January 15th 1999 ©

When I first got online in the spring of 1998, the first thing I did was check out gambling resources on the web. I'd heard from my thursday night blackjack buddies that there were a bunch of places you could go online to check out strategies and even more where you could actually play a hand of blackjack for real money. I was excited and wary at the same time.

Back then it was a different landscape to what we are used to today. There were only a handful of sites with only a smattering of games. There was no multi-hand blackjack, and certainly no promotional bonuses to convince you to sign up. Security was definately a question mark, as was relaibility of the operators. I'm not saying that all the online casinos were crooks, I'm just saying that the industry was so young that there weren't really any watchdogs or public forums where players could share experiences about casinos and their trustworthiness.

But hey, there is nothing a gambler likes better than a little risk, right?

After searching a few times through Yahoo! and checking out a few of the sites in minute detail, I decided to try out Omni Casino because it looked like a big operation with a reliable business behind it. It also included blackjack in it's initial download, which meant I didn't have to spend time on my 56K modem waiting for more games to download.

I got my PIN and entered my credit card number, praying that I had chosen a good site. I charged up $100 to try the site out and went to the blackjack table. At this point I was getting very nervous. It wasn't the same feeling as going to a land-based casino, but the thrill was equal in a different kind of way. At least I didn't have the added pressure of real people watching my every move.

So now it was time. The robotic voice asked me for my bet. I threw down a $10 chip and hoped for the best. The deck shuffled in a mechanical fashion, and a 7 landed in front of me. A short pause and then I had an ace. OK, I thought, here I go... my first decision in an online blackjack game. I stood. For some reason, my gut was telling me that the dealer was going to hit 21 and take my money over and over again until I had nothing left. He turned over his card and added a 10 to the 8 he already had in front of him. Push! A wave of relief washed over me. I know it was only $10 but it was my first ever hand of online blackjack, and the risks seemed high to me. But I hadn't lost.

By the end of that session I had all the confidence in the world and a healthy profit of $75 resting in my account! I decided to be prudent and asked for my check to be mailed before I played again. I waited, it arrived, and I have been playing online blackjack ever since.

These days you can be much more relaxed about playing online. There are many sites to chose from, most of them offer you free money to test them out, and there is a thriving community of players watching out for eachother. Still, I enjoyed that thrill of just not knowing back in the dark ages of 1998.

The Blackjack Man