Are Blackberry Casinos Headed for the Mobile Graveyard?
December 23, 2011
The world of mobile gambling is still in its infancy, but many are speculating that for at least one platform – Blackberry – the game may be over before it even begins.
Those who follow the mobile phone industry at large are no doubt familiar with the stunning fall from grace experienced over the last few years by Research In Motion, the parent company of Blackberry. RIM once controlled nearly half of the mobile market with their Blackberry devices, known affectionately to some as “Crackberry” due to the addicting nature of the phones.
What was once a name nearly synonymous with mobile phones has become a second-tier operator than accounts for less than 10% of the market. What’s even more amazing is that the drop in market share took place in a mere three years.
Was it the iPhone? The Android? The answer is a combination of those two and more; the internal stumbles at RIM and frequent outages certainly haven’t helped much. So, what does this mean for mobile casinos on the Blackberry? Nothing much besides bad news, unfortunately.
The Blackberry operates on a proprietary OS, meaning that people who want to develop apps for the phone must write them in a specific language that can’t easily be ported to, say, an iPhone. Developing apps is expensive in general, but developing mobile casino apps is even more so thanks to the extensive security concerns that need to be addressed and the complex graphical demands of casino games.
While there are a few Blackberry casinos (source: http://www.rtgonlinecasinos.com/games/blackberry/) offering both free and real money play, the economics of app development are simple and brutal: If a platform doesn’t have enough market share, app developers start to ignore it. Once app developers start to ignore it, a vicious cycle is set into motion whereby fewer apps mean fewer users, and fewer users mean fewer apps, and so on.
Unfortunately for casino lovers of the Blackberry stripe, your options – already few– may dwindle to none in the years ahead.
Intertops: The Right Choice for US Players?
December 23, 2011
Online poker players from the US don’t have a ton of options in the current climate, but only having a few options doesn’t mean you shouldn’t diligently research those options before settling on a room.
One room that’s been getting a lot of ink as of late is Intertops Poker. Long known for their sports book and casino options, Intertops recently made the move to the Cake Poker Network, meaning that they now offer players access to a decent-sized poker room with a reasonable reputation. Should poker players give the room a try?
First, a caveat: Since the landscape is changing so rapidly, it’s a bit difficult to say definitively what sites are the best US friendly poker sites – what works today could be broken tomorrow. With that out of the way, let’s talk more about Intertops Poker.
We’re just going to give a brief overview and some quick pros and cons; you can read this review of Intertops if you’re looking for something more in-depth.
So, let’s start with the pros. The Cake Poker network has reasonable traffic – right in the middle of rooms that accept US traffic – and a solid history of promotions that offer good value to players. The network has been relatively scandal-free, although there have been some issues with the software in the past – none that seemed malicious. Depositing on Intertops is largely considered to be much easier than average, especially with credit cards.
As for the cons, cashout speeds have been reported to be less than stellar and the tournament lobby isn’t as busy as tournament specialists are going to desire. Higher stakes action is also difficult to come by, and the software is a bit slower than a PokerStars or Party Poker.
Is Intertops right for you? The best bet at this point, if you’ll excuse the pun, is to deposit the minimum amount allowed and give the room a test run. Your risk will be low, but the reward could be significant.
Carbon Poker Rolls Out Rake-Free Tournaments
December 18, 2011
It’s often been said – usually correctly – that the rake is the toughest opponent any poker player will ever face. When a room runs a promotion the reduces, or better yet eliminates, rake, that literally means that the games have gotten easier.
Who wouldn’t want to see the best player at the table stand up and rack up their chips? That’s effectively what Carbon Poker is offering with their new series of rake-free tournaments for lower buy-in players.
Called the “Fat Stack / Slim Stack”, the series runs every Friday night and gives players two rake-free tournament options to choose from (the rest of the tournament lobby still charges rake – something has to keep the lights on): Fat Stack tournaments where you start with lots of chips and blinds increase every ten minutes, or Slim Stack tournaments, where you start with small stacks and small blinds that jump up every two minutes.
Buy-ins for the tournaments come in $2 and $5 flavors. To give you an example of how great the value of no rake tournaments really is, consider the following: The normal rake on a $2 tournament could be anywhere from .10 to .30. That means, on average, you’re basically getting a tournament entry free for every ten tournaments you play when the tournaments are rake free. If you play a good amount – say 50 tournaments a month – that’s 60 free tournaments over the course of a year.
All of the tournaments are located in the main tournament tab of the Carbon Poker software. The tournaments take place from 20:00 server time to 23:00 server time, with four total tournaments each starting on the hour.
Carbon offers many deposit options, including Western Union. If you’re unsure of the process, read “Depositing at Carbon Poker Using Western Union” from our partners at CarbonPokerRakeback.com.
The Basics of BlackJack on Mobile Devices
December 14, 2011
For many mobile gamblers, the allure of playing slots is what generally brings them out to the mobile casinos, and with good reason; there are plenty of exciting mobile slots available for gamblers to enjoy. But, most mobile betting apps also bring with them an intriguing option that they may not have ever tried before, and may not have even realized was available to them; mobile Blackjack. Here’s a quick refresher course on the popular gambling game.
The primary goal of blackjack is to reach a score of 21 without going over, or “busting” and also having a higher score than the dealer by the end of the game. Aces can count as 1 or 11, while all other cards are normal value. To start, you’ll get both cards face up and the dealer gets one up. Looking at your hand, you’ll determine if you want to “hit” and take another card, “stand” and keep your score, “split” two like cards to play two separate hands with a new card with each, or “double down” and double your bet when you have certain favorable odds against the dealer, like if you have 11 against the dealer showing a 5, for example.
If you’re dealt 21, congratulations! You get a special payout on your blackjack, usually at 3:2 (that’s the payout for BetFred mobile blackjack) but sometimes different depending on the casino or blackjack variant. If the dealer has an ace showing, you’ll be offered “insurance” against him having a blackjack, and can choose to purchase or decline the insurance, after which the dealer will either reveal blackjack or proceed with play as normal. These are the basic rules to blackjack; with them in mind, you can start playing for real money at your favorite mobile casino!
Mobile Casino Now Available at 32Red
December 8, 2011
Many of the best online casinos are offering players mobile options to give them gaming on the go, anywhere you want.
The best of these have a massive selection of games on site and a fair amount to transfer to the mobile gambling arena, and one of the best options you can find for this combination is 32Red and their iPhone app; 400 games on site, 10 games on the phone, and a bunch of promotions and bonuses waiting for players who want to play at a big action casino.
32Red gives players multiple ways to play on their iPhone; this isn’t just a slot game or two. You can also play video poker and blackjack directly on your phone, and even bring your gambling dollars to the roulette tables for a spin. All these games offer players some serious coin for their efforts, too, as 32Red pays out over 30 million pounds to their players every single month; and all these transactions are fully licensed by the Government of Gibraltar, meaning you can be secure in your money and play on this trustworthy site.
32Red also offers players one of the best bonus offers you’ll find on the casino market today; deposit $50 or more into your account, and enjoy an instant $50 bonus directly in your account; no waiting, no pending, just instant cash available to gamble with from the first spin of the slot or flip of the card; this is without a doubt one of the best types of deposit bonuses you’re going to fin online, as instead of waiting for the bonus to clear out $5 at a time (and possibly having to make multiple, non bonus worthy deposits to do so) you get all $50 at once!
There’s no better deal and no better mobile casino than 32Red, so sign up now!
PokerStars Rolls Out Promotions for 10th Anniversary
December 6, 2011
PokerStars, the largest online poker room in the world, is ramping up their promotional machine to celebrate a significant milestone in the online poker industry: A tenth anniversary.
The array of promotions is being revealed slowly as the days pass by; as of the writing of this article, three of the ten core promotions – one for each year – have yet to be revealed.
Of the seven that have been unveiled, players are probably the most excited about three: The PCA giveaway, the $10 million Sunday Million and the $1m Sunday Storm. The two tournaments on the list will no doubt attract massive fields, especially the prize-pool record shattering Sunday Million, featuring a guarantee several times the usual size but with the same buyin for players.
The PCA giveaway is running from now until December 11th, with Stars giving away a ton of PCA packages, and you can get a free entry into one of the weekly finals that award 10 PCA packages, each worth over $15,000. For first-time depositors, the code FIRSTPCA will get you the entry, while reloaders should use the code PCA100. Don’t confuse these codes with the Poker Stars Marketing Code you used when creating your account; these are codes to be used when making the deposit.
The end of the year is typically a hot time for PokerStars bonuses and promotions, and the 10th anniversary celebration is turbo-charging the trend. While PokerStars may not have the big-number poker bonus offers that some rooms feature, they do provide the best poker bonus in a long-term sense, making up for the low upfront numbers by providing solid value to players who are willing to pay attention.
What promotions will round out the PokerStars 10th anniversary celebration? We think the Sunday $10m is going to be tough to top, but it’s hard to believe Stars wouldn’t save the best for last. Keep an eye on the lobby to see what Stars has in store for players next.
Site Snapshot: 888 Bingo
December 3, 2011
Bingo, for many players, is a fun way to kill a little time and win a small amount of money hanging with your friends. Online bingo is much the same, with some hundred or thousand pound payouts regularly the norm. There’s a site that can let you play for more; a lot more, though.
How would you like a chance to make that bingo playing make you a million pounds richer? At 888 Bingo, you can get that chance 3 days a week.
Depositing on the site to get your shot at the million means getting rewarded before buying a single card. You’ll get a 200% match bonus on your first deposit, up to the handsome sum of 200 pounds (sister site 888 Ladies offers a no deposit bonus).
Any subsequent deposits will enjoy a 50% match bonus as well, up to 100 pounds, meaning that you’re always being rewarded with 888. With games as low as 5p a card, you’ll have plenty of action whether you’re a small stakes bingo player or a pound a card bigshot, and if you’re the latter, the Loyalty Program on site will make you even richer with Bad Beat rewards and your own Platinum bingo room just for you and other Platinum members.
The big talk, however, is the 1 million pound coverall jackpot game running three days a week. If you hit the coverall in the allotted draws, you’ll earn a cool million dollars; no other bingo site can come remotely close to offering that much cash in a single jackpot. Of course, there’s other promotions to take advantage of, as well, like the happy hour double loyalty points promotion, or team bingo, a fun way to earn a million loyalty points with your friends. All this and more awaits you at 888 Bingo; home of the million dollar jackpot.