Bluffing

November 30, 2006 at 5:51 am · Filed under Online Poker

In poker it’s not only what’s in your hand that counts, but also what people think is in your hand. If you bet as though you have better cards than you actually do this is called bluffing, yet the true skill is knowing when to bluff. A player who never bluffs cannot expect to win as much money as someone who bluffs with the proper frequency, most average players tend to bluff too much, particularly in limit games. When bluffing at the proper frequency not only do you gain by forcing opponents to fold winning hands but also you create an element of disguise with your legitimate hands.

Optimum Bluffing Frequency

David Sklansky (p.166 Poker Theory, 1999) describes the optimum bluffing frequency; when it makes it impossible for your opponents to know whether to call or fold. Mathematically, optimal bluffing strategy is to bluff in such a way that the chances against your bluffing are identical to the pot odds your opponent getting. Thus, if your opponent is getting 6-1 from the pot, the chances against your bluffing should be 6-1. Then that opponent would break even on the last bet by calling every time and also by folding every time. The mathematically optimal bluffing strategy isn’t necessarily the best strategy; it is much better if you are able to judge when to try a bluff and when not to in order to show a bigger overall profit.

As you will find there are good times to bluff and bad times but here are a few simple rules that should help you along your way:

Don’t
- Bluff bad/loose players. Bad players don’t necessarily know when they are beaten. So even though you may present yourself as having the stronger hand, they simply may not notice or may not care. - Don’t expect bluffs to work in low limit Hold’em. If the cost to see your cards is not significant, why should your bet (or raise) keep anyone from paying to see them?
- Try to bluff many players. You may fool some of them, but if you don’t fool everyone you are in trouble.

Do:
- Bluff when the board says “someone” might have made a good hand. An example is when the third of a suit hits the board. “Someone” might have a flush. If you bet as if you have the flush, the other players may believe you do. - Bluff against good or tight players. If you are in a pot with a player that looks for a reason to fold, give them one. Try betting big and making them think you have something they cannot beat.

Bluffing is something that is done between players, so the more you know your opponent’s habits the better. If a player is a ‘calling station’ and always calls bet so they can get to the next card or see the showdown, don’t bother trying to bluff them.

If players have caught you bluffing recently, they will remember it. If you try to bluff again too soon do not be surprised if someone calls you, just to ‘keep you honest’. Of course this can be used to your advantage. If you find yourself with good cards right after being caught bluffing, you are more likely to have players call your bets, rewarding you with a bigger pot.

Some circumstances have risen as ‘typical’ bluffing situations. They can be used to your advantage, but veteran players may recognize the play and use it against you. Typical bluffs include:

- Sitting in late position pre-flop. Everyone folds before you. You then bet big, knowing that there are only two players competing against you and that they didn’t bet because they liked their hand. They bet because they had to. The players may interpret your big bet as a sign of strength and simply fold. You will have “stolen the blinds”.
- Betting big from last position after everyone else has checked. You can interpret their checks as a lack of confidence in their cards. They may interpret your bet as a strong hand and fold.

Bluffing is an art, and it spices up the game of poker. Make bluffing a part of your arsenal, but not your only weapon at the poker table.

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Victor Chandler Offers Online Casino Gambling in Argentina

November 30, 2006 at 5:41 am · Filed under Online Casino News

Gibraltar based online gambling operator, Victor Chandler, who is most widely known for their sports betting operations, could not have been more pleased to hear the news last week they will be the first international bookmaker to be granted a gambling license by the Argentina government, and consequently, doing business with an online gaming hungry populace. In celebration of their sixtieth year doing business, no other news could have been more historical for Victor Chandler.

The Spanish version of Victor Chandler’s sports betting site, is VCapuestas.com.ar, and has already been launched. The site features four distinct portals, each one individually catering to sports betting, online casino games, poker and arcade games. Each one of these portals can be reached at their own individual homepages, which are interlinked between one another. Close attention will be on the online casino portal, considering Argentineans are more known for their love of lotteries, horse racing and football betting.

Victor Chandlers expansion on all fronts of the online gaming sector into Argentina is not only a monumental accomplishment for the esteemed gaming operator (who just recently reported a turnover of $2 billion), it is also very important for the online gambling industry as a whole. Whenever any international operator is able to breach a foreign market, it opens that market up to global regulation. And in the the online world of casino gambling, nothing is needed more than global regulation standards for keeping the industry a trusted and respectable one.

Breaching the Argentina gaming market may be an overstatement, considering Victor Chandler had previous close ties with Argentina gaming partners. After Victor Chandler worked closely with IPLyC - an official licensing authority - to develop a diverse offering of betting services and products for Argentina, the deal was as good as done. Victor Chandler now provides betting services to customers in over 160 countries and in over fourteen different languages.

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Roulette History

November 29, 2006 at 5:31 am · Filed under Online Roulette

roulette is the most popular luck game throughout the world and its luck all that matters in the game and nothing else. There are many tales attached to it about its origin, one being that the game was introduced in China and was later taken to Europe by Dominican monks. Another is that in 17th century Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician invented this game. He, for his experiments used a big wheel and it was through this big wheel that one of his friends got an idea to use a wheel in the gambling.

There are actually two versions of roulette, one with the single zero also known as European roulette and the other with double zero played in America. In Europe, the game was introduced by Louis Blanc and Frenchmen Francois. They added the concept of single zero to help players win more in the game. During this time the game was illegal in France so the game grew popular in Germany. The game started in 17th and 18th centuries in Europe, but the roulette that we play today was introduced in Paris. It was exactly similar to the game that we play today and the only difference was that the single zero was red in color while the double zero was colored black. The players got confused in the colors and it’s because of that the color was changed to green. The European roulette wheel has 37 numbers in all having one zero and rest all numbers from 1 to 36.

It was French, who brought this game to America. The concept of double zero still continues in America and is also called as “American Wheel”. The first American casino was in New Orleans in 19th century. The popularity of the game improved considerably and today has become the most played game in any casino of America. Today, the wheel has 38 numbers including 0, 00 and the rest 1 to 36.

When the game started in New Orleans, it attracted many customers in the casinos. The casino owners used to cheat their customers by paying smaller odds than actually what they were supposed to pay. Over a period of time the customers understood that they were being cheated so they stopped playing in such casinos. Later to attract the customers once again the casinos started the concept of double zero and had a particular amount of odd set for it which remains the same even today. This is why this game is known as “American Wheel” and the single zero is known as “European”.

There are many myths and tales about the game but the present is that it is one of the most popular games of any casino. The game has grown extremely popular and is played in all the modern casinos. The spinning wheel daily attracts a good number of fortune believers. In this game, there are no strategies which can make you win, in fact, it is all sound luck. The online casinos also provide the option to play for real money. The simple game is very profitable, all you need is the luck to favor you.

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Sic Bo Odds

November 28, 2006 at 1:50 pm · Filed under Online Sic Bo

I’m glad you’ve taken the time to learn about Sic Bo Odds from my site. If there’s one thing that is certain about Sic Bo, with all the ways you can roll 3 dice, there are lots of different odds on the bets you can make. Once you’ve started to play a bit of Sic Bo, you’ll get to know which bets you feel more comfortable making, and which ones you want to stay away from. When you have a Sic Bo game downloaded to your computer and can play along as you read, you’ll get to know the Sic Bo odds much faster and get a head start at learning about this ancient dice game from China.

One of the most helpful things about Sic Bo odds is that all you need to know is laid out on the table in front of you. If you think you want to make a certain bet, the odds are listed right above or below the dice combination you’re betting on. You’ll notice that the odds change depending on the chances of the combination being rolled. That makes perfect sense from the casino’s point of view, because they won’t lose as much on the more commonly rolled combinations. When you first try Sic Bo, this can cause one of two things; either you’re attracted to the bets with the higher odds, in which case there’s less chance of winning but the win can be huge; or you’re attracted to the lower odds, which will give you more wins, but lower payouts. Either way, you still have to make a choice and pick the Sic Bo odds that you’re comfortable betting on.

Here is a list of the various bets and some of the most common Sic Bo odds that you’ll find out there:

• First of all, at the bottom of the layout, you’ll see what are called the “Number Bets”. Here’s where you bet that a certain number will appear on any one of the dice. You’re welcome to pick any number you like, and the payout is different, depending on how many times your chosen number appears in the 3 dice combination. If you number appears once, the odds are 1:1, twice: 2:1, and a triple pays 3:1.
• In the middle of the layout are the “Pair Bets”. Sic Bo odds for these bets are usually 5:1 or 6:1, no matter which “Pair” you bet on. This bet can be misleading if you’re not looking at the table, because you’re not actually betting on a true pair of numbers (or two of a kind). Those bets are placed at the top area of the table, and I’ll discuss them a little later. When you chose this bet, you are looking for a specific two-number combination to show up on the next roll. If both of the numbers you picked show up, you win.
• Next up are the “Total Bets”. Here, you are looking for the total sum of all 3 dice. You can bet that any total from 4 to 17 will show up, and the Sic Bo odds for each total are a little different. Below, I made a list of the most common odds for each respective 3 dice total:

This little list with no bullets is sort of simulating a table that’s aligned left. When I had it as a table aligned left, the next list element came up to the right of the table. When I had the table aligned center, it looked dumb cuz it’s so narrow, so there ya go!

• Dice total - Odds
• 4 or 17 - 60 to 1
• 5 or 16 - 30 to 1
• 6 or 15 - 17 to 1
• 7 or 14 - 12 to 1
• 8 or 13 - 8 to 1
• 9, 10, 11, or 12 - 6 to 1
• Now to the top of the table. At the right and left corners you’ll see the words “Big” and “Small”. Here you place a bet on the dice roll total again. This is similar to the Total Bets, but you have more leeway here. “Small” means any total from 4 to 10, and “Big” is any total from 11 to 18. Both bets usually have odds of 1:1. The only thing to remember about this bet is that if a Triple is rolled (all 3 dice with the same value), you lose your bet no matter what the total.
• In the middle at the top, between the Big and Small bets, there are areas for Doubles and Triples. With Doubles, you are betting that a particular double will be rolled. For example, you could bet on Double 4, and you’d be betting that at least two of the three dice to show up with 4’s on them. That’s how to win that bet.
• And last, but definitely not least; the “Triples” bet. There are two types to choose from. You may bet, simply, that any triple will come up, which is shown by the area at the very center of the top portion of the table, and if any triple is rolled, you’ll usually get Sic Bo odds of 30:1 for your bet. On the other hand, if you bet on a specific triple, your odds go way up, to 180:1!

Now that you know something about the bets available at the table, and the Sic Bo odds that go along with each type, I should tell you that there’s nothing to stop you from placing multiple bets on the table at the same time. Just like any other gambling game involving dice, you can place as many bets as you like on each roll of the dice. This is definitely the way to maximize your winnings at Sic Bo, because if you only place one bet at a time, you’ve got a pretty small chance of winning it. With 3 dice on the go, the number of combinations are really high. Of course, if you’re a conservative sort of person, and don’t want too much excitement, maybe you do want to stick to the bets like Small and Big and the Number bets. You won’t win a heck of a lot, but you’ll be pretty consistent in winning a bit at a time.

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How to win at Slots

November 28, 2006 at 8:47 am · Filed under Online Slots

There are only a few slot rules that you must follow in order to increase you chance of winning. The main reason many gamblers lose tons of money at the slots isn’t because they offer horrible odds or that they’re made to turn any person into a loser. It’s because the majority of people play without enough knowledge about them. How they work is only a small part of understanding slot machines; how the casinos introduce the slots to you is the bigger, more important factor.

Learning how to win at slots can be quick and easy if you’ve got the right material in front of you. First of all, you need to know what sets one machine apart from another as well as where to find the better ones. The two topics discussed in this section are slots strategy and loose slots. The strategy section is a step-by-step guide to help you make the right decisions before playing from determining a bankroll to selecting the right machine. The section on loose slots describes the why’s and how’s and helps in understanding how the casino works.

Here are a few tips to aid in your venture to win at slots:

Dollars vs. Quarters
The size of your bet has absolutely no effect on your chance of winning in any casino game with the exception of slot machines (there had to be an exception to the rule). Dollar machines have a higher payback percentage than quarter machine, just like those are more generous than nickel slot machines. The reason for this is very simple. All slot machines cost the same to run, regardless of what their denomination is. Because of their higher betting limit, high-denomination machines are able to pay back more and still cover their cost of being run. Low-denomination slots on the other hand have to keep a little more of what comes in to cover their costs.

Progressive vs. Non-progressive
Deciding this depends on whether you like many small jackpots or are willing to give those up and go for the big one. This is really the only difference. Some progressives offer lower odds than regular machines while other offer better ones. Either one is fine, it just depends on where you choose to play.
Crowded vs. Empty Casino
Depending on how desperate you are to play the slots, playing at a crowded casino isn’t necessarily the greatest idea. In order to play with the best possible odds to help you win at slots, you have to play the best available machine. Finding one in a busy casino is very hard to do and requires a lot of patience on your part. Of course, watching others play can only be to your advantage when trying to spot a loose machine.

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Earn United Affiliate Program

November 27, 2006 at 1:58 pm · Filed under Online Casinos Reviews

Earn United Affiliate Program is our first choice affiliate program to advertise online casinos. You will have the opportunity to earn commissions by referring players to one of their online casino clients or by having other people to do that for you. This is a great business opportunity for anyone who wants to build a business from an existing website’s traffic or someone who is looking for a new business opportunity from the World Wide Web.

Earn United offers you 3 different ways for you to earn money:
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There are no costs involved to join the program, this program is absolutely free!

You will only need to have a website where to advertise their casino clients and dedication to build a business from online casinos have to offer.

When it comes to build a business for advertising online casinos, Earn United Affiliate Program is the affiliate program for you to join.

Sign up for a free account today.

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History of Sic Bo

November 27, 2006 at 1:16 pm · Filed under Online Sic Bo

The history of Sic Bo dates back to the game’s origins in ancient China, the term Sic Bo meaning literally “dice pair”, although to add an element of oriental intrigue into the equation the game is actually played with three dice! Sic Bo is, in essence, a simple dice game; historically it is thought that the game was played with bricks, tumbled between two plates and an overturned bowl, which over time was adapted to the dice and cage shaker variant common in today’s casino versions.

The ancient game of Sic Bo is also as Tai Sai, “Lucky Dice” and as “Hi Lo” in the Philippines. In Macau the game is widely played under the name “Dai Siu”, meaning “Big Small”, referring to the most popular betting option. The game is also similar in concept to an English game called “Grand Hazard.” Throughout the history of Sic Bo the game has been throughout Southeast Asia, Korea, China and increasingly, due in part to the movement of populations from those countries to the west during the nineteenth century, it has gained popularity in the West and is now played in many Western casinos.

The object is to bet on the outcome of a role of the three dice, to include combinations of any two or three of the dice, single numbers, two of a kind or three of a kind. Sic Bo payouts can be very large as the maximum odds are 180:1 for a specific triple (this requires all three of the dice to show the selected triple e.g. 3 x 2). At the lower end of the spectrum payouts of 1:1 are for betting on the value of just one dice. Similarly paying out 1:1 are “Small bets”, a wager that the total of the three dice will be between 4 and 10 (although this does not payout for triple 1, 2 or 3), and “Big Bets”, which require the total of the three dice to be between 11 and 17 (excluding triple 4 and 5).

The game is played on a table that illustrates the 50 permissible bets in pictorial form, with their associated payout. Players place their bets on the appropriate section of the gaming table, much like in roulette. The dice are usually tumbled in a basket by the dealer, who will enter the results on the table, and the winning combinations are then lit up. Finally, the dealer will pay-out the lucky winners and remove the unsuccessful bets.

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Bingo History

November 27, 2006 at 5:37 am · Filed under Online Bingo

When Italy was unified in 1530, the lottery known as Lo Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia was born. This weekly lottery has been held virtually every Saturday since its inception. By 1778 word of this game had spread to France and captured the fancy of the intelligentsia. It was during this period that the popular version of the lottery was born.

Cards were divided into three horizontal rows and nine vertical columns. Each horizontal row contained a total of nine squares — five with numbers and four blank squares — arranged randomly in the row. The vertical columns contained ten numbers each: column one contained the numbers 1 - 10, column two contained 11 - 20, column three contained 21 - 30 and so on until the ninth column, which contained the numbers 81 - 90. Wooden chips with the numbers 1 - 90 were placed in a bag and drawn out one at a time. Each player had a unique lotto card and if the number called was on their card they marked it off. The first person to completely cover a horizontal row was the winner.

In the 1800s the popularity of lottery games spread throughout Europe. Education variations were created to aid children in learning their multiplication tables, spelling and even history.

We could all be yelling “Beano!”
What started as the Italian lottery made its way to America via a carnival pitchman touring Germany. There he came across a lottery game and recognized its potential appeal as a carnival tent game. He made a few revisions to the game play, including allowing players to complete a row vertically, horizontally or diagonally in order to win. And he changed the name to Beano.

He was plying his trade one December evening in 1929 at a carnival near Atlanta, Georgia, when a traveling toy salesman, Edwin S. Lowe, happened along. Early for a sales call, Lowe decided to stop at the carnival. The only tent open was the Beano tent, which was so crowded with people that Lowe wasn’t able to play the game for himself.

Lowe watched as the players eagerly listened for the next number to be called and, if they had the number on their card, covered it with a bean. The excitement and tension in the crowd was palpable. When a player finally had a row covered, they yelled out “Beano!” Lowe watched in astonishment as the pitchman tried several times to close his tent, only to have the players insist he continue. It wasn’t until 3:00 am that the games ended, and even then the pitchman had to chase the players away.

A slip of the tongue, and Bingo was born
Lowe immediately realized the mass market potential for Beano. Upon his return to his home in New York, he created his own Beano game by procuring some beans, cardboard and a rubber number stamp. He invited friends to his apartment to play the game. There he saw the same rapt attention and excitement that he had witnessed at the carnival. One player in particular was growing ever more excited as the beans piled up on her card. When she finally had a complete row, in her rush to yell out the required “Beano,” she became tongue tied and instead stammered, “B-b-bingo!”

“I cannot describe the strange sense of elation which that girl’s cry brought to me,” Lowe said. “All I could think of was that I was going to come out with this game, and it was going to be called Bingo!”

Lowe’s earliest Bingo games came in two varieties: a 12-card set that cost a dollar and a 24-card set that cost two dollars. Although the name “Bingo” could have been trademarked, the game itself, having come out of the public domain, had no chance of being protected. Once the success of Lowe’s game was evident, imitators came out of the woodwork. Lowe’s only request to his competitors was for them to pay him a dollar a year to call their games “Bingo.” Thus the name became generic for the game.

Bingo every Wednesday at 8:00 p.m
It was a priest from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and his financially ailing church that fused the game with churches across the country. A parishioner had come up with the idea of using Bingo as a way to raise money for the church. But with only 24 unique cards to play with, the priest was finding that there were half a dozen winners for every game. The priest contacted Lowe about producing a large number of unique number combinations for the cards. Lowe recognized the fund-raising potential of the game and enlisted the help of a professor of mathematics at Columbia University named Carl Leffler.

Leffler was charged with the task of producing 6,000 new bingo cards. He requested that he be paid on a per card basis. The more cards he created, the more difficult it was to come up with unique combinations. Toward the end he was being paid $100 per card. When the task was finally complete, it is said that the professor went insane!

But the increased number of bingo cards was exactly what was needed to make the game a staple at churches across the country and a sound source of fund-raising.

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German online gambling awareness campaign

November 26, 2006 at 8:08 am · Filed under Online Casino News

The German public and the politicians who serve it are the targets of a public awareness campaign on Internet gambling planned by the Austrian-listed Bwin betting group, according to German media reports this week.

The move is clearly timed to precede legislative discussions that are critical for the German industry. The discussions involve the prime ministers of the 16 German Länder who are scheduled to meet on 13 December 2006 to debate the content of the new Lotterie-Staatsvertrag (which will now apparently also include sports betting and casinos). However, they will not sign this draft “into force”, as initially reported. The parliaments of the Länder have still to pass the relevant legislation next year.

The present draft of the Lotterie-Staatsvertrag could face serious obstacles. There is already an infringement procedure, initiated by the European Commission. The Länder will also have to draw cartel law and Articles 81 et sq. EC Treaty into consideration, following a ruling by the Court of Appeal of Düsseldorf (Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf) which recently upheld an interdiction decision of the German Cartel Office.

Bwin’s campaign will use a range of media and will be prominent at football grounds, where advertising hoardings bearing the slogans “kein Monopol” (no monopoly) and “freies wetten” (freedom to bet) have been appearing. Manfred Bodner, co-chief executive of Bwin, said: “This is a common initiative instigated by all the parties that are being damaged by political maneuvers”. He added that similar campaigns will be launched across Europe via the European Betting Association, the European industry’s trade body.

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Online Casino Players Refuse to Stop Playing

November 26, 2006 at 8:07 am · Filed under Online Gambling law

The recent passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act has many online casino fans in an uproar, and many others simply ignoring the new ban on online casino gaming. Some online casinos fans are even protesting the new law, writing an open letter to Congress in conjunction with the Poker Players Alliance. This group is a non-profit organization, which hopes to push the Congress to overturn this legislation.

Poker players and online casino fans on campus say that although the provisions may make it more difficult to play at online casino sites, loopholes exist that allow them to continue this activity. Will P. Deringer, a student of the Class of ’06 said that he played online casino poker 40 hours a week. He has since stopped. “I was concerned about keeping balances of money in online casino sites that might be subject to regularity restrictions,” he said.

In response to online casino provisions that pose an obstacle to online casino poker patrons, the letter calls on every person affected to protest the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act (SAFE), which was the gateway for the UIGEA. The act, which prohibits financial companies from transferring money to online casino gaming services, fundamentally prevents online gamblers from using their credit cards to pay for the playing cards in their hands. Only time will tell how this letter will fare with the US Congress.

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