Category: Gambling and Casinos

Poker players are always looking for ways to improve their game strategies, or little hints and tips they might be able to apply to their own games to make them more successful. One thing that can be very useful is to know the true odds of the particular game you are playing. Knowing your chances will sometimes prompt you to make changes in your game that you ordinarily might not make that could be the difference between winning and losing. Many players adjust their betting methods as well, so that they can better optimize their winnings. More experienced poker players can do this by observing the other players and making guesses as to what their odds of winning are against those particular players. They change their hands or playing styles according to what they determine their odds are. Some players are very experienced with calculating their odds in this method, but there is a more exact way to determine your poker odds. Poker odds calculators can be found as free downloads and for sale on the internet, and many poker players are starting to use these to get more exact odds.

Some poker players opt to use hand odds calculators by entering the player and the board cards, then hitting a calculate button to get the odds for that particular player. The calculator will list how often that player will win the game, tie with other players, or lose altogether. These calculators can also be used to compare different hands with each other to help you determine the best poker hands. The only downside to using these calculators is that they don’t factor in the fact that some players will inevitably fold, and that extra money will be added to the pot with each round of bets.

Many poker players who play in poker tournaments have also begun to use tournament equity calculators. These calculators are used to determine the average amount of prize money each participant should win based on the number of chips each player has during the tournament. The value of these chips will be less as the game progresses and players earn more chips. Some players will decide to sit out a tournament is they decide the prize pool isn’t large enough for them. The only bad thing about using this type of calculator is that it automatically assumes all players are of equal skill levels, and it doesn’t account for size and position of the blinds in the game, so it isn’t always one hundred percent accurate.

Odds calculators are used by many poker players today, and are increasing in popularity. They can be very helpful in making decisions when it comes to many aspects of game play. It is important that players who use these calculators keep in mind that these calculators do have limitations and that the information they offer should never be the sole basis of how you play your game. There are too many variables to be factored in to make any calculation be totally accurate, and sometimes you just can’t beat good ole human intuition.

I have never thought it a good to use plastic to shop online or make money transfers. Call me old fashioned, but I still prefer to pay by cash. And believe me, I take it very seriously when the Federal Trade Commission tells me that identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the US. I shred my mail, delete mail pertaining to my bank accounts and never write down confidential information like PIN codes. I’m ready to take the war to the enemy.

This stance took a pleasant beating when I was surfing the internet the other day. While I am curious about online casinos, by habit, I have never played at any of them. This is not because I believe gambling to be evil; just my paranoia about online fund transfers. A general Google search the other day threw up a few site listings. Out of curiosity I went on to check out what these sites were about. By the time I was through with the payments sections of a couple of them, I realized the big bad world on the Internet was not so bad, after all.

Technological advancements have ensured online transactions today are secure and iron-clad. Hackers belong in history, now, right up there with the bogey-man and all your old wives tales. Imagine my surprise when I found that in addition to having over a 100 games to choose from at the various sites, I had an equally astounding number of choices when it came to making online transactions.

Online transactions at these sites are as safe as the gold in Fort Knox, thanks to the latest in encryption technology. Most sites accept orders from browsers that communicate using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), ensuring your private information remains just that – strictly private. The Security and Privacy policy link on the sites gives you comprehensive information on how your security is safeguarded.

To make deposits at the casinos, you can use you credit/debit cards, bank draft/personal checks, wire transfer or a number of alternative payment methods. These methods include, Neteller, Central Coin Banking, Eco Card, FirePay(Surefire), MoneyBookers, Ewallet Xpress/900Pay, Click2Pay.

While the casinos have a limit on the least amount you can deposit, the number of payment options is mind-boggling – MasterCard, Visa, Delta, and Visa Electron cards. Credit card payments take 2-5 minutes to process. The service time is fast as well in the case of electronic transactions – two to five minutes for a credit card transaction. In the case of wire transfers, the time period is slightly longer – around two days. Checks take the longest, at 10-20 days.

Not only do you have secure transaction means, the casinos are committed to a policy of detecting and preventing fraud in all aspects of its business. Customer satisfaction is the magic watchword these days, and at most online casinos, that certainly seems to be the case.

If you have ever played poker before you know that you can obviously see all the players around you since you play in a circle (unless you’re playing online poker). You just figured out the most important part of poker. You may be thinking that that’s impossible.

You probably think that the most important part is the cards; what cards you get how to use them, ECT… These are very important, you are correct, but it all starts with your ability to use your body language to your advantage. The cards are going to be relatively the same for all the players. Luck usually doesn’t factor in well in poker since everyone has the same chance to get the same cards.

In case luck begins to play a large role in your game then what can you does? A player always has 4 basic choices; you can check, bet or call, raise, or fold. If you are not getting good cards you can always fold right?
This is not always a good idea. You may be leaving large amounts of money on the table in the long run after a few initial folds. Sure you seemingly get away with losing less but you give up the chance to even try. Bluffing is the art of misguidance. You want them to think you have a bad hand one second and the next a great hand with all the best cards that are sure to win you the pot.

How do you accomplish such a thing? Simply with your body language this can be done. If you have good cards act happy. You may not want them to know that you have good cards but it’s a way to change there thinking; now every time you act “happy” they will think you have good cards and may fold.
If you have bad cards and you act happy they might fold because now they are afraid.

What you want to do is create a complicated pattern of sad, happy, indifferent, ecstatic, angry, ECT. Actions for certain hands. You want to throw them off but try and lure them into a safe zone where they think they understand your bluffing pattern and then hit them with the reality. As long as they are trying to keep up with whatever pattern you have, you will have them all under your control.

In one game of poker tournament I was playing in I decided to create very complex poker faces. They where not good they where not bad. I scrunched my face, grabbed my lip and scratched my leg; I did the craziest thing that nobody understood. They had no idea what my faces meant so they assumed that when I didn’t raise that my cards where not good and they would raise and raise. When it came time to show, guess who took home the pot.

The moral of this little story is that you have to be creative. This is step two of poker (after learning the basics and learning them by heart), body language is very important. If you are known as a newbie and you come in they will expect you to show your cards loud and clear through your body language. You can mislead and kill your competition with a good poker face.

Internet Sports Betting

The Internet has grown tremendously over the past decade. From placing sports bets to buying a car, the Internet has made our lives extremely comfortable. The Internet has been a great tool for sports bettors. The wealth of information that’s readily available has helped sports bettors make more informed decisions. In the old days, you were limited to whatever you heard on the street.

Understanding your Internet sports betting options

The Internet offers you a choice of hundreds of established online casinos and sports betting portals that offer superb features and great bonuses. Since they have a lower overhead than a traditional brick and mortar gambling operation, online gambling destinations can be very liberal when it comes to a signup bonus and ongoing promotions. Online sports betting destinations are online 24 hours a day and just a click away.

The options available through Internet sports betting sites are numerous and varied. Equipped with the right information, you can enjoy a plethora of betting options. Much like the stock market, knowing when to bet a moving line can be the key to success. Most online sports books are simply followers of other lines. Paying attention to line moves is vital to winning long-term. Thanks to the Internet, it’s now possible to watch line moves from the comfort of your favorite chair.

The Internet today, provides a number of quality sports betting online services. Not only do sports betting portals offer terrific betting odds for a number of games like horse racing, baseball, football, basketball, auto racing, golf, hockey, and tennis, some of them also give you free cash. The good sports books will give you a signup bonus and bonuses for re-depositing.

Some frequently used sports betting terms:

Arbitrage: Betting the same event at separate sports books in order to lock in a profit by taking advantage of different betting lines.

Bankroll: Total capital available for betting sports.

Bookmaker (or bookie): A person who accepts bets.

Chalk: A favorite (usually, a heavy favorite).

Circled game: A game in which the sports book has reduced its betting limits, usually because of weather or the uncertain status of injured players.

Futures: A type of wager involving the outcome of a season or how a particular team or player will perform over the course of a season.

Hook: A half-point in the betting spread.

Line (sports betting lines): The point spread or odds on a game or event.

Lock: A bet that cannot lose; a term that is often misused and abused by disreputable touts.

Match-up proposition: A betting option that pits two players against one another in a contest or event, often used in golf and auto racing wagering.

Nickel: $500.

Parlay: A bet in which two or more events must happen in order to win; if any one of them does not happen, the wager loses.

Point spread: The number of points added to or subtracted from a team’s actual score for betting purposes.

Sports book: The part of the casino that accepts bets on athletic contests.

Vigorish (or vig): The commission charged by a bookmaker.

Quick Sports Betting Tips & Strategies

1.Make each bet a small percentage of your overall bankroll. For example, if you had a $1,000 bankroll and wanted to make each bet 1% of that, your average bet would be $10. As you win, you bet amount goes up.

2.Don’t chase losers. Keep your bets solid and follow your defined sports betting parameters. Just because you lose three bets in a row does not mean you will win any time soon. If you don’t pick winners well, this could go on for some time. Keep to your guns.

3.Straight bets are better than parlays. Sure, parlay bets offer the chance to win a lot of money for a small bet, but straight bets will be your consistent winner over time. Everyone plays parlays, but don’t make them the focus of your sports betting activity.

4.In horse racing, don’t bet a horse to just show. If you think the horse is good enough to be a front-runner, bet the horse to win, place and show. If the horse is not good enough for this type of bet, in your opinion, the horse is not worth laying any money on to begin with.

There are four solid sports betting tips & strategies to make you a much better sports bettor. Your next move is to head over to your favorite sports book and put these sports betting tips & strategies into practice.