Archive for September, 2008

Maybe it is better to gamble online?

Saturday, September 27th, 2008

When I was much younger than today, so many years ago I can’t remember with a great ease, gambling was so much easier. You either got in your car or on an airplane, and went where people were playing casino games for real money, or you asked around and found out where the floating games were for that night. After that, going to a real casino
I suppose some of the motivation for regulation is the sense that online gaming is not regulated. Go into any real world casino, and you should always be “safe” except from your own gambling habit, of course. There are security cameras everywhere making sure no-one is going to cheat you. Regulators check the slots to make sure they are all working properly. Once you are online, there are no external eyes looking after you. You have to protect yourself. Except you do not know who the company is behind the online casino.

But because the overheads for running an online casino are significantly less than the real world equivalents (paying salaries to all those countless people is not required), the online payout schedules are more generous. Online operators can afford to return more of the stake money to the players and still make a good profit.

So why should anyone want to play online? All you have are a few animated versions of the casino games that lack any sense of physical involvement. Worse, some of the games just are not the same. For example, thanks to the random number generator, counting the cards in online blackjack is a waste of time.
And finally, you can get free money. In the real world, you can get drinks, food and, sometimes, accommodation comped.

So does that mean online gambling is a “good thing”? The only thing wrong with it is that it is easy to play. Nothing similar. Your computer won’t help you in any kind of game. But, so long as you have your gambling under control, you say when, where and how long you play. What can be better than that?

How Atlantic City became top gambling destination

Friday, September 19th, 2008

Atlantic City, the first legal East Coast casino in the twentieth century was opened at its beginning. Their four- and six-deck online blackjack games offered a new form of surrender, dubbed by card counters as “easy surrender,” since the casino allowed players to surrender half a bet even when the dealer showed an ace or 10 up, and before the dealer checked for a blackjack. And, ironically, Resorts International was soon the most profitable casino in history, winning an average of $650,000 per day.

A team of professional blackjack players whose founders were from Czechoslovakia that had been playing in Las Vegas flew all of their members to Atlantic City to take advantage of this new surrender rule. This team, which later became known in the casino industry as simply the Czech Team, found the Resorts’ game to their liking and stayed for months. From opening day, card counters had a field day at Resorts’ tables. Ironically, as word spread through the gambling community that card counters found the Resorts’ blackjack game to be the most lucrative game for players in the country, gamblers from all over the world - most of whom knew nothing about basic strategy or card counting - flocked to their tables.

In fact, it was a combination of that easy-to-beat early surrender game and Ken Uston’s The Big Player that had just been published in 1977 that worked together to create an environment where new teams of smart young kids could make millions playing blackjack.

It was also in 1978 that the first MIT blackjack team was started. This team actually consisted of students from MIT, Harvard, and other East Coast colleges. Johnny C.j now a legendary player who joined the team in 1981, plays high-stakes blackjack to this day and continues organizing teams of professional players. The Czechs, the Hyland teams, and the MIT teams would be the scourge of the casino industry for decades to come. Many believe these teams owe their existence to the Resorts’ game with its early surrender rule that made the game so easy to beat. College kids found that they could pool their money, play blackjack with a modicum of intelligence, and get rich quick.

Robbers smash-and-grab their way to two jackpots

Friday, September 19th, 2008

Over in the state of Louisiana, there’s a small and unremarkable town called Ventress. It sits in Pointe Coupee Parish. Pass down Main Street to False River Drive and you’ve missed it. Except there’s been a dareful crime. Nothing was too heavy. No gore. Nothing, exceeded humanity. Just two jolly fellows who stole two poker machines.
There’s never been a crimes of this level in this small town but there were surveillance cameras saw every little thing. The bad guys pulled up outside the Waterloo Exxon and Daiquiris Shop in their Chevy truck. For those of you who don’t know Ventress, that’s right next to the levee on the corner. Now these two climb out wearing masks - shows foresight and planning. The smaller had some physical defect in his legs. The big guy smashes through the glass frontage like it was a movie set fake. They pick up the two machines. Now that’s impressive. Each video poker machine comes in at a slimline 300 pounds but these two heroes exit their truck and drive away with the two machines in the back in 33 seconds. We’d like to be able to say these robbers peeled the machines open with their bare hands, but they used sledgehammers. Some cheating there, but they made a few thousand dollars for their efforts. So if you meet a small guy with biceps to die for and a limp in a bar down in Louisiana.

Lawyers fail to recognize a vessel

Thursday, September 11th, 2008

In the days before the local horseman of the apocalypse named Hurricane Katrina came along the coast, there was a riverboat casino called Bally’s tied up the the dock at the South Shore Harbor marina on Lake Pontchartrain in eastern New Orleans. But once you get lawyers involved, claims rocket upwards. By the time they’d finished, the claim for rent was $20.6m, there were “fees” of $1.6m, and a repair bill of $1.5m - the riverboat knocked into the marina dock and did some damage. The combination of storm surge and wind knocked the old girl around and sent her off to dry dock for repairs. Now here’s the funny thing. While repair were under way, the Orleans Levee District sent in the bailiffs to seize her for non-payment of rent. So the owners sold the riverboat (always sell your assets when sued). It’s renamed the Amanda Belle and up at Bayou Boeuf in St. Mary Parish. But on July U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the case. The judges offered the insight that a riverboat is a “vessel” (it floats and has a paddle to make it move) but the lease was for buildings. Without a maritime lease, there was no cause of action. Attention all lawyers. If you see anything that floats - it is a ship!

There’s No Cheating in Casino Online Slots!

Saturday, September 6th, 2008

I’m absolutely sure that there is no cheating in online casinos. The only way to win is to play. And the only way to win big is to play like a pro. How does one become a pro? It takes time to become a professional anything, so don’t think for a moment that you can just pick up a game of black jack with friends and suddenly have an innate gift of counting cards and reading expressions. There are no sure fire ways to bet “right” and completely demolish the competition. There are ways to become a better player than the one you once were when you started. Online casinos are all waiting for you! Or can you make a reckon and win? The theories are all over the place on what makes a genius a genius. However, the ability to increase your playing ability all depends on how often you visit the craps online, slots online , and poker online games you find on the internet. Looking for a free handout? Forget it. The games are competitive and fun so you have to find your way into the world and just go for it! Understand, though, that you are starting the way all new players start. Slow and steady and with enough patience you will be able to play like the pros do, winning money and mastering the games you love the most.

Don’t Be a Nobody; Be Somebody with Slots Online

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Don’t join to people thinking that slots is the game where your skills are the main factor. Slots are a game that offers the ultimate in the “trying your luck” experience. You could literally be anyone, walking around, with nothing to do. You could also have nothing in your pocket but some spare change. Chances are you could find yourself spending that change in a slot machine, trying your luck. If lady luck shines on you in that moment, at that slot machine, you may find that you win a generous amount of money. Playing slots, you are giving all your control to lady luck. And if you are lucky, you can have a life-changing experience. The same simply cannot be said about other casino games. You should have a sense of the game and some skill about the ways the games are played. The options for slots have grown and are now endless. You can play free slots and try your hand at luck from the comfort of your own home. Don’t mistake luck for dumb-luck, though. You should know that you can play the best slots around at the right places. Slots online is one of the places where you can find the games best suited for your skill level and your lucky day!