! REALITY: See 3) above. Slot machines are random. There’s no guarantee that you’ll get a slot machine jackpot / payout just because somebody lost who was playing it before you. Slot machines are never “due” for a jackpot. The odds of most jackpots are always about 1,000,000 to 1 or more – similar odds to some of the higher payouts on a lottery ticket.

There are many more theories like these, destined to become gambling myths. Let me share with you now my version of REAL observations that I believe CAN help you (they HAVE helped me over the years – and you’ll know that the main reason for writing this blog is to share my knowledge so that you too can Beat the Casinos!):

1) The higher the denomination of the slot machine you’re playing, the higher the likely payout percentage. If you play 5c / 5p machines, expect a payout percentage of about 88% or thereabouts. If you play £1 / $1 machines, expect a payout percentage of 92 – 93%. And so it goes on. This runs true in almost ALL casinos.

Why? Every slot machine takes up floor space in a casino, and each slot machine is expected to make a certain amount of revenue. Casinos will pay higher payback percentages on a higher denomination, because the AVERAGE BET on those machines is higher than on a lower denomination machine. In the long run, most of the machines, despite denomination, will likely produce similar revenue figures for the casino, because of this percentage payback formula.

2) Dumpier casinos tend to have better paying machines. This is not always true, but in general terms you’ll find (for example) better payouts in dumpier Downtown Las Vegas or in Las Vegas North etc rather than on the glitzy Las Vegas Strip. All casinos have overheads / running costs, but the glitzy casinos have more money to recoup from their building costs, more money to make to cover their better trained staff, more money to make to cover their nicer buffets / restaurants. It makes sense that if there’s more profit that needs to be made to cover running costs, that it needs to come from somewhere – and most likely, that will be from slot players. (Note: regardless of where you play, ALWAYS join the Players Club – get points and comps based upon your play, which helps you to get a little of that edge back).

3) Casinos with competition tend to have higher paying machines than those without. Again it’s not guaranteed, but you can expect areas like Las Vegas, Reno, and Atlantic City to pay higher than a US Indian Reservation (Tribal) Casino etc. The more casinos there are in an area, the better it is for players. Casinos know that they want to get a reputation as the “highest payouts” provider in any area, if they’re intending to stay in business, and attract loyal long term players.

4) Online (Internet) casinos tend to have machines that pay very well across the board – sometimes as high as 98%. The lower running costs of an online operation are often passed on to you, the player. Furthermore, considering 3) above, there is nowhere on the planet hotter than the INTERNET for casino competition – there’s THOUSANDS of online casinos available to us all, at the simple click of a mouse.

Importantly, online casinos WANT you to become loyal players. Did you know that Internet casino players typically play MORE OFTEN than those players visiting casino areas? Why? Because the Internet is available 24 hours a day, regardless of where you live/are at the time. But here’s an interesting observation: Internet casino players generally LOSE LESS (per betting session) than real casino visitors – because the games are often “looser” – and because of the impact that “bonus cash” / “free money” / “comps” have online.

Talking of bonus cash, all of the casinos I promote (and have personally played in) offer bonus / matchplay cash for first time players – which can (generally) be used to play slot machines! These casinos include: Betfair Casino, Virgin Casino, Mansion Casino, Manchester United Casino (by Betfred), and Totesport Casino. Give yourself an advantage by playing with the casino’s money as well as your own – there’s a great chance for you to win.

Don’t forget about my January 2008 promotion in which I’m PERSONALLY giving you FREE cash when you join any of these casinos via the blog and meet the signup requirements (see the top of ANY page in this blog for full details). Your joining of the casinos also helps to support this blog and keep it FREE for all. That’s a nice thing to do!

I hope this article helps you to find many loose slot machines, that you can empty! Do let me know what you do with your winnings!

January 6th, 2008 by Beat Casinos, How To Beat The Casinos, www.howtobeatthecasinos.com

Following on from my recent Slot Machine articles, I thought it might be useful to provide you with links to some of the most popular slot machine manufacturers worldwide. Although most of the slot machine manufacturer websites are effectively “brochureware” targeted at casino slot managers / buyers, there is some benefit for consumers in visiting these sites on a regular basis.

For example, with so many new games coming out all the time, it’s important as a player to keep aware of trends in game development, to ensure that you are at least somewhat familiar with the games (and their likely volatility) before playing them for real in a live casino. Some of the sites include payout percentage information for the game configurations – which gives you an indication of the house edge you’ll be up against on any particular game. Some sites do from time to time include “demos” of some of the games so you can see them in action – or try them out. Some of the sites provide information about the locations that games have been sold to / approved for – so you can get an idea of the games coming to your area.

The following links will take you directly to the various slot machine manufacturers:

1) Aristocrat (Australia) – providers of games such as “Outback Jack” and many other 9-line / 25-line multi-coin video slots. Huge in Australasia, and you’ll find a great deal of their games elsewhere in the world too.

2) IGT (USA) – huge worldwide provider with many hit titles like “5 Times Pay”, and “Double Diamond”. Used to be known for “reel spinners” but are now equally known for their multi-line multi-coin games, and large progressive jackpot networks. Note: IGT own WagerWorks who produce software for online casinos, including Virgin Casino.

3) WMS Gaming (USA) – used to be known as Williams (the pinball people). Now producing a whole range of games, all of which are interactive and fun to play.

4) Bally Technologies (USA) – another former pinball manufacturer, and original owners of Bally’s Las Vegas casino. Bally’s produce games like “Hot Slots” and a whole host of others. They often run consumer demonstration sites for various new games they produce – always worth a visit.

Are there other slot machine manufacturers worldwide? Yes. But the four mentioned above are certainly the world’s biggest, and probably account for 80% of the slot machines found on all casino floors worldwide.