Available thru WorldWinner, the cash competition version of the game complements the show’s television format, giving online players an engaging new experience in which they compete against other players to rack up high scores to win cash and prizes, similar to the actual game show experience.

“Deal or No Deal is one of those games that consistently draws you to the edge of your seat, whether you’re playing online or playing along with the television contestants,” said Peter Blacklow, president of WorldWinner and EVP of GSN Digital.

“Deal or No Deal fans already play along while they watch at home, and we know they’ll be thrilled to compete against other players for real cash.”

Deal or No Deal is a high-energy international hit game show in which contestants strategically unseal 26 briefcases containing amounts of money ranging from one cent to $1 million. In each round, contestants must guess which briefcases contain the most money while a mysterious entity known only as “The Banker” tempts them by making a cash offer in exchange for what is contained in their briefcase.

How Does It Work?

Each game of Deal or No Deal begins when you select “your case.” Throughout the game, the Banker will attempt to buy it back from you. Each time an offer is made, you can accept it, or you can reject the deal to try and get more!

Once you’ve chosen your case, the first round of Deal or No Deal begins. In each round, you pick up to six cases to open. When a case is opened, the value it contains is removed from play.

Once all the cases in a round have been opened, the Banker will attempt to buy your case from you. However, before he crunches the numbers, the Banker will give you the opportunity to boost your offer by demonstrating your word-making skills.

Once you’ve finished the word scramble, the Banker will make an offer to buy your case. The Banker’s offer is based on the average of the remaining case values, scaled in each round, with a bonus based on how successful you were at the preceding word scramble.

If you reject the Banker’s offer, the game continues and you choose the next set of cases to remove from play. Once there is only one case remaining, you’ll have one last choice: keep your original case, or swap it with the remaining case.

Learn more about WorldWinner, and start winning money playing Deal or No Deal online!

By definition, a “game of skill” is defined to be a game whose outcome is derived mostly from a physical or mental capacity, rather than by an outcome left to chance. For many years, poker has been labeled by many to be a game of chance, when in fact, it should be considered primarily a game of skill.

Recent U.S. legislation, namely, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 has aimed to make the funding of online poker sites unlawful, for the purposes of playing poker. The UIGEA specifically cites poker as a game of chance, thus putting it into a different classification than other games that are exempt from this law due to their skill nature (for example, Fantasy Sports pools). Outright categorization of poker as a random game of chance is a total misnomer, as there is a significant element of skill associated with the game.

Chess is a game that is universally accepted to be 100 % skill-based, with the possible exception of who gets to move first in the game. Poker certainly cannot be classified as 100 % skill-based, since there is certainly an element of luck involved, when it comes to cards that are dealt to a player. Obviously, there is an element of randomness here, and this is one of the major reasons that many people consider poker to be a game of luck.

However, there are many reasons that Poker is much more than a game of luck. The sophistication of the game and its many nuances clearly delineate it as a game of skill. Here are some of the more prominent aspects of the game, that help define it as a “thinking man’s game”; that is, a game of extreme skill:

Betting Strategies – Players wager in poker due to many different reasons, some of which include: 1) they feel that they have a stronger current hand than their opponents; 2) they believe that the odds of receiving an additional card(s) are good enough to warrant betting a certain way; 3) given the game’s scenario, a bluffing betting strategy may provide them with an avenue for success. All of these reasons clearly point to a “mental” decision that is made by the player, which by definition, qualifies it as a game of skill.

Bluffing Strategies – A player may consider bluffing to his opponents (this can be in the form of staying in a game, raising the stakes of the game, etc.). Bluffing can be performed by these aforementioned game actions or even by providing physical clues (whether true or false), such as staring, sweating, blinking, smirking, or providing a stone face. These combinations of both mental and physical signals, qualify poker as a game of skill.

Probability of Success – Poker is an extremely mathematical game. For example, in the game of Texas Holdem, there are statistical mathematical probabilities of your chances to win a hand, given your two initial hole cards. Knowing these probabilities, in conjunction with your shown opponent cards and the flop (displayed later in the game), can be instrumental in how you approach the game betting-wise. Clearly, this mental capacity supports poker as a game of skill.

Seating Arrangements – Cognizance of your seating arrangement, relative to the Dealer, plays an important aspect to how you play a given hand. You may be more inclined to stay in a hand, if you are seated closer to the dealer (where you bet later in a round), than if you were to have a seat requiring you to bet first in a round. Again, this cognizance and mental capacity support the fact that poker is a game of skill.

Blind Positions – Cognizance of whether you are part of a small or big blind, may determine whether you stay in a hand or not, and clearly must be factored into your game decision making process. Clearly, this mental capacity points to poker being a game of skill.

Cards in Play – one’s awareness of the cards that have already been put in play in a game, factor into the odds of you getting a certain card or your opponent having a certain hand. Your awareness of this, and your resultant mental approach to the game, strongly supports poker as a skill game.

Understanding your Competition – Certain players exhibit certain characteristics when they play poker. Some players tend to be conservative, while other are extremely aggressive in their mode of play. Still, others tend to bluff in certain scenarios, while other tip off their type of gameplay with physical indicators (sweat, squirming in chair, smirking, etc.). These physical and mental aspects are always factored into the game, and their recognition help contribute to the game’s skill factor.

In summary, we have clearly demonstrated that poker is not strictly a game of chance, but a combination of both chance and skill. Further, the skill elements to the game are plentiful, so it can be concluded that these aspects of the game clearly depict poker to be more of a game of skill than a game of chance.

This article was written by Douglas Hayman, President of Expert Software Systems, a database expert and web designer, who hosts and develops many informational websites, including Top Poker Sites Review, a leading informational poker website contains subject material on a myriad of subjects including rankings, rules, tips, strategies, news, and much, much more; and Review of Best Poker Sites, an informational website that contains a detailed review of the features of today’s most popular online Poker websites.

Based on the long-running, Emmy Award-winning TV game show, Family Feud is an online cash game that features the familiar characters, graphics, and questions that you know and love. Players can now rack up high scores like never before and compete for a piece of the action with more than $250,000 awarded daily on WorldWinner.

“This redesign of the ‘Family Feud’ game is even more like the on-air game show,” said Blacklow in making the announcement. “We’ve updated the game to reflect the personalities and preferences of our players; and we’ve added some fun twists, including the ability to play for cash and prizes in-character as a family of robots or monster creatures.”

“With all its new and improved features, we expect the ‘Family Feud’ experience will provide more deep and meaningful interaction with one of our most beloved game show brands.”

The new “Family Feud” game at WorldWinner now offers players the opportunity to select unique new avatars to represent their family before answering a set of five survey questions, testing their ability to deduce the nation’s most common responses. Pending their answers, the opportunity for cash and prizes again adds to the excitement for the players.

Not only has “Family Feud” introduced an updated cash game, producers have also recently announced that renowned stand-up comedian, actor and radio personality Steve Harvey will host the show as it enters its 12th season this fall.

How Does It Work?

In Family Feud, you’ll be asked to rate the popularity of answers to a series of survey questions. There are two parts to the game… the Main Round and the Fast Money Round. In the Main Round, beat the clock to figure out the most popular answers. Increase your score in the Fast Money Round by choosing the single most popular answer.

You will be shown 5 survey questions during the main round. For each question, you will also be shown 12 survey responses. Choose the answers that you think are the 4 most popular responses by left clicking on them.

You have a limited amount of time to answer each question in the main round. If you find all four top answers before time runs out, you’ll receive a time bonus for every tenth of a second left on the clock.

If you choose incorrectly, you’ll get a “strike.” Get three strikes and you’ll automatically move to the next question and forfeit any time bonus. After answering all the questions, you’ll also receive bonus points for any unused strikes!

In the Fast Money Round, you will be shown 5 survey questions, this time with 8 possible answers. Choose the most popular answer for each question and you’ll score bonus points equal to the number of respondents who chose the same answer. Just like the Main Round, you’ll also be rewarded bonus points for any time left on the clock.

Learn more about WorldWinner, and start winning money playing the new Family Feud online!

Board games can provide multiple hours of pleasure to anyone who plays them, although usually through different ways. Some games focus more on a random element, allowing anyone with a little luck to be able to pull ahead and win the game. These games usually require nothing more than some lucky rolls of the dice, good cards being dealt, or a great spin on the wheel. Other forms of game usually rely much more on the skill of the player, putting all the power to win in their hands. These games usually do not have any luck elements involved but are based on only each player taking an action on their turn, making all tools available to the player at the beginning. When the two players start out on even footing, one player will best the other through skill alone.

Games of chance are more along the lines of games that are good for children. Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and Cootie all rely on random elements to help the game proceed along. Either cards are drawn or dice are rolled to determine movement along the path to success. Cootie requires a certain number of dice to be rolled to gain all of the necessary pieces for the bug that one is building. These games are good for children, usually, because they do not require them to think hard about what they should do and this allows players of different ages and skill levels to play the game as well. All that is needed with these games are a little luck.

The games of skill, however, are generally geared more toward adult players, as one will need to be a sharp thinker to do well with these games. Since these games are based entirely on players thinking out their moves and confronting the other in a head-to-head battle, their age ranges are usually a bit higher.

Games of skill also generally require two players of the same skill level, as a novice playing against an expert does not provide much fun for anyone. Chess and Othello are both two types of games which are considered solely skill games. Each player faces off against the other and by taking turns, compete for the win. Luck will not come in the form of anything but the other playing making a poor choice in their turn and the only advantages one gets during the game are the ones that a player makes for themselves.

Most games combine skill and chance, however. Games of pure chance are usually boring, but most people like the thrill of a luck element. Many games, even when considering heavy skill games, also use a random element in the form of dice. Likewise, many games that rely primarily on luck usually bring a form of skill to them in making decisions on how to distribute that luck. A blend between Skill and Chance is usually the most common source of game that will be found, but games do exist on one end of the spectrum or the other. It’s only the goal of the player to find the combination that suits them the best.

This article was written by Victor Epand, an expert consultant for board games, chess boards, and dungeons and dragons miniatures. You will find all these things and more if you visit board games skill and chance, chess boards.

WorldWinner, the web’s most popular skill game portal, launched the new game to much acclaim from fans of the original downloadable version. “Plants vs. Zombies has been wildly successful thus far and has thrilled both existing casual games fans and hardcore gamers alike,” said Sukhbir Sidhu, Executive Producer and Studio Chief at PopCap. “Creating a WorldWinner cash version is a perfect fit for the competitive nature of this game — it adds a bounty hunting element to the thrill of protecting your home from the walking dead.”

“Plants vs. Zombies is a recipe for success with WorldWinner players: it’s quick to learn, but difficult to master, and our players love a challenge,” said Peter Blacklow, president of WorldWinner.

Gamers everywhere can now test their zombie-stopping skills in the cash tournament version of the game. The faster zombies are defeated, the higher the score. The higher the score, the greater the opportunity for players to win a piece of the more than $250,000 awarded daily on WorldWinner.

In Plants vs. Zombies, more than two dozen types of zany zombies attempt to invade players’ homes, and the only defense is zombie-zapping plant life positioned in the front yard. Using peashooters, wall-nuts and cherry bombs (and more than 40 other kinds of specialized zombie-combating flora), players attempt to stop legions of zombies before they reach the front door. Each zombie is equipped with special skills, challenging players to think on their feet and act quickly – all while overcoming additional challenges like a setting sun, creeping fog and a swimming pool.

Learn more about WorldWinner, and start winning money playing the new Plants vs. Zombies online!

For every cash game (ANY entry fee) you play between now and the end of the month, you’ll get one entry into our $5,000 Game Credit Sweepstakes! There’s no limit on entries, so the more you play, the more chances you get to WIN!

If you haven’t played at WorldWinner before, you should give it a try! WorldWinner is where the world competes to win cash and prizes at games of skill. It is one of the oldest and largest cash game sites, and lets you choose from dozens of popular free games to find the online games you love best, Practice your favorite online games to build your skills, and once you’re ready, you can begin competing for big cash prizes!

Here’s how it works:

Just pick a game, wait for the system to match you up to an opponent of comparable skills, play your game, and see who wins. It’s that simple. Start earning your credits today!

Play now at WorldWinner.

The U.S. Congress finally held a formal hearing addressing Barney Frank’s legislation to regulate and fully legalize online gambling — particularly online poker — in the United States.

At the hearing, representatives from the gambling industry were allowed to speak. Most of the charges they ended up defending themselves against revolved around the risks of identity theft to online poker players.

Indeed, the main argument that U.S. conservative politicians are making against legalizing online poker seems to be the risk of identity theft — a strange shift in tactics from their previous resistance to online gambling on “moral” grounds, or out of concern for “problem gamblers”.

So what was accomplished at the hearing? Nothing definite. The best result is the fact that Congress is finally willing to give the issue time. That, combined with the recent delay of the UIGEA implementation, can be seen as a hopeful sign.

Indeed. Hopefully this issue will get a serious hearing, and Americans will once again be free to play online poker, safely, securely, and legitimately.

Read more from PAP Newswire…

Skill games online require you to pit your wits against other human beings or against a sophisticated software program that will replace the human user. Most of these games can be enjoyed for free but there are an ever increasing number of online gamers worldwide who choose to challenge one another for cash prizes.

The main difference between online skill games and more traditional gambling pastimes is that the outcome of a skill game is based on players’ ability and performance, with any elements of luck either eliminated or greatly reduced. This is critical, in order to be legal and avoid falling under anti-gambling statutes.

So what are some of the different types of skill games that you can play?

You will find an incredible choice of games as you begin to delve through the multitude of skill gaming websites at your disposal.

The games are generally simple with just a few rules to learn, are often enjoyable and highly addictive. These games offer something to suit all tastes and include the following popular examples:

Board games like draughts and backgammon; Sports games like pool, golf and basketball; Puzzle games like jigsaws and word games; Arcade style games such as shooting games.

The skill games online arena is growing at a faster rate than any other web market today. In fact, this entertainment sector is actually growing four times faster than the rate of overall internet growth and experts predict the market to grow from $5.2 billion USD in 2007 to $13 billion by the year 2011.

This example will highlight just how much this industry sector has developed and how it now carries enormous mass market appeal. In June 2006, 7.6 million British people (28% of the UK online population) visited the online games sector, with the average visitor playing games for an hour and a half at a time.

The online skill games market has been identified as the next step in the evolution of entertainment online and people of all ages, from all over the world, are currently playing in their millions. Some of the larger game networks have hundreds of thousands of players playing these games at any one time.

With this industry growing at such a rapid rate, the choice of games and the quality of sites available has never been so good. So get on the internet today and lose yourself in hours of online fun.

This article was written by Gavin Evans, a full time internet marketer living in the market town of Cowbridge in South Wales, UK. Gavin is also a leading associate for the brand new global skill games business, uVme. To find out more about the worldwide Online Skill Games sector visit http://www.uvme-online-games.net

“Pulling Internet poker out of the shadows and into the light of the law, we have the opportunity to help our economy while protecting our families,” said Menendez. “By bringing these games of skill into the mainstream, we can generate billions in revenue for businesses and the Treasury during these tough times. The safety benefits of the bill are particularly crucial. Parents are worried about their children falling prey to illegitimate gaming sites and thousands of Americans have been fleeced of millions of dollars by these sites. With proper regulation, we can prevent minors from playing poker online, crackdown on predatory operations, and sanction the legitimate ones.”

Menendez’s plan would add a 10 percent tax on all deposits at online poker rooms, to be split between state and federal governments.

Menendez’s bill is comparable to the earlier House bill introduced by Rep. Barney Frank, except that Menendez’s plan would apply only to online poker and games of skill, whereas Frank’s bill would regulate all Internet gambling other than sports betting.

Analysts anticipate that the new legislation will be strongly supported by financial institutions, who have been tasked with filtering online gambling transactions from their customers accounts, which places additional burdens on an industry already strained under increasing regulation and political scrutiny.

Read more from Senator Menendez’s press release.

Two years ago, WorldWinner launched an online adaptation of Hasbro’s Scrabble game (Scrabble Cubes), transforming the beloved board game into a three-dimensional online skill test for vocabulary-savvy gamers. Now, WorldWinner is building on Scrabble Cubes’ success and bringing the thrill of online cash competitions to an even wider range of popular board games.

WorldWinner’s relationship with Hasbro furthers WorldWinner’s tradition of bringing classic offline games to competitive online gamers; the company recently launched online cash competition versions of top rated television game shows Family Feud, The Price Is Right, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! With this latest announcement, WorldWinner continues to define itself as the pre-eminent home for competitive entertainment among casual gamers.

“Hasbro’s games are among the most successful in the world, and millions of people have enjoyed playing them for years,” said Peter Blacklow, president of WorldWinner. “By creating cash competition versions of wildly popular TV game shows and board games, we’re allowing long-time fans of these iconic titles to enjoy classic entertainment while testing their skills online for cash and prizes.”

“Our players love our games because they offer high quality entertainment and the ability to have fun while competing against friends and family members. Based on the success we’ve seen with Scrabble Cubes, we’re excited to further expand our partnership with WorldWinner to give our players additional opportunities to extend their passion for our games into another element of their lives,” said Jim Acton, Director of Licensing – Gaming and Lottery, Hasbro.

The new games are expected to begin launching in 2009, and fans of the classic Hasbro game titles will be able to test their skills for cash and prizes at WorldWinner.