Sports handicapping results

June 13th, 2009

You can improve your chances of accurately predicting the results of a  sporting event by analysing the past sports handicapping results.   Often a thorough analysis can throw up interesting trends.

Poker and gaming supplies

June 4th, 2009

You can purchase poker and gaming supplies at very competitive prices directly from Asia at Twift.com . These include dealer buttons, poker accessories, poker cases,  poker chips set and poker tables.  50 dice clay composite chips cost $10.94 , while 50 Sticker clay composite chips cost $11.36 .

Cards

December 11th, 2008

When the dealer is getting lucky i.e. winning quite a lot of times, it might be a good idea to just stop and watch a couple turns.  At most of the casinos, the cards when dealt are faced down to prevent any kind of cheating. The dealer always receives one card down and one card up.

The value of the cards are as follows:

All numbers except an Ace, Jack, Queen, and King are special cards. While all the numbers from 2 -10 represent their card number, numbers such as 10, J, Q, K are all equivalent to 10. An Ace could be used as 1 or 10. You can easily “hit” or “stay” by using the options on the computer screen.

The dealer has another important rule to obey: If it has numbers adding to less than 16, then he must take another card. If the number exceeds 17, he cannot hit again thus has to “stay”.

When a player gets a Blackjack with the first 2 cards, he is paid 150% of the original bet. So, for example, if someone bets $100, then he will be paid $150.

Blackjack table

December 9th, 2008

The rules differ slightly from casinos to casino. However the casinos we list here all follow the same rules. So, once you’ve mastered the rules listed on this site, you can easily play at all the casinos .

At the blackjack table,there is a dealer and from one to seven players. The first seat on the dealer’s left is referred to as First Base, the first seat on the dealer’s right is referred to as Third Base.

A betting square is printed on the felt table in front of each player seat. Immediately in front of the dealer is the chip tray. On the dealer’s left is the deck or shoe and beside that is a sign for the minimum bet. Just to its left is the slot where the dealer keeps all the money and its also where all the money is deposited. On the dealer’s immediate right is the money drop slot where all currency and tips (chips) are deposited. Next to the drop slot is the discard tray. Play begins after the following ritual is completed: the dealer shuffles the cards, the deck is “cut” by a player using the marker card, and the dealer “burns” a card. The player can choose its wagering amount by placing the desired chips in the betting box.

Options

December 7th, 2008

At this stage each player plays out their hand with the dealer playing last. Their options are below
Stand: The player can stand meaning no more cards are dealt to the player.
Hit: The player may hit and he receives another card.
Double: The player doubles his bet and receives one more card. If he wins he will double his payout or double his loss if he looses.
Split: If the first two cards are of the same face value (or point value in some rules) then the player my split his hand. The two new hands must have bets equal to the original and are played out individually. Some casinos allow multiple splits and may or may not allow doubling after splitting.

Surrender: Not always available, this option allows the player to surrender his cards and half his bet if he doesn’t like his chances when seeing his first two cards. If the player can only surrender after the dealer checks for blackjack then this is known as a late surrender. If the player can immediately surrender this is known as early surrender which I have not seen on any online casino to this date.

Once all players have played each of their hands the dealer plays out his. The dealer will follow a set of rules which means he has no free will to take advantage of knowing what the players hand is. The most common rule is that the dealer will hit on any combination below 17, and stand on 17 and above. Other variations including hitting on 17 and hitting on a soft 17.

Blackjack Rules

December 3rd, 2008

Blackjack Rules

Decks: 1 - 8
Card Values:
Cards ranking 2 - 10 have their face value
Jack, Queen, King - Value of 10
Ace - Value of 1 or 11

To Win: The player wins when his cards have a higher point score than the dealers without going over 21 which is know as busting. The best hand is being dealt blackjack, which is a combination of an Ace and a card worth 10 points. Three or more cards with the value of 21 are not considered “blackjack” and blackjack wins over three cards totaling 21. If the player has an ace its value can be 1 or 11, which is referred to as hard and soft hands. An example is an Ace and an Eight, which is a hard 9 or a soft 19. This means if the player took another card and it was a five they would not bust because their new hand would be worth 14 not 24. If both the player and the dealer busts, the house wins. Generally if the dealer and the player have the same hand then it’s known as a “push” and bets are returned.
Payouts:
Scoring blackjack usually pays 3:2.
A normal win pays 1:1.
Insurance pays 2:1 (see below)

After placing your initial bet the dealer deals cards one at a time in a clock wise direction with the dealer receiving the last card. The player is dealt two cards face up and the dealer one face up, one face down; known as the hole card. Depending on which game variation, if the dealer is dealt a 10 or an Ace then he will check immediately for blackjack. If the dealer is showing an Ace it may be possible to purchase insurance, which is betting that the dealer will get blackjack, so is insuring against the worse. Insurance bets cost equal to the initial bet and they payout at 2:1. If the dealer does not have blackjack you will loose your insurance money otherwise you win.

Blackjack

November 18th, 2008

In the game of Blackjack there is a dealer and one or more players i.e the opponents. Although all the players are opponents, they can not harm you in any way. Much of the game is based on luck as well.

Each player is dealt with two cards to start with and the players can then ask for more until they either bust (when the total exceeds 21) or they feel the need to stop. If you get a “blackjack” i.e. a total of 21 you automatically win.

“need to stop” means that if you have a lower card total than 21 and you feel that you might bust on getting a new card, you can stop. If the dealer does not go over 21 and has a total lower than yours, then you win, otherwise the dealer wins and the money is lost. The dealer however must stop at 17. If you have the same card total as the dealer, from 17 and up, no one wins and you get your bet back.

Blackjack (an Ace and either a 10 or a face card) beats a regular hand of 21 (i.e. one not containing an Ace, but comprised of a combination of other cards, such as an 8, a 7, and a 6).

Gambling

November 12th, 2008

About gambling, blackjack, casinos, rules