Posted on Friday, 19th June 2009 by Anthony

Its amazing how your luck can turn sometimes.  On Wednesday evening, I was on my last few chips and thought oh yeah, here we go… do I go home early or do I buy more chips and try some more?  I was dead beat.. had not had a good evening up until that point, the roulette wheel didn’t favor me and my luck was just not playing the game.  I had a few wins, but mostly, I had steadily lost chips all night long…

And then suddenly, my luck turned and I kept picking the right range of numbers and the right colors… it was just pure luck.  I didn’t always win, but I watched my chip stack grow steadily back up to where it was at the beginning of the evening.  Now I was faced with a dilemma… do I keep playing and ride my new found luck or do I quite and cash in???

My point is that sometimes you just have to hang in there and keep positive, because your luck can turn.  But I did stop playing as soon as I had won all my chips back, it was late and I decided not to push my luck any further… didn’t want to take the chance!!

Posted in General Gambling | Comments (0)

Posted on Thursday, 4th June 2009 by Anthony

Have you ever played the Wii video game, Legend of Zelda?  Its a fun adventure game.  I never realized just how much you can do, until you read Zelda news and learn more about the game.

For instance - did you know that the game creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, used the name of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda to name the princess in his game?  Shigeru grew up in Kyoto and he used his childhood experiences from the surrounding countryside to create his adventure game.

Tags: Video games
Posted in General Gambling | Comments (3)

Posted on Tuesday, 2nd June 2009 by Anthony

It often takes a tragedy or a disaster to make us wake up and realize that life is precious and that we are mortal.  I feel terrible for the families of the passengers on the airliner that has disapeared off the coast of Brazil.  They say millions of people are in the air flying at any one time, every day people climb aboard aircraft, put their trust in the crew and fly vast distances.

Whilst I know that statistically flying is the safest form of travel, when something does go wrong it can go horribly wrong.  Experts say that it would have probably taken a sequence of events to cause this crash.  Safety is paramount in today’s modern airliners, there are very stringent procedures to ensure our safety, but you still have to wonder about taking on the elements and trusting technology.  Perhaps we have also become a bit complacent of fly by wire modern planes that when all is ok, they work perfectly, yet when things go wrong, then pilots cannot control the plane.

Anyway its no use speculating.  I just hope that we learn what happened to this flight, to prevent it happening again.  And, lets not take things for granted!

Posted in General Gambling | Comments (1)

Posted on Monday, 25th May 2009 by Anthony

I took my wife out for a romantic dinner on Saturday night.  Now the last time I tried to rekindle the romance… I chose the wrong dvd, got it all wrong and did anything but spark romance… so I was a bit nervous about the whole evening.

We usually go to one or two of our favorite, tried and tested restaurants.  Thing is that it is getting a little boring, we are starting to know the menus backwards and I know what I want to eat before we have even arrived at the place - where’s the fun in that?… variety is the spice of life they say!

So I decided to surprise her, I got hold of a restaurant guide, had a flip through and on the recomendation of the guide, I made my choice… secretly I was as nervous as anything… very silly really.. am not sure why, perhaps it was because I wanted it to be a really special evening…

Anyway, as nervous as a spotty teenager on a first date, off we go on our dinner date… Ended up having a great time!  So perhaps variety is the spice of life…

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Posted on Monday, 11th May 2009 by Anthony

The house edge, the grind and churn…

What are you on about?  Well the first one is obvious, all gamblers should be aware of how to beat the house edge, what casino games have the most favourable house edge and how can I decrease the edge so that I can increase my winnings.

Most casinos will have an edge of around 5%, so for every $100 you spend in the casino, on average expect to give $5 to the casino to pay for your entertainment.  Business is business… If you think about it, thats not a bad fee to have to pay, for the chance of winning a big jackpot.

But what they dont tell you is that the more you grind it out in the casino and keep betting and rebetting, the more your bankroll will be ground down and eroded by the house edge.  This is known as churn and it was makes the casinos earn huge money.  Before you know it you have spent your whole $100 and not just 5% or $5 out of a $100.

Think about it, you go into the casino, spin the wheel and you win a bit, lose a bit - but you always recycle your winnings back into the next game bacause its the lure of winning the big prize that keeps you going.  And the casino smiles because out of each game and every time you play, they take their edge.

Tags: House edge
Posted in Casino Games, General Gambling, Online Roulette | Comments (2)

Posted on Monday, 27th April 2009 by Anthony

Did you know that gambling has been with us for a very long time?  Although not everyone knows about the history of gambling, online casinos and gambling have had an interesting history.  Gambling history dates back thousands of years.  It started out as a simple game of chance and the most common of all, the roll of a dice.  These simple games then became the foundation of what we commonly know today as gambling.

Gambling was not limited to the Chinese people only, many other populations like the Native Americans also engaged in gambling long before the modern casinos were built.

As a gambler, it is important for you to know some gambling facts and some gambling information about the legality of online gambling.  Did you know that the state of Nevada announced the legality of gambling in 1931, New Jersey in 1976, South Dakota and Iowa in 1989, but there are still many states in the United States which still do not consider gambling as a legal activity.

Ever since gambling started, casino style games have been in the lead and have become the most popular activity online, beating sports gambling 2 to 1.  Most online gamblers communicate in English, while some talk in Russian, French, Italian or German.  Most online gamblers and casino players are 26 to 34 years old.  Many online gamblers also play the lotteries and sports gambling… betting on football, baseball, boxing and other sports.

Posted in General Gambling | Comments (2)

Posted on Friday, 24th April 2009 by Anthony

If you are going to take roulette seriously then you have to know your odds when playing roulette.  If you just take a stab at a few numbers, on a hunch that a number will come up, most times you will lose.

Just do a little homework, its real easy and it will pay off.  Think about it… 38 numbers in total, so the likelihood of one number coming up is 1 in 38.  Now how much is the house offering you if one number comes up?  And is it worth taking the risk on one number?  And, how much is the shortfall between the odds of getting one number and what the house offers i.e. the house edge?

That wasn’t so difficult now, was it?  Simple math.

Or you could just play online casino games for fun - complete online casino guide will show you where and how to play.  If you just want to play roulette for the fun of it and dont mind losing your money.  But if you want your chip stack to last longer or if you want to win at roulette then know your odds and place bets according to the odds that you will earn from the casino.

Tags: Roulette odds
Posted in Online Roulette | Comments (1)

Posted on Thursday, 16th April 2009 by Anthony

I mean can you believe these guys?  The audacity they have… get in a small boat, arm yourselves with a few rocket launchers and head out to sea to take on a huge ship and hold its crew hostage.  Its like reading something out of a previous century - modern pirates!   Blackbeard eat your heart out!

What I don’t really get, is that nearly every single country has a warship patrolling these waters, but still these Somali pirates seem to be able to get away with it.  All the modern warfare and high tech equipment, yet still these guys seem to be able hijack ships.  And why don’t the crew fight back?

I just don’t get it?  Look at these guys in the photo it looks like they are going on a little site-seeing boat trip - as relaxed and laid back as anything.  “Please stop waving that rocket launcher around, you are spoiling the view!!”

Also, why don’t these ships take a different route?  Sure it may cost a bit more in fuel, but when you consider the potential loss, is it worth it?

But I guess I’m happy that I am a land lubber and I dont have to be part of a crew on these ships going past Somalia and Kenya.

Posted in General Gambling | Comments (4)

Posted on Friday, 3rd April 2009 by Anthony

Need something to liven up your blackjack game?  Have you tried multiplayer blackjack?

It brings a new dimension to playing online blackjack, its more like playing in a tournament, so you will have to adapt your conventional blackjack strategy to a multiplayer blackjack strategy.

Instead of just playing against the dealer you now have the other blackjack players to beat.  So it becomes a bit like playing poker and who knows… multiplayer blackjack may become just as popular as poker.  Just like an online poker tournament you have to figure out what the other player’s blackjack strategy is, mix your own game up a bit so that they don’t figure you out and manage your bankroll.

Keep an eye on everyone’s chip stacks to see how they are doing.  And remember, solid consistent play is the way to go - try it, I’m sure it’ll bring a whole new dimension to your online blackjack game.

Tags: Blackjack strategy, Multiplayer blackjack, Online blackjack
Posted in Casino Games | Comments (0)

Posted on Tuesday, 24th March 2009 by Anthony

Whilst we are on the subject of poker - if you’re familiar with the world of online poker, you’ve probably heard about “poker propping” already.  If you’re not, well here goes - “poker propping” is about signing up to a poker prop deal, which is like a rakeback deal with a few differences.

For starters, poker prop deals are much more generous than square rakeback deals.  If a square rakeback deal offers you a maximum of around 50% rake rebate, a poker prop deal will offer you from 80% to 135% . That’s right, you’ll get over 100% rakeback - that means you’ll actually be paid to play poker!

This brings us to the first frequently asked question about poker propping - how can poker rooms afford to pay players to play poker on their poker site?  The answer is that poker rooms which hire poker props, are usually new, recently started operations that desperately need to secure a critical player liquidity.  They need to have player action at all the limits (maybe not on the extremely high ones) in order to attract and retain traffic to their site.

If there’s no action, a poker room cannot possibly expect to retain players who sign up and come looking for a good poker game.  This is why prop rooms have to pay their players.

Another difference between square rakeback deals and prop deals is that in exchange for being paid to play, you’ll have to give up certain rights as a poker prop.  You will not qualify to receive the regular sign-up bonus that the room advertises for instance.  Also, you’ll probably not be allowed to take part in any of the promotions offered by the room either.

But sometimes, special promotions are held, which allow for poker prop participation too.

As a poker prop you’ll be restricted to playing at certain limits.  The room needs action on some tables more than on others, so they’ll direct you to where you’re most needed.  You will not be allowed to wait in queue at a full table, you’ll have to open your own table instead.

You will generally have to sign in with the shift manager whenever you intend to prop.  He may not acknowledge your messages, but he will see them and he will message you personally if he wants you to play at a certain limit or if he sees you’re breaking the rules.

Being a poker prop is definitely not easy, yet it is one way to keep your bankroll going so that you can play more poker and become a winning player.

Tags: Online Poker, Poker propping
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