Lucky Red Casino is known for rotating bonus promotions in and out of the casino. It is one of the ways that they keep the deals fresh. Each week, there are a couple of new featured promotions as well as ongoing promotions.

This weekend, from Friday, August 19 to Monday, August 22, Lucky Red Casino is giving away a flat rate bonus. If you deposit $150, they will give you a bonus of $500. If that doesn’t sound like a great deal, then you probably aren’t great at math. It’s okay, neither am I. Using a calculator, though, I was able to figure out that the casino is offering a match bonus of 333%. The coupon code for that bonus is LUCKYRED500.

As is always the case, that bonus comes with a wagering requirement. You must wager both the initial deposit and the bonus money a minimum of 45 times before you can make a withdrawal. For this particular bonus, only wagers on online slots count toward the wagering requirements.

Aside from that special weekend bonus, Lucky Red is continuing two other ongoing bonuses. One is a 55% match bonus for blackjack, video poker and other table games. The other is a 65% match bonus for all deposits by slot players. Both bonuses are unlimited and can be claimed as many times as you want.

In addition to the deposit bonuses, there are tournaments and other promotions going on at Lucky Red Casino this weekend. To find out more, make your way to the casino and check out the promotions and events.

Gambling is illegal in the state of New York, with a few exceptions. There are some tribal casinos in upstate New York. There are a few racetracks as well and a state lottery. Other than that, all gambling is banned by law. Now Governor Andrew Cuomo says the state should consider allowing non-Indian casinos.

Nearby states, such as Pennsylvania and Connecticut, already have full casinos. Massachusetts is also pushing for some casinos. With that in mind, New York doesn’t want to get left behind and watch its residents cross the border to play at casinos in other states.

The current racetrack casinos in New York want to be allowed to add table games and convert into full casinos. Governor Cuomo thinks all casino expansion should be considered. The biggest obstacle for that, though, is that the state constitution would have to be amended. In New York, amending the constitution isn’t easy. It requires the bill to pass the legislature during two consecutive sessions and then be approved by voters in a public referendum.

At various times a bill to allow non-tribal casinos has made it part of the way through those steps but was unable to get all the way through. With next year being a big election year, supporting a controversial measure like this could be even more unlikely.

Still, with the economy struggling, allowing casinos could give New York a much-needed boost. Aside from injecting more spending into the local economy, the government would also benefit from the tax revenue. There is currently a bill in the legislature to allow casino gambling, but it is not known how much support the bill has.

It almost seems like I’m not supposed to tell you about this promotion. If you’ve seen the movie, you know what I mean. All Slots Casino is running a Fight Club promotion, named after the iconic David Fincher film starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.

What makes it a Fight Club promotion? Well, don’t worry. It doesn’t involve nihilism, bare-fisted boxing, domestic terrorism or stealing liposuctioned lard to make soap. In this promotion, there are two online slots facing off. You can pick either game and then try to earn as many points as you can in the tournament, but here’s the catch: The best players on the leader board will win prizes, but those prizes are doubled if you played on the slot that had the most players. So you want to guess which slot will be more popular with players and try to win on that one.

Each week, two different slots go head to head over the course of nine weeks. 120 players will win some sort of prize in the tournament, with many of them winning double prizes. If it helps, try to conjure up your power animal while you play.

The challenges in this tournament are much easier than in a real Fight Club. You don’t have to pick a fight with a total stranger and lose. You don’t have to hold your hand out while someone burns it with lye. You don’t have to destroy private property or commit any crimes. All you have to do is play online slots and try to get a higher total than the other players, while hopefully playing a game that the most players chose. Sounds much easier to me.

For years, the common belief was that there was a direct correlation between access to casinos and problem gambling. The thinking is that the more casinos there are, the more people are able to play. The more people play, more will develop gambling problems. A recent study, however, indicates that is not the case.

A Harvard University study by Professors Howard Shaffer and Ryan Martin found that although there has been a great deal of casino expansion in the last 35 years, problem gambling has declined. Though the actual number of problem gamblers has increased (as has total population) it has decreased as a percentage, from 0.7% to 0.6%.

Those people who make up the small percentage of gambling addicts have something in common. They are likely addicted to something else as well. The study says that 75% of those people who have an addiction to gambling also have a chemical addiction to another substance, either drugs, alcohol or smoking. That suggests that in almost all cases, a person who does not already suffer from addiction, suggesting a predisposition to addiction, is safe from becoming addicted to gambling.

It is not known what has caused problem gambling to decline over the last 35 years. Some people believe that it is due to increased awareness of the problem. Some feel that it is because the casinos, including online casinos, do a much better job of helping people get treatment than they did in the past. Some believe that legislation like the creation of self-exclusion list and lifetime bans deserves the credit. In any case, it is good news that the increased availability of casinos has not resulted in an increase in problem gambling.

When Washington, D.C. passed a law creating the first online gambling regulation within the United States, gamblers rejoiced. The decision by the District Council was praised for its forward thinking and for expanding both freedom and revenue at the same time. Since then, though, the bill has run into a lot of problems.

Some residents were upset at the lack of public vetting for the change. The regulatory language was simply inserted in a budget bill that otherwise had nothing to do with gambling. No one paid attention to the bill and then once it was passed, suddenly online gambling is to be regulated in the District of Columbia.

Others worried about the access hubs. Eventually, everyone in D.C. will be able to log onto the online casino website from their home and play. In the beginning, though, the casino would only be available at certain access hubs. People would bring their laptop computers for smartphones to those locations in order to play. That would allow regulators to make sure all of the protections work. Some worry that the access hubs will become crime hubs and will transform neighborhoods into shady areas of gambling and gangs, like in the movies where people play craps with hustlers on the street.

Now the D.C. online gambling faces another challenge in the form of DC Councilmember Tommy Wells. He says the regulation is bad government and is “not transparent.” He said that he plans to introduce legislation to repeal the online gambling bill. It is not known if any other councilmembers would sign onto his bill. To clear up some of the issues, Councilmember Jack Evans will host a public hearing on the online gambling regulation. Hopefully things will be clearer after that.

Politicians like casino revenue to be pretty static. If not static, they like it to at least follow a discernable pattern. It helps when figuring out how to spend the revenue. Unfortunately, the casinos don’t always cooperate.

In Maryland, lawmakers are having a lot of trouble figuring out the casino revenue. Tax revenue from the casinos is used to fund some government spending, so with the budgets being made a year or more in advance, lawmakers want to know how much money they will have to work with. Right now, though, it’s impossible to tell.

June’s statistics just further baffled lawmakers. Traditionally casinos make more money during the summer than during the spring, because people tend to take vacations and are out of work and school. This June, however, Hollywood Casino in Perryville, Maryland had an 8.2% drop in revenue from the May numbers. The casino did great in February and April, but didn’t do so hot in March.

June was the first month since February when the casino made less than $200 net win per machine per day. June’s win per day was 12% below what they did in April, when they had a high of $223 per machine. Officials are baffled and continue to study long-term data in an attempt to find trends.

Another casino, Ocean Downs, which is located in Berlin, has been more consistent. In March, it had a slight decline from $149 to $140 net win per machine. Since then, though, the net win has steadily increased and now it is making nearly as much money as Hollywood Casino.

Thanks to the Internet, it’s easier than ever to get access to your favorite casino games. You no longer have to make a trip to places like Las Vegas, Atlantic City or Macau to get in on the casino action. With a few clicks of a mouse, you can play casino games online for real money without having to leave your home. But with so many from which to choose, how do you find the top online casinos?

The most important thing to do when choosing an online casino is determine that it is safe. The Internet can be a dangerous place, with lots of spam, viruses, malware, phishing scams and more. In addition to those problems, there are some unlicensed and unregulated online casinos that are not a good place to play because the games are not necessarily fair or because they are not good at paying out when you want to withdraw. For that reason, your top priority should be finding a safe and secure online casino.

To ensure that they are safe, look for a casino license. The top online casinos are licensed by a government agency or by a recognized independent licensing authority. Find out who regulates the online casino and if you can’t figure it out or you can’t determine that the regulator is respectable, look elsewhere. Word of mouth is also important, so websites like this one, through recommendations, can help you find the top online casinos.

Once you have determined that an online casino is safe, find out if they offer what you want. The top online casinos have a good selection of your favorite games, a large number of tournaments, and generous bonuses. They should also have some type of a rewards program that gives you points for playing games, which gives you incentive to return there. Once you have found a safe online casino that offers the games and bonuses you want, you have found one of the top online casinos.

Right now, the people of Mississippi will take any good news. They will be happy about any sign of things getting better. One positive sign is that a casino in Tunica County is set to reopen today. Two others casinos may reopen on Thursday. In a state that has seen virtually unprecedented flood damage, any business opening its doors is a good thing.

Earlier this month, 17 of the 19 casinos in Mississippi closed due to flooding. As the Mississippi River crested at 47.87 feet, just short of the record of 48.7 feet, businesses and homes were evacuated. Eventually, the Army Corps of Engineers had to blow levies and take other drastic measures to ease the flooding.

Now the Gold Strike Casino is scheduled to reopen today, as the nearby river is starting to recede. The Horseshoe Casino and Roadhouse Casino may also reopen tomorrow. The three casinos, due to their location, fared better than most of the state.

Casinos reopening might not seem to matter when the state has been hit by such tragedy, but it does matter. Not only is it a symbol of returning to a degree of normalcy, but it also has a huge economic impact. The state and local governments make $13 million per month on casino taxes. Mississippi was already struggling worse than the average state from the economic recession. The flood hurt things even more, so the sooner they can get casinos up and running, the better the state will be. Regulators will perform a variety of tests, such as making sure the gambling machines and surveillance systems are functioning, before reopening the casino.

Getting things super sized doesn’t have the same happy feeling it used to. In an overly health-conscious world, people don’t want to think about getting way more food from their fast food chain. Super sized clothes aren’t cool, either, if they ever were. If you see someone in oversized clothes, they just look stupid. Super sized casino bonuses, though, will always be popular with players.

Where places like McDonald’s have shied away from super sizing things, Lucky Red Casino is unafraid. You want your bonus super sized? Sure thing; they’ll do it here! From Tuesday, May 17 to Thursday, May 19, the online casino is running the Super Size Me bonus. It is a bonus that gives you an extra bonus for making a big deposit.

Here’s how it works: If you deposit $100 or less, the casino will give you a 65% match bonus. That’s pretty good, but the super sizing comes into play for deposits bigger than that. If you make a deposit that is greater than $100, you get that initial 65% match for the first hundred. For every dollar over that amount, Lucky Red Casino will give you a 130% match. This bonus can be redeemed up to five times. The coupon code is SUPER2011.

The deposit and bonus must be wagered a minimum of 25 times before it can be withdrawn. Only wagers on online slots, keno and scratch cards count toward the wagering requirements of this bonus. To redeem this bonus and take part in other promotions, visit Lucky Red Casino.

When Ohio Governor John Kasich hired two consultants to study the gambling industry and determine the viability of his proposed tax increases, he probably expected them to agree with him. However, one of the consultants may disagree, at least if they’re going to stick to the theory they gave earlier.

Back in November, Spectrum Gaming Group released a report warning about the impact of a tax hike on the casino industry. In the report, they said that not only would it reduce profitability for the casinos (a no-brainer), it may also force the developers to build smaller casinos. In addition, increasing the tax rate could actually reduce tax revenue.

Spectrum said that before they were hired by Kasich, who wants the opposite answer. He hired them last month after proposing raising taxes and the licensing fee for casinos. Though they pay a $50 million licensing fee and 33% tax rate, Kasich thinks that is too low and wants the state to make more money off of the casinos.

In response to the uncertainty, the casino developers have halted construction. One developer, Rock Gaming, is putting off opening a new casino until 2013. They also said, echoing the Spectrum report, that they may build smaller casinos than planned in Cincinnati and Cleveland if the tax hike goes through.

In 2009, Ohio voters approved casinos at the current tax rate. Those rates were put into contracts with the casinos, which the casino companies expect the state to honor. Governor Kasich wants to renegotiate the contracts. The other consultant, Moelis and Company, may give a different answer than Spectrum. They make a commission on money they bring in, so they have incentive to propose a tax increase.