Thursday, December 21, 2006

Gambling Site 101

STOP! Read the following first before tossing that dice. It may save you tons of money and a lot of heartaches.

Many gambling sites offer several promotional incentives like bonuses, guarantees, equal winning opportunities, multiple/solo player modes, higher bet limits and a whole lot more that can be quite dizzying and makes you leap into them before looking into what they really offer.

Let's try and have a look first before you throw down that dice and before you throw away your hard-earned money and miss out on all the fun that thousands of gambling sites offer.

There are several considerations that one must take with prudence before dealing with any gambling site.

The king of them all is to understanding their rules. Incentives are great but you play by their rules. Not all gambling sites have the same set of rules. Read them like you're about to take an exam. Look out for the fine prints, somewhere there might be a catch 22 situation. Understand the procedures and all the transactions they have pertaining to real money.

Just like any exemplary gambling site there is customer service support must be on top of their list. You are paying good money for enjoyment and a chance to win. They must have very excellent and professional people who would be ready to take your call and entertain any questions or complaints anytime of the day. Ask if they have toll free numbers.

Get to know the site better. You may do this by reading reviews, compare them to other gambling sites. There are also several websites that offer a listing of the gambling sites and their ratings. If you are new into online gambling you have to know that there are millions of gambling sites out there. Some better than the others.

Try out the games. Most gambling sites have features that lets you get the feel of their gaming programs for free. Try asking yourself if the interface was user-friendly and very intuitive. Does it have the feel of real poker game or baccarat? There should not be any distraction like having to press a certain key or key combination while the you are in the midst of a very exciting game.
Pressing the wrong key or clicking the wrong button could cause you the game.

You may also want to take a look at the support you are getting at your end with your PC and Internet connection. You may want a higher end PC to be able to play the better games that gambling sites offer. This usually means a higher memory requirement and a better video and sound card. Internet connection must be reliable and fast.

If ever you find yourself intrigued by a new game, understand how the game is played. Do your research on the new game. Get to know the all rules and strategies. Most often than not these gambling sites provide trials and test features for new games.

Those are a few tips for you to get to enjoy online gambling better, but don't roll that dice yet! Whether your sitting across your friends playing poker or sitting infront of the monitor playing black jack on a gambling site you have to come well prepared with a plan.

One more thing maybe a lucky rabbit would help.

So cross your fingers, say a little prayer and let that dice roll!

Temptation at Your Doorstep: Internet Gambling

Can you imagine being able to place a bet with just a press of a button? Can you imagine playing and betting as long as you want?

Can you imagine gambling from the comfort of your own home?

We know for a fact that gambling is risky business, and unrestrained gambling is just asking for trouble. Compulsive gamblers already have a hard time restraining themselves from the call of casinos and bookies, and now Internet gambling just takes the ante a step further.

With Internet gambling, you don’t need hard cash. Everything that is online is so easy to access. Play Baccarat, Blackjack, Craps, Keno, Roulette or Slots. Play all day, all night.

Before the 1990s, gamblers who wanted to place a casino or sports type bet in the United States basically had two choices: they could travel to a legitimate brick-and-mortar gaming establishment or place an illegal wager through a bookie. However, with the emergence of the Internet in the mid-1990s, a new form of gambling appeared; Internet gambling through gaming casinos and sports wagering. Internet gambling can take place on any electronic device that offers Internet access anywhere on the globe.

Internet gambling makes payment options for gambling individuals easy. They can just choose from several types of payment options other than credit cards. These include:

VISA and MasterCard cards: These cards are tied directly to the cardholder’s bank account. Funds for all transactions are deducted directly from the cardholder’s bank account, but cardholders can make credit card-type transactions that do not require a personal identification number.

Private-label debit cards: These cards are similar to check cards above but are issued by private companies rather than credit card associations.

On-line payment providers: These companies send and receive funds electronically for such uses as on-line auctions and purchases.

Wire transfers: Some Internet gambling sites promote this method of payment, which allows Internet gambling customers to wire money directly from a bank account to the site.

“E-cash” or digital cash: It is a digital representation of real money that can be placed on a computer hard drive, smart card and other devices with memory. It can be purchased from an authorized provider.

Internet gambling sites also offer money orders; traveler’s checks; bank drafts; cashier’s, certified, and personal checks; and a number of other electronic banking systems or processors as payment options. With Internet gambling’s easy payment options, even a non-gambler would be tempted to try.

Statistics also show that Internet gambling has nearly doubled every year since 1997 – in 2001 it exceeded $2 billion. It also boasts 110 sport-related Internet gambling sites.

According to the American Psychological Association, Internet gambling could be just as addictive as alcohol and drugs.

This is a confession from quoted from The Gambling Problem Talking Point website:

”... I am addicted to online poker, not to mention soccer betting and casinos whenever I am in the vicinity of one.

For the longest time I thought I had the beast under control. Thought I was smater than the pack, and shrewd enough to beat the pack. Considered my betting to be more of an investment than anything else.

How much hav I lost gambling? I am afraid to tally.

Has it ruined my life? Almost ... I guess being from a wealthy family, it helped me to cover the tracks not to mention the losses.

But enough is enough and I would like to kick the habit alltogether.

I am sorry if I sound a little cocky or arrogant ... I have a problem. And even now am half hearted to completely agree that I do have one.

Will I continue to gamble? I am not sure. I would like to stop, but it is just so easy with the Internet and all.

I guess if I was in NZ, I could join a group onj a regular basis and get some help in person. But in Malaysia, how do I do that?

From reading some of the posts here, I share all the common symptoms.

It is a disease, and can destroy the best of people, not to mention families and loved ones a like.

What can I do? How can I help myself...”

Internet gambling is a very slippery slope. It can ruin your life and the life of your loved ones. So the next time Internet gambling knocks on your door, think twice.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

The Games Gamblers Play: Casino Gambling 101

Casino gambling. The first thing that enters our mind is Vegas, slot machines, bright lights and chips. If you’re not a gambling person and you don’t know a lot about casino gambling, then read on...

According to the Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia, a casino is a building that accommodates casino gambling. Customers may gamble by playing slot machines or other games of chance and some skill. Casino gambling games usually have mathematically determined odds built in that ensure the house retains an advantage over the players. This advantage is called the “edge”. “Payout” is the percentage given to players. Some statistically even games may take a commission or tax, a "rake" on bets customers make against each other.

There are a lot of casino gambling games which can get you hooked in no time. First of all, you have the classic slot machine. A slot machine is a coin-operated casino gambling machine with three or more reels that rotate when a lever on the side of the machine is pulled. It includes a currency detector that validates the coin or money inserted to play. The machine typically pays off based on patterns of symbols visible on the front of the machine when it stops.

Sadly, casino gambling games often offer the player the illusion of control in which the player is given choices, but these choices do not eliminate the player's long-term disadvantage. This disadvantage is caused by the casino not paying the full amount that would be expected for the odds wagered. For example, if one game was played by betting what number a roll of a die would give, instead of paying 6 times the amount bet for winning, the casino only pays 5 times the amount bet.

This system is often found in famous casino gambling games like Poker, Craps, Roulette or Blackjack.

Poker is a very popular casino gambling card game. The players, with fully or partially concealed cards make wagers into a central pot, after which the pot is awarded to the remaining player or players with the best combination of cards.

Like Poker, Blackjack is also a very popular casino gambling card game. Much of its popularity is due to the mix of chance with elements of skill and decision making, and a practice called card counting. It is a skill in which players can turn the odds of the game in their favor by making betting and strategy decisions based on the cards that have been dealt. Players suspected of card counting are usually banned and blacklisted by casinos.

Craps is a famous casino gambling game using dice. Players wager money against the casino on the outcome of one roll, or of a series of rolls of two dice. The rules vary slightly from one casino to another, but the expected value of most bets is only slightly negative. All bets have a negative expectation, except the "free odds" bet with an expectation of 0, that the player is allowed to make after a point is established on a flat bet. Unlike in Blackjack, there is no possible winning strategy over any given period of time.

Roulette is a signature casino gambling game. A croupier turns a round roulette wheel which has 37 or 38 separately numbered pockets in which a ball must land. The main pockets are numbered from 1 to 36 and change between red and black, with number 1 being red. In addition there is a pocket numbered 0 of green color. In most roulette wheels in the United States but not in Europe, there is a second zero compartment marked 00, also colored green. If a player bets on a single number and wins, the payout is 35 to 1. The bet itself is returned, so in total it is multiplied by 36.

Be very wary though, these casino gambling games are highly addictive (as they are intended to be). A lot of lives have been ruined by casino gambling and although it might be fun, please do try to regulate yourself.

Free Gambling

So you want it free, eh? Well, the best things in the world are supposed to be free and I guess that includes gambling. There is nothing more exciting than the rush of blood in your head and body when you experience winning a straight streak but I bet, the excitement would double once you indulge on free gambling?

Is there such a thing as free gambling? Yes, there is. Before, free gambling does not exist because you should show the other players that you have the money to gamble before the games could commence. But now, thanks to invention of internet and computers, free gambling now exists. First things first, any person below 18 years old are not allowed to gamble neither free gambling nor paid one. Even though the gambling is held in the virtual world, there are still rules and regulation that needs to be observed properly.

In free gambling in the internet, one could choose from the different types of game available in the internet. The only drawback here is that the features for free gambling are often limited because it is free. In order to access special features in that gambling site, one could register and then pay a certain amount. But if you are just a beginner in the world of internet gambling, then it would be advisable to join free gambling sites. This is because gambling skills are needed to be practiced. Through these free sites, a person could exercise his skills in gambling and at the same time learn from his mistakes. After a lot of practice and determination, in time, one could be ready to be a professional gambler with wits and brains to boot to other competitors.

Here are some examples of free gambling sites that would surely satisfy the gambler side of every person. First stop is Pacific Poker. Pacific poker is a type of free gambling site that indulges the player with the game of poker. Next stop is Astro Bingo which is a free gambling haven for bingo lovers. Just for signing in their site, they would give you a free £5 sign up bonus. Another one is 888 Casino which offers free gambling games particularly casino games or games found in casinos. These include free poker games, craps, keno, roulette, blackjack and slots. If you are tired from all that usual stuff then Virgin games is probably the best free gambling site for you. It offers “life-changing” prizes at stake in every play that you game. What are these “life-changing” prices? Well, I guess that you just have to visit their site to find out. Free gambling games that are available in this site includes Winner Takes All, The Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune and even the favorite game of the family, Monopoly. Other games that could be found in free gambling sites are horse-racing bets, reality TV shows, world cups, Saturday matches and the weather. Name it and everything is present in free gambling.

Free gambling is fun but it could sometimes be addictive. For a person that is just new in gambling, take your time to learn and practice but do not let free gambling consume you. Try to balance your life and view free gambling as an alternative and fun way to live life rather than living your life for the sake of free gambling.

GAMBLING AS A GAME OF CHANCE

By five in the morning, a mother had already dressed her two daughters for school. After which, she will be heading next to a casino for an early dose of gambling activity.

Seemed like a "too absurd to be true" situation? Guess again.

Nowadays, gambling seems to be an ordinary activity that most people tend to overlook. By doing so, they do not see the potential harm gambling can do with their lives.

Generally, gambling, more commonly know as betting, is a kind of behavior that involves money valuables being put out to risk as a product of a certain game. So to speak, the money or valuables are at risk because the probability of winning is too low or is totally dependent upon chance. Unless otherwise one will do something about his winning through evil ways, one could never be sure of winning a gambling game.

Gambling comes in many forms: one that can be beatable and the other type is not.

Beatable games of gambling refer to games that can be trampled thereby creating a positive numerical probability through proper strategy. These includes poker, though this is better classified as a game of skill; blackjack, video poker, Pai Gow Poker and Tiles, sports betting, horse racing, and slot machines.

On the other hand, unbeatable games makes a player eventually lose a game no matter what strategy they use. More common examples of these games are slot machines, baccarat, craps, roulette, keno, casino war, faro, pachinko, 3-card and 4-card poker, red dog, pyramid poker, Caribbean stud poker, and Spanish 21.

Both beatable and unbeatable gambling games can be found in the casinos. Though, there are other gambling games that are not played inside the casinos such as lottery, mahjong, backgammon, coin-tossing games such as head and tail, and carnival games like The Razzle and Hanky Pank.

There are also the so-called fixed-odds gambling that can be seen on events like horse racing, football, golf, tennis, baseball, and other sports that entice people to bet on the winner of the event.

All the same, they are all forms of gambling that never stand a chance of winning continuously.

In gambling, people usually tries to gain back whatever they have lost in the game. Some continues to play for the belief that they should not break the monotony of luck. By doing so, they continue to bet and eventually place their selves at the risk of losing more instead.

Most people who are involved in gambling contend that they only play for pleasure or as a form of recreation. While others say they just have to earn money and that gambling is an easy way to do so.

However, because gambling involves a variety of mental activity, coupled with stress and the mentality of a winner, it can be a possible source of psychological addiction. In the long run, this can be very harmful to people who are affected by gambling.

With so much psychedelic effects of gambling, there are even those who engage in betting with another person on premises that a certain statement is true or false, or that a particular event will or will not happen at a given specific time. This occurs commonly on situations wherein two people with strong opposing views debate with each other. Normally, they place bets for fun or for money reason but often to establish their stand on a certain issue.

Consequently, because of the negative effect of gambling, most legal jurisdictions opt to not legalize any gambling activity. With this, any contracts that led to debts brought about by a certain gambling activity are deemed unenforceable by any legal process.

That is why gambling is such a risky activity. Those who gamble merely does not realize what harm gambling can give them.

As they say, never put your good money after bad money. If ever you get to be involved in gambling, discontinue doing bet so as to steer clear of an evident loss.