Importance of Blackjack Strategy

March 13th, 2014 by OBO-admin

Elliot Frome, author and gaming analyst, has made an attempt to look differently at blackjack strategy in an article on GamingToday.com.

Back in the eighties, the only casino game that involved any strategy was blackjack. As long as players struggled with strategy, casinos were happy as they could make a profit. However, over the past three to four decades, the gaming quality of blackjack players improved and casinos got worried. Players got better at playing the game chiefly because of free online blackjack games, which gave them the chance to learn the rules and perfect the strategies without risking any real money.

The only way casinos could deal with the situation was to introduce several blackjack variants with higher house advantage. Six to five blackjack games were therefore introduced, reducing the payback percentage of blackjack by over two and increasing the house edge by over 400 percent. New casino games such as Three Card Poker, Caribbean Stud, and video poker games were invented and promoted.

In other words, new games were introduced into the industry chiefly because players learned proper blackjack strategies. Knowledge of strategy revolutionized the gambling industry and caused it to thrive over the past three to four decades instead of dying.

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Best Strategy for Blackjack Tournament Players

March 10th, 2014 by OBO-admin

Players who are taking part in a blackjack tournament must remember that they are playing against one dealer. In this case, several players will end up getting the same results. However, if the dealer gets blackjack, all the players in the tournament will lose the game.

The best blackjack tournament strategy is to play not just against the dealer, but also against the other players at the table. Each hand should be played as well as possible and pains should be taken to see that one’s hand is better than the opponents’. If a player bets and plays his/her hand differently from the other players in the tournament, he/she stands to benefit a lot.

Mark Pilarski, a blackjack tournament player who works as a contributing editor for several gaming magazines, has the following experience to share. There were only three players left standing, and Pilarski bet everything except a chip worth $5 on the last hand. The other players bet all their chips and lost the game when the dealer got blackjack. But Pilarski still remained in the game because he had retained one red chip. Since he had decided to adopt a different gaming style, he could win the tournament.

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The Truth behind Card Counting

March 5th, 2014 by OBO-admin

A popular card counting myth is that it requires complex math. Blackjack players who do not understand the game’s strategies feel that card counting is for math geniuses. There are some who also believe that it is against the law. The truth is that card counting is not illegal, but casinos do not like it for obvious reasons and retain the right to show the door to a card counter.

A little bit of mathematical reasoning is required to become a successful card counter, but card counters need not be math geniuses. Card counters, however, do require a talent for keeping track of the cards that have already been dealt from the shoe so that they can predict fairly accurately what cards will be dealt next.

Card counting only requires basic addition and subtraction skills along with the concentration to subtract or add numbers from running totals, which can be defined as the number of cards counted so far. This helps card counters predict what cards will be dealt next. Since most blackjack games have six decks, card counting has to be done for a long time before the total makes any sense.

Contrary to popular beliefs, card counting helps players win, but does not guarantee a win.

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Florida Lawmakers Consider Expanding Seminole Tribe Casino Games Portfolio

March 3rd, 2014 by OBO-admin

Two lawmakers have expressed support to extending the portfolio of the Seminole tribe casinos, which currently offer only slots and blackjack. The Senate Gaming Committee Chair recently mentioned that the state could stand to benefit if Seminole tribes are permitted to offer craps and roulette.

According to the Seminole compact, the tribe can offer all types of casino games except craps and roulette in its casino properties. The compact includes a provision that requires to be changed the following year. According to the deal, the state is guaranteed at least $1 billion of the tribe’s profits over a period of five years.

Rick Scott, the governor of Florida, said that he will take all the time required to negotiate the best deal for the state. The governor’s committee is planning to change gambling laws in a big way. This could mean new casino resorts for the state.

Gary Bitner, a spokesman for the Seminole Tribe, said that the tribe is quite happy with its portfolio and does not require extra games. At the same time, he hinted that the addition of new games to the Seminole portfolio could generate new jobs for the people of Florida as casinos will have to hire and train new dealers.

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Blackjack Player’s Killer Put Behind Bars

March 1st, 2014 by OBO-admin

Edris Ghani, a man who drove drunk and crashed into a woman’s car, has been given a prison term of as much as ten years. The 21-year-old woman, who died in the crash, had visited a Las Vegas casino with her mother to play blackjack and other casino games.

The testimony of Cynthia Konarski, the mother of 21-year-old Christina Konarski who died in the crash, led to this verdict. People were in tears when they heard Cynthia’s story, about how she had gone to the casino with her daughter to celebrate the latter’s birthday and how her life was shattered because of Ghani’s drunken driving, which killed her daughter and left her with a paralyzed arm.

Cynthia said that it was her daughter’s first experience at the Las Vegas casinos and that she “smiled every time she was carded at the blackjack table.”

The mother and daughter left MGM Grand at 4:00 a.m., the same time when Ghani got behind the wheel drunk to drive to his hotel. He was going at 70 mph along Tropicana Avenue when he crashed into their car and rammed it against a light pole.

Cynthia said that Ghani should have got a harsher sentence.

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Fzugi’s Hybrid Blackjack to Permit Unlimited Players at Blackjack Table

February 26th, 2014 by OBO-admin

Fzugi, a provider of live dealer casino gambling systems, will modify its Hybrid Blackjack system to enable an unlimited number of blackjack players to play at a single table. This will increase the casino’s revenues considerably.

A deal signed with Uplay1, a company dealing with intellectual property related to gambling, allows Fzugi’s clients to provide live dealer blackjack. This game allowed only seven players to play at a single blackjack table. But now, an unlimited number of players can play at a table.

As Uplay1 CEO Bruce Merati puts it, “Uplay1’s invention synchronizes a blackjack shoe with a virtual shoe allowing any number of players to participate in a live blackjack game.” He further explains that the new solution is ideal for low rollers and players new to blackjack. Besides, the casino’s profits and revenues will increase considerably.

Expressing his opinions about the deal, Fzugi CEO Kfir Kugler said that his company is currently in the process of expanding its live games portfolio so that casino operators can increase their revenues quickly and “further monetize players with its new generation of digital gaming entertaining.”

Hybrid Blackjack is not only ideal for blackjack beginners, but also an excellent solution to permit unlimited players at a blackjack table.

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European Court to Make Ruling in Online Gambling Case

February 25th, 2014 by OBO-admin

An online gambler in Austria lost €950,000 on two online gambling sites. The player said that the sites were both licensed by the Maltese gaming authority, but were operating illegally in Europe. He believes that the operators should be forced to pay restitution.

According to a recent report from Jocelyn Wood Pokerfuse, the man stole the money to gamble from his employer. However, he still decided to file a lawsuit against the gaming operator to recoup his losses. Wood didn’t specify whether the plaintiff is facing criminal charges for embezzlement.

The Austrian Supreme Court is currently hearing the case. The judges have asked for clarification from the Court of Justice of the European Union on a couple of key points. One of their questions was whether Austrian laws were in compliance with European treaties.

Many online gaming operators are worried about the implications of the new law. The court could set precedent that could derail gray market online gaming providers. However, the courts recently ruled in favor of the gaming industry in a similar case, which suggests that the industry doesn’t have anything to worry about.

The previous precedent is encouraging, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will rule against the gaming operators in this case. Judge Eleanor Sharpston of the Austrian national courts said that there are a couple of issues that they need to determine before making a ruling. The justices must decide whether the gaming providers committed fraud or exploited people suffering from gambling addictions. They are also discussing whether the expansion of online gambling would have helped address the problem.

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Blackjack Player Relates a Blackjack Story

February 17th, 2014 by OBO-admin

In a report on ledger-enquirer.com, Chuck Williams says that he followed his policy of “playing along with the music” at a blackjack table in a Las Vegas casino.

He was playing with five other blackjack players who appeared to know one another well. The dealer was a charming black woman in her fifties, who seemed to really enjoy what she was doing. The game went on for around 30 minutes with Williams betting $10 per hand, which was the minimum bet accepted at the table. The other players were playing at higher stakes of $500 to $1,500 per hand.

Ultimately, Williams got into a conversation with one of the men, who asked him if living in Georgia makes him a redneck. When he was fumbling for an answer, the dealer said, “That’s offensive. That is the same thing as if you had called me the N-word.”

The game did not last longer as players began leaving the table and the dealer had to take a break. Williams says in his report that he did not know what to make of the conversation as he did not consider being called a redneck offensive. He concluded by saying that it left him thinking differently about the race issue.

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UFC President Carries Garbage Bags to Casinos

February 14th, 2014 by OBO-admin

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White announced in Los Angeles recently that he carries large garbage bags whenever he visits a Las Vegas casino so that he can use them to carry his winnings back home in case he gets lucky at the blackjack tables.

Explaining the situation further, White said that he had won several millions of dollars at Palazzo Casino, which is located on the Las Vegas Strip, and had to hold it in his hands. He remembers thinking, “I’m like, are you serious? We’re going to get killed.”

Stating that casinos hardly provide suitcases to players who win large amounts of cash, he said that “they just stack it all up there and go ‘thanks have a great night.’” He said that he then developed the habit of carrying trash bags to the casino.

White has a tendency to win large amounts of cash at casinos. He said that he had won $6 million one night and had to leave $1 million behind. He had also placed a bet of $50k at one time and had played till sunrise in spite of his busy schedule. He also claimed that he had beat casinos and won $5,000,000 on certain nights.

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