Advanced Card Counting Strategies

March 21st, 2010

card-countingFor every combination of a player hand and exposed dealer card, there is one play that has the highest mathematical expectation. A Basic Strategy player memorizes all of these plays and follows them without exception. This reduces the house advantage to less than 1% in all but the very worst games. House advantages of a mere 0.2% to 0.5% with basic strategy are quite common. There are even a few games with rules so favourable that Basic Strategy alone is enough to give the player a small edge over the house.

Dollar-Weighted Strategy

This is an extension of Basic Strategy theory that considers the fact that more money will be bet by card counters when more small cards (2-7) than big cards (10, Ace) have been dealt. This changes the weighted average composition of the deck and results in several significant changes to the standard basic strategy.

Count-Based Strategy

This method requires the player to first learn the Basic Strategy or dollar-weighted strategy and then memorize a series of index numbers that indicate the minimum count to make a certain play. Systems of this type can have as few as one number (usually for insurance) or more than 200 numbers covering every play that could conceivably be varied by the count. Most systems include only a reasonable subset of the most important plays.

Multiple-Parameter Strategy

This is the use of count-based strategy by a player who is keeping two or more counts simultaneously. He must learn not only the value for each play, but also what count or combination of counts to use in each case.

Combinatorial Analysis

This is the ultimate level of playing accuracy with a randomly shuffled deck. For every decision, the best play for the exact subset of cards remaining is determined. Only computers are capable of playing with this level of expertise. In theory, a highly skilled human with a powerful multiple-parameter strategy can come close to this ideal.

Compare Online Casinos

March 16th, 2010

online-casino-advisoryWith the advent of newer technologies, the famous casino games have now moved on the internet. There are newer online casinos emerging every single day. Therefore it becomes difficult for an average player to identify the best casino that would complement their gaming needs.

OnlineCasinoAdvisory.com is one abode where the players can get all the updated information about the happenings in the casino world. The best part about such a website is that it lists down the top ten casinos on the internet in the present day. These casinos are actually the ones which are voted by the players themselves. In addition, there are dedicated players for Casino Advisory that assess the casinos based on the brands, the software functionality, games, payout percentages, customer support, winnings, deposits and all the other aspects.

Online Casino Advisory allows the players to share their experiences about the casinos they come across. These experiences are published on a regular basis on more than 50 blogs and websites. The site takes an initiative to send a particular questionnaire to all its players, so as to rate the casinos on the scale from 1 to 10.

There is a news section on the site as well, which allow the players to know about the most recent changes within the casino industry. The news section is frequently updated and maintained by the prominent professionals from the casino industry. In addition, there is a free games section as well, where the beginners can try out different casino games before playing them with real money. Furthermore, there are detailed casino reviews which allow you to know more about the casino you’re interested in. The players can assess the deposit or the withdrawal methods, along with the payout percentages. All of this information is crucial to make the most of your gaming experience.

Casino Gambling Index

March 14th, 2010

top-10-online-casino-gambling-sites

With the escalating popularity of online casinos, newer casinos are being introduced every passing day. Therefore selecting the casino that best suits your needs is an intricate task for the beginners. CasinoGamblingIndex.com is one such website that simplifies your casino needs. It brings out a list of the top rated casinos on the internet. These casinos are reviewed by the professional players within the industry and are assessed in terms of payouts, winning percentages, games and the software applications. The site claims to stay away from unethical gambling practices or all kinds of biased reviews.

The casinos are specially categorized for the UK casinos and the best online casinos for US players, so that the players can get all the casino information on one platform. There is a casino forum to facilitate interactions between the players, discuss casino reviews as well as the gaming strategies, so as to make the most out of your gaming experience.

There are newer casino games being introduced on the online casinos, so as to meet the increasing demands of the players. The beginners might not be aware of the slot games and therefore Casino Gambling Index presents a detailed description of all the popular casino slot machines and the strategies to yield profits.

Why Choose Online Poker?

March 8th, 2010

Now more than ever, people are choosing to take part in online poker instead of going to a casino. One of the major reasons is because visiting an online poker site is far easier and handier than going to a live casino. Imagine, instead of having to travel outside of your home to a busy, noisy casino, you can relax and experience just as much poker enjoyment in the virtual world with a simple “click” of your mouse. Here are just a few main highlights of the advantages of online poker:

  • You can play at any time of the day or night from the comfort of your own home or place of choosing at your convenience.
  • You can play against players from all over the world.
  • You can play for fun.
  • You can use special strategy tools to assist you when you play.
  • You don’t have to worry about the other opponent’s seeing your expression or hearing your comments during a hand.

Perhaps the single most obvious difference between live and online poker is the fact that at a live poker table, players are physically online-pokerpresent and can therefore see the moves of their opponents, their emotions, as well as their reactions. This makes playing live poker far more challenging than online, because players always need to be conscious of what their opponents are doing, and if they are being watched. Moreover players need to have control over their body language, emotions and expressions, as sudden reactions or nervous gestures or movements can often be a dead giveaway to an experienced player.

When playing online poker, however, players do not need to concern themselves with physical control. You can scream, yell, laugh and make any expression you want, because even though your family, pets or neighbours may hear or see you and possibly think you’re crazy, your opponents can only judge you by the way you converse over a chat dialogue, and by the moves you make in the game.

What’s more is when you play online you don’t have to worry about following a dress code, which is required at many live casinos. Therefore, whether you feel inspired to dress to the nines, the point is you can wear whatever you want!

Are Odds Calculators Considered Cheating?

February 23rd, 2010

oddscalc_ss1It may sound surprising, but these programs are not considered cheating tools. In respect to the odds calculator software, using these devices is no different then relying on a calculator to add, subtract, multiply and divide for you on a math test. Although these strategy calculators do provide you with information on the best probabilities based on your hand and your other opponents’ (depending on the tool you use), they do not provide you with extra turns, cards, or the ability to see another player’s hand. In short, odds calculators randomly work out the probabilities of your cards, nothing more.

That being said, in regards to certain player profiling programs (with the exception of poker tracker, as its purpose is to track every opponent you have played as you’ve played them), there are increasing debates on whether or not some of these programs should be allowed in online poker rooms.

The reason is because some programs allow the tracker to study the other opponent through the use of a program that follows the player being tracked from table to table. These programs record the players playing style, and the tracker gains all of this information without ever having to play that particular player repeatedly in order to come to this conclusion on their own. Thus, some believe that the players who are being constantly tracked are given an unfair advantage when faced against the player who has tracked them, as the tracker already has a good idea when the other player will fold, call, raise or bluff. Currently player profiling software is not illegal, but there is no question that the use of such programs is sneaky, and takes the fun and excitement out of the joy of truly outwitting your fellow opponents and winning the pot.

Table-Hopping

February 17th, 2010

Table-hopping is the use of card counting to avoid playing when the odds are against the player. There are many advantages to this style of play.

  • Little or no money is lost playing negative counts.
  • The standard deviation is reduced by playing fewer hands.
  • A smaller bankroll is required.
  • A large bet spread is not needed.
  • No time is wasted playing out shoes that will never turn favourable.
  • Crowded conditions become an asset instead of a liability
  • There is no need to learn playing strategy variations for negative decks.

There are two complementary forms of table-hopping: Back-Counting and Table Departure. tablehopping

Back-counting is keeping the count at a table without having a hand in play. The player does not enter the game until the count indicates a slight edge for the player. Some counters are even more selective and wait for an advantage of a full 1% or more before joining the table.

Table departure is abandoning the table when the count is so low that the rest of the shoe is unlikely to be favourable to the player. The main variations on this theme are taking a break and returning when the cards are shuffled or finding a different table. The system does not differentiate between large and small player disadvantages, but as a rule, the count should be rising throughout the shoe. If a large number of cards have been seen and the count is still at or below the starting count it may be a good time to miss some hands. The idea is to leave the table when the player has a disadvantage greater than about 1.0%.

How can 888bingo offer such large bonuses to its players?

February 8th, 2010

online-bingo-bonusHave you ever wondered how bingo rooms like 888bingo can offer such large signup bonuses to their players? You may think it is complicated, but in reality, it is simple.

Online bingo rooms need players to make a profit. Everyone knows that. So, their goal is to get as many players as they can to join. They do this by offering them money to join.

First off, we must understand that they are not giving you 100% bingo free money. They are giving you money to use in their online bingo room. You have to play a certain number of games to be able to cash this money out. This accomplishes one thing: it keeps the players playing, and they are more likely to fall in love with the game and keep on coming back for more.

Believe it or not, most online bingo rooms actually assign a dollar value to players. Now, this has nothing to do with the size of their bankroll. Here is an example:

Based on the stats taken by an online bingo room, they may be able to determine that each player, on average, will deposit $100 in their lifetime, and they will lose half of it to the bingo room. Now, some players will win more, and some players will lose more, but that’s not important.

So, if you knew every player would bring in $50 profit, would it not be reasonable to pay $40 for them to join? In the end, you are still making a good amount of money. This is the way online bingo rooms think, and this is how they can offer the money they do!

So, what should you do? Well, take advantage of it! Sign up at 888bingo and receive a huge sign up bonus. You can use this money to play quite a few rounds of online bingo, and if you are lucky, you will be able to turn it into something a lot bigger in a short period of time! Open an account today and experience the thrills that online bingo games offers!

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