GameMaster Rating: 73 points (of 100)

General Comments: A publicist for this casino e-mailed and asked me to do a review . Boy, is he going to regret that! Now don't get me wrong; this place has a few redeeming qualities, but you can tell by the score I gave it that 2BetOn Casino has a long climb ahead of it just to get to average. This site has games in both Java (Blackjack, Video Poker, Slots and Caribbean Stud) which I didn't try and games in a down-loaded format which I did try. If you go the download route, you'll get a 5.6 meg "lite" version which has Blackjack, Video Poker, Slots and Paigow Poker. There are many, many other games available and, if you wish to play one, it's a fairly long process to download it, restart the casino and log on all over again, even with a 56K modem. My advice is to order the free CD-ROM they say they'll mail to you rather than sit through all those downloads. The software is decent; it requires a DirectX plug-in for your browser and it has its little flaws, but all-in-all things work pretty well. This casino offers interfaces in various languages: English, Italian, French, German, Spanish,Japanese and Chinese. They do not accept accounts from Canada, regardless of which language you speak. I played here only for 'fun', but it does connect to their server in that mode, so you should get a pretty good idea of how things might work should you play for 'real' $$$. They do have a toll-free phone number for customer service and there is a sports book available, but I didn't visit it, so my rating is based only on the casino.

Recommendations: This operation has an opportunity to stand out in the increasingly-crowded market if they'd only give the player some kind of chance at winning a few $$$. It just seems to me that they've elected to offer the absolute minimum payout in virtually every game (as you'll see in my reviews) and that's no way to make a name for yourself in this business.

Games Analysis (All this information was correct on the date listed above)

Blackjack: The rules are six-decks which are shuffled after every hand, double on any first two cards, double after split and the dealer stands on A-6. Pairs, including unlike 10s may be split only once. I could not determine if both bets are lost when doubling against a 10 or Ace, should the dealer have a Blackjack and my e-mail to them regarding that has gone unanswered. (Is that a sign of their customer service?) I'll assume that both bets are lost until I hear something different. With these rules, the casino has an edge of about 0.65%. Limits are $5-$100 and only one hand may be played.

Blackjack playing tips: There's really no reason to play here, but in case you do, remember that it appears both bets are lost if you double or split pairs against a dealer's 10 or Ace and he (she, it?) gets a 'natural'. This requires quite a few changes in basic strategy.

* The theoretical return is the long-term payback a player who is using the correct strategy may expect. The return is lower for 1-coin play because the Royal Flush pays less when fewer than 5 coins are played.

Video Poker Comments: The Jacks game is in a 6/5 format with a 5000-coin Royal. The "King of the Decks" game is what's known as "Five-Deck Frenzy" in the real world, except these guys have left out an entire class of payouts on the game! You see, Five-Deck Frenzy is played with 5 decks, so each display card in the game has its own deck. As a consequence, it's possible to get 5-of-a-kind which is suited; it's also possible to get a suited full-house, 4K, trips, etc. On the 'real' game, those pay a bonus, but here they don't, so the result is that abysmal payout.

Slot Machines: They have three here and each may be played in the 5-cent, quarter, dollar and five-dollar mode. At least two have progressive jackpots; I didn't download the other one. I played 50 spins on one slot while betting 4 coins per spin and lost 100 coins! That implies a house advantage of 50%, but it was, admittedly, a small sample..

Craps: They must be doing some work on this game because when I tried to connect, I got a message that it is temporarily off.

Roulette: This is a double-zero wheel without the 'en prison' rule, so the casino's edge is 5.26%. Limits are $1-$100.

Baccarat: They do not publish their rules for play, but I checked a few hands and this appears to be a 'regular' game. The 'commission' on a winning Banker bet is 5%. Ties pay 8 to 1. The casino's edge is 1.06% on a Banker bet and 1.23% on a Player bet. The edge on a Tie bet is a whopping 14.05%!! Limits are $5-$100.

Caribbean Stud Poker: This has the usual pay schedule which gives the casino a 2.60% edge over the player that raises only hands of A,K,J,8,3 or better. There's also a $1 side bet on the progressive (about $10,100 as this is being written) and it also pays 10% for a straight flush and other amounts for hands as low as a Flush. The casino's edge here is about 30%. Limits for the 'regular' game are $5-$100.

Free Ride Poker: A version of Let It Ride, this is actually an improvement; not by the pay schedule, which still gives the casino a 2.85% edge if played properly, but by how it's played. Instead of placing 3 bets and pulling them back, you bet only on the spots you want. This makes the game a lot faster. There's also a $1 side bet with a progressive for the Royal and other payments, but it carries a casino edge of about 33% when the Royal is at the reset level of $10,000. Limits are $5-$100.

Free Ride Poker playing tips: See our "Casino Survival Guide" for the proper strategy to use at this game.

Pai-Gow Poker: The casino is always the Banker in this game and the 'commission' on a winning bet is 5%, so when combined with the natural edge of the Banker, the net effect is a casino edge of about 3% against a skillful player. Limits are $5-$100.

Bingo: With the odds they're offering in general at this casino, it's reasonable to assume that you're not going to do very well at these games. The deal is this: There are 4 different Bingo games and you may play up to 6 cards. Each card costs 5-cents, a quarter, a dollar or 5 dollars and 11 balls of 30 are then chosen. The payoff comes if you get certain patterns and they pay anywhere from 1-100. Oh, yeah.

Sic-Bo: This is an Asian dice game where you're betting on various combinations which can be made by the three dice that are thrown. For example, if you bet that all 3 will show 'snake-eyes' (1-1-1), it pays 150 to 1. The only snag here is that the probability is 215 to 1. (And most other casinos pay 185 to 1). Any 'triple' pays 25 to 1 (most casinos pay 30 or 31 to 1), but the probability is 35 to 1. There are some pretty hefty house percentages here (20% and up!), so if you've got a craving for Chinese, you'll be better off ordering out.

Pachinko: You've probably seen this on some TV show, particularly one about Japan, because this game is very popular there. Basically, it's low-tech pinball and you purchase a number of balls and then shoot one onto the board. It hits little pins, makes some noise and, if you're lucky, it'll go into a hole and you'll get more balls. The object here is that you can win more balls and each has a value which you can cash out. They aren't falling all over themselves in Las Vegas looking for room for Pachinko machines, so I doubt this is going to catch on.

Battle Royale: Yep, this is the game you played as a kid, but you called it "War". You get a card, the dealer gets a card and whoever has the highest card wins. If you tie, you may "go to war". In that case, you must put up a bet equal to your first bet and the casinos' edge comes in when you win the 'war' since you're only paid on the original bet, but lose both if the dealer wins. The house edge is 2.8% if you always go to war. (Which you should, to keep the edge as low as possible. Better yet, go to a different game.)

Summary and Rating of the 2BetOn Casino: How can I possibly like a place that has pushed every rule to get the biggest house edge? Yes, I realize it's their right to put the payouts at whatever level they choose, but it's also my right to not like it. In all fairness, some of the table games are no worse than what can be found at most other online (and 'real') casinos, so that keeps me from giving these guys a much lower score. That said, 2BetOn Casino gets a score of 73 points.