GameMaster Rating: 85 points (of 100)

General Comments: You just have to worry about a place when they call themselves "Fair Deal"; it's kind of like "Honest Abe's Used Cars", you know? But, they actually have a fair deal or two here, so perhaps the name is justified. This is a small, Java-based casino which requires no pre-download of software, but the graphics still have to come in to your computer and this place is painfully slow. But, it's worth it if you can get a decent connection. You need to know that I played here only in the 'fun' mode, but you are connected to their server for that. There's also a sports book here, but my review covers only the casino.

Recommendations: Though the casino states that they accept credit cards, just which ones are not specified in the general information area. And, while there is a very detailed FAQ section for the sports betting, there is little, if any, information on the casino games. For example, there's nothing I could find which states how many decks are used in the Blackjack game (it's most certainly multi-deck). Another 'point of order' is that the 2s on the Deuces Wild game are not marked "Wild" and it's easy to forget that they are.

Blackjack: Nothing in the casino FAQ mentions the number of decks used, but it's at least 3 decks, because on one hand that I played, I received 3 Four of spades. My guess is that it's 6 decks so I'll used that for my calculations. Other rules are: dealer hits A-6, double on any first two cards, double after split is permitted, split Aces may be hit more than once and pairs may be resplit to 4 hands. The dealer 'peeks' for a Blackjack, so only one bet is lost. The minimum bet is $1-25 or $25-250, depending upon the table you choose. With these rules, the casino has a 0.4% edge, if (as I assume), Aces can be resplit. Only 'like' cards may be split (you cannot split J,K for example.) It appears that the decks are shuffled after every hand.

Blackjack playing tips: You absolutely must try this game in 'play' mode before you commit any $$$, because the Java script does weird things. Often, the graphics of the cards won't show, but the hand is totaled for you and the value of the dealer's up card is shown in text, so you can still play accurately. Make sure you understand how the bet size is adjusted, because it will add to the previous bet any amount you may 'click'. All in all, though, this is a pretty good game and I saw nothing in my playing sessions that I haven't seen in a 'real' casino.

*The theoretical return is the long-term payback a player who is using the correct playing strategy may expect.

Video Poker playing tips: Don't let the dollar minimum scare you. The pay table is the same whether one or ten (the max.) coins are played, so betting $1 is the equivalent of playing a 20-cent game. The Four-Joker game is a tragedy. For some odd reason, they gave this game the paytable of the Deuces Wild game, probably thinking that 4 Jokers = 4 Deuces, but they don't. (52 cards in one deck and 56 cards in the other. I won't charge them for this little consultation.) The Jacks or Better game is obviously the one to play.

Slot Machines: There are two here for you to avoid.

Roulette: This is a double-zero wheel which means that the casino has a 5.26% edge. Limits are $1-360.

Summary and Rating of the Gameday Casino: It's slow, it ain't pretty, but it has some decent games and that's what impresses here. I'm happy to give Fair Deal Casino a rating of 85 points.