If you want to try your hand at playing poker on the Internet you'll find that there are many sites that will entice you to play. However, most people only want to play at one of the best poker cardrooms. The best poker cardrooms offer a variety of games to choose from such as Texas Hold'em, Seven-card stud, Omaha, and others. It's also free to join one of these cardrooms.

The best poker cardrooms will provide instructions for beginners and a free poker room where players can practice without risking any money. These sites will also offer tournaments to their players and the best poker cardrooms will have a large number of tournaments to choose from. These tournaments will provide players with an opportunity to buy in at a level they are comfortable with and still have an opportunity to play for large prizes. There are also plenty of ways to win your way into tournaments.

The best poker cardrooms are also noted for their outstanding customer service. Someone is available 24 hours a day to assist players. This means that questions and complaints are quickly responded to. In addition, you'll find plenty of incentives at these sites to keep you interested. These include free rolls and other prizes offered to players.

So don't just sit at home watching poker on television and wishing you had someone to play with, or knew of a casino that wasn't miles away. Log onto the Internet and get ready to play some poker. You'll find its easy to register and a lot of fun.

Trying to have some luck on a casino table is not just mere sitting on comfortable chair watching the cards to be laid down. There are rules to be followed and strategies for a sure win. A veteran poker player knew all about these. And they maximize their strategies to take advantage of the rookie players.

The veterans or masters of that field could easily spot a new comer in that particular field. In a casino table, a poker newbie is not exempted. A veteran poker player could easily determine a poker newbie. Watch out, they will dig every single penny in your pocket.

There are techniques for us to disguise and go along with these master-poker players undetermined.

Be observant

An example mistake a rookie commits is the string betting – a player call a bet and then make a raise. Then followed by familiar action indicating that you are a rookie player. These actions will then use by the matured poker player to take advantage of you during the game. Within the thoughts of this seasoned poker player, he/she is laughing at you and the same time, use some strategies unfamiliar to you through out the game.

The traditional pattern in calling a bet - announce that you are going to raise first before pushing your bet, anticipating the possible raise your opponent might call. Chain reactions will occur. Chances are, you will not be treated as rookie poker player.

Control Your Emotions

A seasoned poker player will determine if your card standing is good or not. By way of body language, through emotions and facial expressions you are showing, a seasoned poker player will know if you will raise a bet or not. This is a disadvantage on your part and an advantage on your opponent.

Incidentally, a rookie poker player will manifest a familiar facial expression on the first time he looks on his cards. The expression that will manifest on your face will show, telling to your opponent if you have good or not good enough cards to bet on.

Furthermore, the first time you look at your cards and you become happy, it shows that you have nice cards to compete within that round, but if you frown and displeased, it shows that you don't have good cards to play. In addition, you are announcing the status of your cards.

Every veteran on the table can pick a hint on your actions. These actions will be used against you. Even the smallest action of the hand will manifest during the game expressing something, giving additional hints about your cards whether they are competitive or not.

These seasoned poker players knew everything within or around the table. A manifestation of a simple hint of advantage will be of great deal to them. In fact, they are patient in waiting for these hints. Furthermore, they knew every player they had competed before and also remember some anecdotes that had been shown during the game.

Unless you go to casinos just to divert your attention from stressful weekdays, and have some fun and you have lots money to bet on. But every poker player wants to win the game so as persons going to casino, to have some luck.

Every person who succeeded in his or her chosen endeavor had worked hard for it. They exerted extraordinary effort and sacrifices. In the poker game, the word lucky is always mentioned because the luck depends on the cards you receive, yet there are strategies for us to win the game.

You, as poker rookie should remember the ROI (return of investment) that being new in the game, you will loose on the first, second or even on the following game. The same scenario, its just like you are investing on it. On the following games, you will surely win because you've learned already the proper protocol of the game.

Although these things don't assure the possibility that you will loss or win the game, the best thing to do in a first-time situation is to take precaution. Every opponent is looking a point for him to take advantage of the other. Be smart and be the first to find that hole.

Just what the heck is a bet exchange? Unless you are from the United Kingdom—or a hardcore sports bettor—you might not know about this alternative way to make sports wagers. Bet exchanges are wildly popular in the UK.

Bet exchanges first appeared on the scene in early 2000. Actually, bet exchanges simply enhanced an age-old tradition—person to person betting. A betting exchange makes its money by connecting bettors and taking a commission of the net winnings.

The betting exchange you use—if you decide to use one—is just a p2p network. Typically, the odds found at a bet exchange are 20 percent lower than those found at a traditional online sportsbook.

Betfair operates one of the largest Internet betting exchanges. They change a modest 5 percent commission on all net winnings. Betfair is a betting exchange and not an online sportsbook. This is a common mistake among sports bettors.

It might be easiest to think of a betting exchange like the Stock Market. In order to buy stocks, someone else has to be willing to sell them at the price you willing to buy them at and vise versa. An online sportsbook is like a store. You walk in, and they tell you the price of what you want to do. There’s no negotiating and the price is close to the same no matter where you go.

Millions of wagers have been placed through bet exchanges, and many sports bettors swear by them. They like the fact that the odds are set by other individuals.

If you live in the United States, betting exchanges might not be an option for you. Betfair, which is the largest Internet betting exchange doesn’t accept business from those in the United States. In fact, they never have. A strong majority of their business come from UK sports bettors.

The resonating manta of all sports betting exchanges is that you’ll get odds at 20 percent lower than a traditional online sportsbook and thus have more money in your pocket at the end of the day. In fact, I’ve seen claims of 200 percent differences.

Whether or not a sports betting exchange is the best option is up for you to decide. It might be a good few minutes spent to check out a couple sports betting exchanges. Some also offer casino games and poker. Make sure you use a licensed and government backed betting exchange.

In 1996, online gambling was a very new concept. Few, if any, websites had the ability to offer this type of entertainment. The past decade has seen a huge growth in this industry, with websites offering the ability to bet on anything from sports to Casino games, or to purchase lottery tickets from a vast selection of locations.

While each state in the US has its own gambling laws, most Internet websites do not fall neatly under the laws of any particular state simply because of the nature of the business. It can be very difficult to determine if an online operation is running legally or not. It all comes down to addressing three fundamental components:

1. Consideration (putting aside something of value)
2. Prize
3. Chance (as opposed to skill)

Most states rule that gambling is not taking place unless the 'consideration' is monetary. Even if there is consideration, prize and chance, the game might not be illegal. The laws can be quite complicated.

Two states in particular, Nevada and Louisiana, have outlawed most forms of Internet gambling. For example, if an unlicensed operator in either of those states accepts a wager online, that operator has committed a crime.

For the Internet, the easiest approach is to run a skill game in the form of a tournament, where chance equalizes out over time. Players only play against other players, never against the house. There is always a guaranteed prize for the winner.

Despite the gray areas in the legal aspects of online gambling, it appears we'll continue to see an increase in popularity resulting in more websites, and more gambling.

Not many know about how blackjack was invented and there have been many rumours and suppositions about this game but here you will be able to read about all of them.

It is believed by many that it started in France and was called vingt-et-un which means 20 and 1 in French. Like most of the casino games we play today, the true origins may never be known.

The objective in Blackjack is to get a hand that totals or is as close to 21 as possible without going over 21. The dealer gives each player 2 cards. Then each player gets a turn to request more cards one at a time till the layer thinks that is the best hand they can get without going over 21.

The English name Blackjack was given to the game because in the French version of the game. If a player drew a jack of spades and an Ace of spades the player got an extra bonus. To get this bonus the jack of spades needed to be drawn first and the name blackjack was born from players screaming their desire for the Black Jack.

In the 1880s Blackjack made its appearance in America, and it grew very fast in popularity. It was not long before players realized the ease in which the odds of blackjack could be manipulated and that rules needed to be put in place to regulate these games. Instead of that all gambling was made illegal in 1910 and all gambling went underground. This is how the core of todays gangsters was formed.

Eventually because of the lawlessness and gangster activities the government decided it was smarter to legalize it and tightly control gambling.

At this point blackjack became by far the most popular gambling game of any casino. Many books were written by mathematicians on the subject of how to improve your odds at blackjack.

It got to the point where the casinos had to change the way the game was played because too many people thought they knew how to manipulate the odds into their favor and the casinos did not want that, but the real fact was that the mathematicians who came up with these techniques for beating the odds wrote them in a manner that only they and other math nerds could understand and most people who thought they understood the theories continued to lose money at the blackjack tables, and helped to build the world of legalized casino gambling what it is today.

The casinos came up with the idea of adding a second and third deck to the game to make card counting harder and totally change the odds back into their favor and lose the holes in the game that allowed them to change the odds in the first place.

Today people can play Blackjack in a legal casino or in one of the many online casinos that have popped into existence in recent years. Because people are still trying to find the method of winning blackjack easily, people are still writing books on how to win at blackjack, but unlike the mathematicians that were writing these books in the 50s and 60s todays books are being written by some people who just claim to have a system. Unfortunately today that is all you need to sell a book. Many people are paying tons of money for a blackjack system that is a book that tells you nothing and maybe a video showing you how to play blackjack. If you are looking to get rich and make enough to retire from Blackjack, do not opt for this game. Chances are the system you have is garbage and will lose you all your money.

Steve Wynn

The third serious player on the market of gambling entertainments in Las Vegas and Macao. Steve was born in 1942 in Connecticut. Unlike Kirk and Sheldon, Steve received very good education, according to American standards - he graduated from Pennsylvania university. Steve had to engage in private business straight after graduation. His father, the owner of the network of bingo clubs in the west of the U.S., died when Steve was still a student. The son continues his business. Steve’s career in “big” business starts in 1967. Having saved some money, he buys a small share of the casino-hotel “Frontier” in Las Vegas, where he moved for permanent residence together with his wife. Having no funds to build his own casino, Steve gets acquainted with the owners of the already existing casinos and offers them his services in renewal of their business. His first project was reconstruction of the casino «Golden Nugget». Steve transformed the absolutely ordinary casino into a luxurious institution, which immediately became a great success with the players. Having showed himself and earned a pretty penny, Steve decided to invest money into buying shares of other Vegas casinos, in order to reconstruct them as well. The following major project is renovation of the casino «The Mirage». According to Steve’s conception, it was to become the most outstanding, rich, elite casino of Las Vegas. He intends to found there a big park and an artificial volcano, and make the best rooms and hotel service in Vegas. Steve bets on luxury. Despite apprehensions of the partners (the project was very expensive), he managed to embody his ideas. «The Mirage» became and for a long period remained the most prestigious casino of Las Vegas, bringing huge profits to its owners.

After this project Steve’s name enters the history of the world capital of gambling. However, Steve does not rest on his laurels. Conversely, he becomes thoroughly engrossed in a new reckless venture. Developing his conception of a “luxurious casino”, he totally changes the casino-hotel «Bellagio»: an artificial lake, an internal greenhouse, an art gallery with canvases of great painters, expensive boutiques and restaurants. Enormous diligence, multiplied by talent, made Steve one of the richest people in Vegas, the owner of casinos. In 2000 he sells «The Mirage» to the company «MGM Grand», which after this purchase changes its name to «MGM Mirage».

Wynn spends most of his money on building a new institution, which opens in April 2005 on the site of «Desert Inn». The new brainchild of Steve is called «Wynn Las Vegas».

Apart from interests in Vegas, Steve invests funds into conquering the Asian market. In the short-term perspective it is planned to open the casino «Wynn Macau». Steve’s activity has brought him 2.1 billion dollars, which allowed him to occupy the 365th position in «Forbes» world rating.

Stanley Ho

The wealthiest representative of gambling industry in Asia who for more than 30 years was the single ruler of this industry in Macao. Stanley was born in 1921 in Hong Kong. His great-grandfather was a Dutch Jew who married a local woman. The Ho family was one of the most renowned and influential in Hong Kong. But Stanley was not able to make use of the wealth of this family. His father went bankrupt, when Stanley was a student. Due to financial break-down his two brothers committed a suicide, and his father renounced his family and left Stanley with two sisters and mother. Despite all hardships, he successfully graduated from Hong Kong university and mastered three languages. Stanley started his career in a trade company, located in Macao. Outstanding business skills and proficiency in several languages allow him to become a shareholder of the company at the age of 21. Ho received his first fortune as a result of a very unpleasant accident. Stanley was responsible for sea trade. During one of the voyages the ship with Stanley, who carried a great amount of money, aboard was subject to an armed attack. Stanley, practically on his own (many of his fellow employees were killed) stands against the gang and returns both the money and the ship. The company duly appreciated the courage of their employee and rewarded him a bonus of one million! In 1943 Ho invested his million into construction industry, his new company is located in Hong Kong. At this time the city undergoes a real construction boom, and Stanley receives very decent dividends from his business. But his ambitions are not limited to construction business, together with his partners he wins the tender for the monopolistic right to open gambling institutions in Macao. Stanley won the tender with the sum of only 410 thousand dollars. For many years Ho’s company becomes the monopolist of Macao gambling market. Stanley invests all his money and skills in this company. By 1972 he owns 9 casinos, including casino-hotel «Lisboa», one of the most beautiful casinos of the world.

In the 90-ies Ho extends beyond the borders of Macao and opens 9 casinos on the Philippines, however, as a result of a conflict with the president of this country, he had to renounce his Philippine business. Apart from the casino, Ho owns many betting operators and totalizators. In 2003 the budget of Macao by 30% consisted of revenues from the activities of the companies that belonged to Stanley. His business provides work to more than 10 thousand people. In 1998 Ho becomes one of the first living inhabitants of Macao, in whose honour the local street was named. But earlier or later everything comes to an end. Ho’s idyll ends in 2000, when Macao authorities decide to cancel monopoly for gambling industry. Since 2002 Ho has to share gambling industry with American “sharks” â€" Wynn and Adelson, who immediately used the chance to become familiar with Asian market. Presently Stanley Ho’s fortune is 6.5 billion dollars, he has the 84th position in the «Forbes» world rating.

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There are many ways to bet on sporting events, whether online or at a land-based casino. Some betting methods are simple and straightforward, others are more complex, some even exotic so to speak. However, a newcomer to sports betting must understand betting structure before risking any money. The basic, or most common bets are as follows:

THE STRAIGHT BET:

A straight bet can be a wager on one of two opponents in let’s say a tennis or boxing match. This is commonly known as a fixed odds bet, meaning a bet in which the odds are fixed when the bet is placed.

MONEY LINE:

In money line betting the bettor takes odds for betting on the underdog, and gives odds for taking the favorite. Money line is actually a straight bet, since you are risking more to win less, or vice-versa, depending on whether your bet is on the favorite or underdog.

As an example, if the money line favors the New York Yankees, since they figure to win over a weaker team, and the money line is $200, you would need to bet the money line, to win $100. The reverse would be true if you bet on the weaker team; betting $100 to win $200, for instance.

OVER/UNDER:

Over/Under is a popular way to bet on a game if you are not confident in picking a particular winner, because in Over/Under you are betting on whether the final score will be over or under in accordance with the odds predicted prior to the game. In other words, the winning bet is predicated on the combined scores, or total points scored by both teams. Example: The Over/Under in a game is set at 55. Over bettors can win if they bet at least 56, and under bettors collect if they bet no higher than 54.

THE PARLAY:

This is a tough one, but the lure is the payoff, which can range from large to HUGE. A parlay, popular at horse and dog racing tracks, means that you must pick exact winners in a series of events. As an example, picking the winners of the first, second and third races at the horse track, or a three team parlay bet in which you must wager that each of these teams will beat, (or not beat), the spread. If even one of the horses or only one of the teams fail, you lose. Two out of three do not count.

THE PROPOSITION - OR PROP BET:

Not as popular, nor as common as the bets previously noted, the proposition, or prop bet is a wager on a particular aspect of a sporting event. For example, betting on which player will score first, how many completions a quarterback will make, or how many strikeouts a pitcher will get.

Finally, the key to being a successful online sports bettor is doing your homework. In other words not just understanding the mechanics of wagering, but know the sport you are betting on. Understand why the odds are set on a particular boxer, horse or team Know this and you will increase your chances of successful online sports wagering dramatically.

Poker chips, or poker tokens, are used to keep track during gambling and replace money during the game. Even though poker chips are called clay chips, poker chip sets are not entirely made of clay. Sometimes clay is used as filler, but it is always mixed with some synthetic material for durability. Clay composite chip sets were popular in the early 1800s and today are rarely used mainly because they are more expensive and tend to break easily.

Today the most popular poker chip sets are made of plastic, clay composite, and acrylic. Since 1930s poker chip sets were decorated with metal foil for extra durability and security. Ten years later, poker chip sets were printed in the center and along the edges.

Since 1950s most casinos introduced their own designs and logos imprinted on the poker chip sets, and these chips became collectable items. To add extra security and prevent counterfeiting, casinos started to use unique blends and materials in their poker chips. Most often, it's a top-secret blend of synthetic polymer acrylic composite, sometimes with added clay or kaolin.

All casinos have their own unique colorful designs or at least a logo on their poker chip sets. These sets are produced only by a few specially appointed companies in the US, and the designs are protected by copyright.

For home gambling metal core poker or plastic chip sets are used. The metal core ones are heavier, can be customized in design and color scheme, which adds that special casino feel to them. Plastic poker chip sets are more lightweight and can be damaged more easily. On the other hand, they are less expensive and can be bought anywhere in any quantity. Plastic poker chip sets are the best choice for beginners in gambling, or for people who play occasionally. When people become serious about poker and start playing regularly, they prefer to invest in metal core poker chip sets or even in composite clay poker chip sets.

Poker chip sets are widely available on the Internet. Most companies when you place an order send a sample chip. You can also collect a nice poker chip set if you buy one-dollar chips from casinos – these would be of much better quality than any chips you could buy in stores, plus, they are a great conversational piece! And you can always trade them back for money in the casino or even play with them.

If you decide to keep your casino poker chip set, you need to provide them with a good "home". To keep your poker chips safe you need a poker chip case with lock and key where you would store your set during a poker session. Most often, you will get a complementary poker chip case when you place an order for a poker chip set. If you buy one separately, look for a case made of metal or hard wood, with a reliable lock and soft interior lining to protect chips and cards. Plastic or vinyl cases are easily damaged and do not provide enough protection for heavier poker chip sets.

When you are ready to buy your poker chip set, make sure you go for the best quality you can afford and that you order enough chips to accommodate the number of players you usually have. As a rule, you cannot have too many chips, but if you order not enough of them, you can easily add more. Store them in a reliable poker chip case and enjoy the game!

When I first started playing at online casinos few years ago, I was a real bonus whore who tried out every possible way of getting free casino cash, every free dime and gambled it away. I never purchased maximum amount of money back then to receive maximum amount of bonus money, because I always thought: ″Hey, I am going to win eventually anyway, I don’t want to spend extra $50 for getting more green to my casino account!″ Of course, I lost it all and was quickly depositing again, this time without bonus, which clearly meant I was not very good handling my jumpy bankroll.

This is not what I do know. Although nowadays I don’t play slots, blackjack and craps very often at online casinos, I still hop by once in a while and give myself a shot. Some might call me a ″bonus whore″ even now, since I choose casinos by bonus. I don’t do that systematically anymore since I run my own gambling website and I keep getting generous bonus offers that I mostly keep for my visitors.

What I do now - I search the most generous bonus amount I can get from a casino with my first purchase and I buy myself that bonus. Searching the generous bonus amount includes reading terms and conditions carefully and doing some research work to make sure I am not getting ripped off.

I call these huge bonuses high roller bonuses, since they are perfect for people who like playing long sessions and who are willing to spend a lot of money in order to win big. High rollers are also aware that they are going to lose in a long term, but if they are going to lose anyway, why not lose the minimum amount of money? This is the root of online casino bonuses that every player should understand.

Since most of these high roller bonuses have similar terms and conditions, I will bring you few examples from random casinos and explain them to you. The following is essential, since if you don’t follow the terms you might lose all the winnings and the bonus itself as well.

The first example is from Racetrack Casino, that has 20% first deposit bonus up to $500. In the interests of fair gaming, they require you to have wagered a minimum of six times the total amount deposited plus bonus, up to a maximum wager of $18,000 for each deposit plus bonuses made during the bonus promotion time. The following is extremely important for you to understand! - If you make a withdrawal before wagering six times your deposit and bonus, the bonus money and winnings will be removed from your account.

The other example comes from Europa Casino. This casino claims to have $2400 welcome bonus for all the players, although it isn’t quite so. They have one of the trickiest bonus systems. I have personally only used the $500 welcome bonus, which is actually a 25% first deposit bonus. ″Low rollers″ have to do with 100% first deposit bonus with many times smaller first purchase.

To the bonus: In the interest of fair gaming they’re ordered to cash out any amount of money you must wager at least twelve times your play bonus plus deposit. Players depositing in U.K. Pounds must wager at least eighteen times your play bonus plus deposit. If you withdraw before having reached the minimum wagering requirements, your bonus and winnings will be void. So, again the similar bonus structure.

At least now you can understand why casinos offer those bonuses - it’s not very likely you have lots of money left when you have wagered at least twelve times your play bonus plus deposit. But you can always get lucky, and this is what we all want when we step in to a casino!

Learning to play the game of casino Blackjack reasonably well is not rocket science, regardless of what the dozens of books on the subject would have you believe.

Playing professionally at the expert level, as is true of any game, is indeed complex and takes years to perfect. But anyone can become a good recreational player and have a fighting chance against the casino simply by learning some very easy rules.

So, if you're tired of throwing all your money away on brain-numbing slot machines, read on!

Blackjack can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it. Using card counting and advanced techniques, you can actually have a slight advantage over the house in certain conditions. That is, if you are willing to spend hundreds of hours learning and practicing, plus hundreds of hours each year playing!

Only a few of us have this kind of dedication.

The "beginner strategy" described below is designed for those of you who have never played Blackjack before or have played only a few times (and are tired of losing!). It requires that you learn only four simple rules. You can memorize these rules in 30 minutes or less.

Well, actually, much less!

You may have heard of the term "Blackjack basic strategy". The Blackjack basic strategy is a set of betting and hit/stand rules to statistically maximize your chances of winning. While not complex, it will still take some time and quite a bit of practice to learn and apply consistently.

For beginners, or very occasional players who don’t want to spend hours practicing the Blackjack basic strategy, here is a Beginner Strategy that won't give you a headache trying to learn.

While this will not give you the same low odds against you as the true Blackjack Basic Strategy (about .5%), it produces a low 1.5% or so edge for the casino, still one of the best odds you’ll find in any casino game.

You won’t lose your shirt and you’ll have a fighting chance of winning if you encounter a favorable run of cards.

It should only take a few minutes to learn these four simple Blackjack rules, though you should practice for a couple of hours to get comfortable with them before actually playing in a casino game.

FIRST, A SHORT AND EASY LESSON ON THE GAME RULES

If you already know how to play Blackjack, you can skip this section. Otherwise, it will only take a few minutes to learn the simple playing rules.

CARD VALUES

Tens and face cards count as 10, Aces count as either 1 or 11 (your choice), and all other cards have a count equal to their face value.

THE PLAY

All players play against the dealer, not against one another. Each player makes their bet and the dealer starts out by dealing two cards to each player and two cards to himself. The dealer's second card is dealt face-up for all players to see. If the dealer has a "Blackjack" (and Ace and a ten or face card), he will turn it over and automatically wins all bets, unless a player also has a Blackjack, in which case it's a tie.

Then, starting with the player to the dealer's left, each player has the choice of standing (not drawing any more cards) or being dealt additional cards. Play continues with that player until the player stands or "busts" (gets a card count that totals more than 21). After all players have made their decisions (or busted), the dealer draws additional cards to either reach a total of 17 or higher (when they must automatically stop), or bust. If the dealer doesn't bust, all remaining player's hands with a higher card total win, and those with a lower card total lose.

One very critical point to remember is this: you goal is not to get a card count as close to 21 as possible, but to get closer to 21 than the dealer, without going over. The goal is to beat the dealer! Thus, your decisions on whether or not draw additional cards are based on the value of the dealer's up card.

DOUBLING DOWN, SPLITTING PAIRS AND INSURANCE

There are three special bets you can make after the first two cards are dealt. Doubling down means you can double your original bet after you receive your first two cards. You then receive one – and only one – additional card.

Splitting pairs means that when you receive any pair on your first two cards, you can split them into two separate hands and play each one independently (of course, you must place an additional bet equal to your first bet on the second hand).

Taking insurance means that if the dealer's up card is an Ace, you can wager an additional amount equal to half your original bet as "insurance" in case the dealer has a blackjack. If the dealer has a blackjack, you lose your original bet but your insurance bet is paid at 2 to 1, so you break even.

"HARD HANDS" VERSUS "SOFT HANDS"

In order to understand and apply any Blackjack strategy, you need to learn the difference between ″hard″ and ″soft″ hands. This is because the strategies for various plays are different depending on whether you have a soft hand or a hard hand.

A ″soft″ hand is one that has an Ace which is counted as 11 (remember: Aces can be counted as either one or 11). For example, a hand composed of an Ace and a 4 is called a soft 15.

A hand that either contains no Aces or the Ace is counted as a 1 is called a ″hard″ hand. For example, a hand composed of a 6 and a 9 is a hard 15. A hand with an Ace and 4 is called a soft 15 (11 plus 4), but if you then draw an 8 you have to count the Ace as 1 instead of 11, giving you a hard 13 (because counting it as 11 would give you a "bust" hand of 23).

FOUR SIMPLE RULES

Here are four Blackjack basic strategy rules that anyone can easily remember. Always adhere to them exactly and you will be playing better then the majority of people who sit down at a blackjack table.

While these four rules do not represent ″perfect″ Blackjack basic strategy, they give you a great deal of the advantage of a perfect basic strategy and are very simple to memorize.

1. If the dealer’s up card is 7 or higher, continue to draw cards until you have a hard count of at least 17 or higher, or a soft count of 18 or higher.

2. If the dealer’s up card is 6 or lower, draw cards until you have at least 12. Stop when you have 12 or higher.

3. Double down when your first two cards total 10 or 11, IF the dealer has a 9 or lower.

4. Always split aces and eights. Do not split any other pairs.

And that’s it! These four simple rules will take you out of the "sucker" category, keep you out of serious trouble and ensure that the house edge is around 1.5% or so – some of the best odds you’ll get in a casino.

Once you've mastered this easy system, learn the full Blackjack Basic Strategy and you'll whittle that house edge down to almost zero. Good luck!