Category: Gambling and Casinos

Texas Holdem is by far the most common for of poker played today due to is popularity there are even several TV shows of the game. Besides being popular texas Holdem is also the best game for a beginner to learn, the game can be learned after a few minutes and afte just a few hours of practice you can be playing fairly well against other beginners, but to really get good you must play often.

Texas Holdem is played the same way in the casino, online casinos and in your home with your pals.

Texas Holdem is played in the following manner:

1. Betting structures can vary. In Texas Holdem rarely are antes used. Most Texas Holdem games start with first two players on the dealers left placing predetermined bets. These players are called the small and large blind, and their bets are called posting the blinds.

2. Each player receives 2 cards face down. These cards are called you pocket cards and they are the only cards that are unique to you.

3. After each player is dealt their hole cards a round of betting takes place starting with the player to the left of the 2 blinds this round of betting is called the pre-flop. Just like in any other poker game a player can call raise of fold during their turn.

4. After the Pre-Flop round is over the dealer will remove the top card from the deck and discard it, this is called the Burn Card. This is done to make sure that no cheating is done. The dealer will then turn over 3 cards in the center of the table. This round is called the Flop. Any player may use any of these cards to make the best 5 card hand possible, but you are not allowed to actually touch the cards, each player can use the same cards if it help them, this is why your hole cards are so important.

5. As with the pre-flop there is now another round of betting, it is at this point you will start to see players folding.

6. After the betting is over, the dealer will burn another card, then deal the fourth of the communal cards. This card is called the Turn card

7. Again another round of betting begins and now is when you will start to see the size of the pot really grow.

8. One last time the dealer burns the top card before turning over the last card of the game, called the River card. Players now have all 5 of the communal cards and their own hole card to make the best 5 card hand.

9. One last chance is given to raise the bets or get out of the game. After this each player still in the game will show their cards. This is called the Showdown. The player with the best hand is declared the winner and wins the pot.

Now that you know the basic order of the game you are ready to start playing Texas Holdem. Holdem is a simple game to learn but if hard to master. This is the part that will take you many hand and many dollars, but if you put in the time you will be rewarded for it.

While most people enjoy casino gambling, sports betting, lottery and bingo playing for the fun and excitement it provides, others may experience gambling as an addictive and distractive habit. Statistics show that while 85 percent of the adult population in the US enjoys some type of gambling every year, between 2 and 3 percent of will develop a gambling problem and 1 percent of them are diagnosed as pathological gamblers.

Where can you draw the line between harmless gambling to problem gambling? How can you tell if you or your friend are compulsive gamblers? Here you can find answers to these questions and other questions regarding problem gambling and gambling addiction.

What is the Meaning of Problem Gambling?

Problem gambling or compulsive gambling is defined as an uncontrollable urge to gamble despite the destructive effect of gambling on the gamblers life and despite feelings of guilt and remorse. Problem gambling tends to have a negative effect on the gamblers financial state, relationships and daily life. Severe cases of problem gambling can be defined as pathological gambling.

Am I a Compulsive Gambler?

1) Do you gamble until your last penny runs out?

2) Do you gamble to win back your former losses or debts?

3) Did you ever had to borrow money to continue gamble?

4) Did your gambling habit ever made you lie to your friends or family?

5) Did you ever skip work or other obligation to gamble?

6) Do you tend to gamble to forget about your personal problems or to celebrate happy occasions?

7) Does gambling have a negative affect on your daily life or relationships?

If you have answered yes on at least one of the questions listed above, then you have a problem.

Can Anyone Become a Compulsive Gambler?

Theoretically, yes. Any gambler can develop gambling problem regardless to the type of gambling he is occupied with, the amount of money and time he is spending on gambling. Researches show that slot machines that can be found in bars and convenient stores are the most addictive type of gambling activity, while lottery draws and bingo games are located on the other end of the scale. Gambling addiction is an emotional problem; its symptoms, causes and treatments are similar to any other form of addiction.

How Can I treat Gambling Addiction?

1) Group Therapy:

Gamblers Anonymous offers a 12 step self help program similar to the one offered to alcohol addicts in Alcoholics Anonymous. Group therapy also offers gambling addicts advice and support from professional counselors and other gambling addicts in different phases of their recovery process. Gambler Anonymous centers are available in more than 1,200 locations statewide.

2) Individual Therapy:

Cognitive or behavior therapy can help gambling addicts to identify their unaware thinking and acting patterns, which led them to gamble compulsively, and to replace them with controllable and healthier ways of thinking.

3) Psychiatric Medication:

It has recently been proven that antidepressant medications from the family of SSRIs, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors can be affective in treatment of gambling addicts.

Aztec’s Treasure is a 5-Reel progressive slot machine that’s based off of an Aztec theme-hence the name. If you’re up for a bit of prospecting for the mythical lost gold, this might be the progressive slot machine for you.

With Aztec’s Treasure you can have fun or really go for the big jackpot. There are 20 lines on this progressive slot machine. Before spinning, you can select how many lines to play-as low as one line. If you’re not going to play all 20 lines, which is the machine’s default position, you need to know that you must play them in sequential order.

So, if you wanted to play just three lines, you’d be playing line one, two and three. You can’t do them out of order, like four, six and eight. There are ten lines on each side of the machine. To give you an example, line one is in the 6th position on the left, while line two is on the second position on the left. Line three is on the 9th position on the left and so on. All numbers 10 and under are on the left, while all numbers 11-20 are on the right.

Aztec’s Treasure has the following betting denominations: 1 cent, 2 cents, nickel, quarter, 50 cents, one dollar and five dollars. So, you can bet up to $100 per spin if you want.

This progressive slot machine also has an auto play feature. While I don’t consider this fun, you might. Just put your money in, click on auto play and kick back until you want to stop. The game will keep playing until you run out of money or you stop it. I can just imagine clicking this feature with $500 in the machine, getting a phone call, forgetting about the machine and coming back to see $0.

Aztec’s Treasure has multiple bonuses throughout the game. The Aztec King shows up on Reels 2, 3 and 4. He’s like a wild symbol. Except for Idols, he substitutes as any symbol. The Idols appear here and there.

The Jackpot is random and it can be won at the end of each spin. It doesn’t matter what denomination you are playing either. It’s a nice little twist. If you’re looking for huge jackpots ($50,000+), this isn’t your slot machine. But, if you want the ability to pick up $1,000 or so at the end of any spin, Aztec’s Treasure will be a great time for you.

This slot machine has many ways to win-especially with all 20 lines going. Therefore, the maximum you can win is 40,000 times you wager per line. So, if you’re playing 25 cents per line, you can win up to $10,000 on any one spin.

Aztec’s Treasure is a fun machine. Give it a spin sometime.

Gambling scams were never as recognized and as widespread as when it finally came in contact with cyber space. Online gambling, although beneficiary for those gambling aficionados, allowing them to gamble and avail of the enjoyment at home, also has some of its downsides more specifically the existence of online gambling scams.

Online scams usually include the refusal of a certain game company to “give you” your winnings. Some gambling scams may even go as far as totally refusing to let you win with absurd probabilities, and then refusing to let you cash out the remaining money you’ve got left.

One way to avoid these scams is to know what they are. Here are two most prevailing online gambling scams that you should be aware of, and should be able to detect easily.

Illegitimate Bonuses

Some gambling companies even go as far as inviting their former scammed customers under the ruse of “bonuses” telling them how sympathetic they are about you being scammed, and offering a bonus if you play with them instead. Just think, where did they get your contact details? Well they got it from that short form you filled out when you joined the first scam casino, and they’re actually looking to rip you off again.

What do they do? When it’s actually time for you to claim your bonus, they say that you are ineligible to receive the bonus.

To avoid being re-scammed, never fall for these types of offers. Even if you haven’t been scammed yet, they’d still send you a bonus offer then refuse to give it to you once you’ve deposited your money. A good rule of thumb with online gambling, if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is.

Piracy

One way to know a legitimate online casino is its affiliations and memberships; one such is the Interactive Gaming Council (ICG). However, logos provided by such organizations can easily be copied on the net, and what scammers do, is they imitate, sometimes, go as far as duplicating the design of a legitimate casino to pass off theirs. It is a good measure to look up the name of the online casino on the members list of the certain organization. ICG and others usually provide an easy to browse and search members list on their web sites.

To make sure that the casino you’re subscribing to is legit, type the company name and the word review in the search engine and read about them, you’ll more or less get an idea of how they work.