Slot Machines News

i think i may have set a record for “how long can you go between blog posts?”  I’m not sure, but I know it’s been super-long. 

So, Christmas duties are done, and as a reward I’ve decided to settle into some time at the online casinos as a treat to myself.  Yay ME!!!

As habit has it, the first thing I do is generally check out what’s going on at English Harbour/Superslots.  They always have a slots tournament taking place, and I’m sure with the holidays there would be something big happening.  There is . . .

The “COUNTDOWN TO 2010″ is a bit of a play with the guaranteed prize pool of $201,000.  It’s 100 times better than a $2,010 prize pool. 

Anyway, the tournament is broken into four weeks of action, each on a different machine, and each with its own prize pool.  I’m too late for the first two weeks, but you know how the Christmas season can kindof take up a lot of time. 

They ran “legs” of the tournament on the Dr. Love game and also The Right Prize machine.  This week, between the 14th and the 21st, they’re running a tournament on the “X Marks the Spot” game.  So, it looks like I have a new slot to download!

I took a look at the payouts, and the first thing I noticed is that there is a $5 entry fee for the tourney.  Lol.  I think after all the cash I spent on the holiday I can swing a few $5 bills for myself!

They “only” pay the top 240 or so players, and already there are 890 people involved.  That means someone actually lost.  Over the summer the casino payed out so many places that pretty much every single player placed in the money.  I’m not too shocked that that couldn’t last forever.

It does mean, however, that if you reading this blog and took advantage of those tournaments that you were a very astute online slots player, and my hat is off to you!  Trust me, I keep looking for the good deals

I guess I didn’t realize that it will be a new decade!  That’s kind of a big event, and I think it deserves a slots tournament in honor of it.  So, wish me well on my spins in the big English Harbour “countdown to 2010″ slots tournament.

I’ll put up a review of the machine after I go enjoy a well earned casino visit!

 

The Rival Powered Casinos have added some new slots to their line up recently.  Among them is the new(ish) Psychedlic Sixties slot machine.

I had a chance to take this slot out for a test drive, from my office chair that is, at the “This is Vegas” online casino. 

The Psychedelic Sixties slot game is an iSlot, which means there are interactive features that you can unlock by landing certain winning combinations.  I LOVE this style of slot machine.  Before I get into the unlockables though, here’s a screenshot of the slot machine itself. 

You can see that there are 20 paylines on this machine.  That’s a lot of ways to land a winning combination, so anyone who loves the five reel video style slots, and likes landing a lot of winners should enjoy this game.

You can wager more than one coins per payline as well.  In fact, you can wager up to 10 coins on each of the paylines.  And speaking of coins, the coin sizes range from a penny ($.01) up to a dime ($.10).  So, you have some power over the wagering, and can set the cost of a spin where you want it.

Now, for the special features . . .

WILD SYMBOL - Of course the Psychedlic Sixties slot has a Wild icon on the reels.  But, it’s a unique Wild Symbol.  For instance, it will only appear on the first three reels.  The Wild Symbol changes when you enter the free spin sessions. 

It becomes an expanding wild symbol, that will take over the entire column when it appears, making it much easier to fill in the holes in a winning combination.  In fact, I managed to hit a BIG winner with the help of the expanding wild symbol while i was taking the Psychedlic 60’s slot for a test drive.

It also acts like a multiplier, so if you make use of one wild symbol you’ll earn a payout.  If you make use of two wild symbols your payout will be multiplied.  Payouts during the free spin sessions have larger multipliers, so the free spins session can really lead to big payouts.

FREE SPINS - there’s a free spin motorcycle symbol on ther reels.  If you manage to land three or more of them, you’ll unlock the free spins session, where all of the winning combinations are multiplied. 

BONUS ROUND - the Psychedlic 60’s slot is an iSlot after all, so we should certainly expect a bonus round of some kind.  The bonus round is actually a “Summer of Love” tour.

 

Players make stops in 5 different cities around the world, picking up fellow hippies and bonus credits. 

You can take this slot game for a test drive at any of the better Rival Powered Casinos including Slot O Cash and This is Vegas.

sometimes you come across something that is completely over the top.  it’s kind of like walking through Las Vegas the first time.  you know, there’s what i usually think of as “big”, and then there’s Caesar’s Palace and the Bellagio, and the Venetian.  hell, there are more rooms in those hotels than there are houses in my home town!!

well, that sensation hit me again today.  i think of a $300 welcome bonus from a casino as very nice.  i think that an $800 welcome bonus - like what they’re doing at English Harbour -  as BIG!  and then there’s this . . .

the new welcome bonus from ROME CASINO is completely Over-The-Top!!

it’s a 100% matching bonus - so whatever you decide to deposit into your player account is matched by the casino, dollar for dollar.  that’s pretty standard.  the fact that they’ve set the maximum for the bonus at $1,000 per deposit is not so standard. 

still, I don’t have $5,000 kicking around to gamble with.  BUT - they stretch this offer out over your first five deposits!  THAT, i like.  a LOT.

so, i can make a regular sized deposit the first time around, and get a 100% matching bonus.  cool. 

and then if i like the games and i’m feeling like i’m happy at the casino, i can really take advantage of the free cash by making whatever size deposits i feel like and still pulling in that matching bonus on my second deposit.  and my third.  and my fourth.  and my fifth.  hehe. 

nice.  very nice. 

and Rome Casino has been doing well as far as being able to process credit cards and actually take deposit from players.  that’s a plus.  getting all excited to play some slots, and then finding out i have to make four different phone calls to get the deposit to go through is a bother. 

so, when my friend at work asked me what the new news was with playing online, i told him that the Rome Casino Bonus was definitely it!  Definitely worth checking out!  now, with any luck i can turn that bonus cash against the casino and land a couple of nice winners before Mother’s Day!

the slotland jackpot that is.  i woke up this morning and thought i’d have a look and maybe a few spins at slotland, and the jackpot was back down to $50,000.  so, i knew someone had hit it while i slept!!

i went to twitter, and here’s the snippet i found . . .

“LAST JACKPOT OF $200,111 HIT BY FORGOMO ON MARCH 18.”

i was CLOSE, but no cigar.

well, that’s what the headline should read in the morning.  i snuck in some time to play tonight because usually this thing hits around the $100k mark.  now, it’s almost DOUBLE that, and i have some money kicking around in my Slotland account.

actually, i ran down and back up, and then down, and back up, and then down, and then back up AGAIN while playing their “Slotris” machine. it’s a cross between a slot machine, and tetris. i should review it some time. it’s a one of a kind machine, and you can only play it at slotland.

right now, as i’m typing, the jackpot is $199,756, so in less than $250 of growth, it’ll be at the $200,000 mark.  i’m actually thinking that’ll be a record for the casino, but i’m not totally positive.

i do know that i do NOT expect it to get much higher before someone finally lines up all the right symbols, and takes down a VERY NICE buy a car/pay off the house/college is paid for/let’s go to the islands for the summer kind of jackpot!

if you’ve never been to Slotland, it’s the strangest place.  you play right over the web, through your internet explorer, or firefox.  you don’t need to download anything, so it’s even, get this, Wii gaming console friendly.

and, the machines are set really, really loose.  they say 98%, and i believe them.  or at least that’s what my experience has been.  like tonight,  i spent half an hour chasing a jackpot, and i’m basically right where i started. 

no jackpot, but i won’t have to deposit on my next visit either. 

well, i’ll check in on the morrow, and expect to see either some happy, very recent winner, or a headline that reads that the Slotland progressive Jackpot has reached over the $200,000 mark.  and the good thing, you can win on any machine in the house.  it’s not like the jackpot is tied to one slot.  any slot can be the lucky one, so i can play whatever slot i like most.

Christmas is certainly a time when my mailbox gets a workout.  It’s usually mixed bag of holiday greeting from friends and family (those who still put pen to paper, that is), and a steady supply of sales books/offers, etc.

Well, to my surprise I just received a package from a Microgaming casino that I hadn’t heard of before.  The fact that there is a Microgaming that I hadn’t heard of is somewhat odd to begin with.  the fact that I’m on their mailing list is odd as well. 

Usually a mailing like this includes a disk of the casino’s games, and this one was no different.  But what WAS Different is the fact that they had already signed me up as a player.  Here’s a quote . . .

“Your account has been pre-registered and credited with $500 free”

Now the $500 was part of one of the popular “$500 for wagering during the first hour” promotions.  But, since Microgaming has essentially shut their doors to new players from the United States, I thought that this was an interesting situation. 

Instead of me signing up, they must have pre-qualified me as someone who isn’t from one of the “heavy 11″ states, which come to think of it has expanded to include Kentucky.  At any rate, if you are stateside and don’t have an account at any of the Microgaming casinos, I can’t tell you where or how to get “pre-registered” like this, but I thought I’d post about my surprise experience to let you know that there seem  to be some backdoors open.

Maybe you should consider calling up customer support at a casino that interests you and inquire about them registering you?  Anyway, just a heads up on the happenings in the world of online slots.

There is some news today from the Slotland front.  In case you haven’t heard of Slotland, they’ve been around forever, and they are a casino that makes their own games - so if you see it at Slotland, you won’t see it anywhere else.

They also set the machines to pay out at 98%, so I keep my eye on them.  Anyway, they plan on launching a new slot machinein the near future - the MegaSpin game.

The only information I was able to pick up was that it should be out sometime in the next week - so look for a review of the MegaSpin game from Slotland to be coming, oh, sometime within the next week

In the meantime, the casino-wide progressive jackpot has reached the $81,900 mark.  With any luck it won’t be hit before they release the new MegaSpin machine, so I’ll have a chance at a nice holiday bonus.

The super sized slot tournament hailed as the WORLD SERIES OF SLOTS has come to a close.  And, there are some very happy people. 

Here is a recap of who won, and how much.  ahem, as an aside, my name is absent from the following

——–$500,000 World Series of Slots ———
        CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS!
 
$200,000 Grand Final - November 7th-10th
1st place Edward G. (VIP…55) $100,000
2nd place Juwarseh P. (Asr…22) $25,000
3rd place Virginia C. (Vajr…55) $10,000
4th place Dorena S. (Vajr…10) $5,000

$100,000 Semi-Final - October 2nd-4th
1st place Petteri V. (tchr…07) $50,000
2nd place Paula J. (Asr…85) $10,000
3rd place Andreas H. (Vajr…04) $5,000

$25,000 Weekly Final $10,000 Winners
Martha H. (Vajr…20)  Simon V. (Vajr…18)
Chiara M. (Asr…62)  Denny C. (Vajr…61)
Mary B. (Vajr…02) Brian H. (Vajr…80)
Afan O. (Vajr…24)  Barbara D. (Vajr…47)

I came across an offer recently that really caught my eye. It was some sort of casino player insurance where if you lose playing games at the casino, they will give you a percentage of your losses back as a VIP bonus.

That’s not a bad idea, so I did some digging on the net and unearthed the following casino cashback offers . . .

Absolute Slots Casino - Weekly Cashback

Absolute Slots has a VIP club that offers players money back should they lose at the casino. The amount of casino cashback depends on where you are on the “VIP list”. Everyone gets 5% back, but the more you play, the higher that amount goes. The players at the top of the VIP list get 25% cash back from the casino on their losses. That - is insane, it’s just a ton of money back.

Paradise 8 also has a VIP club, with a similar offer. how do you become a VIP at paradise 8? Hehe, make a first deposit of $25 or more and you’re in. That means that almost everyone in the entire casino is a VIP - and that’s not a bad thing.

SlotoCash gives players 5% cashback on their losses. That’s also a part of a VIP program, but at SlotoCash the only thing you really need to do to make enter “Club Sloto” is make a $50 deposit. That’s simple enough.

Online casinos have set up comp points systems from close to the very beginning, and they haven’t been stingy when it comes to rewarding players. A lot of casinos have been letting players cash in their comp points in exchange for money, but that’s not quite what I think of when I think of cashback.

Instead of racking up comp points for play, I’m thinking about bonuses that help cover your losses. Because face it, I can hit a hot machine and play for days, or run into a streak of ice cold machines and rack up the losses pretty quick. I’m happy about having a little something coming back in case I lose. It’s not so much about getting a very little something in exchange for time spent spinning the reels.

Poker players have been enjoying what they call “rakeback” for years now. So, it’s nice to see some form of cash back coming to the online casinos

I like eCogra, and so when they hit me with an email letting me know what they’re up to lately, I think it’s worth passing on. Here is the latest press release that hit my email box . . .

Online gaming and betting: EU private industry leads first ever benchmark study on responsible gaming practices

Brussels, 4 November 2008 - A study carried out by eCOGRA, the leading standards and player protection body in the online gaming industry, reveals that 67% of the consumer facing responsible gaming Standards implemented by the EGBA, the association of European gaming and betting operators, match or even exceed those applied by 10 of Europe’s largest gambling monopolies.

The results show that:

• 43% of the standards applied by the private operators match those of the monopolies;
• 24% exceed those of the monopolies;
• Only 4% of the standards applied by the private sector are deemed to be lower than those of the monopolies;
• The remaining standards could not be benchmarked against those of the monopolies either because of insufficient information (21%) or inapplicability (8%)

In a fast changing online environment, rigorous monitoring of the best existing practices is essential so as to allow a continuous process of updates and improvements. In this context, in May 2008 the EGBA appointed eCOGRA to carry out a study that would benchmark some of Europe’s leading gambling monopolies against the EGBA’s own Standards governing consumer protection, security and social responsibility that it requires all of its members to meet.

EGBA welcomes the results of the study that provides the first ever fact-based and comparative assessment of the practices in place at both private sector operators as well as those of government controlled monopolies.

According to Sigrid Ligné, Secretary General of the EGBA: “This study shows us that there are lessons to be learned by both the monopolies as well as the private sector. However, it also clearly dismisses the argument that private sector companies are failing to provide consumers with similar levels of protection and responsible gaming practices. In fact the evidence shows that it is the private sector that is leading the field in this important area and results are a testament to the major commitment and strong leadership of EGBA operators towards developing a comprehensive and consistent package of responsible gaming practices”.

At a time when responsible gaming is at the heart of political discussions in Europe, eCOGRA’s study gives clear evidence that two thirds of the consumer facing tools and practices in place at the EGBA members offer protections that either match or exceed those offered by the monopolies. It also shows the need for improved transparency as 21% of the Standards could not be benchmarked due to either insufficient information being available on the exact equivalent practices of the monopolies or the fact that they were not accessible.

Sigrid Ligné added: “I am confident that this study will improve the understanding of all stakeholders throughout Europe on the important issue of consumer protection and responsible gaming. From now on, it will provide a valuable reference for those making political decisions about the future of online gaming at EU as well as at a national level”.

Andrew Beveridge, CEO of eCOGRA added: “Self-regulation in the online gaming sector is an important tool and great complement to formal regulation. Legislators should seek to draw upon the considerable and effective efforts made by the private sector and promote similar initiatives throughout the EU”.