Do online casinos cheat? If you’re thinking about beginning online gambling, it’s a question you want answering. After all, gambling is risky by its very nature – you don’t want to add to that risk by playing somewhere that’s going to cheat you out of your winnings, or not allow you to win at all!

But there are gamblers out there who will still tell you that all online casinos are rigged, that ‘impossible’ things happen too often for them to be truly random.

This is a misconception, but it’s fairly common, and due I believe to a number of things:

Reason #1 – when you’re gambling online, you can play many more games per hour than you can in a land-based casino. You’re playing alone, so you don’t have to wait for others to place their bets or be paid out. There are no physical chips or cards or balls, so there’s no ‘clearing up’ to be done between games. The cards are dealt quicker, the Roulette wheel takes less time to spin, the dice are always ready to be thrown.

Because of this, unusual things will occur much more often than in ‘real’ casinos. They’ll not occur more frequently in terms of probability, but they will in terms of actual time.

For example, the chance of getting 6 consecutive blacks in Roulette is approximately 1 in 64. If it takes two minutes between spins of the Roulette wheel in a real casino, this event will only occur once every two hours. If you’re playing 3 rounds a minute (possible in an online casino), it will occur every twenty minutes! In both cases, the probability is the same, but the impression is that an unusual event is happening far more often, which must be because the online casino is rigged!

Reason #2 – when you play online, you’re playing alone. I touched on this above, explaining how this affects the speed of games, but there’s an important psychological implication to this, too. If you play Blackjack in a real casino with four other players, even if you don’t win for a few rounds, the likelihood is that someone at your table will.

You could easily go ten hands without winning, but because you see others winning and, therefore, see the casino losing, you believe that the casino is honest.

Online, you focus purely on your own results. Suddenly, because you don’t see anyone else win or the casino lose, those ten losing hands seem to be against all probability. The reason? Clearly, the casino must be rigged!

Reason #3 – everyone involved in online casino gambling has to be honest about this: in the early days, some casinos cheated. It’s an unfortunate fact, and for many years did nothing to improve players’ confidence in the honesty of online casinos.

Fortunately, things have now changed. The online casino industry is one of the most regulated of all businesses. Those ‘rogue’ casinos have been run out of town – named and shamed and blacklisted by the numerous industry watchdogs.

These industry ombudsmen exist to uphold the image of fairness and reliability and will step in to investigate and resolve any player disputes. So long as you’re playing at a regulated casino site, you’ll be protected against any wrongdoing.

In the UK, things are even stricter. Since the Gambling Act was enforced last year, only regulated casinos are allowed to advertise or be promoted. In this case, regulated means licensed in an approved jurisdiction. This caused major headaches as many of the biggest casinos suddenly found themselves outside this so-called ‘White List’. Most have now moved operations to places such as Malta, but some have resisted and are now unable to promote to UK and EU players.

In conclusion, online casinos don’t cheat, they’re not rigged and they are fair.

Before you start to gamble online, you’d be well advised to check out your options. Many thousands of so-called ‘portal sites’ exist whose job it is to compare and contrast online casinos and recommend the casino that will best suit your needs.

My advice to anyone contemplating online gambling is to visit one of these portals, safe in the knowledge that the casinos recommended there are licensed, regulated and – above all – honest!

By: Andy Follin

Many players try to beat roulette by buying a “sure fire” roulette system for money. These systems promise consistent gains and to make the buyer rich and beat roulette consistently. Of course, the reality does not match the hype and these systems are ALL doomed to failure.

You can beat roulette, but it does not involve buying a system, more of that later. For now, lets look at why a mathematical roulette system cannot work.

Roulette Systems

In roulette, each spin of the roulette wheel is totally random. Let’s say that the colour red has come up twice in succession. The odds of this number coming up on the next spin are no greater or worse than if the number had not come up in 100, 500 or 1,000 spins previous spins, the odds still remain 50% – 50%.

All spins of the roulette wheel are independent of each other and totally unrelated to the previous spin history. As the outcome of the spin is unrelated to any other, roulette is a game of pure chance.

A mathematical system in roulette that promises consistent gains is a contradiction in terms, because if you have no reliable historical data, mathematical formulas are useless.

In mathematics, you know what is definitely going to happen, in roulette you have the exact opposite you never know what is going to happen!

Your Own Simple 1 – 2 – 3 Roulette System!

For games of chance like roulette, the best a player can do is to wager on bets having the lowest casino advantage and to find the right type of roulette table.

Once you have done this, you have put the odds as much in your favour as possible. Here are three simple steps to help you beat roulette.

Rule 1: Play European

The European version has 37 slots with a single 0; the American version has an extra slot, a 00 to make 38.

The house advantage is 2.7% For European and 5.26% for the American table. Simple – play European!

Rule 2: Avoid These Bets

These include all single number bets, because these types of bets have large disparities between odds of success and payouts.

Always avoid the five number bet, it has the worst odds on the table.

Rule 3: Bets to Place

Use bets whose odds are near to their payouts.

These “even money” bets include betting on Even, Odd, Low, (numbers 1 through 18), High, (numbers 19 through 36), Red, or Black.

These bets pay out odds of 1 : 1. With these bets, you’ll find your odds of winning win are 45% making it a very low risk way to bet.

Finally, look for a European single-zero wheel that offers a rule called ‘en prison.’ If you make even money bet and the ball lands on zero, you don’t lose your bet. Instead, your bet is ‘imprisoned’, and you let it ride until the next spin. If your bet wins, you can remove it. The house edge here is cut in half and is just 1.35% making it the best bet of all.

The above simple guidelines will help you beat roulette and will outperform any mathematical system.

Keep in mind, that roulette is a game of chance and the most you can do is put the odds in your favour as much as possible and enjoy the game and maybe some healthy profits.

By: Stephen Todd

South Carolina is a Southern state known for its genteel, Southern-hospitality. Columbia is the capital and many in the state’s population of about 4 million people know that the sandy-white beaches of the Atlantic Ocean is the place to be. This state is also known for its outdoor living, with a number of mountainous terrain perfect for hiking, several large cities for the urban crowd and of course, the coast for all the sea-lovers.

However, not to be left out, the South Carolina casinos offer just as much fun as the beautiful beaches lining the South Carolina coast. While the numbers of casinos are not as numerous as they are in other states, South Carolina casinos choose to offer quality over quantity. They blend in with the beautiful landscape of South Carolina, but add a bit of spice to the Southern culture that dominates South Carolina.

The SunCruz Myrtle Beach is located in Little River and is one of the most popular casinos in South Carolina. There are more than 300 slot machines, a restaurant and more than 20 table games. This South Carolina casino boasts a smaller-scale Vegas-style vibe and is a favorite for locals and visitors alike.

The town of Little River also features the Southern Elegance Casino Cruise, which features more than 200 slots in an elegant setting. There is also a dining option with this South Carolina casino and it is the perfect way to spend any evening with a loved one or a group of friends celebrating a night out on the town. This area of South Carolina is known for its natural beauty and the Southern Elegance Casino Cruise is no exception, with its stunning décor.

South Carolina also features a Native American facility in the Catawba High Stakes Bingo. This South Carolina casino is located in Rock Hill and has some of the best bingo games found around South Carolina. High stakes bingo has been emerging on the gambling seen as a lucrative gambling option in South Carolina casinos, and is a great choice for beginning and professional gamblers alike.

South Carolina casinos are reflective of the state’s environment as a whole – laid-back, tourist-friendly facilities featuring variety, but not so much so that it comes as a shock to your senses. From the Southern hospitality to the variety of games and services, South Carolina casinos have carved out their own spot on the national casino scene.

By: Adel Awwad