Category: Casino Games (Page 5 of 7)

Cleveland casino will be opening in May

April 23, 2012 / Staff

People are starting to get excited in Cleveland as the new Horseshoe Casino operated by Rock Ohio Caesars will be opening its doors soon in May. Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who spearheaded the effort to bring casino gambling to Ohio, went down to Columbus to make one of the necessary presentations to get final approvals for the Cleveland casino. He had to answer some tough questions about his finances but everything looks like it’s on track for the scheduled opening.

It will be great to play all of the great casino games in the Heartland right on the shores of Lake Erie. We now don’t have to travel to play great games like blackjack, craps or roulette. Of course we could always play online, and that can be very addicting as well. I remember one session of the best roulette I’ve ever played. There have also been epic sessions of online poker. But it’s also great to play these games in a casino that’s within driving distance where you can order free drinks and mingle with all the ladies. The atmosphere may not be quite like Las Vegas, but the new Horseshoe looks like a real winner in Downtown Cleveland.

It’s also in a perfect location. Now fans can go to an Indians game or Cavaliers game and walk next door to play some roulette or craps. It’s also not far from the Browns stadium or the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame. Don’t look now, but Cleveland is becoming a high roller destination spot!

Casino Games

roulette

Rick Santorum would ban Internet gambling

February 20, 2012 / Staff

Social issues have returned for Republicans as they start talking about how they want to run your private lives. Now they’re going after Internet gambling.

National Review’s Jim Geraghty wonders whether there might be a business-related reason behind casino magnate Sheldon Adelson’s reported opposition to Rick Santorum. Take a look at what the former Pennsylvania senator had to say about gambling during a recent interview with Jon Ralston:
I’m someone who takes the opinion that gaming is not something that is beneficial, particularly having that access on the Internet. Just as we’ve seen from a lot of other things that are vices on the Internet, they end to grow exponentially as a result of that. It’s one thing to come to Las Vegas and do gaming and participate in the shows and that kind of thing as entertainment, it’s another thing to sit in your home and have access to that it. I think it would be dangerous to our country to have that type of access to gaming on the Internet.
Freedom’s not absolute. What rights in the Constitution are absolute? There is no right to absolute freedom. There are limitations. You might want to say the same thing about a whole variety of other things that are on the Internet — “let everybody have it, let everybody do it.” No. There are certain things that actually do cost people a lot of money, cost them their lives, cost them their fortunes that we shouldn’t have and make available, to make it that easy to do.

People who like gambling need to recognize that one party wants to tell you how to live your life.

Casino Games, Casinos

Internet gambling Las Vegas online gambling online poker Rick Santorum Sheldon Adelson vices

Craps is the Classic Casino Game

January 26, 2012 / Staff

Perhaps no game best personifies the epitome of online casino games than craps, the famous and exciting dice game that is often featured in classic movies with such masculine actors as Humphrey Bogart and Frank Sinatra. It is a game that is often described as a “game within a game” and offers among the best odds for a player that they can find anywhere.

Although craps is a fair game with a very low house edge if played correctly, many online players are intimidated by it because of the layout of the table and the fast pace. Beyond that there are many different bets you can make with craps and it can appear a lot more confusing than it actually is. With that in mind let’s take a look at the basic terminology of craps as it helps describe the game overall.

First of all, there is no way to influence the dice roll at craps, regardless of what wild stories you may have heard. And beyond that, no matter what strategies you employ, even the most sensible ones, there are no guarantees that you will ever win and beat the house edge, small as it may be.

The best bets to make at craps are pass and don’t pass, come or don’t come, as they have a 1.4% house edge. Where gamblers often blow their bankrolls are on prop bets, where the house edge is far greater. A great example is the Big 6 and Big 8 bets, which come with a ridiculous 9% house edge. And yet despite the big numbers these bets are constantly made.

And then there is the famed “7” bet with the “theory” that it is the most common number rolled, therefore it’s the best prop bet on the table. WRONG! The house has the “7” totally covered with a staggering 16.7% edge that nobody will ever be able to wear down. This is a classic example of the house taking full advantage of basic gambler’s “logic” and turning it upside down.

The famed hedge bet of playing the field is also a bonanza for the house with a 5.6% edge to the casino. And yet the masses line up thinking that they are getting a “bargain” with this bet.

The one bet that is a must to make when playing craps online casino games is the odds bet after the point is established as that reduces the house edge up to 40%.

Casino Games

craps

Online poker to your state?

January 18, 2012 / Staff

The Obama Justice Department has upended the entire online poker debate with a recent opinion that basically limited the scope of federal laws. Now the question is whether Congress will get involved, or whether it will let the states move forward.

The gambling lobby has a message for Congress as states line up to cash in on a White House ruling that in-state online lotteries and poker won’t violate a federal Internet betting ban: Deal now or get stuck with a bad hand.
A Justice Department opinion issued before Christmas has created a now-or-never dynamic on the Hill for lawmakers and lobbyists pushing for a federal Internet poker law as state and regional officials move ahead with online gambling plans.
Come April, D.C. plans to offer online poker and blackjack. Illinois intends to be selling lottery tickets on the Web by then, too.
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“The writing is on the wall. The states are going to do this,” John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, told POLITICO. “The first three or four months of the year is going to be pretty important for Congress to act.”
All bets are on some key lawmakers — some backed by Las Vegas casinos — trying to do an end-run around the DOJ opinion by pre-empting it with a federal law. That could set up a showdown pitting states vs. the feds.
Supporters of a federal bill say states aren’t equipped to handle the complexities of Internet gambling, and Congress needs to step in.
State officials say that’s hogwash, and the Obama administration has already taken the wind out of the sails of a federal Internet poker bill by clearing the way for states to start setting up their own systems.
The DOJ opinion dealt states already pushing in the direction of legalization — like California and New Jersey — a couple of aces by saying a ban on intrastate Internet gambling only applies to sports betting.
That frees up those states and several others — including Iowa and Connecticut — to follow Illinois and D.C. in the coming months by passing online gambling laws during state legislative sessions. Passage in each Legislature will be complex, but state lawmakers are extra motivated in tight budget times to find new revenue streams.

Regardless of what happens, it looks like momentum is heading in the right direction. Poker is clearly a game of skill, so policy makers need to concede that point and come up with a logical system.

Casino Games, Casinos, Poker

games of skill online poker

No Need to Reinvent the Wheel with Blackjack

December 21, 2011 / Staff

One of the great dynamics regarding online blackjack is that many of the newer players to the game get caught up in its speed and begin to make bets with strategies that simply defy the laws of mathematics. Many new players get cleaned out fast with blackjack and it is important to remember that blackjack, whether it be online or in person at a Las Vegas Strip casino, has the same odds and mathematical physics that will never change. The fact that playing blackjack online is a much faster pace makes respecting the odds and math even more critical in importance.

For the smart player, blackjack is an open invitation to the best and fairest odds that can be found in a casino. In fact many players admit that if the casino businesses were starting from scratch today, blackjack would not be offered because sharp players can whittle the odds down to near virtually even with the house, taking away almost all of the edge.

Where casinos make money on blackjack is with the ignorant, the sloppy, and the players that play with wild intuition rather than with respect for the odds and math. To make matters even better for the casinos and worse for such players, these action addicts that seem to be ramped up on an overdose of caffeine, go wild and binge on blackjack by playing multiple hands at the same time. So not only do you have a virtually insane group of action addicts that are playing multiple hands and multiple tables, you have a group of wild players that are not playing smart. And the casinos know there are far more of these types of players than the smart ones, thus their willingness to offer up blackjack despite the fair odds.

For the smart player, online blackjack remains a game of “three yards and a cloud of dust.” It is a basic game that should be played with a basic strategy rather than with grand designs that do not overcome the math of the game. Superstitions, feelings, and intuition have no place at the blackjack table. Solid math, great money management skills, and respect for the game and odds are what will make for the most successful blackjack players.

There has never been a better time to get involved in online blackjack as sign up and play bonuses are higher than ever and the games themselves have never had more appeal.