BeTheDealer is quite literally a revolutionary casino. While they don't offer any "amazing" new player promotional bonuses, they DO offer something far, far, FAR more powerful- They let you be the dealer! That's something that has never been offered by anyone before, even at land-based casinos.

Quite literally, you get to act as the dealer, or the "house" in cases where there is no dealer (ie; slot machines and video poker machines) and enjoy almost the full house advantage (anywhere from 1-6% or more depending on the game and skill of the player.)

To my dismay, the "fast download" that BeTheDealer advertises was actually over 6MB in size. My DSL connection handled it without trouble, but if you're stuck on a 56k dial-up connection, expect to wait at least 20 minutes.

Once installed, it was a breeze to get started opening and funding my account. I deposited $100 via my Visa card (one of the few credit cards still somewhat accepted at online casinos.) Immediately I sat down as the dealer at a Blackjack table, not quite sure what to expect...

Waiting for a player to come by and play at my blackjack table was a unique experience, but a little on the boring side :-) What're ya gonna do? Fortunately it didn't take long for a player to come by and sit down. I took advantage of the chat feature and warmly greeted my new player, he cordially responded and the game was on!

I found it rather disconcerting (yet oddly exciting at the same time, in an anxious sort of way) that I literally had no control over the game (the dealer never does, but then again, the odds are still always in the dealer's favor.) Right away my player started betting like a mad man with two $30 hands in a row... My heart was pounding like never before, alas I came out the loser on those two hands :-(

Play continued and my luck changed, but my player ran out of money so it was back to waiting for another player...

I decided to check out the video poker machines instead, figuring that those often offer some of the worst odds in the casino (to the player!) And right I was... Apparently these bad odds are well known, because almost nobody was playing video poker at all.

BeTheDealer currently only offers 8 games: Baccarat, Blackjack, Caribbean Poker, Pai Gow, Roulette, Slots, Video Poker, War. But you can be the "dealer" in ANY of the games, assuming you have enough credit points to do so (credit points are earned when you play as the player, plus a 200% bonus of credit points on your first deposit.)

The table game minimum and maximums aren't quite ideal- Blackjack at $2 min / $20 max up to $25 min / $250 max, Roulette at $1 min / $20 max, but they're acceptable. Slot machines and video poker are typical at $0.25 minimum up to $25 maximum.

The only things I feel BeTheDealer is missing is MORE games, multi-player ability and perhaps non-download Java, Flash or HTML games for those with WebTV and non-windows PCs.

All in all, BeTheDealer is absolutely a winner- a totally unique and exhilarating online casino experience!