A New Age of Internet Gambling

It was bound to happen, in times of plenty people are happy to make decisions based on very strict morality rather than economics.  But in leaner times you’ll normally find people will be just a little more flexible.   Internet gambling now seems likely to become a beneficiary of this more flexible approach because the US State Department of Justice has just reversed it’s long standing ban on gambling over the web.

It’s of course always been rather confused the US position on gambling online, perhaps best illustrated that billions are actually already wagered illegally by US citizens .  The choices are limited though and if a US citizen visits any of the major internet betting sites they’ll be politely declined based on their location.   Of course one of the big problems is that all of the money that is actually wagered online by US citizens simply flows out of the country to European and Asian based sites mostly – especially for the games of luck like online roulette.

But this could be about to change in a development that may revolutionize the online gambling market.  The US Justice Department was asked by New York and Illinois to clarify the rules for selling lottery tickets online.  They wanted to be able to sell these tickets over the internet, however the response went much, much further.  They stipulated that there was actually only one thing illegal under federal law and that was Sports betting across State and federal lines.   Which ultimately means that the position has reversed from all online gambling is illegal to pretty much all gambling is legal online.

There is of course some concern – ruling what is not legal is still not really that clear.  Bigger firms will probably be unwilling to invest greatly until there is something a little more clearer.  In fact the American Gaming association stated -

validates the urgent need for federal legislation to curb what will now be a proliferation of domestic and foreign, unlicensed and unregulated gaming websites without consistent regulatory standards and safeguards against fraud, underage gambling and money laundering.

The remaining uncertainty probably won’t stop  the smaller operators and experts predict that the online poker industry is probably going to be the first to benefit.   Simply because it is more a game of skill than chance and is likely going to be safer until clarification is made from a federal level.

If this clarification is received expect to see a flurry of activity in the sector.

Hopefully this will lead to a much better experience for  all gamblers and the eradication of the many sites that seek to operate in the shady confusion of the previous federal stance on gambling across the web.

Another positive note is that of development of the market.  With this potential unleashed, expect there to be significant investment in new technology and ways of gambling – I’m sure there’s going to be some wonderful applications available to smart phone and tablet users .

There are already lots of applications available in Europe for placing a bet on a smart phone and I would expect that the US entering the market things will change rapidly.

But many are of course not happy – there are people deeply opposed to online gambling like the Reverend James Butler.  He has been campaigning against the sorts of changes that look inevitable now for many years.  In some senses he is ready to accept defeat as you can see from some of his tactics which aim to implement increasing regulations rather than maintaining the ban on gambling online.

Here’s some of his suggested regulations -

• People who receive public assistance – welfare, unemployment, food stamps, subsidized housing or medical care – or are behind in child support payments should not be permitted to gamble online.

• People should have to get permission from their spouse, who is legally responsible for any debt incurred, before being allowed to gamble online.

• Internet gamblers should not be able to file for personal bankruptcy.

It’s rather unclear how  some of those regulations would be implemented however.

But for those of us who enjoy a flutter online and believe grown ups should be allowed access to this sort of entertainment if they so wish – then it’s great news.

Play Free Online Rummy – 3 Card Vegas Version

For rummy players, probably the best version available in the online casinos is the 3 card Vegas version. It’s a little different from normal 3 Card Rummy, but it’s great fun and actually quite a good gambling game. Here’s a free online Rummy game called 3 Card Vegas, you’ll find a summary of the rules below if you need them.

If you want to play for real money (and it’s a very good game to play for money with a low house edge)  – For UK and EU here and US players here - remember to check for the bonus before  you sign up.

The Vegas version of Three Card Rummy is played with just two players, the dealer and the player using a single 52 card deck. Both the player and the Dealer is dealt three cards. The players cards are placed faced up and the dealers are left facing down.

The Aim is simply to get less points than the dealer.

 Here are the points that are applied to both hands.

Three Card Rummy – Vegas Version Scores

When  there are multiple choices available then the combination that allows the lowest possible score will be used to determine the result.

The Ante Bet

When an ante Bet has been placed, the player is dealt three cards facing up and the dealer is dealt three down facing cards. At this point the player must make a decision, if the player thinks that they cannot beat the dealer they can simply fold and forfeit the Ante bet.

If the player believes they can win then they MUST raise with a bet equal to the Ante amount.  As soon as the raise has been applied then the Dealer’s cards will be turned over.   The hand must first be assessed to see if it qualifies, for this the hand must contain 20 points or less.  Then the Dealer’s hand is compared to the Player’s hand – the winner will be the hand which has  the lowest total.

 Payouts

The Bonus Bet

There’s more ways to maximise your winnings, using the bonus bet.  It’s basically won if the Player’s hand contains a total of 12 point or less.  This bet is completely independent of the Dealer’s hand, it is simply assessed on the points total of the hand that is dealt.  If you bet on the Ante and fold, you will also lose your Bonus bet – the payouts are as below.

Vegas Rummy Bonus Bet Payouts

I like Three Card Rummy a lot, so give our free online rummy game a chance and see if you like it too.