Here is some interesting gambling trivia that you may never have heard of, but are likely to enjoy. Read on!

• Claude Monet got to be a painter because of gambling. He was working as a messenger when he won a huge lottery. With this money, he was able to quit his job and follow his passion- painting.
• If you total all the numbers on a roulette table, the sum is 666, a number that is usually associated with Satan. Legend has it that a guy named Francois Blanc made a deal with the Devil. He wanted to learn the alleged ‘secrets’ of the roulette table, for which he bargained his soul to the Devil. That is why there is a mark of the Devil, the number ‘666’ on every roulette table.
• Howard Hughes was introduced to gambling through the game of roulette. The guy who changed the gambling industry to its modern day avatar played and won $9,900 at his very first roulette game.
• A record $27.6 million have been won in a single jackpot. The winner was an unidentified woman in a casino at Las Vegas who had spent $300 gambling that day, although she had been gambling for 23 years gambling without winning any large sum.
• Howard Stern was once refused by all casino owners in Las Vegas when he requested to place a $1 million on a single Blackjack hand.
• The largest wager in history was for $1 million and it was won by Bob Stupak, the owner of the Casino at The Stratosphere. He wagered a million dollar on the Bengals vs the 49ers 1989 Superbowl and won.
• Charles Deville Wells won at roulette in a very interesting fashion. He bet on #5 and won, added his winnings to his original bet and won again. He then went on to win 5 times in a row before walking out.

Play Online Casino

Finding an online casino that deserves your online gambling activity can sometimes be difficult. There are so many different ones out there, and they are all claiming to be the best. So, how should you choose one? Consider the following factors.

Game Selection

Game selection is one of the most important factors when choosing an online casino to play at. Many people have a favorite game and they think that if the casino they are looking has it, they should sign up. The truth is, you will eventually get bored of that game, and will need to find another game to break up the monotony. That is why it is important to find an online casino like 888.com that offers many different casino games like online blackjack, craps, roulette and more.

Software Platform

The software platform is a major issue that needs to be addressed when choosing a casino online. Think about it. You will be sitting in front of your computer for hours looking at the software platform, so it should be easy to use and be good looking, right? If it does not work well, lags, and has ugly graphics, you are not going to enjoy it. Make sure the casino online you choose has a great software platform like www.888.com, which provides one of the world’s most professional and sophisticated platforms.

Customer Service

Customer service is a very important part of choosing an online casino to play at. It doesn’t matter how long you have been playing at online casinos or how knowledgeable you are on the subject, there will come a time where you need to contact customer service. It is usually best to stick with an online casino that offers email, phone and live chat support 24/7, like 888.com does. This way, whenever you have a problem, you are sure to get an answer in a very short period of time.

Promotions

Since the online casino industry is so competitive, online gaming companies offer very lucrative promotions to get you to sign up with them. They usually offer you huge deposit bonuses, and even allow you to earn cash back through their loyalty programs. 888.com, for example, have very strong promotions and that understands player loyalty.

Deposit and Withdrawal Methods

An often overlooked factor in choosing a casino online is the financial system they have in place. Many people don’t understand how frustrating it can be dealing with a casino that does not have their financial system in order. If it is difficult to deposit your money, you are not going to want to go through the process very often and it will slow your online gaming process. If the withdrawal method is difficult, you are not going to want to play, because you will dread the time it takes to get your winnings. Before you choose a casino online, make sure they have a streamlined financial system, in which 888.com excels.

If you take all these factors into account and choose an online casino accordingly, you will have hours of fun entertainment. You will experience the excitement of online gambling the way it was meant to be!

It is painful living with a person with a gambling addiction. The financial strain becomes insurmountable. A gambler eventually exhibits characteristics such as irresponsibility about relationships and their work. A gambler has a disorder which is compulsive. And they are not in a position to change it. Gamblers will steal, borrow and even beg which will begin to tear their lives apart.

Some gamblers like the excitement and thrill of gambling. It is similar to the high a person gets from taking drugs. Some gamblers want to escape from emotional pain, worry, grief and loneliness. Gambling is an illness that is silent. It is hidden. Symptoms in a gambler are not always obvious or physical. Gamblers employ lying especially to friends and family. Some symptoms identified are, lack of finances, borrowing money, missing cash, unpaid bills, unusual cash advances, unusual phone calls and so on.

The first step to recovery is admittance and a desire of wanting to take control of life. There are many diverse treatments for gamblers. Some of them include counseling, psychiatric treatment and self help groups. Gamblers Anonymous is similar to Alcoholics Anonymous which has a twelve step program that is based on support and friendship.

Counseling is provided by people who are professionals who are qualified as social workers or psychologists. These services are mostly provided free of charge or are subsidized by the government. Therapy emphases on thoughts related to gambling, irritable moods, anxiety, vulnerability and cognitive disorders.

Gamblers Anonymous employs a 12 step program that has a support group with peers facing a similar addiction and compulsive behaviour.

Self help groups and peer support is a fast growing treatment method. Since gambling is now an online phenomena a gambler has access to online peer support when trying to recover from this addiction. This kind of help remains anonymous and a gambler does not need to disclose their addiction to family and friends.

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

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

Gambling is indeed a thrilling and exciting sport. The higher the stakes are the more is the enjoyment to be had. Many people around the world enjoy gambling for the rush and pleasure it provides them. As the Internet permeated into all parts of our life, even gambling became accessible from the comforts of our homes. Now, with thousands of online casinos on the web, you can enjoy your favorite casino games without ever venturing into a brick and mortar casino.

The fact that there are thousands of online casinos does pose a huge problem for many gamblers. How does one choose amongst so many sites? All online casinos offer different features, bonuses, games, etc. and it can be very difficult to choose any one site. The quality of the site as well as of the players on the site can also be a huge determinant in which online casino you choose. It is therefore important to ensure that you have access to accurate reviews of gambling sites to help you make the right choice.

This is where CasinoListings.com comes in. CasinoListings.com is an independent resource that provides you with reviews as well as comparisons of gambling sites. It also provides information regarding bonuses and payout rates of different online casinos.

If you are an experienced gambler and you know what you are looking for, you will be able to easily find that on CasinoListings.com. If you are a gambling enthusiast but are worried about losing money in online casinos, then no deposit casinos are the way to go. You do not need to deposit any cash to start playing games in these no deposit casinos. Instead, you get joining bonus so that you have free cash to play with. On CasinoListings.com, you will be able to find the best no deposit casinos on the Internet.