Online Poker has been dealt another blow. Last week a Washington state appeals court rejected the arguments of a Renton lawyer, Lee Rousso, who had been arguing that a 2006 law forbidding Internet gambling in the state violates a clause of the U.S. constitution.

The unanimous decision by three judges of division I of the appeals court says that Rousso would have to show that policing Internet poker imposes excessive burdens and not worth the state's commitment to regulating gaming.

After reviewing the appeals court findings, Rousso said he is considering taking the case to the state Supreme Court.

This is an unfortunate continuation of the years long effort by prohibition advocates to stop citizens from engaging in safe activities from the comfort of their own home and the privacy of their own computers. While hopes are still high that the federal law known as the UIGEA will eventually be repealed or modified to accept regulated online gambling sites (which would void any state laws concerning the subject), rulings like this could still affect players who want to legally enjoy the benefits of gaming online.

While legally this is a setback for online Poker enthusiasts, note that there have been no state prosecutions since the law went into effect in 2006. And don't tell the Washington state appeals court, but Full Tilt continues to accept players from the entire United States.

Vic's Bingo Hall wants all online Bingo fans to make them your Bingo Hall of choice. One of the many ways they have of attracting new players and keeping them happy is the large number of unique game patterns. At Vic's it's possible to play hundreds of games without ever repeating a pattern.

There are six different types of game patterns at Vic's Bingo; regular patterns, fixed patterns, progressive patterns, promotions patterns, special patterns, and theme patterns. Regular and fixed patterns share the goal of matching a pattern on the card, but the "regular" games will see a larger jackpot depending on how many cards are active in the room whereas "fixed" games always have the same size jackpot. Progressive patterns will see the jackpot rise over the course of several games until a player hits BINGO at the right time during a game.

Promotions patterns are related to weekly newsletter specials. Special patterns come with specific topics and run only at certain times. And finally, theme patterns are related to holidays, special events, and special characters, and also runs at special times only. These three patterns have specific information on upcoming events in the Bingo Promotions page at Vic's Bingo's website.

If online Bingo is a hobby of yours or you think maybe it could be, Vic's Bingo is one of the best places to enjoy the game at. There's also a special promotion for new accounts, $5 on the house to play with. Players can also enjoy the games for free if desired, although no money down means no money won. Have it either way, but be sure to have fun.

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Create a sportsbook account at Bodog in time to bet on the Final Four in the NCAA March Madness Tournament. There haven't been too many surprises this year, although I admit losing some interest after Illinois was knocked out in the first round. While Lousville and Pittsburgh were beaten in their regions, Michigan State and Villanova are both strong teams. It should be a really solid semifinals, leading up to an intense Championship on April 6th.

The games are both on Saturday and can be seen on CBS, or you can watch the games while betting at Bodog Live. The odds in the picture are subject to change up until game time.

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Stay up to date with what's going on at Online Gambling Press. There are several new permanent pages in the righthand column. An in-depth review of both Golden Casino and Cherry Red Casino, along with a new page devoted to casino bonuses, the Bonus Hunter's Corner. And anyone who has any questions, concerns, or other comments can get in touch with me by reading the About page.

Stay tuned! There will be a lot more in the near future, with several more casino and poker room reviews, as well as a page with progressive jackpot tickers, giving everyone real time information on where the biggest jackpots online are.

Full Tilt Poker has launched a Poker Academy that gives players a classroom in which they can get advice from some of the best poker pros in the world. With a long list of lessons in video format given by pros such as Howard Lederer, Allen Cunningham, Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman and many more, poker fans can get tips from true poker professionals.

To access the Poker Academy, simply click the links in this post to visit Full Tilt's website and then click the 'Full Tilt Poker Academy' option in the 'How to Play' menu. The lessons cover all aspects of poker play, ranging from general strategy to cash games to multi-table tournaments.

From the Poker Academy's website:

Full Tilt Poker Academy gives you the opportunity to learn how to play poker with world famous pros, exclusive poker videos, interactive poker games, prizes and rewards, and direct access to online play for real or play money. Learn poker strategy now, it's free to join. Use the tips from the pros in real online poker games 24 hours a day on state-of-the-art online poker software that is free to download.

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A quick anecdote; my brother recently bought a MacBook Pro, a great laptop by the way, as long as you can afford it. And since he's been playing poker at Full Tilt for years now we wanted to make sure he could keep playing at Full Tilt on his new laptop. My first instinct was, of course it will work, but he didn't buy the laptop just for poker so we quickly went to Full Tilt's website and downloaded the software in just a minute or two, and everything was running smoothly in minutes. Full Tilt has full Mac support. Logging on to the account on the MacBook, we even saw that the player notes and personal settings had been brought over.

Full Tilt has remained one of the best poker rooms for years, offering a huge variety of games to choose from, including table games, tournaments, and special events. With the tables packed 24 hours a day, poker players can sit down whenever they want and find the game they're looking for. Online poker play has obviously revolutionized the way poker is played all over the world, whether it's online or not, but with places like Full Tilt all players are treated to a high level of service.

So to all the Mac using poker players out there, download Full Tilt's free software today and start playing in minutes. Players from all over the world can join Full Tilt, and all major credit cards are accepted.

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March Madness rolls on, with the Sweet 16 getting underway tomorrow night. Bodog Sportsbook has been taking bets on all sporting events for years now, and has of course been accepting wagers on the March Madness tournament. But with Bodog it's more than just a win/lose bet on your favorite team.

The Bodog Live feature continues to please bettors as they are able to place bets on the action in real time. Wager on any play in the game and experience a new level of excitement brought to you by Bodog Live. This is a relatively new feature, but one that has exploded in popularity for obvious reasons.

The team rankings have proven remarkably accurate this year as there have been almost no upsets. In the Midwest, it's Louisville vs. Arizona and Kansas vs. Michigan State. In the West, Connecticut vs. Perdue and Missouri vs. Memphis. The East will see Pittsburgh vs. Xavier and Villanova vs. Duke. The South has UNC vs. Gonzaga and Syracuse vs. Oklahoma. While the tournament hasn't seen many upsets so far, Arizona has stuck around longer than expected. Can they go all the way? Watch the game Friday night to see what Louisville has to say about that.

All of this leads up to the big Championship on April 6th taking place in Detroit. If you haven't already made an account at Bodog, be sure to create one today, it is free of course, and depositing money is a breeze.

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Don't be fooled, the new freeroll Slots Tournament being offered at Online Vegas is no joke. This is a free-to-enter tournament starting at noon (EST) on April 1st and running through 8pm on April 3rd. Players who run into a spot of bad luck can re-buy for only $1.99. Everyone who wants to play will need an account, but a cash deposit is not required for entry.

Online Vegas has been offering players fantastic service since it launched in the summer of 2008. This includes huge bonuses, over a hundred games, and flashy software that really gives players a great experience while gaming. Along with Golden Casino, Online Vegas has been hosting more and more slots tournaments in the last several months, with some of those taking the form of freeroll tournaments, like this one.

This tournament will be played on the Funky Chicken slots, and is available to both new and pre-existing players.

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Adding to Golden Casino's line of quality slots tournaments comes the Final 4 $40,000 Gaurantee Slot Tournament. As the name says, this tournament will be giving out a total of $40,000 in prize money no matter how many people enter. There will be an extra $444 given out to the top 4 finishers. The Final 4 Tournament starts on April 3rd, runs through April 7th, and will pay out prizes to 125 lucky winners.

I often highlight Golden Casino for it's games, bonuses, and promotions, and will continue to do so simply because Golden Casino is one of the best online casinos available, and I owe it to all of you to focus on the most respectable and professional casinos on the Internet. Good luck and have fun at Golden Casino.

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Baccarat is a casino card game going back over half a thousand years. The fact that it is still going strong in casinos around the world speaks strongly to its' popularity. In Baccarat, a player can bet on the player to win, the banker to win, or a tie occurring.

In Baccarat, the cards 2-9 are worth face value, 10s and face cards (J, Q, K) are worth zero, and Aces are worth 1 point. Players calculate their score by taking the sum of all cards; however, when the total adds up to more than 10 the first digit is ignored, making 9 the highest score that can be attained.

While Baccarat has remained popular for hundreds of years there is no special strategy, it is a game based solely on chance. While the TIE bet will always look appealing due to the high payout, it is a bet that should never be made. Technically, the best strategy to Baccarat is simply to bet on the Banker every time, but this can get dull and since the house has a tiny statistical advantage in Baccarat, will ultimately result in a player losing all chips. In the end, do what should be done with every casino game; play to have fun while being informed of the probabilities of winning various bets.

There is basically a 9.5% chance of a tie occurring, while usually being paid out at 8:1. There is a 45.9% chance of the Banker winning, and a 44.6% chance of the Player winning. While both pay out at 2:1, the casino will usually charge a small commission on a winning Banker bet.

Any online casino worth downloading will host a large variety of classic games, including Baccarat. Play Baccarat and many other games at any of these three online casinos.

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Some information on the very popular Bingo Hall's VIP program, which rewards bingo fans for playing a lot of games. It is split up into 11 levels, with each level giving a higher deposit bonus than the previous. Everyone is automatically entered into the program, and level 1 coincides with the initial 100% deposit bonus. At level 2, players will see a 25% deposit bonus and it steadily goes up from there, all the way up to 150%. The percent bonus is good for all deposits a player makes while at that particular level, which can quickly add up to a lot of money, courtesy of BingoHall.com.

A note on the program from Bingo Hall's website:

Bingo Hall offers the world's biggest and best online bingo Loyalty Reword Program called simply the "VIP Program". It's basically rewarding players with higher deposit bonuses as they gain more levels through the VIP ladder. All players have automatically a VIP level upon registering at Bingo Hall. There are also other perks such as higher Chat Comp limits and more stuff to it. For more information, please read the most Frequently Asked Questions regarding this program. If something isn't clear, please feel free to Contact Us.

There are other perks associated with the VIP level, but the cash bonuses are the big deal associated with it. Bingo Hall's website has the specific details on what it takes to rise from level to level, it changes periodically depending on how much activity specific games have seen in the last four months.

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I find it very interesting to see what online casinos are coming up with in order to keep existing players entertained and new players interested now that the industry is so much more mature. It's no longer just a matter of a few slot machines and table games. I've already written about how large the cash bonuses are getting and how much flashier the software is becoming, now we're seeing more exciting games. And now with Lucky 18 Casino, gamers can play multihand or multiplayer Blackjack tournaments. According to their website, this is the "world's first global Blackjack Tournament Network."

The tournament information is all easily accessible from Lucky 18's website, with schedules for both the multihand and multiplayer tournaments as well as leader boards letting people know who's on top for the current month. This is all part of a larger Blackjack section on the website that has pages for a Blackjack glossary, rules, strategy, and the history of Blackjack. It's in this section that players will get the detailed information on when the next tournament will take place and what kind it is, just click the banner on the top right of Lucky 18's website.

No doubt an extension of the huge popularity that has surrounded Poker tournaments the last six years, and to a lesser degree for decades, these Blackjack tournaments give players yet another option when looking for games to play at Lucky 18.

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Cherry Red is known as a great casino with a good set of bonuses and a very thorough selection of games to choose from. The game I'd like to highlight right now is Keno, a specialty game that resembles a lottery game or bingo. Even though it's fairly popular not all casinos carry Keno, so this is something that sets Cherry Red apart.

Players can download and install the software in just a few minutes, and then Keno is just a couple of clicks away. Don't forget to look into the sign-up bonus after you deposit but before you wager.

A short description of exactly how the game is played for those who don't know but are curious:

In Keno, 20 numbers are drawn randomly. The goal of Keno is to predict which numbers will be drawn. You can select up to 15 of the 80 numbers on the Keno card. When a number you selected is drawn, it is highlighted with yellow print and a flashing red background. When a number is drawn that you did not select, it is marked with a red X.

You can play one, five, or ten consecutive Keno games using the numbers you selected by clicking Play 1, Play 5, or Play 10.

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Full Tilt continues to lead the pack in the online poker world, offering cash bonuses to depositing players, weekly big-stake tournaments, and smaller sized multi-table tournaments several times an hour. Considering these events, combined with the huge variety of tables a player can find any time of the day, it would be easy for Full Tilt to stop there and keep their player base satisfied, but there is so much more.

As of today, players can compete for a 2009 World Series of Poker seat in one of the seven competitions Full Tilt is running, 14 players have already won a seat. There were also 10 prize packages given out to satellite Tournament winners in which they received entry into a World Poker Tour event, and while this event is over, Full Tilt will have more for the next event. There's currently a durrrr (a famous Full Tilt poker player) challenge going on, in which players can bet $500,000 against durrrr's $1.5 Million. While this is obviously too rich for most players, it can be fun to watch the action and keep up with the progress as the competition ranges over 50,000 hands. For poker fans who like watching the pros play, there was also the Chris Ferguson challenge, in which he went from $0 to $10,000, starting with nothing but freeroll tournaments and managing to reach his goal 9 months later.

Some of the more routine promotions running throughout the year are the Iron Man challenge, rewarding players who put in lots of time and opening the door to more cash bonuses. The Fifty-Fifty, a tournament guaranteeing $50k in prizes for a $55 buy-in. The Doubles are a series of otherwise normal tournaments that come in pairs and give players twice the chance at winning big. What makes the Doubles special are the progressive jackpots attached to them, awarded to players who get high in the standings in both tournaments.

The list will continue to grow as Full Tilt continues to run innovative tournaments and offer other exciting promotions to new and longterm players. Visit their website to get more information on these promotions and download their free software. A few minutes after downloading and you can be playing live.

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Realtime Gaming Software is a modern casino platform, in use by many of the newer casinos which present flashier websites and large cash bonuses. The three online casinos that I believe best exemplify what it means to be a Realtime Gaming casino are Rushmore, Cherry Red, and Lucky 18. Since they all share the same software they all have a large selection of games, but they also all offer high bonuses for joining and depositing.

Games like Blackjack, Baccarat, Craps, European and American Roulette, and Keno are of course included with the casinos, after all, how could a casino not offer these. But the games that get the best treatment when moving from brick and mortar casinos to the online world are the slot machines and video poker games, and in these, RTG casinos have an abundance of high quality games to choose from.

With an emphasis placed on customer support, no player who joins or is thinking about joining these casinos should ever get the feeling that they are being neglected. Whether the subject is a bonus or technical problems with the software, the casino will be there to help, 24/7. Players can also expect to see a lot of games being added over time as Realtime Gaming is constantly developing new additions to their software in order to improve the player's experience.

I feel as if I should balance out all this praise with some words of concern, but there simply isn't anything negative to say about this software or the casinos that use it, at least not the ones I promote. These casinos all have solid reputations and have shown they care about the player; have fun playing for free or for real money at one or all of them.

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Enjoy more than 80 casino games, ranging from dozens of slot machines to a wide variety of table games, at the hugely popular Rushmore Casino. Rushmore has been adding more and more games lately, most recently the Happy Golden Ox of Happiness. That sure is one happy Ox.

You will get a complete picture of the selection of games being offered simply by clicking the Preview Games button at Rushmore's website. Table games like Roulette, Craps, and Blackjack (with multiple varieties in each), and also specialty games such as Keno, Sic Bo, and European Slot Poker are all available. And of course any casino worth visiting, which Rushmore most certainly is, will have dozens of slot machines and video poker games to enjoy.

Rushmore is one of those great casinos that already offers a fantastic level of service, but is constantly striving get bigger and better. With their pair of welcome bonuses worth up to $888 for new players, as well as VIP bonuses for longterm players, this is a great place for everyone looking to enjoy a few casino games.

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There's a new online casino out there causing a storm in the online gaming industry due to the massive cash bonuses that it's offering. Go Casino is giving out huge wads of cash to depositing players and is brought to us by the same people behind Golden Casino and Online Vegas, meaning that, as far as I'm concerned, it already meets all reliability standards. Golden Casino alone has been a well respected casino for years now.

The deal is for new players, which includes everyone at the all new Go Casino, and the amount is up to $20,000 in total bonuses. It's actually a series of 20 bonuses each for $1,000, which in the end is better for players. At other online casinos there might be a large bonus offered to new players, but the player is forced to make a huge deposit a single time and then never get another chance at receiving a bonus. But at Go Casino, players will have 20 separate chances to get huge bonuses. The number and size of bonuses being offered is unprecedented for online casinos.

Keep in mind that players aren't forced to make a $1,000 deposit in order to receive the bonuses, the minimum is only $25. So for players who aren't interested in depositing large amounts, there's always the option of putting in something like $100 at a time and watching as the casino matches that amount and any other deposit you make for the first 20 deposits.

A player's first deposit will automatically trigger the bonus, and for the next 19 simply contact customer support, they are ready to help online or via telephone 24/7.

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