Casino

Monaco is a beautiful French principality tucked away along the French Rivera, with the area of Monte Carlo serving as the central feature attraction. The entire country of Monaco is only a total of 2 square kilometers, or approximately a mile and a half long, but the exquisite beauty of the small Mediterranean country makes it well worth the visit. The main attractions in Monte Carlo are the luxurious hotel and casino resorts where everyone from the rich and famous down to the ordinary tourist can feel like royalty playing the tables or the slot machines in style. Most of the casinos in Monte Carlo do not open until the mid to late afternoon, but do not post closing times, as they will usually stay open as long as gamblers want to continue playing.

Play Various Games at Monte Carlo Casino

Without a doubt the most famous casino, the Casino de Monte Carlo, is located right in the heart of Monte Carlo. This grandiose building has been standing since 1863 and reflects the Renaissance and royalty style of architecture that was popular during the era of Napoleon III. The different gambling rooms are divided into fun names like the American Room, the European Room, the Renaissance Hall and Rose Hall. The American room usually opens the earliest, starting at 10am, and offers American style slot machines, while the European room opens soon after with a variety of roulette, baccarat and many other European and American table games. If you are more interested in video poker, Rose Hall usually opens just before mid-afternoon. For those high rollers that want to play in privacy, the Casino de Monte Carlo also offers the Prive Salons and the Salon Super Prive, which offer table games, chemin-de-fer and baccarat, although the Salon Super Prive is available by appointment only. Talk about an elegant place to gamble.

Gorgeous de Monte Carlo Casino

Although paling in comparison to the gorgeous Casino de Monte Carlo, the remaining casinos in Monte Carlo are still built of beautiful architecture and style. Centrally located to the Casino de Monte Carlo right near the water in Monte Carlo, gamblers of all abilities will enjoy the Loews Monte Carlo Hotel and Sun Casino, which overlooks the Mediterranean and is only a short walk from the Casino de Monte Carlo. Another fabulous casino to try while in Monte Carlo is the Café de Paris, a hotel of grand size and quality that offers a wonderful place to vacation in style, with gambling that opens in the early afternoon hours and remains open as long as gamblers are ready to partake in the action.

Visit the Monte Carlo Sporting Club and Casino

If you are interested in taking a stroll along the sidewalks overlooking the Mediterranean, or for a nice 20-minute walk down the beach, you may want to try the Monte Carlo Sporting Club and Casino. This uniquely glamorous casino is surrounded by nightclubs and pubs with a nightly cabaret and dinner dancing for those who get bored at the casinos. Unfortunately, the casino portion of the Monte Carlo Sporting Club is only open from June through September, the warmest and most populated tourist season. If you are in Monte Carlo during these short summer months, this is an absolutely wonderful place for a truly remarkable casino gaming experience.

By: Alina Farace

Back in the late 1990’s when the internet casino industry was still in its infancy, bonuses of $20 to $50 were the norm. Anything approaching $100 was considered a stand out offer. Fast forward to today, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a casino offering less than $100 and some casinos are handing out upwards of $5,000 to new players.

The online casino industry has always been a very competitive one. From 1997 when Intercasino (laying claim to the first casino online) started taking bets to 2000, around 1,500 casinos flooded onto the internet in something akin to a gold rush, and competition for new players was fierce. But the carrots that are now being dangled are a quantum leap from those offered back in the ‘old days’ and a good portion of the increases have occurred in just the last 2 years.

For those uninitiated with the industry, bonuses as the name suggests, are real money contributions made by a casino to a player’s account. They come in many forms and sizes, but the most common is the new player sign up bonus. That is, a player opening a new account with a casino and depositing real money, will have his or her account credited with additional cash following the deposit of their own cash. So if a casino is offering a 100% match bonus capped at $500, for every dollar deposited by the player to $500, the casino will match it dollar for dollar. Some offers are structured to include multiple match bonuses with varying percentage matches for each.

The bonus money is real and belongs to the player, although there are strings attached. In order to prevent players signing up and then immediately withdrawing bonus funds, there are always ‘times wagered’ conditions attached. Usually you will need to turn that cash over 15 or 20 times playing one of the casino’s games before you are eligible to withdraw it.

Currently, a handful of casinos are offering an astronomical $5000 in multiple deposit sign on bonuses. This is a lot of money for any business to hand out to customers as an inducement to try their product, and one has to question whether casinos are reaching a point where their bottom lines are being severely impacted by these promotional strategies.

It also indicates that the industry is having to compete harder than ever before for new players. This is despite the fact that after quickly reaching a saturation point, the number of casinos online has not changed significantly over the last 5 years. So the market is either becoming more discerning, shrinking, or being cannibalized by other gambling options.

One likely contributing factor is the US government’s Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Law. Passed in late 2006, the legislation aim was to prevent US residents from accessing offshore gambling operators by rendering it illegal for payment processors (Mastercard, VISA etc) from facilitating payments from Americans to these operators. While many US players continue to gamble online despite UIGEA, its impact on the world’s online gambling market size must be considerable when you consider that prior to its enactment, Americans comprised half this market.

Whatever the reason, the fact remains – bonus amounts are now at ridiculous levels.

By: Milton Shaw

Casino Night parties are those parties where there is a fake or mock casino at your party. The idea being you get a set amount of fake money that you can gamble with for the evening. The casino usually has some sort of prize for the best gambler or a ticket system for all gamblers. Here are a few general ideas for your casino night party.

Casino Games – Casino games are the basis of which the party is run. The general principal for a casino party theme is you should have enough spaces at the casino games for 60-80% of your guests to play at one time. Not all guests will be playing at the same time so you don’t need full capacity and if there is a waiting list to get on a table it just gets more exciting (like a real casino). Some games to consider including are blackjack, roulette, craps, slot machines and even war!

Decorations – You will want to be sure that you have enough decorations to change your venue from a hall or house into a casino. These decorations can range from ceiling decorations to table decorations. You should also consider getting a customized banner to fit the occasion.

Prizes – The final piece of the casino should be the prizes. The prizes don’t have to be extravagant but you’d like them to be enough incentive that people are interested in winning one of the prizes and therefore take the gambling more seriously. Some ideas for prizes are gift certificates, dvd’s and other electronics.

Hopefully you’ll be able to incorporate some of these ideas in your casino themed party.

By: Thor Hanso