But for today, I just want to look at American vs European roulette and the most simple basic difference between them. It’s a difference that comes down to nothing, zilch, zero. One zero in fact. One zero instead of two.  Take a look at an American roulette table, this probably the table you’re familiar with, and you’ll see two green spots – zero and double zero. We all know about those, right? They help shift the odds on the game so that the odd and even or black and red bets aren’t exactly 50/50. Because if the bets were 50/50, there would be no house edge for the casino. Sit down at the table and play a 50/50 game in over time, everyone should end up equal. You need something to offset that for the casino to stay in business. That’s the role of the zeros.

Except if you look at a European roulette table, you’ll online see one green spot and a single zero. Now, this is enough to keep the odds from being 50/50, so the casino is still going to be ahead in the odds. But that lack of the double zero moves the odds just slightly in favor of the player. So, if you have a choice, you’re better of playing European roulette over American roulette. It’s all in the zeros.

Money is always the big question. So, let me start by saying that one advantage to playing online is that I can play slots for free. Now this usually means also not winning real money, but it does mean not losing any money. Online casinos will let you sign up for a free practice account without depositing any money or even providing any banking information. All they usually want is a player name and an email address. So, start there. If you’re looking for places to play, check out playslotsmachine.org.

Now, you face the next question – do you want to play on the casino’s flash site or download the software to your computer? If you’re uncertain, go ahead and start with the flash site and just play some free slot games and see how you like them.  If you decide you like a particular casino, downloading the software will give you more options as far as games go. And as long as you stick with a reputable casino, you won’t run into any problems with virus or threats to your computer. Never download anything unless you know that casino is a top-rated online casino.

But you want to play slots for real money.  Well, here’s the good news, the odds at that online casino are probably better than you’ll find at a live casino. See, the online casino has a bit less in the way of overheard to pay for, but also, they know they have to be more competitive when it comes to winning over players since it’s so easy for us to casino hop online.  Choose a top rated casino and make a small deposit. They’ll all offer you bonus money for playing slots, so feel free to take advantage of that if you like the terms.  If you look around, you’ll even find a few casinos that will spot you a few bucks to start playing.  Sometimes it’s five or ten dollars before you even make your first deposit. This can be a great way to give real money slots a spin and see how you like playing slots online.

Blackjack is a card based game with a simple goal – come as close to 21 as you can without going over to beat the dealer’s hand. Since the game is based on cards, it means that the odds are calculable and not changeable by the casino, though they can affect  them by changing house rules on when the dealer stands. But all this means that the experts have already developed blackjack strategies that can be used in almost any game. And you’ll have no problem finding sites like http://blackjack-authority.com/ that offer lessons, strategy and tips for the game.

But many players are still hesitant to stride into a casino and sit down at a live blackjack table. Playing with others watching can be intimidating, especially if you’re still learning. This is why many have turned to learning to play blackjack online. When you play at an online casino, the game’s rules are still the same as you see at a live casino, but the environment is entirely in your hands. You can bet as much or as little as you want or even play for free. You can take as much time as needed with each hand to consider the strategy without worrying about other player’s becoming impatient. The result is the perfect blackjack practice playground.

Now, I’ve been told by some folks that they like using their Facebook account to play free online casino games. While this does sound like fun, keep in mind that the games may not always work the same as a real casino game. Also, you might want to keep an eye on sites like http://www.readwriteweb.com/ for updates on Facebook’s privacy policy if you don’t want to accidentally announce to your friends and employer that you like to gamble.

Yes, the state of Maryland has seized the domain name bodog.com, but only that domain name. Bodog.eu remains operational and no funds from the company were seized. Bovada.lv is also still up and running for business and the only problem there could be that players haven’t updated their bookmarks and are relying on the old site to redirect them to Bovada. If that’s the case – guys, the URL you’re looking for is Bovada.lv.

Now, the action by the state of Maryland wasn’t unanticipated. Back in 2008 they pressed charges against a couple of payment processors who happened to handle accounts for Bodog. After that, Bodog knew they’d be investigated. Then in 2011, the FBI started seizing domain names and forcing online poker rooms out of the US market. That’s when Bodog took steps to avoid a crisis. First they changed their domain name to a .eu ending to distance themselves from the US. And since their contract with Morris Mohawk Gambling Group was up at the end of the year, they decided it would be the year to leave the US. Besides they had that shiny new license from the UK. MMGG wasn’t upset with the move because it gave them the perfect chance to launch their own brand – Bovada and to take over Bodog’s US customers, who would be looking for a place to play.

So, if you play at Bovada, or Bodog for those outside the US, the casinos are still open for business.

So, the Everleaf situation comes up just when we thought it was safe to go back into the online poker waters. After all, the Department of Justice has changed their view of the Wire Act of 1961 and there is no Federal law against online poker.  So, we can all play again, right?  Hold on, not you Washington State.  See, that’s where this little Everleaf issue originates from. Washington State has a state law that makes online poker a Federal offense. Everleaf was accepting players from the state.  As a result, Washington State seems to have followed their usually procedure and seized the funds from the online payment processor for the poker room.  Now, if you live in Washington State, you might want to consider the seizure of your funds a blessing. Or should I say – that only your funds were seized is a blessing. So far, Washington State hasn’t shown any interest in prosecuting actual players, but if they did, the offense is a Federal offense, meaning that play penny ante poker online can get you locked up in the same cell as a child molester.   Perhaps the good folks in Washington State have been hitting the Starbucks too hard because that seems a bit of over kill.

But as of this writing, Everleaf Poker is no longer open to US players and existing players have been shut out of their accounts.  No one is sure what will happen with the financial situation and if we’re looking at another Full Tilt Poker fiasco. But perhaps it will help to remember that PokerStars was able to refund money to US players.  Not every poker room crashes after leaving the US market. We’ll hope for the best for Everleaf.

Wait. How did they do that?  Well, where there’s a Congress, there’s probably a big time crushing debate going on at one point or another. See Washington DC is in a unique position. Since they are the nation’s capital, they must pass all potential changes through Congress for approval. But if Congress doesn’t act in the required amount of time, legislation can automatically pass into law. Which is what happened with online poker. Congress was busy debating the budget for the nation and no one got around to reacting to DCs suggestion that they should be allowed to offer online poker. And suddenly DC had legal online poker.

Which never came to fruition because things stalled in the process of putting the online games into place. See, DC didn’t want online poker to be available everywhere but planned to restrict it to approved “hot spots.” But then the question came up — who was going to visit those hot spots to play? Which then brought up the question of “how many poker players actually live in DC?” Because DC’s online poker bill wasn’t to bring a big existing poker room into the district but rather to establish an internal poker room just for those in DC.

And that’s why it died. When the city council’s Finance committee got right down to it, they decided there just weren’t enough poker players in DC to keep an online poker room solvent.  So, the matter has been shelved and it looks like Nevada will be the first US location to put legal online poker into action.  Congrats Nevada!

You may wonder with the PPA is doing all this when we’re seeing states forming a line to bring legal online poker within their boundaries.  The reason is that while regulating online poker on a state by state basis might provide some relief for online poker players, federally regulated poker would be a much better option — for the players. Perhaps not so much for the states.  With federally regulated poker, the US would be more attractive to the top names in online poker, like PartyPoker.  For players, this would mean bigger sites to play on and a large base to play against.  Iowa is already trying to form an online poker bill that includes Nevada and New York players because Iowa is worried they don’t have enough poker players in the state to make an online poker room a reality.

Of course, Congress is often slow to act and in this case, they may prefer to leave the issue to be settled on a state by state basis so that they don’t have to go on the record one way or the other in an election year.

Nevada casinos have long been a voice against online gambling. After all, if people gambled online, they wouldn’t have to travel to Vegas to visit the casinos. But then the economy shifted and it became less a matter of whether or not people wanted to travel to whether or not they could travel. Discretionary spending is down. People can’t afford to travel to Las Vegas if they want to. So Vegas casinos are still losing revenue. Which means they need to find a way to replace that revenue and they’ve slowly come to realize that online gambling could work in their favor.

See, the question comes down to who runs and operates online gambling in the US. We’ve already seen MGM and Boyd entering into negotiations with the massive online gambling site bwin.party. This could serve both as bwin.party’s entry into the US market and a way for MGM and Boyd to increase revenue. If the online casinos are required to operate out of an existing and approved US gambling operation, then the Vegas casino brands stand to benefit. And oddly, so do the online casinos. Because players are always searching for a best online casino guide and wouldn’t that be easier to do if the casinos were actually the same casinos you could play with in Las Vegas?

Also, I can’t help but think of the great prizes and promotional benefits this could bring. Look, airline miles are a big promotion for credit card companies. Well, imagine if by playing at an online casino you could earn bonus points that could be traded for perks in Vegas. Imagine of the casinos could track your gambling and actually give you comps for their hotels, just like they do big Vegas players.  I’d love to earn a Vegas vacation while playing Video Poker at home.

But the DOJ is tasked with enforcing laws and justice requires making sure they understand the laws and are enforcing them correctly.  So here’s where it gets complicated. The DOJ had to enforce the UIGEA which essentially calls for enforcing the law against financial transaction occurring where internet gambling is illegal. The UIGEA doesn’t make internet gambling illegal. It just says – enforce the law where it already is illegal. So, first you need a law that makes internet gambling illegal.

Enter the Wire Act of 1961, a law written to guard against illegal activity in sports betting. The law that people were using to show that internet gambling was illegal because of the way money was transferred.  A law which some claimed really only applied to sports betting because casino betting and sports betting are very different. And the DOJ examined the Wire Act and decided, yep, it’s meant to apply to sports betting.

This changes the US gambling prospects for the future not by making online gambling legal, but my opening the door for states to make their own laws regarding online gambling without violating Federal law.  So I suspect we’ll see a lot of laws being debated around the country in 2012.

The reason behind the departure – the Brits.  It seems we make them nervous. Or more precisely our confusing online gambling laws make them nervous. Bodog wanted a license to offer online gambling in the UK and they got it. But the UK Gambling Commission brought up one little detail – they weren’t thrilled with the fact that Bodog was operating in the US. The fantastic failures of the Cereus Network and Full Tilt Poker after being forced out of the US market was really making the UK folks stop and think. And they thought – this is the best market to be operating in.

Now, Bodog considered the matter and realized that their license with Mohawk Gambling was expiring at the end of the year and this would be the perfect time not to renew the license and just quietly pull out.   So they’ll be focusing on building their UK, EU and Asia business until the US gets its gambling act together.

The good news for Bodog players is that since this is a planned departure, they will be able to withdraw their money from their accounts. No one is losing anything!  The other good news is Mohawk Gambling has announced that they’ll be starting up their own gambling brand to keep the business running and that player will be able just to transfer their accounts if they wish.