I Am Not A Virgin Anymore - Today Was My First Time And It Was Great

April 30th, 2009

Well, I must say that before tonight I was a virgin. I had never ventured into the internet casino world. I could not believe how good it was. I enjoyed every minute and of course all I wanted was more, more, more. Many on line casinos offers you money to start. Of course this is genius. Not only was it enough to get me hooked, but you get a certain amount for each type of betting. So once I ran out on one, spent a little of my own money, then I went to start the next one with my freebies.

As you can imagine I tested almost all of the games and I spent a bit of my own cash. I have to say, that I had a ball doing it. After my first time experience I went to see what else was out there. It might have been because it was my first, but I do feel that these on line casinos have alot to offer. They have up to 20% sign up bonuses, & prompt payouts.

Being so inexperienced, the fact that most have 24 hour live support available, I felt secure about taking chances and trying some games. I might not have tried all of the new games I had never even heard of if there was not help available. Of course, most have guaranteed account security, and free and easy upgrades. Just like Las Vegas and Atlantic City, some of the high class on line casinos offers high roller comp programs.

It really was so good to begin with, then the addition of all of the 3-D graphics and digital audio were just icing on the cake. The sites looked so cool. With all of the bells and whistles, it makes you feel like you are playing in Las Vegas. Of course we can't forget the free software that you can download. Believe it or not, I have learned that some gambling sites have software to download in order to play, but you have to purchase the download for a small fee. Do not jump into bed with the first site you see. Shop around because there are some sites that do not require any fee to download the software to play.

Most sites invite you to experience the most realistic, computer casino in the world. The games are lightening fast and provide endless fun. They pay out more than it’s required in Las Vegas or Atlantic City. You can either play for fun or play for real money. Some casinos have 125 games to play, with both European and American standards. Also there are minimum and maximum bets with different game values. To top it off, most have 3D photo realistic game play and some have a very extensive game lists to choose from.

As you will learn as you start wondering around the gaming world, if you have any problems concerning a particular casino’s games, do not hesitate to write to them. Your satisfaction is their top priority. They will do their best to respond to your questions in the shortest possible time. Here is a list of game categories that I found on the Web. There are endless possibilities.

TABLE GAMES: Casinos feature all your favorite table games. They have six different varieties of blackjack, various poker games and even progressive Caribbean. Many sites have a preview picture to click on so you can see if this would be a game you would like to try.

SLOTS: The higher end casinos feature the highest quality gaming software in the world. Enjoy virtual casino action at home or in the office with great Blackjack, Slots, Video Poker, Roulette and more. You can shop around to find which site is the ultimate site for slot lovers. Some sites are more geared towards slots than some other casinos. Many sites have up to 25 different varieties of slots and 6 denominations. That can be 150 ways to plays slots. Some also have mini slots that you can run in the corner of your screen while you’re at work(wouldn’t that help you get through the day).

VIDEO POKER: There are a select few sites that have a wide selection of video poker games. Unlike other casinos these select have Multi Hand video poker as well. Play video poker with several hands at the same time.

SPECIALTY GAMES: A few casinos have both American and European Roulette. The ″better″ sites have crap tables that use real physics simulation and not a random number generator. Watch the dice roll. Some of these sites also have European Slot Poker- some call that Fruit Poker. No matter what you call it’s a must try.

PROGRESSIVES: You will find that most on line casinos will features all your favorite progressive games. This seems to be more common.

I will now only settle for a high quality gaming environment and the most secure payment system on the net. I also have been told that if you stick with one site, you will notice that the company will try to introduce exciting new games every month.

I learned alot during my first experience. I do know now that I will not settle for less. I will demand the best in on line gaming. I know now that there are sites out there that will give you the experience of a lifetime without having to leave the house. I had so much fun, I think I am hooked.

Easy To Remember Blackjack System

April 28th, 2009

One of the easiest ways to play blackjack and be a consistent winner is to play like the dealer plays.

You may find more people will complain at the tables if you do so, but why would you care? You will win, more consistently, over a period of time if you always play like the dealer. Try it at home, online, or live in the brick and mortar casinos on a "slow day," but make sure you try it because it works.

It is the simplest way to play with nothing to count, absolutely no tens or fives or anything else to remember. If you stop and think about it, here is why this "system" will be the only method you will ever need:

How many times does a dealer show a two and make a strong hand? How many times does a dealer show a three, flip a 10, and make a strong hand? How many times have you split 8-8 against a dealer's face and had two losing hands instead of one? How many times have you split AA against a dealer's face and hand two losing hands instead of one?

It really is amazing how the dealer can pull a hand out with starting hands of 12,13,14,15, even 16. It happens because it is supposed to happen, due to the number of low cards in the deck and other factors.

Try this system out and see if you play any better than you have in the past. Remember, if you try this system or any other, do it consistently and with this one it means you play like the dealer each and every time. Just hit till you get 17 and stand.

Slot Machine Games — Background and History

April 25th, 2009

Slot machine games have their modern roots reaching back to the late 19th century with poker machines and the 3-reel Liberty Bell slot machine. Both were the predecessor of video poker games and slot games as we enjoy them today. Even the plums, oranges, bells and bars on slot machine games we see in casinos all over the world can be traced back to that time period. And they began with the effort to sell chewing gum to the public.

Herbert Mills, owner of Mills Novelty, introduced the Liberty Bell Gum Fruit machine that was a gaming device with a gum dispenser attached to it in 1910. Mills had been making gum vending machines since 1898 so the Liberty Bell Gum Fruit machine was a natural transformation for him. The gum flavors that were lemon, orange, plum and spearmint were used as symbols on the reels. The bell, which was the symbol of the highest payout possible on the original Liberty Bell device created by Charles Fey, stayed with this version. The bar symbol was actually a picture of a stick of gum that came out of the packets of gum dispensed by the machine. In that same year, Mills came out with the Operators Bell device, which substituted a cherry cluster for the spearmint symbol. Even though the reel strips for the devices had a copyright by Mills, competitors ″borrowed″ the format. Other manufacturers such as Caille and Watling not only used this format, but added apples, pears, pineapples and strawberries to their versions. Eventually the English branded them as ″fruit machines″. Mills added the watermelon symbol to the reels in 1937.

Reel symbols catch the eye of the player, but why do people play slot machine games at casinos? People enjoy gambling for a number of reasons. For one, many like the fun of gaming regardless of whether they win or lose. Most enjoy this during vacations or on business trips. And winning while playing can’t be discounted because people hope for some monetary gain in the short run at the casino. Plus the excitement of the casino adds to the reasons why people gamble. Sights, sounds, the presence of millions of dollars combined with lavish mega-resorts with exotic themes are in themselves a stimulating environment. Also, relaxation is a good reason as visiting a casino hotel can offer relief from the everyday stresses of life. Guests receive lots of pampering and get away from their daily routines during their stay.

Understanding the needs and motivations of players has stimulated slot machine game manufacturers to keep coming out with new and fresh ideas. Over the years, as technology evolved, so did their results. During the mechanical age (1890’s to 1920’s), the types of games available were variations in regular slot and draw poker machines. Very little did change over the next few decades for slot machine games.

In the 1970’s, Fortune Coin led the change in the landscape of gaming by introducing the first full-color multi-line video slot machines and the first full-color video poker machines to the gaming industry. Solid-state circuitry began to replace the mechanisms of slots and allowed new games to be played. International Game Technology (IGT) soon after purchased Fortune Coin. The level of benefit and success of that acquisition is seen today as thousands of ″Draw Poker″ video machines were placed in casinos and bars throughout Las Vegas and other cities, capitalizing on the popularity of poker machine games that began in the early 1890’s.

The 1980’s saw a move from solid-state circuits to microprocessors, which allowed new directions for games. One was the giant jackpot carousels like the Hilton Hotel’s ″Pot-O-Gold″ which linked machines together and created the opportunity to win million dollar jackpots. In 1986, IGT introduced a statewide ″Megabucks″ progressive slot system in Nevada which combined microprocessor-powered gaming machines with modern communications in order to link gaming machines across the state. This allowed players the chance to win multi-million dollar jackpots. With the 1990’s, the multi-game machine came into being giving the player a choice of playing spinning slot reel games, a number of poker games, keno, and video blackjack on one single machine. Other advancements during this time period include:

  • Multi-hand video poker games like IGT’s ″Triple Play Draw Poker″ which gave the player the chance to play multiple hands of poker in a single play
  • Interactive bonus games which have become standard on video slot games
  • Multi-denominational game play allowing a choice in the amounts wagered per game

Today, gaming manufacturers are continuing to find new ways to heighten the player experience. At the time of this writing, Bally’s has created the ″Hot Shot Progressive″ which takes 5 of their most popular slot games and places mini-versions of them on the machine. When the player gets the bonus round, they can play these mini-versions to have a chance to win up to five progressive jackpots on the same game. WMS Gaming has come up with a ″Powerball″ themed slot game in which a player can win up to 9 jackpots with one spin. And in the Blue Lagoon version of their ″Hot Hot Penny″ slot game, the player can play a free spin bonus that awards free spins at 3x pay, which can be infinitely re-triggered. Plus in the Hot Hot Penny mode, the bonus frequency increases by over 2x by re-spinning all non-bonus symbol reels along with receiving additional free spins in the form of bonus picks from 3 to 36 additional spins. These are examples of how slot machine games and their creators will continue an exciting legacy of innovation and creativity, giving players new reasons to come back for more.

Finding the Best Online Casinos

April 21st, 2009

So you’ve decided you want to get in on all this online casino action you’ve been hearing about. You head over to Google, looking to find a casino to start off with. Whoa! About a gazillion results - where do you begin?

For the newcomer to online casinos, knowing where to start is incredibly important to make sure your online casino experience is everything you hoped for. Choose the wrong site and you might be put off this incredibly exciting pastime forever. Choose right, and you’ll soon see just why its so popular.

To help you make your choice, we’ve put together a top 10 list of some of the best online casinos around.

Top 10 online Casinos

1. Fortune Room Casino

How to play: Fortune Room allows players to choose to play via the download version or via a Flash version that requires no downloads.

Payment method: A variety of payment methods are available, like Visa, MasterCard and Diners Club. There are also a number of alternative payment options on offer.

Peace of mind: All activity is reviewed by a leading independent auditing company. You can also reach their support team 24 hours per day, 7 days a week via e-mail, telephone or live chat.

Games available: Fortune Room offers more than 160 different games, including traditional table games like blackjack, keno and craps. Also available are a many exciting slots, video poker and some great Progressive Jackpots.

Bonus or special offers: This online casino currently offers a welcome bonus for new players.

2. 7 Sultans Casino

This is on of the oldest online casinos around

How to play: Play the no download Flash version, get the download or order your free software CD.

Payment method: Various payment methods are available such as VISA, MasterCard, Neteller, FirePay, Click2Pay, UKash, InstaDebit, UseMyBank, eCheck and PaySpark.

Peace of mind: One of the oldest online casinos around, 7 Sultans Casino is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and has all-hours customer support via toll-free telephone or email.

Games available: More than 200 games are offered, including Progressive Jackpots, Slots, Video Slots, various Table Games and Video Poker.

Bonus or special offers: The 7 Sultans casino offers a welcome bonus for new players.

3. Platinum Play Casino

This sleek, modern online casino is often touted as great one for newcomers, but even the seasoned online gambler will find something to entertain. The site’s simple, elegant lines make it feel nice and uncluttered.

How to play: Platinum play provides a no download ″Casino Lite″, which allows gamers to play without downloading the full casino. For the full casino experience, either download the software or order the free CD.

Payment method: A secure banking interface is provided and all major credit cards are supported.

Peace of mind: Platinum Play is fully licensed and independently reviewed.

Games available: Over 155 games are offered with some great progressive jackpots.

Bonus or special offers: Get a sign-up bonus if you’re a new player.

4. Royal Vegas Casino

Payment method:

Choose to deposit into your account via Neteller, Click2Pay, FirePay, UKash, eCheck, Pay Spark, InstaDebit, UseMyBank, or just use any of the major Credit Cards. Currencies accepted include USD, GBP and EUR.

Peace of mind: This fully licensed casino has an overall payout rate of nearly 97%. Payout reporting is done by independent auditors.

Games available: Over 100 games are available and include progressive jackpots.

Bonus or special offers: Royal Vegas Casino offers a deposit bonus. Make your initial deposit using Neteller, Click2Pay or FirePay and receive additional bonuses.

5. Vegas Palms Casino

How to play:

Play the Flash version without download or download the full software pack.

Peace of mind:

All transactions are protected by SSL digital encryption and payouts are audited by a leading independent auditing company. Vegas Palms carries the eCOGRA’s Players Seal of Approval.

Games available: 192 games on offer of which 124 are slots games.

Bonus or special offers: A healthy deposit bonus is on offer.

6. Desert Dollar Casino

How to play: Get a free casino CD, download it, or play via the no-download flash version.

Payment method: All major credit cards are supported as well as a number of alternate deposit methods.

Player service: Desert Dollar Casino uses the Fortune Lounge customer service infrastructure, considered the best in the industry.

Games available: More than 125 games are offered and an expert mode is available with autoplay and best-strategy features.

Bonus or special offers: A great sign-up bonus is available. This includes options for both no deposit sign up and a deposit bonus.

7. Vegas Towers Casino At Vegas Towers, you get more chances at winning big prizes, and, being in the Fortune Lounge Group, you can earn loyalty status with the group.

How to play: Play the web-based flash version or install the software.

Peace of mind: This online casino is fully licensed and has a secure banking interface.

Games available: Vegas Towers has a good selection of games, including fifteen blackjack games, a large selection of video and power pokers, and over 80 of the best slots online.

Bonus or special offers: Get a deposit bonus on your first purchase.

8. InterCasino One of the very first virtual casinos to start-up in the late 90s, InterCasino is pretty well-known in the industry.

How to play: InterCasino is powered by Cryptologic software. For an optimum player experience, the download version is highly recommended. If you’re looking for a quick gambling fix, a no-download version is also available but this version contains only a fraction of the games available.

Peace of mind: The customer support is available through both email and telephone and, toll free numbers are available for countries around the world. InterCasino clients use the Electronic Cash (″ECash″) system to process online financial transactions. ECash is one of the most reliable and trusted e-commerce applications around.

Bonus or special offers: Get a deposit bonus

9. All Jackpots Casino This online casino is a great choice for novice and less experienced players. With large bonuses for small deposits, your bankroll will go further, especially if you’re on a small budget. Their excellent customer service is also great when you need help figuring things out.

Peace of mind: All Jackpots Casino provides safe, secure and reliable banking transactions and offers a wide variety of safe, online depositing methods.

Games available: The download version gives gamers a choice from 187 games while the flash version has 87 games. This online casino is host to the 8 largest jackpots on the net.

Bonus or special offers: The All Jackpots Casino offers a sign-up bonus.

10. Villento Las Vegas

Villento Las Vegas has a very sophisticated feel and will appeal to most casino enthusiasts.

Games available: Villento offers over 240 games, with a great selection of table, slots and video poker games.

Bonus or special offers: Villento offer a sign-up bonus as well as reload bonuses, weekly giveaways and regular cash draws.

Winning Gambling Strategy

April 19th, 2009

A Winning gambling strategy is based on statistical analysis of the occurrences of each event in the game and an analysis of the odds the casino applies to that event. Casino operators use the occurrence of these events to calculate the odds for the various occurrences within the game. You must identify those events which are good bets for you and those which are good bets for the casino and avoid those that are overly favorable to the casino. Understanding these odds allows us to formulate a winning gambling strategy for each game that we choose to play.

Every experienced gambler should know that each time the cards are dealt, the wheel is spun or the dice are rolled, we will loose more times than what we will win. This is a statistical fact of gambling. By only placing bets that are favorable to the player or bets in which the house has only a very small advantage, we can increase our chances of becoming a winner.

Using a simple basic strategy, a good blackjack player can change the game odds from slightly favoring the casino to slightly favoring the player. On average, out of every 100 hands dealt, you will loose 45 and should win 55. This does not mean that if you record the results of a hundred hands, you can expect to achieve that result. If you take a sample of a million hands, played by a good player, the results should be very close to the results stated.

Over a short period, you can have a dream run and win 60 odd percent of your hands. You could just as easily have a disastrous run and loose 70% of your hands. This is why a sound money management strategy should be an integral part of your winning gambling strategy.

You can find many free gambling strategies on the web for almost all gambling games. Many of these are sound and feature material that will take you from being a novice to a respected player in a short time frame. Take off your rose colored glasses when you read these gambling strategies because some are sound and are really good advice and some are well… very esoteric. Technical playing skills alone will not make you a successful gambler in the long run. Aspects of psychology, your nerve, personal courage and determination are also required and will be discussed in another article.

I have used my favorite game to highlight the importance of a sound gambling Strategy. I could have used the game of craps which has many bets that are highly favorable to the house and the free odds bet where the house has no mathematical advantage.

All online casinos offer cash bonuses to attract new players. These cash bonuses can dramatically increase your chances of winning and should be seriously considered when formulating your gambling strategy. Likewise many casinos offer loyalty programs and reward players on the basis of the amount of money wagered each month. Try keeping a record of your wagers during a gaming session. Whilst you may have only started out with say $100, you win a bit, you loose a bit during the course of the session but your total wagers may amount to several thousand dollars and this is the number used to calculate your loyalty bonus. Regular players should take advantage of these programs.

Once you reach the stage of being a respectable player at your chosen games, you will then be in a position to evaluate the myriad of advanced gambling strategies for sale on the net for most gambling games. Some are cutting edge and some are recycled variations of old failed strategies.

Adherence to a sound gambling strategy can substantially reduce your reliance on Lady Luck.

Online Casinos - Great Blackjack Tips

April 19th, 2009

Do you love to play blackjack? I know I do! Its one of the most entertaining cards games I’ve ever played, and its pretty easy to understand. How good are you at blackjack? I’d like to offer you three simple ways to increase your chances of winning at blackjack. Maybe you already know about these tips? Lets find out.

Tip One - Always Double Down On 11

Generally speaking, you should always double down if you have 11. The chances of scoring 20 or higher are very high.

Tip Two - Splitting 8’s Is Generally A Good Idea

Why is splitting 8’s generally a good idea? Because holding a 16 hand is not very good. If you split your 8’s, you now have a realistic chance of scoring 18 or higher. Even if you don’t win both hands, you should at least win one of the hands, meaning you won’t win or lose any money.

Tip Three - Double Down If You Think The Dealer Will Go Bust

If the dealer is showing a 5 or 6 hand, while you hold a 7 to 11 hand, then I recommend doubling down. Be warned though that this tip is not for the feint hearted. If you cannot afford to lose, or don’t have much money left, then I wouldn’t recommend using this tip. It does work a lot of the time though, as demonstrated by my friends at the casino.

There you have it my friends, three solid tips that should hopefully help you next time you play blackjack. Winning consistently at blackjack is not an accident. Its a skill that can be acquired by anyone at any time.

Learning How to Deal: the Life of a Casino Worker

April 6th, 2009

Have you become tired of the daily grind? Fed up with low wages and dead-end jobs? Are you ready to change your fortunes with a new career amid the lights and glitter? Then working for a traditional casino, Native American casino or one of the online casinos may be just the thing for you!

Imagine yourself as a high stakes casino blackjack or poker dealer, flipping cards to the rich and famous. Or perhaps you prefer to work behind the scenes as a casino pit clerk, cage cashier, slot technician, or casino surveillance officer. Those are only a few of the hundreds of entry-level casino and gaming related jobs available to you. With new casinos opening every year both in the United States and abroad, the opportunities are nearly endless.

Being a Casino game dealer can be fun, challenging, and lucrative. Many dealers find roulette to be one of the more interesting games to deal. Although it is a bit repetitive like blackjack, there are different things roulette dealers do. In blackjack it’s constantly dealing and counting the cards, and paying or taking money. In roulette dealers pick up chips, spin the ball, and move chips around on the layout. But the tips are a little bit less at roulette. Bettors tend to wager less money on roulette than on blackjack, and they tend to tip in proportion to what they are playing.

What is the most challenging part about roulette for dealers? Definitely the totaling of bets because there are so many combinations to figure out. Sometimes the math can get a bit hard. But you get used to it after a while. You’ll be able to look at the layout and know how much to pay without even thinking about it. And you have to be very diligent about watching the entire roulette table, especially when it becomes crowded. Manual dexterity also comes into play as a roulette dealer. When you are working out of a tray on the blackjack table, you just take the chips out to pay the players or pick up bets. But in roulette you have stacks and stacks of chips to slide across the table to the players. That’s why dealers receive a lot of breaks. Not only is there constant repetitive motion in roulette, but it also requires constant mental concentration in order to keep it all together.

After several years of dealing, one can expect to climb their way up the ladder. In a casino, the usual hierarchy goes dealer, floor supervisor, pit administrative boss or supervisor, assistant shift manager, shift manager, and finally, casino manager. As an assistant shift manager, you usually help shift manager with whatever tasks needed that day. On the regular shift manager’s days off the assistant operates as the shift manager. As such, they are basically in charge of the entire casino during that particular shift. The gaming industry is definitely a service industry now and their main desire is for people to have fun. They make sure that the customers are having a good time. But their main responsibility is still to watch the money and to ensure that everything is on the up and up.

Management can be a stressful job. Some days you come in and nothing goes wrong. However, there are some days that the phone starts ringing and suddenly there are a million things to do. This person checks in, that person wants more credit, this one has won a lot, and that person is mad because he has lost too much. So anything can come up.

Managers are generally on the casino in order to be visible and make themselves readily available if someone needs them. And it does become bewildering at times to see people blow an enormous amount of money. So you can get jaded after a while. But it’s important to remember it’s not you who is taking the money, it’s the game. You can’t take it personally. You learn to realize you have no control. All the odds are built in.

The industry has changed a lot. The dealers did not have a lot of say in the old days. You made good money so you weren’t going to talk back. It is more of a guest-service industry now. For the dealer it’s no longer, ″Hey, you [the customer] want to gamble, I don’t have to be nice,″ and for the player it’s no longer, ″I have all this money so I can call you [the dealer] whatever I want.″ The whole industry has become a more pleasant place in which to work. You meet many wonderful people, fellow employees as well as customers. Dealers also enjoy the games, and of course, the money they earn.

More casinos are going corporate whereas they used to be privately owned. Corporations offer better benefits and more vacation time. The industry just keeps growing. Workers also noticed that it didn’t used to be hard to move from city to city but now it seems much more difficult after the industry opened up all over the country. Many would probably not be able to go into a Strip casino in Las Vegas and still be an assistant shift supervisor without losing their position. It still is pretty simple moving from property to property within the same area, though.

The most challenging part of the casino experience has to be learning to deal with all the personalities of the other employees. There aren’t many women in this field, so workplace dynamics can be difficult for them to fit into. Most of the craps dealers are men, the roulette dealers are women, and blackjack gets a mixture of both. Management is still mostly men, but figures are always changing. Anyone interested in this industry should just go for it. The stress level of working in a casino is there but some days are better than others, as with any job. It’s also a great career if you have children or if you are going to school because you can work almost any hours to fit into your schedule.

Many experienced dealers suggest that new dealers start out with blackjack since it is one of the more basic and easier of the games to deal. You can get the fundamentals down with blackjack, then when you move to more complicated games you will already understand security procedures, such as how to make sure no one is cheating the house and how to show your employers that you are not cheating them. You’ll be able to focus more on the dealing itself. No dealer is expected to learn all the games, but they are somewhat more valuable when they can.

Equatorial Guinea Casinos

April 5th, 2009

The list of Equatorial Guinea casinos with gaming tables for blackjack, roulette and so on is really rather short. There are none. However, there are a number of Equatorial Guinea casinos, if we want to use that term for them, which have gaming machines. There are some five of them in the country.

This shouldn’t really be all this surprising in one sense, this lack of Equatorial Guinea casinos. It’s a very small country (10,000 square miles only) with a very small population, about half a million people only. This is smaller than many counties in either the UK or the US and it is very much the smallest country on the African continent.

Another reason it shouldn’t be surprising is that the place is absolutely dirt poor, destitute in fact. Until just a few years ago the only export of any significance was cocoa and while at independence the place was rich off the back of that trade the intervening years of coups, military rulers and the general looting of the economy have taken it from one of the richest places in Africa to one of the poorest. There may be, as many have pointed out, a lot of ruin in a nation but Equatorial Guinea has shown that there isn’t an unlimited supply.

However, one event in 1996 meant that we would have expected the list of Equatorial Guinea’s casinos to lengthen: the first crude oil started to be pumped and the country is now the third largest exporter in Africa. Where there is such volumes of oil there is of course a great deal of money and you might expect some of that to be splashing around in casinos and such places. But here though, almost none of that oil wealth has made it to the people, not even to the Government itself most of the time: the dictator, Obiang, essentially treats the oil revenues and the national Treasury as his personal check book. This means that while the country is rich by the statistics, about as rich as Portugal or Spain, none of this wealth is in the pocketbooks of the people or even the public services: raw sewage runs down the main streets of the capital.

It may in fact be true that a lot of the county’s wealth does indeed pass through casinos but that is much more likely to be done in Monaco or other foreign places where the elite go to spend the money from the oil.

How to Search for a Great Online Casino

April 2nd, 2009

If the idea of gambling online sounds fun, but you have no idea where to begin, a basic Internet search can help you get started. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but these tips can help make the process a little easier–and ensure you find a great online casino that meets your needs.

First, you may want to consider a broad Internet search with terms like ″online casino″ or ″online gambling.″ In any major search engine this will probably give you thousands of responses, so weed through them carefully. This is just a starting point, and you’ll need to research the websites more thoroughly before choosing one. Just be cautious of any website that claims to offer a list of the ″top online casinos.″ In most cases, those ″top″ casinos are simply nothing more than paid advertisers.

Are you looking for a specific game? Not every online casino offers every type of game, although most offer a wide selection. The basics like Blackjack, Craps, Roulette and Slot Machines are usually always available. But if you’re looking for something a little outside of the usual box–like BINGO or Mah Jong–you may have to do an Internet search for that specific game.

Another way to find a great online casino is to ask around among friends and family! Perhaps someone you know already gambles online. If that’s the case, they may have a website recommendation that can get you started. A personal recommendation is one of the best ways to find a great online casino.

You may also want to browse some of the online gambling forums, chat rooms or message boards. Many experienced online gamblers frequent these groups, and they may be able to suggest great online casino websites. They’ll probably also be able to tell you which online casinos to stay away from. To find a gambling forum, simply do an Internet search for words like ″online gambling forum″ or ″online casino message board.″

Introduction to Blackjack Card Counting

March 25th, 2009

Blackjack card counting is the only way to turn the house's advantage around and in to your favor. When played correctly (using proper basic strategy), a typical casino blackjack game holds less than a 1% advantage for the casino. When you add a good card counting technique to perfect basic strategy, the advantage is no longer with the casino, but with the player.

The reason why card counting works is very simple. The player is more likely to win when there are lots of high cards in the deck and the dealer is more likely to win when there are more low cards in the deck. High cards are good for the player because even if there are very many high cards left in the deck, the dealer still has to hit on hands like 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. When there are lots of high cards left, the dealer will be busting much more often. High cards are also good for the player because they increase the chances of getting a blackjack. So, in the most basic terms, when the player knows there are lots of high cards left in the deck, he should bet more money and less money when there are fewer high cards left.

As explained above, we don't really care to keep track of how many of each individual card values are remaining. We only care about the ratio of low cards to high cards. Generally, this is accomplished by counting low cards as +1 and high cards as -1. Each time a card is dealt you either add 1 or subtract 1 from your running count. When the number is high, you know there are more high cards than low cards so you should be betting more money. When the count is low, you should be betting low.

This was just an introduction to card counting. Please see our other articles for different card counting methods. One of the easiest to learn is the Red 7 Count, so be sure to check it out at our website. Remember, card counting is useless unless it is used with proper basic strategy. So, if you haven't learned it yet, be sure to review our articles on blackjack basic strategy before diving into card counting.