Online Casino Blog

A suit filed against a Las Vegas casino for allegedly endangering employees’ health by exposing them to second-hand smoke is politically-motivated, according to the casino’s lawyers.

Attorneys with the firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP, who are representing the Wynn Las Vegas Resort and Country Club, alleged that the casino is in accordance with the provisions of the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act, the Las Vegas Sun reported on December 13. The Act prohibits all forms of smoking tobacco within indoor places of employment, although it does allow smoking inside casinos, provided that these are areas where minors are prohibited by law from loitering.

The casino’s attorneys further alleged in court papers filed December 11 that the federal lawsuit, which was filed by an officer of the Transport Workers Union, appeared to be in pursuit “of a political agenda”. Kanie Kastroll, who also works as a casino dealer, alleges in the suit filed October 20 that second-hand smoke has resulted in various medical problems among casino workers, ranging from sore throat and asthma, to eye irritation and the ingestion of carcinogens.

The Sun also reported that the Gaming Division of the Transport Workers Union has distanced itself from the suit. Kastroll is seeking unspecified costs and fees, as well a court order asking the casino to adopt better measures to protect employees from second-hand smoke.

Blinds = 75/150

8 Players at Table

Seat 4 (Early Position) – KC (7,150 in chips)

Seat 8 (Big Blind) – Villain (10,000 in chips)

Pre-Flop:

With 7h7d, I decide to take advantage of my tight image and raise 3x to 450 from early position. All fold to the villain – a loose, aggressive player – who raises to 900 total. The blinds fold and there is 1,425 in the pot. With only 450 to call, I’m getting better than 3:1 odds to call and make the call. There is now 1,875 in the pot.

Flop:

Jh Jd 6c

Villain checks. Normally, I would take a stab at the pot, but with the small pre-flop re-raise made by an aggressive player, I have a feeling my pocket 7s may not be good and the villain is slow playing. Besides, a bet here may not actually give me any information if he only calls. While the villain may have a strong ace that I currently have beat (AK or AQ), he would probably call with two over cards to the board (hoping to hit), a jack, or even a six (he is capable of re-raising with A6). Therefore, I check and hope for a blank on the turn.

Turn Card:

3s

With a blank on the turn, I’m planning on taking a stab at this one, but the villain beats me to the punch and bets 600. With such a small bet, I’m not sure if he is bluffing or slow-playing. I decide the price is worth finding out and call. There is now 3,075 in the pot.

River Card:

7s

Bingo. I don’t have to worry about him bluffing. If he happens to have a bigger full house than my 777JJ, so be it. The villain bets 900 and I immediately move all-in for my remaining 5,650. After about 10 seconds of thought, the villain calls, shows his AJ, and I take down a 14,375 pot.

[thanks to boinger and kc via cc]

A consortium of California-based casinos are set to ask the state Legislature to allow them to set up online poker sites in the state, in exchange for a share of the revenues. If this proposal is passed, online casino jobs could be a hot employment opportunity in the future.

Jobs currently available in traditional brick-and-mortar casinos include service workers such as waiters and kitchen staff, and hospitality staff such as table games dealers and casino hosts who deal directly with the clients.

Jobs Available in Online Casinos

Available jobs in online casinos, on the other hand, would mainly focus on information technology staff such as programmers and developers, as well as marketing and business positions. In the United Kingdom, online gambling has been legal for quite a while and Internet casinos have become increasingly popular, creating a high demand for qualified applicants. Positions available for UK candidates include online marketing managers, web application developers, game designers and odds compilers. Online gambling is also legal in countries such as Australia, Israel, South Africa, the Caribbean and Costa Rica. If the California Legislature approved the casino coalition’s proposal, similar opportunities are expected to open up there.

Tips to Getting a Job in an Online Casino

If you are planning to apply for a job at an online casino overseas or a US-based one in the future, here are some tips that may prove useful:

1. Demonstrate that you have the relevant skills for the position you want. It would be a big plus for you if, for example, you already have experience developing games. If you’ve occupied a previous marketing position in another business, convince potential employers in your application that you can apply what you know to online casinos. In short, show them that you understand the Internet gambling industry and how to apply your skills to online gambling positions.
2. Get some experience. You might want to begin building your resume now by working for a traditional offline casino. This would allow you to understand how the various casino games are played, as well as the psychology of the gaming industry.
3. Start building your network. Use your job to build contacts that could prove useful later on if and when online casinos in California become a reality.
4. Find mentors and coaches. It never hurts to develop relationships with seasoned professionals who could provide you with invaluable insight into the positions that are available and how to get accepted to them.

As most folk know by now, unless they’ve been living under a rock or in a third world country, the small island of Haiti has been devastated by an earthquake with a 7.0 on the rector scale. With thousands upon thousands dead, and buildings laid out like an atomic bomb went off, they are needing all the support they can get.

It’s good to see that the United States and other Countries have pledged support by way of needed funds and goods, and I would not have expected anything less from my Government.

Some good news though is that the casino and poker community has reached out to show full support for Haiti. Sportsbook.com, Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and many more of the online casinos and internet poker rooms are holding multiple charity tournaments and matching funds to send some support. Some of the poker members at places like the GPWA are scrambling as well to do what they can to help.

Sportsbook.com is teaming up with Medical Teams International to provide relief for earthquake victims in Haiti and they need your help. Join them in aiding the victims of this tragedy and they’ll match every donation made, dollar for dollar. To help, you can make a donation by registering at Sportsbook.com account or signing in and donating by using the form that appears. Donated funds will be withdrawn from your account and they will follow up your donation with one of the same amount.

“A tragedy like this touches everyone around the world,” said Sportsbook.com spokesman Dave Staley. “The events that took place in Haiti this past Tuesday were truly devastating and we want to do our part to help. Our customers have stepped up and made some very generous donations already. We’d like to thank them and encourage anyone that can to get involved to help those in need.”

“We are overwhelmed with Sportsbook.com and its customers generosity,” said Marlene Minor, VP of Communications for Medical Teams International. “This donation will mean so much to our organization, our volunteer teams and most important, the suffering victims in Haiti.”

Another one of the most recognized names in the industry has shown his support and has made a challenge . BoDog founder Calvin Ayre sent out a personal message to the online gambling industry to help out in Haiti:

It is a disaster in Haiti. I know they have had a tough go from Mother Nature recently, hurricanes and now this earth quake, I cannot help but be disgusted with the ruling elite that has driven this country down like this while, no doubt, filling their own pockets. That all said the innocents as always are paying a horrendous price for this elite thievery and I think the global online gaming community has a duty to do something. I have asked my Foundation to send and GBP 10,000 to UK based Oxfam to help with Haitian relief efforts. But that’s not all…I also want to challenge the rest of this industry to also contribute to Oxfam to help out in Haiti…and my private foundation will match any proven payment to Oxfam by an online gaming person up to $1,000,000. Let’s go guys….everyone making money has a duty to help.

Folk, if you can spare a dime, please help the unfortunate people of Haiti. There are numerous organizations that make that an easy task to do. The American Red Cross does an excellent job too and are always among the first to be on the scene. You can reach their site by clicking here.

Or you can visit the new web site that two of our former U.S. Presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, have started over at ClintonBushHaitiFund.org and rest assured that your donation will be well spent as well.

[thanks to united nations and carolina gambler via cc]

There’s some new happenings going on at OmniCasino and my buddy Mark sent me an email with some of the latest going on over there. Check it out:

New Marvel Slots Games

OmniCasino just released 5 new Marvel Slots Games including: Blade, Fantastic 4, Elektra, X-men, and Daredevil. This is in addition to the existing Marvel games that Omni offers like Hulk and Iron Man. Marvel slots games are among the most popular online with casino players. In fact, the most popular games at OmniCasino over the past few months have been Marvel themed games.

Blade is a 25-payline game with a top base award of 25,000 coins. You can win 15X free spins during which your multiplier goes up 2X, 3X and 5X after spins.

Fantastic 4 is a 20-payline game with a top base award of 10,000 coins. It features five bonus rounds. You can win 12X free spins, plus four additional bonus features that include multiplying symbols, scattered wilds, expanding wilds and freezing wilds.

Elektra is a 20-payline game with a top base award of 5,000 coins. You can win 14X free spins, plus get the chance to win various multipliers, scattered wilds and expanding wilds.

X-men is a 25-payline game with a top base award of 10,000 coins. You can win 8X free spins and get the chance to win the “X feature” whereby if you get five heroes to form an “X” on the reels you will win 5X your total wager.

Daredevil is a 25-payline game with a top base award of 5,000 coins. You can win 10X free spins with random wilds. Also, the bullseye bonus feature wins 3X your total wager plus what you may have won during the spin.

$7K Marvelous Slot Tournament

This is BIG! Seven Marvel themed slot games are here and you can cash in on your share of a colossal $7,000 just for playing! All you need to do is play ANY of the seven Marvel themed games between now and the 4th to participate. For each spin $1.25 and greater you will receive one (1) spin point. Your total spin points are the sum of all qualifying $1.25 and greater spins made during the period. Example, if you spun 122 qualifying spins at Daredevil, 12 at Hulk, 39 at X-men and 965 at Blade, your total spin points would be 1,183.
Games that qualify for this tournament are:  Hulk, Iron Man, Daredevil, Blade, X-men, Elektra and Fantastic 4.

New Marvel Random Progressives

A multi-level mystery jackpot has been added to all Marvel slot games. These slot games are now linked to a progressive jackpot network. Players can win any of the jackpots at random while playing. There are four different types of jackpots which can be won: Power Jackpot, Extra Power Jackpot, Super Power Jackpot and Ultimate Power Jackpot. Prize ranges between 50 $/£/Euro and 1,000,000 $/£/Euro. Different types of jackpots have different prize amounts, as seen in the table below.

Marvel Jackpot Type and Prize range (in a respective currency)

• Power Jackpot: 50 to 500
• Extra Power Jackpot: 500 to 5,000
• Super Power Jackpot: 5,000 to 50,000
• Ultimate Power Jackpot: 100,000 to 1,000,000

The trigger to winning a jackpot is random and can occur after any spin in any of the games. It is not triggered by any symbol combination. Any bet amount can win the jackpot, although the chances of winning increase or decrease proportionally according to the size of the bet. In the progressive Marvel Jackpot, players are shown 20 hidden squares. Players reveal jackpot symbols by clicking on the squares. After the player has revealed three squares with the same jackpot symbol, this jackpot is won. This means that a jackpot win is guaranteed once the progressive Marvel Jackpot has been accessed. A timeout counter makes the picks for players who do not react within 30 seconds.

Hulk and Iron Man Slot Machines Upgraded

To meet the demand to include the Marvel Random Progressive Jackpots on all Marvel games, Hulk and Iron Man have been upgraded to now include 25-paylines and the progressive jackpots.

16 Additional New Games at Omni Casino

In addition to the Marvel games release, OmniCasino has added an additional 16 new games. These include both download and instant play versions.

Casino Games

• Happy Bugs
• Cute & Fluffy
• From Russia with love
• Fairy Magic
• Lucky Blackjack

Arcade Games

• Darts
• Final Score
• Hold’em Showdown
• Pinball Roulette
• 3D Roulette

Scratch Card Games

• Beetle Game
• Blackjack
• Classic Slots
• Santa
• Football
• Love Match
• Roulette