On 3 April 2004, Jill Whelan a.k.a. ‘Vicki’ from the popular 70s sitcom Love Boat, threw a large bottle of champagne at the bows of the Caribbean Princess, and effectively launched the ship that would see hundreds of Fortune Lounge and Royal Vegas players take to the high seas for grand fun and casino games.

Ever since the first International Casino Games back in 2005 aboard the Caribbean Princess, the International Casino games has been synonymous with the very luxuries that embody a cruise event. The fifth instalment has just wound down, reaching its final port of call on Sunday, 27 March 2011.

Here are some of the scenic places the lucky players who won tickets to the cruise got to experience:

•    San Juan, Puerto Rico
•    St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
•    Tortola, British Virgin Islands
•    Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda
•    St. Lucia
•    Barbados

Keep an eye out for the next exciting instalment of this now well established event – you could be the next big winner in the International Casino Games 6!

Take a look at some of the awesome photos from the cruise:

Although the world would never ever be so cruel as to outright deny anyone their chance at fame , every kid responds  to parental cooing on the side, in line with “you’re a star”. Despite the fact that, in realistic terms, some people just… shouldn’t even when it does have a way of going “I told you so” right after the proverbial unmentionables hit the fan.

Enter Rebecca Black, who at the tender age of 13 is now one of the most virally successful and also loathed singing sensations on the internet. In terms of online awareness, the song has garnered overwhelmingly negative publicity for being ‘bizarre’ and ‘inept’.

Rebecca Black was understandably upset by the comments rendered on YouTube, but it can be argued that the online world runs on the purest form of vocalized democracy in existence. It is also understandable that people’s comments will get out of hand. Then again, once Simon Cowell starts taking interest, it’s over. Welcome to mass manufacturing pop-culture style!

Already the net is swarming with blog posts and evil little engines plotting Black’s further downfall and humiliation. On e-Bay, there was even speculation that a tissue covered in Miss Black’s teenage tears would go on sale. Perhaps we should start placing bets on what the lyrics of her next song will comprise of… hmmm… anyone?

Place a bet of a different kind here.

Watch the official video to her song entitled Friday:

The Grand Slam of Slots 2 is one of the most popular online casino promotions, and it’s not hard to see why. The first prize in the final round is a whopping €1,000,000!

The prizes up for grabs are nothing short of spectacular and the promotion adds an extra dimension to player’s usual gaming by giving them the chance to compete with each other in live tournaments, lucky draws and more for jackpots on the highest level..

Congratulations to these weekly winners from week 2:

• Luc P: 1000 casino credits + one ticket to the Grand Final
• Kostandinka I: 900 casino credits + one ticket to the Grand Final
• Laurence L: 700 casino credits + one ticket to the Grand Final
• Cyril G: 800 casino credits + one ticket to the Grand Final
• Willem N and Walter A: 600 casino credits + one ticket to the Grand Final
• Lena J: 500 casino credits + one ticket to the Grand Final

Week three of this exciting tournament is kicked off on 29 March. If you want to be part of this promotion you will need a Real Money account at Royal Vegas (or any one of the Fortune Lounge casinos) to participate in the tournaments. This is your chance to be top of the leaderboard and walk away leader of the pack.

Remember there a €1,000,000 first prize ready to be won in the final round. Make sure you have a ticket to the Grand Final.

Good luck!

English bookmakers are having a field day with Royal Wedding betting – so much so that it seems that betting is just about as British as mushy peas, and fish and chips as the Royal Family are.

It seems that very little is out of bounds – bets are even streaming in on when and if they’ll divorce – they aren’t even married yet – ruthless.

Other random and bizarre bets are:

• Whether the wedding will start on time
• If there’ll be a tube strike on the day of the wedding
• The colour, designer and style of Kate Middleton’s wedding dress
• How long the train of Kate’s dress will be
• The colour of the Queen’s hat
• The song for the first dance – Sex on Fire has odds of 50/1 while You’re Beautiful is at 5/1
• What the main meal will be – the odds of pizza being served are 50/1, with beef or lamb being a much safer option at ½ and 3/1 respectively
• Where they will honeymoon

The average bet placed is estimated to be at £3.5.

As we count down to “the wedding of the decade” taking place on 29 April, the bets are sure to keep streaming in and become even more bizarre.

Being of a royal status ourselves, Royal Vegas Online Casino gives you the power to place bets on casino games and win big. You never know, you too could be able to afford the royal wedding of your dreams with your winnings!

It’s a question that has  been asked many times over, often by people who are about to tear out their hair in frustration. Not all of gambling is seen as bad though, especially because gambling and taking risks  is simply an extension of human behaviour. Okay, so we know that gambling in general implies that you’re making bets, enjoying the games, and, hopefully, winning storms of money.

There are other reasons for gambling though, and they run a bit deeper than monetary gains.

For example:

It’s an escape; casinos are rife with colourful visuals, engrossing sounds and an overall sense of not being in Kansas anymore. In other words you have the distinct feeling of not being stuck in your everyday life as usual. Las Vegas is also in Nevada, for the uninformed (not in Kansas) and Royal Vegas is anywhere you want it to be, as long as your PC is plugged in and you’re online (which you have to be, since you’re reading this right now…) So, we gamble to become part of something else, to extend our otherwise garden-variety humdrum existence.

It’s a risk; but so is life. Seriously now, and all existential waffle aside, taking risks is another aspect of human nature, and quite a natural response which chimes in wonderfully with gambling. People bet on the off chance that their team, or their horse, or the next slot machine spin, will be the one that gets the win. It’s like dancing on the edge of a coin while it spins, really…

It’s social; whether it’s blackjack, roulette, craps or baccarat around the table in the brick-and-mortar casino, or busting those balls on bingo nights, gambling is a very social activity. Even the roaring crowds and the screaming fans at the horse races is social, and so we inspire ourselves by becoming one with those other gamblers around us, united around a common purpose.

It’s glitzy; the media does everything these days, and everything gets hyped up. This includes casino, which despite the relative overtures of negativity in the past, has always carried a sense of glamour to it. Why wouldn’t winning a massive amount of cash on the flip of a card, or the slow-motion reveal of the dice landing just right, inspire millions of avid watchers, to take to the casinos and gamble?

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