Online casino for Mac OS -- finally!
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Bodog Casino just launched their play-in-browser games, which are 100% Mac compatible. As I write this I just got done playing blackjack there for $25/hand. It works in free-play mode too, if you want to play with fake money.
Lots of casinos claim their no-download games work on Macs, but they don't. They've been a real disappointment. But Bodog worked flawlessly right in Safari. Very fast, zero problems.
Here's what they've got:
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Table Games |
5-line Video Slot Machines
Traditional 3-line slots |
Video Poker |
The download version of their software has even more games, but it's Windows-only.
Bodog is also a full-service sportsbook, and the sports betting works fine on Macs, too. In fact, you can use the same account to play in the casino and make sports bets. Their poker client is Windows-only, though. For Mac poker you can use Full Tilt Poker.
I'm so glad that Bodog has added Mac compatibility. Before this I can't tell you how many casinos I tried where the run-in-your-browser Java or Flash software allegedly worked on Macs but didn't. I didn't try all the one that purported to work on Macs because Ie gave up after the first several didn't work. I couldn't get no-download versions to work from Captain Cooks, Unified Gaming, InterCasino, Sands of the Caribbean (CryptoLogic), or Roman Palace. Strike It Lucky casino finally acknowledged to me via email that their games don't really run on Macs, though months later their website still proudly (and falsely) claims that they do. Fortunately there's now an alternative. (visit Bodog)
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Online Casino Guide |
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My Mac experience goes way back...
I remember checking out the Macintosh at a Dillard's department store in Denton, Texas the month it came out, January 1984. I was astounded. The whole screen was bit-mapped and you could drag stuff around with something called a mouse. Your work was contained within things called windows and you could drag those around too. And all your options were listed in menus on top of the screen, which were always there and always consistent. Wow.
Yeah, that's no big deal today, two decades later, but compared to the clunky DOS boxes with annoying 80-column displays and an OS that required you to type in commands for anything you wanted to do, the Mac was definitely a big deal.
But interestingly, even though the Mac was revolutionary, most people dismissed it. They said the interface was "dumbed down" and called it WIMP, for Windows, Icons, Mouse, Pull-down menus.
Then after dissing the Mac as stupid, they fell all over themselves trying to copy it. Microsoft took Apple's ideas and created Windows for the PC. Then all those people who ridiculed the Mac as dumbed down were scrambling to put a Mac-like interface onto their own machines. Go figure.
When I grew up I got a job at Apple, which had been a dream for me. I did technical support and training there from 1992 to 1997. Unfortunately these were some of the worst years of Apple's existence -- putting out mediocre products and marketing them poorly.
Apple isn't the company it used to be, and neither is the Mac. It's still a bit easier to use than Windows, but the gap has narrowed considerably. Over the last 20 years, Windows has almost caught up.
Software developers have often ignored the Mac, saying its market share is too small. Sure, but 3% of a massive market is still huge. And more importantly, it's hard to market for Windows because there's so much competition. The Windows market may have 33 times as many potential customers but probably has 50 times as many competitors!
Internet gambling is one area where developers foolishly ignored the Mac. Until about 2005 Mac users couldn't easily gamble online. Casinos were just ignoring the millions of potential Mac users with money to spend. Finally, Bodog came along and offered real-money (and fake-money) casino games that play right in Safari, and they're cleaning up.
Sure, only 3% of computer users are Mac owners, but that's still millions and millions of people, and for the moment Bodog has the market cornered. I'm glad someone is taking advantage of this opportunity. Go, Bodog!
Visit Bodog.
(Note: While Bodog's casino games work on Macs, their poker client doesn't. If you want to play poker on your Mac, you want Full Tilt Poker.)
