With so many online casinos out there these days there are lots of big winners. This summer has produced a couple of lucky winners, like Howard G. of Houston Texas. He was playing Bodog’s “Victory” slot game when he hit a combination that won him $50,000. But his luck didn’t stop there. He hit the combination while using some free spins, which multiplied the win by four. That turned his $50,000 into $200,000.

If you think that’s lucky, a guy named Tom O. of Norway hit two jackpots in one day on Europa Casino. He won $176,000 playing the “Ultimate Fighters” slot game. Then he switched to the “Millionaires Lane” slot game and won another jackpot worth a whopping $101,000.

At Casino Tropez Yves G. of France hit the “Gold Rally” progressive jackpot with a €16 pound wager, winning €587,413 in the process, after only a half hour of play.

The battle between PC and Mac computers has been raging on for years. Until recently, Mac users have had a tough time finding action, but now online casinos have become much more Mac-compatible. And it’s obvious that playing on Mac has its advantages. There are almost no viruses or spyware to worry about, and the display is much easier on the eyes.

But choice for Mac users in still limited. The home for Mac Casino players is BodogLife. They offer games that play right in Safari. They offer most of the favorite table, video poker and slot games, but the Windows version still offers more. Bodog is a great casino, as long as you’re not Canadian.

And if you’re a poker player, you’ll have to go elsewhere to play. Bodog’s poker is not Mac-compatible, yet. The best place for Mac users to find that action is at Full Tilt Poker.

The champagne flowed, dancers gyrated and slots players were treated to a night of salsa music — a scene straight out of Old Havana, Cuba.

If you love playing nickel slots and have always wanted to go to Atlantic City, now is a good time to make a reservation at the recently renovated Topicana Casino and head on over to New Jersey.

Located on the mezzanine level overlooking the main casino floor, the new rooftop slots parlor replaces the old “Nickel Heaven” and “Pennies from Heaven” slots area and includes colorful hand-painted murals, Caribbean music and a new Cuban-themed restaurant.

According to an Atlantic City are news report, the launch party was a huge success and staff at the Tropicana are optimistic about the future of their beloved casino (which had recently lost its casino license and is in the process of seeking new ownership).

Generally speaking, the house edge (the amount the casino takes as a profit) falls as the denomination of the coin rises. That is to say, the average return percentages (and the complementary house edges) might be 90 percent on penny slot machines, 92 percent on the nickel slots, 95 percent on quarter slots, and 97 percent on dollar slots.

Does that mean you’re better off playing the dollar slots? Not necessarily. Even on the nickel slots you can still play the maximum pay lines and walk away a big winner. Case in point? The 63-year-old North Dakota man who hit a $2.98 million jackpot on a nickel slot machine at the Dakota Magic Casino near Hankinson. Orville Erickson said he usually put $20 into the Marilyn Monroe MegaJackpot machine, a 75-nickel progressive slot machine with a starting jackpot of $400,000, but that night he stuck a $100 bill in the machine, with the intent to only play $20 of whether he won or lost.

Paulette Miles, a 48-year-old home health aide, was playing the nickel slots at the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino a couple of weeks back when she won a record $1.1 million dollars. It was her last spin and her last nickel.

“This is wonderful. Now instead of working seven days a week, I only have to work five days a week,” Miles told The Miami Herald.

When asked what she’d do with her winnings, Miles said she’d pay off her mortgage, pay off her car loan, buy herself health and life insurance, help her niece with her college tuition, help her needy family in Jamaica and pay the taxes from her jackpot win.

“God decided to bless me for a reason, and I will not waste my blessings on things that are not necessary,” she said. “I will not waste it on things like a vacation.”

Steve Bonner, general manager at the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino, said Miles was playing one of the nickel machines, one of the progressive electronic gaming machines that for a year now had built up a jackpot of $1 million. “We were wondering when someone would finally hit the jackpot.”

Bonner said Miles won the $1.1 million jackpot because, instead of betting one nickel at a time — which entitles you to play just one payline — she was betting all 27 paylines at once.

“People who bet the maximum paylines are the ones who win the big jackpot,” he said.

Hmm…something to keep in mind the next time you hit the nickel slots? I think so!

Earlier this week Escambia School Superintendent Jim Paul announced he will not seek re-election for his office. We wonder if this has anything to do with his Jan. 10 arrest on a misdemeanor charge of DUI in South Florida.

According to Paul, he was attending an education conference with two other school administrators when he was stopped by a deputy for speeding and weaving.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said Paul, who was alone at the time of his arrest, registered a .128 on a blood alcohol test, above the .08 threshold for DUI. He was arrested at 3:30 a.m.,

He told reporters that he couldn’t sleep and drove 26 miles from his hotel in Clearwater to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino, where he had a couple of glasses of wine and played some nickel slots.

He later fell asleep in his rental car in the casino parking lot when a knock on his window woke him up, prompting him to drive away. (Read the full article here.) FYI: Escambia is near Pensacola, Florida.

Whether you’re interested in taking in a game of poker, a few hands of blackjack or maybe you’d like to try your luck at online roulette, when it comes to playing at any online casino your safety and security come first. Even if you’re thinking about throwing a few nickels into a slot machine, it’s important to know where the best online casinos are so that you can get more value for your entertainment dollar. Or in this case…your entertainment nickel.

Off the top of my head, here are a few online casinos that do a great job of making sure you have a good time:

Lucky Emperor Slots: Great selection, fun graphics, good customer service
Golden Tiger Casino: Safe, secure, great selection of slots
All Slots Casino: With a name like that it’s hard not to offer a great selection of all slots games
Bodog Casino: If there’s one thing Bodog does well (and it does more than one thing well), it’s provide an amazing atmosphere for all of its online casino games. Nickel slots, quarter slots…they’ve got it all covered.

Here are a few more, taken from the list provided at Gambling Planet:

Bellini Casino
Prime Casino
Casino Del Rio
Lucky Ace Casino
Betfair Casino

Don’t flush your nickels down the toilet by getting carried away on the slots

If you’re not careful, playing hours upon hours of nickel slots can turn into an expensive way to pass the time at the casino. Take nickel multi-line video slots, for example. They’re huge money makers at most casinos. During a single month at an Illinois casino, for example, 2,646 nickel units generated gross receipts of $31.5 million, that’s almost as much as the $33.6 million that was generated by 3,043 quarter units in the same month.

Contrary to popular belief, there is still a house edge built into these games. Sure, they’re a lot of fun to play and it’s easy to lose all track of time (and money) when you’re throwing nickels into these machines. But the temptation of “bonus rounds” can lead you down that road of no return.

If you’re successful at nickel slots you can find yourself earning several bonus rounds, but if they don’t happen as often as you’d like — you can easily turn a twenty-dollar buy-in into a hundred dollars, two hundred, or even more in no time. That winning feeling can be exciting even on the nickel slots, but don’t allow yourself to get too greedy.

As with most casino games, it’s important to know when to stop. Cash out when you’re ahead.

Winning at nickel slots requires a certain amount of skill and strategy. Like most things in life, practice makes perfect. If you’re new to online slots and you’re worried you won’t know what you’re doing once you step into an online casino, take comfort in knowing that most online casinos offer free online slots games. After a few hours of honing your chops on the free slots you can make the leap over to the nickel slots.

Here are a few reputable online casinos that offer free online slots:

Bodog Casino
Slots Mamma
Monkey Slots

Good luck at the nickel slots and have fun!

Like land-based casino slots, online nickel slots are big on fun

Slot machines continue to be one of the most popular casino games. In Las Vegas, for example, gamblers spend more time at the slot machines than the blackjack tables, poker tables and roulette wheels. But does anyone play nickel slots anymore? And what about online nickel slots?

Dollar slots and quarter slots are the big draw among fans of the game, but the nickel slots are equally entertaining for the gamblers looking for more than just a big win — they want hours of big fun! Most of the big casinos still carry a wide variety of fun nickel slot machines so there’s no shortage of fun to be had for anyone looking for good value and a good time.

As for online casinos, the same holds true. Both online and offline slots deliver the same level of entertainment and both offer a similar payback. So if you are an offline slots player looking to make the switch, you’ll enjoy playing the nickel slots at any number of popular online casinos.

It’s easy to lose all track of time at the nickel slots so if you’re an experienced online nickel slots player then you’ve probably mastered the art of pay lines, right? While it’s great to play more lines your bankroll can also take a surprising hit if you’re not careful. So keep an eye on the amount of pay lines you’re playing and the amount of money you’re spending.