Archive for September, 2008

Couple of Common Mistakes in Blackjack

Saturday, September 27th, 2008

Mistake: Some beginners suppose the best way to play is to play the same way the dealer plays: Hit all sixteens and stand on all seventeens. This is not true. The object of the game is not to make a hand as close to 21 as possible, but to beat the dealer.

Tip: This is the basic logic of blackjack in casino. There are exceptions to these guidelines, as the actual basic strategy decision for any given hand is determined by working out all of the mathematical probabilities. But if you just consider this logic when studying the basic strategy charts, the pattern will become clear to you and it should not be too difficult to memorize.

Mistake: The most common mistake beginners make is to stay too often on their stiff hands. But when the dealer has a high card showing, your best odds of winning come from hitting and giving yourself a chance of making a better total.

Every player is afraid that he will be responsible for his own loss. But that 14 you are holding is already in dire jeopardy when the dealer shows a 10 up. You must fight for the hand’s survival by taking the hit, giving it a chance of becoming a stronger hand against that 10. With a 14 against a 10, you must fight to the death.

On the other hand, if the dealer’s upcard is 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, and you are holding a stiff hand, you should stand. Since the dealer must hit his stiff hands, and chance busting even when you are stiff, hitting your weak hands is not advantageous against these weak upcards.

What is The Culture of Slots?

Wednesday, September 24th, 2008

What is The Culture of Slots?

For the most part, folks join already knowing what their counterparts are like when they are join the clubs. Book clubs, movie groups, knitting circles… they all have terms and ideologies about their group’s topics that can be, well, predictable.

When you initially sign up with a casino online you find that you may be new to the terms and phrases. Things like “progressive slots” may go right over your head. When this happens, it is usually okay and common to ask questions and even get together with other online slots players.

After you begin to play online casino slots several times and you learn more about the lingo that slots players use, you will find that you are not alone. There is a community of slots players who choose slots over any online casino or traditional casino game out there. With this, they take to the community of online slots always, forsaking all other games in the casino. Tiers of slots players begin with the novice player. Soon, you can build your way up to the professional level, that’s how easy it is to learn slots and develop a passion for winning money at the game.

In the beginning of the levels of slots online, you will see that there is always a willingness to help from more advance players. When you are playing in a regular online casino, you will see other players look over when they see you struggling. The culture of slots in traditional settings is a pretty uniform in comparison to online slots. While the majority of slots players in land based casinos are more inclined to drink or smoke given the social circumstances, online casino players will come in various shapes and sizes. This means that anyone from Joe Law Student to The Mailman or your local Elementary teacher may be playing a fun stress relieving game of slots online.

How Twenty-One Became Blackjack

Saturday, September 20th, 2008

According to Richard Epstein (who had participated in Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic, Academic Press, 1977), black jack became popular during World War I, and was called this name from the practice of paying a bonus to a player who held an ace of spades with a jack of spades or clubs. John Scarne, (New Complete Guide to Gambling, 1961, Simon & Schuster), puts the year when this curious rule first appeared at 1912, when twenty-one tables appeared in horse-betting parlors in Evanston. According to Scarne. I believe Epstein’s information is taken from Scarne, and Scarne states that he discovered the origins of blackjack in America as a result of his private discussions with old-school gamblers, not from any published texts that can be looked up today.

I am rather skeptical of much of what Scarne has written about blackjack, so I’ll quote from Mickey MacDougall’s MacDougall on Dice and Cards, which was published prior to any of Scarne’s books: “Many professional players dress up the game by giving prizes for certain hands. A favorite stop is to offer ten times the size of the wager to anyone holding a natural twenty-one with a black jack. This adds interest to the game, but it also tempts a player to increase his stakes.”

Thorp also included a Simple Point Count in this new edition of his book, but at the time that strategy seemed way too simple to most players to gain much of an edge, or to be taken seriously by players who wanted to beat the game. Later, the power of Thorp’s simpler method of adjusting the running count, without keeping a separate count of the exact number of cards played, would be shown.

Still, the casino’s fears were mostly unfounded. The Complete Point Count was easier to use than the ten-count, but it was not a lot easier. In addition to the running count of the cards’ point total, the player had to keep a count of the exact number of cards remaining to be played. And in order to play his hand, he had to memorize a chart of 158 different strategy changes to be made according to the count.

Have no reservations about that Indian machine

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

All the machines are linked to a central piece of software that plays bingo games among all you players. Whether you win or lose is decided by the virtual ball the software “picks”. Each game ends when a “winning” pattern in the game is achieved. It’s all very ingenious and, using this technology, the manufacturers of the games claim that the payouts are identical to the third class of game. Just one ending thought: if the class two and three games are identical in the way they play, how come this is not illegal? Casinos operated by American tribes are getting a lot more common so it’s worth a word about their video poker machines. In the Indian Gaming Act of 1988, the Federal Government classified three types of game:

  • social gambling that’s not for profit;
  • games that don’t rely on a House bank such as bingo and lotto; and
  • the traditional casino style of gambling games including slots and video poker machines.

To run the third class, the tribe has to negotiate a compact with the local State Government and, to be fair, many have done this. But some decided that regulation was not for them. If nobody told you, you wouldn’t know you were not playing a Vegas style of machine. Except that, once you lift the lid, the insides are very different. The headline news is that these machines don’t have a fixed hold percentage.

No one likes a sore loser! Win at Slots today.

Saturday, September 6th, 2008

The first time I stepped into a casino, I had no clue on what to do or where to go. Everything around me was in action. It wasn’t until I was attracted to the slots machines that I understood where I had to be. Slots were the games to play. So play I did. In my first few moments, I racked up bonuses like you wouldn’t believe. I always bet max bet because I had heard from a friend that that was the way to go when looking for a larger payout. Soon I became a constant winner! I still don’t believe and can’t understand it, but this is true! The slots bonuses are always amazing and I feel as if right now, I am ready to begin playing slots tournaments. I can’t wait! There are so many different themes available and it is always nice to watch other players win money from playing free slots. I can tell these players practice from their own slots online. Anyone, who wants to play slots online, is a potential millionaire. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain from being an everyday person just like me who likes to play slots!

There’s No Cheating in Casino Online Slots!

Friday, September 5th, 2008

There is absolutely no reason to think that you can influence on the game. But it is always a secret dream that you walk away bigger than the house. The only way to win is to play. And the only way to win big is to play like a pro. How does one become a pro, though? It takes time to become a professional anything, so don’t think for a moment that you can just pick up a game of poker with friends and suddenly have an innate gift of counting cards and reading expressions. Or can you? There is a great number of theories of slots and other games. The chances of you or me being one at casino games are pretty slim. However, the ability to increase your playing ability all depends on how often you visit the craps online, slots online , and poker online games you find on the internet. Looking for a free handout? Forget it. The games are competitive and fun so you have to find your way into the world and just go for it! Understand, though, that you are starting the way all new players start. Slow and steady and with enough patience you will be able to play like the pros do, winning money and mastering the games you love the most. There are ways to become a better player than the one you once were when you started. Online casinos are all waiting for you!