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Online Gaming GuidesFTOPS VII gets off to a record-breaking startIt's been just 18 months since the inaugural Full Tilt Online Poker Series dealt out its very first hand and the manner in which the event has grown since that time is downright staggering.FTOPS I began Aug. 16, 2007 and featured eight events. Overall, 7, 789 players took part and just under $2 million was awarded. There has been quite a jump since that time in everything from the amount of players, total prize money and number events played. FTOPS VI, which wrapped up this past November and promised a payout of at least $9 million, included 16 events and saw more than 27, 000 players compete for a record $11.1 in prize money.  
Why Don't Non-Tribal Casinos Have Class II Slot Machines?Dear Daniel, Non-tribal casinos don't have Class II games because they don't have to. Class II games were developed so tribal casinos could go beyond offering bingo and offer slot machines -- or at least a slot machine playing experience very close to the experience players were used to having in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Tunica -- and stay within the law. The non-tribal casinos operate in jurisdiction in which gambling is allowed, so they don't need to play the game of having a device that looks and plays like a slot machine, but is really a bingo drawing or pull-tab game under the hood.
Why Don't Non-Tribal Casinos Have Class II Slot Machines?Dear Daniel, Non-tribal casinos don't have Class II games because they don't have to. Class II games were developed so tribal casinos could go beyond offering bingo and offer slot machines -- or at least a slot machine playing experience very close to the experience players were used to having in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Tunica -- and stay within the law. The non-tribal casinos operate in jurisdiction in which gambling is allowed, so they don't need to play the game of having a device that looks and plays like a slot machine, but is really a bingo drawing or pull-tab game under the hood.
Legislators make a push for legalized sports wagering in Atlantic CityWith a local team heading to the Super Bowl and casino revenues down for the first time, New Jersey's Assembly Tourism and Gaming Committee is betting that the time is right to resurrect the idea of making betting on professional sports legal in Atlantic City.Spearheaded by assemblymen Nelson Albano (D-Cumberland/Atlantic/Cape May), Louis Greenwald (D-Camden) and John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester), the committee introduced legislation last Thursday that they say would help Atlantic City's casinos "weather mounting gambling competition in other states" and "strengthen New Jersey's economy."
When Should Mom Leave a Cold Slot Machine?Dear Lonna, Thanks for the kind words about my columns. Like the guys on Car Talk, I'm called in quite often to save marriages by ending debates between husbands and wives.
The Doey-Don't SystemDear John:The "Doey-Don't" has been around for years and those who play it feel they are getting a smaller house edge against the casino in a random game of craps. Unfortunately, this is not true. If you are placing 11 dollars on both the Pass and Don't Pass or Come and Don't Come, you have $22 in action. That $22 faces an approximate house edge of about 1.4 percent, so you are losing about 31 cents each time you make such a "Doey-Don't" bet. Playing only the Pass or only the Don't Pass for 11 dollars reduces your loss in half. Thus, against random rollers, the best way to play is just using the Pass or Don't Pass, and the Come or Don't Come, not both at the same time.
Deal Me In: Count and DiscountDear Mark: Who was it that came up with the 10-card (10, J, Q, K) being the most important card to follow when counting cards in blackjack? Jake M.It was Dr. Edward Thorp who, in 1962, developed the first method of card counting using an IBM 704 computer, and then followed up on his finding by writing the classic, Beat the Dealer. Thorp's theory was based on counting cards with a value of 10. He figured that the counter could determine the percentage of 10's against the other cards in the deck, and use that information to determine whether the deck was favorable to the house or to the player. In a deck of 52 cards, Jake, there are 36 non -10-value cards and 16 10-value cards, After each shuffle, the deck stands at 2.25 to one which slightly favors the house. When the percentage drops below that 2.25 threshold, it favors the player, who would then increase his or her bet. Conversely, when the deck favors the house, the player would wager less.
Sometimes, the First Poker Player to Bet Wins the PotIt's been stressed to death in Texas Hold'em strategy that three of the most important initial factors are position, position and position. Play the game for just a couple of hours and you'll see why this is so.If you're in early betting position with a hand like Q/10, what do you do with it? The right play would be to fold. The reason is with seven or eight other players holding cards after you, odds are somebody has something better. Even if the flop contains a Queen or a 10, you can't exert too much betting leverage with it because somebody else could readily have the same pair with a higher kicker.
World Poker Tour announces STATS deal; launches CLUBWPT.comYou've heard of RBI, but what about ROI? You know how a basketball player's free throw percentage is determined, but can you calculate a bluff percentage?Thanks to new a partnership with STATS LLC, the World Poker Tour (WPT) is hoping that statistics like the ones mentioned above and more will become part of the poker fan's every day vocabulary after unveiling a full section of new stats for all of its players. So, in case you were wondering what Daniel Negreanu's pre-flop raise percentage (PFR) is or what Doyle Brunson's win percentage after seeing the flop (W$WSF) was at his most recent final table appearance, you can do so, by simply logging on to WorldPokerTour.com.
Frank and Dom on Breaking VegasHi Michael:I'm glad you enjoyed the show but obviously it was a script that took some liberties with the actual events, not the least of which was to make me appear to be a skinny, dissipated, crack salesman. (That's how my sister said it.)
News Analysis: Online gambling only real loser in WTO caseNews AnalysisIn the end, Antigua's WTO case against the U.S. over online gambling had nothing to gambling on the Internet. Instead, it became a proxy war pitting the politics of trade against fair trade. And predictably, the politics won. It had to win because nothing short of the future of the WTO was at stake.
Germany to ban online gambling beginning Jan. 1As reported by Bloomberg: "Online gambling will be banned in Germany as of Jan. 1 after German states ratified an accord that preserves the country's state monopoly for lotteries and most forms of betting."At least 13 of Germany's 16 states have submitted the ratification documents, Eric Braum, a spokesman for the Hesse government, which monitors the process, said in an interview today. ``That's the required majority and we expect to have all the rest coming in by New Year's Eve.'
Mohegan Sun celebrates expansion project milestoneWhen you're spending nearly a billion dollars to expand your casino to the point where it will rank as one of the largest in the universe, you've earned the right to exult in every single milestone along the way. And that's exactly what the Mohegan Sun Casino did earlier this month as it made a major step towards completing Phase 1 of its $925 million Project Horizon expansion.Before the new 64, 000 square-foot Casino of the Wind portion of the project had its final steel beam set into place on Jan. 2, a ceremony was held as it was signed by a group of invited guests. The beam was then hoisted into the air carrying an American flag, a flag of the Mohegan Tribal Nation and an evergreen tree as part of a tradition that began in Scandinavia more than 1, 000 years ago as a gesture of goodwill. In addition, Bruce "Two Dogs" Bozsum, the Chairman of the Mohegan Tribe, blessed the area and performed a smudge ceremony, as part of a hallowed tradition of Mohegan culture.
Paddypower caught drinking Obama Kool-AidIt doesn't happen often, but Irish sportsbook Paddypower got caught with its pants down. The popular online betting site decided Senator Barack Obama was a lock to win the Democratic nomination after winning the Iowa Caucus last week and began paying off bets on him Monday -- the day before Senator Hillary Clinton won the New Hampshire primary.Paddypower sheepishly concedes on its election microsite that the decision to pay off Obama bets to win the Democratic nomination was "a little premature." But in an impressive piece of spin control, they're claiming credit for Clinton's victory.
Absolute Poker whacked with $500,000 fineThe Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) fined Absolute Poker $500, 000 last week for its role in the "superuser" account cheating scandal.An audit by the KGC, conducted by Australian firm Gaming Associates, found that seven accounts "were used to compromise AP's systems by participating in live poker games with players using software that enable the viewing of the 'hole cards' of each of the other players, resulting in unfair play, " according to a KGC statement.
Finnish online players could recoup lossesFINLAND -- As reported in the Helsingin Sanomat: "The gambling pastimes of Finnish online poker addicts may become seriously complicated if the authorities' latest plans materialise. Helsingin Sanomat has received information, according to which the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is planning to introduce an amendment to the law on gambling that would enable Internet gamblers to claim back their losses. The payer would be either the firm providing the online poker services, a credit card company, or the winning player in the game."According to the Ministry, in practice this would mean that the foreign companies running the Internet poker services would in all probability prevent Finnish players from ever taking part in the game. A player protected by such a law would be altogether too great a risk to the game organiser…"
Jest for FunYou gotta hand it to those casino parking lot attendants. They really do a
Casino de Genting tops list of casinos with most hotel rooms10.) Caesars Palace – Las Vegas – 3, 348 roomsThe rooms are split between five towers: Augustus, Centurion, Forum, Palace and Roman. The Forum tower is made up exclusively of luxurious guest suites and is in the final stages of a complete refurbishment.
Switching from Blackjack to CrapsDear E.H.:The good blackjack games have been diminished throughout the country and Atlantic City is even using the hitting on soft 17 rule. You can still find some good games here and there - but the casinos have become really alarmed at players who can actually play well, even though these skillful players are less than a drop in a large bucket.
Behind the jackpots"I Won the Jackpot" is the sound of dreams coming true. With the ever-increasing progressive jackpots offered by casinos, the Big Hits are what we seek.
The Palazzo makes its long-awaited grand debut in Las VegasOver the top, yet sophisticated.That's the phrase Rob Goldstein, president and chief operating officer of The Palazzo Resort-Hotel-Casino, used to describe his company's new $1.9 billion resort in Las Vegas and the same could be said for the pomp and pageantry that was on display for the property's grand opening last week.
Will Jackpots Ever Repeat Pay on a Haywire Machine?Thanks for the kind words about this site.I have never seen a repeat-pay machine that repeated pays on the top jackpot combination or the second-to-top combination. That doesn't mean that there isn't a machine that repeats pays on the top combinations out there somewhere, but I don't think it's likely that there is one.
G2E 2007, Part 8: Electronic Table GamesTime was that slots were slots and tables were tables and never the twain did meet.There was a tiny bit of crossover in the handful of players who dabbled in video blackjack on single-player machines. But the key term there is "single-player." Table games are a social experience, one unavailable on electronic games.
Playing It Smart: Doubling down strategies explainedBlackjack buffs earn much of their money when they get their fair share of hands on which to double-down and win a decent fraction of them. The converse also holds. Too few doubles or too many that fizzle can quickly send the unlucky to the lockers.Theoretical frequencies of hands suitable for doubling with six and eight decks differ, but not so much that you'd notice. The average is two less doubles per 100, 000 hands in six- than eight-deck games. The accompanying table shows expected frequencies. Note that two decimal places corresponds to 10, 000 hands.
Deal Me In: Are casino dice are on the level?Dear Mark: I'm a big Craps player. I was talking to my Uncle (who is in naval intelligence) about craps. He said they did studies on dice and said there are easy steps that can be done to "slightly" change the outcome of rolls over a period of time, such as: felt tip pen mark on one of the dice, hitting a certain side with some force, etc. My question is, do the casinos do any of these things? And if so, is it legal? John K.Here is the answer to both questions. No and no, period!
Gamblers Adjust to Smoke-Free Illinios CasinosCasinos in Illinois went smoke free on January 1 in compliance with the state law that prohibits smoking in every public place, every place of employment, and within 15 feet of entrances to public places.Given the fact gambling traditionally has been an activity that is harmonious with the tobacco culture, special interests within the gaming industry have argued that casinos should be exempted from the law.
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