RealMoney.games | About Us

About Realmoney.games

Hi. Welcome to the RealMoney.games about page.

I’m Steve, the owner, creator, and almost sole author of everything you’ll read on this site. Before I explain why realmoney.games exists and how it works, I’d like to make a few crucial points about the material we cover here and how it’s presented……

First, we’ll answer the question, “What is RealMoney.games?“

The high-level answer is that RealMoney.games is a website about real money gaming and the online gambling industry that generally lists and explores all different types of games that can be played for real money prizes. If you wanted to give it a job title, it’s a Gambling Instructor.

The subject is massive, and there are lots of elements to learn that we’ll explore throughout the site pages. But, for now, there are a  couple of key points you need to be aware of:

1. Since real money gaming invariably involves forms of gambling, you will often be risking the money you have to (hopefully) win more of it. There are ways to limit the risk of losing money, for instance, in tournament gaming or by focusing on playing real money skill games, but it still involves significant risks. In the UK, it’s the main reason for the existence of the Gambling Commission.

Potentially losing money is an end result, of course. That result comes from the higher-level risk of online gambling addiction which can have many additional negative consequences.

I believe that’s avoidable, but I can only say that from personal experience, which may not apply to you. If you have any concerns that you may be prone to addiction, I’d advise you just don’t get involved.

It’s not all bad, and the debate about whether gambling or betting is good or bad will have supporters on both sides. Getting involved in the gambling industry can be seen as a source of some great entertainment – and one which might at the same time return you some extra cash – as long as you are in control of it and it’s not controlling you.

You can read more about the risks and steps you can take to avoid the risks or get problem gambling help on the responsible gambling page.

It’s not my intention to glorify gambling or any aspect of it. Perhaps except for horse racing where a love of the sport and the horses involved is the real driver, I hope I take as reasonable steps as possible to avoid glorifying any elements of what you will read here. If you do read anything on any of the pages that seem to be sensationalizing any of the games or operators, please let me know, and I’ll take steps to correct it.

Realmoney.games does want to provide information, not an enticement to play. Enticing someone into cash gaming is not the point of the site.

2. Realmoney.games don’t operate on an affiliate model in a way that’s similar to many gambling websites you’ll come across. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that model, and in suitable cases where it adds value to readers, I wouldn’t be averse to using it. I don’t have an ethical problem with it (if I did, then, in theory, I wouldn’t be writing about the subject anyway).

I’m not too fond of it, though, because it can lead to a situation where it might be tempting to deliberately promote one operator in favour of others, even if that operator may not be the absolute best choice. The intent being to make more money from suggesting those operators and encourage you to undertake your gambling activities with them.

Not all gambling affiliate sites work that way, and there are plenty that you can trust to give accurate, impartial, and helpful information. Realmoney.games is one of them. If you ever want to know of any others – and you’re unsure where to go – I probably know most of them. Drop me a line, and I can give you a few names.

In general, this site is a labour of love. Not of money-making. Sure it would be nice to cover operating costs and maybe even have a little left over. I’m not that daft!

The site does make a small amount of money from other forms of advertising and my own content-writing efforts, though that income is pretty much just enough to fund the site and what it needs to keep running, test out the games and betting principles, resolve issues, improve visibility etc.

In ten years, if RealMoney.games is seen as a complete and trusted resource for all types of real money gaming, even though it hasn’t reached any absolute level of financial success, I’ll have achieved what I wanted to achieve. And sometimes, the achievement of a goal is more important than what it cost to reach it, or how much it earned in doing so.

There’s a little more personal stuff about me and my background just below, but for now, all this brings us to the mission of Realmoney.games.

And that mission is to deliver helpful information about the different types of games that anyone eligible can play for cash prizes, where you can play them, and a significant volume of complimentary info about how you can get the best out of the experience.

I can’t say a lot more than that. To find out more, navigate to the home page and start learning from there.

About Steve Cross

So what gives me the authority to write valuable and trustworthy articles on real money gaming?

Well, there are very few options for gaining recognized online gambling or real money gaming certifications. So, the best you can get is experience over time, combined with a brain that can determine what’s essential to know or understand and what isn’t. The main answer to the question is that I’ve spent around 45 years studying at the University of Gambling, Betting, and Real Money Gaming. It’s that what’s put me in a position to effectively share any knowledge, alongside approximately 12 years of writing informative words on various websites based on that experience.

That’s not an actual university, of course. But you know what I mean.

In that 45 years, I’ve been actively engaged in various forms of gambling. I’ve won money and lost it, and in the process have won far more than I’ve lost. As a form of entertainment, it’s given me some great times. Fortunately, I’ve managed to control it and learned a whole bunch of valuable lessons.

It’s those lessons which I aim to share across the site.

I was born and bred in London. I’m currently living with a long-term partner (Beth) in a small village in the middle of England near Leicester.

We have a lovely 16-year-old boy named Will, an absolute diamond. I have two older children from a previous marriage – Lewis and Chloe. I’m very proud of both. Lewis will follow in my footsteps; he’s already picking winners on the horses and has collected on a couple of lucrative football accumulators. Chloe finished university with excellent grades and is a very sensible girl. She has just landed a government job in Brussels.

Aside from writing about gambling-related subjects and topics, one of my real passions is horse racing betting.

From the time my Dad gave me my first ever winner way back in 1977 – £3 to win on Strawhill at 8 to 1 – I’ve been in love with the horses. You cannot beat a horse race for engagement and excitement. Thundering hooves, flying leaps, the rush of adrenaline when yours is getting close, and the glow that comes from getting one over on the bookies, no matter how big or small the return.

It’s not about the money; it’s about the passion and the participation. Of course, winning is great, but I’ve experienced more emotion when losing narrowly or realizing I’ve watched a titanic battle even if my horse wasn’t involved.

I’ve cried with the knowledge that I saw something special and can almost touch the memories of those historic races – Diamond Edge just beaten in The Whitbread, Path Of Peace romping home in the November Handicap mud at 25-1, and Imperial Commander beaten by the width of a piece of paper in the Betfair by the irrepressible Kauto Star, truly one of the greatest chasers ever.

There are many others, too numerous to mention.

Imperial Commander was carrying the weight of my biggest-ever bet in that Haydock race. It was placed with leading bookmaker Bet365 that I’ve reviewed in some depth, and the fact that I lost lets me make a strong point that I want you to understand…

And that point is that it’s all supposed to be fun. Treat your betting as an enjoyable pastime, only play with what you can truly afford to lose, and recognize that there’s always the possibility of losing. You simply have to be able to take losing on the chin and be philosophical about the loss or don’t even make the attempt. And, if in any doubt or the results go too far against you, or you find you’re risking enough money that it can hurt you or those around you, then you need to get out.

Read and understand the responsible gambling page. Understand the importance of betting banks and bankroll management.

As a side note, Imperial Commander did me a massive favour in the Gold Cup a few months later. A race I’ll never forget. I can remember every jump in my head, and the memory still brings tears to my eyes. That’s a story in itself for another day.

They say you should write about what you know, and I know gambling. Since starting out as a youngster betting on horses and trying to win a jackpot on a slot machine in the pub, I’ve tried the systems, read the books, and played online casino games, tournaments, lotteries, blackjack, and almost every other type of gaming we cover.

I’ve trawled through hundreds of gambling websites over the years researching information. I cannot remember too many days in 45-odd years where I didn’t watch at least one horse race, and usually several. Very often with no money down on any bets.

In the end, winning is down to a combination of study, skill, persistence, luck, taking the right opportunities at the right times, money management, and having the strength to accept losses and winnings alike without losing excessively.

Together we’re going to have a lot of fun trying to find some good wins, be it through horse racing, casino games, poker, bingo or any of our other featured money-winning games or forms of betting. I’ll be using any income from the site to test out the games and forms of betting you’ll be reading about, so we’ll have direct, up-to-date experience as a guide.

Let’s do it carefully. With most forms of gambling, it’ll be critical to know when to stop.

Other Influencers and Contributors to RealMoney.games

A few minutes ago, I said that the content you’ll find here mainly comes from my hand, knowledge, and experience.

Given the broad nature of our subject, I couldn’t possibly know about every aspect of every type of game. So a limited number of pages may be written by other renowned and reputable contributors. Experts in their field will almost always write these, and I’ll have always vetted them for accuracy and value before publication.

If you want to contribute to or correct anything you read, please feel free to contact me.

But we also have to recognize that often our experiences and thoughts around a subject can be shaped not just by personal hands-on expertise but by the teaching, writings, and experiences of others. In the case of real money games and gambling, senior experts in the field can offer high-level insights into our subject and a deeper appreciation of all its elements.

So, while these types of experts may not always actively contribute to realmoney.games directly, their expertise and thoughts, and perhaps the information they’ve published, have an indirect value. Indeed, reading certifiable material published by these experienced and trusted gambling and gaming industry professionals has, in part,  helped build my overall knowledge. And that knowledge will naturally manifest itself across the pages of realmoney.games in tandem with my own experiences.

Anyone interested in real money gaming will gain some value from exploring material created by these experts, so let’s see some names that will be worth following. Since there are always some risks with gambling that any prospective player should be acutely aware of, the bottom part of the list focuses on introducing some problem gambling experts:

Casino gambling and gaming experts

Casino gaming has a long and colourful history, so it’ll be no surprise that it’s pretty easy to list several experts in online casino games with deep knowledge of the subject. And even the most experienced of us will need to turn to help at times and seek ways to improve our gaming.

Our list of casino gambling experts covers a broad range of skills:

Randy Ray – General gambling expert

To my knowledge, you won’t find Randy mentioned in Wikipedia in the same way as many of our other industry experts. That omission is a big surprise because make no mistake, this man is a master in the field with tens of years of deep experience involving playing and writing about multiple forms of real world and online gambling games.

In the past, Randy was responsible for creating a well-known poker website known as pokerseo.org. This focused on the skills that webmasters would need to create robust and effective poker websites, and was built on the back of Randy’s experiences of enhancing the content on Pokerstars in such a way that it attracted significant numbers of new visitors and readers.

Today, Randy provides expert-level consulting services to various online gambling websites alongside increasing and expanding the many real money gaming articles published on Chipcage.com.

Catalin Barboianu – Gambling Probability and Maths

One area of gambling that’s critical for any player to appreciate is that of probability and maths. Both must be understood to determine the odds for or against success in any gambling game. There are few experts in this field with more experience and expertise than Dr. Catalin Barboianu.

Catalin is a gaming mathematician, philosopher of science, and problem-gambling researcher. You’ll find his articles on probability on many authoritative research websites and can choose from eight books he’s written on the subject.

Gus Bakker – European Online Casino Gaming

Gus is a good friend of mine and an expert in the subject of online casino gaming across the European continent. If there’s anything anyone needs to know about online casinos in European countries, the site to have on top of any list to visit is OnlineCasinoInfo.eu.  You can read more about Gus and the site itself on the OnlineCasinoInfo.eu about us page.

Stanford Wong – Blackjack Expert

Stanford Wong is well-known as a master of Blackjack, one of our favourite real money casino games where playing with the correct strategic approach can yield dividends. If your memory goes back far enough, he was responsible for compiling one of the most famous books on the game that studied the concept of using advantage play to get an edge against the house.

But Stanford Wong wasn’t a real name, and this master of Blackjack was known originally as John Ferguson, a finance professor at Stanford University. You can read more about Stanford Wong on his Wikipedia page, but any BJ player must read the book Professional Blackjack.

The most effective way to study Wong’s teachings is via the Blackjack website BJ21.com.

Mason Malmuth – All casino games

Wikipedia cites Mason Malmuth as being responsible for writing over 600 gambling articles. It’s clear that’s a considerable number and is a good marker of the skill and expertise he developed during his time as a key figure in the industry.

As if that volume of published articles wasn’t enough, Malmuth is the owner of Two Plus Two Publishing. This organisation pulled together and published works from many of the world’s premier authorities on multiple forms of real money games and gambling.

Michael Shackleford – All casino games

The name Wizard of Odds will surely make a lot of sense for anyone looking for information on casino games online. The wizardofodds.com website was, for a long time, one of the first stopping points online for any players wanting to hone their gaming skills and enhance their knowledge.

But who was the wizard?

None other than Michael Shackleford, of course. Michael doesn’t run the site anymore, but it still contains a vast number of his works that cover pretty much every conceivable aspect of every variant of casino games and their offshoots.

The critical point about Michael is that he developed his knowledge-base as a successful player. Coupled with his presentation skills in writing about sometimes complex mathematical aspects of casino games, this background positioned him well as a fully trusted figure within the gaming communities.

John Grochowski – All casino games

Among all the names of experts in casino gaming and associated strategies, John Grochowski stands tall and proud. Through his newspaper associations, John played a major part in bringing the subject of casino games into the media in the pre-internet days. This work led to the publication of at least four major books:

• Gaming: Cruising the Casino with a Syndicated Gambling Columnist
• The Casino Answer Book
• The Slot Machine Answer Book
• The Craps Answer Book

Each publication is recognized for its style and successful attempts to cater to an audience that includes experienced and beginner-level players. Those efforts display skills and knowledge that John has subsequently shown and communicated in multiple radio broadcasts and TV shows.

James Grosjean – Blackjack and Video Poker

James Grosjean may be a well-known name in the blackjack community and among video poker fans thanks to his published work Beyond Counting: Exploiting Casino Games from Blackjack to Video Poker, initially published in 2000. You’ll find another review of the book on an ancient internet page.

That single piece of published work belies his expertise in the games, given he was the youngest player to be welcomed into the Blackjack Hall of Fame.

Bob Dancer – Video Poker

Any true fan of video poker will undoubtedly have heard of the name Bob Dancer.

From a starting point with the publication of a book titled Million Dollar Video Poker, both Bob and his wife Shirley Dancer embarked on a career where they shared detailed information on video poker gaming and strategy via such titles as A Winner’s Guide to Video Poker and Video Poker for the Intelligent Beginner. 

It’s interesting to note that luck may have played in the duo’s career, having won $400,000 on a single hand when they landed a Royal Flush. There’s some truth to the adage that you can make your luck. The win was part of over $1 million worth of winnings they picked up after seven years of playing in different casinos and perfecting advantage play strategies.

For reading other deeply informative works on video poker, take note of the name Lenny Frome. Lenny was a true expert in the subject, and his legacy is carried on by his son Elliott Frome who runs the online gambling website Gambatria which covers all forms of casino games.

Online poker experts

There are very few games of the same stature as online poker. Indeed, there is so much to learn that they say it can take a lifetime to master. But several high-profile authors have published acclaimed works that can help any player to grow their skills. Many experts started as poker players and became big names in the industry. Let’s see a few of the key players that made this transition:

Amarillo Slim

A professional gambler from the USA specifically known for his poker skills and proposition bets, Amarillo Slim was born with the actual name Thomas Austin Preston Jr. He won the 1972 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1992.

Our primary interest in Preston comes from his involvement in creating and publishing highly-regarded poker books like Play Poker to Win and his autobiography Amarillo Slim in a World Full of Fat People. Amarillo later made a website, and an E-book called An E-guide To No Limit Texas Hold’em.

Doyle Brunson

Doyle Brunson had already made his name in the poker world before winning consecutive World Championships at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in 1976 and 1977. But that wasn’t going to be the pinnacle of his career and cemented his fame a year later when the world-famous book Super / System: A Course in Power Poker was published. This book displayed Brunson’s near-perfect level of knowledge around Texas Holdem, with other poker pros being enlisted to explain other variants like Draw poker, Limit Texas Holdem, and Seven-card stud.

Today, Doyle is still revered as one of the leading authorities on Holdem and plays as an octogenarian.

Other poker players that made the transition from player to educator include Scott Fischmann with his book Online Ace: A World Series of Poker Champion’s Guide to Mastering Internet Poker and Steve Badger, a former professional poker player and World Series of Poker bracelet winner who’s website SteveBadger.com contains some valuable info on the subject.

Problem gambling and gambling addiction experts

These are the names of leading figures in the area of problem gambling and gaming. Thanks to Expertfile for the list.

Professor Gareth Roderique-Davies: Professor of Psychology · University of South Wales

Gareth’s main areas of research are centred on gambling addiction and problem gamblers, as well as alcohol-related brain damage. You’ll find a number of Gareth’s published studies on this Google Scholar page.

Richard Tunney: Professor and Head of Psychology · Aston University

Richard Tunney’s research focus is on judgement and decision-making, two key areas of online gaming where the prospect of winning or losing money is involved. His research also includes behavioural addiction, of which gambling is a significant part. There’s some detail on Richard on his profile page on the Aston University website.

Tracie O. Afifi: Associate Professor, Community Health Sciences · University of Manitoba

Dr. Afifi’s research interests include analysis of problem gambling and related factors. Click here for a range of resources displaying Tracie Afifi’s knowledge and background.

Rachel A. Volberg: Research Professor, School of Public Health & Health Sciences · University of Massachusetts Amherst

Research Professor Rachel Volberg can be classified as one of the world’s leading experts on the social and economic aspects of gambling and problem gambling. Researchgate holds a repository of many of Rachel’s works.

Online gambling and betting experts

Of course, online gambling is the overriding subject in our search for information. So, the poker and casino game experts we’ve already mentioned fall under the general umbrella of online gambling.

But we should mention some other key figures in the industry, and one of those is Craig R Cummings.

Craig is the director of the giant Gambling.com Group, an important name in the online gambling industry. You don’t get to that level of company management without a deep understanding of multiple facets of real money online gambling and betting. You can read more about Craig on his personal website and see his portfolio of high-quality US-focused gambling websites listed on that site, too.