Today, the dice has become an integral part of many gambling games. Did you know that it has a very rich and varied history? Here is a brief history of the gambling dice, for your pleasure.

The dice is as old as civilization itself. Many ancient tribes are known to have used the dice as divination tools. Dice were also known to be used in ancient times for the purpose of predicting the future. The dice as we know it today was originally made from ankle bones of animals that had hooves. In fact, the Arabic word for knuckle bones and the word for dice are very strongly related to each other.

The Astragali, or sheep’s ankle bones, were used by the Greeks to fashion their dice. Bones were also known to be used by Romans to make their dice. The dotted faces of the cube shaped piece are features that can be easily identified in Roman dice.

Dice had become very popular in playing games and very soon ‘weighted dice’ came to be introduced. These dice were filled with lead to add to their weight and to control their rolling.

There was a dice makers’ guild in the Middle Ages that had strict guidelines which forbade the manufacturing of leaded or fraudulent dice. However, there is evidence that fraudulent dice were still being used at that time despite the strict rules.

Over the history of dice, it came to be made with many different materials. The various materials that were used to make dice include ivory, wood, animal teeth and horns, onyx, clay, nut shells, seeds, bronze, marble, amber, rock, precious metals like gold and silver, alabaster, agate among many others.

Today, the dice that is commonly used in casinos made of extruded cellulose acetate and are typically transparent

Tens or Better Poker is another variation of the video poker games launched by Microgaming, one of the leading online casino software providers. This version of the game is known to produce the maximum efficiency MicroGaming. It is another user-friendly version from the video poker games and designed in such a way that the beginners can learn through the options on the games and the experts can better their skills.

There are no wild cards in the game of Tens or Better Poker and is pretty similar to Jacks or Better. Almost all the video poker players know how to play Jack or better, however it is observed that the payouts in Tens or Better Poker are better. The maximum jackpot payout in Tens or Better Poker happens to be 4000 coins and could be achieved if the players draw a Royal Flush (Ten, J, Q, K and the Ace of the same suits). A standard deck of 52 cards is used here and there are no wild cards to be considered in the game. The cards are well-shuffled before the start of every game, so as to ensure a random deal.

The players are given an opportunity to increase or decrease their wagers with the ‘+’ or the ‘-‘controls. At any coin level in the game, ‘Bet One’ would allow the players to bet only one coin/unit at a time and ‘Bet Max’ allows the users to bet the maximum coin size for that level. These are pretty easy to use and the game begins as soon as the player hits the ‘Deal’ button. With the start of the game, the players are dealt five cards. If the players activate the ‘Auto Hold’ option, the software would automatically place a hold on some cards that have been dealt by the players. The players do not have to be in the ‘Expert Mode’ in order to play the ‘Auto Hold’ mode. However the moves in this mode are based on the mathematical strategy, also known as the Optimal Play Strategy.

On the other hand, if the players wish to play video poker game manually, they can simply click on the cards they wish to hold and disregard the rest. In any case, the game deals new cards as soon as the player clicks on ‘Draw’. The ‘Draw’ button helps the player to finish the current game and it is instantly determined whether the player is a winner or not. Subsequent to winning a hand, the players would also be given an opportunity to double the winning payouts by clicking on the ‘Doubling’ control. This is an attractive bonus feature available with Tens or Better Poker. In the process of ‘Doubling’, five cards would appear on the screen and one of these cards is face-up whereas the other four could be seen only to the player. The players are required to pick one card and if that card happens to be of higher value than the dealer, the winnings are doubled.

Gambling is all about numbers. But, there are more numbers attached to gambling than you see on the gambling table.

Here are some facts and figures about gambling that are likely to astound you:

• Poker is such a popular game in the United States that more than 65,000,000 people play poker in the US on a fairly regular basis.
• Almost 90% of visitors to Las Vegas end up gambling.
• Polls have shown that almost 40% residents of the United States have travelled to Las Vegas, specifically for the purpose of gambling.
• A poll found that almost 60% residents of the United States buy a lottery ticket every year.
• Almost 70% visitors to Las Vegas cannot resist the temptation of slot machines.
• Almost a fourth of the residents of United States admit to have participated in illegal gambling.
• Surprisingly, the largest resident group of citizens in Las Vegas is that of senior citizens, who comprise over 22% of the population.
• Amongst thousands of people polled, 80% believe that all gambling should be legalized in the United States.
• Gambling was legalized in Nevada only in the year 1931.
• While the American Roulette wheel has 38 numbers, 0, 00, 1-36, the French Roulette wheel has only 37 numbers 3-36.

Here are figures to make your mind reel:

• Over $170 million was placed in bets by gamblers in Las Vegas in the year 2007. Out of that money, the casinos made about $7 billion. The rest was won by other gamblers.
• The gambling industry in the US alone sees almost $50 billion change hands every year, of which over $27 million changes hands at casinos owned by Indians.
• $1, 683,524.64 has been won in one game play at a popular online casino. This amount was won by a guy named Jim L.

There is gambling which is responsible and gambling that is addictive. A gambler who plays responsibly will come to realize that winning is not always likely. Gambling is now an internet phenomenon and has reached a large audience. Some people employ gambling as a career prospect and learn to be professional gamblers.

A person must be over 18 years to start gambling. According to a current research, it signifies that only seven out of thirty seven gambling operations online prohibited a youngster of 16 years from registering. One of the causes is that a youngster has access to a debit card and so can do his own online account registering. Credit card registration is a little harder, emphasizing that a card holder must be over the age of 18. This survey done in the UK resulted in some changes to the laws.

A Gambling Act was regulated in 2005 and it offers protection to underage children and oversees all casinos and betting places. The Gambling Commission manages this Act. If an individual or group violate this act, a fine is imposed, license taken away and people taken to court. Gambling centers are inspected regularly, in order to ensure that laws are not being violated.

Some of the laws imposed are as listed below,

• An underage child is not allowed at a casino even if he is accompanied by an adult
• Some entertainment and bingo centers will prohibit kids under eighteen from entering
• Casinos can advertise, but cannot target underage children
• If you are under sixteen, you will not be able to purchase a lottery ticket
• Slot machines are prohibited in areas where children have easy access to them

There are a few online gambling laws, through TV and telephone

• Advice must be given by operators to underage children that gambling is offensive
• A verification method to confirm your legal age to register

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Celebrity Gamblers are at the pinnacle of everything we wish for. They have the looks, the fame and tons of money to gamble! Here are some of the most famous celebrity gamblers of our times:

• George Clooney: George Clooney is a very passionate gambler and a poker player. He is known to have many late night sessions with co-stars playing poker. But that’s not all, he is also keenly interested in the poker business and is known to have invested a fairly large amount in a casino-hotel-condominium complex, Las Ramblas.
• Ben Affleck: Ben Affleck is a proven poker champion. In 2004, he won the Commerce Casino’s California State Poker Championship in which 90 players had participated including professional players like Chuck Pacheco, president and co-founder of Castle Rock Entertainment, who finished 3rd and Stan Goldstein, who finished in the 2nd place.
• Matthew Perry: Matthew Perry is also rumored to be a heavy poker player. He is known to be an avid fan of online gambling. He is also known to have a special arrangement with the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas for a weekend where he spent a private VIP weekend gambling.
• Matt Damon: Matt Damon had the opportunity of being coached by poker legend Johnny Chan, along with co-star Edward Norton, during the shooting of one of the best gambling movies, Rounders. He is said to be such a cool gambler that he has been rumored to have been offered $1 million by Nine.com, an online gambling giant, as endorsement.
• Tobey Mcguire: Tobey Mcguire is also an established poker champion. He won $186,000 at a $2,000 buy-in tournament at the Hollywood Park Casino in October 2004. He also went on to win the $2,000 Phil Hellmuth Invitational for $95,480 and cashes at the WPT and WSOP. He is also known to host high stakes poker parties at his home.

While gambling on major casino games, except poker, the players are wagering against the house. In games that require betting on the horse or a dog race, you are not betting against the house. In such situations, you are placing a pari-mutuel bet and are in reality betting against the other players in the game.

All the money that is wagered enters a large pot. The winners in the event divide the total money that is bet on the event, excluding the tax deductions and race expenses. The money taken out through this could be compared to the usual pot in the poker game that is played in the card room. However, unlike the smaller rakes in poker, the pari-mutuel bet can sum up to at least 15% - 20% of the total prize money.

A majority of the players who visit the track or the off-track facilities do not have the knowledge about the history behind pari-mutuel bets. With the introduction of the modern day facilities, the gambling calculations are displayed on the large ‘tote’ boards and hence the players think that is a newer form of wagering. But the existence of pari-mutuel betting goes back a few decades.

Pari-mutuel is a term used for the phenomenon of betting against each other. Its discovery is credited to a French perfume shop owner known as Pierre Oller. He began using this form of betting to sell tickets on a horse race and the prize pool was split amongst the winners in the year 1865. Such a way, Pierre would keep about 5% of the winnings for the race expenses and divide the rest amongst the winners. This wagering system was used by a lot of racing parks and was finally legalised by the French government.