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Blackjack Basic Strategy, Black Jack Card Game Tips

All you need to know about Blackjack

black jack basic strategy tipsEvery gambler is trying to use certain winning strategies (especially when playing at roulette), tricks or secrets to get a positive result and to win in the casino.
Basic Strategy Blackjack was counted more than once and is the only mathematically correct decision in the blackjack card game. This strategy is indisputable. Do not try to play Blackjack without using any blackjack betting strategy. Only strict adherence to the basic strategy blackjack will lower the house edge to a minimum.
The inventors of the strategy for BlackJack card game (“Monte Carlo strategy”) were Baldwin with his colleagues, who figured out the optimal actions at blackjack play and published their works in one of the American journals.

But the real revolution in the basic strategy blackjack made Edward O. Thorp, who with the help of the computer calculated millions combinations of Blackjack card game, and conducted a thorough analysis of situations when a player is likely to win, and when he or she will lose.
In this blackjack betting strategy, Thorpe came to the conclusion that, each card that came out of the deck changes the chances to get one or another combination.
Main principles of basic strategy blackjack:

- Hard totals:

Dealer’s up card Hit to…
2 or 3 13
4, 5, 6 12
7, 8, 9, 10, Ace 17

- Soft totals:

Dealer’s up card Hit to…
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 soft 18
9, 10, Ace soft 19

- Split, if:

Your hand Dealer’s up card
2 and 2 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
3 and 3 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
4 and 4 5 or 6
5 and 5 Don’t split!
6 and 6 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
7 and 7 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
8 and 8 Any card
9 and 9 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9
10 and 10 Don’t split!
Ace and Ace Any card

- Double, if:

а) Double is permitted only at 11, 10 and 9 points:

The sum of your two cards Dealer’s up card
9 3, 4, 5, 6
10 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
11 Any card, except an Ace

б) Double is permitted only at any two cards:

The sum of your two cards Dealer’s up card
soft 13 or 14 (Ace, 2 or Ace, 3) 5 or 6
soft 15 or 16 (Ace,4 or Ace,5) 4, 5, 6
soft 17 or 18 (Ace,6 or Ace,7) 3, 4, 5, 6

- Surrender:

The sum of your two cards Dealer’s up card
5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 Ace
14, 15, 16 10
16 (except 8 and 8 ) 9

But before playing for real money, you’d better train yourself at online free blackjack. Almost all online casinos offer their guests to play for fun at online free blackjack. You don’t need to download any soft or to sign up, just enter the site of online casino, chose your favorite game and enjoy blackjack play.

Baccarat guide: card counting, strategies and free baccarat benefits described

Baccarat guide

Baccarat is one of the most popular games in casinos. It also gets more and more fans in online casinos. Baccarat online is a game that is loved by everyone who are ready to make high bets.

The History of Baccarat
This old card game has its own history. «Baccarat» in French means “zero”. There are several theories about the origins of this game. According to the most famous of them baccarat game was invented in the Middle Ages by Felix Falguere. And at the end of the 15th century it already was the favorite game of French aristocrats.

Baccarat card counting
Table for Baccarat is large enough, so the game takes place in a special part of the casino. At one table three dealers and 14 players can play at the same time. Baccarat is played with 8 or 6 decks. Each deck has 52 cards. The purpose of the game is to score 9 points. This game is played between player and dealer.
The most advantageous combination of two cards is 9 points. This combination is called “natural”. Cards from “2″ to “9″ keep their values. Cards as “King”, “Queen,” “Jack” and “10″ are equivalent to 0 points. And “Ace” is 1point.
If a player has the combination of more than 9 points, he or she is taken away 10 points to have not more than 9 points. For example, a player has a combination of 7 and 9, which gives 16 points. 10 points are taken away and it is 6 points.
In baccarat players make three types of bets.
• Punto – a bet on the player, with 1:1 payment.
• Banco – a bet on the dealer with payoffs 19:20.
• Tie – a bet on a tie, with 8:1 or 9:1 payment (depending on the casino).

The optimal baccarat strategy
To minimize the house edge, it is best to bet on the dealer, because statistically it is much more winning bet. But a bet on a tie should be avoided because the casino edge here can reach 14%.

Baccarat free
You can play baccarat not only for money but also for free. This is especially necessary for beginners. Playing free baccarat, you have the opportunity to learn the rules and train yourself.

Winning Let it Ride poker Strategy and Rules

Let It Ride Poker strategy.

Let It Ride Poker Rules.
It is one more poker game where the player fights against the casino. The purpose of this game is to get a winning poker hand, which starts from a couple of Tens. Before starting the game the player should place three bets in three boxes specially intended for this purpose. Then three cards are dealt to the player and to the dealer too, the player receives the cards face up, the dealer – face down. Appraising the situation or according to his or her own winning poker strategy, the player must decide to call back one of the bet (Pull Bet), and this bet will be returned to the player, or leave all three bets unchanged (Let it Ride). After the choice made, the dealer discards the top card and opens the second one – it will be the player’s fourth card. The player once again has a choice: to recall one of the bets or to leave it. When a player chooses, the dealer shows the final card, which completes the player’s hand. Hands are paid according to the Let It Ride poker payoff chart:

Poker hands    Description    Payoff
Royal Flush    Five highest cards in sequence, all of the same suit    1000 to 1
Straight Flush    Five highest cards in sequence, all of the same suit    200 to 1
Four of a Kind    Four cards of one rank    50 to 1
Full House    Three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank    11 to 1
Flush    Five cards of the same suit    8 to 1
Straight    Five cards in sequence    5 to 1
Three of a Kind    Three cards of the same rank     3 to 1
Two Pairs    Two cards of one rank and two cards of another rank    2 to 1
One Pair    Two Tens and two higher cards of the same rank    1 to 1
Zilch    No game    -

Let It Ride Poker strategy.
As Let It Ride Poker reminds Stud Poker game, the player can easily use Stud Poker Strategy. But there are some particularities which are characteristic only for this game. So, it would be better to take into considerations our Let It Ride Poker tips and create your own advanced poker strategy.
When three cards are dealt you may leave the bet if you have:
-    Paying hand (pair of Tens or higher)
-    Three cards of a Royal Flush,
-    Three cards of a Straight Flush (three cards of the same suit in sequence)
-    Three cards of a Straight Flush, with a spread of 4, with one high card (Ten or higher)
-    Three cards of a Straight Flush, with a spread of 5, with two high cards.
With four cards you should leave the bet if you have:
-    Paying hand
-    Four cards of a Flush, Straight Flush or Royal Flush,
-    Four cards of an outside Street with at least one high card (Ten or higher).
If you follow this Let It Ride poker strategy, the mathematical expectation will be about 96.5%.

5 card stud poker tips, rules and strategy

How to play stud poker?

Caribbean poker is a very easy 5 card stud poker with a house edge – 5.4%. It’s a high per cent in comparison with other gambling.  The game is leading against you, and you will never be sure that you win. As long time ago, the players of Caribbean stud poker are dealt five cards and they play against the dealer.  You shouldn’t change cards.  There is also no possibility to bluff.

Stud poker rules.
The player in this game is only one and he or she plays against the dealer. There are 6 boxes on the table. Each box has 2 fields for bets. One of them is called Ante (the initial bet), the other – Bet (the main bet).
Before each dealing, the player makes the initial bet and places one or several chips on the field Ante. The dealer distributes 5 cards to each gambler. The cards are dealing by turns and are put face down. But the dealer’s last card is up.
The player looks into the cards and determines the value of the hand. First or last the player should compare his hand with the dealer’s one. The person, whose cards are higher, is a winner.  One dealer’s card is up and that is the whole information that the player can dispose.

Caribbean stud poker hands ranking.
•    The Royal Flush – the highest poker hand – five high cards of the same suit (A, K, Q, J, 10).
•    The Straight Flush – five sequential cards of the same suit.
•    4 of a kind – four cards of the same rank, for example four Queens or four Fives plus one additional card.
•    Full House – 3 of a Kind and a Pair, for example 6-6-6-K-K.
•    Flush – five cards of the same suit.
•    Straight – five sequential cards as for example 9-8-7-6-5. The suit of the cards doesn’t matter.  The ace can be either the highest (A-K-Q-J-10) or lowest card (5-4-3-2-A).  The sequence with the ace within (3-2-A-K-Q) isn’t Straight.
•    3 of a Kind – three cards of the same rank, for example 9-9-9-Q-4.
•    2 Pairs – two cards of one rank and two of another rank, for example A-A-5-5-10
•    Pair – two cards of the same rank, for example 8-8-K-Q-4.
•    Ace/King – one Ace and one King of any suit, for example A-K-8-7-3.
•    Any Pair – there isn’t any combination listed above, for example J-10-7-5-2.
The higher the stud poker combination, the more valuable the hand is.  If the dealer’s hand and the player’s hand have the same combinations, their values are determined, as in every poker game, by the high card.

Stud poker strategy.
The optimal strategy to play stud poker is very difficult.  There are few people who know it to perfection. However we can infer several general rules, which do practically for all poker hands.
- Always raise when you have Pair or higher hand.
- Always fold if your hand is lower than that one the dealer needs to be qualified (Ace/King).
If you have Ace/King the situation is rather complicated. It generally plays if other three cards are high or if the dealer’s up card is Jack or lower and matches one of the player’s card (it reduces the dealer’s possibility to make Pair).
There is a strategy which makes house edge 5.2% that is little lower than the house edge when using the optimal strategy.
- Raise when the dealer’s up card is from 2 to Queen and matches one of yours cards.
- Raise if the dealer’s up card is Ace or King and you have Queen or Jack.
- Raise if the dealer’s up card doesn’t match any of yours but you have Queen and the dealer’s up card is lower than your fourth high card.

Find out the trickiest Baccarat strategies

Baccarat strategy.

We’ll try to offer there some easy and reasonable advice how to choose optimal online baccarat strategy.
The right game strategy is half the battle.
Unfortunately, there are no mathematically grounded baccarat strategies, because the player’s influence on the course of game is minimal. The player can only choose the amount of the bet and the hand to bet and then hope for the Fortune.
However, the absence of strict baccarat strategy doesn’t mean that the player can not make an optimal choose in the game.

Baccarat systems.
Baccarat system is a body of rules that the player use while choosing some necessary solutions, and which can considerably influence the course of game and increase player’s chances to win.
It has been proved that in baccarat the casino has some house edge on each of three bets. Let’s see the house edge on each of these bets.
While betting on the Player – the house edge is 1.29%.
While betting on the Banker – the house edge is 1.01%.
While betting on the Tie – the house edge is 15.75%.
It means that when, for example, playing with one deck, if you sequently bet on the Player, you will lose about 1.29$ of each parlayed 100$.
Hence it appears one of the important baccarat rules: the bets on the Banker are more preferable for the player.
What about bets on the Tie, besides the high payments (from 8 : 1, till 9 : 1), the possibility of the tie is very low, the house edge of this bet is till 15%.
Hence the other of the important rules of baccarat:   Don’t bet on the Tie!
But this advice is absolutely not for the “gentlemen of Fortune”.  Take chances!
It’s not a wide choice. But you can be consoled by the fact that baccarat (along with blackjack), however, is one of the games with the most favourable distribution of the chances for the player.

The number of decks.
There is one more possibility to lead the right game.  You need to find the casino, which offers baccarat with minimal number of decks and minimal commission for the bets on the Banker.
The best choice is the game with 6 decks and with not more than 4% commission for the bets on the Banker.

How to manage your money?
The skill to choose the right bet in baccarat is half of battle.  Then, you should determine how much to bet.  It’s no secret, that many players risk more than they can afford.  This inevitably leads to the crash.
There some general baccarat rules that will help you to avoid money losses and will prolong your enjoyment of the game.
- don’t play on borrowed or somebody else’s money
- before taking the baccarat table, decide which amount you can afford to lose
- decide, how much time you will play today
- divide your money on bets, which you will made on the each round of the game and control the charges.
- it would be better to put aside a part of the winning or all the winning.
- in the online casino use the possibility to get off the game after getting a big winning – nobody will comment this anyway.
This simple baccarat strategy will give you a chance to get more adrenaline and more enjoyment of the game for the same money but without risking losing everything.
And we would like to warn you one more time – don’t believe any baccarat systems, everything must be doubted.

Three card poker rules, learn how to play three card poker.

Three card poker rules – how to play three card poker.

Three card poker online may be my favorite game. To play three card poker is a pleasure, the rules are simple and the strategy is quite elementary.

Three card poker differs by the fact that only 3 cards are dealt, they aren’t exchanged till the end of the game and their quantity doesn’t raise.
Of course, highest combinations are not the same than in other types of poker games.  These are three card poker combinations from highest to lowest:

Straight Flush – 3 cards of the same suit in sequence.
Three of a Kind – 3 cards of the same rank.
Straight – 3 cards in sequence of mixed suits.
Flush – 3 cards of the same suit.
Pair – 2 cards of the same rank.
High Card – the highest card in your hand.

When people play three card poker, they can do three types of bets. Ante is bet before card dealing, the Bet is made after dealing, if the player doesn’t fold.   Pair-plus is a special bet, which is also made before dealing. As a rule highest and lowest possible bets are set in advance, but not the maximal payments.
When ante and pair-plus are made, the dealer distributes three cards to each player and to him-self. Having seen the cards, the player can either fold and lose the initial bet (it goes to the house), or raise it by putting in the game box a corresponding number of chips. Unlike the ordinary oasis poker, the amount of the bet here is equal to the one ante and not to the two antes, cards are not exchanged and the dealer doesn’t open his cards.  There is one more advantage: as usual you can use all free boxes on the tables, look to all your hands before deciding and even exchange information with other players.

After all players on the table make a decision, the showdown take place. First the dealer exposes his hands, then other players.  As a result one of the next variants happens:
If the dealer has no high combination (he must have one queen at least) – you get winning in the amount of one ante regardless cards on your hands;
if the dealer has the combination higher than yours – you lose all money from both boxes;
if the dealer has the combination equal to yours – you take all your own chips, that you have bet;
at last, if you have best hand than the dealer – both bets are paid 1:1
if you have one of the high combination you take the bonus, that is in the amount relative to ante: straight-flush – 4:1, three of the kind – 3:1, straight 1:1. This bonus is paid to you regardless dealer’s cards.

In the case, when you bet pair-plus and don’t fold during the game, you are supposed to be also given a bonus regardless dealer’s combinations.  Relative to combinations it can be: straight flush – 40:1, three of the kind – 20:1, straight – 5:1, flush – 4:1, pair – 1:1.
However, there are different variants of three card poker and the raising of bets, as well as amount of payments can considerably differ from those that have been described above.

As for three card poker strategy, you need to consider there is much lesser probability that combination from pair and higher comes on.
Here you can find simple three card poker tips:
- always play if you have the combination “Queen, 6, 4″ or higher one,
- fold in all other cases.

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