GameMaster Rating: 89 points (of 100)

General Comments: This is the new casino side of a well-established and respected sportsbook operation that also owns brick and mortar casinos in Costa Rica. I believe the software is proprietary, but it's very impressive, regardless of who made it. Over 11 Mb in size, the software shows considerable creativity in not only design, but also in some of the games that are available, as you'll see. Probably because the owners are involved in the sports betting business, they recognize the need to keep current customers happy, so they have installed an aggressive "slot club" cash-back program for all players, whether they prefer slots, video poker or table games. The level of a player's cash rebate is determined by the level of the "lifetime" deposits that player makes. For example, the slot/video poker rebate starts at 1% and can get as high as 1.75% when the player's deposits have gone over the $100,000 level. I predict that some changes will be made in that, but it's a terrific idea and I hope they continue it. The rebates are much lower for table game players (0.15%-.60%), however they are, for the most part, higher than any other casino on the 'Net. Jazz Casino and Sportsbook earns a tip of the GameMaster's hat for doing this. What we may be seeing here is the end of bonus madness and that would be a good thing. I must caution you that I played here only in the "play-money" mode, so pay tables, etc. could be different on the real-money side.

Recommendations: While their Website explains the levels of the cash-back program quite clearly, they don't spend any time at all explaining how the cash is obtained by the player. I did contact them, however, and they told me the cash-back can be done by request at any time. Unfortunately, the minimum coin size on all the Video Poker machines is $1, so a lot of people aren't going to feel comfortable playing here. Also, I could not find the minimum and maximum bet levels for each game, either in the Help section of the game, nor on the casino's Website. That is basic information which ought to be easily obtained.

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

The casino's edge is approximately 0.57%.

Craps: The casino allows 2x free odds, but there is a limit of $100 on each individual bet, so any bet on which you may want to place an odds bet should be capped at $50 so you can get full odds. All odds are automatically "off" on the come out roll and there doesn't appear to be a way to change that. Table limits are $1-$100.

Roulette: This is an "American" wheel with 0 and 00 and no 'partage' or 'enprison' rule, so the casino's edge is 5.26% on all bets. Table limits are $1-$10, $2-$20, $3-$30, $5-$50 or $10-$100.

Baccarat: The game is dealt from six decks and it appears that they are shuffled after every hand. The tie pays 9 for 1, which really means it's 8 to 1, so it carries a 14+% house edge. Otherwise, the game appears to follow the standard rules, so the casino's edge is 1.06% on a Banker bet and 1.23% on a Player bet. Table limits are $1-$100.

Caribbean Poker: This version has a higher pay schedule than most Caribbean Stud games available on the 'Net, but the enhancements are found only on the rare hands like the Flush and higher. Still, any improvement in the payouts cuts the house edge somewhat, so if this is your game you're better off playing here, all other things being equal. There is no progressive jackpot. Table Limits are $1-$100.

Pai Gow Poker: To the best of my knowledge, this is the only game on the 'Net where a player may bet on two hands at a time and see the cards for both before "setting" the hand. The more cards a player can see, the better, so if you are a skillful Pai Gow Poker player, you'll want to check this out. The house is always the Bank in this version and the usual 5% commission applies. Table Limits are $1-$100

Slot Machines: Five different machines are available, but all are three-reel, single payline, non-progressive machines. Denominations available are: $.25, $1 and $5.

Keno: This is a nice-looking suite of games, but the payouts in the "regular" game are in the 72-75% range, which is well below those of many other casinos on the 'Net. There are some interesting variations, such as a game called "The Edge", which covers all the numbers on the edge of the card and "Top and Bottom" that pays according to how many numbers are chosen in the top 40 versus how many are chosen in the bottom 40. I didn't run an analysis on them, but I doubt if the payout is much above the regular game. The "regular" game has three different pay schedules available, marked "A", "B" and "C". At least for the four-spot ticket, the "A" schedule has the highest payout and that's only about 73%. Don't be fooled by the "C" schedule, because while it appears to be more generous, it requires a $1.75 bet, unlike the first two, which require only a $1 bet. Are they trying to trick us?

Summary and Rating of Jazz Casino and Sportsbook: While no single game here stands out as being special, I applaude the owners for establishing what is undoubtedly the best slot-club cash rebate program on the Internet. I recently wrote an editorial entitled "Bonus Madness" wherein I argued that overly-generous bonuses that seem to be a problem for all involved should be replaced by good, fair games and better-paying 'slot club' benefits. It looks like I read their mind or they read mine, but either way, this is a good start. This is a new casino, but it is owned by a well-respected sports book with a good reputation and, while the software is proprietary (I think), it appeared to be 'honest' in my limited trials and I doubt that the owners want to ruin their hard-earned reputation by cheating someone out of a $5 Blackjack bet. Whether the cash-back program will survive some "hard" use remains to be seen, but as it stands now, I'm happy to give Jazz Casino and Sportsbook a rating of 89 points. I'll watch this casino closely to see how it all goes and if I can talk them into some decent Video Poker games, may even raise my score.