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Ladies and gentleman, from the makers of the famed Titan Poker comes an online casino platform of majestic proportions – the all new Titan Poker! Titan’s 90+ games and unprecedented €4000 Welcome Bonus, provide a thrilling gaming experience that is unlike anything you’ve seen before.

You’ll notice the difference straight away as you enter the grand lobby. With its futuristic feel and easy navigation, the Titan Poker lobby allows you to quickly find your game of choice, as well as to discover exciting new ones! Titan Poker is powered by state-of-the-art Playtech software and boasts cutting edge graphics in real-time animation that are out of this world.

To claim your €4000 Welcome Bonus, make a first deposit of €200 that will automatically be matched 100%. For the next six months you’ll receive another 100% bonus of up to €200 for your first deposit of each month. After the six monthly bonuses, you’ll receive weekly bonuses of 100% up to €100 on your first deposit of the week for 26 weeks.

And that’s just the beginning, because Titan Poker continuously provides exciting promotions and bonus offers for its wide variety of games, from blackjack, to video poker, baccarat, roulette and of course, the titan-sized progressive jackpots!

What’s more, the Titan Poker complimentary points program allows you to earn extra money as you play. Titan’s “comp points” can be converted into real cash and are added to your account balance to be redeemed at any time.

At Titan Poker you’ll enjoy the same great customer service that the brand’s world-class affiliated sites, Casino Tropez and Europa Casino, are renowned for. The support team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by phone, fax, email and online chat to answer your questions and assist you with any technical and financial queries that you may have. For your convenience, an online help feature has been custom built into the software, outlining the rules and providing answers to frequently asked questions.

Further details can be found at www.titancasino.com, but the best way to discover the excitement that awaits you at the newly launched Titan Poker is to play the games and experience the first-rate action for yourselves!

Facts and Figures:

Product: Titan Poker
Homepage: www.titancasino.com
Number of Games: 90+
Download Version: Yes
Software Used : Playtech
Jackpots: 19 Progressives
Welcome Bonus: Up to €4000 free
Other Bonuses: 10%-15% for non-credit card deposits
Currencies: $USD, €, British £, $CAD
Payment Methods: Visa, MasterCard, Visa Electon/Delta, epassport, NETeller, InstaCash, Citadel Commerce, eChecks (powered by Citadel,) myCitadel, FirePay, Click2Pay, MoneyBookers, EcoCard, UseMyBank, PaySafeCard, Bank Draft, Wire Transfer, Instant Wire Transfer, uKash, WebMoney
Support Provided: 24/7 Toll-Free US, Canada, UK
International Number & Fax
Online chat
Comp Program: Yes – free comps and VIP program
Pay-out Percentage: 97.5%

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“A dollar picked up in the road is more satisfaction to us than the 99 which we had to work for, and the money won at Faro or in the stock market snuggles into our hearts in the same way.” – Mark Twain

Blackjack originally emerged in French casino houses around 1700 when it was called by its more common name of “vingt-et-un” or twenty-and-one. The game rapidly spread in popularity throughout Europe and was introduced at American casinos in the 1800’s where it quickly proved equally popular with visitors. However despite its popularity with gamblers it has over the years enjoyed a very chequered career with the casinos themselves. It has fallen in and then out of favor time and again with casino bosses who have continually tried to adapt and modify the game’s rules to increase the house edge. In response players have come up with equally ingenious playing techniques to offset them – tricks that have included everything from card counting to the use of weird devices hidden in the players hand.

Online Blackjack
As offline casinos made the transition into hyperspace they brought with them all the traditional games of chance including Roulette, Slots and Craps as well as the regular favorite – Blackjack.
Off all the games available at an online casino Blackjack is different from most on offer because it is
practically the only one in which you can dramatically change the odds of winning whilst the game is actually taking place. Talking technically for a moment those games such as Craps and Roulette are termed by mathematicians as ‘Independent Trials Processes’ – which basically means that one has no control over events once the dice have been cast, the wheel or reels have been spun. Further more the results of any one play will have no knock-on effect upon any subsequent game. This means that it is practically impossible to develop any accurate and reliable playing strategy. You just put down your cash and keep your fingers crossed!
The game of Blackjack is different. It is one of the few examples where the odds in a game are subject to ‘Conditional Probabilities’. This means that as the game progresses the chances of you winning a hand vary as it is played out. In addition the outcome of one hand affects subsequent hands (this statement is more true in online casinos where a deck is played through prior to a shuffle than at most online casinos where each hand is cut from a freshly shuffled deck.)

Playing Blackjack
Blackjack (single or multi-player) is a game that is played against a selected bank and/or the dealer. As a player you have the goal of creating a hand of cards (which can be two or more in number) with an accumulated pip value of 21. All cards the cards in a deck are credited with their face value except the court cards, which are considered to be worth 10 points each. Aces are treated a little differently and are deemed to be worth either 1 or 11 depending on your playing preference. If, through bad-luck or poor math, your hand total adds up to greater than 21 you are deemed to have ‘Bust’ and so you lose the hand and your initial bet is forfeited. The game is literally as simple as that – at least the basics of playing are! After you have received your first two cards you just keep on asking the dealer for another card until such time that you decide you either obtain the magic 21 pip total or are as close to it as you think are going to get. At this point you `Stand’.
Then the dealer peels off one card after another onto his pile until he reaches 17 when he has either beaten you or has gone `Bust’. If at this stage his total is the same as the players a stalemate arises and both hands are forfeited. This is called a `Push’ and the bet is returned to the player.
Now that you know the basics let’s take a look at a very simple game.

Game Example 1
Every hand of Blackjack starts with the player offering his or her bet. Lets make this $2.00 for the sake of argument (typically most online Casinos play in US Dollars but don’t let this put you off if you live outside America – I’ll explain about currencies later on). For this bet the dealer will then place down in front of you your first card (face up), then deal them one card (also face up). He or she will then deal you, the player, a second card (also face up) and then finally themselves a second card (face down this time). You are now looking at four cards on the table – three faced up and one faced down.
Now the player will count the pip values of their two cards. Say they had a 2 and an 8 they would have a pip total of 10 – a long way from the targeted 21 but as we shall see a good hand nevertheless. At this point the player has two options. The first is to decide whether to `Twist’ – to ask for a third card and hope that they will get nearer the 21 total, or to `Stick’ – refuse the offer of any more cards for that particular round.
In this case the total of 10 is pretty low and one would normally ask for a second card. Remember the
highest value card that you can have is 11 (Ace) so the player cannot bust at this point.
So the dealer hands over a third card to the player. In this particular game it turns out to be a King that means that the player’s hand totals 20. Most sensible players would hold at this point – the odds of an Ace (in its role as a value 1) coming up next are just too remote to make the risk acceptable. So the player suspends his play at this point and allows the dealers to respond. The dealers’ job now is to reach that magical 21 value themselves. However the job is made considerably difficult because they have to beat the player’s 20. Thus only a total of 21 will do to win the game. A hand of
value 19 or less will mean a loss whilst 20 will at least nullify the hand and result in a draw.
So off they go. The dealers exposed card is a 6, they then reveal that a second facedown card as an 8 which leaves them a total of 14. Obviously a third card is needed so they turn one over. This is a 2, which brings the total to 16 – still not enough so they try for a fourth card. This happens to be a 10 and the dealer is `Bust’ with the mammoth total of 26. The player wins the hand, has his or her original $2 bet returned to them along with the same amount again making $4 in total! Most winnings are paid on a 2:1 ratio – though there are a few exceptions, as we shall see later on. So that is it – simplicity itself!

Game Example 2
Lets take a look at second game. In the first instance the player has a King (which is value 10 remember) and a 7. The suit type is of no consequence in Blackjack. This total of 17 is high enough for the player to `Stand’. However the dealer also has a court card – namely a Knave and on exposure of his second we see that it is a 10. Thus his total of 20 is higher than the players of 17 so he takes the bet and closes the hand.

Game Example 3
There is one two-card combination that radically changes the results of any game. This is referred to as a `Blackjack‘ and consists of the combination of any ten or court card and an Ace. Together they add up to 21. When a player gets a `Blackjack‘ he or she will automatically win the hand and likewise when the dealer gets this combination they win the hand. The fun part is that a BJ pays out higher odds to a player of 3:2 rather than the more normal 2:1.

Game Example 4
Occasionally you find in an initial deal that you are handed a pair – that is to say two cards of the same value (e.g., two 2s. two 5s, two Aces etc.). How you treat these depends very much on several playing factors. However in many cases you will decide that the best response is to `Split’ in which you take each card and use it to create two new hands. At the same time the software will automatically double your initial bet so you are risking a higher wager.
This can be an important consideration when deciding whether to split or not. Let’s create an example to illustrate my point. The dealer has dealt you two 8s and you decide to split them.
You now have two completely new hands on the table in front of you – each with an 8 to start from. The dealer will then deal another card face up onto one 8 and then a second card onto the second 8.
Now this is where things get a little complex. There seems to be no set rules on how the casino software will respond. Having placed a second card on top of each of your two split cards some will automatically complete your game at this stage and move onto the dealers move. Some casinos only do this on split Aces.
Some casinos allow you the regular `Hit or Stand’ options and some even allow you to split for a second time (thereby creating three hands of cards). You will just have to play the casino for a little while in order to get to grips with its subtleties.
It’s now the dealers turn. They complete their hands as usual but the total that they reach is compared against each of your split pairs individually. This means that you can either lose both your hands to a higher total, win one and lose one or win them both. It’s a risking business splitting pairs as you can see so only certain pairings are recommended for splitting.

A Summary
In those four game examples you have now experienced the very basics to playing Blackjack. The game rules governing certain aspects of play can differ from one online casino to another (as indeed they do at offline casinos). Indeed they can also vary from one continent to another with European Blackjack being quite different to the typical game found at US casinos. When playing Blackjack online it is crucial to find the best odds (more on that later). Some good sites are suggested in the Appendix.

In the next chapter we’ll take a look at what you need to get started in a Blackjack career

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Becoming familiar with the basic online Blackjack strategy is simply a must if you seek to win the games you play. Success in Blackjack typically depends on a mysterious combination of luck and skill. If you manage to create that particular combination in just the right way, your Blackjack winnings are sure to skyrocket. It’s this exceptional possibility of making an incredible profit probably what attracts casino goers from all parts of planet Earth to this amazing game.

Basic online Blackjack strategy is not a random term. Being a mathematical system of charts, it is actually a well-defined strategy based on certain mathematical rules. Charts are available that help players predict (and ultimately follow) the correct mathematical play in any given game scenario. You need to learn the basic strategy charts well to become familiar with every proper play. Seasoned Blackjack players are well aware of the fact that playing optimally usually helps them to reduce casino advantage to less than 1%.

Card-Counting System

While a chart will help its users find the best possible solution in any game situation, there is another recommended online Blackjack strategy we advise players to take a look at. It’s the popular card-counting system. Although a bit controversial, card-counting is a completely legitimate technique. Players who manage to keep track of the cards that have already been used, can establish when the unused cards are advantageous for them.

In general terms, card counting provides players with two priceless opportunities. First, the player can make richer bets when gaining an advantage over the house. This ultimately translates into more profitable winnings. Second, the player can use whatever info regarding the unused cards to optimize his game. For example, with many tens still unused, the player may double down in more situations because the chance of making a powerful hand is quite higher.

When done correctly, card-counting can give players an advantage of 0-2% over the house. To thwart card-counting attempts, many casino facilities switched from single deck games to multiple decks, with the cards dealt out of a box called a ’shoe.’ Despite this, many experienced card-counters make very nice profits using this particular Blackjack strategy!

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The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) could be repealed as soon as next month, when House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank will introduce bill to take the law off the books. The problems it has created between the U.S. and European Union, where a number of stock exchange listed online gambling companies have lost billions in market value since the online gambling law was put on the U.S. books in late 2006, and the fact that E.U. could file a complaint against the United States about the enforcement of the online gambling ban are among the top reasons for the new bill that would effectively repeal the UIGEA. It was confirmed by spokesman for the Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank that the Representative will re-introduce a bill to repeal the online gambling ban as soon as next month.

FSC Chairman Barney Frank was among the lawmakers urging the Bush administration to avoid implementing the gambling ban, considering that not only it would strain relations with the E.U., but the online gambling ban would effectively put enormous pressure on the banks during already though times for the banking sector. The Bush administration, however, went through and implemented the online gambling ban framework, making it illegal for U.S. banks to process funds to and from online gambling websites. This did not sit well with the European Union, which sees the internet gambling ban in the U.S. as unfair, considering that the online horse racing companies in the United States were exempt from the gambling ban and were allowed to take bets online. With the current banking crisis, forcing the banks to spend additional time and resources on trying to track which of the million daily transactions originate or a destined to online gambling websites, seems ludicrous and there is a good chance that the bill to repeal the online gambling ban will go through this time around.

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Legalizing online gambling in the United States could bring in as much as $52 billion in taxes over the next decade, according to results from a new study released today. According to the well-known accounting company PricewaterhouseCoopers, which conducted the online gambling study for UC Group, an online payment processing firm, concluded that if online gambling was made legal in the United States and was taxed – the benefits in tax money could well reach $52 billion over the next decade. PricewaterhouseCoopers new study also shows that online gambling has increased by some 22% in the United States, despite the recent attempt by the Congress to curb this form of entertainment by making it illegal for banks to process payments to and from online gambling websites.

The bill to block financial transactions with online gambling firms was passed in the wee hours of the last Congress session in 2006, while the Republicans still held to the majority. But House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank has already announced plans to introduce a bill next month that would overturn the online gambling legislation and give the banks some breathing room during the financial crisis. Rep. Barney Frank was also one of the supporters of a bill that would effectively regulate online gambling in the United States and potentially result in billions in new taxes from this activity.

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