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Outlaw in the Heavenly Hall - Gambling Experience

July 2, 2010

E.K. Garrigan

I opened the website with a flourish. It was my lucky day, I felt, and I wasn’t going to waste it.

The screen lay out before me. The table in the center – nearly filled with other players. This was only my third or fourth time playing, but I had been enjoying it so far. I’d open up a tiny little window and be transported into a high stakes game. Sure, I mostly played for pride or a couple dollars at best. I thought that this day would be different, though. Maybe I could get enough to take friends out to dinner.

The first round was passed out. I was playing Texas Hold ‘Em poker, something based more on luck than just regular poker. Blinds went up, and the table was off. Two cards flashed on my screen. They were nothing fancy, nothing that had a good chance of bringing me the pot - two of Spades and a lonely Jack of Diamonds. The flop wasn’t much better. Sure, the Ace of Spades showed up to match with my two, but that wouldn’t win. A turn and a river later, and I was down a few chips. A little slow to start, maybe, but I still had that feeling.

The next few rounds failed to back up my lucky feeling. I felt more like Mr. Mudd than Mr. Gold at this point. But even at the end of the song, Mr. Mudd gets his. I just had to play one more round.

Now, it’s always bothered me that I can’t see faces in online poker. There’s no tell – no subtle twitch of the face to let me know when a man or woman is bluffing. I’m betting and tossing around cards in front of a faceless computer screen. I guess that’s good in some ways, at least no one will see my tells.

I promised myself that this would be my last round. The table had been full at ten and we’d only lost a player in the past hour or so. People had a yen for a big win, but so far the winnings had been spread evenly.

My two cards flash on screen. That Jack of Diamonds again and Ace of Diamonds. I swore under my breath. An inside straight would have to support my lucky feeling. Nothing to do but play. Bets flew and the cards flopped. My heart almost stopped when I saw the King of Diamonds joined by a couple clubs. I was so close, but I didn’t like my odds. No good player would. But I strove on.

The Queen of Diamonds was the most beautiful turn I had ever seen. After her card fell I stopped breathing. All the dealer had to do was show a ten and my day was won.

I thought my computer had frozen; it took so long for that card. The first thing I saw was the 10 in simple script. My heart beat raced as my eyes searched for a color or shape. The red diamond winked at me from the screen. I had beaten the odds and everyone on the table.

Well, it was a nerve wracking round, but I pulled in enough to take a couple buddies out for the night. Every once and a while, I get that urge to play a little poker online again, that lucky feeling. Worth following, sometimes, if you ask me.

Play Three Card Blackjack

April 26, 2010

People that live in Washington state have their own unique blackjack game to play. As of 2007 the only place to play  Three Card Blackjack was the brick and mortar casinos in that state. All of that is changing in 2010 though. Several big names in the online casino biz are debating adding this hybrid blackjack game to their rosters. 3 Card Blackjack gives players the great odds of blackjack and the huge bonus possibility of 3 card poker. You also do not have to be very skilled to play 3 card blackjack. You get three cards and you just have to decide if you want to call or not. If you place a bet in the Ace Plus area you can win 1:1 just by getting 1 ace, which will happen once out of every 4 hands. All of the Ace Plus bonuses require at least one ace. The payouts include 1:1, 3:1, 5:1, 15:1, 25:1 and 100:1 for 3 Aces.

the Ace Plus bet is optional and can be played by itself or with the regular ante/bet game against the dealer. In Three Card Blackjack the dealer has to call with 18 or more. The average hand is around 19 points so since the dealer has to call with 18 the overall odds of this game are close to 50/50.

UB Poker Promotions & Bonuses

January 29, 2010

If you haven’t heard of UB  Poker then you must be new to the world of online poker. Right now UB.com Poker is offering the best deposit bonus around. When you sign up for UB Poker using our UB Poker referral code BONUSHP you will receive an amazing 111% on up to $1,100 first time UB.com Poker  bonus. For more info on this bonus check out our UB Poker review website. This money is deposited directly to your UB Poker account and can be used however you would like. If you want to use it to build your poker bankroll a little then that is fine. You can also withdraw it and get yourself something nice! Here are some other promotions currently available at U B  Poker.

• Visit UB Poker

UB Poker Bonus

Receiving a deposit bonus while you are playing poker is very important. Poker can be rough and the free money that UB Poker is willing to give you is enough to make it much less painful. You have to take into consideration that you need padding in your bankroll. A hand that is an 80% favorite to win will still lose 20% of the time. If you see a bad short term with the hand and see the 20% come in a few times in a row then you could be close to losing everything you have worked for. Playing with a deposit bonus allows for padding of your bankroll so that you never have to fear losing all of your money as long as you follow good bankroll management and play for deposit bonuses.

• Visit UB Poker

UB.com Poker Promotions

The poker bonus isn’t the only great thing coming from UB Poker. Right now there are tons of other great promotions going on as well. Any time you are playing poker at Ultimate Bet you will receive frequent player points. These points can then be used in the UB store, used as entry into special FPP only tournaments, and you can even convert it straight to cash.

If you have been looking to play some poker with a different element of surprise to it then you should check out the UB 7-2 tables. Each player at the table buys in like normal and also puts up a side pot ante. Any time a player wins a hand using the hole cards 7-2 they not only win the hand, but they take down the side pot as well. Playing this type of game your opponents will never know if you have a good hand or if you are trying to bluff with 7-2 to take it down.

If you make your way on to the UB leader boards you can win your portion of the grand prize pool of over $1,000,000! This is just an added bonus for all of the tournament sharks out there.

There are special steps tournaments where you can try your luck to build up step by step to the top tournaments. By doing this you could win your portion of the huge UB payout!

The raise program at UB.com Poker is a special $50,000 frequent player points entry only tournament. This means that players of any level can enter for their chance to win a portion of the huge $50,000 prize.

Sign up for UB Poker today and start reaping the benefits!

Online Craps Guide

October 8, 2009

For those of you who are interested in learning more about playing Craps online a buddy of mine has an excellent website covering this topic. www.onlinecraps.net offers rules, strategy and information on the best online casinos for Craps players.  I’ve learned quite a bit about Craps from this site. His guides are easy to understand and were obviously written by an experienced player. Craps has never been one of my favorite casino games but with my newfound knowledge on craps betting strategies I might just try my luck at the craps tables.

After you learn the how to play craps I suggest that you read this article on online Craps terms. This page really put all of the pieces together for me. There are a lot of other Craps related articles on this site you will find useful as well. He pretty much has every aspect of Craps covered.

The online casinos listed on this site all have solid reputations and some of them accept players from the USA.  Overall, this is an excellent website for anyone interested in learning about playing Craps online. Even experienced players will be able to learn something new.

Online Blackjack Rules & Strategy

October 1, 2009

Out of all the casino games, blackjack is probably the most popular game ever. Blackjack has been played since decades in casinos and now with gaming sites becoming so popular, blackjack is played widely at the best  online casinos as well. Recently a movie called 21 was released and with that movie the counting strategy became popular among people with thousands of people trying to win money with that strategy.
The objective of the game is to get a sum total of 21 or as close to 21 as possible without exceeding the number. Some of the rules of playing blackjack are as listed below:

To begin with the game a bet needs to be placed by the player. Once the bets are placed the cards are dealt. The player and the dealer each get 2 cards, the player’s cards are visible but only one card of the dealer is visible.

The cards from 2 to 10 carry their value, J, Q, K are each counted at a value of 10. Ace can be counted as one or eleven whichever is higher.

Once the card is dealt you can either hit if you wish to get another card. If you wish to double your bet you need to choose the double option. If you want to split a pair in two different hands you can choose the split option. If you do not want any more cards you need to choose stand.

After the player stands the dealer reveals their cards and whoever is closer to 21 or has a sum total of 21 would win the hand.

The player will win the money if his/her total is higher than the dealer but doesn’t exceed 21. If the player gets a perfect total of 21 or as it is known the blackjack the payout would be 3:2 rather than 1:1.

Some of the tips that can prove to be helpful at a blackjack game are as listed below. It should be remembered that blackjack is as much a game of luck as it is of strategy and no tips can guarantee a sure winning hand, however, these tips can increase your chances to win by playing strategically:

If your card total is 13 to 17 and you have been dealt two to 6 cards you should stand. Getting a high total in the initial cards it would mean that you would exceed the total of 21 if you continue to hit.

If the total of your cards is 12 or less than 12 you should hit, there are very less chances of you exceeding 21.

Anywhere between a card total of 9 to 11 you should consider doubling your bet as there are favorable chances of winning and doubling the bet would mean winning more money.

If you have doubles from 66 to 99 you should definitely split, deciding to hit and not split would only mean that you would loose to the dealer.

If you have a pair of aces you should also decide to split.