| The Gambling World |
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Greg Babayans, author of Casino Secrets (Original title is “Segredos dos Casinos”), worked as the casino marketing director for close to a decade in land based Portuguese casinos and saw the naivety amongst gamblers and thus decided to write a book on the matter. "The aim of the book is to fundamentally give the player a fair chance (by at least knowing the basic rules and probabilities) while giving him the different insights on betting principals, so that it will help to reduce the risks and in turn, increase the winnings." - Greg Babayans
The Gambling World “Diligence is the mother of good luck” - Benjamin Franklin Gambling has been around since the beginning of man. We humans love to take risks. We enjoy the adrenaline, the rush, and of course the winnings… But just what makes a gambler tick? Is it the thrill of winning or the agony of defeat? Gambling seems to fall into some special category of human behavior that escapes the normal rules we usually live by. People change their behavior dramatically in casinos. Consummate misers can't wait to throw their money away in casinos. People who clip coupons every week to save ten Euros on groceries think nothing of dropping a hundred, five hundred or even a thousand in a casino. Discipline is all about the ability to develop a winning plan. Control is about being able to follow it. There are many common denominators that underlie the casino business...Casino gambling, Lotto and other new games that are here to stay and are proliferating at exponential rate, especially through the internet. Online casinos are popping up everywhere on your Hi5 & Facebook pages to your myspace page. During a crisis like we are in now, we humans become more desperate. And that little that we have, we may end up losing it in a casino, be it virtual or your traditional casino. There is so much temptation out there to gamble and play. I myself have been both a lotto player and casino player over the years. I also worked for 8 years as marketing director for one of the major Portuguese casinos. I have had my share of gambling and have both won and lost and over the years, have probably broken out even. However, most people lose, but as I have broken out even, I guess I can be considered lucky. I have won in Lotto, a 5 being my best win, which 15 years ago was about a 500€ win. What is the objective of this book? It is about trying to give you, the reader, an advantage, or some sort of a head start; hence, to better prepare you and maybe even help you win, or avoid steep losses. Most people I know that enter a casino are naïve to what goes on in there and they lay their hard earned money on the tables making it themselves easy prey for the casinos to gobble it up. TO WIN, YOU MUST LEARN THE GAME In gambling, we want to play, which will give us the greatest probability of beating the game on a fairly reliable and predictable basis. We will want to use betting strategies which will win a high percentage of the time and will keep our losses as small as possible. If you are going to gamble, you had better know what you are doing. You can't expect to win if you don't understand the game. The first step to becoming a winner is learning how to play the game. You can't hope to win at something that you haven't mastered. For instance, the rules for Roulette are straight forward, but it will take an investment in time to learn them. There is no substitute for learning the rules thoroughly and practicing them before risking any money in a casino. An essential element of learning and practicing these rules is to not only learn how to use a strategy, but to gain a level of confidence that your strategy will work for you. Some work and advance preparation are essential to becoming a consistent winner at roulette or any other casino game. By practicing you will gain a greater understanding of the system than you ever will by just reading about it. The scarcity of reliable published information on effective betting strategies for these games probably is the result of the blind acceptance of most gambling experts that in the long run no system can ever overcome a game where the casino has an advantage. The crux of this issue is how we define "long term." Any system will fail at some point if it is followed blindly to the bitter end regardless of the cost. However, if we break the "long run" into a series of many short runs, over which we have substantial control, then I believe the premise is false. In a contest between the casino and a player using a really good system, I am convinced that the player can gain a definite edge, especially if the house edge is less than 2 percent (<2%). Las Vegas It’s the mother of all casino locations on the planet. Vegas is unique. Nowhere else is there anything like it. If you have never been there, it is a must to visit. It would be an injustice to not give the reader an idea of the mega capital of casino gambling in the world, which is none other than Las Vegas. It is an adult Disneyland, where you have entertainment directed towards the adult population. Of course they have entertainment for the kids, because they want you to take you family along as well (that way you won’t get homesick cause you got the family with you) so you will stay longer. They have shows, amusement park rides, and endless events. Most major corporations hold their annual meetings in Vegas because Vegas can easily accommodate those 80,000 employees. Some hotels have over 5,000 rooms!! Check out: BettingPortal Casinos in Vegas are so big; you lose your way around. Actually, that’s what they want. If you ever went to Las Vegas, once you walk inside, if you don’t keep site of that entrance door, you will probably just get lost. That is their strategy, that once inside; they don’t want you to ever leave! I myself have gotten lost, and took me about an hour to get back to where I started from. It was in Caesar’s Palace. Inside, it is phenomenal. You have so many tables, players, slot machines, workers; you get appalled at the mega operation involved. Walk a little further, then you hit the commercial area, where you have a fake sky, to give the impression of being outside, with stores selling everything. Then you have the restaurants, which are endless as well. All you can eat Buffet’s for $3 USD, with lines that never end, but move ahead smoothly. They have ATM machines in every corner so you can always withdraw more money from either you debit or credit cards. And if you’ve been around for a while (meaning you have probably lost big time), they’ll even offer you credit if you need it. While we’re speaking of their offers, don’t forget the dinners, shows, galas, weekends…all these nice things that you’ll get, if you’re a big time gambler, or in other words, big time loser. The casinos will house free concerts, female employees with nice skirts and shirts, beauty pageant shows, fashion shows, and so on. They are going to go after you with all the glamour that the casinos put out like whirling lights, fancy car’s, women, buzzing sounds of money falling, rings and horns. They go after your stomach, by feeding you until you can’t eat anymore. They’ll get you all the free drinks you want, or sell them at cost just so you cannot feel the pain or feel conscious of losing all your money. Their goal is to take your money while you are supposedly having a good time. I personally don’t consider losing money “having fun”. Paying money for entertainment is one thing. Losing is another… The perks are never ending. How about a few starting token chips to get started? Almost all casinos, being offline or online, offer some type of “buy-in Bonus”. The casino has many advantages over you and has an almost unlimited amount of money compared to the amount you bring. It has infinite patience and it has probability on its side or the house advantage. You have to muster your advantages in your battle to take the casino's money. And one of your most important weapons is to divide your bankroll into smaller stakes, and only offer the casino a shot at one of your smaller stakes in any give session. Just think about it…The casinos are really mega operations, with millions of Euros/dollar’s of investment. What about all the employee’s, the show productions, the food? All this summed up, goes into thousands if not millions of euros of daily/ monthly operations.
FACT OR FICTION There are many myths about gambling Now just for a little fun, take this test to find out how much you know about how gambling really works. Gambling is an easy way to make money? False; Gambling is a form of entertainment where you pay to play and is not a reliable way to make money or a living. If a gaming machine in a casino or game hasn’t paid out in a while, it will soon? False; in games of chance there is no such thing as a win being due. The outcome on a machine or game is totally random. Some people are luckier than others? False; it may see that you or someone you know is luckier, but chances in gambling are completely random and everyone is equally likely to lose or win. This will depend though on the game and the skills one has acquired. The house always wins? True; casinos always have the advantage on every bet you make. The longer you play, the more likely you will end up losing. I’ll win my money back? False; if you keep playing, you will most likely not win your money back, but most likely lead to even bigger losses. My lucky numbers increase my chance of winning the lotto? False; using lucky numbers or wearing lucky charms will not increase your chances or praying. The truth is that the numbers you choose have exactly the same chance as any others. A number that hasn’t come up soon, so it must be due? False; the chance of a number coming up in each game is the same as any other, regardless of how many times you play. You have no control on outcome. I’ve got a system, this will work…. False; for some the thrill of gamblins is beating the system, but the chances of losing are greater. Conditions are never perfect or ideal. The probabilities to win the lotto using the numbers 123456 or 5 10 15 20 25 30 are the same? True; many people think the first set of numbers are impossible. Each set is just as likely as the other number sets. I almost got the jackpot… False; many people view a loss as a near miss, that is when a gambling outcome falls just short of a win…this is an illusion. It doesn’t mean you will get it next time. The casinos love these near misses. It makes you think that its closers. Gambling is not all about luck. True; some skill is involved which do improve your opportunities for winning. That’s what I want to get across in this book, the key games where you have the best opportunities for winning and not just luck games such as Lottery or even slot machines. BETTING A bet is a gamble in which a player stakes money on the outcome of an event, for example, who will win the World Cup or a general election. Bets can be placed either off-course, away from the event itself (either online or in the bookmakers shop), or on-course, for example at a horse or dog race track or football ground. The forms of bets available fit broadly into two categories: Fixed odds – in a fixed odds bet, the money you could win back is fixed, or depends on, the odds at which your bet was accepted. The tote – Tote is the abbreviation for Totalisator, the name for the computerized system which runs pari-mutuel betting, calculating payoff odds, displaying them, and producing tickets based on incoming bets. The amount of money you could win back depends on the number of other people in the pool, and the number of winners. In a betting exchange, bets are matched between people with opposing views. Betting exchanges allow players to bet that an outcome will happen (back) or that it won’t happen (lay) at the odds they wish to play at. Unlike more traditional forms of gambling, players are able to bet on negative outcomes, such as a horse losing. Remote Betting takes place through using the internet, interactive TV and mobile phones. This allows players to bet 24 hours a day wherever they are. CHANCES OF WINNING Lots of people dream of winning the lottery or getting the ‘perfect’ poker hand, but do you know what the real chances are? I am convinced that most of us don’t have a clue as to what the odds are or at least what they mean. The casinos take advantage of this naivety and that’s how they stay in business. Over the past few decades, gamblers have begun taking mathematics into account more seriously than ever before. While probability theory is the only rigorous theory that can model the hazards of gambling, even in idealized conditions, numerical probabilities are viewed not only as purely theoretical information, but also as a decision-making criterion, especially in gambling. This book presents some of the mathematics underlying games of chance and provides a precise account of the odds associated with all gaming events. If you toss a coin 40 times, the chance you will get heads every time is just under 1 in 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion). Keep on reading to see how your odds of winning in games of chance compare to other events. Did you know?? Event / Odds - Probabilities Living to be 100 years old = 1 in 8 Rolling a 2 in a game of craps = 1 in 36 Roulette wheel landing on one number you select = 1 in 37 Winning any prize in the Lottery = 1 in 57 Being dealt a full house in your first five cards in poker = 1 in 4,165 The next person you meet being born on the same day and same year as you = 1 in 25,000 20 million ton asteroid called Apophis hitting Earth on 13 April 2036 = 1 in 45,000 Being dealt a royal flush in your first five cards in poker = 1 in 650,000 Being struck by lightning next year = 1 in 10,000,000 Winning 6 numbers in the Lotto jackpot = 1 in 14,000,000 You can influence the likelihood of some of these things happening. For example, living a healthy lifestyle will increase your chances of living to 100. But all gambling works on randomness. Even skill-based gambling is subject to chance – no amount of expertise or skill can influence the cards you are dealt in a game of poker. It’s important to be realistic and not to overestimate your chances. Your chances of winning the ‘Lotto’ jackpot are about 1 in 14 million. If you spend 1€ every week on the Lottery, you would expect to wait about 270,000 years before you win a share of the jackpot! Gambling operators are required to provide customers with information such as the rules, house edge, odds, average return to player, maximum bet level and prize limit. So if you want to know more, ask your gambling provider for further information.
Casino games Casino games include table, card and machine games played in a casino. They involve playing or staking against a bank. Traditional casino games include roulette, blackjack and poker. Some Casino games: Blackjack (21) – a card game in which players try to beat the bank by adding the values of the cards as close to 21 without going over. Also known as 21. Baccarat (Punto e Banca) – A card game in which two or more players gamble against the banker. The winner is the player who holds two or three cards that total closest to nine. There are a number of variations of Baccarat amongst traditional and online casinos. Poker – a card game where players with fully or partially concealed cards make bets into a central pot. The pot is awarded to the player or players with the best combination of cards. Types of poker games include “three-card”, “casino stud” and “Texas Hold ‘Em”. Stud Poker – Stud poker is any of a number of poker variants in which each player is dealt a mix of face-down and face-up cards in multiple betting rounds. Five-card stud first appeared during the American Civil War, and became very popular. In recent years, Seven-card stud has become more common, both in casinos and in home games. These two games form the basis of most modern stud poker variation. Craps – Craps is a casino dice game in which players bet against the casino on the outcome of one roll or a series of rolls of two dice. Not too common in European Casinos, yet very popular in US Casinos. Roulette – In the game, a croupier spins a wheel in one direction, then spins a ball in the opposite direction around the circumference of the wheel. The ball eventually falls onto one of the 37 (French Roulette) or 38 (American Roulette) colored and numbered pockets on the wheel. Players can place a variety of bets on specific numbers, the colour of the number (red or black), whether it is odd or even or on a grouping of numbers. Bingo – Bingo is a game of chance where players receive a set of numbers on a card in return for a stake and they mark them off as a caller announces numbers as they are drawn randomly. Players may win money or prizes when they complete a line, multiple lines or complete a card. Games can also be played electronically. People mainly play Bingo in Bingo clubs, including in holiday parks and resorts. It is a game played mostly for fun, especially among the older population. I won’t be directing too much attention to it in this book. A LITTLE LUCK HELPS My goal in this book is not to make claims of how systems of roulette or blackjack can be beaten. Mathematically, they (the casinos) just can't be beaten in the long run. I sometimes see casinos looking to employ mathematicians. But by learning a few strategies and sticking to them and knowing when to stop, you can make some money in casino gambling. A little luck is always welcome and sometimes it is needed. I have read many stories of engineering or mathematician students that will go to Las Vegas with these strategies for playing and usually come out winning. Notice, I said “usually”. Because the stories of them losing, don’t always get printed. I occasionally watch these poker matches on TV and I witness how sometimes the luck changes from one player showing a 90% probability of winning, then at the last second, the other person’s card comes up and Wham, the person with the 90% hand loses! And usually loses big time because he was betting heavy that he was almost certainly going to win. Then the last card gets turned up and he gets roasted like a turkey. Having Fun or Playing to Win? While gambling may be fun at times, having fun is not our primary objective. We are interested in using a strategy which separates the casino from its money in the simplest and most pleasant manner (for us) possible — and does this frequently! Not only are you paying for all that, you are also giving profits to the owner(s) and putting money into their pockets. Ok, we are after all in a “Laissez-faire” market and democracy (I’m referring to the Euro and US markets), but nobody if forcing you to play. You are being allured by all these fancy things the casinos have to offer that tantalize your central nervous system sensors. It takes great discipline to NOT bet at times. It takes discipline to walk away from a horse when the price isn't right. It takes discipline to say no to that fancy, sizzling slot machine. It takes discipline to keep your money in your pocket and deny yourself the emotional buzz of watching your horse. So if you’re going to gamble, you must learn to minimize your risks. Should I gamble? Where should I gamble? How can I win? Your first time What about traditional “brick and mortar” casinos? How do I beat the odds? Am I better off playing online or going to the local casino? Walking up to a table the first time can be an intimidating experience. If you have not played much, you will not fully understand the roles of the dealer, the floorman, the pit boss, and the other casino personnel, as well as thinking about the eye-in the-sky cameras following your every move. Casino Gambling in Portugal I’ve heard it described many ways. Some people say it’s “A place to have fun” others say they are “Disneyland for adults”. No matter what you think a casino is, keep this in mind. A casino is a business. BIG BUSINESS!! Bob Stupak, former owner of Vegas World Casino, told US and World Report, “Its our duty to extract as much money from the customer as we can and send them home with a smile on their face.” Unfortunately, nothing had been written on the topic for the end consumer and the Portuguese gambler is at risk against casinos, both online and the traditional walk in casinos which include: Casino Espinho Casino Estoril Casino Lisboa Casino Povóa Casino Vilamoura Casino Praia de Rocha Casino Montegordo Casino Chaves Casino Madeira Casino Troia (2010) Check out: BettingPortal Traditional Gaming Rooms The ambience in traditional gaming rooms in Portugal is the silence that one encounters upon entering these rooms. Soom rooms are mixed, where no ID is required, but the old timer gaming rooms, still mandate that you present you ID at the entrance, which is really a way to demotivate somebody from entering. Once inside, you find this silence, as if you are in a wake and nobody should talk aloud. For the younger generation, this can be annoying. In most other casinos in Europe and abroad, especially in the US, people are having fun and not being intimidated by other players or croupiers. Especially in the US, around Crap tables, you have people usually having a good time around the table, laughing and sometimes screaming (this is something real that one has probably seen on tv or cinema). Everyday thousands of clients pour into these casinos, most without a clue on how to win. But now, with the advent of Online Gambling, you have a whole new generation of young adults that are turning to this advent for trying to win. But let's analyze this a little more. Billions of plays are made every month on jackpot machines. This relative handful of winners may sound like a lot, but it is not when you consider the odds are millions to one against any individual hitting a jackpot. Since jackpot machines typically pay out lower amounts, with part of every play feeds the ever growing progressive jackpots, most of the time when we play these machines we are going to lose. "Casinos received over $100 million dollars before paying out the latest $6,000,000 jackpot." You won't ever read a headline like this, but it puts the jackpot payout more in perspective. ONLINE GAMBLING Online Casinos are even these days in Portuguese. They figured it’s better to pay a translator and get more people to play, than keep it in English as most sites in the web are and have less players. By the fact that it’s in Portuguese, makes it seem a whole lot easier and friendlier to play. There is more dedicated to this topic in a separate chapter later on in the book. How gambling works Before you decide to gamble, it’s a good idea to know how it works. Do you know what ‘house edge’ and ‘average return to player’ mean? Can you separate fact from fiction amongst the many myths surrounding gambling? What are your real chances of winning? Gambling involves placing money on a game or an event in the future where the result is unknown and uncertain. About two thirds of people in Portugal take part in some form of gambling each year – from buying a raffle ticket from the Firemen to playing poker on the internet, playing totoloto or betting on a football match between friends. There are two main categories of gambling – chance-based and skill-based. Chance Chance-based gambling is completely random and you cannot influence whether you will win or lose. All players have an equal chance of winning. Examples of chance-based gambling include the lottery, roulette, bingo and gaming machines. Skill In skill-based gambling, your ability can influence whether you will win or lose. Although chance is involved, the odds of winning are not the same among all players because technique, knowledge or strategy can give some an advantage over others. Examples include betting on races and playing poker or blackjack. Risk One thing connects all types of gambling – risk. This means that the result is never certain, winning is never a ’sure thing’, and losing is always a possibility. Types of gambling Almost three quarters of the adult population in the United Kingdom gamble in some way each year. Betting A bet is a gamble in which a player stakes money on the outcome of an event, for example, who will win the World Cup or even a general election. Casino games Casino games include table, card and machine games played in a casino. They involve playing or staking against a bank. Traditional casino games include roulette, blackjack and poker. Gaming machines Fruit machines, fixed odds betting terminals, slot machines, electronic video machines are all gaming machines. The player generally wins by matching the symbols, traditionally using fruit, on the central line of three reels. Nowadays, the combinations can be in a variety of line sequences. Lotteries A lottery is a game which people enter by selecting a set of numbers that may match those drawn later for the chance of winning money or prizes. Pools In pools betting, players ‘pool’ their stakes and the combined sum, less what the operator takes out, is divided between the winning participants. Spread betting Spread betting allows people to bet on sporting events, politics or stock market movements. The House Edge So, how does the casino go about extracting money from you? Do they cheat you? No. The ‘house edge’ is the advantage a gambling operator has on every bet you make. Casino games, such as Roulette, Blackjack, Punto Banco, etc, are banker’s games and, as such, are games of “unequal chance”. The nature and structure of these games therefore gives an advantage to the casinos (the house). This is called the house “edge”, and it is the percentage a casino would retain, on average, from each hand or spin. For example, if you bet 1€ on the toss of a coin, the chances of heads or tails are 50/50. If you win and are paid 1€ in winnings, that would be the true odds. But if the ‘house’ or casinos only paid you 0,90€ in winnings it would be keeping a house edge – in this case 10 cents or 10% In games such as blackjack, the house has an advantage because the dealer wins all bets from losing players, even if their own hand has losing cards. A player will only win if their own hand beats the dealer’s. In other games like roulette, the house keeps its edge by paying less than the true odds for a particular bet. The true odds for a single roulette number to win are 36 to 1 because there are 37 compartments on a wheel. A casino actually pays winning bets at odds of 35 to 1. The house edge means that the longer you play, the more likely you’ll end up losing. The house wins in the long run. All casinos should provide this information to players making them aware of the house edge and to help them understand the way it works. Look at this House Edge Chart. It shows the Casino’s advantage for different casino games. All are fixed except for Blackjack and Video Poker. These two games actually can have a positive payback depending on the skill of the player and the rules or payback table. From the above chart you can see why a casino does not have to cheat to make money. Does that mean you will lose every time? No of course not. If you did you wouldn't keep coming back. However in the long run, the casino will win on the negative expectation games. Mathematician’s way of saying that whatever occurs in previous rounds of play has no bearing on the current outcome. Blackjack is in a different category because every time a card comes out of the shoe, it changes the make up of the cards remaining. The advantage can shift from player to house depending on which cards have been played and the Skill in which you play your cards.. Video Poker also is based on skill. If you play the perfect strategy, there are actually some games that have a positive return based on their pay table. With Roulette, the house will maintain a constant edge against the player. American roulette wheels have 36 numbers colored red or black, and zero and double zero spots colored green. If the color red has come up ten times in a row on an American wheel, what is the probability of the next spin of the wheel landing on a red number? Regardless of the previous outcomes, the odds of rolling a red number on the next spin of wheel, there are chances out of 38 numbers or 47.37%. You will see that the house edge is 5.26% for the double zero game. This is how we figure the edge. In the game there are 36 numbers plus the 0 and 00. The odds of you winning is one in 38 or 37 to 1. If you win the casino pays you 35 for your dollar bet. You keep your original dollar, and are paid an additional $35 returning $36. The difference is two dollars (38 minus 36). Divide the $2 by 38 which is the true odds and you come up with the house edge of 5.26%. So you could actually cover all the numbers on the layout and still lose money. These are great odds for the house but not for you. Games like Roulette, Craps, Big Six a have a fixed percentage because one roll or spin will never change the out come. There will always be 38 numbers on a roulette layout and 12 numbers on a pair of dice. Let's take a look at the odds facing a player in some other casinos games. With Keno, the house enjoys about a 30% advantage over the players. This game should only be played for fun as it is almost impossible to win consistently at Keno. Slot machines hold anywhere from 25% to 30% to less than 1% of the player's money. It is possible to beat slot machines with skillful play although most players don't even try. Las Vegas casinos make more money from slots than all of the table games combined. There are over 1,000 machines in Espinho alone. In Portugal, the payback is 92,5%. But this fluctuates as you know, based on thousands of hours and millions of Euros of play time. Craps, following World War II, was the most popular casino table game. Not only is craps an exciting fast action game, it is a excellent game for applying betting systems and money management techniques. With a low 1.4% house edge for line bets, and less than one percent for line bets, come bets and don't come bets with odds, craps offers the best bets in the casino besides blackjack. A major difference between craps and blackjack is that at blackjack a bettor can realize house odds less than one percent by judicious use of numerous player options, whereas, in craps, a house edge close to zero is achievable by simply knowing the correct bets to make. Baccarat is the least known casino table game, which is a shame because of its low house edge of only 1.17% for banker bets and 1.37% for player bets. Many casinos now offer a mini baccarat, which is played on blackjack sized tables and offers lower minimum wagers than the full sized baccarat games, which are often played in special roped off areas and are the domain of strictly high rollers. Many people believe that it is impossible to win in any casino game and that winning is just a matter of luck. Luck may be a factor in winning or losing in any game of chance; however, blackjack is primarily a game of skill, not chance. While most casino patrons have heard that blackjack can be beaten, they believe that only certified mathematical geniuses can master the skills necessary to beat the game. This is almost a valid criticism with many of the complex card counting strategies, but it certainly cannot be applied to the Power Blackjack strategy. Casino-type games are also played on gaming machines and on the internet. Average return to player The ‘average return to player’ is the percentage a gaming machine pays back in a single game, on average. The average return to player is displayed on gaming machines. On some machines (called compensated machines), the ‘average return to player’ is a minimum. A sign on the machine will tell you whether it is ‘random’ or ‘compensated.’ This average return per game is calculated over a millions of games, and does not tell what the next game will return. It may be a lot more or a lot less (for example if you lose). Also, if you play more than one game, the average return is lower. For example, if the average return for a single game is 80%, for two games it will be 64%. For 10 games it is just under 11% (0.8 to the power 10). A different way to look at ‘average return to player’ is to take its reverse, the ‘average loss per player’ per game. For example, if a gaming machine has an average return to player of 80%, the average loss per game is 20%. On average, each time you play a game, you lose 20% of your stake. Either way, a gaming machine takes in more money than it gives out so that it makes money for the operator. SPORTS BETTING Whether we wanted to or not, we’ve all been exposed to gambling from a very early age. From games of chance at arcades to church bingo, to dominoes, dice and card games and those fund raising raffles from the fireman. So you see, gambling is all around us in different shapes and sizes. And if you’re going to gamble, many see sports gambling as a much greater value than traditional casino games. A hand of blackjack is over with quickly. A lot of money can leave your hands quickly. When you place a bet on a sporting contest, you usually have a few days to wonder about it. Then during the game you can have hours of entertainment. Sometimes right down to the last few seconds. Most sports betters grew up watching and playing sports. They feel they have an acquired knowledge and judgment about the subject. They can relate easier than say betting on the stock market. With sports gambling the little guy or gal can be just as competent as the pro. There are lots of compelling reasons people sports gamble. Mostly because we’re fans and we like following sports. Young, old, professional, blue collar, guys, gals, all walks of life. Rich or poor, sports gambling transcends society. Sports gambling can be many things -- legal entertainment, fun, profitable, dangerous, bankrupting, and sometimes criminal. It’s life. Why do people like to bet on sports? Why do people like to do anything that’s a little on the edge? It’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s risky, it’s stimulating. With sports gambling, it’s predicting the future of sorts. It’s matching your wits with the experts. Some people say they feel as if they are part of the game because, in a way, they are competing. There are scads of different ways to place a bet -- point spreads, futures, money lines, propositions all tailored to one’s personal taste. Sports gambling is available year-round. One can bet on football, basketball, baseball, NASCAR, golf, and more. The sports gambler has a sense of control. At least the smart ones do. Also, society has become more accepting of sports gambling. It is seen less as an unsavory underworld operation. It has become more mainstream. Most people polled have no problem with legal gambling. There are many good, hardworking, smart, honest people who like to gamble on sports. Pools In pools betting, players ‘pool’ their stakes and the combined sum, less what the operator takes out, is divided between the winning participants. The level of the payout depends on the size of the pool and the number of winning participants. The most common betting pool in the UK is the football pool, which is based on the results of football matches. Pool betting on horse racing, greyhound racing and other sports takes place at race cources and tracks, through betting offices and online. Horse racecourse pool betting is offered exclusively by the Tote. Spread betting Spread betting allows people to bet on sporting events, politics or stock market movements. Unlike more traditional forms of gambling where you only lose the amount of your bet, spread betting profits and losses can be unlimited. With ordinary betting, you are either absolutely right (your horse wins) and you win money depending on the odds quoted, or you are absolutely wrong (you horse doesn’t win) and you lose the amount you have placed on the bet. With spread betting, the more right you are, the more you can win, but the more wrong you are the more you can lose – and your loss is not limited to the amount of your stake. So for example, if you bet £5 that the first goal will be scored on the 35th minute of play in a football match, you could win £25 if the goal is scored at the 40th minute of play or lose £25 if it is scored at the 30th minute of play. Odds Odds are the likelihood of one thing happening, rather than another. In gambling, the odds are the amounts paid out by a gambling operator or bookmaker. For example, if the odds are 3/1 (three to one), the gambling operator would pay out £3 for a £1 stake, or bet. If the odds are 1/4 (one to four), the gambling operator would pay out 25p on a £1 stake. In gambling, odds are not the same as probability. The odds shown are not the chance that an event will occur (ie the ‘true odds’), but the amount that the bookmaker or gambling operator will pay out, once they have taken off their commission, or ‘house edge’. CASINO ETIQUETTE – Traditional Casinos When you walk into any old land-based casino these days and you’re bound to see loads of people who just don’t have the manners. People screaming obscenities at the croupier—otherwise upstanding doctors and lawyers telling a roulette croupier where to insert his wheel…. The list of offenders could literally go on and on. Check out: BettingPortal Now, obviously, when someone starts losing their hard-earned dough hand-over-fist, you can’t expect them to be all sunshine and giggles. There will always be days at the tables when it seems some cartoon storm cloud had decided to hover overhead. The important thing, though, is that you can take the bad days with a bit of class and grace—instead of taking your losses out on the folks sitting next to you. No doubt, the following list of do’s and don’ts could apply to almost anything you do in life. And it kind of boggles the mind to think so many people reach legal gambling age without already knowing them. But, considering that many of us have experienced a king’s share of ill-mannered gambler in our time, we figured a full rundown of casino etiquette stands a bit of treatment. After all, while minding your p’s and q’s at an online table might not matter much, acting like a jerk in a land-based casino can get you in hot water —which, even if you’re winning, is not too pleasant. Rule No. 1: Know the Game This would seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many people will actually bet on something they didn’t even know existed five minutes before. Seriously, nobody wants to sit there and explain the rules of the game to you while they’re trying to concentrate on their hand or bets. And, if you ask a dealer, you’re just as likely to get the wrong explanation because there’s no incentive for a casino to make sure you know your stuff. The really annoying part about this one, though, is that folks who come up to a table without an clue of what’s going on in the game. What’s more, you’re liable to wreck someone’s strategy interrupting him as he decides on that last minute bet since, no doubt, the casino’s not going to stop the game while he gives you a tutorial. Rule No. 2: Don’t Insert Yourself Die-hard gamblers are a superstitious bunch, and many of them have a notion that an extra player at a poker or blackjack table will wreck the flow of the deal. As a general rule, you should never buy into a game in the middle of the deck, shoe, roll or spin. The best policy in this situation, then, is to simply ask: “Do you mind if I buy in?” If the other players say, “no,” you can sit down knowing you’ve created minimal drama; if they say, “Yes, actually we do mind”... well, that’s your cue to go find another table. For mid-hand buy-ins, however, there is absolutely no exception. If you try to do this, whether it be at a blackjack, hold’em, roulette, pai-gow, craps or baccarat table, the dealer will normally just ignore you. Sometimes, of course, they will drop everything they’re doing to let you in—especially if you persistently nag them. But, once you’ve gotten in, you can expect you’ve just entered a hornets nest of people who aren’t too keen on having everything stopped just so you can have your way. Rule No. 3: Mind Your Butts—And Chewing Gum Yes, casinos are some of the last establishments in the “free world” to permit smoking, but you don’t have to be obnoxious about it. Normally, the cocktail waitresses will be more than happy to provide you with those little, tin ashtrays if you ask, so there’s absolutely no excuse for flicking your ashes all over the place. Face it: Nobody likes a butthead (or arm, or shoe, or carpet… etc., etc.). And, considering that plenty of people in the brick-and-mortar casino community enjoy their cigarette privileges, most of them aren’t too keen on having them taken away because the casino’s tired of cleaning its carpets. If, on the other hand, you’re addicted to chewy little morsels of tree sap, absolutely, positively NEVER smack and crack that junk at a casino table, and as with the cigarettes, dispose of it properly. After all, people at gaming tables are normally trying to concentrate—and concentrate on their money, no less. Simply put, then, there’s really no tolerance at a table for someone who’s trying to act like a secretary in a 1980s teen movie or who likes flicking the stuff where an unsuspecting shoe can find it. Rule No. 4: Keep Your Hands off Other Peoples’ Chips Let’s put it this way: Do you like it when a complete stranger starts fondling your cash? Didn’t think so. Rule No. 5: Talk Trash at Your Own Risk When you lose, don’t start screaming cuss words, accusing the dealer of cheating and jumping up and down saying, “I don’t want it!” And, by the same token, don’t gloat, act superior, give patronizing advice to other players or break out with an “I told ya so!” when you win. For one thing, this kind of behavior is distractin. But, even more importantly, you probably won’t win any brownie points with that surly guy who just lost big time by rubbing your latest big take in his face. Rule No. 6: Be Kind to the Staff Taking people’s money by the truckloads can be one thankless job. And dealers, cocktail waitresses and pit personnel sure as heck don’t need you making it harder on them. Don’t, for instance, call the dealer a cheat and tell him he’s shuffling the deck or spinning the wheel wrong. And don’t try and play with the cutie pie who’s working her way through college passing out French martinis. But the biggest part of this being “kind” spiel is that you should always tip the casino staff when you’re ahead; if you’ve got a sound system or strategy and it’s working, share the wealth! Normally, waitresses and dealers—like most people—aren’t getting paid what they think they’re worth, and they’re usually hoping you tip so they can pay their rent. What’s more, plenty of professional gamblers attest to mechanics dealing a player in like he’s a shill or croupiers aiming a roulette ball for the numbers a player’s bet if they’ve been seeing a bit of the action too. Generally, the best way to get any dealer’s attention in this way is to simply make sure you’ve both got a common interest: Instead of giving a flat-out tip, make a separate bet beside your own and say “This one’s for the dealer.” That way, you’ll have the gentleman or lady with the cards pulling for you too. Rule No. 7: Don’t Get Hammered You know that drunk who’s constantly launching slurred sentimentalities on a waft of alcohol stench? Yeah, don’t be that guy. Although the drinks are usually free when you’re sitting at a casino table, boisterous, booze-soaked shenanigans such as spilling your rum and coke all over the table simply aren’t cool. Casinos, as a rule, encourage drinking because it gets people to make ludicrous bets, but make no mistake, if you get too out of hand, you’ll be out the door faster that a pig on skates. Rule No. 8: Don’t go after the Complimentary’s: Comps are little consolation prizes casinos give to people who blow thousands and thousands on their games. From one stand point, if we’re doing our jobs right here at Gambling Planet—and you actually pay attention to our strategy articles—you shouldn’t lose even an inkling of what you’d need to, to be properly comped. But, even supposing you do blow enough geld, a comp is never something to be proud of or desired. Who, after all, wants to spend hundred’s just so they can get a free drink in the casino’s café? What’s more, in the process of procuring your costly snack, you’ll have annoyed enough of the pit personnel that they’ll be gunning for you the rest of the night. So take a tip: if you get comped at a casino, enjoy your free table scraps in silence. Otherwise, don't even mention the "C" word. Rule No. 9: Don’t Be a Space Hog: No, not swine in rocket ships, you dope—people who sit there and take up slot machines they’re not using, table seats they’re not filling, and any number of other offenses that entail abnormally piggish behavior. As a rule of thumb, if the gaming floor’s busy, restrict your slot empire to just one machine. More than one machine, after all, won’t really improve your odds, and you’ll just be taking up more real estate than you actually need. Also, if you have to get up to go potty or give the ‘ole gluts a stretch, make it quick and signal that you’ll be back by turning an empty coin cup or clean—and we stress clean—ashtray upside-down on your seat. If, on the other hand, you’re gonna be a while, then be a while—just give somebody else a chance to play by freeing up the spot. Rule No. 10: Keep It Clean Some people are just chip slobs. You know the kind: piles of chips spread all over the felt, bets that look like somebody upended a bag of Skittles onto the table. Seriously, we’re sorry if you’re one of these people, but letting your end of the table look like your college dormroom sucks. More than that, though, it’s actually pretty stupid. Just think how much easier it would be, for instance, to keep your chips in neat, evenly spaced piles with, say, ten chips in each stack. If you’ve got five piles with ten £1 chips in each stack, you can tell you've got £50 in no time! What's more, this will not only help you keep track of how much you’ve won or lost, but will also help you count out your bets quickly enough to get them in when (as with roulette) there’s a limited amount of time to make them. So yeah, tidiness just something your momma said looks good. It's a matter of basic strategy. With neat and evenly arranged piles, you won’t have to worry about getting your chips mixed up with someone else’s. And, when it’s time to cash in, you can be sure that the dealer’s payout is right on the money because you'll already know what you're holding before you hand your chips over. Check out: BettingPortal Read More… Download FREE e-book – CHAPTER 1 “The Casino World”
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