Craps is a game for a dedicated gambler. Or at least for one dedicated enough to figure out the layout of the table and know what type of bet to place when. The problem is that Las Vegas casinos are too big to be able to depend on just dedicated gamblers for their money. They need to appeal to the casual player and to offer those players more games than just slots that can be played and picked up in an evening.

So, some Vegas casinos are betting on a new game called Scossa.  Scossa is based on craps in the sense that it involves a player rolling dice while other players can bet on what number will turn up on dice. So, it’s a social game like craps, baccarat or roulette.  But Scossa has massively simplified the craps table. Gone are the Pass and Don’t Pass line. Now players simply choose what number or numbers they want to bet on a simpler table structure and the dice are rolled. So far the game seems to be gaining followers, but I haven’t seen an online version yet. Still I’m checking places like http://onlinecasinos-games.net to see if anyone has the 411 on an online Scossa game.

Well, many online gamblers are young. Now, by young I don’t mean under-aged. But have you been to a live casino lately or on a gambling cruise leaving Florida waters and checked out the age of the average gambler? Okay,  maybe the Florida cruise isn’t exactly objective. There are a lot of retirees in Florida, but visit the cruise and you’d think no one under 60 gambles.  The retiree crowd is probably just more comfortable in a live casino environment than they are gambling online. The younger crowd isn’t going to drive to a live casino if they can find one online.  This is perhaps an expected find of the studies.

Women are gambling online. I get the sense that the folks conducting the studies weren’t really expecting this result. There still seems to be a sort of sense that women aren’t good around technology, like computers. Maybe we need to update some stereotypes here because apparently women are more comfortable gambling online than they may be in the casino. Sites like Pinterest are showing that women really do take to social media and online communities.

As a result of this study, we’ll see the usual crowd warning against the dangers of gambling online, but I suspect we’ll also see online casinos doing more to welcome women to their sites.

But at an online casino, every game is available all the time. So there’s no need to worry that the game you want to play won’t be available or even that it won’t be available in the denomination that you want to play for.  But there is a potential challenge even online and that’s finding which casinos carry the game you’re after.  The slot machine games available at an online casino vary depending on the software platform the casino runs. And each software platform tries to outdo the other by offering the most exciting games they can develop.  So where’s a player to turn for help?

One place I visit regularly is the Dmoz Slot Machines listing.  This is a spot where developers and casinos can list their games and other information for interested gamblers. And unlike a search engine, where I’d have to know the term or slot game I’m searching for, Dmoz is more like browsing the library shelves.  It’s perfectly suited to those days when you aren’t sure exactly what you’re looking for but you’ll know it when you see it. And that’s often how finding a new slot game works for me.  I don’t know that the games is out there, but one glance and I’ve found a game that I have to play.

So, let’s look at that claim. Okay, I remember the first time I played at a slot casino online and it was captivating. I could enjoy all the slots excitement of a Vegas slot machine without having to leave the house. This was the best thing ever.  But the newness wore off and when I recently had to earn out a casino bonus I’d taken, I found myself being somewhat annoyed by the amount of time I had to spend playing.  And university studies done on online gambling have shown that’s a common reaction. We’re intrigued by anything new and new gamblers spend a lot of time at the casino. But that tends to decline after a couple of weeks when the newness wears off and it turns out that online gambling is no more addictive than live gambling.

You can lose money at it. Well, all gamblers should know this and if you are unable to gamble within a budget, you do need to seek help. Many casinos even offer self-exclusion policies that allow gamblers with problems to tell the casino not to let them play. But many people really can gamble, either online or at a live casino, without going over their means.  And many gamblers aren’t high stakes players risking thousands on a bet.  There are plenty of gamblers who can spend a night playing nickel slot machines and potentially spend less money than a trip to the movies costs these days.

Yes, there are people who shouldn’t gamble and all of us need to take steps to make sure that we aren’t risking more than we should. But for those who can and do gamble wisely, the option  to gamble should remain available.

Many casinos offer a web based version of some of their more popular games so sometimes the question is – shouldn’t I just play the web based game? That way I won’t get a virus and use up all my computer memory.  So, I’m going to endeavor to answer that. First, unless you haven’t purchased a new computer since George Bush was president, you probably have enough memory to install the software from every online casino you want to play with and then some.  Keep in mind that casinos actually try to minimize the space they take up on your computer by not installing every game they have. Instead, they install the base software and other games are added only if you play them.  As for virus, if you play at respected and trusted casinos who run trusted software, like Microgaming, they aren’t going to infect you with a virus.  That’s more likely to happen when you open that email from Uncle Bill promising he has a hilarious picture of you. Casinos need to protect their reputation. Uncle Bill, on the other hand, knows less about computers than you do and is probably already infected.

Installing the casino software will give you the broadest selection of games to play and is generally needed if you want to play slot tournaments or other tournaments. So, why the web based games? Well, partly because they can be used by Mac and Linux users who don’t have Windows based systems. Also, web play is a good way to check out a casino before you decide if you want to install it on your computer. And web based games may be the safest choice  if you’re playing on a shared computer.  So casinos do offer you the option.  But for those top casinos you visit often, you’ll want to install the software.

While Macau shows every sign of being fully in support of gambling for tourists, they are also working to restrict gambling by residents. According to the Macau Government this is to protect residents but there is also a sense of a need to keep the big casinos attractive to high paying tourists.

But now the Macau government has announced that it will be restricting slot casinos in residential areas. Slot machine parlors also known as Mocha clubs or slot machine lounges are easier to operate than a full scale casino and have been popular in areas of Macua where locals live and tourists don’t venture. But new regulations now state that a slot parlor must be located within 500 meters of a casino. Of course this means that a slot parlor would be place to compete with a full scale casino. And would keep them out of the residential areas. There is a provision to allow the slot parlors in an existing commercial building, but even with that option, two of the slot machine parlors located in the residential area of Macau will have to shut down.

The changes are not expected to have any significant impact on Macau gambling revenue, which is largely dependent on tourism.

And the Department of Justice wanted to be sure that they were doing their job correctly, otherwise justice wasn’t being properly taken care of. So the DOJ reviewed what they’d been asked to do. Mostly they reviewed the Wire Act of 1961. So, why review a 50 year old act? Well, see that’s the act that actually made online gambling illegal. Not the UIGEA or Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. That act just said that the DOJ had to enforce the law where internet gambling was illegal. So, if internet gambling isn’t illegal, the UIGEA doesn’t work very well.

Guess what?  The Department of Justice has decided that the Wire Act of 1961 only applies to Sports Betting, which is why it was written. Not to online gambling, which didn’t exist in 1961, so now the US still has to create laws that apply to online gambling. Which means states like Nevada aren’t violating the Wire Act (and federal law) if they allow online gambling, particularly online poker rooms.

Now, players are being advised to be cautious when it comes to online gambling because right now, we’re likely to see an increase in bad casinos opening their doors to US players. Which is why there needs to be some online gambling legislation to determine how a good casino operates in the US. But keep in mind that we’ve already carefully examined and rated the online casinos we list.  Stay safe. Play safe.

So what happened to our money! I have, well had, an account with Bodog and used to play at the casino. So the first thing I did when I heard this news was jump online to find out what was going on. Yep, I got the news that the Bodog casino wasn’t available. But interestingly the reason given is that the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group no longer offers services under the Bodog brand. So I don’t know if Bodog decided to leave early or if Morris Mohawk  kicked them out early. But the next bit of news had me breathing a sigh of relief. I don’t have to jump through any hoops to get my hands on my money.  All my account information has been transferred over to Bovada.lv. Now all I have to do is remember my login name and password. This is the problem with setting up my browser to remember my password.  The browser remembers, but I forget.

Checking out Bovada, it seems they offer many of the games that Bodog did and also have a web-based version of the casino and a practice play mode. So former players should find the adjustment easy to make. I guess the bad news is that they still offer most of the same slots games. So if you were hoping for something spectacular and different, that hasn’t happened yet.

Franks retirement next year means we can expect to see accelerated movement from the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) as they try to move legislation through Congress while Frank is still around. It also means that this year Barney Frank can do whatever the hell he wants without worrying about fall out in the 2012 election.  It’s an odd system we have in the US in that it puts politicians in the position of greatest power just before they quit.  So Frank is unlikely to start behaving more conservatively next year.

While many of us would like to see online gambling as a whole legalized and regulated, the best hope still appears to be getting the rules changed for online poker before tackling other segments of the business. This is because online poker runs differently than say slots or blackjack. In casino games, players are playing against the house and true random chance. In poker players play against each other and the argument can be made that poker is a game of skill rather than a game of chance.  So the hope is that somehow that will be able to move it from the realm of gambling.  But also – really the country could make money by charging licensing fees to online casinos and poker rooms.

First, Nevada passed legislation allowing online poker, provided that the Federal government had laws in place first. Then it seems they considered this and decided not to hold their breath and asked someone with legal credentials how to offer online poker without bringing the feds down on them. So the licenses issues in February seem to be designed to bring in online poker and get that ball rolling without doing anything to give the government an in to object.

So, priority in getting an online license will go to existing gambling businesses in Nevada. So, the companies that have already been checked, vetted and approved will get what amounts to a license to offer additional gambling.  But they can offer it everywhere, right? Because it’s online.

Well, no. The licenses will only be valid in the state of Nevada and then within restricted area in the state. These restricted areas being casinos, race tracks and other gambling establishments. So Nevada will licenses online gambling offered in existing land based casinos and offered by existing Vegas casinos.  Aren’t you excited?

I’ll be keeping an eye on http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ and other news sites for updates on this situation. Because I’m waiting to see what happens here. It seems to be a way of telling the Feds “hey, we can only wait for so long.”