Video poker has been around for over 30 years. It started out when casinos noticed that many people liked to play cards but were too scared to actually sit down at a poker table. Video poker allowed these players to play poker without having to look their opponents in the eye. With the explosion of online casinos Video Poker’s popularity grew exponentially. This growth in turn led to the development of new versions of video poker. Here we'll take a look at some of the more important developments in the video poker world. 1. Multi Hand Video Poker Multi Hand Video Poker is like "normal" video poker on steroids. As its name implies, you're playing more then one hand at a timemon variations include Jacks or Better (of course), 10's Or Better, Deuces Wild and more. The Games come in 4, 10, 50, and even 100 hand versions. Multi hand video poker is an exciting twist on standard single hand video poker. Today, most online casinos have at least one multi-hand version. 2. Power Poker Power Poker is Microgaming's version of Multi-Hand Video Poker and is probably the most popular multi-hand version on the web. Currently there are 11 different Power Poker Games in 4, 10 and 50 hand versions. Playing Power Poker is like playing the single hand version of the game. You start with the same 5 cards in each hand. You then select the card(s) you wish to hold. The remaining cards are discarded and new cards replace the discarded ones. Winning hands are determined by a redefined payout schedule. 3. Progressive Video Poker Progressive Video Poker is yet another exciting variation of good old video poker. Progressive Video poker follows the same rules as a non-progressive version of the same game. The difference is in the payout of the royal flush. Often times, progressive jackpots build through multiple casinos, so potentially the pot can be huge. When playing a Progressive machine, it's crucial to play the max coins on every play, that's the only way to win the jackpot. 4. Online Poker Rooms Online Poker is not technically a video poker; however, since there are obvious similarities between the two, I felt a brief overview should be included here. In video poker you are playing against a machine, winning and losing hands are determined by a static payout schedule. However, when you're playing online poker, you are playing against real people. There is no predetermined payout schedule, you can win as much as your opponents are willing to wager on each hand. Also, and more importantly, Online poker allows you to bluff, meaning in theory, if you're a good enough bluffer, you can have the worst hand at the table but still win, if you've been able to convince your opponents to fold. This is the main reason for the huge popularity in online poker. Lastly, as you can see, video poker continues to evolve. What started out as a game for would-be poker players who were too intimidated to sit down at a real table, has, with the advent of Online Poker, come full circle. Today a poker player can sit down at a virtual table with players from around the world. Amazing.

Among the many betting streams practiced by the human beings, horse betting is of historic nature. Human race has been into horse racing from the time immortal when it started domesticating wild horses. This racing cake got the icing from betting. Ask any horse racing bettor - he can't find such excitement form any other source. Horse betting is a complex game of observation of understanding, observation, calculation and to a great extent, luck factor. Ask any horse betting expert, and he will tell you - you can't expect profits rolling in from the first day. In fact, you may have to wait for years to make a great living from this discipline. You can get profits in between, but those will not be sufficient to cover your expenses for the livelihood. Bookmakers use this weakness of yours to their advantage - they will encourage you to place multiple bets. Pros in the business never try to place bets on multiples. Keeping some money extra for the horse racing betting purposes is a great idea to start betting. This money should be kept aside for this purpose only. This not only offers confidence over a longer period of time, but also doesn't meddle with your expenses on livelihood. This betting bank can steer you clear of any shortage of funds required for betting. When you start betting on horse racing, it is always a good idea to start betting on the horse that has won the races earlier. This may not give you huge chunks of profits, it will inculcate a sense of confidence for betting more and becoming successful bettor. Here is a word of caution though - don't bet on horses which belong to hypes category. Such horses will most likely win the race, but returns on your investments will be too low to be taken into account. As you know, horses change the class they belong to. Betting on a horse, which has just moved up in the class, may prove to be disastrous. That horse may have been out of league. Look for betting on the horses enjoying recent racing history. Horses with no recent racing history may have been marred because of some injury or illness. This may lower your chances of good returns. Don't try to bet on each race on the track. Try to be selective with the races, and stick to it for a longer time. When betting on a long distance race, give due weight to jockey as well.

In the exciting world of online poker gaming, players are able to pit their wits against others from anywhere in the world at any time of the day. The game, which has traditionally been associated with skill, mind play and tactical integrity, has evolved to maintain the same skills but to incorporate quicker, faster flowing games. Players have adopted all of the trickery of the standard game and integrated into that of the online version. Bluffing, re-raising and slow playing are all part of the new virtual game. Players still have the same card configurations, the same rules apply, but with the restrictions of the physical game removed, online poker has evolved into a more exciting, fast paced game full of new options and opportunities. As the game of poker has evolved, so have the opportunities associated with it. Like so many of the online industries, the online poker business has turned to affiliate marketing to spread the message of the individual sites. In a multi-billion dollar industry like that of online poker, the rewards for being an affiliate can be monumental. The affiliate-marketing program not only generates extra custom for the poker sites but also distributes a percentage of the wealth amongst a wider range of online users. With the non-prejudicial way in which website owner are able to become affiliates, there is a space in the market for any user no matter how small their site, or how low the number of hits to join a scheme, and potentially earn some money too. As with any affiliate program, the affiliate sites only earn money if a person visiting their site clicks on the links within the site and either signs up or purchases an object. In the case of online poker, affiliates must wait until a player follows the link and deposits their first cash into the site. Because not everyone who visits a site is going to want to visit external links, it is in the best interest of the affiliate to promote the site and themselves in order to maximise their own chances of getting custom. Of course this favours larger affiliate sites that can afford to advertise themselves to a far larger audience. But for the everyday Internet user it is not impossible to earn a small percentage of a poker room's revenue. With each customer attracted earning an affiliate 20 - 35%, it is not hard to see how just a few players can generate enough cash to put a smile on your face. Without overheads and costs that vast advertising campaigns incur, every penny made is essentially profit. Herein lies the beauty of this particular affiliate program. Because it is available to anyone, it is a true online entrepreneurial venture, site owners can earn enough to expand their operations and try new forms of advertising. Just like the surge in online poker rooms has created a boom in that market, it has also made affiliate marketing an attractive proposition. No matter what your area of expertise, your budget or your knowledge the possibility to make money in online poker affiliation programs is available to everybody.

There are many times of poker tournaments, but the most popular and typical tournament type is the freezeout, meaning that once someone lost all chips he is eliminated. This tournament’s structure is quite simple: you place the buy-in, you start with the same amount as others, then the blinds begin to increase slowly and players get eliminated as they lose all their chips. The prices are given to the top winners, that means to less than 10% of the players in happy cases (sometimes it doesn’t even mean 1%). But aside this type of tournaments you can also find tournaments that allow further re-buys or add-ons. In these tournaments if you lose all your chips then you can re-buy, paying the same amount you paid initially and receiving the same amount of chips as you did first. Usually the re-buy can be made for a certain period of time after the tournament began. After this period has passed, you cannot re-buy, so if you lose all your chips you will be eliminated. But you can pay to add a certain amount of chips to your stack whenever you feel it is necessary. There also are the turbo tournaments that basically increase the blinds every five or even two minutes. If you are entering a turbo tournament you have to take into consideration the fact that luck is the most crucial factor here. These tournaments happen fast because all the action is located on the pre flop, player going all-in most of the times. The satellite tournaments mean that they are not offering cash prices but a "ticket" of entrance to a bigger tournament, like the WSOP. The prices offered are usually relative to the number of people that get into the tournament. But the percent is low, so these tournaments require an aggressive approach. The steps tournaments mean that you are taking part in more than one tournament. There are a series of satellite tournaments that allow player to gradually qualify for the following step and into the final step the cash prices, collected from all the buy-ins are offered to the best few. The first prize will get the biggest share of the money amount gathered, and then place from 2 to 5 usually receive the rest, a decent prize. The shootouts are tournaments in which you have to play may single table tournaments one after the other. They are similar to steps tournaments. Players either advance after a table has been finish or are eliminated. The prize will be divided within almost every player at the final table, so the prizes are more but lower than in steps tournaments. And finally there are the winner takes all tournaments. This are single table usually, and they require an aggressive strategy, as you have to be the first or you lose all anyway. The best example are home games that are usually played this way, mostly to avoid problems. People put an amount in first, and then, after one remains, he will take home all the buy-ins.

Gambling is a recreational activity prevalent in society today. Young and old alike, people are getting hooked to what today’s society calls as the game of the lucky ones. Generally, gambling refers to any form of activities that involves taking the risk of betting the money or any kind of tangible items of value, which sometimes depend on chance or the skill of somebody to manipulate the game. Since its inception, the profitability that gambling can offer to an individual is endless. That is why gambling had continuously dominated the world of chances. However, even if gambling like blackjack, poker, and slot machines are so popular these days, people still don’t have any idea how it started and who started it. Here’s a list of the people who, in some way or another, contributed to the development of gambling. 1. The first ever slot machine, known as the Liberty Bell, was invented by Charles Fey in 1985. Fey was a car mechanic in San Francisco when he thought of inventing the Liberty Bell. The first form of slot machine was made of three spinning wheels that had three featured shapes: spades, diamonds, and hearts plus a “cracked” Liberty Bell drawn at each reel. It was on 1907 when an arcade-like machine maker based in Chicago had thought of reproducing machines similar to that of Fey’s. The manufacturer was named Henry Stephen Mills. The machine was called Operator Bell. It was from this point that the slot machines have evolved until today’s form. 2. In card games such as blackjack, nobody can ever tell how the game started and who started it. This is because nobody tried to record it for the purpose of history. However, there were people who conceptualized the basic strategy for playing blackjack. It was in 1958 when Cantey, McDermott, Maisel and Baldwin had devised a strategy that caused such commotion with both the statisticians and the gamblers themselves. These four people have created the basic strategy in playing the game all using their hand calculators. After which, they created a book known as “Winning Blackjack,” which is now considered as one of the most valuable strategies in playing blackjack. In turn, this gave birth to what modern gambling now calls as the “card counting techniques.” These are the people who have made the gambling world truly a phenomenon. Though, there are people who do not accept them as great inventors because of the negative effects of gambling in the society today. Nevertheless, they have contributed a lot in gambling.

Never underestimate the power of the pink pound; no not the spending power of our gay community but the women whose ever increasing disposable income is now becoming a seriously lucrative courtship with many online gambling sites. With greater autonomy in their personal lives and fewer women being tied down with the responsibility of marriage and children, their spending power has escalated at a rate that not only keeps those shop ‘tills’ ringing but has also given women the freedom to spend as they wish. With online gambling now a mainstream activity, the trend has also seen more women taking the lead in online poker playing. We only need to see the rising number of gambling sites catering exclusively to women to know that this is the market to be in. Until very recently, the online poker boom was thought to be a male dominated arena with less than 10% of players at a typical casino poker game being women. But online gambling industry experts have recently set out to investigate internet poker trends that have led to the widespread increase of online poker websites. Two studies conducted in the US brought out interesting and unexpected revelations in terms of demographics and the overall popularity and appeal of online poker. Surprisingly, the studies, one conducted by PC Data “Spotlight on Games”, show that over one third of online poker players are female with women being the fastest growing segment of the online poker playing public. The studies also revealed that an overwhelming majority of female poker players prefer to play at online poker sites. In fact, only 1 of every 6 women preferred online poker to regular poker! As betting matures online, a large part of it will take place around casual games which just happen to be popular with women players. In fact, despite the assumed male dominance of online gambling, women do make up a significant share. Current figures show that this is approaching around 47% of all internet users being female. Online gambling providers therefore need to take serious note of women players if they are to maximise the overall package and in turn increase the value and loyalty of these players. It would seem that although men are currently ahead of their female counterparts in online gambling, women gamers are rapidly creeping up the stakes to become one of the most powerful demographics to woo and within a few years, they will become the smartest group to bet on.

First things first, determine exactly what everyone’s trying to accomplish. Is the individual there to learn, have fun or play for a living? Most of your profit in no limit holdem games is going to come from picking a target and going after him. A lesson taken from the movie Rounders: "If you can't spot the sucker within the first half hour, then you are sucker." Figure out who is winning and who is losing. People usually don’t play as well when they are losing, therefore a losing player may be an easier target. In no limit, you have to learn and understand people you play against. The strategy you used yesterday could be worthless today. You need to know what kind of game plan you are going to use and know the game plan you will be using will be the right one. Another individual you should target are player’s who are excessively drinking. Pick on the drunk guy who’s just there to have a good time and gamble. You may get a few bad beats from time to time with drunks because of there willingness to take chances more often, but in the long run they’ll pay you off nicely. In the first five minutes, try to establish a dominating presence at the table. You don’t want to be someone else’s mark. If no one are the table knows you, they might mark you as a fish and try to bully you around. No limit’s no fun when you have people targeting you. Reek of confidence; sit up straight and let them know how comfortable you are. Be intimidating – let them know you’re a well-rounded no limit holdem player and you’re ready for any play they throw at you. Last, but not least important point, is to pay attention. If you pay attention constantly after you fold, you will pick up on certain tells and player’s betting patterns. Players will show information you can use against them.

Men Nguyen The first name at my top five poker players list is Men Nguyen, also known as "the master". Men got his nickname for a very good reason. He is, in this writer's opinion, the most dedicated poker player there is. For spectators who watch his at a tournament for the first time, it may seem as if he is not entirely focused on the game - this can not be more further from the truth. Men is always more prepared then anyone else and he is constantly eager to learn more strategies and more gaming moves. He is the best in reading his opponent's hand and also one of the most pleasant people to ever sit at a poker table. And so, he is number one in this list. T. J.Cloutier Thomas J. Cloutier is the only person in the history of the World Series of Poker to have won events in Pot Limit High, Limit High, and Limit 8-or-Better High-low split. He has won more tournaments then any other poker player and is considered, by fellow poker players, as one of the best poker players in the world. Cloutier has won more money in tournaments then titles, and he is the first player to ever win at a tournament an amount of over one million dollars without winning the main event. He has won over the year's sum of over seven million dollars and he is number two in this list. Phil Hellmuth Phil Hellmuth is probably the one poker player who achieved the most in the shortest period of time. He is the youngest person to ever achieve his first World Series of Poker title at the age of 24. Hellmuth won at more than 50 tournaments, and received nine World Series of Poker bracelets in many other tournaments all around the world. He released several poker books which one of them entered The New York Times Bestseller list and there is soon to be a reality show staring him. His goal is to be known as the best poker player of all times. In 1996 the poker industry voted him the "best all around tournament poker player in the world". In this list, he is number three. Johnny Chan Johnny Chan won twice at the World Series of Poker, and shares this achievement with only one other person (Doyle Brunson).he won two years in a row and almost accomplished three years, but came in second after Phil Hellmuth (number three in this list).He released two poker books and played himself, in the movie "Rounders", as the best poker player in the world. In 2002 he entered the Poker Hall of Fame, but in this list, he entered the fourth place. Phil Laak Number five in this list is Phil Laak, also known as "the Unabomber". Laak got his nick name for always wearing a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses at the poker table. One can not say he is one of the greatest achievers in the poker industry, but his attitude to the game is a unique one, and that is why he is on this list. During the game, Laak focuses on his gaming moves, rather then his situation inside the game. Sometimes he allows himself to "go for the win" but usually it is not his goal. The goal for Laak is the game and the quality of his moves. And for that he is in my top five poker players list. All the material of "five of the best" has been supplied by Jack Reider, editor of gambling-portal.

Roulette and fun go together like chocolate and ice cream. Most movies that show a gaming scene almost always show a roulette table as it looks like fun, the players are elegantly dressed and the money won is in large stacks. This is not just true for the movies, it is true at many roulette games around the world in live casinos, it has always been a popular casino game. The visual part of roulette is sadly missed online as you cannot see any of the other players and feel the excitement of a winning spin. The elegance of the game is the dress and the large payoffs when a spin drops into the right number. The excitement of a winning table is contagious and can be literally felt in your body and listening to the ball fall in to place on your pocket can be exhilarating. Playing roulette can be fun for many reasons; one of those is that the game is very easy to pick up and another is that has that so many different bets you can choose from there really is a bet for every player. If you're not feeling so lucky or your new to the game you can choose between some of the low risk bets which offer even money payouts. Alternatively, if you are feeling brave or lucky you can take on one of the bigger bets with odds of up to 35 to one pay offs for betting on a single number. The fun of playing roulette is getting a lucky run and walking away with some of the houses money to make a profit. A table with a friendly group of players, who are rooting for all to win, is a "happening". Playing roulette at such a table is very enjoyable when the table is cooperating by giving the players winning bets and payouts. If you hit a couple of those 35 to 1 bets, you get a real rush. Knowing about the different bets and how to arrange the bets will allow more enjoyment as you can cut down the house edge a little. Playing smart and lucky will be more fun than stupid and unlucky it is also fun to try out any of the systems you may have read about. The ambience of a well-dressed group of players at a roulette table is often seen in the movies. There is a romance to the game in the publics mind. Whether it is warranted is another question, but perception is reality in the casino world. Roulette loses some of its edge online as you cannot see the other people and enjoy the casinos atmostphere. The betting action is the same, but the real live excitement of the table is not. The excited player yelling at a winning table gets every one up and running to watch the action. Roulette can draw a crowd if a player is winning a lot. Hot games in a casino are like a magnet to the players near by. They will be attracted to the excited cheers and the oohing and awing crowd. The next time you'r in a casino try the game and see how much fun it is. If you are lucky you will have some fun.

: The question our members are most concerned about is what will be the future of the blackjack card counters. are the days of card counting over? many believe so. Automatic shuffling is being used in todays tables which makes shuffle tracking or card counting impossible. The land based casinos are going to insert shuffling machines at the tables. It is said that in places like Las Vegas - Nevada, surveillance cameras are being used to analyze the skill of the players and smart blackjack tables that keep tracks of players hands and strategies using magnetized chips. The gambling control board in Nevada, an agency that protects the right of both the players and the casinos to ensure fair gaming decided that casinos may not alter the games in a way that would change the frequency of the payouts. Since then, many Nevada casinos train their dealers to count cards and shuffle as they please, and also a wide variety of casinos keeps information of card counters, including names and photos to try and keep them out of the game. These casinos have big corporations supporting them with huge political power and money influences. The professional blackjack players on the other hand are unknown. So what will be the future of this blackjack "war"? is it just starting or will it soon reach an end? Despite all their latest technology, political and money influences, I believe there is still a chance for a happy ending. With more than 25 states within the US offering blackjack games legally, there are more profit possibilities for card counters than back in the good old days. For more information on Online Blackjack, visit online blackjack at luckyblackjack

The popularity of online gambling has sky rocketed over the past 5 years. The meteoric rise in online casinos and poker rooms has made many people very wealthy. The owners of cassava enterprises (888) Avi and Aaron Shaked recently floated their company on the London Stock exchange, their company is now valued in excess of Ј700 million. Ruth Parasol the co-founder of party gaming also recently floated her enterprise on the stock market making her an overnight billionaire. But where is all this heading? Surely the industry cannot continue to generate wealth at the staggering rate that we have witnessed over the past two years. It must be remembered that the online gambling industry is still very much in its infancy. The first online casino opened around 1995 although the exact date is somewhat of a mystery. The industry itself did not fully capitalise on the online marketplace until around 1999 when faster internet connections became more widespread, allowing more colourful games with smoother graphics and game play. Today the industry is evolving more quickly than ever before with an ever increasing number of entrepreneurs realising the vast fortunes that can be made from hosting an online gambling site. Today it is estimated that there are over 2000 online gambling sites just waiting to take punters money. There is a mixture of honest and dishonest sites out there and choosing a website that is fair and honest is no easy task. The reason for the vast number of online gambling sites out there lies in the simplicity involved with setting one up. One can set up an online poker network for several thousand pounds and the owner doesn’t even need to worry about a starting number of players on his network. Players from the owner’s site simply play in the software provider’s pool of existing players, providing an incredibly easy route to market. Online gambling has taken affiliate marketing by the horns and adopted it as its own. For those that don’t know what affiliate marketing is, here is a brief rundownpanies with products or services to sell do deals with website owners, whereby for every sale that is generated from a visitor of the webmasters website, they will receive a commission. The commissions offered by online gambling operators are one of the highest and most lucrative in the marketplace ranging from between 10 and 50% of net gaming revenue (player losses) or up to $500 CPA (cost per acquisition). As a result the online gambling industry is the most competitive industry on the web, with top spots in google form keywords netting webmasters over $1 million dollars per year. So what does the future hold for online gambling? As mentioned previously the online gambling industry is still very much in its infancy. There will be many twists and turns as the market evolves that is for sure. If one was to look at the supermarkets in the UK there are many comparables that could be drawn. It may seem strange to select such a dissimilar industry but bear with me. In the 1950’s there were many corner shops and everything was done on a very small scale, as is the case with the online gambling industry today. As a few retailers made more money so they grew and started to buy other retailers. We are starting to see this today in the online casino industry. Next came brand building. Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s and the rest began to advertise, promote and generally make people aware of their operations, this builds trust and assurance, something that is of fundamental importance in the online gambling industry. We can see this happening today with the larger brands of casinos and poker rooms. 888 sponsor Middlesburgh football club and the world snooker tournament. Party Poker and Betfair sponsored this year’s ashes series of cricket between England and Australia, so the ground work has been laid. This will be followed by consolidation lots of it. There have been numerous mergers and buyouts of poker rooms and casinos already and this trait is set to continue into the future. What will be left? A Walmart Casino, a Tesco’s poker room and a Sainsbury’s bingo hall. The irony of it all is they will probably be even more profitable than their grocery equivalents.

Gambling has been around since the dawn of mankind and it will probably outlive any and all of its detractors whether politically or morally. It does not matter if you are for or against gambling, we can all say that it was part of our history and it will be part of our future. Today’s advanced technology has allowed gambling to reach an even wider audience that transcends nationality and race. Online gambling isn’t new and its popularity is only growing stronger with each new recruit that it welcomes to its fold. Maybe you are into gambling because of its recreational value or for it’s more serious and destructive characteristic, money. Most are into these games because of the somewhat controlled risk involvedbined with the rush that people feel, the experience will be bringing an emotional high tantamount of those derived from drugs. If you are new to online gambling, by all means, tread carefully. Taking care not to lose all your money online is not enough. There’s always a chance that your urge to say “just one more” will get the better of you. It’s not far fetched to say that this would lead to pathologic gambling, a condition we’re only all too familiar with, thanks to movies about gambling. Therefore, creating a system in the way you gamble would most certainly help. This is not just for seasoned gamblers since your goal, other than to win some money, is not to lose your existing stash needlessly. Online gambling portals helps in more areas about gambling than just how to play the various games available. This tavern of sorts will have basic information like legalities on gambling and the like. Nothing beats having an expert guide to almost anything about gambling. Tips about online casinos, their reputation, how fast they give payouts and a lot more are often found in these portals thereby essentially directing you to good and legal online casinos. Other tips that involve gambling like playing smartly and more effectively than just unwittingly throwing your money around. Basically, these portals will help tip the scales of lady luck into your favor and believe me, you’ll need all the help you can get. Let us not forget that same as in physical casinos, the games are designed and made to be in favor of the casinos. The chance for you to win is certainly there, only, it’s a slim chance. To be sure, charlatans and dishonest casinos exist out there. Some even go as far as to blatantly point unsuspecting gamblers to play and ultimately lose to their sites. Fortunately, the use of portals is on the rise thereby curbing operations of illegitimate casinos. The relationship between the portals and the shady sites would have to do with the gambling portal’s relevant and up to date information about known deceitful sites. Do not be a victim. Visit the portals and take the time to look at updates other relevant news. If you are a novice, spend more time reading F. A.Q’s and special segments for beginners that are available in some portals.

5-Card Stud poker was at one time the favorite of all the poker games. Up until the Civil War 5 Card Stud was the game that poker players sat down to play. The game moved up the Mississippi River from New Orleans and then west in the saloons of the old west. During the Civil war the game became popular with soldiers on both sides of the conflict and a version of poker has remained popular ever since that time. 5-Card Stud is a moderately simple game to learn as each player is dealt 5 cards one at a time. The initial card is dealt face down and then another face up. There are variations of how the betting starts at this point, but the common way is for the lowest card showing to start the betting. A round of betting follows the face up card. Those players that make the call are then dealt a further face up card. A second round of betting follows and those that call are dealt one more face up card. At this point every player has four cards. Every player with a high value pair has a very strong hand. A player with high cards still has a draw. The players who are still left in the game are then dealt a final face up card. The gambling is concluded and the cards are turned face up. The holding the best high poker hand wins the 5 card stud hand and rakes in the pot. If a player wants to see the way the game was played in the old days rent the film Cincinnati Kid and watch the play. It is difficult to bluff players in 5 card because it is quite straightforward to work out what each player has as his or her best hand. The problem with the game is because there are so few hands that the player may have in their five cards. The deficiency of variations has led to many of the other card games to being increasingly more popular amongst card players. Five card stud remains a fun poker game variant that can make a welcome change from your regular games.

If you've ever been to a live casino before that offers more than just an army of slot machines, the chances are you've had a chance to witness the excitement that surrounds the live roulette wheel. Maybe you've been part of the action itself and felt the strange attraction people have to this game of chance in particular. Whether you've seen the game up close or not, though, chances are you're familiar with the wheel, it's array of black and red-framed numbers, and the little white ball that decides people's fate. Where did it come from, though, and how has the roulette wheel spent its time in existence? While there is no conclusive evidence to back up just where the roulette wheel came from, some theorize that the French mathematician Blaise Pascal invented it. This is only one theory, though its origins are most likely in France, considering the name roulette is French for "little" wheel. The first modern roulette wheel used in gambling was presented in 1796 in a casino in Paris. It traveled to the United States in the 1800's, where an extra pocket was added to bring the number up to 31. This created the two forms of roulette wheels that are around today, aptly dubbed the "American" and "European" wheels. If you want to increase your chances of winning, play on a European wheel if given the chance. Since there are only 30 pockets, it will be easier to get the one you want. Since its inception, live roulette has become one of the most popular casino games for years. In Europe, it is much more popular than other games, due to the fact that the odds of winning are much better than with other games. In America, a general love of poker, which has been on the rise, recently, beats out the popularity of roulette. Its popularity has made it a staple in casinos, and it's unlikely that the roulette wheel will go anywhere anytime soon. For a newcomer to the game of live roulette, the first point to note is that there are two main types of bets you can try on the roulette wheel. These correspond to the layout of the wheel itself. You may place an inside roulette bet, which takes into account the arrangement of numbers which run around the inside section of the roulette wheel. The second broad type of bet is known as an outside bet, which also brings into play the possibility of betting on whether the ball will land in red or black, for example. Within these two types of bet, there are plenty of alternatives that a player can gamble on; you may choose to bid on the likelihood of the ball landing on a specific number, or on a group of numbers, or even on whether the ball will land on an even or odd number. While live roulette may seem puzzling for the newcomer, after you get to know the variations in bets available on both the outside and inside options, then you will start to understand exactly how the game is played - and perhaps even place a roulette bet yourself.

For the professional gambler, what is characterized as a fun game is obviously the ones with higher chances of payouts. How could it be fun for any of us when we lose money? Just losing money to your spouse for shopping already hurts. Think about losing it to a casino. Egad! Blackjack and Video Poker are games that have high payouts. This makes these games more enjoyable to play for gamblers. The payout for blackjack depends on many small variations of the rule. Some of these rules that should be given concern are: how many decks of cards are being used? Can a player double and split bets on few hands? Does the dealer peak for blackjack before the players? Can the player still surrender when the dealer has an ace for an up card? There was a time that players were given better odds in online blackjack. Now, the odds have been changed once again to favor the casinos. The situation could be described simply as a marketing strategy. They may have given better odds to make players enjoy their winnings for a while. It eventually makes the player want to play more. Now, to win better at blackjack even if the odds are against you, all you need to do is learn basic strategy. Video poker is another game that can give better payouts. However, not all video poker games are the same. Before starting to play video poker, look at the pay tables in front of the video poker game. Then compare the pay tables with other machines. If you have chosen a machine with a bad pay table, you are just financing the casino's next casino. After finding the table that has fairly good pay table rates, you will now have the odds against the machine. It could even exceed 100% in the longer run. You won’t even have to rely on your lucky charms here. If played properly, the edge will be given to you. But that’s if you play perfectly. But there are very few players that can be able to do so. Sometimes, video poker gives you a higher chance of winning compared to blackjack. However, the variance in rules in video poker is greater. It means that when playing video poker, your money will go up and down like a roller coaster. This is because to be able to get a higher return in video poker, you’ll need a Royal straight Flush. The chances of achieving that combination in video poker are only one in 40,000. It means that you’ll be playing a whole lot of poker just to get that high return. However, video poker also offers the player chances of a single big win with only a small bet. This can not happen in black jack. Bottom line: if you are looking to have a good time by winning money, play video poker or black jack.