Which is better, playing in a casino or playing online?
Posted on August 4, 2009 in the blackjack category
There’s one game that will forever be associated with casinos - it’s not called the “king of casino games” for nothing. The reason? Perhaps it’s the simplicity. Someone spins the wheel, releases the ball, “Where will it fall? No-one knows!” There’s the noise as the ball is thrown against the direction of spin. It rolls around the wood framing the the wheel, slowly losing momentum, edging down toward the whirling blades of the slots. Then, with a clatter, the ball is caught by the wheel. It bounces, suddenly caught up and thrown in the opposite direction. There’s a hypnotic quality about how the ball moves. Everyone watching feels they can reach out with their minds and will it to land in their numbered slot.
As the wheel slows, the ball bounces up and down a few times, then finally gives in to a combination of friction and gravity, and is caught in one of the slots. It is a wonderful moment of theater, followed by the “instant” gratification of the win for those with the luck. For some, this is the perfect game of chance to play. In the real world atmosphere of a casino, the crowd always gathers round the wheels first among all the games. It has a compelling fascination. Strip away the real world and play online, the experience on your computer can never really be the same. There are good graphics and the sound effects are reasonable. All you are left with is the game itself.
Is it strong enough on its own? Almost certainly. Little changes about the game. The rules are the same, the odds and betting are identical. So should you play it? Well, so long as you know the rules and the odds, it remains a good game. The only difference is the loss of atmosphere when you play online. So you are sacrificing all the travel, inconvenience and expense by staying home and switching on your PC. You can play when you want, for as long as you want from the comfort of your own home. Think how much you might spend on a real world trip in gas, drinks at bar prices (assuming no comps), and so on. That’s why you stay home. You will find bonuses and spot prizes to replace the comps. You have more money to play through as a result.
One gentle reminder - there’s a myth to dispel. Many try to sell the idea of a strategy to win. In reality, the house has an edge no matter how you play roulette. Never be deceived if you have a hot streak. You might get ahead in the short term but the house will always win in the end. There are no professional players who make a living out of playing this game. You can do many things to keep your losses small, but roulette should really be for fun and excitement. If your luck is in, you can have the satisfaction of beating the house. But always be disciplined. If you have a good win, quit while you are ahead. Make your fun go a long way by coming back another time.
What is the rake?
Posted on August 4, 2009 in the blackjack category
There are many things that make poker the best game to play - more skill, more fun - but the key advantage is that you are up against the other players around the table and, over time, the best players will win as the luck evens out and the skill takes over. Unlike blackjack and the other table games, there’s no house edge to give the casino operator a guaranteed percentage. You take your winnings out of the pockets of those you beat. From the point of view of the casino, this is bad news. Here it is with its capital tied up in bricks and mortar and its outgoings burdened with a staff of dealers, and it has no edge to help cover its costs. So, it charges the players for the right to sit down and play the game. This fee is called the “rake” because the dealer physically rakes in chips at the end of each hand to cover the fee. The amount varies. Sometimes, in the more exclusive rooms, it can be as high as 10% per hand, but it’s usually capped and falls to very small percentages when big bets are made.
The fact that you play online does not change the economics of the casino’s operation. There may only be one small building and very few staff, but it costs money to install and maintain the software. Servers have to be paid for to host the games. So the casino must still cover its costs when offering a poker room. The advantage is that the costs of virtual operation are significantly less than the real world costs and so the rake percentage is usually lower and capped. On a $50 pot, the rake might be 5% but on a $500 pot it might be 0.5%. So high stakes or no-limit players might pay only a small rake. Whereas small pot players could pay quite high fees except that most online casinos cap the amount per hand at no more than a sum between $3 and $5. Nevertheless, the amount of the rake paid over a month might be substantial for regular players.
If you play online, the rakeback system has been introduced to allow the casinos to compete against each other for players. The idea is simple. Every month, your account is credited with a percentage of the total rake you have paid. That reduces the casino’s margin but encourages regular players to stay loyal and to play for longer periods of time - remember online players go through more hands per hour than real world players. The refund makes a big difference and often represents the chance for the regular players to turn from losing to winning. If you only play for small pots, you are playing against the others around the table and the house fees. With the rakeback offering as much as a 40% refund, this can quickly mount up, e.g. if you played 1,000 pots at a capped fee of $3, you will recover $1,200 at the end of the month. This is “free money” for you to play with at the start of the next month and a very good reason for signing up for this facility.
What are Free Slots?
Posted on November 24, 2008 in the blackjack category
Free slots are a simple way to enjoy playing slots without paying any money. Sometimes we all want to have fun and gamble for a little. While some go to land casinos and spend their money there, others choose playing free slots online. It is a much more comfortable way of putting your luck to the test, when you can play for as much as you like right at your home. All you need to play free slots online is a computer and Internet connection. No credit cards, or other payment methods are required. Unless, you wish to play slots for money, of course. There are two basic ways you can play free slots online.
One way is by downloading a stand-alone program from an online casino website. There are numerous online casinos that offer such free slots programs. They don’t require any payments for downloading the game. The other way is to play free slots directly on the casino website, by using Flash, Shockwave or Java plug-ins in your browser. Make sure you have one of these installed on your computer, or you can download them directly from the site - usually free slots site post links for installing these plug-ins.
There are hundreds of free slots based on the movie. Looking for the classic «one armed bandit» slot machines? You will definitely find plenty of those. The possibilities are endless, but what’s really important is that you have fun while playing free slots online.
Blackjack and wonging: a story of success
Posted on October 17, 2008 in the blackjack category
In 1975, Stanford Wong came out with Professional Blackjack. Wong had a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University, hence his pseudonym. This book was the next big advance for card counters. Wong described his playing style, which included table-hopping shoe games to avoid playing at negative counts. As four-deck shoes were the most widely available games in Las Vegas by that time, this original approach was brilliant.
The counting system Wong published was the Hi-Lo Count, and like Revere’s count, used the easy divide-by-remaining-deck(s) approach to running count adjustments.
So, at last, some twelve years after Harvey Dubner had proposed the Hi-Lo count values, his system was available in a format both fully optimized with strategy indices, and presented with a simple methodology of play. Wong’s table-hopping approach to shoe games was in many ways similar to Al Francesco’s Big Player (BP) team approach, but allowed a solo card counter to attack shoe games invisibly, and without a team of spotters. This playing style has since become widely known as wonging.
Reasons to Play Poker
Posted on October 17, 2008 in the blackjack category
Social rewards. This is a major reason behind the traditional home game. Many friends like to hang out and play cards, and many people become friends over the card table. If this is one of the major reasons you wish to play, stick with low stakes, where the games are more fun and friendly.
Entertainment. Poker is a competitive game. To win, one needs the skills and the bit of luck the game necessitates. Many find this enjoyable and compare poker to playing a sport. Make sure you don’t get swept up in the ‘entertainment’ nature of poker, because it is possible to lose a lot of money at the game.
Education. The skills necessary to become a good poker player apply well to other aspects of life. Poker will help you to improve your judgment skills (reading people) and sharpen your logical and strategic skills (how to play your hand).
To make money. Most people play poker for fun, but some make considerable money at it. Of course, these people are few and far between. Not everyone can make a lot of money from poker.You an make a lot of money playing pokerturniere and boni. Nevertheless, the desire to win more is definitely a reason to improve your poker skills. Beste Pokerraum - Bwin pokerboni.
River Belle Casino expands its list of games
Posted on September 8, 2008 in the blackjack category
Well, it seems there are times when more is better. This is one of the offshore online casinos. It’s currently based in Gibraltar but, with its tax haven status ending in the near future, it will be interesting to see if the River Belle stays put or sails off to one of the remaining havens. Anyway, for now, it offers more than 200 games out of the Microgaming stable which makes this casino one of the biggest online providers of interactive entertainment in the business. So this month sees three more games added. They’re the usual mix of slots and video poker games which add a few more twists and turns to the playing experience. Perhaps this is the way to succeed in business. If people get too bored with the same run of games and slow down (or, even, stop playing), they need to be given novelty to reignite their enthusiasm. So we’ve got standard games repackaged. This time, there’s both a science-fiction-themed and a fantasy-themed 5-reel, 20-playline slot with doubling and quadrupling gambling options, plus a revamp of Jacks or Better Level-Up Poker, where prizes increase as you work your way up through the four levels. If you think your life will be richer for another video poker game, try this new game at the River Belle.
Anyone wanna buy a system?
Posted on August 20, 2008 in the blackjack category
Jack’s been working his way through some freebies - a new supplier’s trying to break into supplying the casino. Reckons he needs to make sure all the right people get their taste of the good stuff and we’re both of us out to oblige him. Damn, but some of this stuff is good! Makes me wanna give up the poker and the slot machines, and settle down with a bottle or two to enjoy my retirement. Anyways, the young fellah just called. Caught me in a mellow mood for once. He thinks - well, we can suspend judgement on that for so long as he keeps paying me - he thinks I should explain myself. In one piece I’m saying there’s, “a proper mathematical playing strategy for video poker.” In the next, I’m saying there’s a gambler’s fallacy and you can’t predict the cards. He thinks they doesn’t fit right together. So here’s a few words to make it all crystal. Did you ever see Ocean’s 11 - don’t matter whether it was the original Rat Pack version or the new ones with George Clooney and his pals? Did you notice how they always robbed the casinos. There was never a hint of walking through the door with a system for winning at the tables or on the slot machines. Hollywood got it right for once. The only way you guarantee a big score at a casino is as a thief - and you’ve to be lucky to enjoy your “takings” and avoid the hail of bullets if you get caught by wrong people. Look around online. You’ll see a small army of people touting their systems for beating all casino games with a house advantage. Win at blackjack without counting. When I was growing up, my mother used to play 78s all the time. She loved the musicals of the 1920s. She’d never been on the chorus line, but she’d a hankering for it. Her parents disapproved of theatrical folk and that was an end of that. Anyways, one of my favorites was Banana Oil - kinda like snake oil but always applied to lounge-lizard lines. “When he tells you, ‘I adore you,’ that’s banana oil.” In other words, everything he said to get his mark into bed was bullshit. Well, the same goes for all these salesmen pushing betting systems for slot machines. They’re trying to scam you outa your money. Take it from me. There ain’t no system around that even dents the House edge on games where the probabilities are set in the House’s favor. Math is math. Mind you. It’s not my money - you wanna fool yourself you can shade the odds in your favor on video poker, then feel free. So, how do these systems work? You’re supposed to base your bets on the most recent outcomes. Take roulette as an example. Wait for a run of blacks, then bet on red - the longer the run, the bigger the bets on red. If you see a pattern emerging, you’re supposed to think that the probabilities of the game itself have changed. When I worked for casinos, we always nodded wisely when someone cautiously asked if they could play a system. Another little chicken ripe for the plucking. My father was counting deaths by the million over decades for the life companies. Probabilities and statistics only make sense in the long view. Short-term, you’ll find anomalies in all slot machines but, over time, the basic patterns are set in stone and in the House’s favor. You’ll see lucky streaks that look like they’re never going to end. But, so long as the House keeps its nerve, the winner will lose it all back again. It’s the same with the so-called systems. They aim to build up the small wins to offset the big losses. If you’ve the bankroll, you can often win over a session. But you’re obsessional kind, ain’t ya? You’ve invested that money in a system. You’re not going to quit while you’re ahead, are you? Which means that any small winnings you picked up on the good days will all get given back to the casinos on the bad days. It’s just the way the House edge works. Like I say, you can’t beat the math. Which leaves me with my strategy, which I’ll get back to when I’m good and ready.
Soft Doubling Down
Posted on February 18, 2008 in the blackjack category
This is a slight variation to the traditional slots double down in that the player elects this option when holding a soft total, or a hand in which an ace is counted as 11. In other words, doubling down with an ace and a 5 would be considered doubling down set of blackjack rules on a Soft 16, or soft doubling. As with the more traditional form of doubling down, there are times when soft doubling is advantageous to the player and times when it isn’t start playing blackjack
. The same procedure is followed: The player simply doubles his bet (or bets any amount up to or equaling his original wager), and receives one additional card.
Doubling Down
Posted on February 7, 2008 in the blackjack category
A player may double his wager after the first two cards, and in doing so must take one additional card—and one only. To double down, the player must bet any amount up to but not exceeding his original wager match bonus. In handheld games, the player tosses his first two cards face up on the table, and then places an amount up to the equivalent of his original bet next to the original wager. In multiple-deck games the player simply adds the desired amount in a stack next to the original wager and confirms his desire to double down.
There are many situations when doubling first time playersdown is very advantageous to the player. Just the same, there are numerous situations when it should be avoided. By the way, doubling down for any amount less than the original wager is known as “doubling for less.”
Splitting Pairs
Posted on January 21, 2008 in the blackjack category
If the player is dealt two cards that form a pair (e.g., two 9s), he may elect to split the pair. The player must then bet blackjack rules: Hit or Stand another amount equal to the original wager, and by doing so will signal his intent to split the pair. In hand-held games, the player tosses the pair face up on the table prior to doubling his wager. In multiple-deck games, just as with doubling down, a second bet equal to the first is placed next to the original wager. The dealer then begins by dealing a card to what becomes the first of two hands, moving to the second only when either the player has busted or indicated by hand signal that no more cards are desired on the first. In some casinos, the player may split again, or “resplit” if dealt a third card of equal value to the original two (e.g., in this case, another 9).
Because aces are such favorable cards for the player, special rules apply special blackjack when splitting them. Whereas for normal splits, any number of cards may be drawn to each new hand, the player is allowed only one addi-tional card for each ace - and the ability to resplit a third ace isn’t usually an option in those instances when a third ace appears.
Like doubling down, splitting pairs - in many cases - is a very favorable blackjack tournaments option when exercised in the right situation.
