Archive for the ‘Blackjack News’ Category

Costa Rican Rummy Blends Blackjack with Poker

Wednesday, May 7th, 2014

Blackjack owes a lot of its popularity to the fact that it comes in several variants, some of which are in favor of players and some in favor of the house. One of the most interesting and unique variants of blackjack is the Rummy game that is played in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica, a small country in Central America, has around 50 land casinos; however, playing blackjack is illegal in the country. The casinos, therefore, have found a way round this problem by introducing a variant called Rummy, which bears a striking resemblance to blackjack. The rules of Costa Rican Rummy require players to stand on soft 17, which increase the players’ chances of winning. The rules also allow players to double on any card combination, even after splitting a card pair, which is very player friendly indeed.

Costa Rican Rummy also includes some rules followed in certain poker variants. For instance, the casino pays five to one if players get blackjack with three Seven cards. They get paid three to one if they get a Three of a Kind combination. These rules make Costa Rican Rummy an exciting blend of poker and blackjack. The only downside is that players win even money if they get blackjack.

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Celebrities Who Love Life and Play Blackjack

Friday, May 2nd, 2014

Several celebrities are fond of playing blackjack, and here are some of them.

P. Daddy, Puff Daddy, Papa Diddy, Diddy, or anything else he might be called loves life and playing blackjack. He doesn’t feel it is out of the ordinary to spend millions on celebrating his birthday or renting a yacht for $400k per week. Diddy is devoted to playing the game of poker. Reportedly, he had requested for a blackjack table to be placed in his dressing room during an MTV Music Awards ceremony so that he could play the game with his friends.

Paris Hilton is also frequently seen playing blackjack at the casinos of Las Vegas. Two months back, she won an impressive amount of $50,000 playing blackjack after receiving $100,000 for being the DJ at a nightclub in Atlantic City.

Prince Harry, another fan of blackjack, once played blackjack at Las Vegas while a large crowd looked on. He later said that he enjoyed the free drinks served to him at the casino. Shortly thereafter, he lost $300 playing blackjack.

Ben Affleck, the Oscar-winning movie star, loves playing high-stakes casino games, and not many people know it. In 2001, he won $800,000 playing blackjack at the Hard Rock Hotel.

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Basic Blackjack Hand Signals Gamblers Must Know

Saturday, April 19th, 2014

Blackjack players are required to know a number of hand signals while playing blackjack in land casinos as they make it easy for dealers to track their actions.

Players who want to hit must tap their index fingers and point at their cards while saying the word “hit.” Players should remember to tap their fingers only once as tapping them too many times might confuse dealers. If players want to stand, they only have to wave their hands over the cards to communicate to the dealer that they do not need any more cards.

If players feel like doubling down, they can simply request the dealer to deal them an extra card. Alternatively, they can keep some more chips near their original bets and the dealer will come to know that they have doubled down. Some players drop each chip down one by one till they have matched their original bets. Players who want to split make an action as if they are about to cut something with a pair of scissors.

Some casinos allow players who have got an unfavorable hand to surrender and get back half their bet amounts. To show dealers that they are about to surrender, players can move their fingers in a left-to-right direction.

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Watanabe’s Terrifying Gambling Habits

Saturday, April 12th, 2014

Terry Watanabe’s gambling debts of $127 million is a clear indicator of how a blackjack player’s life can get ruined if he or she makes the wrong decisions.

All gamblers are aware of the Terry Watanabe case, about how he ran into a huge debt because of his addiction to gambling. The American entrepreneur ended up losing $127 million at the Harrah-owned Rio Casino and Caesars Palace in just one year. The gambling company has sued him for refusing to return the gambling loan of $14.7 million it had extended to him. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Watanabe could get up to 28 years in jail if the judge rules in favor of the casinos.

One wonders how Watanabe could lose so much money playing a skill-based game. Such a thing could happen to Watanabe because he was not only addicted to gambling, but also to alcohol. A Caesars Palace security guard had told The New York Daily News that he had never seen Watanabe arrive at the casino sober. Watanabe also made the mistake of thinking that a winning streak should follow a losing streak, owing to which he bet outrageously huge sums of money on what he felt to be a winning hand.

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Blackjack Opportunities at Bet365 Mobile Casino

Wednesday, April 9th, 2014

Mobile blackjack players looking for opportunities to win big money playing mobile and online blackjack will find plenty of them if only they look hard enough. Almost every day, online casinos and mobile casinos launch lucrative blackjack promotions, including bonuses, cash backs, tournaments, freerolls, and leader board races for their customers and Bet365 is not an exception.

If players want to win their share of an exciting prize pool of £1,000, they must play blackjack at Bet365 Mobile Casino, which is holding an exciting mobile blackjack tourney. The best 25 players of the tournament are going to get paid, and the top player will be given a prize of £200.

Whenever players bet £10 on blackjack games, they will be awarded a Comp Point. This increases their tournament score and gives them a higher position on the leader board. If players want to win big, they must play as much real money blackjack as possible.

The mobile blackjack tournament is not the only exciting event at Bet365 Mobile Casino every week. This mobile casino is compatible with a wide range of mobile devices such as Android, iPad, and iPhone. It also offers an exciting portfolio of mobile casino games, including blackjack, along with lucrative promotions.

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Pebble Releases 3 New Smartwatch Games

Tuesday, March 25th, 2014

Blackjack players who own Pebble smartwatches can now enjoy three more new games in addition their favorite blackjack game.

Pebble announced during GDC 2014 that it has released three brand new games, which can be obtained from the Pebble App Store—Icon Pop Quiz from Alegrium, Mr. Runner by Zing Games, and Hatchi from Portable Pixels.

Those who own Pebble smartwatches already have a wide choice of games at their fingertips. The portfolio includes Tiny Bird, Chess, Blackjack, Pebtris, and so on, and the new games are just as good. Mr. Runner is based on the runner theme, Hatchi is based on the Tamagachi theme, and Icon Pop Quiz is a quiz-like game.

Mr. Runner is based on simple rules, featuring a stick-like runner who runs through a world full of walls. Icon Pop Quiz is a sort of guessing game with plenty of clues. The most interesting of all these newly released games is Hatchi as it reminds players of the electronic Tamagachis that were very popular back in the nineties. Wearers of Pebble smartwatches need to take care of their digital pets by feeding them, playing with them, cleaning them, and so on. Hatchi is therefore ideal for pet enthusiasts.

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Helping Restore Ability to Hold Casino Night with Blackjack Games

Sunday, March 23rd, 2014

Helping Restore Ability is going to organize a casino night at the Arlington Museum of Art on April 5. The event will include a cocktail hour, which will begin at 7:00 p.m., and plenty of casino games such as blackjack, roulette, and craps. A martini ice luge and a Mexican buffet form the highlights of the event.

Vicki Niedermayer, the executive director of Helping Restore Ability, says that “the event will be an absolute blast,” featuring a live band and plenty of prizes for casino gaming. Speaking about Helping Restore Ability, he said that the organization serves a vulnerable section of the population, who are not only poor, but also physically and intellectually challenged. She said: “No matter the disability, no matter their age, we are here to serve. The real joy of this event is raising funds to support these people.”

Those who play blackjack, roulette, and other casino games at this event can win attractive non-cash prizes such as gift cards, golf trips, photography sessions, and Rangers tickets. The authentic casino environment will be generated by the presence of the Marcus Rockwell Trio, who will play a mixture of R&B, jazz, and pop.

The tickets cost $75 per head.

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PokerStars Tries to Prevent Bad Actor Clause in California Online Poker Bill

Tuesday, March 18th, 2014

Two California lawmakers have introduced bills, AB 2291 and SB 1366 that could legalize online poker. Many online gaming operators are eagerly waiting for the state legislature to pass either of these bills.

PokerStars hopes that online poker will soon be legal in the Golden State, but is worried that a future law will have a bad actors clause that would bar it from entering the market. The company is reportedly working with the Morongo Band of Mission Indians to ensure a future law won’t include such a restriction reports Gambling Compliance.

The Morongo tribe is one of the tribes that is trying the hardest to legalize online poker. There are rumors that the tribe may form a partnership with PokerStars if online poker is legalized. A recent report from iGamingPlayer states that the tribe is already collaborating with PokerStars. The report said that the claim came from a very reliable source.

PokerStars has been eagerly trying to return to the United States online poker market. Nevada’s new online poker law states that companies that violated the UIGEA or other U.S. gambling laws are not allowed to operate in the market for 10 years. New Jersey doesn’t have a bad actor clause, but the state Division of Gaming Enforcement ruled that PokerStars wouldn’t be eligible to apply for an online gaming license for another two years.

The gaming operator doesn’t want to be excluded from the California gaming market as well, because the player base is much higher than most other states. PokerStars apparently hopes that a future online gambling law would allow it to participate in the market. However, the state’s tribes, lawmakers and cardrooms are having a difficult time agreeing on the terms of a future online gaming bill. They will need to negotiate many proposed measures, which means that a bad actor clause may need to be included before a bill can be passed.

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Importance of Blackjack Strategy

Thursday, March 13th, 2014

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

Monday, March 10th, 2014

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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