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I’ll admit it. I like playing Pai Gow, but it can be lonely. Walk through just about any Vegas casino and you’ll do some work to spot the Pai Gow table(s). This “Americanized” version of an ancient Chinese game isn’t as popular as it should be.

Pai Gow is growing among gamblers, but in the real world of limited floor space, it still takes a backseat to Craps, Blackjack, Roulette, and even Three-Card Poker. I think many players stay away, because the name of the game confuses them. Pai Gow just sounds intimidating, but it isn’t.

I’ll submit to you that learning to play Pai Gow is fairly straightforward and simple. If you learn to play, I’ll bet that you’ll be having a lot of fun with the game right out of the gate.

The Pai Gow Table

Pai Gow is played on a table that’s similar to Blackjack. So, if you play Blackjack, this should make it more comfortable for you to start. The game has six seats for six players and the dealer spot, which is at the top of the table just like Blackjack.

Each player’s spot has three game areas, which are vertically one after the other. The first game area is where you put your wagers and this spot is on the top. Next, you have two areas for your cards. You see, once you get your cards, you’ll split them into two hands-this is where the magic happens.

The two card areas in Pai Gow are for your highest hand-bottom game area-and the 2nd highest. These are two hands that you’ll create. This is where strategy plays in and we’ll go over all of this in other Pai Gow articles on this site. Right now, let’s just concentrate on some simple basics and build a good foundation for enjoying this fun game.

Quick Play Information

I’m not going to run down play in detail here, but I will in other articles on this site. Let’s go over the general play flow of Pai Gow.

Pai Gow is played with a regular 52-card deck, like Blackjack can be, but there’s one change. Pai Gow uses one joker card. If you’ve played poker or video poker, you’re already set, because the winning hands work pretty much the same way-we’ll go over this and the couple of differences in another article.

Even though there are other players in the game (possibly), everyone is playing against the dealer-just like in Blackjack. You’re betting that your hands will beat the banker’s hands.

Ah, now here’s where we need to pause. I said the banker’s hand. Unlike Blackjack, players can get the opportunity to be the banker. As a player, you can accept or decline when it’s your turn to be the bank. But, again, I’ll go over this in more detail in another article.

Get Excited

I hope you’re curiosity is up just a little. Pai Gow is an exciting game to play and I’ll be teaching all the ins and outs on this site.

Online casino players know that the latter ones offer various casino bonuses. “Free-load” looks attractive, however, are they really useful these bonuses? Are they profitable for gamblers? The answer to this question depends on a lot of conditions. Mathematics will help us answer this question.

Let’s begin with an ordinary casino bonus on deposit: you transfer $100 and obtain $100 more, which it will be possible to get having staked $3000. It is a typical example of casino bonus on the first deposit. The sizes of a deposit and bonus can be different, as well as the required stake rates, but one thing remains unchangeable – the amount of the casino bonus is accessible for withdrawal after the required wager. Till this moment it is impossible to withdraw money, as a rule.

If you are going to play in the online casino for a long time and rather insistently, this casino bonus will help you, it can really be considered free money. If you play casino slots with 95% pay-outs, a bonus will allow you to make on average extra 2000$ of stakes ($100/(1-0,95)=$2000), after that the amount of bonus will be over. But there can be complications, for example, if you simply want to have a look at a casino, without playing for a long time, if you prefer roulette or other casino games, forbidden by casinos’ rules for winning back bonuses. In the majority of online casinos you won’t be allowed to withdraw money or will simply return a deposit, if a wager is not made on the games allowed in the online casino. If you are keen on roulette or blackjack, and a bonus can be won back only by playing slots, make the required $3000 of stakes, in the course of 95% of pay-outs you will lose on average $3000*(1-0,95)=$150. As you see, you not only lose the casino bonus but also take out of your pocket $50, in this case it is better to refuse the bonus. Anyway, if blackjack and poker are allowed for winning back the bonus with a casino’s profit only about 0,5%, so it can be expected that after winning back the bonus you will have $100-3000*0,005=$85 of the casino’s money.

The “sticky” or “phantom” bonuses:
More and more popularity in online casinos is gained by “sticky” or “phantom” bonuses – the equivalent of lucky chips in real casinos. The amount of bonus is impossible to withdraw, it must remain on the account (as if it “has stuck” to it), until it is completely lost, or annulled on the first withdrawal of cash means (disappears like a phantom). At first sight it may seem that there is little sense in such a casino bonus – you won’t get money anyway, but it’s not completely true. If you win, then there is really no point in the bonus, but if you have lost, it may be of use to you. Without a casino bonus you have lost your $100 and that’s it, bye-bye. But with a bonus, even if it is a “sticky” one, $100 are still on your casino account, which can help you worm out of the situation. A possibility to win back the casino bonus in this case is a bit less than 50% (for that you only need to stake the entire amount on the chances in roulette). In order to maximize profits from “sticky” casino bonuses a casino player needs to use the strategy “play-an-all-or-nothing game”. Really, if you play little stakes, you will slowly and surely lose because of the negative math expectancy in casino games, and the bonus will only prolong agony, and won’t help you win. Clever casino players usually try to realize their casino bonuses quickly – somebody stakes the entire amount on chances, in the hope to double it (just imagine, you stake all $200 on chances, with a probability of 49% you’ll win neat $200, with a probability of 51% you’ll lose your $100 and $100 of the bonus, that is to say, a stake has positive math expectancy for you $200*0,49-$100*0,51=$47), some casino players use progressive strategies of Martingale type. It is recommended to fix the desired amount of your gain, for example $200, and try to win it, taking risks. If you have contributed a deposit in the amount of $100, obtained “sticky” $150 and plan to enlarge the sum on your casino account up to $500 (that is to win $250), then a probability to achieve your aim is (100+150)/500=50%, at this the desired real value of the casino bonus for you is (100+150)/500*(500-150)-100=$75 (you can substitute it for your own figures, but, please, take into account that the formulas are given for games with zero math expectancy, in real casino games the results will be lower).

The cash back bonus:
There is a seldom encountered variant of a bonus, namely return of loosing. There can be singled out two variants – the complete return of the lost deposit, at this the returned money usually is to be won back like with an ordinary bonus, or a partial return (10-25%) of the loosing over the fixed period (a week, a month). In the first case the situation is practically identical to the case with a “sticky” bonus – if we win, there is no point in the bonus, but it helps in case of losing. Math calculations will be also analogous to the “sticky” bonus and the strategy of the game is similar – we risk, try to win as much as possible. If we are not lucky and we have lost, we can play with the help of the returned money, already minimizing the risk. Partial return of the losing for an active gambler can be regarded as an insignificant advantage of casinos in games. If you play blackjack with math expectancy – 0,5%, then, having made stakes on $10 000, you will lose on average $50. With 20% of return $10 will be given back to you, that is you losing will amount to $40, which is equivalent to the increase in math expectancy up to 0,4% (ME with return=theoretical ME of the game * (1-% of return). However, from the given bonus can also be derived benefit, for that you need to play less. We make only one but a high stake, for example $100, on the same stakes in roulette. In 49% of cases again we win $100, and 51% – we lose $100, but at the end of the month we get back our 20% that is $20. As a result the effect is $100*0,49-($100-$20)*0,51=$8,2. As you see, the stake then has positive math expectancy, but dispersion is big for we’ll be able to play this way rather seldom – once a week or even once a month.

I will allow myself a short remark, slightly digressing from the main subject. On a casino forum one of the gamblers started to claim that tournaments were not fair, arguing it in the following way: “No normal person will ever make a single stake within the last 10 minutes of the tournament, which 3,5-fold surpasses the prize amount ($100), in nomination of a maximal losing, so as to win. What is the point?”

And really does it make sense? The situation is very similar to the variant with return of losing. If a stake has won – we are already in the black. If it has lost – we’ll get a tournament prize of $100. So, the math expectancy of the above-mentioned stake amounting to $350 is: $350*0,49-($350-$100)*0,51=$44. Yes, we may lose $250 today, but shall win $350 tomorrow, and over a year playing every day, we’ll accumulate pretty 365*$44=$16 000. Having solved a simple equation, we’ll find out that stakes up to $1900 are profitable for us! Of course, for such a casino game we need to have thousands of dollars on our account, but we certainly can’t blame casinos for dishonesty or gamblers for being foolish.

Let’s come back to our casino bonuses, to the most “free-load” ones- without any deposit. Of late one has been able to notice more and more casino advertisements promising up to $500 absolutely free of charge, without any deposit. The pattern is the following – you really get $500 on a special account and limited time for play (usually an hour). After an hour you get only the amount of your gain, but still not more than $500. The gain is transferred on a real casino account where you must win it back, like any casino bonus, usually having run it 20 times in casino slots. $500 free – it sounds attractive, but what is the real price of the bonus? Well, the first part – you need to win $500. Using a simplified formula, we can see that probability of winning is 50% (in practice, it is certainly even smaller). The second part – we win the casino bonus back, you need to stake $10 000 in casino slots. We don’t know the rates of pay-outs in casino slots, they are not published by online casinos and make up on average about 95% (for various kinds they fluctuate about 90-98%). If we get at an average slot, then till the end of the wager we’ll have $500-10 000*0,05=$0 on our casino account, not a bad game… If we are lucky to choose a casino slot with high pay-outs, we can await $500-10 000*0,02=$300. Even though the probability to choose a slot with high pay-outs is 50% (you have listened to the opinions of other gamblers since by random choice this probability will make up hardly more than 10-20%, for there are few generous casino slots), in this case the value of a generous deposit free casino bonus amounts to $300*0,5*0,5=$75. Much less than $500, but still not too bad, though we can see that even with the most optimal suppositions the final amount of the casino bonus has decreased seven-fold.

I hope, this excursion into mathematics domain of online casino bonuses will be of use to gamblers – if you want to win, you simply need to think a little and make calculations.

Keno is one of the most-often overlooked of all the casino games. But this bingo-lottery type game of a pure luck is simple and easy to learn. The main goal is for a player to pick the right numbers.

Similar to lottery in that you choose the numbers you want and resembling bingo because the lucky numbers appear on a screen one by one.

The rules are simple. There are 80 numbers to choose from, a player must always pick the numbers – unlike lottery – and can select any amount he or she would like to. The minimum number is 1 and the maximum amount of numbers that can be chosen is 20.

Your payout depends on the bet placed and the amount of numbers chosen. The lure of Keno is the potential to win a lot of money for a very little initial monetary risk. The game has ancient Asian origins that date back over two thousand years.

The basic strategy is this: the less numbers chosen, the more numbers matched; the higher the payout.

Keno online is great for lottery fans who don’t want to wait days for the results to come in. The rules are simple, the potential to win is great and this all adds up to a perfect choice for a beginner player looking for a luck-based game.

Keno, along with bingo and lottery, are considered random number games. These, with the exception of slot machines, are the most popular luck games in the world today. Many people believe that keno players are a little touched in the head since the odds of the game are some of the lowest of all the casino games. But, like slot machines, the lure of keno stems from the opportunity to receive a huge return from a relatively small wager.

Keno is a great way for lottery players to experience the rush of betting on their luck any time of the day or night, from the comfort of their personal computer.

There is perhaps no other gambling game that is easier to win and more fun to play than the game of blackjack.

If you are interested in testing your chances at gambling but you don’t want to risk losing too much money, your best bet (pun intended) is to play blackjack because the rules are easy to understand and it’s not that hard to master the strategies that you use for the game.

Learning How to Play the Game of Blackjack
If you have no idea how to play the game of blackjack then you’ll certainly be surprised that you’ll need less than ten minutes to understand everything there is to know about blackjack. In fact, you don’t really have to listen to the gambling experts’ advice on blackjack, but if you want to increase your chances of winning, you should try reading articles such as these to avoid committing mistakes common to gambling newbies.

In blackjack, the dealer first requires players to place a bet even without seeing the cards that they’re going to be dealt with. This is de rigeur for all blackjack games, online or played in a real casino. After that, the dealer deals two cards to every player on the table. The dealer can deal himself one or two cards. One card would be ideal because it offers the other players better chances of winning the round.

And now it’s time to look at the cards you’ve been dealt with. The object of the game is for your cards to reach the value of 21 or one nearest to it but definitely not a value that’s greater or more than 21. A set of cards with an equivalent of value for example of 23 would immediately leave you out of the running because your bet is immediately lost.

Now, when it comes to the values of the cards, simply remember that face cards – King, Queen and Jack – are equivalent to 10 while the Ace could either be counted as one or eleven. Hence, if your cards contain a 10, a King and a Three, that’s equal to 23 and means you’ve lost your bet.

The game of blackjack allows you to “hit” or “draw” as many as five cards. The value of your cards shall only be pitted against the cards of the dealer and no one else. So all you have to worry about is what the dealer’s hand is.

And that’s that. Blackjack’s certainly easy, isn’t it? Good luck gambling!

There are several casinos that have added online casinos to their already existing brick and mortar casinos, as well as countless online-only casinos. These online casinos offer a wide range of single-player as well as multi-player games. This is good news for those who like to play for high stakes; they can do so from the privacy and comfort of their residence without having to move around with excess cash.

Before settling down on a site, one should spend some time trying to understand the terms and conditions and the kind of playing experience that’s offered by each online casino gambling sites. Getting started with online casino gambling involves comparing factors such as the sign-up bonus, loyalty club, and online support. Each online gambling casino has a written code of conduct for ensuring acceptable standards of behavior. Individuals are expected to assume responsibility for their actions. One should be aware of the procedures to be followed in the case of dispute resolution. These things are of particular significance for those who wish to bet large amounts. Such gamblers need the assurance of fair-play and ease of play.

The games at online casinos are available for download on one’s PC. Some software can take up around 50 MB of space on the hard drive, so make sure you have enough space to download it. Once downloaded, the software can be installed pretty smoothly. Clicking the casino website icon takes the player to the casino where one can start playing, either for “Real Money” or “Play Money”. A beginner should compare the relation between winnings and difficulty levels while visiting different sites. This can be done by playing games on the no-download casino software; where one can even play for free.

Online casinos offer varying amounts of bonuses that players can either cash out or use for gambling. Bonuses are enticing incentives for players to play big and they often lead to handsome earnings. There are some online casinos that offer really big bonuses meant to draw the interest of the heavy betters. In order to qualify for the bonus, gamblers need to play online for a certain amount of time and the bonus may be restricted only to certain games such as slots while other games like roulette, craps, baccarat, and blackjack may not qualify for play with bonus money. However, there are some online casinos that offer EZ Bonuses that come with no strings attached.

Online casinos are a good opportunity for those who wager large amounts; they can try out various betting plans and devise strategies for different games. Before starting, one should visit various online gambling forums to obtain information about the different online gambling casinos regarding their reputation for payments, issue resolving, and the type of games offered. Happy high stakes gambling!

For the average player the word “gambling” means much more than a risky bet. It can stand for just about anything from vacationing, Las Vegas, and even fun. Devised earlier than 3000 years ago, gambling was well documented to have existed in many civilizations. The games we know today are the incarnations of former ones, with adjusted rules. For the length of time gambling was invented, players have always seemed obsessed with trying to use various gambling strategies for games. However, Casinos have always had the mathematical advantage along with an adamant need for stopping the smart player. It has forever become a vicious cycle of exploitive players vs. casinos catching up.

Today, gambling doesn’t even need to be played at Las Vegas or any other casino chains.

Now for those of you who live under rocks or live in a time warp may say, Wait outside of Casinos?

Well you see

1. In-flight Gambling: Eflyte has been developing in-flight gaming and continues to spread its influence on many airlines. Currently they have the world’s first Multiplayer Poker Tournament along with over 60 games for airplanes. Ceo of Ryanair will also attempt use in-flight gaming by next year. Now casino gambling may be common on cruises, but itÆs a breakthrough for airlines.

2. Mobile phones can also be used to buy lotteries and sports betting nowadays. If certain restrictions are lifted, it could even mean much more growth in its use.

3. Internet Casinos are also another medium in which gambling doesn’t seem to stop growing; despite being forced to open offshore from the US. This isn’t necessarily bad of course.

The gambling industry is on a growing trend and it doesn’t seem to stop anywhere in sight. Of course, this naturally means that more and more people will be hooked and continue losing to the casinos.

Even the strategic players are screwed over at times with certain technologies being developed. Some casinos even started to implement tracking devices in chips to catch card counters. Those days of Ken Uston and counting machines are getting harder to come by since casinos already know about the gambling strategies used. New mediums such as electronic gambling can stop card counting dead in it’s track.

Winning through strategy can still be done, just as internet marketing can still make some rich. Yet being particular savvy to news and gambling strategy alike can immensely help the professional gambler. That is, unless gambling is only treated as a simple recreation. Otherwise, the best a player can do is to read up on forums and reference news sources for any changes in their gambling strategy.

Blackjack is a great social game because many casinos have tables that can comfortably accommodate up to five or six players. This means that if you are gambling with a group of friends, you will be able to spend your night at the Blackjack table without having to split up. If you are playing online from home, Blackjack gives you a chance to get to know the playing styles of your opponents. When you play Blackjack, you are taking part in an exchange of knowledge and strategy as you watch players win and lose. This is one of the reasons why Blackjack remains compelling and enjoyable even after you have mastered enough strategy to win consistently. When it comes to Blackjack, there is no such thing as boredom, because Blackjack is fun from the moment that you master its simple rules, and continues to be fun even when you are an established player.

Learning Blackjack strategies can give you a huge advantage over other, less educated players, which not only means that you will win more money, it also means that you will be able to take pride in your winnings. When you win money in Blackjack, you have really earned it. This makes it one of the most satisfying gambling games known to man. Although turning up a lucky number is fun, learning to play a game well and then basking in satisfaction as your skill translates to cold, hard cash provides a level of pleasure and enjoyment that no game of chance can touch.

Unlike games of chance like roulette or slot machines, Blackjack is a game where skill and technique play a big part in your success. Anyone has an equal shot at pulling a lever and seeing three cherries line up for the jackpot, but when you play Blackjack and win it is because you made smart decisions and used your strategies to good effect.

The future of legalization of online gambling in the United States is poised on a knife edge. No one can predict which way it will go. Neither the proponents of online gambling nor the opponents are giving an inch.

The most likely route to legalization of online gambling will be through Barney Frank’s bill. This bill seeks to legalize online gambling and put in place a regulatory mechanism. If this bill is passed the UIGEA will automatically be repealed. However the bill has a long way to go and time is running out. The bill is presently in the House Financial Services Committee. It first requires the assent of the Committee, it has then to be passed by the House, it has later to be passed by the Senate and finally it has to be signed by the President before it becomes law.

It is unlikely that the authorities will grant a second extension to the implementation of the UIGEA rules. Granting an extension the first time around in December 2009 was seen as an act of fairness. But granting a second extension could convey a message of weakness and mental preparedness of accepting that online gambling should be legalized. Therefore the second extension will be hard to come by. The minimum that the proponents of online gambling will have to ensure before asking for an extension will be the passage of the bill from the House Committee to the House.

Meanwhile organizations whose future is linked to online gambling have begun to make preparations in a manner they deem favorable. Harrah’s is the largest land casino group in the United States. It is possible that when online gambling is legalized there would be a shift in clientele from land gambling to online gambling. Harrah’s is ready for that. It’s online casino and poker operations went live a few months back and its online bingo operations went live this month. There have been quite a few online gambling operators and service providers that faced criminal prosecution in the United States. Despite being told that the United States government was not on firm ground, these operators have paid hefty fines and cleaned their slates. The idea is that when online gambling becomes legal in the United States they would not be barred from participating because of pending prosecutions

Before October 2006, Internet gambling in the United States was unregulated and untaxed. In October 2006 The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed. The UIGEA made it illegal for financial institutions to remit funds to Internet gambling sites. Many operators withdrew from the United States as a result. The Internet gambling community has protested against the UIGEA, but without any real effect till date. Congressmen like Barney Frank did try to move legislation in support of Internet gambling but these too could not be converted to law. At the fag end of the Bush administration the UIGEA regulations were pushed through under the “Midnight Rules” so as to try and avoid review by the incoming President.

The outlook under the Obama administration does not look so bleak, though it would be difficult to classify it as rosy. This is because experts are as yet reading between the lines and there is no concrete categorical announcement from the administration. The Obama campaign has promised a more liberal and receptive approach towards all policy making and therefore it is evident that the President will listen with an open mind. The evidence that he will do so comes from the Citizens Briefing Book that he set up so that ordinary citizens could indicate their priority areas. Legalization of Internet gambling figured high in that book. The model of legalizing, regulating and taxing Internet gambling is working well in many European countries, notably in the United Kingdom. The potential that Internet gambling has for raising tax revenues is immense and that is something that cannot be ignored in these troubled financial times. Congressman Frank has pointed out that trillions of dollars have been promised in bailout packages and the funds have now to be arranged. Right now they are adding to profits of operators registered in other countries and those countries are reaping the tax revenues. Because President Obama has promised a more open administration, it is likely to be receptive to these suggestions. Other favorable indications have also been cited. President Obama is technologically savvy and loves to play poker, which seems to be great news for Internet poker. However it is unlikely that he will let personal preferences color his judgment. There is one dark spot on the horizon. The Attorney General, Eric Holder, had said in his confirmation hearing that he would implement the UIGEA to the fullest. But the online gambling fraternity believes that those words were said only to enable his confirmation.

If you are just starting at an online casino, which game should you pick, blackjack or poker? And which game is a game of luck and which is a game of skill?

In poker good luck results from having the skills to make the right moves. They get lucky when they put in hard work, and that is what they must do if they want luck to favor them. This is how luck is created, as unexpected luck may hide the fact that skills are required to be successful at this game. In poker, luck is not all that you need. Experienced players believe that the more chance is on your side, the worse you tend to play.

Every player appreciates poker luck, and would want to save it for a rainy day. But, too much luck is actually the ennemy of a poker player. A donk player wins a pot and we believe that he deserved it. A weak player does not know the proper plays, always comes from behind most often, makes gutshot straight draw plays, and so on. A donk can seek to get miraculous cards at any time. So, they are thought to so much luckier then other players. They have different ways of obtaining luck.

Superior players on the contrary do not expect luck for winning. They actually always seek to make the mathematically ideal action. So it may seem that they are lucky for example when they get the card they need at the turn, but it is not the outcome that matters but to always make the correct play. They played well and got lucky too, but they are winning players not because of chance, but because they always make the best play.

Blackjack is very similar to poker as far as skill and chance matter. These two games are the most strategic games you will find at an online casino. Almost all other games are primarily based on luck.