The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.-Star Wars, Episode III It's one thing to be a poker player and not consider yourself a gambler. You're making plays based on pot odds and percentages, right? It's not like you're all-in with 83o and breathing the mantra "Any two cards can win."And it's really not much different to take your poker prowess into the online realm. You're doing the same things you were before and are not a degenerate gambler.But there is another plane to online gaming -- the online casinos that mirror the poker Web sites.For a long time I've told myself, NEVER GO THERE. It's truly the Dark Side, to be playing where the house has the true edge in the long run. How bad off would you have to be to be wagering at an online slot, knowing brick-and-mortar slots aren't that great in the first place?But then, how far would you go to save your bankroll? It's like Palpatine telling Anakin in Episode III, what if I told you Padme didn't have to ever die? The past weekend, Mark and I have not only stepped across to the other side, we've totally leaped, chasing casino bonuses. And learning basic blackjack strategy along the way to burn off the bonuses.I've written about it before. I like blackjack. I consider it to be a great way to take the edge off a long poker session.And there are casino sites that offer money for you to play. 100 percent matching bonuses to $100.Like I said before, it's one thing to play poker online. With the popularity of poker, it's not even a big deal to tell non-players in the outside world that you play at Party Poker, Ultimate Bet, PokerStars. They may even know about these sites.But it may be a while before I tell people that I'm gambling at online casinos.The bonuses are the key. Using ScurvyDog's guide to chasing casino bonuses, you learn that the house advantage in blackjack (like 0.5 percent) can be nullified with the profit that comes from a bonus.That said, there is some real risk, as he warns that there is a small chance you can burn up your casino bankroll from variance making minimum $1-a-hand bets.But I haven't seen it yet. Just from this weekend, I'm up about $650 and have played at 4-5 casino websites."It's like being paid to learn blackjack," I tell Mark over and over again.It's really tedious, however, and you usually have to find some system of marking how many bets you've wagered, by hot key or with pen and paper. There's no automatic way of knowing like when you're chasing a PartyPoker or Poker Stars bonus.It's exciting to win money so easily. But alarm bells constantly go off in my mind. What's next? The sports book? $1,000 prop bets?Hopefully I will be able to jump back over to the other side when I need to.But not just yet.

Source: Poker Cats