Online Casino Gambling

Despite their vast and successful history, the revival of the lottery system over the past 50 years has not been welcomed by all. One of the most valid arguments by the critics is that lotteries are a symbol of materialism and boredom among humans. Also, lotteries are a form of gambling. Although legal, it could tempt certain individuals to become involved in illegal gambling activities.

Arguments against Lotteries

Furthermore, critics see this as destroying ethical values within the community as it promotes easy money with no work. An additional argument against lotteries is that they prey on the ignorant, compulsive gamblers and the poor. These individuals are induced to spend money on lottery rather than the necessities. This leaves local and state governments to pick up the slack through programs thus increasing taxes.

Many critics also challenge the economic aspect of state lotteries in that they are a monopoly. Also, state agencies claim most of the money generated is used to help the community like opening new schools and providing supplies. Opponents argue that this money could be generated by opening new businesses such as restaurants or brothels.

Arguments for Lotteries

On the other hand, supporters argue that lotteries are a “painless tax.” Money is raised to benefit the state while offering the masses a form of entertainment. They also raise the point that lotteries should be commended for restoring customer sovereignty and if consumers choose to spend their money on gambling, they have that right. An additional argument for lotteries is that gambling is prevalent regardless of the law so why not let people do it.

Alternative Viewpoints

One interesting viewpoint is that state lotteries aren’t providing a service to the people; instead they are attempting to get them addicted. The more individuals addicted to lotteries, the more money the state generates. The rebuttal against the previous point is that a little gambling does not hurt anyone; people need to make their own decisions and stop when enough is enough.

The fact of the matter is that lotteries are popular so they continue to grow and raise money for various projects within the sponsoring states. Some states have a moral objection to this type of gambling due to the chance of becoming addicted which could potentially lead to placing illegal wagers. As lotteries grow and expand, resistance to new lottery laws will begin to be pushed aside due to the number of satisfied customers.

Playtech offers a total of eight roulette variants at its online casinos. Of the eight, Premium Roulette Pro is the most advanced and sophisticated. For instance, there is a three dimensional view that is jam packed with features. Players have the option of doubling their bets with the click of the “Double” button. They can also spin again with the same bet selection utilizing the “Rebet and Spin” button.

The Graphical User Interface

When beginning to stop, the wheel appears on the screen. This function is to ensure the screen does not become cluttered and confusing but still holds the purpose of verifying a number when called. Also displayed on the screen is useful betting information such as the cover percentage and betting history.

Playtech Premium Roulette

This popular variant provides the use of the racetrack view next to the normal layout. This view displays the selected numbers in a series as they look on the wheel. The graphic is elongated like a racetrack as opposed to circular. This is a considerable help when placing call bets. If the cursor is moved from the call bets, the numbers are highlighted on the regular GUI. If you click on a call bet, chips are automatically distributed of the chosen denomination.

Types of Call Bets

The four most popular call bets are featured including, Voisins du Zero, the Tier bet, Orphelins and the Final bet. The Voisins du Zero bet is one in which the player places 9 chips across 17 numbers within the split, triple and corner bets. Payouts are calculated per individual wager.

The Tier bet is another that covers a whole sequence. In this case, 6 chips are placed across 12 numbers utilizing a split bet. The payout is 2 to 1. Orphelins covers 8 numbers with a single wager placed on the number 1 and 4 chips as a split bet. The Final bet occurs when a player wagers on a number from 0 to 9 with the bet covering all the numbers ending in the selected number. This bet has a single chip placed on each of the numbers and pays out normally.

The features found within the Playtech Roulette series are numerous. The excellent graphical user interface, the numerous call bets and the audio and visual places Playtech above and beyond their competitors and makes this one of the top ways to play roulette online.

Blackjack teams are groups of professional blackjack players that work together using advanced card techniques to maintain a positive expectation. This indicates that for each $100 wagered, the team expects a return of greater than $100. As a result, over the long-term, these groups are able to win large amounts of money. The most common techniques used include:

• Card counting
• Shuffle tracking
• Hole carding

Card counting is keeping track of the cards played to determine whether the shoe is holding more high-value cards. Shuffle tracking occurs when a player identifies the location of aces or groups of cards in the deck during shuffling. Hole carding is getting a quick view of the dealer’s covered hole card which can help you determine the best move possible.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Blackjack Team is infamous for beating the house in Las Vegas. However, they were not the first blackjack team to attempt to break the bank. Actually the MIT team expanded on ideas implemented by previous blackjack teams. The reason the MIT team is so famous is they were active over a 12 year time period.

In 1979, J.P. Massar took a class at MIT entitled, “How to gamble if you must” in which a small segment featured card counting methods. For the next year, Massar created a team of students to gamble in Atlantic City with the goal of exploiting the tips ascertained from the course. These actions were unsuccessful.

In 1980, Massar met with Bill Kaplan to discuss his successful blackjack team. The team became tired of playing in a single place so they branched out to Europe. Massar asked Kaplan to accompany him to Atlantic City to observe his team and discover what they were doing wrong. Kaplan realized Massar’s team was making fundamental blackjack mistakes. They were using different card counting techniques.

At this point Kaplan agreed to form a team with the conditions that they would follow formal management procedures, strict training, a dedicated card counting system, meticulous casino tracking and a player approval process. The team began with $89,000 and doubled their winnings within ten weeks. The players made $80 per hour and investors saw a return of 250 percent.

The MIT Blackjack team took millions of dollars from casinos over many years utilizing the techniques ascertained by Kaplan. Over the past few years, this successful time period has been revisited through books and the creation of a movie documenting the team’s success.

Online Vegas is a fairly new entrant into the online gaming community. The company claims to have the, “Biggest Welcome Bonus EVER.” Their welcome bonus, which is actually the first ten deposits, is extremely attractive and large. Licensed out of Curacao, Online Vegas accepts players from the U.S. and completes transactions in U.S. dollars.

There are many advantages to playing at Online Vegas including:

• Top-notch GUI
• Excellent tournaments
• Wire transfer bonus
• Welcome bonus
• High quality customer service

The graphics and sounds at Online Vegas are some of the best in the industry. Also, the site is easy to navigate due to simplicity. The layout of the casino is perfect, even including a download button in plain sight which allows players to practice prior to playing live.

Another advantage is the number of tournaments offered for various casino games. The casino offers a large selection of tournaments with slots available at almost all times. Some require a small to large fee while others are freerolls. Up to this point, the largest guaranteed prize is $30,000. There are plenty of guaranteed tournaments while others are simply a percentage of the overall pot.

An additional nice feature is the bonus received by utilizing wire transfer as a payment medium. Furthermore, the maximum welcome bonus is $5,000 over time. This is broken down into ten deposit increments of $500. The minimum deposit to be eligible for a matching bonus is $25. Finally, the customer service at Online Vegas is top notch with availability 24/7 via email message or toll-free number.

There are only a few disadvantages to Online Vegas casino including:

• VIP club available by invitation
• Limited deposit methods
• Small game selection

The first disadvantage is the VIP club is only available by invitation. Therefore there is no chance to collect points unless you play a great deal. Second, there are only a few deposit and withdrawal methods. Third, compared to their competitors, Online Vegas has a limited game selection.

Online Vegas casino offers many nice features with only a few drawbacks. Overall, they are an excellent casino to try your luck. As Online Vegas grows and expands, perhaps they will address the few disadvantages that may prevent new customers from signing up. Compared to many of their competitors, they provide many features that are attractive to new players.

Different forms of lotteries have been important through history. Ancient Greece, India, China and Japan all had lotteries. Emperor Nero utilized lotteries for prizes at his parties. The Great Wall of China was partially financed through revenue from a lottery. The Bible mentions drawing lots in numerous sections as lot casting was the most popular means of communication between humans and God.

The Middle Ages

In 1420, lotteries were utilized in Europe for public works through the sale of high-value commodities like art and land. The first publicly recognized lottery was in 1530 in Florence, Italy. This money was raised to assist public works. The first English lottery began in 1566 and was also for public works.  Centuries later, in 1753, the British Museum was completely funded by lottery revenue. England also had private lotteries but was so corrupt, they were abolished in 1699.

United States History

Lotteries have a long and diverse history across the globe. In the United States, lotteries became popular again in 1964 after years of decline. New Hampshire legalized lotteries because it is a low-stakes, low-excitement activity. At this time, drawings were held only twice per year and the pot was small. This version was modeled from the Irish sweepstakes in which the winning numbers were associated with a winning horse during a race.

Historians consider New Jersey to have the most successful lottery due to frequent drawings and much larger winnings. Once the Governor legalized the organized system, many states followed. To this day, most state lotteries are modeled after the New Jersey version.

The Domino Effect

Currently, lotteries are legal in 37 states and the District of Columbia. Since the implementation of the New Jersey lottery, the idea has spread across the country in a domino effect manner commonly found with gaming regulations. If a neighboring state has a lottery, any touching state is likely to also implement a lottery system. The migration began in the Northeast and spread west. The only areas that lotteries are illegal are the South, Alaska and Hawaii.

Lotteries and bingo are the most popular type of gambling. As a result, not only are state-run lotteries available to the public but many Native American tribes have also adopted this form of gambling to generate revenue.

Lotteries are a popular, legal (in most states) form of gambling that provides some excitement for a low cost while generating money for the state. In the future, perhaps Southern states, Alaska and Hawaii will jump on board and implement a system.

Many variants of Blackjack allow the player to purchase insurance on their hand. In general, if the dealer’s face up card is an Ace, the player has the opportunity to take insurance. If the player opts to take this action, they must place half of their wager in an area marked “insurance.” If the dealer receives a natural Blackjack, the payout to the player is 2 to 1. If the dealer does not have Blackjack, they lose the insurance bet.

The Insurance Bet is a Losing Wager

In general, the insurance bet is a losing wager. As a result, many choose not to take this and move on with the game. However, there are many mathematically minded Blackjack players that would like to know why it is a losing bet.

The Mathematics of the Insurance Bet

In a single deck game, 3 cards out of the total 52 are face up when the insurance bet is offered. The dealer’s face up card is an Ace so let’s assume the player has not been dealt any 10 value card. This leaves 49 cards in the deck, 16 of which are valued at 10. The probability of winning the insurance bet is 0.327 (16/49). If the bet was $1, then it pays out $2. Therefore the expected payout is 2 * 0.327 = $0.654.

The other 33 cards out of 49 are not valued at 10 so the probability of the insurance bet equates to 0.673. If the insurance bet loses, the player loses his bet of $1 resulting in an expected losing payout of -$0.673. Therefore, the overall net expectation is ($0.654-$0.673) -$0.019. In the long run, the player is expected to lose money because the net expectation is negative.

The player’s expectation actually worsens when dealt 2 10 value cards. Out of 49 cards in the deck, only 14 are worth 10. As a result, the probability of winning is 14/49 which is 0.286. With a $1 insurance bet that pays out $2, the expected payout is $0.572 (2 * 0.286).

35 cards of the 49 in the deck do not have a value of 10 so the probability of losing is 35/49 which is 0.714. Factor in a loss of $1 on the insurance bet and you get -$0.714 with a net expectation of -$0.142. This is considerably worse than the previous example. The numbers prove that the insurance bet is a losing wager and should be avoided at all costs.