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Quick tips: How to win in Blackjack

Delve into the true nature of gambling, exploring the stark realities of chance, winning, losing, and the human psychology involved in this ubiquitous pastime.

Gambling, as it is often remarked, remains a game dictated by chance. The uncertainty of outcomes and the thrill of the unknown form its very core. Yet, beneath the glittering surface of roulette wheels and card decks, a universal truth lurks: there will always be a loser. This unvarnished fact underscores that a game stripped of its losers cannot be classified as gambling. The scales of chance tip more towards loss than gain – a harsh reality that many gamblers are coming face-to-face with today.

Escalating Engagement

An increasing number of individuals today are being drawn into the world of gambling. For some, it offers an escape from daily woes; for others, it’s a leisure activity or an enticing challenge. Unbeknownst to them, once the hook of gambling sinks in, it holds fast, often leading to significant losses.

The Reality of Losing

What does it truly mean to lose in gambling? Is it an integral element of the game? These questions float around, often without definitive answers, largely due to an inadequate understanding of the mathematical probabilities governing the ‘game of chance.’

Exploring the Math of Loss

Here, we delve into a few statistics and realities tied to the losses in gambling:

Greater Gambling, Greater Losses: A straightforward fact about gambling is that the more one engages, the more one stands to lose. Consistent gambling typically leads to consistent losses.
The Overlooked Impact of Losing: Given the large sums of money involved, gamblers often perceive the game through the lens of potential winnings, overlooking the fact that losses are far more impactful and statistically more probable.
Winning: An Illusion? Statistical data underscores the harsh reality that a majority of gamblers will never taste victory due to the significantly low chances of winning.

For instance, in a standard card game involving a 52-card deck, each player has merely 1 in 52 chances of drawing a winning card. Likewise, the probability of landing a perfect hand is a staggering 1 in 635,013,559,599.

Consider games involving dice; a die typically has six sides, meaning that for every six throws, a player has a single opportunity to roll their desired number. If using three dice, this probability shrinks to 1 in 216.

The Final Roll of the Dice

In conclusion, the allure of gambling often veils the stark reality of its nature. While some argue that skill has a role, the reality is that losses are more common and more consequential. This intricate dance with chance, despite the skills one might possess, tends to conclude with the gambler on the losing end.

Cheating: Texas Holdem’s First Deadly Sin

Cheating in Texas Holdem is a definite no-no. Learn what kinds of cheating to watch for and how it can ruin a great game of poker.

Don’t do it. Not at the Texas Holdem table. Not anywhere else. ‘Nuff said. Right?

Oh, you already don’t cheat? Well congratulations and good for you (and for the rest of us too). But as honest as you may be, cheaters do abound, as much in Texas Holdem as in any other game, and you’ll need to know their tricks in order to spot them before they turn them loose on you.

Fortunately, many forms of cheating at Texas Holdem are subverted in online play by the nature of the internet. Online players, for example, can’t miscall their hand, manipulate the deck, short pots, or practice any other form of devious sleight of hand.

Online Texas Holdem players can however collude, and collusion is cheating just the same. Collusion is when two or more players partner up to mislead the other players at the table and unfairly take their money . There are a number of ways that online Texas Holdem players can do this, including:

Codes

Using the chat window, the colluders communicate in a pre-established code, right in front of the other players’ eyes, whereby they compare their two hands and then fold the weaker of the two, only playing the stronger

Sandwiching

The colluders take turns betting and raising heavily into a third player, forcing him or her to either keep calling ridiculous bets or keep folding out of every hand.

Signaling

In offline Texas Holdem, this can occur as hand gestures, bodily cues, or careful arrangement of one’s chip stack, but in internet play this occurs by communicating through some alternate method — telephone, private email, or an instant message.

Cheaters don’t always travel in pairs, however. In fact, one of the most common forms of cheating in online Texas Holdem is when a single player sits down in multiple seats at a single table. How? Simple. Multiple computers. Now this one player is able to perform the same dirty tricks as a couple of colluders, except more efficiently since they have no one else to try to subversively communicate and strategize with. And the lone cheater is doubly motivated by the fact that he doesn’t have to split his “winnings” either.

Now, there are those who protest that the very nature of Texas Holdem is the art of deception and as such they are free to use whatever means necessary to be the best deceivers they can be. This is a fallacy, a clever rationalization designed to deceive (go figure) — nothing more. Don’t be fooled.

Cheating is an offense to the game of poker. And it has no place at the Texas Holdem table. One of the great appeals of Texas Holdem is that anybody, expert or beginner, can win. And that is as it should be. By sitting down at the Texas Holdem table you are implicitly consenting to play by the same rules as everyone else there. That too is as it should be.

Cheating is the bad apple that spoils the whole bunch. It gives Texas Holdem a bad name. Cheating is stealing — plain and simple. That’s why it’s incumbent upon honest players like yourself to call out cheating whenever you spot it. Report it with a vengeance. And get yourself to a different Texas Holdem table as fast as you can.

With the help of honest players like yourself, a cheater can only “win” at Texas Holdem for so long before eventually getting found out. And you can take that to the bank.

Easy To Learn Blackjack System

In all of the games used for gambling, Blackjack remains the only one in which a participant can actually change his chances of winning during the game. Whether those running casinos wish to admit it or not, Blackjack does involve skill.

Blackjack actually refers to a specific holding (two cards totalling 21). However, this is also the most common term for the game – also known as 21.

You are playing against the dealer at all times. Many people feel that you must play differently depending on where you sit at the table. This is not true. Players sit in a semi-circle around the dealer, but no matter where you sit, you are still playing against the dealer. You owe nothing to the other players – it is your own money you are risking.

In Blackjack, the suits of the cards have no significance. Tens, jacks, queens, and kings all count 10. An ace counts 1 or 10 at the player’s option. Cards from 2 to 9 have their face value. Therefore, if you hold a nine and a five, you have 14. A nine and an ace can be either 10 or 20.

The simple idea of the game is to get closer to 21 without going over than the dealer does. You are dealt two cards and the dealer is dealt two cards also – one always face up, and one face down. You are then given the option of standing with the cards you have (“stick” or “sticking”) or you may be “hit” and be given another card (“hitting”). You may take as many cards as you wish to, but should you go over 21, you “bust” and the dealer wins automatically. The dealer will not take any cards until all players are through at taking cards. Thus the dealer’s biggest advantage is here. Any players that bust, lose their bet – even if the dealer goes bust.

If you stay at 21 or under and have a higher total than the dealer, you win; if both you and the dealer hold cards equalling the same total, it is a “push” and you stay even (not winning or losing). If the dealer has a higher total without busting, he wins.

The pay off if you win is even money (one to one). If you get a “21” or “Blackjack” (21 in two cards) you are paid at a rate of 3 to 2 (bet $10 win $15). If the dealer gets blackjack at the same time, you push – all other players lose.

You may take “Insurance” when the dealer’s first card is an ace. After all players and the dealer have two cards, he will ask “Insurance?”. You may bet another 1/2 of your original bet. Payment is 2 to 1 if the dealer does get blackjack.

At this point, after each player and the dealer has 2 cards, he will start at the immediate right and see if the player wants a card (a “hit”). If yes, the player scratches the table with his fingers or cards towards himself. If not, he places his cards under his bet or makes a negative movement with his hand. Dealers respond to hand gestures only. If you go over 21 “bust” you turn your cards over (face up) and the dealer takes the cards and your bet. If you stay at 21 or under, the dealer will continue to the next player.

As we mentioned, an ace can be counted as a 1 or 11. When you have say an 8 and a 10, you have a “hard” hand. However, an 8 and an ace gives you a “soft” hand. Because you have a soft 19 or a hard 9 if you count the ace as a one.

The dealer on the other hand does not get these options. When all players are through, the dealer turns face up his hole card. He must take a card if he has 16 or less. He must stand (in most casinos) on a hard or soft 17.

Most players try and guess what the dealer has and look at the other cards on the table before deciding to hit or stand. Most players also never win at Blackjack.

At this point, you should understand how the game is played. The following is your best strategy as determined by computer testing:

Always hit when you have 11 or less.
Always stand with a hard 17 or more.

On a hard hand: When the dealer’s up card is from 7 to Ace, draw if you have 12 to 16. When the dealer’s card is 2 to 6, stand on 12 to 16 except if the dealer’s card is a 2 or 3, in which case you would draw.

On a soft hand do the following: Always draw to a soft 12. Stand on 18 except when the dealer has a 9 or 10 value card. Stand on 19.

In most casinos, you may double down (double your bet) after your first two cards.

On a hard hand: Always double with 11, with 10 except if the dealer has a 10 or ace, with 9 against the dealer’s 2 to 6 up card.

On a soft hand: With ace 2 to ace 7 double against dealer’s 4, 5, or 6. Also with ace 6 against 2 or 3 and ace 7 against 3.

Another play is the splitting of pairs. If your first two cards of the deal are the same value, you may place a bet the same as your original, and play two hands.

Always split ace-ace, and 8-8. Never split 10-10, 5-5, or 4-4. Split other pairs only when the dealer’s card is 2 to 6. These rules may seem complicated and difficult. However, after playing at home, this basic strategy will require no concentration.

Does Card Counting Work?

If you’re a Blackjack player or striving to become one, it won’t be long until you hear about counting cards-if you haven’t already heard.

Counting cards in Blackjack will give the good Blackjack player better odds to come out ahead in the long run. It’s not some super-secret formula for winning millions of dollars at Blackjack overnight.

Also, when you count cards, you’re just trying to get a read on what type of cards are left in the deck and not trying to guess what exact card is due next-ala the Rain Man.

Here’s the basic premise. When there’s a great chance that big cards will come out, the win meter swings to your favor. When there’s a great chance that small cards will come out, the win meter swings harder to the dealer.

So, the ideal situation is one in which lots of large cards are left in the deck and in which the probability of those cards coming out is greater. When this happens, you bet larger than normal.

And that’s really the main philosophy. When there are greater numbers of small cards left, reduce your wager. When there are greater numbers of large cards left, bet bigger. That doesn’t mean you bet $5 on one hand and $5,000 the next. A typical swing might be $5-$15. But, you’ll need to decide this for yourself.

Counting cards doesn’t work online. Why? Well, online casinos shuffle their deck(s) for each hand-unless noted somewhere. Since they do this, counting is of no value.

In the real world, you’ll typically find that counting pays off as decks get smaller. But here’s the catch. To count successfully, you must be able to see all the cards. That’s right. If the player next to you just tosses in his or her card face down, you’ve lost an edge. The more it happens, the worse your count will be.

Let’s dispel one false misconception about counting cards right now. You don’t need to be a math genius to do it. Can you count from 0 to 2 and from 0 to -2? If so, you’re talented enough. All you need to do is practice.

The first time you go out to count, it’s best to play with a small table. Also, if you can find a game that deals the cards face up, you’ll have an easier time learning.

Remember, counting cards by itself does absolutely nothing. If you’re a poor Blackjack player, counting cards won’t help you win. In fact, it can help you lose more money and faster. Counting cards in Blackjack is a tool to aid those who understand the game and can play it properly.

How do you count cards? We’ll go over that in another article.

Secret Formula of Black Jack Winners

When someone plays a game, they play to win. One of the many simple games at the casino is Blackjack. For those who don’t know how to play the game, it’s always best to start by learning the basics.

When playing Blackjack the most important feature to remember is that there are four times as many cards that have a value of 10 (10, J,Q,K) as any other value. With this information, one must always assume that the next card to be drawn from the deck has a value of 10.

By keeping this in mind, one may realize that if one has any hand that has a value over 12 one will likely lose or in blackjack terms bust (go over 21). Likewise if the dealer’s card is a 2-6 it is likely to draw a 10 card which means he will have to draw again, likely causing him to bust.

Another way to make the odds more favorable to the player than the dealer is by counting cards. This of course requires many pages and charts that must be memorized. Having a professionally written guide is very helpful and there are many different authors that have different styles and different counting systems. It’s always best to get more than one opinion to find out which style works best.

Practice makes perfect. By investing time and money with online training software learning the game, it will eventually pay off at the casino.

Upon entering the casino, one must choose the right table to play at. When one observes that the players at a table seem to be winning a lot, it is a good time to join in the action. Likewise, if you notice the dealer has a lot of chips and the players seem to be doing more losing than winning, then look for a better table.

Reward the dealer by tipping when one is winning. If the dealer knows he will be tipped when the players wins, he may begin rooting and actually do subtle things to help such as performing less thorough shuffles and penetrating deeper into the shoe before he re-shuffles thus allowing the player to get a more accurate count of the cards.

Though if the dealer starts losing too much money for the casino the pit boss will likely change dealers.

Although it may be impossible to find the perfect game, one should be familiar with how certain house rules affect the player.

Keep in mind that as a rule of thumb, the fewer decks the casino uses the more advantageous it is for the player.

The Secrets to Avoiding Addictive Gambling

Narcotic drugs aren’t the only things that are addictive in this world. Gambling is also addictive. There have been a lot of incidences of people stealing, getting too indebted sometimes even committing suicide just because of gambling problems. In addition Gambling happens legally in 27 states in the US.

Some people say it’s hard not to get addicted to gambling. Actually, it is only a matter of self control and knowing when to stop. Gambling need not be addictive if you don’t view it as that.

Off course, gambling is all around us, simple bingo nights for charity, bets with friends, these are all a gamble, but why doesn’t everybody get addicted if it’s this widespread? The answer is everyone that’s not addicted knew when to quit.

Most compulsive gamblers lose their rationality and actually believe that they are “lucky”, that there’s no way that they can lose.

First of all you must know that eventually, everybody loses in gambling. The only party that wins is the company. Gambling was designed to produce net profits for the owners.

If you are gambling for recreation and not for winning, it may only be a matter of time before you become a professional gambler. These are the people who live off betting and risking. A large win might be the single trigger to make you believe that you’ll always win. And this isn’t the correct mindset.

If you catch yourself finding the urge to gamble, why not ask your family or friends to play with you in a low-risk game, like bet tonight’s dessert or who gets to take out the garbage. As much as possible, never bet with money.

If you’re starting to have gambling impulses, better stay off casinos or any place that focuses on gambling. Ask the help of family or friends so that you won’t’ be tempted.

When the addiction is really starting to get hold, it’s probably best to find an organization or a share group in your community that deals with these types of addiction. Like Alcoholism, Gambling addiction is curable, and what better cure than prevention.

Remember, gambling is your choice, you’re not being forced into it; you don’t have to do it to have a good time. If you’re starting to think of borrowing money just to finance your gambling, tell someone close to you about it and with their help, discuss the disadvantages and probable problems that could come out of too much gambling.

Different Types of Poker Players

Being able to read poker players is a talent that takes time to recognize, but the more experience you have playing poker, the more you will pick up on the character styles of players. Basically, there are three main types of players:

1. The Aggressive Player
2. The Conservative Player
3. The Juvenile Player

The following is what you can expect when coming across each type of these players:

The Aggressive Player

Aggressive players will do everything in their power to manipulate and put pressure on you to try and get you to do what they want. They usually will choose to raise or fold, which will affect other players by pressuring them to call or muck.

Great aggressive players show a lot of confidence, and can be unnerving opponents when the stakes are high. If you give them the chance, they will control your every move and will take all of your money.

The only way to outsmart the aggressive player is to not let them intimidate you, and learn how to play their game. Know your cards, know the other players and give the aggressor a taste of their own medicine.

The Conservative Player

The conservative player is a player who only takes necessary risks, and will not foolishly bet if the cards aren’t right. The conservative player is one who knows the rules inside and out, and has an excellent memory and analyzing skill. If he or she has the hand with the best odds, they will sneak up without the other players suspecting them to take the pot.

When playing against a conservative player, you will find that they will fold more often than take a risk, so be wary of the quiet opponent who stays within the hand carefully checking and calling in the first few rounds, only to raise the stakes in the later rounds.

The conservative player is a very tactical opponent, and like the aggressive player should never be underestimated.

The Juvenile Player

The juvenile player is probably the easiest player to recognize, as their poker style is incredibly immature, abrasive, cocky, overacting, careless and foolish. The juvenile player will seldom win any of the bigger pots, takes stupid risks and is usually the first to lose all of their money.

Just by the above description it should come as no surprise that these players are disliked and not respected by other players. They are easy to take advantage of, so use them as a way to gain a high chip advantage early in the game. The quicker these players are out of the game, the more money you will have to play with.