In his regular gambling blog, John Piassek presents his top picks for the upcoming weekend in horse racing, offering betting options at different budget levels. Piassek’s Plays is brought to you by Horseplayers.com, the official online qualifying site of the Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) and National Horseplayers Championship (NHC).
Month: April 2021
Getting Started with Pontoon
If you’ve played Blackjack, you can probably skip this tutorial and check out one of the other articles on this site about Pontoon.
This article will assume you don’t know anything about the game. The goal is to get you up and playing within minutes from now.
Pontoon is generally played with two decks of cards and those decks are shuffled after every hand. To start playing, you must put a wager down.
Once all bets are in, the hand begins with each player and the dealer receiving two cards. The cards are worth their face value. For instance, the two of clubs is worth two. All face cards are worth 10 and the Ace can be one or 11-your choice.
The goal is technically to beat the dealer. However, the usual goal listed in books is to get as close to 21 without going over. So, keep that in mind when you start to play.
When it’s your turn, you have various options. First, if you like your hand as is, just stand, which means to end your turn for the hand.
Should your hand need some work, you can take a hit, which means to take one card. If your hand is 21 or less, you can then hit again or stand. If your hand goes over 21, you bust and you lose. This is why the dealer goes last. It gives the casino an edge.
If you have 5 cards and have 21 or less, you’ll win unless the dealer does the same thing. It’s important to note that the dealer wins all ties.
When you stand with 4 or fewer cards, your hand count must beat the dealer’s hand count. The dealer will hit on soft 17, which means a 17 that was created using an Ace.
I can’t stress this enough. The dealer wins all ties. Think about this when you’re playing. Should the dealer have 21 or less with five cards, you lose-period.
Another option you have it splitting. If your first two cards are the same, such as 7,7 or Q,Q, you can split them and make two separate hands-adding another wager of equal value to your original bet.
Your last option when it’s your turn is doubling. You’ve probably heard “double down” a billion times. Well, in Pontoon, you can double down. When you double down, you increase your wager and draw another card. In Pontoon, you can hit after doubling too.
The payouts are pretty simple. If you win with a two-card 21, which is called a Pontoon, you get paid 2-1. So, a $10 wager earns $20. Another way to earn a 2-1 payout is by having a five-card hand and being at 21 or under.
All other winning hands pay even money. And there you have it. Pontoon the easy way.
The Friday Show: Adding An Asterisk To An Arkansas Derby Winner
It's been almost a year since Bob Baffert-trained Gamine and Charlatan won races at Oaklawn – Gamine in an allowance race and Charlatan in a division of the Grade 1, $1-million Arkansas Derby – and then subsequently were disqualified when post-race drug tests detected the prohibited drug lidocaine.
Those disqualifications were appealed, as was a 15-day suspension given Baffert by the Oaklawn board of stewards. Earlier this week after a two-day hearing, the Arkansas Racing Commission voted unanimously to restore the horses' wins, eliminate Baffert's suspension and instead fine him $5,000 for each positive.
Paulick Report editor-in-chief Natalie Voss, who viewed the 15-hour proceedings online and reported on the commissioners' vote, joins Ray Paulick in this week's Friday Show to discuss the case and the challenges made by the Hall of Fame trainer and his attorneys to the drug testing process and stewards' rulings.
Bloodstock editor Joe Nevills then joins Ray to highlight our Star of the Week as well as make his Toast to Vino Rosso and one of the first-crop foals sired by the Breeders' Cup Classic-winning son of Curlin.
The post The Friday Show: Adding An Asterisk To An Arkansas Derby Winner appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Horses Fine, Jockeys Evaluated After Three-Way Spill At Belmont
A three-horse spill at Belmont resulted in no injuries to horses and evaluations for riders after a scary incident in the eighth race on Thursday. Sport Model, piloted by Junior Alvarado, clipped heels with rival Wish For Magic at the 5/16ths pole and tripped badly, dropping Alvarado. At the time, Sport Model was ahead of several horses. Undetectable, with Manuel Franco up, was bumped around the same time and then fell over Sport Model. Sailor's Treasure with rider Pablo Fragoso collided with the fallen horses and also fell.
All three horses got up quickly and were caught by outriders before being led off the track.
According to a NYRA spokesman, Franco was cleared by first aid at the track. Alvarado and Fragoso were taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation. Tests and scans on Alvarado to check for traumatic brain injury were negative and he was sent home. Fragoso is also believed to have escaped serious injury.
Several horses who remained upright during the incident had to check sharply and were eased through the final part of the race, according to the Equibase chart — New York Banker, Lass, and Madame Rose, who finished seventh, eighth, and ninth.
Earlier in the card, rider Jose Ortiz was unseated in the fifth race by Fast Getaway. He was cleared to return to work by first aid and the horse returned to his connections by the finish line.
The post Horses Fine, Jockeys Evaluated After Three-Way Spill At Belmont appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
