Online Casino blog

A Blackjack replacement

March 16, 2007

There is a Blackjack controversy in the casinos our days, and this is because payouts for the Single Deck Blackjack have been changed from 3:2 to 6:5, meaning that the player will receive less in case of a win. In the case of a 20$ bet he won’t receive 30$ like he would had won before but 24$.

Many consider Single Deck Blackjack as the most profitable game for them but they don’t realize that the House’s Edge makes the game advantageous for the casino.  The house’s edge represents the ratio of the likely return against the likely loss. Let’s take this following example: a bet with a winning probability of 0.1157 which wins 7 to 1 has the expected return on a 10 unit bet of 80 x 0.1157, which means 9.256. If we divide this by the stake, which is the possible loss, we get: 9.256/10 = 0.9256. We subtract this from 1 to get the house edge. Now on this bet the house edge is 7.44% ((1 - 0.9256) = 0.07447 = 7.44%)

The player is more advantaged if the edge is closer to 0. The Single Deck Blackjack has a 0.6% house edge, which is the lowest in a casino. This changes in the 6:5 Blackjack because the edge is 2.5 times the original edge, which is 1.5%.

This is the reason why many players stopped playing Blackjack and turned to other games. One great game that could be played instead of Blackjack is Pai Gow Poker. Pai Gow poker is a mixture of dominoes and poker; it is played with a 52 cards deck but it also has a joker.

The purpose of the game is two make two better hands than the ones of the dealer. You will receive 7 cards and you have to split them into two hands: the back (containing 5 cards) and the front (containing 2 cards). In order to win the back must rank higher than the front; otherwise the hand is not valid.

You will win 1:1 for your bet if you both your hands are higher than the dealer’s, but the casino takes a 5% commission on your every win. If you win only one hand, then it’s a tie, and if you lose both hands the dealer wins.

The house edge is the same as in 6:5 Blackjack. At Fortune Palace you can find more about the Big Four Chinese games (Pai Gow Poker, Sic Bo, Keno and Punto Banco – Baccarat). You can read the rules, strategies and odds for each of these games and you can play the games for free, to practice without any risks. We have displayed the poker hand rankings to make is simple for the beginners. Play Pai Gow Poker if you are tired if Blackjack and you won’t regret it.

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Bingo Halls - the perfect place to meet new friends

March 15, 2007

Bingo is played all over the world and UK makes no exception. The bingo halls offer great opportunities to make friends, maybe future partners, on top of the money prizes. Also it brings lots of entertaining ad fun, for the people of all ages. The same exciting atmosphere can be encountered at an online bingo hall as well.

Many use online bingo halls as a way to communicate with the players of opposite gender, because most of these halls have a built in chat room. Chit Chat Bingo hosts players for the entire Europe not just from UK, and thanks to this it is able to offer much more increased prizes.

A survey revealed that 46% of men use online dating or chat rooms looking for long-term relationships and 54% of women have use online dating or chat rooms for friendship.

Here is a more detailed list:

•    Those that seek friendship – 39% men, 54% women
•    Those that seek long-term relationships – 46% men, 42% women
•    Those that seek intimate relationship – 37% men, 16% women
•    Those with shared interest – 22% men, 27% women
•    Those with no strings flings – 30% men, 8% women
•    Those with short term – 21% men, 10% women

Also the survey has revealed that 14% of men and 14% of women internet users have used online dating sites to find true love and 13% men and 6% women to seek marriage.
It is not proven that many have used the online bingo halls; this can be confirmed only by the chat room managers who monitor the chat rooms to prevent abusive or incorrect languages and other departure from the rules. Many use the chat rooms just as a form of communication, without seeking love or any other similar relations.

It is revealed that 14% percent of the users have received unwanted solicitation in a chat room, and most of the times the solicitations turned to be aggressive. The chat rooms are a great way to communicate with other persons, to play a role; pretend you are someone you have always fantasized. On the meanwhile you can play bingo and maybe hope that success will come both in the game and in your love life.

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Texas Hold’em advanced strategy

March 14, 2007

If you want to beat the novice Hold’em players you can use the basic strategy to do so, unless you lack self-discipline that is. However the more experienced players will be able to beat you if you don’t change the level of your strategy, because after a while you become one-dimensional.

If you want to change the level, try to play additional starting hands such as: K-Js, A-10s, A-Q, K-Q, 7-7, 6-6, 5-5, 4-4, 3-3, 2-2. The first two hands, with an “s” represents that they are suited. If you play these hands and the community cards don’t improve them fold, otherwise we advise you to call or even raise. It is best to use these hands when you are in a late position because by doing so you will diversify the game and you will become more unpredictable.

When the pot is big you can use the suited connectors, like 8-9 of the same suit. This cards offer you the possibility of making a flush, a straight or a straight flush. We said when the pot is big, because most of the times the suited connectors won’t bring you money, so that’s why they are worth using when a win would bring you big money.

Play the suited connectors before the flop, but be careful how you play them. Don’t raise too much, just call but no more than twice. If you don’t do so, you would have invested too much into the pot and that would not be in your advantage.

Try not to use suited connectors lower than 8-9 because the chances of winning with a straight or a flush are reduced. After the flop has been revealed estimate your chances of winning and play accordingly. If other two cards of the same suit have been revealed in the flop, you should remain in the game, but if the flop hasn’t revealed something worthe playing, then fold.

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The Defense aspect of the Tournament

March 13, 2007

The Handicappers have started to analyze every aspect of the March Madness tournament, and included in those aspects is the defense, something that might not be present in the regular season numbers.

The defense wins championships, is something always heard in the sporting world, and it is true. Even if sometimes the teams do not play their defense at the maximum if the situation does not require it, in the March tournament they will surely do, hoping that they will win the conference tournament titles.

The defense is very important in every sport not just in basketball. The Colts proved it, by winning the Superbowl against the Bears. Peyton Manning is the best QB in the NFL, but this time the defense made the difference. They beat the Chiefs, Ravens, Patriots (managing to recover a 13 points deficit) and finally the Bears.

Miami Heat, another example they won the NBA allowing only 100 points in the off-season and finishing 10-2. In the first week Syracuse played against Georgetown and thanks to their great defense they managed to win the game allowing only 58 points.

In the tournament games the defense will be forced to play more tightly and most of the teams will try to use their defense to change the course of the game. In the last season, in the off-season the Gators finished 6-1, allowing Gators allowed 47, 50, 60, 53, 62, 58 and 57 points on the games, after the entire regular season they allowed 64 points per game.

So there is no doubt that the defense is the main aspect of each team in the off-season. Calculate the odds depending the defense but don’t forget that a better defensive team will allow fewer points which means most of the times many games will go under total.

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Gibraltar’s gaming industry influenced by the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act

March 12, 2007

As we all know the American congress is bent on prohibiting online gambling. The Internet Gambling Enforcement Act has passed and Americans can no longer transfer funds to their online casino account. Non-US gambling firms continue to prosper as this act does not apply to them.

Many international online gaming companies are located in Gibraltar. Unfortunately for these companies they too must follow the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Gibraltar is a UK overseas territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. The territory shares a land border with Spain to the north.

In December 2006 the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act had quite a negative effect on numerous online gambling companies. Companies such as 888.com, Party Gaming, and Mansion have reported significant job losses. The future is not as bleak as you would think. Gibraltar’s gaming industry is confident this is not a major, irreparable blow and they will come back stronger and keep doing business.

The media on the other hand is not as confident. It published several very pessimistic articles. The Internet Gambling Enforcement Act came into force in November, 2006 and it has effectively wiped out a billion dollar industry overnight. Fortunately for Gibraltar the gaming industry has not been so severely influenced.

In December 2006 internet gambling company 888.com, one of Gibraltar’s biggest employers had to let go 140 of its employees. This was all because of the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and it launched a wave of new uncertainties among staff of other companies. According to 888.com’s CEO, even if a third of the employees have been let go, 888.com can still maintain staff levels through takeovers of some smaller competitors based outside Gibraltar. According to the rumors though 888.com itself will be taken over by Ladbrokes, one of Britain’s biggest gambling firms.

We can expect further dismissals and redundancies to take place in the future. Numerous online gambling companies are currently looking to re-invest in European markets and change their strategy. More rumors of mergers and acquisitions are expected to come up in the next months.

In Gibraltar there are about 15 online gambling companies that employ about 1600 people. All the sackings and mergers should not have a significant impact on all these employees. Neither should it have a significant impact on Gibraltar’s tax revenue from all the licensed online gambling companies. The tax revenue for 2006 was an estimated $10 million.

Party Gaming has already taken measures to counter act the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Plans for a multi-lingual betting service and a massive promotional drive to attract bettors from all over the world have already been put into practice.

Party Gaming was Gibraltar’s biggest online gaming operator and the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act hit it the hardest. Party Gaming lost 70% of its business after the bill passed. For the first half of the year Party Gaming achieved profits of over $150 million from operations outside the US. This means its employees will probably still have a job to go to, for the time being at least.

St Minver is another large online gambling company based in Gibraltar. It operates multi-lingual bingo, poker and casino products under a white label strategy. Since all of its business was European based, the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act had absolutely no effect on St Minver. They did not have to let anyone go and neither did they lose any profits.

White labeling seems to be the best strategy to use in Europe. Getting a gambling license in Europe is not as easy as you may think. St Minver has used a white labeling strategy in Europe successfully, even with the difficulties in obtaining a gambling license and even with large brands such as Virgin in the UK, and Ramblers in Russia that can take advantage of the experience, infrastructure and player liquidity that St Minver has obtained.

It seems that the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act has had quite an influence on Gibraltar based online gambling firms. But it has not been a devastating blow and the future for these firms looks bright. Europe has now become the main market and European players can certainly take advantage of all the Gibraltar licensed firms that wish to attract European players.

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Online and traditional poker - What are the differences?

March 9, 2007

online poker is similar to traditional poker as it follows the same rules and is played in the same manner. The main difference is that instead of playing in a land based poker room or casino you play from your own home, by using your PC. Playing poker online is a lot more convenient and it is the main reason why the number of poker players all over the world has increased dramatically.

online poker is a lucrative business. At the end of 2005 online poker was generating an estimated 200 million US dollars per month.

What are the main differences between playing poker in a land based casino and playing poker online? What sets these two apart? Below you will find answers to exactly those questions.

The gambling environment

This is the main and most obvious difference. When playing in a land based casino you have to sit right across other experienced poker players. They will analyze your reactions and your body language and they will use that information against you. We all know that getting a read on another player can dramatically influence your success.

online poker on the other hand is different. You are playing from the comfort of your own home. The other poker players are not standing right next to you and they cannot analyze you. This doesn’t mean they can still get a read on you, it just means that your reactions or body language will not give you away. Your betting pattern on the other hand will. This is what you have to focus on if you want to get a read on another player:

·      Betting patters;

If a player suddenly raises by a significant amount, then something is up. He either has a strong hand, he is bluffing, or he is setting a poker trap. Also take notice if a player that was using the auto features suddenly decides to play himself.

·      Reaction times;

If a player that usually reacts very fast is suddenly taking a lot of time making up his mind then something is defiantly going on. His slow reaction time must mean that he is seriously considering what to do with his poker hand or he is stalling. Stalling is a technique used when setting poker traps so you should definitely pay attention to that what that player is doing. Also take notice if a slow player suddenly reacts very fast.

·      Other behavioral patterns which are not physical in nature.

The rate of play

This is a less obvious difference between traditional and online poker. When playing in a land based casino or poker room you can expect to play about 30 hands per hour. This is because the dealer must collect the cards, then shuffle and deal them after every hand. There are also other delays that slow down the game, such as drinks being served, chips being counted and payouts being given to winning players.

Playing online on the other hand offers a much faster rate of play. The dealing and shuffling are done instantaneously, the chips need not be counted and the payouts are done automatically. online poker also offers various auto functions which allow the player to select his action before it is his turn. Thanks to all of these advantages instead of 30 hands per hour you can expect to play an estimated 90 to 100 hands per hour. As you can see the rate of play is three times faster.

online poker schools

This difference is one of the key factors why online poker has become so popular in the last years. No land based casino will ever offer a free poker game. online poker rooms on the other hand offer free games and online poker schools. You can learn the basics of poker, speed up the learning curve, and test your skills in free poker games. You can play for free all you want, without spending a dime. Play in a risk free environment while you are learning and then when you feel ready move on to playing for real money.

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NCAA basketball gambling

March 8, 2007

Sports’ betting is a very popular form of gambling and lots of people enjoy wagering on their favorite sport or team. If you also enjoy sports betting then surely you appreciate when the college basketball teams start battling it out to try to make the NCAA tournament. It a special time of the year filled with sports betting opportunities.

When gambling on NCAA basketball you must take a lot of factors into consideration. One of the most important factors is team records. Unfortunately they do not tell the whole story and you need to also take other factors into consideration. Individual player match ups, possible injuries to players, and how teams perform in the role of underdog or favorite, all of these things must influence your decision to wager upon a team.

The main problem is this: there so many basketball teams and so many games played each weak that it is hard to keep track of them all. It is even harder to get accurate and proper information on all these teams. The best thing that you could do is to get expert help. At a top rated sportsbook you can find people who keep track of all the statistics and other information about every team and they are expert handicappers. These experts gather all the data, analyze it carefully, and then give you recommendations you can rely on when gambling on NCAA basketball. Simply use them if you do not know on which team to bet or how much to bet. They will always help you.

Online sportsbooks offer expert help when it comes to NCAA basketball gambling and more. You also get a secure online account and numerous ways to transfer funds. For each game you wager upon you get the best odds and the payouts are prompt. You simply need not go anywhere else to satisfy your NCAA basketball gambling needs.

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Online poker – Legalize it!

March 7, 2007

It is a serious, serious thing that’s happening in America nowadays. The American Congress is determined to make online gambling illegal. Unless we all do something now, playing online poker for real money will no longer be an option. What can we do, you ask? Well, the answer is a strong grass roots effort by the general public, emphasizing specific points. The consequence is a spur in the debate that will compel the politicians to think twice about this.

The truth of the matter is that online poker is not a local or regional thing. It is a global thing and we all know that it is extremely difficult to control what goes on online, especially in the case of online poker. Poker players know that, let’s just hope that the American politicians also do.

Financial service providers are targeted by the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. According to it they must block all transactions with all online gambling websites. Rules are meant to be broken, as they say, and there are now other payment methods available that get around the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The legislators did their best, but this did not stop people from depositing money into their online casino account and play poker online for real money.

Why do politicians refuse to accept the simple truth of the matter? People want to play poker online for real money and they will find ways to do so despite the legislators’ best efforts to prevent it. The only logical course of action is to simply legalize online poker.

How different things would be if online poker were legalized. Just think about it. The online gambling market would open up great opportunities for American companies that are currently prevented to enter it.

We can do with blocking all transactions with all online gambling websites. We even do with banning online Blackjack, slots and roulette. Not so much with taxing online gambling. Even with the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act people do with all these things. Still, the only way for all these things to occur is to legalize online gambling and online poker in particular.

To tell you the truth, people are fed up with stupid laws that go against common sense. Bill Frist is going too far by pushing last minute legislation literally in the dead of the night literally. It is an insult to all of us.

A fresh beginning in Washington after the last 6 years of cronyism is the best thing that could happen to online poker, keeping in mind the recent turn in the direction of the country in the recent elections. Poker is a fun ame to play as a hobby and politicians should just stay out of it.

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The Popularity of Poker

March 6, 2007

Poker started to became popular worldwide since the famous tournaments such as The World Poker Tour and The World Series of Poker started to be broadcasted. People saw a chance of making money just like the players they see in those tournaments and begun to play the game very much. Not just simple people but also celebrities like Ben Affleck for example who won $356,400 and the Commerce Casino’s California State Poker Championship in June 2004.

Poker is also a business, it brings very much money each year, in 2003 poker made $4.5 billion, estimates Bear Stearns. It is expected that in 2005 this sum to exceed $10 billion. PokerPulse.com stated that in just 24 hours March 13, 2005, $200,463,154 .00 was wagered online.

The televised tournaments also changed the way people see poker. No longer is poker the game played in shady rooms, now it’s played in a friendly environment. The number of competitors increases every year and that makes it better for the experts because they can use their skills to win more at the tournament.

The champions are also different, because now unlike the previous years, the winners are from different domains: Financial Analysts, Rocket Scientists, Attorneys, and Mathematicians, all successful at the table. Also the game is friendly with the poor likewise. In 2004 at the WSOP one homeless person won $40,000 and said that poker took him off the streets.

The internet has become a major factor in building champions, at the 2003 and 2004 WSOP the winners were players who played the game online. Often online poker rooms offer seats to main events to the winner of certain online tournaments. The poker is just getting started so keep an eye on the event.

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Online flash casinos

March 5, 2007

Most online casinos require you to download and install their software. But if you do not wish to do so you can always play in an online flash casino. They have just as many things to offer and the best part is that you do not need to download anything. So if you do not want strange software on your computer or you do not want to use up disk space you can simply play in your browser window, in a flash casino. Whatever the reason may be, the choice is up to you.

Note that you should look around and find the online casino that best suits your needs. Take a look at both download and flash casinos before making up your mind. Chose what is best for you and your needs.

The truth of the matter is that flash casinos nowadays are just as good as download casinos. Just visit one and see for yourself. They have a wide variety of great games to offer, starting with the all-time favorite slots and going up to games of skill such as poker or Blackjack. No matter what game you want to play or what game is your favorite you will definitely find it in a flash online casino.

Did you know that online flash casinos also offer bingo games? You no longer have to go to a bingo hall if you want to play bingo. All you need is an internet connection and a PC an you are set. You can play bingo with friends that have moved away and now live in other cities or even countries. That is what makes playing online great. It brings together people from all over the world. Playing online is a global thing, it is not limited to a city, region or country.

If sports betting is your cup of tea you can do that also. Check out your odds with the online directory and then place your bet on the sport of your choice. The offer is wide and it goes from football to horse races. If you decide to bet on a horse race you can call your friends over and watch the race from your own home. Party like fun with the thrill of getting a big payout. What could be better?

I know what you are thinking. Download casinos use sophisticated software that ensures transactions are done safely. Flash casinos are just as safe. Thanks to various security protocols all transactions are prompt and secure. There are several ways to collect you winnings in a prompt and safe manner.

Regardless if you bet big or small, win or lose, one thing is certain. Online flash casinos are entertaining and you will have a great time. Get together with friends and have a great time catching up on old times and playing slots in the process.

So what are you waiting for? Visit a flash online casino today and join in on the fun. You will not be disappointed.

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