I am blessed with a local casino, bingo evenings and several amusements for those who enjoy feeding the slot machines. But it doesn’t compare to sitting indoors in the comfort of my own home, dry and warm, where I can play online casino games.

Online casinos enable players to gamble on casino games; and along with poker, popularity has exploded over the past few years.

As with everything on the World Wide Web, there are good and bad gaming sites.  My advice is to take a good look around a few sites before you start playing.  Everyone who plays games for money knows how easy it is to get sucked in.  So before you get hooked, at least have the peace of mind that the site you are using is reputable and offering you good odds. Online casinos generally offer odds and payback percentages similar to offline or traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ casinos. Just remember, if an offer looks too good to be true, it probably is!

Some online casinos offer what’s known as ‘Live Gaming’ in an attempt to give the game more of an authentic feel.  This is where online casino sites offer the gamer the chance to play popular casino games such as roulette and blackjack with a real-life card dealer.  Gamers can interact with the dealer and in doing so give the impression of a real-life game rather than simply playing against the computer.  As with any live streaming, the quality of a ‘Live Gaming’ experience depends on the speed of your broadband.

There are two types of online casinos – web-based and download-based.  Websites that offer the gamer to play directly from the website mainly use Flash or Java software.  Both require web browser plug-ins.  Most browsers come with these plug-ins but it may require you download a latest version.

Download-based online casinos require the user to download software onto their computer before they can play the casino games. The online casino software connects to the casino service provider and handles contact without browser support. Download-based online casinos generally run faster than web-based online casinos since the graphics and sound programs are located within the software client, rather than having to be loaded from the Internet. This is worth consideration if you have a slow or shared internet connection.

Before you download any software to your computer, be confident it is legitimate software and is unlikely to include a virus.

I have planned a trip to Las Vegas next summer.  But that’s more about visiting the casino capital of the world and playing at the same table as the rich and famous.  But for now, I am happy to play poker and casino games online.

“We’ve been working with our community to develop end game content that’s relevant for our veteran players and that’s what we’ve created with Territory Wars – it allows gangs to own and control sections of the city,” said Lead Game Designer Alexandr Soloveyko. “In addition, we’ve also streamlined the user experience for new players, with our Quickplay interface which gets them into the action faster than ever.”

CrimeCraft GangWars, is set in the bloody aftermath of the Bleedout Campaign and the destruction of the Scorpion Chamber, the governing body of Sunrise City. Gangs now fight for control of the city.

CrimeCraft GangWars will be available through www.CrimeCraft.com and Steam.

CrimeCraft GangWars features include:

• MMORPG Shooter – CrimeCraft takes the best persistent world RPG features (thousands of other players, loot, guilds/gangs, crafting, trading, missions, skills, PvE and PvP Combat) and combines it with the action and skill based gameplay of a shooter.

• Quickplay – Access CrimeCraft’s core gameplay features through a simplified interface that lets you shortcut RPG gameplay and get right to the action. Players can switch between the streamlined Quickplay experience and the fully featured lobbies with the click of a button.

• Free Updates – Frequent huge free content updates. Previous updates have added: player controlled nightclubs, new maps, new gameplay modes, new weapons, new skills, tournaments (daily, weekly and monthly).

• Fast and Furious Action – CrimeCraft features 20 maps and eleven game modes including Core Annihilation, an epic game mode that blends PvP and PvE combat. Players cooperate with AI controlled soldiers to destroy an opponent’s core while protecting their own.

For more information visit www.CCGangWars.com.

Digimon Masters

Joymax revealed additional gameplay details for their newly launched MMORPG, Digimon Masters by showing players how to add new Digimon to their team.  Leap once more into the fantastic universe where our world and the Digital World are closer than anyone would have imagined!  The game can be downloaded and played for free on the Joymax portal at http://www.joymax.com/portal.

Hundreds of Digimon stretching from the first 5 anime series will be available for capture, including PawnChessmon (White), Gabumon, Veemon, Guilmon, and Biyomon alongside many others.

However, players seeking to collect their favorite companions will have to work hard on gathering the necessary data to recruit these precious Digimon.

Digimon Masters is the hit MMO featuring the ever-popular Digimon franchise. The conflict has spilled once again from the Digital World into the Real World and the fate of both worlds will rest on the hands on a new generation of Tamers.   Just like in the anime, Digimon come from eggs.  Normal eggs will drop regularly from enemy Digimon, which can be exchanged for Data Chips.  Tamers will soon learn to keep a cache of these chips, which come in nine varieties:  Beast, Dark, Reptile, Fire, Insect, Plant, Rock, Water, and Bug.  Watch for the rare Partner Egg drop.  That’s where things get exciting!

A Partner Egg is hard to miss – they’re bigger than a normal egg and they glow brightly.  Tamers should take their partner eggs to a Hatching Centre along with their chips, in order to incubate their new potential Digimon.  Players must successfully upload chips a minimum of three times to their new partner, though they can attempt to do so up to an additional five times.  Be cautious, however: a failed upload will delete the fragile egg and players will need to find another Partner Egg before trying again.  For those who enjoy the thrill of gambling, try successfully pushing a Digimon to a maximum 5/5 bonus levels.

Siberian Storm

Chilicasino.com announces the launch of a fabulous new game from IGT – Siberian Storm.

Get into the snow-capped forest of fortune in the Siberian Storm Video Slot and enjoy IGT’s land-base casino blockbuster slot game now available online at Chilicasino. Siberian Storm comes with a striking White Tigers theme and an eye catchy hexagonal five-reel interface. Siberian Storm features the popular MultiWay Xtra™ wagering with a massive 720 ways to win and designed for big feline lovers.  Scatter based and free games with stacked wilds, make Siberian Storm a top performer and payout beast.

Trigger the ‘Free Spins Bonus’ by getting a Bonus symbol in any position on five consecutive reels. Stacked bonus symbols can multiply your initial 8 free spins to be 16 spins, 32 spins, or even higher. The Bonus reels are super-rich, offering more stacked wilds and the chance to retrigger the Bonus multiple times.

Be captivated by Far East tigers and experience the rich adventure of Siberia. Additionally, the game pays in both directions—left-to-right and right-to-left—leading to even more ways to win! Scatter pays and stacked wilds Storm™.

“We are very excited to be one of the first online casino operators to offer Siberian Storm to all casino enthusiasts.  Being a successful game within land based casino, Siberian Storm, is sure to become one of the most successful online video slots, and Chilicasino’s big hit.” Says Andrea Rossi, Casino Product Manager for Chilicasino.

“Thanks to its enticing hexagonal interface, Siberian Storm enhances the player gaming experience and with up to 720 ways to win and loads of possible winning combinations, we expect Siberian Storm to shortly turn into a top-ranking game and a players’ favourite.”

Take a step into the wild jungle of Siberian Storm – Visit Chilicasino today and receive a massive 200% Slots Bonus and be the first to try out Siberian Storm.  Insert bonus code SPICYSLOTS and let the savage action begin on Chilicasino’s new video slot game Siberian Storm.

One player having an incredible 2011 is Eugene Katchalov, who is topping leader boards all over the world. Earlier in the month, he claimed the title in the World Series of Poker event, defeating a field of 357 players to earn his first World Series of Poker bracelet and a prize fund of $122,900 (£75,072). Amazingly, that was Katchalov’s third biggest cash win of 2011 alone.

Another winner from the World Series of Poker (WSOP) championship on 5th June was LA poker star Allen Bari who won $874,166 (£533,972) in Event 4, playing $5000 no-limit holdem. Bari entered the final table late on day three and initially came up against competition from Mikhail Lakhitov, until two 10s peeled off and he grabbed a huge chip lead, which eventually won him his WSOP bracelet.

The field had the largest prize pool of any event and was a success for World Series of Poker who received an eight per cent increase in the number of players on the previous year (with 865 players entering). Second place was seized by Maria Ho, who, after taking home $520,020 (£319,109), won the second largest cash prize by a female in WSOP history, behind only the Norwegian-born Annette Obrestad’s $1 million (£613,648) win in 2007.

Earlier in the year, San Francisco’s Galen Hall took the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure tournament by storm, winning $2.3 million (£1.4 million) at the age of just 24. The win secured him a seat in next year’s PCA, the largest poker event outside of Vegas (with over 7,800 entries in this year’s tournament).The game made history by becoming the first poker game in poker tournament history to broadcast the final table almost live on ESPN.

Back in Europe, Alessio Isaia took the 2011 World Poker Tour Venice Main Event by storm, winning €380,000 (£334,272) of the €1,569,000 (£1.38 million) prize pool, following a buy-in of €3,300 (£2,906). Of the two starting days, Isaia was first place on day one and second place on day two, being surpassed by 2010 European Poker Tour London Main Event champion David Vamplew. Though Isaia wasn’t the favourite to win on the final day, he managed to struggle to victory after a gruelling heads-up battle.

The 2011 France Poker Series Grand Final in Paris was won by Germany’s Marvin Rettenmaier. The €2,000 buy-in tournament attracted a total of 567 players, leaving a prize pool of nearly €1 million (£879,664), including Rettenmaier’s top cash prize of €244,036 (£214,670). At the end of the four-day tournament, Frenchman Basil Yaiche ended up in second place and collected a prize of €153,000 (£134,588). Rettenmaier has managed to win seven cash prizes this year, with five of his seven victories occurring in France.

With so many exciting victories in 2011, it’s hard to believe that we’re only half way through the year. As poker is gaining in popularity and becoming televised more frequently, it is easy to see why the winners of today are gaining such grand recognition and why so many people are deciding to join the game on the best poker sites. As the World Series of Poker tournament draws to the end of its 42nd year, poker fans worldwide are eagerly finding out who of the 70,000 entrants will be topping the leader boards and taking those grand cash prizes home.

But with responsibilities such as work getting in the way of gaming time, even the most passionate player has to log off at some point. Or do they? A new breed of gamer is emerging, and that is the gamer that gets paid to play.

For many fans of video and online games, getting paid to do what they love sounds too good to be true – so can anyone really make money out of playing games?

The answer is yes, in fact there is a growing army of gamers out there who are beginning to reap the rewards of their dedication and devotion to their favourite computer games.

What Do You Need to Get Paid to Play?

Those who are serious about trying to forge a career in gaming will need to put in effort, just as anyone trying to make money from their job would. The first requirement for those looking to get paid to play is to ensure that their computer hardware and software is up to date and functioning at its highest level. It is impossible to reach a performance peak in any area when trying to work with equipment that is under par so gamers need to make sure their kit is up to scratch if they are serious about their intentions.

Once all the necessary equipment is in place, gamers need to spend time training for their chosen career. This should not be too much like hard work since the training basically involved spending elongated periods of time playing the games that they hope to target professionally in the long run.

While a gamer may already have a personal game preference it can be helpful to check online trends to see which games are on an upward popularity trend as these are likely to be the titles that companies are investing in promoting and more marketing and more players equals greats paid to play opportunities down the line.

Where Can You Get Paid to Play?

Once a gamer has honed their skills it is time to look for employment opportunities. Paid to play options range from cash prize tournament participation to the holy grail of getting hired by a big games company to work as an in house tester for new games and upgrades.

Look Outside the Gaming Box

While traditional gamers may be more familiar with virtual action scenarios, it may be that other online games offer a greater opportunity to earn. Those who easily master games of skill and strategy may wish to consider branching out into casino games, which are available through sites such as Party Poker Bonus Codes.  Interested parties can try out the games that they think they may be suited to without the need to make any initial investment, allowing them to hone their skills before putting up any stakes from their own pocket.

Episode 6 Community

Vogster Entertainment premiered the latest episode in their Crimecraft: Bleedout campaign on February 5th, Episode 6. The Achilles Helix is illustrated by Gary Erskine.

Crimecraft: Bleedout combines the best of MMORPG gaming with the fast paced action and skill based gameplay of a shooter.

The game is set in Sun Rise City, a gang infested metropolis reeling from the total collapse of the world economy, somewhere in the not too distant future.

This newest update features the second volume of weekly episodes that will reveal back-stabbing conspiracies and world-shaking revelations.  The story of the collapse and the New Age of Ruin continues in Episode 6: THE ACHILLES HELIX, written by Mike Kennedy (Star Wars, Superman, Alien vs Predator) and featuring artwork by comic book veteran Gary Erskine (Dan Dare, Star Wars, Terminator, Transformers).

The Achilles Helix episode focuses on The Sons of Liberty, and the secret projects brewing in their military laboratories.  The Player will participate in experiments that could either result in Uber-soldier abilities or tragedy.  The mysterious disappearance of their former leader also starts to point towards dangerous secret agendas that could change the landscape of Sunrise City forever.

This newest major content update includes the following features:

• Episodic Conclusion – Players will witness the heart pounding conclusion of the Bleedout Campaign and learn the secret behind what caused the world’s collapse. Each week, a new episode of the gripping story will be released with 2½ hours of new story-based missions. Featuring art from comic book all-stars such as Howard Chaykin, Glenn Fabry, Trevor Hairsine, Gary Erskine, and Vince Proce, the second wave of Bleedout episodes will provide hours of top notch graphic game play.
• New Maps – New maps will emerge, including Deckard Harbor, a dense maze of walkways in the port district; Municipal Bank, a heavily guarded financial fortress for the ultimate PvP robbery; and a third, soon to be announced location.
• New Abilities – 6 new abilities will provide a wealth of tactical combat options, including Turrets and Flash Grenades.
• Reputation Phase 2 – Reputation Leaderboards go live in February, with unique player signatures, titles, and rewards.
• Player Requests – The CrimeCraft community drives development, and a multitude of player requests have been added, such as more character customization options, refinements to character professions and skills, new play modes, weapon modification kits, AUGs, and much more!

Join thousands of players online as you learn the rules of the street and the secrets to criminal success and survival.  Hustle and kill to build a Reputation while unfolding the mysteries behind the devastating Bleedout event.  Customize unique weapons and performance enhancing drugs for personal use or profit.  Form a gang with your friends or ally with trustworthy strangers to dominate the city.  Become the anti-hero at the top of everyone’s hit list.

Visit the Crimecraft website for further information.

UnderGarden new screens

Atari have announced the release of a series of new screens for its enchanting puzzle game The UnderGarden, developed by Vitamin-G the creators of Aces of the Galaxy.

The UnderGarden presents a wonderful exploration experience for gamers with an affinity for solving new style puzzles and will be unleashed this winter Xbox LIVE Arcade for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStationNetwork and Windows PC Download at Atari.com

UnderGarden new screens

The UnderGarden is a casual zen-like game that challenges players to explore beautiful underground caverns filled with strange life forms; physics based puzzles and plenty of hidden secrets.

The world comes alive and music evolves as players get deeper into the world of The UnderGarden. With local co-operative gameplay, players can chill out, work together to solve puzzles and explore the world. The UnderGarden offers 20 different levels of modern exploration filled with brain teasing physics and eco-friendly puzzles that evoke an emotional response to the beauty and calm of this underwater oasis.

UnderGarden new screens

1 Use different types of fruit to help solve brain-teasing physics-based puzzles.
2 Watch the world around you bloom and come to life.
3 Pick up musicians to enhance the soothing audio tracks.
4 Unlock new looks for your character as you progress through the UnderGarden.
5 Explore a variety of different levels.
6 Solve tricky puzzles.
7 Gather pollen to make your world blossom with plant life and colour.

For further information visit the Atari website

56 Sage Street Free Online Game

56 Sage Street is a great new free game. To start playing the game you simply choose a boy/girl character.

The introduction explains how you arrived in the city with just £4 in your pocket and a headful of dreams. The city is a hard place to live.  When you run into some trouble a man in a car sees what happens and is prepared to help you out.  The man in the passing car (Mr C) is the dying owner of the 56 Sage Street Empire and is looking for someone to take over.  If you fulfil the tasks he sends you on your mobile phone he will continue to give you business.

At the bottom of the screen you have three symbols showing your reputation, energy and appearances levels, your mobile phone and your money. You start the game with just £4 and you need to raise your energy levels by consuming food and drink, increase your reputation and keep up your appearance if you are going to succeed and fulfil your dreams.

Move around the streets by dragging the scene.  There is a map in the bottom right-hand corner to help navigate your way through the city.  You will be asked for help and offered food and drink, among other things.  You may not always get paid.  But your reputation for charity and help is as important as your cash flow.  You will be offered deals and scams along the way.  It is up to you whether you think offers are worth the risk.

At the bottom of the page there is a Game Guide which includes a key to all the icons that will appear scattered around the city streets.

In Sage Street you are rewarded for being a good, charitable, hard-working citizen.  The game itself is very addictive and great fun to play.

Visit 56 Sage Street now and start playing this great new free online game.

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This new Mythos class trailer showcases the unique and powerful character skills from each of three character classes. In typical hack ‘n’ slash style, characters of all classes and creeds can hunt monsters in groups in the action-packed MMO world.

With the Pyromancer’s mighty fireballs, the long-range destruction of the Gadgeteer´s grenades, or the whirling blades of the Bloodletter, excitement is guaranteed even if you prefer to stalk the gloomy dungeons on your own.

For further information and to sign up for the upcoming closed beta phase visit the Mythos website.