Baccarat was introduced from Italy to France during the reign of Charles VIII of France who ruled from 1483 to 1498. It became a very popular game amongst French nobility. Although baccarat has always been extremely popular in European and Latin American casinos, baccarat never really caught on as strongly as Blackjack in casinos in the United States.
In the 1950s, baccarat became more popularized in Vegas largely because of the efforts of Frank Sinatra who was a co-owner of The Sands at that time. The game of Baccarat was targeted to high rollers-the tables for baccarat were exclusive territories that were roped off and had dealers dressed in tuxedos.
In more recent years, many US casinos are offering 'mini baccarat' with lower stakes and played on a standard blackjack shaped table. Baccarat is really a simple game with only three possible outcomes-player, banker and tie. The term player does not refer to the gambling customer, banker does not refer to the house, and it is simply an option on which gamblers can bet.
It is an unusual game in that any score of 10 is worth zero, or baccarat. Nine is the highest score that can be achieved. Two face cards would have a score of zero, a nine and six would not equal 15, but rather equal five (minus the first digit). Aces count as one and the rest of the cards retain their face value.
There are 3 accepted variants of baccarat: Baccarat Chemin de Fer (railway), Baccarat Banque (or a deux tableau) and Punto Banco (North American baccarat). Punto Banco is played in the United States, Canada and Australia-a variation of baccarat in which the casino banks the game at all times. Gamblers may bet on either the player or the banker, the designations for the two hands dealt in each game. The object of Punto Banco is to bet on the hand with the highest total, remembering that two face cards equal zero (10 plus 10 equals 20, minus the first digit is zero or baccarat).
Mini baccarat is a fairly popular game because of the lower stakes. It is essentially the same game as Punto Banco, but played on a table similar to a Blackjack table. Baccarat and mini baccarat can be found at many casinos across the United States and Canada, although it is not as popular as some of the other illustrious gambling card games like Texas hold 'em poker and Blackjack.
Riverboat casinos were first legalized in Iowa in 1991 and their popularity has increased dramatically since that time. At first, gambling on riverboat casinos was limited to $5.00 bets and a maximum loss of $200.00 for each cruise passenger. Riverboat casinos gradually moved to Illinois and Mississippi, where there were no limits and casinos were open 24 hours a day. In 1994, riverboat casinos were introduced to Missouri, the last state to legalize riverboat casinos.
Riverboat casinos are legal in six states, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Missouri. They resemble the grand riverboats of the past; however, they seldom leave the shore and remain at dockside. The Mississippi riverboat casinos must be permanently docked, with gangplanks from the shore to the casino. Some riverboat casinos, "boats on moats," are large barges with casinos on deck, designed to float on pools adjacent to the river. The majority of the riverboat casinos operate on the Missouri, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers, with the exception of Illinois, which allows them on the Des Plaines, Ohio, and Illinois rivers, as well. Each state has its own gambling restrictions for riverboat casinos, including number allowed, types of games, admission charges, number of hours spent in cruising, and amount of gambling time allowed.
There are a variety of games on riverboat casinos, including blackjack, craps, roulette, poker, slots, and video poker, as well as frequent shows, featured performers, dinner, and dancing. Some popular riverboat casinos include the Argosy VI in Indiana, with 2,300 slots and 80 table games for over 4,000 passengers; the Grand Victoria Casino in Illinois; the Ameristar Casino in Missouri, with the largest floating casino floor in the world; and the Mississippi Belle II in Iowa. The Tunica Queen, a 3-deck riverboat casino featuring afternoon and evening gambling cruises, is very popular in Mississippi. One of the newest riverboat casinos is L’Auberge du Lac in Louisiana, a single-level deck, with 30,000 square feet of gambling space, 60 table games, and 1,600 slot machines. Another well-known riverboat casino in Louisiana is the Treasure Chest, featuring 1,000 slot machines and several types of poker games.
Riverboat casinos add millions of dollars in revenue to the economy of each state, as well as providing employment for thousands. Although natural disasters affect the riverboat casinos each year, gaming developers and individuals contribute to rapid reconstruction and reopening. There remains a bright future for riverboat casinos because of their convenience, reasonable prices, and inexpensive entertainment.
Before the advent of the Internet it was the belief that everyone who plays card games is a gambler. Playing card games was popular only among the rich and the idle in the pre-internet era. It was the modalities of playing card games that ensured that only those with ample time, money and resources could maintain the hobby of playing cards.
To play card games you were supposed to be a member of a card club or group, visit the club frequently and have a regular group of players. All this could be easily managed by the idle rich people but professional people didn't have the time and the convenience to indulge themselves in such activities. Casinos were not accessible to most of the people as there was an expensive entry fee, demanded ample time and the convenience of visiting and playing for hours. Although these games were not always played for money but most of the players indulged themselves in these games in order to make quick money without any efforts. It was supposed to be a game of luck!
With the invention of internet the scenario of gambling and casinos changed completely. With the advent of the online card games the participants of these games have tremendously increased. Internet made it possible for people from all over the world to gather under one roof of internet and play games. Now, the players were not worried about getting nobody to play with in odd hours as you could be sure of finding at least a few people to play with online card games as internet is accessed by people from all over the world. In most of the games you can play against an automated dealer or computer and other players were not required. Online card games completely changed the scenario of gambling as anyone with a computer, an internet connection and a credit card can connect to the internet and play online games for as much time as he desires. Most of the conventional card games have been transformed into online card games. Along with the blackjack and poker which are famous whether online or offline there are thousands of online card game sites with all regular card games like poker, bridge, cribbage, euchre, hearts, canasta, rummy, cribbage, solitaire and spades which exist as much loved and often played online cad games.
Multi player online card game sites are also available that provides the facility to gamble with each other without coming in close proximity with each other. Today, online card games is a multi billion dollar industry and still flourishing and it is the convenience and the ease of accessing games online that have made the industry a money generator machine. The rate at which people are playing online card games a day will come when there will be a virtual Vegas on the net that would be as profitable as it is in the real world today.
Well, I must say that before tonight I was a virgin. I had never ventured into the internet casino world. I could not believe how good it was. I enjoyed every minute and of course all I wanted was more, more, more. Many on line casinos offers you money to start. Of course this is genius. Not only was it enough to get me hooked, but you get a certain amount for each type of betting. So once I ran out on one, spent a little of my own money, then I went to start the next one with my freebies.
As you can imagine I tested almost all of the games and I spent a bit of my own cash. I have to say, that I had a ball doing it. After my first time experience I went to see what else was out there. It might have been because it was my first, but I do feel that these on line casinos have alot to offer. They have up to 20% sign up bonuses, & prompt payouts.
Being so inexperienced, the fact that most have 24 hour live support available, I felt secure about taking chances and trying some games. I might not have tried all of the new games I had never even heard of if there was not help available. Of course, most have guaranteed account security, and free and easy upgrades. Just like Las Vegas and Atlantic City, some of the high class on line casinos offers high roller comp programs.
It really was so good to begin with, then the addition of all of the 3-D graphics and digital audio were just icing on the cake. The sites looked so cool. With all of the bells and whistles, it makes you feel like you are playing in Las Vegas. Of course we can't forget the free software that you can download. Believe it or not, I have learned that some gambling sites have software to download in order to play, but you have to purchase the download for a small fee. Do not jump into bed with the first site you see. Shop around because there are some sites that do not require any fee to download the software to play.
Most sites invite you to experience the most realistic, computer casino in the world. The games are lightening fast and provide endless fun. They pay out more than it’s required in Las Vegas or Atlantic City. You can either play for fun or play for real money. Some casinos have 125 games to play, with both European and American standards. Also there are minimum and maximum bets with different game values. To top it off, most have 3D photo realistic game play and some have a very extensive game lists to choose from.
As you will learn as you start wondering around the gaming world, if you have any problems concerning a particular casino’s games, do not hesitate to write to them. Your satisfaction is their top priority. They will do their best to respond to your questions in the shortest possible time. Here is a list of game categories that I found on the Web. There are endless possibilities.
TABLE GAMES: Casinos feature all your favorite table games. They have six different varieties of blackjack, various poker games and even progressive Caribbean. Many sites have a preview picture to click on so you can see if this would be a game you would like to try.
SLOTS: The higher end casinos feature the highest quality gaming software in the world. Enjoy virtual casino action at home or in the office with great Blackjack, Slots, Video Poker, Roulette and more. You can shop around to find which site is the ultimate site for slot lovers. Some sites are more geared towards slots than some other casinos. Many sites have up to 25 different varieties of slots and 6 denominations. That can be 150 ways to plays slots. Some also have mini slots that you can run in the corner of your screen while you’re at work(wouldn’t that help you get through the day).
VIDEO POKER: There are a select few sites that have a wide selection of video poker games. Unlike other casinos these select have Multi Hand video poker as well. Play video poker with several hands at the same time.
SPECIALTY GAMES: A few casinos have both American and European Roulette. The ″better″ sites have crap tables that use real physics simulation and not a random number generator. Watch the dice roll. Some of these sites also have European Slot Poker- some call that Fruit Poker. No matter what you call it’s a must try.
PROGRESSIVES: You will find that most on line casinos will features all your favorite progressive games. This seems to be more common.
I will now only settle for a high quality gaming environment and the most secure payment system on the net. I also have been told that if you stick with one site, you will notice that the company will try to introduce exciting new games every month.
I learned alot during my first experience. I do know now that I will not settle for less. I will demand the best in on line gaming. I know now that there are sites out there that will give you the experience of a lifetime without having to leave the house. I had so much fun, I think I am hooked.
Recently I took ten days off and went to Las Vegas! This was my sixth trip there in the last three years In the last 6 visits I think I have found out some great places to eat gamble and sleep- So I am posting this as my offical Las Vegas Review.
If you have never been to Las Vegas or haven’t been there in 2 years than this review will be helpful to you. The city is constantly changing and growing. I love playing Texas Holdem poker online but after playing everday for quite some time it is nice to get away. And it is nice to be able to afford to take a nice vacation like this. Before I became an online poker player as a profession I would never have dreamed of going to Vegas for ten days and satying at one of the most beautiful hotels in the world- The Venetian….
Transportation
On my first trip to Vegas we didn’t rent a car. We took a shuttle for 8 bucks from the airport to out hotel and walked or took the bus/ taxis for the rest of the trip. Ever since then we have rented a car. If you go midweek or offseason It is very cheap to rent a car in Vegas. We never payed more than 25 bucks a day. If you add up the cost of taxis and shuttles, it seems much smarter to rent a car.
Beware if you are a timid driver, people drive like maniacs there! If you prefer to get the exercise than the shuttle may be the best bet for you. There are buses every 10 min going up and down the strip, and there are many free mono rail trams going beetween many of the casinos on the strip.
My reccomendation is to rent a car and bring a wad of singles with and valet it. If you are like me you will want to go and see all of the beautiful casinos. There is nothing better than driving to the front door and having it parked. I usually tip a buck or two. Otherwise you can park in the parking structures for free.
Hotels
On my most recent vacation I went with my friend Kurt. Below are some pics of our hotel room at the Venetian. If you can afford to I would highly suggest staying here. It was by far the nicest hotel I have ever been to. The bathroom was HUGE, with a jacuzzi tub, double sink, seperate shower, the toilet was in a seperate room with a phone, marble floors.
Our Room
The Venetian and the Bellagio are the 2 nicest hotels in Las Vegas. They are expensive. I have been to many hotels in Vegas and it all depends on what you want out of your vacation. Most people will gamble and drink into the wee hours of the morning so the hotel won’t matter much. If you want to stay at the cheapest hotel possible and stay close to gambling I reccomend staying downtown. I stayed at the Las Vegas Club downtown last year. Midweek you can get a room for 35-45 bucks a night. On that trip we only slept about 10 hours total the 3 nights we were there, so the hotel didnt matter much.
However the Las Vegas Club was pretty nice the rooms were very large thay had a couch. I have stayed at other hotels downtown and most are in that price range and more expensive weekends and peak season. So If you want to be pampered and stay somewhere nice find a hotel on the strip- The Venetian and the Belagio are very nice, and very expensive. The MGM or Luxor or New York are mid priced.. If you want to go cheap stay downtown.
Drinks
If you love to gamble and love to drink PERFECT- If you are gambling drinks are free. So dont spend 8 bucks at the bar, hit the tables or slots and drink on the house.
Gambling
I have gambled at many-a-casino in Vegas. I think on this last 10 day vacation we hit most of them. My suggestion for gambling comes down to preference and cash. On weekends and peak times it is hard to find a blackjack table with a 5 dollar minimum on the strip. Most are ten bucks and up. So If you are on a budget I suggest gambling downtown. They have plenty of five dollar tables and even three dollar tables. They also have single and double deck blackjack games downtown for lower limits. We found most casinos on the strip use auto shufflers and are 6+ decks- This makes for very bad odds. On this trip I mostly played blackjack. I consider online poker my profession and being on vacation I needed a little break. So I played mostly blackjack and the horses.
Some must see casinos are the Venetian, there are shops and the Venice canals, and beautiful paintings and artwork. Also the Belagio is a stunning casino, they have a water show in front set to music. If you are going to bet on horses or sports I suggest the sportsbook at the Belagio. They have personal flat screen TV’s leather chairs and they have plenty of cocktail waitreses supplying the drinks. We spent a lot of time here.
Food
Where to eat? We ate so much food on this trip, I must have gained 20 pounds…Lets start out with the buffets:
The best buffet I have ever had is The Spice Market Buffet in the Aladdin Casino. It was around $25 and the food was amazing. They had food in diferent categories, American, Mexican, etc. Everything I tasted was delicious. The fruit they had was fresh, the desserts were amazing. I highly recommend this buffet.
Another great buffet is The Buffet at the Belagio. This buffet was very close in price and taste to the Spice Market buffet. If you like seafood I would recommend this one. They also have Beef Wellingtion, Prime rib and Colby beef, very delicious.
The largest buffet would have to be the buffet at the Rio, The Carnival World Buffet. This buffet was 25-30 bucks. It had a huge selection but I was not impressed with the food.
The worst buffet we had was breakfast at Bally’s buffet. The food was not very poor. The Orange juice tasted like Tang.
Non- Buffet Eats
Burger?
The best burger would have to be at The Burger Bar in Mandalay Bay. they have Colby Beef burgers, which are not cheap. Around 16 bucks, but the were very good.
Want a great steak? The best steak I ever ate in Vegas was at Alan Alberts on the strip. It is a very nice restaraunt, great service, great food. Pricey but well worth it if your looking for a mouth watering steak. 3763 Las Vegas Blvd
Italian Food
Want some great Italian food, at a great old school eatery? Try Batista’s Hole in the Wall. The restaurant walls are lined with celebrity autograpghed pictures. They even have an accordion player walking from table to table. The food is excellent. Meals come with your choice of wine, a salad, entree and complimentary cappuccino. I had the Chicken parm and it was very good. It was around 20-25 bucks a meal.
Cheap Eats
Lost all your cash at the tables? There are some great deals on meals all over Vegas. Kurt and tried most of them. If you are looking for upscale dining skip this section!
At The Las Vegas Club’s Upperdeck downtown- We ate NY strip steak, eggs, hashbrowns and toast for $2.95!!! And it was actually very good.
Another great deal is the Prime rib at San Remos across from the MGM. You get bread, salad, prime rib, baked potato, vegetables all for $5.95. The slice of prime rib was pretty thin but for 6 bucks it was worth it. Another cheap meal we had a few times is, Steak and Lobster dinner at Careful Kitys in the El Cortez downtown. It was like 10 bucks and pretty good.
Bars and Clubs
Wanna hit the clubs? One of my favorites is the Ghost Bar on top of the Palms casino. They filmed MTV’s Real World las Vegas at the Palms, and the cast frequented the Ghost bar.. Its part outside on the top of the building. The views of the strip are amazing. Mostly a younger crowd.
Tangerine at Treasure Island was also pretty good. You could also go outside with views of the strip and the Pirate show.
If you run out of cash and still want to get some drinks- go to a sportsbook. Kurt perfected this method! Grab a program and a seat and wait for the cocktail waitress to come around. Make sure to tip her and she will keep coming back!
There are a number of people involved in the world of gambling but surprisingly, these people are still unable to turn valuable knowledge into a consistent stream of gambling profits. Sadly, they will never be able to.
They just want to play to ″have fun″. Fair enough you may think, but what is so fun about losing money? Furthermore, what is so fun about losing money when, with a little discipline and diversification, you could leave the casino a winner?
The average person spends two to three nights when visiting a gambling destination and plays 80% of the time while there. Some punters play without taking a short siesta and even worse, some without pausing to eat. These people are involved in an ongoing losing process from the time they step foot onto the casino floor.
It is even more surprising when these people continue to sit at a losing blackjack table or continue to play the passline in a craps game without any viable shooters. In a word, it is careless. Why would anyone enjoy gambling under these circumstances?
The reason so many people lose their money when they gamble is because they are there to lose. Subconsciously, from the time the pack their bags they have in mind what they are ″going to lose″ before they come home.
Think about it. In the casino, often one of the things heard on the casino floor is, ″After I lose this, I’m going to…″ If that is the attitude of gamblers before going to a casino, they deserve to lose. On the other hand if they go with a winning attitude, they deserve to win.
Take note of the people in casinos who appear to be winning, they are winning because that is exactly the reason they are there.
Games at the casino have been attracting people for many years. The thrill of gambling and the sheer joy of making windfall money have been the most potent factors drawing people. As a form of entertainment, it is unbeatable in providing total enjoyment to the participants. A recent addition has been the free online casinos. These casinos have been developed thanks to the advancements in software technology.
Difficulties in land-based casinos
The traditional land-based casinos have certain requirements. They need the individual to be present at the casino, sign up for the games, part with their stake money and play up their odds. This may be an easy affair for an experienced person, but to a novice it would be quite overwhelming. Also, there are no second chances or trial games. Hence, it would be quite expensive for him when he learns from his mistakes.
Advantages of online casinos
There are several advantages with the free online casinos. The player can be located in any part of the world and he can choose to play at his own convenient time. The comfort of playing from familiar surroundings relieves him of stress. A novice can easily learn how to play. This is because these online casinos offer opportunities for trial games with play money. There are also other attractive features like bonuses for signing up. The companies that run the free online casinos are members of the IGC, an international organization for regulating the industry. This means that the companies enjoy credibility with respect to distributing prizes. Also, the software program used by the companies has to be vetted by one of the big eight international accounting firms. Hence, there is total security with respect to sensitive monetary information while the processes are transparent.
How to get started
There are several websites that give information on free online casinos.
The user can choose the game he wishes to play. He can download the game software or use Java applets or HTML platform to proceed with playing. He can also browse web directories for attractive bonuses for signing up besides free trial game offers. Most of the sites also have tips on odds. The instructions for playing are usually simple and a newcomer can easily learn in a few days.
Outlook for the future
The gaming industry, as a whole, is set for a giant leap in the coming years. As communication technology advances, free online casinos may become downloadable on a variety of gadgets including the mobile phone. Several games are available with excellent video and animation graphics. These are expected to soar in popularity.
A word of caution
It is always better to check the processes in the free online casinos. One should be wary of unscrupulous operators. Sensitive information should be disclosed in total privacy. After all, one plays a casino for entertainment. So, next time you wish to play poker, card game, backgammon or blackjack, head for your desktop! Good luck!
Online casino players know that the latter ones offer various bonuses. âFree-loadâ looks attractive, however, are they really useful these bonuses? Are they profitable for gamblers? The answer to this question depends on a lot of conditions. Mathematics will help us answer this question.
Letâ™s begin with an ordinary bonus on deposit: you transfer $100 and obtain $100 more, which it will be possible to get having staked $3000. It is a typical example of bonus on the first deposit. The sizes of a deposit and bonus can be different, as well as the required stake rates, but one thing remains unchangeable â" the amount of the bonus is accessible for withdrawal after the required wager. Till this moment it is impossible to withdraw money, as a rule.
If you are going to play in the online casino for a long time and rather insistently, this bonus will help you, it can really be considered free money. If you play slots with 95% pay-outs, a bonus will allow you to make on average extra 2000 $ of stakes ($100/(1-0,95)=$2000), after that the amount of bonus will be over. But there can be complications, for example, if you simply want to have a look at a casino, without playing for a long time, if you prefer roulette or other games, forbidden by casinosâ™ rules for winning back bonuses. In the majority of casinos you wonâ™t be allowed to withdraw money or will simply return a deposit, if a wager is not made on the games allowed in the casino. If you are keen on roulette or blackjack, and a bonus can be won back only by playing slots, make the required $3000 of stakes, in the course of 95% of pay-outs you will lose on average $3000*(1-0,95)=$150. As you see, you not only lose the bonus but also take out of your pocket $50, in this case it is better to refuse the bonus. Anyway, if blackjack and poker are allowed for winning back the bonus with a casinoâ™s profit only about 0,5%, so it can be expected that after winning back the bonus you will have $100-3000*0,005=$85 of the casinoâ™s money.
The âstickyâ or âphantomâ bonuses:
More and more popularity in casinos is gained by âstickyâ or âphantomâ bonuses â" the equivalent of lucky chips in real casinos. The amount of bonus is impossible to withdraw, it must remain on the account (as if it âhas stuckâ to it), until it is completely lost, or annulled on the first withdrawal of cash means (disappears like a phantom). At first sight it may seem that there is little sense in such a bonus â" you wonâ™t get money anyway, but itâ™s not completely true. If you win, then there is really no point in the bonus, but if you have lost, it may be of use to you. Without a bonus you have lost your $100 and thatâ™s it, bye-bye. But with a bonus, even if it is a âstickyâ one, $100 are still on your account, which can help you worm out of the situation. A possibility to win back the bonus in this case is a bit less than 50% (for that you only need to stake the entire amount on the chances in roulette). In order to maximize profits from ″sticky″ bonuses one needs to use the strategy âplay-an-all-or-nothing gameâ. Really, if you play little stakes, you will slowly and surely lose because of the negative math expectancy in games, and the bonus will only prolong agony, and wonâ™t help you win. Clever gamblers usually try to realize their bonuses quickly - somebody stakes the entire amount on chances, in the hope to double it (just imagine, you stake all $200 on chances, with a probability of 49% youâ™ll win neat $200, with a probability of 51% youâ™ll lose your $100 and $100 of the bonus, that is to say, a stake has positive math expectancy for you $200*0,49-$100*0,51=$47), some people use progressive strategies of Martingale type. It is recommended to fix the desired amount of your gain, for example $200, and try to win it, taking risks. If you have contributed a deposit in the amount of $100, obtained âstickyâ $150 and plan to enlarge the sum on your account up to $500 (that is to win $250), then a probability to achieve your aim is (100+150)/500=50%, at this the desired real value of the bonus for you is (100+150)/500*(500-150)-100=$75 (you can substitute it for your own figures, but, please, take into account that the formulas are given for games with zero math expectancy, in real games the results will be lower).
The cash back bonus:
There is a seldom encountered variant of a bonus, namely return of loosing. There can be singled out two variants â" the complete return of the lost deposit, at this the returned money usually is to be won back like with an ordinary bonus, or a partial return (10-25%) of the loosing over the fixed period (a week, a month). In the first case the situation is practically identical to the case with a âstickyâ bonus â" if we win, there is no point in the bonus, but it helps in case of losing. Math calculations will be also analogous to the âstickyâ bonus and the strategy of the game is similar â" we risk, try to win as much as possible. If we are not lucky and we have lost, we can play with the help of the returned money, already minimizing the risk. Partial return of the losing for an active gambler can be regarded as an insignificant advantage of casinos in games. If you play blackjack with math expectancy â" 0,5%, then, having made stakes on $10 000, you will lose on average $50. With 20% of return $10 will be given back to you, that is you losing will amount to $40, which is equivalent to the increase in math expectancy up to 0,4% (ME with return=theoretical ME of the game * (1-% of return). However, from the given bonus can also be derived benefit, for that you need to play less. We make only one but a high stake, for example $100, on the same stakes in roulette. In 49% of cases again we win $100, and 51% - we lose $100, but at the end of the month we get back our 20% that is $20. As a result the effect is $100*0,49-($100-$20)*0,51=$8,2. As you see, the stake then has positive math expectancy, but dispersion is big for we’ll be able to play this way rather seldom â" once a week or even once a month.
I will allow myself a short remark, slightly digressing from the main subject. On a casino forum one of the gamblers started to claim that tournaments were not fair, arguing it in the following way: ″No normal person will ever make a single stake within the last 10 minutes of the tournament, which 3,5-fold surpasses the prize amount ($100), in nomination of a maximal losing, so as to win. What is the point?″
And really does it make sense? The situation is very similar to the variant with return of losing. If a stake has won â" we are already in the black. If it has lost â" weâ™ll get a tournament prize of $100. So, the math expectancy of the above-mentioned stake amounting to $350 is: $350*0,49-($350-$100)*0,51=$44. Yes, we may lose $250 today, but shall win $350 tomorrow, and over a year playing every day, we’ll accumulate pretty 365*$44=$16 000. Having solved a simple equation, weâ™ll find out that stakes up to $1900 are profitable for us! Of course, for such a game we need to have thousands of dollars on our account, but we certainly canâ™t blame casinos for dishonesty or gamblers for being foolish.
Letâ™s come back to our bonuses, to the most âfree-loadâ ones- without any deposit. Of late one has been able to notice more and more advertisements promising up to $500 absolutely free of charge, without any deposit. The pattern is the following â" you really get $500 on a special account and limited time for play (usually an hour). After an hour you get only the amount of your gain, but still not more than $500. The gain is transferred on a real account where you must win it back, like any bonus, usually having run it 20 times in slots. $500 free â"it sounds attractive, but what is the real price of the bonus? Well, the first part â" you need to win $500. Using a simplified formula, we can see that probability of winning is 50% (in practice, it is certainly even smaller). The second part â" we win the bonus back, you need to stake $10 000 in slots. We donâ™t know the rates of pay-outs in slots, they are not published by casinos and make up on average about 95% (for various kinds they fluctuate about 90-98%). If we get at an average slot, then till the end of the wager weâ™ll have $500-10 000*0,05=$0 on our account , not a bad game… If we are lucky to choose a slot with high pay-outs, we can await $500-10 000*0,02=$300. Even though the probability to choose a slot with high pay-outs is 50% (you have listened to the opinions of other gamblers since by random choice this probability will make up hardly more than 10-20%, for there are few generous slots), in this case the value of a generous deposit free bonus amounts to $300*0,5*0,5=$75. Much less than $500, but still not too bad, though we can see that even with the most optimal suppositions the final amount of the bonus has decreased seven-fold.
I hope, this excursion into mathematics domain of bonuses will be of use to gamblers - if you want to win, you simply need to think a little and make calculations.
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One of the best ways of foreseeing the future is to understand the human nature. Our needs, hopes, problems and dreams are often the basis for our future making. The nature of the human being is one of the most important ingredients in a complicated gambling business. Each of the parties - a casino and a gambler, long to win money from each other. And the growing strain will determine the future of the game.
Blackjack before 1962:
Before publication of the classic book "Beat The Dealer" by Edward O. Thorp in 1962 no single player had ever suspected of such a thing as the Basic Strategy. Everyone used one’s own mixture of superstitions concerning the way in which one or the other hand had to play. Plus, some experience gained while playing at home in the kitchen. Excluding a small number of professional card-players who intuitively presupposed that their overbalance would be more if there were more bowers left in a pack, practically none won in blackjack. Naturally, casinos felt quite comfortable under such conditions. Till 1962 blackjack was not very popular, though percentagewise the profit rate was exclusively high.
The next decade: from 1962 till 1972:
After publication of the book by Thorp the situation changed radically. When the book mounted the peak of sales, became a bestseller, and the professor Thorp became an internationally famous personality, casinos were terrified that thus everyone could learn the system of Thorp and would start beating casinos winning huge amounts of money. The results of this panic are well-known. The majority of casinos cardinally changed the blackjack rules creating even a larger overbalance in comparison with the previous set of rules. These introductions were effective a few weeks only as the majority of casinos' clients simply refused to play a game with such bad rules. Subordinating to the law of supply and demand casinos had to quickly restore traditional rules for all. After this gamblers started immediately to play again, more than that in considerably larger quantities. The popularity of Thorp's book played into the hands of casinos. Blackjack started to attract crowds of people who thought they could "beat a dealer" only after they had read one book.
But the fact remained that casinos' visitors continued to lose the same amounts of money while playing blackjack as before. Only the number of gamblers increased a hundred times. The majority of those who had read the book simply didn't understand the way the calculation of tens given in the book worked, and those who got to the bottom didn't take enough pains so as to master the system of calculation from A to Z. Casinos observed in surprise the incredibly increased profits.
Reedition of the book in 1966 gave a reader a simpler calculation system. Over that period of time a number of books on blackjack were published. The game gathered pace. Casinos were setting more and more tables. Blackjack was becoming the most popular game in casinos having outrun the previous leader craps.
Blackjack of the 70s:
The classic book "Playing Blackjack as a Business" by Lawrence Revere is responsible for further increase in popularity of the game in the 70s to a great extent. Revere published a shortened version of his systems at the beginning of 1969, but by 1972 already thousands of copies of the book were sold out. Revere republished an extended version of the book offering his simple and effective systems of the game which increased blackjack popularity even more. Also the book "Winning Blackjack" by Stanley Roberts, was in the right place at the right time, in addition the author appeared in a number of radio and TV-shows. Roberts invested a considerable amount of money into advertising of his book making a splash. Casinos were once again overcome by the fit of paranoia. They started to suspect that the systems developed with the help of research methods could considerably influence their profits. Casinos started to introduce a multi-pack blackjack instead of a one-pack blackjack to struggle against the system game. At the beginning of the 70s a lot of scientists, mathematicians, university professors and other "intellectuals" started to write books about blackjack. Some of them developed their own cards' calculation systems. One of the most popular and effective systems - Hi-Opt I, was developed in 1974 with the help of computer programs created by Julian Brown with participation of an anonymous postgraduate of a large Canadian university.
A lot of professional gamblers transferred from the Revere system to the Hi-Opt I system because of the relative simplicity and effectiveness of the latter one. A lot of ordinary gamblers started to use the system together with the basic strategy. These two systems evidently made the biggest impact upon casinos' profits because of their use by professionals. Roberts’ systems were more often used by amateurs.
Kenneth Uston, teams and Great Horror:
Kenneth Uston noticed sometime at the end of 1976 that he was amazed by the way how effective the simplest systems of Hi-Opt I type could be. In Uston's book "Big Player"the way how Uston and his companions won together more than a million of dollars playing blackjack is described. Later on his teams transferred from very complicated systems to the simplest of Hi-Opt I type. Uston was thrown out of a few big casinos of Las Vegas, and he filed lawsuit against them for a total amount of 80 million dollars.
With the arrival of Uston the whole new era of blackjack began. Casinos were once again frightened that teams could win huge amounts of money in blackjack. Nearly at once some casinos did away with a one- and two-pack blackjack transferring to 4-, 6- and 8-pack ones. For an average gambler blackjack became too difficult. Plus, casinos started to cut most cards out of play - to two packs. As has been mentioned by Roberts in one of his articles, such practice was at the very least doubtful. By the way, the fact itself of availability of cards which didn't enter the game caused new kinds of crooked gambling connected with withdrawal and addition of cards.
Casinos up to now change the number of packs and the extent of cutting, and compare levels of profits, thus balancing rules. In any case, rules are extremely difficult for gamblers in the USA, especially beginners.
The nightmare continues:
The funniest thing is that gamblers’ thoughts are not rigid. Uston's teams were followed by Keith Taft with his pocket computer for blackjack which played better than any profs in the world. The court of Nevada State broke the record of the USA on the quickness of adoption of statute on use of computers in casinos. Up to five years with confiscation in the current situation, though Taft and his advocates were sure of the unconstitutionality of that law.
Forbade the computer? There appeared Tommy Hyland and his most complicated systems of tracking. A new headache for casinos… To worsen the cutting, introduce more packs and make the procedure of riffle even longer. To invent shuffle-machines! Stanford Wong was the first to outwit these shuffle-machines. The most important thing was to know how they worked. Poor casinos didn't know what to do. These machines cost rather a lot. Perhaps new varieties would help? Spanish 21, Super-fan 21, 6:5 blackjack, "Open" blackjack, Blackjack-switch, Pontoon… With every introduction there was one problem: either no one played it at all or profs immediately found the way to beat it. Tournaments? Old Wong created teams especially for tournament struggle. Every new rule was calculated and intensively looked into a week in advance. The development of the Internet caused quick information distribution.
Further on the whole pleiad of gamblers of the contemporary generation came on stage. Wong, Sneider, Anderson, Dogerty, Shlesinger and heaps of people who were occupied with theory and practical aspects of the game. Mathematical models of the game were worked out. Texts on Blackjack were published in scientific reviews. Finally, up to the present moment a small number of professionals still win in blackjack. And will win in the future. Some profs transfer to more complicated systems which are plentiful (let's say, Hi-Opt II was published as far back as 1976). New methods and techniques are being developed.
There is no doubt that it will get still more and more difficult to win in blackjack. However, there difficulties only make gambling wits work harder and harder. Right away new game systems are being worked out in many heads and at many computers of the world. It is important to understand that gamblers always have a hope. They can change games. They can finally read a textbook on the theory of probability. They can read the same books themselves. They can spend even more money on the newest technologies. However, I assure You, there will always be a way to beat them.
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The situation with Sierra Leone’s casinos is much as you would expect in a dirt poor, grossly unequal, country just recovering from a devastating civil war. It is not exactly the most welcoming of tourist destinations, but still a place with a casino, and as the end of the war has raised hopes of improving that tourist industry, more on the way.
The country was founded by the British (at least, the modern version of the country was) as a place to return those slaves who had fought for them in the American Revolution. This was driven by much the same impulse that led the Americans themselves to found the country next door, Liberia, fifty years later. It also led to exactly the same problems 150 years later, for the returning freed slaves set themselves up as the ruling class and essentially lorded it over the indigenous tribes. In both countries, this led to vicious (and interlinked) civil wars in the 1990’s, which have only just been resolved. The countries are slowly returning to some form of normality.
Sierra Leone has had a further problem in that much of the wealth there was earned by the mining of gold and diamonds: this has led to the ″resource curse,″ which means the rulers live high on the hog from the fees for those products, while leaving the rest of the country to founder in desperate poverty.
In these circumstances, and Sierra Leone’s casinos are no different, you expect to see one or two flashy places in the capital, where that small elite can gamble and show off, while the rest of the population not only doesn’t gamble, but they don’t even have the cash money with which to do so.
List of Sierra Leone casinos.
Freetown: Bintumani Hotel & Casino
The Bintumani has blackjack and roulette tables.
There are also rumors that a second hotel is opening in Freetown with a casino: the Hotel Kimbima. Little is known about the games and tables they will be offering.
In common with many other African countries, there is a hope that expansion of the tourist trade will help the economy grow. Perhaps, those Europeans fleeing the gloom of a Northern Hemisphere winter can be seduced into spending time in the country, perhaps attracted by an expansion of Sierra Leone’s casinos? The only problem with this plan is that if everyone follows it there might not be enough tourists to go around.