SilverBets is such a new online casino, it's still got the wrapping paper on. It opened in June 2009, and as I write this, is about a month old. One of the things I like about it is that it has a news section on its website that tracks its progress and growth.

They appear to be doing well, and I thought I'd take a look and see what it was all about.

Licensing and Software

SilverBets Casino is owned by Northern Lights Holdings, and has a license to operate an online casino issued to it by its home country of Belize. Visitors from the United States of America will be pleased to know that there's a nice animated stars and strips flapping on the front page next to the words “USA Players Welcome!”

The software that it runs on is provided by Top Game, an up and coming underdog in the the online gaming development world. When they debuted, no one took them seriously, but there are now at least 20 casinos that I can think of that use their software.

The upside of the Top Game platform is that it contains a bunch of games that you have most likely never seen before, particularly if you're used to the same old thing over and over again from your usual online casino.

It's available as a download for users of Windows based computers; Mac is not yet supported, although I have heard rumblings that it may be in the near future. There is also no Instant Play version, so if you're on a Mac and you want to try this venue out, it's Boot Camp for you. That's how I got it running, anyway.

The Games

The menu of games to choose from is stacked heavily in favour of the video slot fanatic – you'll find a bunch of things that in all likelihood will be new to you. I particularly liked a video slot called Glamour – worth checking out. Another that was pretty interesting was called Bingo Slot – a kind of weird hybrid between the game of bingo and a video slot, as the name implies.

Other hot suggestions include Crazy Pizza, Morpheus Dream, Red Chilli Hunter, and Black Diamond.

There are, of course, a decent choice of traditional table games, including BlackJack, Roulette and Video Poker.

Bonuses

There's a pretty neat welcome bonus package on offer – if you play your cards right, you can get up to $3,300 in free bonus money out of it. Here's how.

First, open an account and deposit some money into it. Your first deposit will be matched 100%, up to a maximum of $660 in free casino credit.

Then, over the next four months, your first deposit of the month will also accrue this same bonus: 100% up to $660. That's six bonuses of $660!

Banking

SilverBets accepts Moneybookers, EcoCard, UseMyWallet, eWalletXpress, ACH, NETeller and Click2Pay. Failing that, you are of course most welcome to use a major credit card.