Sportsbooks and Poker

We called the Jonathan Stone pickphone Monday only to hear a voice that sounded strangely similar to Kevin Duffy. Than magically on the same number, we get a recorded message promising us that if we press “1” on our touchtone phone, we would get the Houston-Jacksonville Monday Night side and total picks. Since the game was played last night, I pressed 1 to see who they had and perhaps the bookie would let me place my bet after the fact. We will just stick with the winning and proven handicappers at OffshoreInsiders.com . It’s best if we just watch the Steve Budin picks on his site. Generally he picks games before they start. However, his videos are not as entertaining as Foxsports Al DeMarco (that horrible toup gets me every time) or the R-rated same-ole-shtick of Stu Feiner. Just stick to OffshoreInsiders.com and keep winning is the best betting advice to get the winning edge.

It is always great to see a big pocket pair like AA, KK or QQ when you look down at your holecards in Texas Holdem . These top 3 pocket pairs are the best possible hands you can be dealt before the flop, and so you should expect to make a hefty amount of money from them throughout your poker-playing career. However, if you are not careful with these big pairs and if you do not exercise good strategy with them, these types of cards can easily lose you money when not play them correctly. One of the biggest mistakes novice players make when playing big pairs is that they tend to slowplay them at every opportunity. Whilst it may be a good idea to play very strong hands on the odd occasion in poker, it is far too early to start slowplaying a hand before the flop, and by doing so you will just be allowing your opponents to improve on the flop and on future streets. Therefore whenever you are dealt a big pocket pair you should almost always raise before the flop to thin out the number of oppo...

Just as there are many hands in Texas Holdem that will win you a lot of money, there are a number of deceptive hands that may lead you into believing that they are profitable when in real fact they will often lose you decent sums of money from your bankroll. The sooner that you learn about the hands that are costing you dearly, the sooner you can start saving yourself from losing money. This article will address the most common hands that novices play with and highlight the reasons as to why they can be dangerous hands to play. The ‘any two suited cards’ is a very popular hand that all varieties of beginners like to play. A flush is a pretty strong hand in the game of Holdem, and so if you manage to make one there is good chance that you will win a nice bit of money with it. Therefore many new players to the game will be prepared to enter pots with any two cards as long as they are suited just in an attempt to catch a flush at some point during the hand. There are two reasons as to why...

There are a number of ways for people to satisfy their urge to gamble through gambling sites on the Internet. We surfers can sign up for gambling accounts at the numerous different sites that are available to them and start making bets and wagers in a vast array of gambling games on offer. Two of the most popular forms of online gambling are poker and casino games. Most people are familiar with the game of poker as well as the different forms of casino games, including blackjack, roulette, slots and so on. But how do both of these different forms of online gambling compare to each other? In general, the casino games are more based on luck and focus on the thrills of wagering money on the roll of a dice or the spin of the roulette wheel, whereas poker involves an element of skill and strategy. There are some games such as Blackjack that allow you to use good strategy using odds and mathematics to improve your chances of winning, but the majority of casino games give you fixed odds, wher...

Surprisingly MLB baseball betting is not at the forefront of sports betting. Those honors go to football and basketball. Why is this? Part of the reason could be due to the fact that sports bettors by in large are used to playing with spreads. MLB baseball betting doesn't make use of spreads for side betting—expect in the case of the run line. Today, we are going to cruise over the basics of betting on a MLB baseball game. We will address three main components—Betting on a side, betting on a side with the run line and the over/under line. Betting on a Side For those that don't know, betting on a "side" simply means picking a team to win. When you wager on MLB baseball, you are betting on the money line and not using a spread—unless you bet on the run line, which will be talked about in a moment. Here's a typical example of a betting opportunity in MLB baseball. Seattle Mariners +110 New York Yankees -120 In the above example, you can pick either the Mariners or th...

Pick up any good book on gambling and you're bound to find at least a page or two that talks about money management. Some keep it brief while others go into great mathematical detail. Some books tell you to manage your money by the playing session, other say by the month and still others come up with complex financial systems. Today, I will share with you two general money management systems that will help you regardless of how intricate you wish to take your money management strategy—even if you have none at all. Session Management No matter how detailed you want to get with money management, session management is always a factor. Even the casual gambler should have some sort of session strategy. It's real simple. Before you go to gamble, decide how much money you are willing to lose. Next, decide how much money you would be happy winning. Be realistic. Answers like "as much as I can" are usually what eventual losers say right before they start. If you are going to r...

Every casino in Las Vegas has some sort free players club card. What's this card for? Well, they market it to you, the gambler, as a way to earn stuff, but the real purpose is to track money. However, don't let this stop you from signing up. It's a good idea to sign up for every players club card that you can. It can make you money. Most casino cards have built in benefits for holders. These benefits end up making you money. For instance, there are casinos here that give cardholders a discount at the buffet. The discount is usually a couple of bucks. Not going to make you rich right? Well, $2 is $2. It's just one of the many features the card holds. Some casinos send mailers to cardholders every week, couple of weeks, or monthly. These mailers contain news, promotion tickets and valuable coupons. They are just for cardholders. For instance, just about every month one casino sends a friend of mine coupons for free Bingo play. All my friend has to do is show up, redeem ...

Video poker is a casino game that has much in common with slot machines, but it is a slot machine game combined with the rules of five card draw poker in a very specific manner. Video poker is often considered by many experienced gamblers to be vastly superior to slot machines because of the effect that skilled play has on the potential payback of the machine. While slot machines are programmed to pay back a certain percentage of the money that is fed into the machine, video poker pays back a percentage that can be affected by perfect strategic play. Video poker games first appeared in the 1970's, but didn't start enjoying widespread popularity until the 1980's, when slot machine manufacturer IGT became involved in the production of video poker games. Many people in casinos who are nervous or intimidated by table games find video poker to be a lot more "friendly" than blackjack or live poker. This is probably because video poker combines the strategic thinking of...

Poker Discipline - The key to success in online Texas holdem Poker discipline is something that all players should have as one of their main assets. If your discipline is poor, you should make it your highest priority to improve it. As a poker player, you will know that there are few things in life as exciting as landing a great looking starting hand in Texas Holdem. Being dealt a good starting hand puts you in command right away and you feel excited about the possibility that you will go on and win the pot. But unfortunately this excitement is probably responsible for more losing hands and leaving players with empty chip stacks than almost anything else in the game of poker. Excitement at a poker table is normally a bad thing. When people get excited - and when I say people I mean poker players in this case - they usually make bad decisions. They allow their normal level of poker discipline to drop and make crazy, irrational moves that can cost a big pot or, worse still, their whole c...

The main question on poker rebuys that you will probably want answered is should you rebuy? Quickly followed by if so – how often should you rebuy? Firstly what is a rebuy? It’s a stage in a poker tournament where players are allowed to buy more chips to add to their stack. They don’t necessarily need to be low on chips or out of chips, anyone can choose to rebuy if they want to. The good thing about a rebuy period for all players is the tremendous increase in pot size that you see taking place. If you are in a good position and don't need to rebuy, the fact that so many players have bought their way back into the game should not bother you too much. You were good enough to be in front of them before the rebuy period so the chances are that you will be good enough to stay in front of them. Normally for any particular tournament they will come in the form of single or limited rebuys, or unlimited rebuys and can be used either to buy your way back into a tournament that you’ve droppe...

Play Poker Free: Poker is just about the most exciting game on TV right now. You might be one of the many thousands who have been following Texas Holdem eagerly on the television and have caught the bug. It is the most natural thing in the world to want to get involved with actually playing poker after seeing the thrills and spills as the world’s great poker professionals battle it out in front of you on the small screen. So you want to play poker! You have two basic options in front of you as it stands, play “real” poker with some friends or play on the internet against the millions of other online poker players who are out there. Playing real live poker in your house is great, there’s nothing like getting a bunch of friends together and breaking out the beers (or waters!) and playing a couple of hours of poker. But people are busy, it’s hard to get everyone available at the same time and it’s just as hard to play a game to suit everybody. Some of your friends might just want to risk ...

You know how to get online poker bonuses -- they’re available all over the Internet. However, what’s the best way to clear it? How do you optimize the task of getting that extra money out of the bonus account and into your real money bankroll? Step 1: Learn the Conditions In the early days of poker room bonuses , players could only clear the funds through cash game play. Play the required number of raked hands and get the bonus. Tournament players were out of luck. Currently, many sites do allow you to clear your bonus by playing poker in tournaments. These sites calculate bonus clearing the same way they calculate player points, so both cash games and tournaments count towards the total. Before you start trying to earn credit toward your bonus through playing tournaments, find out if the site allows this practice. Step 2: Don’t Raise the Stakes Some players see bonus clearing as an opportunity to move up in limits. They figure even if they go on a losing streak that the bonus wi...

If you are a reasonably skilled online Texas Holdem player, you will probably face a mix of opponents, some less skilled than you, some perhaps a bit more. However, circumstances may arise when you are facing much tougher opposition than you are used to facing. This may be because you have decided to move up in limits at your preferred poker sites or because the only table that is available happens to be one filled with pros that you recognize. Either way, you may want to adjust your strategy when this happens. Tactics for Handling Skilled Players: Confidence You should have confidence in your ability to play Texas Holdem online Many pros have become pros because they can play a very tight aggressive, reasoned style of play. Just because someone is a pro doesn’t mean he is going to blow you out of every pot with huge raises or see right through to your soul when you try to bluff. A pro is simply someone who makes more correct decisions than the average player does. If you are a skil...

While it might only take a few minutes to learn how to play Blackjack, it can take much longer to learn the nuances of the game. Online blackjack is similar to Blackjack at brick and mortar casinos, but there are differences. Here are three great online blackjack tips that will help you play better and win more money. Online Blackjack Tip One The first tip I would give anyone that's going to play online blackjack is to not worry about counting cards. In fact, if you are going to play online blackjack all of the time, don't even waste energy looking into card counting, because it won't help you. Most online blackjack games are dealt from a deck—sometimes more than one deck—that's shuffled before every hand. Since this is the case, counting cards won't help you. Even if the online blackjack source uses a more traditional approach, you can't effectively count cards if you don't know when the cards are going to be shuffled and how much of the deck is left until ...

Do you love video poker? It sure is popular. I must admit, I've played thousands of hours of Video Poker over the years. Once I worked at a casino where they allowed workers to gambling on any machine during breaks. So, I spent my breaks—including most lunches—hunched in front of a video poker machine. But, what's the point of playing if you don't know what the hands are? Most machines tell you what hands pay, but they stop just short of telling you what makes up a hand—something many new players are confused with. Here's a quick rundown of all the possible paying hands for a 9/6 Jacks or Better machine. Jacks or Better: When you have two Jacks, Queens, Kings or Aces. It pays your money back. Two Pair: Having two cards on one rank and two cards of another rank—such as two 6's and two Kings. Three of a Kind: Three cards of one rank. Straight: Having five cards in sequential order, such as a 2,3,4,5 and 6. An Ace can be used before the 2 or after the King. Flush: Havi...

The buzzwords " money management " is thrown around left and right in the gambling world. Look around for advice on money management and you will find everything from grossly incomplete articles to full blown strategies for brilliant mathematicians. Today, I will share a quick and easy money management strategy that you can use each time you gamble. It's effective and takes just a minute to learn. I will give you an easy way to manage your gambling sessions. Sure, you could dive deeper into money management and run it like a business, but this isn't practical for most people. Gambling with no money management is foolish though. By simply managing your sessions, you will give yourself a better opportunity to win and withstand losing streaks. This session management strategy will work for games like Craps, Roulette, Baccarat, Blackjack, Caribbean Stud Poker and so forth. Sports betting and poker would require a little tweaking. Here's the basic content. Gambling is...

Today, I thought I would share some quick gambling tips with you. These tips can be used with any gambling game(s) you enjoy. Many people are losing gamblers, because they simply play a game without any thought and hope luck comes along. Luck is what you make of it. By following some simple tips, you can get more out of your gambling experience. Gambling Tip One: Set a limit Money management is a key component in the arsenal of any winning gambler. Perhaps one of the worst things you can do, as a gambler, is to not play with set limits. Before gambling, you should set: (1) the maximum amount you are willing to lose, (2) the point at which you will stop gambling when ahead and (3) the general amount you will bet with each wager. Gambling Tip Two: Educate yourself The more you know about a game and the circumstances governing the game, the better shot you will have at both following your set plans and winning some money. If nothing else, pick up at least one book or read some good in-de...

by Adel Awwad Netherlands Antilles holds twenty seven casinos which is the second largest amount in the Caribbean countries. These casinos are divided across three states. Curacao is the state with the most casinos in Netherlands Antilles. It has thirteen casinos and twenty six slot machines. Casinos are the only legal gambling facility allowed in Netherlands Antilles. Netherlands Antilles largest casino is Princess Port de Plaisance Hotel and Casino. It is located in Cole Bay, Sint Maarten. It holds twenty five gaming tables and 1350 slot machines and video game terminals. The majority of the casinos have roulette, baccarat, blackjack, and slot machines. They also have restaurants and bars. Some casinos also have bingo, race books and sports books. Some Netherlands Antilles casinos are more luxurious with swimming pools, saunas and a more formal dress code. The beach resorts also offer water sports such as sailing and scuba diving. A lot of the casinos also offer an airport limo servi...

by Adel Awwad Costa Rica, a small country in Central America, has gained a great deal of popularity, not also as a tourist destination, but also as a retirement paradise. The only type of gambling that is legal in Costa Rica is in casinos, of which there are over 30 in the country, the majority in San Jose, the capital. Costa Rica, or "rich coast" in Spanish, is considered the most politically stable country in Latin America, with perhaps the healthiest climate in the world, and one that welcomes over 1.5 million tourists a year. The abundant flora and fauna, the diverse scenery, and the lively excitement of the Costa Rica casinos have brought in billions of dollars to the economy. Costa Rica casinos feature all the popular international games including mini baccarat (rummy 9), Let It Ride (tute accion), roulette, blackjack, Caribbean Stud Poker, craps, pai gow, slots, and video gaming machines. Club Colonial Casino with 45 slots and 12 table games, the Garden Court Fiesta...

by Adel Awwad King's Casino is the largest casino in Antigua and Barbuda. It has 16 table games such as Caribbean stud poker, blackjack, craps, and roulette. The casino also features 300 slot machines and video poker. The casino simulcasts live horse racing and accepts wagers on not only horse racing but other sporting events. Close to most resorts, King's Casino will pay your taxi fare. The grandest of Antigua and Barbuda casinos also offers a Sports Bar with five big screen TVs in addition to live entertainment. Kings Casino is located at Heritage Quay, St. John's. St. James Club Casino, located in Mamora Bay, is a much smaller casino in a much more intimate atmosphere. Located within the St. James Club, the casino is open from 8 pm until "late." Table games and 50 slot machines are featured. The Royal Antiguan Beach and Tennis Resort near St. John's Harbor offers 150 slot and video poker machines. The Grand Princess in Jolly Harbour is the newest casino and...

If you're going to gamble at a casino, online or land-based, it's important to know how the casino makes its money from you. Casinos make money from the players because they don't pay out at the real odds for the game. Expectation is what you can expect to win or lose long term on a given bet if you make it over and over again.If you flip a coin, you have a 50% chance of it landing on heads, and you have a 50% chance of it landing on tails. If you paid someone $1 every time you were wrong, and they paid you a dollar every time you were right, you'd be making an even money bet (also known as an even odds proposition). Your long term expectation would be 0. You would break even.The way a casino would pay out in this situation would vary from the actual odds of the game so that they could make a profit. They might pay you 95 cents every time you were right, and you would pay them $1 every time you were wrong. This would create a positive expectation for the casino, and ...

Blackjack gets more attention on television than any other casino game (with the exception of poker). Every other week on The History Channel, Breaking Vegas features one cunning blackjack player after another manipulating the system to beat the house edge in Las Vegas or Atlantic City. Besides taking months to learn card counting, though, blackjack offers other techniques to allow a player to reduce the house advantage. So it is no surprise that new players would look at blackjack as a natural casino game with which to begin. Learning how to play blackjack is a reasonably straightforward process. Contrary to popular belief, the object of blackjack is NOT to get as close as you can to 21 without going over. The object is to beat the dealer. To beat the dealer, you either need to be involved in the hand and have closer to 21 than the dealer does, or still be playing when the dealer busts. This distinction might seem minor, but as you learn to play blackjack, you'll realize that it h...

Playing video poker isn't hard. Winning at video poker, though, is another story. If you want to master the rules and begin collecting the knowledge needed to win, you might want to try online video poker.Online video poker is in many ways better than casino video poker. It is somewhat the same as home video games are compared to old arcades. Once, the big game machines were best, but now the home computer has caught up and in some ways surpass the machine experience. Online video poker on a home computer is often as colorful and exciting as the casino experience. The online video poker experience comes closest to capturing the casino experience of any online gambling versions on the internet.Online video poker allows you to see a lot of hands from the comfort of your own home. The "own home" part may be most important. You are able to sit and relax at home, concentrate on the strategy of the game, away from the hustle and bustle of the casino. You can go at your own pace...

Blackjack is one of the few casino games which you can affect the odds through sound playing. With foolish play, you can screw up in most any game of chance. But the decisions you make in games like craps and roulette don't necessarily change the odds. In blackjack, you decide when to hit or when to stand, as well as how much to bet and when, so you have control over thehouse edge. Quite simply, your odds will not be the same as the poor sap standing next to you.You will often hear the words "basic strategy" when you read about blackjack. This is an important term to take note of...and an important guide to follow. When you follow basic strategy, you follow where the hard science of mathematics points. Following basic strategy, the house edge can shrink to 0.5%. Reckless players will see the house edge notch up to somewhere between 3% to 5%. That means they are wasting the opportunities they have to win atblackjack. Keep in mind several things when considering blackjack o...

All blackjack players make mistakes, even experienced card-counters. But there are some innocent mistakes that rookies seem to make on a regular basis that it's better not to make, especially if you're playing for the first time at an actual land-based casino.The blackjack mistake I'm most guilty of is sitting down and trying to play at a higher limit table than I have a bankroll for. It probably happens consistently all night long that players sit down and try to make $5 or $20 bets at a $100 minimum table. The dealers and other players get understandably frustrated when this happens. The solution to preventing this mistake? Just have a look at the little sign on each table stating the table limits, and make sure it's the right stakes table before you sit down.Another common mistake is throwing chips haphazardly into the betting circle. Your chips should always be in a single stack, so the dealer doesn't have to get confused about whether or not you've doubled ...

Counting cards in blackjack is a way to increase your chances of winning. If you're good at it, you can actually take the odds and put them in your favor. This works because card counters raise their bets when a deck rich in cards that are advantageous to the player comes around. As a general rule of thumb, a deck rich in 10's is better for the player, because the dealer will bust more often, and the player will hit a blackjack more often.Most card counters keep track of the ratio of high cards, or 10's, by counting them as a +1 or a -1, and then gives the opposite +1 or -1 to the low cards in the deck. Some systems use a balanced count where the number of low cards is the same as the number of 10's.But the most interesting card to me, mathematically, is the 5. There were card counting systems back in the day that involved doing nothing more than counting the number of fives that had left the deck, and when the 5's were gone, the player had a big advantage and would...

Video poker is a casino game that has much in common with slot machines, but it is a slot machine game combined with the rules of five card draw poker in a very specific manner. Video poker is often considered by many experienced gamblers to be vastly superior to slot machines because of the effect that skilled play has on the potential payback of the machine. While slot machines are programmed to pay back a certain percentage of the money that is fed into the machine, video poker pays back a percentage that can be affected by perfect strategic play. Video poker games first appeared in the 1970's, but didn't start enjoying widespread popularity until the 1980's, when slot machine manufacturer IGT became involved in the production of video poker games. Many people in casinos who are nervous or intimidated by table games find video poker to be a lot more "friendly" than blackjack or live poker. This is probably because video poker combines the strategic thinking of...