NFT news:
Ukraine Asks Crypto Exchanges to Freeze All Russian Users’ Accounts – Major Exchanges Deny Requests.
Ebay CEO talks NFT and crypto, Exec says company continues to ‘evaluate other forms of payment’.
Bitcoin climbs to $41K and flippens the Russian ruble
U.TOWN：https://u.town/en
Cryptocurrencies risk undermining sanctions against Russia, allowing Putin and his cronies to evade economic pain.
U.S. financial regulators need to take this threat seriously and increase their scrutiny of digital assets.
U.TOWN：https://u.town/en
Slots-Back when I worked security in an Atlantic City casino, patrons would often ask me, “Which slot machine is the one that’s going to hit?” My usual response was, “If I knew that, I wouldn’t be working here anymore,” followed by a knowing chuckle. Never failed to get at least a smile in return.
Slot machines remain the most important money-making part of casinos in the United States. In many states, casinos make between 65 and 80 percent of their gambling income from slots. In Las Vegas, the percentage varies from 88 percent in casinos that cater primarily to locals to 50 percent on the Las Vegas Strip, where high rollers betting tens of thousands a dollar a hand skews the results in favor of table games. Every day, players put millions of dollars into slot machines. Why?
The chance aspect of slot machines is what makes them so appealing to so many people. If you know how to put cash into a slot and push a button, you have just as good a shot at winning a jackpot as someone who’s been playing for twenty years. In the end, it all comes down to luck. And who doesn’t feel lucky, sometimes?
Slot machines appeal to casinos because they are, as long as enough people play them, stable money-makers. To explain why they are so reliable for casinos, I talked to Bob Ambrose, who broke into the industry at the Tropicana Atlantic City in the early 1980s and is today a gaming consultant and casino management instructor at Fairleigh Dickinson University. “It is all,” he says, “about the game math.”
When casinos look at how a slot machine is performing, the most basic number they look at is the drop. That is the money deposited by the player in the machines. Another number you might hear is handle, which Ambrose defines as the total amount bet by a player. How can a player bet more money than she puts in? Well, if she puts in $100, wins a $50 jackpot, and keeps on playing until all her money is gone (including that $50 “win”), she has generated a drop of $100 and handle of $150.
What’s left after the machine pays out its jackpots is the casino win, also known as revenue.
So how do slot machines decide who wins and who loses? “Payouts on slots are statistically calculated,” says Ambrose. Pressing spin activates the random number generator, which is an algorithm that determines whether each spin is a win or a loss, and how big a win is. Each game, Ambrose says, has a set hold percentage and a pay table that details how often and how much games will pay back.
Games with low volatility, like video poker, pay back more frequently but in smaller amounts, while high volatility games, like the Megabucks progressive, have fewer, bigger (think several million dollars at most) hits. So while the potential payoff from a high volatility game can be bigger, your money will usually buy you more time playing on a low volatility game.
Can a player get an edge on a slot which relies on pure chance? Not really. “There is a statistical advantage for the casinos,” Ambrose says. “The math of the game ensures that casinos generate a consistent positive win for themselves.”
if slot machines never paid out anything, players would stop playing, and casinos would go out of business. Most jurisdictions mandate that slots return a set minimum amount to players .
And that is the appeal of slots, to casino manager and jackpot hunter alike. “For the player,” concludes Ambrose, “there has to be a realistic chance to win. But in the long run, the edge will always fall in the casino’s favor.”
Something to remember, because no matter how lucky you feel, eventually the casino will get luckier
Stake Forum – The most active bitcoin gambling forumGreat reputation:Perfect player reviews across the internet and forums
Two-factor authentication:Use this rare feature to keep your account secure
Provably fair games:Verify the results of some of their games
Great customer service:The support will resolve your issues promptly and in many languages
Large crypto variety:Deposit with more than 130+ cryptocurrencies
Lots of betting odds:Bet on more than 100 different outcomes on major events
Casino games for everyone:1,021 games available, including 16 exclusive to Stake.com
Active community:Players are interacting with each other in 8 languages. You won’t feel alone!
High return to player:RTP reaches 99% for some games
Awesome promotions:Frequent and attractive promotions, including a chance to win a Lamborghini Huracan Evo
Sports betting odds:Other sportsbooks may offer better odds on major events
Limited information:Restrictions, fees and payout details hard to find
No welcome bonus:But this is how they manage to provide instant payouts and awesome promotions
2. Background Overview
Stake Forum
Year founded: 2017
Owner: Medium Rare N.V.
Licence(s): Curacao Gambling Authority
3. Is Stake.com Legit?
Yes, Stake.com is one of the most legit casinos today to have a reliable gambling experience online and is by no means a scam. Plus most of the Stake games are provably fair to ensure random outcomes.
But let’s take a look at some of the key features that make Stake.com a legit and safe option for online gambling, so you can judge for yourself.
Stake.com License(s)
Stake casino holds an official Curaçao eGaming License, which is the standard amongst gambling sites that specialize in cryptocurrency gaming, like Stake.com.
Although there is theoretically better licensing available in the online gambling industry, no crypto gambling site has been granted more reputable licensing because cryptocurrency is still too new for gambling regulators.
Stake.com Safety
According to my research, Stake.com has adequate overall safety and security, with no reported issues to date.
More importantly, Stake crypto casino offers the 2FA feature to protect your account.
Although 2FA is a standard feature in the cryptocurrency industry, it’s not yet the case in the crypto gambling industry.
Stake casino is a verified member of the Crypto Gambling Foundation. This guarantees that all the provably games on the platform (Stake originals) are provably fair.
Bets can be verified on the platform or through third-party websites with an open-source verification procedure.
Reputation of owners
Stake.com was developed by the team behind Primedice, one of the oldest and most popular dice gambling sites, founded in 2013.
The owners are well-known and have a great reputation.
Complaints received
At the time of writing, the Stake.com TrustPilot page has a 4.1 reputation, which is a great rating for a crypto casino.
In addition, the majority of the 13% 1-star reviews are addressed by Stake.com’s staff, which is a sign they care about user satisfaction.
Stake gambling also has an excellent reputation on forums like BitcoinTalk where players heavily recommend the website to other players.
4. Stake Casino Features
Stake Forum-Stake.com is an online crypto casino that was founded in 2017. The site operates under an official Curaçao eGaming License.
Despite being relatively new, Stake online casino has already managed to build a steady and faithful user base.
After you have set-up your account, you can head to your preferred category of Stake games.
Stake casino has several categories, including Slots, Live Casino, Game Shows, Jackpot Slots, Feature Buy-in, Table Games, Virtual Games, Blackjack, Baccarat, and Roulette.
On an individual level, each category has an abundance of titles and games from various providers. Here are the numbers of offerings featured on the Stake crypto casino:
The best thing is, Stake.com also has 16 of its own original games, all of which are provably fair.
These Stake games include Dice, Keno, Limbo, Plinko, Mines, Hilo, Crash, Scarab Spin, Diamonds, Blue Samurai, Wheel, Slide, Blackjack, Video Poker, Roulette, and Baccarat.
This takes the total to over 1,000 Stake games by more than 25 providers that you can play.
It is worth noting that not only are there many games you can play, but their graphics also are pretty good.
Collectively, this contributes to a wonderful gaming experience.
The abundance of offerings means even if you are looking for game titles outside the most popular ones, Stake.com will not disappoint you.
All-in-all, the casino supports one of the richest libraries of games in the online gambling industry.
5. Stake Betting Features
Stake Forum-Those interested in sports betting would love to hear that Stake.com offers one of the most extensive portfolios of sports events.
Stake’s betting offerings are divided into more than 35 categories.
Those include anything from traditional and esports to exotic sports and even political events and entertainment.
The most popular sports betting offers include: American football, baseball, boxing, Formula 1, golf, tennis, volleyball, MMA, racing, and more.
The esports betting feature Counter-Strike, Dota 2, League of Legends, StarCraft, and various other electronic leagues.
There are also sports that you might have never heard of like Gaelic Football, Gaelic Hurling, and Floorball. Yup, those are real sports!
At Stake.com you can also bet on the outcome of presidential elections around the world, sports personalities of the year, and many other unconventional bets.
For the majority of the events, there are over 100 outcomes you can bet on, which makes Stake.com’s sportsbook truly robust.
The diversity of the site’s betting section is not only one of the site’s key distinguishing factors but is also among the best in the industry.
The main downside of Stake betting is that the odds on most events are below the industry’s average.
6. Stake Poker Features
Stake Forum-Unfortunately, there is no poker option on the Stake online casino apart from video poker. But if anything changes, we’ll be sure to review it here!
7. Stake Gambling Experience
Registering before you can start with the Stake gambling is extremely easy. All you need is a name, password, and email address.
In some aspects like rich features and simplistic site design, Stake.com offers a great player experience.
However, in others, like providing enough information to its user base, it falls short.
Let’s get in detail to see what I am talking about.
8. Welcome Bonus
Well, finally, you reached the point where Stake casino falls somehow behind its competitors.
The fact that the casino doesn’t offer a welcome bonus is quite disappointing for newcomers.
That said, the good thing about a lack of welcome bonuses is that Stake.com won’t hold back your withdrawals. No need to meet a threshold or limit to take your winnings out.
Stake casino also compensates for the lack of welcome bonus by offering awesome and frequent rewards to their players via their promotions.
And of course, as I mentioned, we negotiated an exclusive benefit: 15% rakeback on your account, forever.
9. Promotions
It is clear that Stake.com’s team considers promotional programs as a key pillar of its business development strategy.
The platform offers 15 different promotions at the time of my review.
The main one is the chance to win a Lamborghini Huracan Evo, which, according to the platform, is worth no less than $212,266 USD.
In addition, there are also 50 x $1,000 prizes.
Stake casino also offers sports live betting promotions, money-back programs, game-specific rewards, special promotions for particular user groups (a $5,000 Diwali Giveaway), Telegram challenges, and more.
The fact the terms and conditions of promotions are minimal is one of the reasons I love Stake online casino. No ‘impossible-to-win’ promotions on the site.
I can say that the promotions are a very diversified, attractive, and, a very thoughtful way to keep Stake.com’s community engaged.
It is also worth noting that the site also has a VIP program. According to the official description, it is designed to suit different types of players.
The program’s goal is to ensure you will receive the most in cumulative bonuses for every dollar wagered on the gambling platform.
The program is composed of different tiers, each of which unlocks different types of bonuses.
Stake.com’s team claims that its VIP program is unrivaled.
However, to be able to taste the maximum experience, they say you should reach the highest level of the program.
Among Stake casino’s perks are a dedicated VIP host (think of it as a personal virtual assistant), flexible bonuses like receiving the newest iPhone instead of your weekly top-up (not sure why anyone would want that, but still…), and more.
There are also weekly and monthly bonuses, level-up bonuses, Rakeback rewards, and more.
The only way to become a part of the VIP program is to receive an invite.
The tricky part is that, according to Stake.com, you can get an invite based on your activity on the platform.
Alternatively, it means the more bets you place, the bigger your chance to be invited gets.
10. Payments
Stake.com is a crypto-only casino and sportsbook service provider.
This means you can’t use traditional payment options.
However, Stake.com recently launched a functionality that allows you to buy crypto with fiat (USD and EUR) directly on the platform.
The rates are a bit higher than on traditional exchanges, which doesn’t make it the most cost-efficient solution.
This means the best thing to do before getting started with the Stake crypto casino is still to go and buy some of the supported crypto assets elsewhere and transfer them to the platform.
Deposits
The deposit methods available on Stake are:
Cryptocurrencies
If you don’t see your preferred cryptocurrency here, don’t worry.
Due to an integration with the Coinswitch API, Stake.com now allows users to deposit using over 130+ cryptocurrencies.
The exchange happens instantaneously and directly on site. All the user has to do is select the assets he wants to exchange from a drop-down list.
This brings significant flexibility and makes the Stake casino accessible by every crypto enthusiast out there.
Withdrawals
The withdrawal methods available on Stake are:
Cryptocurrencies
Because of being a crypto-only casino, users can withdraw funds from Stake online casino only to crypto wallets.
This means you won’t be able to cash out immediately and would have to go to an exchange or a secondary market to exchange your crypto for fiat (if that is your end goal).
Unfortunately, Stake.com does not offer the ability to deposit, withdraw and play with stablecoins.
Payout Speed
Deposits and withdrawals on the Stake crypto casino are instant, with no delays.
Of course, you will have to wait the usual confirmation time associated with the different blockchains, but all-in-all, it shouldn’t take over a couple of hours.
In most cases, the pending time won’t exceed the hour mark. However, if it takes too long (over 24 hours), make sure to contact Stake.com’s support.
I hope you enjoyed our honest review of Stake.com.
U.TOWN：https://u.town/en
What is cryptocurrency staking?
Staking is an alternative method of providing security and effectiveness to the blockchain network in exchange for an incentive and without wasting resources.
What are the different types of staking?
Staking is divided into two broad categories; PoS (Proof-of-Stake) and DPoS (Delegated Proof of Stake). The first works by freezing the stakeholder’s coins for a period to validate transactions done through the network.
In the case of DPoS, a delegate is elected by stakeholders and assigned to become a validator or block producer. In the event of sharp practices, (confirming a fraudulent transaction) a penalty will be imposed.
What are the stak-ing rewards available?
The different benefits of the two types of staking include:
Why has Staking Become a Trend?
Since mining has become harder and takes away too many resources, the new people involved with digital assets find staking on exchanges a good alternative. It is also another path to diversify assets and reduce transaction fees on the blockchain.
New projects aim to use PoS instead of PoW, among them Tezos which gained huge support during its ICO. Ether moving on with the Casper project to change from PoW to PoS is another example. Cold wallets like Ledger or Trezor have bet on stak-ing too by adding the feature in their hardware wallets. During 2019 and 2020 the number of exchanges providing stak-ing features as investment tools saw an increase.
Here is a good staking website – Utown, which provides different stak-ing % according to the level of membership, and enjoys a maximum discount of 8%.
U.TOWN：https://u.town/en