Casinos Explained

Overview

Johnny Chan’s life is one of rags to riches. After moving to the United States, the Chinese boy became a professional poker player. He has won no less than ten World Series of Poker bracelets and the 1987 and 1988 main events consecutively. His nickname is “The Orient Express “, given his Chinese heritage.

Johnny Chan got his nickname while he was relatively new to the poker tournament scene. In 1978, Chan came to Las Vegas to become a professional poker player, earning his famous nickname in 1982. It was a brave move and of course prior to online casino usa and the like. Very much bricks and mortar territory.

He was born in Guangzhou, China, in 1957. He came to the USA in 1968 along with his family, who settled in Arizona before moving to Houston, Texas. His family owned restaurants there, and this is where he started playing cards. He left university when he was 21 as he wanted to become a professional poker player in Las Vegas.

Chan’s Career as a Gambler

In one night, Chan allegedly gained $20 000 from $500 in a cash game at the age of 16, his first casino experience. However, he lost all of it the next day. In addition to winning the World Series of Poker (WSOP), he was also part of the movie Rounders. Moreover, Chan appears as a cameo in the final heads up round from 1988.

In 1989, he almost won his third consecutive title. Still, instead, he finished second to Phil Hellmuth and missed out on an NBA championship ring Jerry Buss the owner of the LA Lakers, promised him if he had won three consecutive events.

He is equal with Phil Ivey and Doyle Brunson after being the first player to win ten WOSP bracelets. Perhaps nowadays he visits https://www.wolfwinner.com/en and other top casino sites. Chan also owns a fast-food franchise at the Stratosphere Hotel, located in Las Vegas. In addition to being a poker writer, he is also a consultant for casinos and game makers.

About Henry Tamburin

Henry Tamburin, born in 1944, is a gambling author with a doctorate in chemistry and a background in mathematics. He is best known for his book Blackjack Take your Money and Run, where he explains basic Blackjack strategies, side bets, managing your bankrolls and card counting. He has written several other gambling books, and for over 37 years, he has been an advocate for better odds for players while teaching them to play smart. Besides teaching Blackjack, he also teaches Video Poker classes in Vegas.

Gambling and Blackjack

Tamburin knew very little about Blackjack before he attended University, studying for a Doctorate in Organic Chemistry. He had a lecturer in a probability and statistics course who assigned students to analyze a game of their choosing by examining its stats and selecting the best strategies. His classmates chose games like chess and bingo. Tamburin focused on Blackjack and realized players could beat the game following a mathematically devised strategy and card counting, which tells players when to raise their bets.

As time passed, he wrote for a casino advice column for Tom Rivers NJ newspaper, and shortly after that, Tamburin and his wife Linda started their own casino gambling club and taught card counting in the evenings. Linda and Henry devised their team strategy and would join a table separately, giving no clue they knew one another, and when the count was right, he would signal her to increase her bet.

Conclusion

Tamburin is not only a well-known author; he is also known for his prowess as a Blackjack player teaching Blackjack courses throughout the U.S He does not regard himself as a Blackjack expert and only started devoting real time to Blackjack when he retired. Today he has over 1000 published articles on various casino games from Video Poker to Craps, available in Strictly Slots, The Gambler Magazine, Casino Player Magazine and Gaming South Magazine.

 

Not every online casino platform has been created equal, with this detailed Zodiac Casino review offering a relevant case in point.

This contemporary casino platform is focused heavily on virtual slots, for example, whereas others offer access to a wider range of verticals and have more in common with brick-and-mortar venues like Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

In this post, we’ll take a look at the Zodiac Casino offering, while asking how it compares to similar entities such as Mr. Mega Casino.

Zodiac Casino – A Brief Overview

We’ll delve into the operator’s current welcome offer a little later in the piece, but we’ll start by taking an overview of precisely what this online casino brand has to offer.

Licensed and regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority, this site is safe, secure and home to more than 550 games, the vast majority of which are popular online slots.

Also boasting a live casino (albeit no sports betting vertical), Zodiac Casino is popular amongst both casual gamblers and high-rollers, with a maximum single withdrawal limit of $4,000 and a minimum deposit threshold of just $1 (we’ll definitely touch on this a little later).

The platform is also one of the most generous and rewarding in the Canadian marketplace, with testing having revealed an overall payout and return-to-player (RTP) rate of more than 97%.

In practical terms, this means that punters can expect to recoup a little over $0.97 for every $1 wagered online, creating a competitive proposition that should appeal to casual players and stands in comparison with any operator in the modern marketplace.

In general, these make for impressive numbers, so it’s easy to see why Zodiac Casino offers considerable value at first glance.

The Zodiac Welcome Offer

We spoke earlier about the Zodiac Casinos minimum deposit threshold, with this operator one of the very few in Canada to offer a $1 minimum deposit limit to new players.

So, when you initially credit your account with the minimum qualifying deposit of $1, you’ll be rewarded with a whopping 80 free spins that can be deployed across a select number of games.

This represents excellent value, while it’s also part of a much larger and more complex bonus structure that sees 100% deposit matches up to various values over your next four deposits.

More specifically, you’ll earn 100% matches up to the value of $100, $80, $150 and $150 on your second, third, fourth and fifth deposits respectively. This creates a generous welcome package worth more than $480, while this also rewards new players who like to wager on a regular basis.

OK, we hear you ask, but are there any potential downsides to the bonus? The short answer is yes, with this bonus including some of the largest and most stringent wagering requirements in the marketplace.

Wagering requirements refer to the precise amount that you’ll have to play through in relation to a bonus, before you can withdraw any associated winnings.

For example, let’s say that you make an initial deposit of $1 and receive 80 free spins. Here, your capped winnings will be subject to wagering requirements of 200x their value, creating a playthrough amount that may ultimately be disproportionate to the offer’s value.

The same wagering requirements are applied to your subsequent four deposits, and this can create some significant playthrough demands for players over the course of the bonus offer.

If you make a second deposit of $10 and receive a further $10 with which to play, for example, you’ll have to play through a staggering $2,000 before making a withdrawal.

This may deter casual players from participating, and it makes Zodiac Casino a little less appealing overall.

The Last Word

Despite a slightly problematic bonus, Zodiac Casino is a highly popular and muched loved operator, and one that combines everything from a broad range of games (including progressive jackpots) to responsible gambling initiatives.

It certainly compares well to the Mr. Mega Casino, which offers a similar selection of games and has claimed a viable market share despite being a relative newcomer to the space.

Of course, the bonus may remain the biggest sticking point for casual players or those with smaller bankrolls, but there’s no doubt that Zodiac Casino is ideal for high-rollers with lots of money to wager!