Category: English

The most famous game in the casino is poker and it gives skillful players the best chance to make money, but you don’t have to wear a stetson and drink whiskey to learn the ropes. Of all the casino games, poker is the most familiar. There is some dispute as to the roots of the game, but most agree that it is European. Most game historians say that it comes from an eighteenth-century French game, poque, but others say it derived from a German game called pochspiel. Still others look to the opposite side of the world and attribute the name to a Hindu word, pukka. Whatever the derivation, it’s clear that poker became popular in the US in the 1850s.
Poker is today a staple in any gambling hall, legal or illegal. More Americans have played poker than have played golf, tennis and backgammon combined. And whether they play for big stakes, nickels and dimes, or for matchsticks, the players’ enjoyment of poker is the reason it is undoubtedly the most popular card game.

Even when casino gambling was legal only in Nevada, poker could regularly be found in fire halls, social clubs, church basements, and fraternal organisations. It is now played legally in more than half the US, and semi-legally in all the other states and territories. As you might suspect, casino poker varies a bit from your kitchen table variety, but the basics are essentially the
same. What is most different in the casino is the skill levels of the players. You might be the card shark of your neighbourhood, but when you play poker in a casino, there are many other factors to consider, other than which player has the best hand.

You’ve seen that there are professional blackjack players who can make a living playing a game in which they can reduce or eliminate the house advantage. And you learned that good sports gamblers can handicap a sporting event through knowledge of specific details unknown to the average bettor.

But since poker is a game that has no house advantage, you must be prepared for a large collection of players who are trying to make a living from the game. There are more professional poker players than any other type of gambler.
 
Don’t be fooled into thinking that all the “professionals” are playing the high-limit games, and if you play games with £1
minimum and £2 maximum bets, you won’t have to worry about the pros. That’s not true. You’ll meet the professional poker players at every level, whether they are on the way up the ladder, or have been knocked down and are looking to get back up.

Should this deter you from playing the most popular game in a casino? The answer is a qualified “No”.

Because poker requires skill, it’s not something where you can hope to stumble across enough good luck to win. While there is some debate on how skill is acquired (are good poker players born or made?), you can read enough about the game to understand its nuances and sit down and enjoy a lively session. Just remember that you never stop learning about poker. After appreciating the basics, your education is just beginning. The various plays, the different combinations, but most of all, the variety of players is what often makes this game the most fascinating of all.

There are many different kinds of poker games. Five-card draw and five-card stud may be popular around the kitchen table, but are now a rarity in the casinos. Forget about the “wild card” games you’ve read about. You won’t see any Deuces wild, one-eyed Jacks, or Jokers added to a poker game in a casino. The two most popular poker games by far in a casino are seven-card stud and Texas hold’em. While there are many other poker permutations that you can find – Omaha hold’ em, Omaha Eight-or-better, razz, lowball draw and many more – for purposes of brevity and comprehension, you’ll be wise to concentrate on the two most popular games, which will be covered in this book.

When most people are asked to name a casino game the first one that they’ll think of is probably Blackjack or Roulette. The reason for this is the massive media exposure the game has in terms of appearing in movies, books etc. Another reason is that the game is so accessible and easy to play.

If you break Blackjack down to its core then you find that all you need to do is get nearer to a points total of 21 than the dealer. Depending on the rules of the casino the dealer has to stick on either 16/17 or higher or keep drawing cards until they go bust, with a points total greater than 21.

The points total is calculated as follows, cards 2-10 are worth the value printed on them. The face cards, Jack, Queen and King are also worth 10. The Ace is a little bit funny as it can be either 1 or 11 depending on what suits you the best.If you get dealt a 10, Jack, Queen or King together with an Ace then this is called a natural Blackjack and you get paid out at 2.5:1 as opposed to the usual 2:1 i.e if you bet $5 and win you would normally get paid out $10 but with a natural Blackjack it is $12.50!

To further complicate things a bit you are presented with a few options after you are dealt the first two cards. If the two cards have the same value, e.g two 10’s or 2 9’s or a 10 and a king then you are given the option of splitting your cards. What this means is that you repeat your initial bet but get a brand new hand to play each of which have an initial value of just one of the pair. Each of these hands is then dealt a new card. This can be a great strategy especially if the dealers visible card, the dealer is also dealt two cards one of which is visible to the players, is a 6 or lower. I have a table in the articles section which can be used as a strategy guide for these kind of decisions.

Another option after the initial deal is insurance. This is where the bank will offer you insurance against the bank getting a natural blackjack, which beats any hand you might have. Insurance will be offered if the dealers, banks, visible card is an Ace and if you take insurance, half your original bet, and the dealer makes the blackjack then you get paid at 2:1 which means you cover your original bet, if not then you loose your insurance money. It is completely up to you if you decide to take out insurance or not and at best it comes down to a gut feeling!

A third option offered at most Casino Blackjack games is the option of doubling your bet after the initial 2 card deal. This is similar to the decision of whether or not to split and depends heavily on how strong your hand is compared to the dealers but as a rule of thumb if you are sitting with a points total of 10 or 11 and the dealer is showing 6 or lower then you can double. Again the Blackjack strategy table, which I mentioned before, is very useful for this.

As mentioned previously the dealer has to stick at typically 17 although there are variations on this number from casino to casino. Because of this it is important that you get as high a points total yourself before the dealer reveals his second card and starts possibly drawing further cards. The Blackjack Strategy Table can be used to help you decide which number you should stick at but in general you should always try and get at least a 17 or higher to have any real chance of winning.

 

I will now provide a few examples to show how Blackjack should be played:

 

Example 1:

You get dealt a King and a 10 and the dealer has a 5 showing. This is a really strong starting position for you and a weak position for the dealer, you already have a points total of 20 which is the second best you can ever have, in this situation you should always stick as you would have to be extremely unlucky not to win, whilst the only card which could improve your hand is an Ace which is not very likely to come up!

 

Example2:

You get dealt a 5 and a 6 which totals up to 11. This is a very strong starting position and the only dealer card which would make you nervous would be an Ace. In this situation you should always double up your bet, unless the dealer has that Ace, because any card 6 or higher would give you a great chance of winning the hand.

 

Example 3:

Let’s say you get dealt 2 aces, this is not only a great hand in Texas Hold’em but also very strong in Blackjack although not together as you would have to take the lower value for at least one of them, i.e a value of 1 which gives a total of 12 which is not a very nice starting position. What you would do in this situation is split the cards so that each new hand now has a starting value of 11. If at least one of them gets an extra card with a value of 10 then you have Blackjack.

 

This then is the basics of Blackjack, obviously this is just a very brief overview but in reality it is not a very complicated game and can be enjoyed by anyone. I would recommend playing a few hands for play money until you get comfortable with it and then start playing to win some proper money. A great casino for Blackjack games  is 888 Casino.

Extreme Turbo Poker is a very popular variant of a Sit & Go tournament, also referred to as SNG tournaments. Poker Tournaments seem to be taking over more and more from regular "Ring" games at  Online Poker Rooms. It is easy to find these games but one of the places I recomend for good Sit & Go Tournaments, and in particular Extreme Turbo Poker, is Spin Palace Poker.

Sit & Go Poker tournaments are described in other articles on this site but in brief they are the most flexible form of Poker tournament there is. All you have to do is go to the Poker Room lobby, click on Sit & Go Tournaments and then click on the betting level you are happy with, for example $5. As long as there are still places free on a table you can join it. If all the tables are full then just wait a few minutes, a new one is sure to pop up. Most poker rooms mix all the variants of Sit & Go tournaments together and there are quite a few different types, like heads up and full table freezeouts and I will be discussing all these other types in future articles.

Extreme Turbo Poker is usually played as a No-Limit Texas Hold’em game but I have seen some Omaha games as well. The rules are much the same as in any other Poker tournament, you are given a stack of chips in return for your entry fee to the tournament. It is then a straight elimination match between you and your opponents and usually the top 2 or 3 players will share the total cash pot, which will be the entry fee multiplied by the number of players who entered. It should also be noted that Extreme Turbo Hold’em is usually played shorthand with 6 people but can also be played longhand with 10 players.

The main difference with Extreme Turbo Poker compared to standard Sit & Go poker tournaments is the speed with which the blinds increase. Each stage of the tournament is split into levels and each of these levels correspond with a betting level. In a standard poker tournament these levels rise every 5-10 minutes but with extreme turbo Poker is is every few hands so very soon the blinds can be up into the hundreds. This of course means that you have to play very aggressively right from the start to build up your stack otherwise the blinds will eventually destroy you. In many respects it is similar to the final few hands of a multi-table freeroll or standard multi-table poker tournament, where the betting levels are typically very high at the end and there is a lot of bullying and stealing of blinds. A lot of good players therefore use Extreme Turbo tournaments to practice for this stage of poker tournaments as well as also playing "Heads up" Poker, where there are just 2 players, to practice the final end game!

People either love or hate Extreme Turbo Poker tournaments and it depends a lot on whether you are a tight or aggressive player. I would however recommend that if you don’t like it you should probably force yourself to play it as it means you need to get out of your comfort zone, every one should feel comfortable in playing good solid aggressive poker sometimes, whereas at other times it is important to have the discipline of playing tight.

In summary Extreme Turbo Poker is an extreme roller-coaster ride through Poker World and I highly recommend you all check it out. 

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As you can see from the pages of our websites and  indeed just by having a look around the internet that there is a massive choice of online casinos, poker rooms and other online gambling sites like sportsbooks and online bingo places on the internet these days. It is however important that you choose an online gambling site which is right for you and this depends on a number of factors.

Firstly you need an online casino or poker room which is reliable. All of the casinos that we have listed on High-Roller Casinos are reputable and honest. If you should ever have any problems with any of them then please inform us and we will chase them for you, that is our service to you. 

The second thing to look out for is the type of games which are offered. In our reviews we try to give an indication of the games offered by each of the online casinos and poker rooms but the only proper way of seeing this is by visiting the site, downloading the software, registering for a play/fun account and trying out some of their games. If you decide that you like their games, you can deposit some real money and start playing for real.

The third thing are the bonuses. I could write several articles purely on the topic of bonuses and in fact I plan too over the coming weeks but for the purposes of this article I want to stress one thing, always read the terms and conditions of the bonuses before signing up for them so that you know what the gambling requirements are etc. Some bonuses seem mind blowing large but have big conditions attached to them whilst other smaller bonuses are actually far more realistic and you can achieve them just through regular play. It is also important to note that some games are excluded from bonuses, very often Blackjack is.

One final important factor when choosing an online casino is the customer service offered, you should always keep an eye out for Live support or Live chat, if a casino offers this then it is a sure sign that they take customer service very seriously. With Live chat the casino or poker room provide a customer service agent who you can talk to in real time and therefore resolve your problems much quicker. This isn’t to say that casinos and poker rooms without live chat aren’t good but it is a definite plus.

In summary, choosing the right casino for you is probably a combination of all these factors and many more, the most important thing and the best way to get started is to read our reviews, look at how we scored the casinos and poker rooms, click on the link and check them out for yourself, if you like what you see, sign up and enjoy.

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One of the most popular bets for inexperienced craps players is the field bet. Once again, it seems like a good bet. The betting area occupies a large chunk of the craps layout at each end of the table. For the table minimum, a player can wager that the two, three, four, nine, ten, eleven or twelve will appear on the next roll. Only a five, six, seven or eight will defeat that bet. The bet pays even money.

But take a closer look. Even though the field numbers winners seem to be more numerous than the losers, it’s simply not true. The amount of dice combinations that make up those seven numbers totals 16. But there are 20 ways to roll the five, six, seven and eight, so the player is giving the house a 5.56 per cent advantage. Looks can be deceiving in craps.

Another often well advertised bet at most dice games is the big six or eight. Because the six and eight are rolled so frequently, players mistakenly believe it is a good bet. By placing this bet, the player is betting that a six or eight will appear before a seven is rolled.

It is the same bet as a place bet on the six or eight, but the payout is considerably worse. By placing the six or eight, the player receives odds of 7-6, but a winning wager on the big six or eight only gets even money. A casino advantage of 9.1 per cent means the player will lose £1 for every £11
gambled. By placing the six or eight, players are dramatically reducing the casino’s advantage to only 1.5 per cent, meaning a player loses £1 for every £66 bet. But you won’t see that advertised anywhere. Only the most knowledgeable players realize they can get the best bets at the craps tables, while avoiding the “sucker” bets.