Born in Reading, Berkshire in 1967, Neil ‘Bad Beat’ Channing is best known as a professional poker player. Indeed, his total live earnings of $3,458,652 rank 27th on the England All Time Money List, according to the Hendon Mob Poker Database. Channing collected his best live cash so far, $1,263,261, or €801,400, when winning the Irish Open Main Event at the Citywest Hotel, Dublin in March, 2008 and was unveiled as a Sky Poker Ambassador in November, 2014.
Despite his prowess on the felt, Channing describes himself as a ‘professional gambler‘. He started playing poker, recreationally, as a youngster and, in his early twenties, graduated to playing tournament poker, albeit sporadically, at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino, London. Although, by his own admission, he was not the most attentive student, Channing graduated from the City of London Polytechnic with a degree in economics, by which point his focus had reverted to his first love, horse racing. He spent several years on the racecourse, making a decent living from placing and taking bets but, in his late twenties, his fortunes took a turn for the worse and he was forced to seek alternative employment.
Channing subsequently joined City Index, where he demonstrated a natural aptitude for spread betting, as an odds compiler and as a punter. Indeed, when he was made redundant, he opened an account with his former employer and won £140,000 in a nine-month period. Inevitably, his account was closed and he was also banned by Grosvenor Casinos for winning ‘a bit too much money’. Nevertheless, he continued to play tournament poker, with no little success, at Russell Square Casino, London – in the days before it was acquired by Grosvenor Casinos – but resisted the temptation to turn professional because of his involvement in other gambling ventures.
Channing formed a lucrative horse racing syndicate, such that, by the age of 33, he never had ‘less than a few hundred grand’ in his current account. In 1998, the deregulation of bookmakers’ pitches presented a new opportunity and he invested heavily in pitches at racecourses nationwide. However, the abolition of off-course betting tax, in 2001, coupled with the rise of online betting, sounded the death knell for that venture and Channing turned, once again, to poker, but this time as a full-time career. He was re-admitted to the Grosvenor Victoria Casino, albeit as a guest, where he played high stakes Omaha with money he ‘couldn’t afford to lose’.
Through thick and thin, Channing continued to visit Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker (WSOP), whether or not he could sensibly afford to do so. He collected his first live WSOP cash, $8,895, for finishing seventeenth in a Texas Hold’em event at Binion’s, Las Vegas in May, 2001, in the days when the fields were smaller ‘but everybody was a good player.’ Channing has yet to win a WSOP bracelet, but went agonisingly close to doing so when beaten in heads-up play by American Henry Lu, in a field of 2,770, in a No Limit Hold’em event at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in June, 2012.
Crown Resorts has had an interesting timeline in 2020, reopening its resort location in Perth in June and planning on the much-anticipated casino grand opening in Sydney for December. Both optimism and controversy have flanked the reopening in Perth, with Crown Resorts hoping that its initial success was a good omen for recouping lost time and revenue.
However, with coronavirus precautions potentially stretching well into the new year, the casino operator may have anticipated the change too soon.
An Early Reopening
After Western Australia moved to loosen coronavirus restrictions in June, Crown Perth set its official reopening date for June 27. Operations were suspended on March 23 but the Perth location reopened under strict guidelines, following social distancing standards.
One of Many
The Crown Perth location offers a world-class convention center, hotels, food and beverage services, casino gaming options, entertainment, and tourism services. Along with Perth, Crown Resorts has a location in London and Melbourne. The Melbourne casino will remain closed through the rest of the year, in part due to an outbreak of coronavirus that occurred in July, just after the Perth location reopened.
Although the Crown Resorts location in Sydney has yet to be finished, it is on the fast track for completion within the year and is intended to open as a VIP exclusive casino. It is set to be only the second casino in operation in Sydney.
Preparing with Restrictions
Working with the Western Australian government, Crown Perth reopened for business in the casino and food and beverage outlets under temporary restrictions. Each venue agreed to observe capacity limits at a maximum of one person per two square meters. To ensure physical distancing on the casino floor every second slot gaming remained off and poker tables had a maximum of five players per table.
Crown Resorts chief executive Ken Barton ensured the dedication to these guidelines, saying “Crown’s priority is to the health and safety of our employees, customers, and the community. The physical distancing and hygiene measures have been developed in consultation with the Government, Commissioner of Police, and Chief Health Officer to allow reopening in a safe manner. We look forward to welcoming back many of our employees and customers to Crown Perth.”
Gambling on Results
The initial reopening of Crown Perth led to a spike in revenue, up 18 percent from the June reopening date to August compared to the same six-week stretch the previous year. Barton expressed that the rapid success, even with social distancing measures, meant that there was a “pent-up” wealth of gamblers waiting to return to Crown Resorts locations.
Hopeful Predictions
Ken Barton had previously said, “We’re confident that once the restrictions are eased, we’ve got enough data points to suggest people will want to come back,” citing the Perth location as proof players will be eager to return to Melbourne as well. Crown Melbourne accounts for nearly 70 percent of earnings for Crown Resorts and its extended closure has been an unwelcome hit to the year’s revenue.
Revenue and Controversy
In total, Crown shared that the COVID-19 lockdown had taken a whopping 80 percent from its yearly net profit with much of the loss coming from the lack of table turnover from VIPs and international high rollers. Many of Crown’s employees were covered by JobKeeper subsidies, of which Crown received $111 million by June 30.
Shareholders of Crown Resorts were lucky enough to receive the first half of a policy payment that paid out a 30¢ dividend per share every six months in April, in a move that earned criticism since employees were receiving JopKeeper pay at the time. Major shareholder and former executive chairman at Crown Resorts, James Packer, received $73 million as part of this dividend payout alone. Lawrence Ho, the other majority shareholder thanks to James Packer’s questionable dealings with Crownb before stepping down, received a $20 million payout.
Premature Expectations
Australia has warned that international border closures as a result of a coronavirus outbreak are likely to last well into 2021, and even some internal border closures have been extended to the end of the year. And since live casino offer enhanced experience, online casinos are giving hard time to their land-based counterparts. For Crown Sydney, who plans on targeting VIP demographics and players from mega-casinos like Macau, this does not bode well.
Australia has handled coronavirus concerns relatively well, considering global numbers, keeping their recorded cases just over 27,000 and their total deaths around 900. The geography of the country helped to flatten the curve, allowing authorities to stop the spread by containing international and internal borders.
Ever questioned the reliability of online casino reviews? How do reviewers analyze a website’s authenticity and what’s in it for them? Are the websites we know as trusted worth the hype and are all new casinos trying to scam players? We delve deeper into the story in a bid to get to the truth.
Casino Bee analyzes online casinos from the players’ point-of-view while keeping their feedback in mind. Not every reviewer, however, takes a neutral approach and this is a reason for concern. Let’s follow a few examples.
Financial Incentives
As surprising as it might sound, online casinos will pay a few trusted reviewers a hefty sum as remuneration in exchange for positive reviews. Some reviewers can even go to the extent of criticizing rival websites in a bid to sweeten the deal. As unethical as it sounds, this is a fairly common practice today.
In fact, most user reviews are fake! These are simply written to coax unsuspecting players into signing up on a particular website. However, not all review platforms are prone to malpractice. Forums are an excellent platform to interact with fellow enthusiasts and learn about their experiences.
How to Identify Fake Reviews?
The easiest giveaway is self-promotion and rival-bashing. Reviews that try and establish its patron as an authority in the respective field, are mostly fake. The only way to stay neutral is to keep away from such reviews.
Honest reviews stick to facts. However, graphs and charts can be misleading. Always validate facts before making a decision. This can be a struggle at first but becomes second nature with practice.
User reviews that all sound the same are fake and probably written by one person. A well-written review will be thorough and highlight both the positive and negative sides of the story. It’s the detail that counts! But no reviewer will analyze websites in great depth.
An honest review will cover all the important points without leaving any major surprises for the last minute.
Do Players Need Review Websites for Guidance?
Humans instinctually depend on peers for guidance. Searching for reviews is hence quite natural. The best way to get neutral feedback is to ask fellow gamblers for advice. There are numerous forums where people interact with like-minded individuals, and online casinos are no different.
Casino Bee is an attempt to highlight legitimate online casinos, to help newbies make informed decisions. Every casino listed on the website is top-rated by the users, and the list is updated according to the latest feedback.
However, the best way to stay protected is to never trust a single source. Check out what people are saying across multiple forums, run background checks on shortlisted casinos, and signup using a free account before trusting a website’s authenticity.
Identifying fake casinos isn’t rocket science. Stay away from unbelievable bonuses, question players on multiple forums, and watch out for fake reviews. The pattern is simple and is easily identified. Just need to know what to look for!
In the online casino world, the humble slot machine has become one of the most popular games with audiences all over the world. Much like their brick and mortar counterparts, gamers flock to online slots in droves and they can be found in the vast majority of online gaming platforms.
If you’re curious about playing online slots but don’t know the RTP from the Reels, keep reading for some useful tips that will help you get started.
A note on legality
As with all online casino games, online slots aren’t necessarily available to play in every country in the world, so if you do want to play them you will need to do so in accordance with your local laws. It goes without saying that you should only play real money games in a fully regulated casino, with an up to date licence from a recognised body such as the Malta Gaming Authority, the UKGC, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission etc.
A casino with a full licence to operate offers provably fair services and games, so you can be sure that each spin of the reel will produce a randomly generated outcome. If you’re ever in any doubt about the integrity of a gaming platform after visiting the site, a quick Google search should provide the answers.
Types of online slots
Online slots have come a long way from the one-armed bandits of the 19th century! Modern software developers are producing slots games in pretty much any theme you can think of, from festive and holiday-themed games, to movie and television slots, comic book slots, action and adventure slots, and even Virtual Reality slots.
Regardless of the theme, all online slots games can be categorised as one of the following:
3 Reel Slots – the simplest of all online games, these slot machines allow players to win by matching symbols on the top, middle, or bottom rows. They’re a great starting point for new casino players, as they can often be played for minimal wagers and more often than not will be included in free spin promotions from gaming platforms.
5 Reel Slots – a more sophisticated version of the three reel slot, five reel slots operate on the same basis, but they typically offer more paylines, which means an increased possibility of larger payouts.
Jackpot Slots – the main feature of a jackpot slot is its accumulating prize pool, which is generated by multiple players each time they spin the reels of the game. Whether fixed or progressive, jackpot slots have become a firm favourite with online gamers, as they offer the chance to win some pretty substantial prizes.
Mega Spin Slots – one of the latest types of games to hit the industry, mega spin slots offer players the chance to spin multiple reels at the same time from a single screen. These games also offer the potential for big winnings, due to the fact that multiple games are played concurrently, so they’re mostly popular with advanced gamers.
Paylines
Paylines determine which lines will award payouts if a winning combination of symbols is achieved during a game. In online slots games, players can choose which paylines they want to employ, and the more they choose the higher the chance of winning. Payline variations will determine the payouts, and they are typically either fixed or adjustable. Fixed paylines require players to stick with the same number of payouts throughout the entirety of their time playing the game, and once decided upon there’s no option to change. Adjustable paylines, on the other hand, offer more variety, since the paylines can be altered to either decrease or increase the amount being wagered.
Paylines are a key area of playing online slots, so before you lay down any cash it’s important to check what your options are so you can measure their potential impact on your ability to win with each spin.
Return to Player
The Return to Player (RTP) determines how much a slot machine will pay back to players per unit wagered. It’s more commonly listed as a percentage value on a casino platform’s site, and will typically be less than 100%. The difference between full payback (100%) and the listed RTP is the house edge, aka the casino’s profit. An RTP that’s in the high 90s is referred to as a loose slot, while one that’s lower is tight.
Some games feature an RTP range with a substantial difference between the minimum and maximum values. This is usually caused by the game having different paylines that can be chosen by the players, or differences in bonus rounds that payout according to the choices made by the players during a game.