I was trolling around various news sites on the web for the latest info in the online gambling world (this is how I spend much of my time at work- shhhh, don’t tell anyone) and I stumbled upon an interesting article at http://www.bing.com/news. Apparently, here in the U.S. illegal gambling on Pigeon Racing is a $15 million a year industry. This report comes from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and according to them, pigeon racing kills thousands of birds annually. Seriously?

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t agree with any form of animal betting. I see it as crude, unnecessary, and often maliciously carried-out- with everything from horses to dogs to (apparently) pigeons being abused for no good purpose. I feel that any game that requires undue suffering in order to be fully enjoyed in no true ‘game’ at all. Least of all for the critters (or people) directly involved. Nevertheless, I can’t help but be perplexed by this one. What exactly are people betting on? And if over $15 mil is spent on it a year, why is this the first time I’ve ever heard about it? I looked but couldn’t find much beyond this story (and its mirrors on other sites) that broached the topic.

Regardless of where PETA gets its figures, pigeon racing is probably going to become far more widely known in the near future. Apparently this controversy was sparked by a reality t.v. show featuring Mike Tyson raising pigeons to race. While Tyson (and allegedly other pigeon racers) treat their birds with care beforehand, the cruelty comes in during the actual races. Pigeons are a bonding animal and generally very intelligent. However, these racing pigeons are separated from their mates and released hundreds of miles away from their homes. These birds have been raised in captivity and are used to relying on humans for their livelihoods. Left on their own in foreign environments, these birds attempt to get back to their feathery partners and homes, but over 60% either get lost or die from exposure, starvation, and exhaustion.

It’s as if no one recognizes we live in a world where bets can be placed online on virtual animals, in virtual games, with perfectly reasonable results. One could even take a cue from facebook and have an application where one must ‘nurture’ their virtual pet online for many months before releasing it into the effervescent space of the Inter-web. Moreover, horse racing and dog racing are predominantly legal in the U.S.- but is wagering on pigeon racing covered by the same legal conscripts? There are plenty of fun, interestings way to gamble online and hurt nary a pigeon, nor break a single law (well, in most states).

Perhaps I’m the crazy one, but the entire concept of pigeon racing strikes me as just downright bizarre and hard to understand in this modern day and age.

One of the opportunities that few online blackjack players take into consideration is that they don’t have to play alone or solely against the dealer. This goes a bit against what we’re used to thinking of when we think of blackjack. Even at a crowded table in a brick and mortar casino, we stand next to other players, but their turn of luck has no bearing on how well we do. Their wins and losses do not change whether or not that next card is the Ace we’re looking for. However, when it comes to playing online blackjack for money, there actually is a way for you to test your luck against another’s, and come out on top with a prize even if your overall bankroll is lower than it was when you began. It’s a blackjack tournament, and a lot of online casinos are beginning to offer them.

Blackjack tournaments operate in 2 different ways, though in both the actual game play is the same. The player registers for a tournament that is being posted, signs in at the designated time, and plays blackjack just like always. The difference with a tournament is that your overall success will be compared to that of the other blackjack players that registered for the tournament.

In the first style of tournament, the casino gives every player an equal initial amount of ‘free chips’. Everyone competes simultaneously and at the end of a specified period of time, the players with the highest amount of chips are the winners. The second style of tournament begins the same way, except that there are an arrangement of tables with players ‘sitting’ at each of them. At the end of a specific period of time, known as a round, the player with the lowest amount of chips is eliminated from each table. As the group gets smaller, the remaining players are combined until there is only one table of players left, and these will compete against each other for the top prizes. This is known as “elimination style” blackjack, so be aware of this before registering.

In the end, these tournaments are a great way to compete against other players, have fun, and make a winner out of a losing session (so long as it loses less than everyone else’s!). Try one out today.

Madder Scientist is a new, highly interactive slot from Betsoft. It’s a 5 reel, 30 payline fully-3D follow-up to Mad Scientist, and an improvement in almost every way (even if you liked the original). The main character in this one is another crazy experimenter working in his lab on, of all things, a carrot. This mad scientist apparently has a pet bunny and likes to test new chemical concoctions on his pet bunny’s carrots (which is very upsetting to his little friend!). The scientist is quirky and the music is fun. The sound effects when you spin, however, seem a little random, bizarre, and well, mad. I ended up turning this off. Fortunately, you don’t even need sound because the animation and graphics are all top-notch and extremely entertaining.

I don’t have an account with a Betsoft casino but this game is one of the best free slots games I’ve played in a long time, packed with extra features. One of the new features in this online slot is a re-spin function. After each spin you have the option of choosing to respin any reel. This means that if you thought you were close to having something, you can respin other reels but leave the ones you like alone, giving you the chance to make a winner out of a losing payline. The respins do cost extra credits, but the amount varies depending on what symbols you have and which reel you want to respin. Naturally, you don’t have to respin anything if you don’t want to.

One excellent point is that an arrow will alert you as to the reel you should spin for the best chance at the bonus game or one of the extra features (if the opportunity exists given what’s on the reels). This is how they suck you in… I kept respinning that one reel until I finally got the combination I needed. Frustrating, but addictive!

One of the extra features is a ‘Click Me’ triggered by 3 beaker symbols on reels 1, 3, and 5. 3 Beakers that say ‘click me’ will appear and you get to choose from amongst these a certain number of times to reveal various credit amounts that are added to your balance. Another feature is the Wild Switch feature. Get 3 switches anywhere on the reels and one reel will turn Wild for a set number of spins. However, beyond these extra features, there’s also an additional bonus round.

Get 3 carrot symbols and the bonus round launches. First you choose a base compound, which is revealed to be worth a certain number of credits. Next you choose a stabilizing compound, of another value. The 2 are mixed and the mad scientist tries the mixture out. What this does to the carrot confers to you extra credits. Overall, the payout was quite high and very fun. I managed to bring my balance up into the positive within a very short period of time. And getting to the bonus level was very easy, considering you have the option of free spins.

I highly recommend this one. The bonus features make it extremely playable and I suspect it won’t remain so high paying forever.

So, this morning I decided to try my hand at a number of free sites for blackjack and compare them for our US residents. The fact is, you’d think that when it came to playing blackjack for free, you probably wouldn’t have to worry about where you live, right? But while there are a number of free blackjack games that can be played or downloaded out there, what really provides the edge to the game is knowing there’s a house edge and that someone else is watching your plays and hoping you don’t use perfect strategy.

This means playing the game in a real online casino. Even if it’s in fun mode, the game operates exactly as if you were spending real money. Besides, at least this way you can easily transfer into playing real money if you feel like it without worrying about finding a new place to play. Therefore, without further ado, the 3 casino sites I chose that accept US players and offer blackjack are Bovada, Aladdin’s Gold, and Grande Vegas. I wanted to use iNetbet and 3Dice, but decided to stick to only casinos that offer both a download and no-download version so they’re sites that everyone has the opportunity to play on.

Grande Vegas Casino – First off, I registered an account and was automatically logged in. I then went to the games section and was told my balance was too low to play. There is no play for fun option listed anywhere on the page. O.k. then. I knew the login screen before I registered had offered a fun mode so I went to logout. There is no logout button. Certainly it isn’t one I can easily find. I then closed the window and reopened the page, hoping that this would auto log me out so that I could go to the original login page and sign myself in under the free play option. It didn’t work. I actually had to get on to Livechat and ask the customer service personnel to log me out. I tried once more and – viola!- still logged in and told account balance too low. I went into my browser, deleted the Grande Vegas cookie, and tried one more time. Still no dice. Well, so much for free blackjack here. My recommendation? Find another casino.

Aladdin’s Gold – I registered and once again was told my account balance was too low to play. I have an account at Manhattan Slots so I already knew closing the window would sign me out. I did so, logged in with the free play option selected and finally, I got to look at some blackjack games. I played blackjack, super 21, matchplay 21, and European bklackjack (in fact, super 21 WAS blackjack. There was absolutely no difference in payout or rules, so I don’t know whay it’s even offered. The set-up of the table is simple, no flashy 3d graphics or anything, but adequate. Every version of blackjack was presented in exactly the same way. The only difference was the paytable and rules for some of them. My other complaint is that you couldn’t resize the casino window to make the game table take up the entire screen. Personally, I think that usually enhances the experience, but overall, the casino was well-designed and seemed like a nice place to settle in.

Bovada – At Bovada Casino you didn’t even have to register. On the homepage for casino games they have a list of instant play games, and below each one is a link that says ‘practice’. Click this and you can play blackjack without ever giving them any of your information. The table layout here was just as  simple as that of Aladdin’s Gold, but easier on the eyes. There was also less offered in the free section that I would have guessed: only blackjack, double blackjack, and single deck blackjack. Still, it was nice being able to play without any hoops to jump through first. The other interesting thing about Bovada is that you can jump at any time to an information page that tells you about playing blackjack. They even provide hints and a strategy card to help you win. It’s almost like they want you to do well! Overall, this place was my favorite online casino to play blackjack in. Perhaps next week I’ll look into othe casinos that offer bj for US players. Believe it or not, there’s still a lot out there!

If you’re wondering how I chose these three casinos, they are all on a white/accredited list over at CasinoMeister.com. I trust the users on that forum so I know that all of these casinos are reputable and safe places to play should I decide to deposit real money in the future. Remember, always look into a casino before you give them your information or any real money.

If you’re like me, then you play more casino games online than just blackjack. If you’re also like me in that you’re a fanof online slots and superheroes, you will probably be interested in knowing about the Wonder Woman slot released just recently by Cryptologic. Cryptologic has already ventured into the realm of comics with Batman and other DC characters. However, I think most people will find this one a bit of a let down by comparison, though, as usual for Crypto-powered games, the bonus levels are still genuinely well-done and thought out. The overall symbols and animations provided for this 5-reel, 50 payline slot leave a bit to be desired.

There is the ‘Bonus Bet’ feature, exclusive to Cryptologic casino games at least. When activated, max bet is automatically wagered and the max credits gets bumped up from 50 to 60 credits. There’s also a bonus level that can only be accessed when in Bonus Bet mode. As is typical for their style, the background changes so you always know if you’re in bonus bet mode or regular game play. There wasn’t much background sound to speak of- which may be to either the game’s credit or detriment, depending on the player. Bet options start at just a penny and go up to 1,200 (credits in various denominations).

The Wonder Woman wild serves as a 2x multiplier for any wins it is a part of, and only shows up on reels and does not show up on reel 1. 3 or more wilds on the reels results in free spins, before which wonder Woman shows up and grants various numbers of static wilds. 2 WW scatter symbols gets the player an immediate pay off while 3 more trigger the real seller of this game: the bonus round.

In the bonus round, Wonder Woman must defeat her nemesis Ares and her undead hoard in 3 separate levels. Beat Ares and her killer zombies for a payout that is 100x the line bet. The graphics for this section are very good, and particularly nice when compared to the general plainness of regular game play. It’s definitely easy to tell where they put all of their effort in this game.

The only other thing to say about it, is that it’s a bit too much like Cryptologic’s Superman slot. Frankly, we didn’t need both of them if there’s not going to be a difference in payout or options between them. Nevertheless, it’s worth checking out if you’re a fan of the Amazonian princess with a magic lasso.

If you’ve never played blackjack before, you need to understand the basics before you start wagering with real money online. Unlike playing at home, in a casino they generally play with 6 to 8 decks. The common myth is that single deck games favor the player but this is actually not true in most cases. In online casinos, it is very much the same as playing against a dealer with an automatic shuffler. This means that the cards you are dealt each hand go right back into the pile and can be dealt again. This is similar to working with an infinite deck and limits you from card-counting as a strategy; thus, a single deck does not in any way increase the odds of you winning.

The point of Blackjack is to get as close to 21 as possible without going over. Generally you use the same value system for the cards as you would in other card games, with the face cards being 10 points apiece and all others being their numerical value. The difference is that aces can be one or eleven.

Game play consists of the dealer (or software) dealing you and themselves 2 cards. Generally one of their cards will be face-up and the other face-down so that you can evaluate what the chances of them having a 21 are. However, there are variations out there that show both of the dealer’s cards or none.

After you look to see what you have, you will either ask the dealer for another card or stand. Proper strategy in blackjack comes down to knowing when to stand, hit (get another card), or split. Splitting can be done whenever you’re dealt a pair. Essentially, you place another bet on the table and your pair becomes two hands, both of which you can use to try to hit 21. You play one hand first and then the other.

Whoever gets 21 is the winner. Alternatively, the person to get closest to 21 without busting is the winner. Going bust means that the total of your cards goes over 21. Every casino has a slight advantage over the player, but in some online casinos the advantage is further skewed by additional rules or alterations in game play. Always read the terms and game rules of the casino in question to make sure that you understand what your odds are of winning.

Check out http://dir.yahoo.com/recreation/gambling/ for resources on where you can play blackjack online, for real money or free. You can also find valuable information regarding other games out there, as well as on the more popular variations of blackjack available online.