Intercasino Proves to be a Winner

There are a handful of online casinos that have been operating for at least ten years.  Intercasino is one of those sites; it first started operations in 1996. So how does it feel to play at a
Intercasino's Home Page and Download Center  virtual casino that's been around awhile? Well, the best way to describe it is "comfortable." Intercasino has all that you would expect from a long-standing casino including a wide variety of games, an intelligent bonus system, a plethora of payment methods and even a General Manager, Ryan Hartley, who responds to any questions you may have.

Intercasino uses WagerLogic software, which is the software of choice of other well-known and popular casinos including William Hill, Littlewoods Casino, and Ritz Club Online Casino. The software offers all of the classic table games as well as some interesting variations. There are also over 70 different slot machines including the exclusively branded Marvel comic slots. Progressives are represented in Black Jack, Caribbean Stud Poker, video poker and a number of slot machines.  The casino is supported in many different languages including French, German, Italian and Spanish.  So if table games are your choice and you speak German, you can always Black Jack spiele!

The casino also features UK Style Fruit Machines, Asian games such as Pai Gow Poker, and Scratch Cards.

The casino offers separate accounts for real and play money. Unlike some other sites, if you choose to use the play money mode, you will be happy to know that you won't be prompted to move to "real money" every time you hit any kind of jackpot or win a hand at a table game.

If you decide to go to "real money" play, you'll need to visit the cashier. A number of options are available to make a deposit including credit card, NETeller, Firepay, Citadel, electronic check, wire transfer and check. The casino is integrated with the ECash system that was developed by Cryptologic (the founder of Wagerlogic.) The cashier system is straight-forward with tabs for deposit, withdrawal, statement, and My Account.

After opening an account, a letter will be sent by mail containing your PIN and account number. You will need the PIN to cash out and the account number for customer support.

Intercasino is well-known for having a generous bonus policy. Specifically, if you are a new player, you will be matched up to $100 for each month you deposit in the first twelve months of becoming an Intercasino player. This totals up to $1,200 a year. I've played at the casino for the past three months and it is always a pleasure to see those extra dollars hitting my account after I've deposited.  Of course, there is no free lunch, so let me explain the restrictions on cashing out after you've got your matching bonus.

According to their website, players must wager an aggregate total of 25 times the bonus in the casino before they can withdraw the free money. For example, if you deposit  $100, you'll will receive a bonus of $100. You must then wager an aggregate total of $2,500 in the casino before you can cash out the bonus money and its winnings. The good news is that you can wager on all games including blackjack and video poker with only craps, baccarat and roulette bets not counted toward to the wagering requirements.

Another excellent service, and one that all online casinos should offer, is the "My Promotions" tab in the cashier's area. This feature lets you know exactly where you stand in earning your bonus along with other promotions you may be eligible for.  This gets rid of the guesswork usually involved with cashing out bonuses as you can periodically check on your progress to see when you can withdraw your winnings.

Intercasino's Player's Club is a nice feature of the site. Comp Points accumulate monthly and are automatically credited to your ECash Direct account on the 25th of each month (on the basis of $1 for each 100 points). For your points to be converted, they must be worth the equivalent of $20 or more (2000 points).  If you accumulate less than 2000 points, your points will roll over into the next month. The site provides a complete chart of points you earn for each $10 you play.

The casino also has an avatar function that allows you to choose a representative portrait of yourself. I'm not crazy about this feature because it's such a compromise on one's identity. I guess the developers figured we'd all feel more comfortable if we had some idea of who was next to us while we're at a multi-player table. The avatars smile if you win and frown when you loose, which is appropriate. The avatars can also be turned off.

The Casino

At Intercasino you'll notice that some effort has been made to replicate a casino floor. You can choose your game not just from a menu, but simply by clicking on a game in the setting of a casino. It even has an escalator icon that will whisk you up to the second floor of the casino. There aren't any restaurants or showrooms; this is strictly gambling action.

You can choose from multi-hand, multi-player and private group playing modes, where you can chat with other players. The multi-player feature is not available in fun money mode however, nor is the multi-split blackjack table.

Online Blackjack – The graphic and user design of the blackjack table is not as slick and polished as others and has the feel of a dimly lit and smoky room. The place has atmosphere. The betting, dealing and decision buttons are all at the center of the table which is good for efficiency, but can lead to some expensive mistakes. The re-bet button is directly on top of the $25 chip, so if you're moving very fast, you may wind up betting $25 by mistake.

Intercasino online Blackjack uses 8 decks and dealer must stand on all 17s.  The dealer uses a hole card reader to determine if the house has a blackjack prior to settling players' hands. Other rules are:

• After each round, used cards are returned to the deck and the deck is shuffled.
• The player may double on any two cards.
• The player may double after splitting.
• The player may not re-split a hand.

The house edge under these rules is 0.49%. Also offered is a multi-split version of blackjack with a higher minimum wager ($5 versus $2) and a house edge of 0.44%.

Intercasino Blackjack

Single-Deck Blackjack – Intercasino has a single-deck blackjack table with very favorable rules, even though the cards are reshuffled after each hand. The difference between it and the regular blackjack game is that the dealer must hit a soft 17. The resulting house edge for this game is a very low 0.07% and is this review's recommended game to play.

Blackjack Progressive – You can also play progressive blackjack where the jackpot is based on the cards you are dealt. If you like jackpot games, it might be worth a try, but remember the progressive has to be over $200,000 to make it even close to being a good bet.

Pontoon – Here's a game that looks a little bit like blackjack, but was actually invented earlier. Pontoon is linguistic garbling of Vingt-et-un, the French predecessor to Twenty-one or Blackjack. The rules are provided with the game, but be forewarned, basic blackjack strategy is not applicable in this case. The house edge on this game is not bad for the player.

Intercasino Craps

Intercasino craps is modeled after the physical craps games you'll find in casinos across the world. This even includes the unique feature that allows you to shoot the dice with a realistic action using the mouse. All standard bets are available including place bets, but buy and lay bets aren't allowed. The player may take up to 2 times line odds on the pass, don't pass and come and don't come bets.

There are a few other reviewed features that make craps here a good experience.  A summary of each bet won or lost is displayed in a ticker above the table. When you have a lot of bets in action, this can be very helpful. There's also a history of rolls. The dealer calls out the numbers, but the calling is straight-forward without any craps slang. The house edge is 0.60% on the pass and come and 0.46% on the don't pass and don't come.

Roulette comes in three versions, American Roulette, European Roulette, and European VIP Roulette. The rules are generally favorable to the player compared to physical casinos in the United States. 

American Roulette has two zeros, but returns ½ of all even money bets if the ball lands on zero. This equates to a house edge of 2.63% on even money bets and 5.26% on straight up bets. European Roulette has one zero with a house edge of 2.63% on all bets. Finally, the best deal of all is European VIP Roulette which has one zero and the half-back rule (en prison) with a resultant 1.35% on even money bets and 2.63% on all other bets.

All versions include a history of numbers hit. The graphics and sounds are good, although the ball sound is a bit weak.

The baccarat table offers the standard rules, rake and odds for the game. The look and feel of the table is excellent and the player controls are intuitive.  The casino also has a mini-baccarat game. Remember, Baccarat does not count toward your wagering requirements.

Caribbean Stud Poker is entertaining but has a house edge of over 5.22%. This version features a bonus progressive game with a top bet of $1. If you are considering the side bet for the progressive, keep in mind that the meter would need to reach nearly $220,000 for the odds to be even.

The game has a house edge of about 3.5%.  There is also a side bet which has an edge of 13.8%, certainly not the worst for this type of bet, but still something you'll want to avoid.

The dealer is always the banker, resulting in a house edge of 2.9%. There is no house way button (the house's best guess on how the hand should be played).

Intercasino's Three Card Poker follows full-pay rules making it competitive for versions of this game on the Internet.  The house edge is 2.3% on the Pair Plus bet and 3.4% on the Ante bet.

Intercasino Texas Hold'em Bonus Poker

Texas Hold'em Bonus Poker

Texas Hold'em Bonus Poker is a house-banked version of Texas Hold'em where the player competes heads up with the dealer. The betting includes an ante, a flop, turn and river bet. There is also a bonus bet on the first two cards.  Overall, the game simulates Texas Hold'em without the bluffing. There is no "dealer does not qualify" scenario, so all hands are playable. According to Elliot Frome, who has done some preliminary analysis, players should only fold about 11% of the time. This means you should fold if you are dealt suited 2,3 or 2,4 or off suited 2-3 thru 2-8 and off suited 3-4 thru 3-8. Otherwise, stay in the game. The Wizard of Odds calculates this game to be at about 0.535% house edge. The side bet is not recommended, with a house edge of 8.5%.

Other table games include Red Dog, Casino War, Solitaire, Super Fun 21, and Punto Banco.

Slots and Video Poker

Bejeweled Video Slot

The site currently uses Wagerlogic's new Bonus Pack 9 which features 74 classic and video slots, including a number of progressive slots. The slots come in a wide variety including classic slots (18 titles), classic video slots (6 titles), Marvel Slots (6 titles including the Hulk, X-Men, Blade, and Daredevil), 9 Line Slots (19 titles), 20 Line Slots (14 titles), Rapid Fire Slots (9 titles, which all include the 'Rapid Fire' progressive), and two of the more innovative slots on the market, Bejeweled and Sweet Thing.

The casino's progressive slots are very popular and have paid out some huge jackpots in the past. The biggest progressive is usually Millionaires Club, which as of this review has a jackpot at over $4 million. Other popular progressives are Rags to Riches, Triple Olives and Shoot-o-Rama.

All in all, the online slots at Intercasino are quite impressive, with a tremendous amount of variety.

WagerLogic Video Poker

Intercasino also has a lot to offer video poker players. The current line-up includes 10s or Better, Jacks or Better, Double Bonus, Deuces Wild, Joker Poker and a progressive video poker game Super Jackpot which comes in $1 and $.25 versions. Unlike other software packages, WagerLogic gives you the option to play all of these game types in either single-hand, three-hand, five-hand or ten-hand version. Another refreshing aspect of their video poker games is that there is no punishment as far as payback goes for playing multi-hand machines. The pay table is the same for single, three, five or ten hand play.

There's also a $.25 and $1 progressive video poker machine called Super Jackpot. This is a 8/5 machine with a return of 97.3% without the progressive. If the machine has a progressive jackpot of over $2,166.50, you've reached 100% return..

Intercasino has proven itself a contender in online gambling for over 10 years in a very competitive marketplace. They've done an outstanding job providing a varied and interesting set of games and slots for their customers. Their bonuses are generous and fair, and their customer service is good. The software is not as slick or polished looking as some other packages, but what it lacks in looks it makes up in realism and choices.