Author: horse-racing-free-tips

Blackjack card counting is an advanced technique to win on blackjack. A player must first learn the basic strategies of blackjack before learning “counting”. By learning the technique of counting you will have the odds with you.

The basic concept of blackjack counting is that a deck filled with 10s and aces will be to your advantage. While the deck of the dealer is filled with smaller cards but is to the dealer’s advantage. Simply put, when the deck is in your favor bet to the maximum, when it’s with the dealer’s bet minimum.

This is because a deck filled with 10 increases the chance of the dealer getting bust. You on the other hand can just opt to stand. In an opposite manner, a deck filled with smaller cards makes the dealers chance to bust less. If you know the deck is filled with 10s or smaller cards, this can give you the advantage of knowing what strategy to use.

The dealer must then always hit until having a soft 17. To hit with a hand of 10 & 6 and knowing the deck is filled with 10s is a bad idea.

If the deck is filled with aces, there is high chance that you’ll hit blackjack. When the player has blackjack, the pay off odds are 3:2. The dealer will only win on the other hand if he also gets a blackjack. That’s why a deck filled with aces is always to the player’s advantage.

Blackjack counting is not done by memorizing each card that has come out of a 6 deck shoe of cards. If you are able to do that, I’d be in awe: you should be in the world records book or maybe even the loony bin.

Blackjack card counting is done by assigning the different card numbers with different point values. Always remember to pick a system that is easy to remember. This will cause fewer mistakes and you will lose less money.

As stated above, you will assign a point value for each card and you will have to add the value of the cards that have come out. This is called the running count. Based on the plus/minus strategy, here are the values assigned.

2, 3,4,5,6 = +1;
7, 8, 9 = 0;
10, J, Q, K, Ace = -1

To illustrate this more clearly:
The first card dealt is an ace, so we start by having -1. Then 6 is the next card dealt so we add 1. This makes the run count back to zero. Then a 3 and 4 follows, making the run count now 2.

After figuring the run count, you can try to figure the true count. You take the running count you have and divide it with the number of decks remaining from the shoe.

The true counts tell you the appropriate bet size and you can base your strategy from there. Good luck!

At one time 5-card stud was the most popular poker game being dealt. It was started in New Orleans and moved up the Mississippi on the steamboats and moved out west with the gold rush and the end of the Civil War. The game is rather simple to play and does entail some bluffing, as the hand possibilities are easy to read. It is played with one card dealt face down and four cards dealt face up. The betting starts after the first two cards are dealt and continues after each of the other three are dealt. This game is the game that is played in the movie Cincinnati Kid.

Now days the online casinos offer it less and less. Some Live casinos will still set a table on certain days or on special days. The game is becoming harder to find and many new players to poker have never played the game. The best starting hand is a pair of Aces or any other high pair. Pairs of higher value do have a tendency to hold up in this game. Three of a kind is a monster hand and any hand bigger than that would be a super monster. Five-card draw poker replaced this game in popularity, as it allowed more betting and more gambling as each player got to see more cards to make a hand. Lack of betting possibilities is what helped to kill off 5-card stud. Seven-card stud finally replaced both in most card rooms and this game is still one of the casino favorites.

There is a romance about 5-card stud and it was favored in the movies for a long time as it is relatively easy to understand and follow the action as a hand is played out.

Conclusions
Five-card stud is a fine game for learning to play poker and hand values. The lack of complications makes it an easy game to quickly learn and play. The other feature of this stud game is the art of the bluff. Bluffing is part of poker and stud is a game that a good bluffer will do well at against other players at the table. If you do not have a pair at the end of the five cards it is very hard to call a large bet with just an ace high. Four cards to a flush showing is tough to call without a pair.

If you are looking to try your luck at sports betting then know that you do have greater odds of winning in this game than you would in roulette or craps. While those are games of chance, sports betting is a game of predicting a foreseeable outcome. Here are some tips on how to win big at the big game.

1.Manage your Gambling Money
Another lesson in common sense that is often ignored when it comes time to put down a wager: never bet more than you can afford to lose. In fact, it is recommended that you set aside a portion of your money for betting and to stick with it, regardless of your winnings or losses. Lastly, try to spread your total among a few smaller bets rather than risk it all on one sure thing that may not be as predictable as everyone thinks.

2.Never Gamble While Drinking
This may be common knowledge to some, a great shock to others. However, when you drink an alcoholic beverage, your judgment will be significantly clouded. A drink may also give you that extra “courage” to make a rash and expensive decision.

3.Square or Sucker Lines
Many betters try to stay away from square lines (that is, lines that are designed to lure public opinion into betting a certain way) and in the end, can even make money off these phony wagers if they can closely monitor the betting percentages.

4.Make Arbitrage Bets
You can make money on sure bets regardless of the outcome of a game with arbitrage bets. The advantage of these bets is that it doesn’t matter what the outcome of a game is, since the only bet you made was on a specific happening.

5.Bet at Just the Right Time
Bettors who bet on underdogs usually bet early. Therefore, if you are betting on an underdog try and bet late. If you are betting on the favorite then bet early. Going against the grain in sports gambling is often a smart move.

6.Choose the Underdog at Home
Statistically speaking, it’s a good idea to bet on an underdog at home. A team will put forth their best effort at home stadium and underdogs have a way of triumphing over the odds in general. Using this strategy you may beat the odds too.

7.Do Your Homework Before the Game
The best way to win sports betting is to research all aspects of a game, especially circumstances and data that others would not consider. Not even bookies will have time to research every sport and every game. Therefore, if you can create a niche for yourself, you could become an expert on a smaller conferences and find yourself winning big money.

8.Bet Against the Public
There are some that claim that “fading the public” can be profitable. This has led many bettors to bet on the other team than is predicted.

9.Place Bets on the Right Sports Book
Statistics suggest that placing bets with the correct sports book will make a big difference, and increase the odds of winning by 3%.