Online Gambling

Some games have a pretty easy-to-remember rule of thumb for playing a nearly-optimal strategy. In this blog post, and in posts to come, I’ll be highlighting some of those games.

Caribbean Stud poker online is one of the most popular online casino games. The rules are similar to regular poker, but in Caribbean Stud you play against the casino, not other players. Like in regular poker, you try to make the best possible poker hand, and get paid when you beat the dealer’s qualifying (AK or better) hand.

• A simple strategy is to Call when you have a pair or better, regardless of the dealer’s up card.
• The house edge is about 5.5% with this strategy. This is better than the so-called ‘dealer’ strategy — Calling when you have an Ace-King or better, regardless of the dealer’s up card — which has a house edge of about 5.7%.

You can play caribbean stud poker online (also called Cyberstud Poker) at many online casinos, many of which allow you to meet bonus playthrough requirents by playing this interesting game.

(Wherever you live, please check your local, state and provincial laws before you gamble online.)

Well, this is a first! No good MLB totals wagers today. I am leaning toward MIN @ CHW u9.5 and MIL @ COL u10.5, but the terms would have to move 5 points in my favor before this bet would have a positive expected value (EV). If the MIN @ CHW game moves from u9.5 -110 to -115, then I’d take that bet. Also, if the MIL @ COL game moves from u10.5 -115 to -110, I’d take that bet as well.

One of the reasons that my model did not generate any totals bets is due to the weather. As a rule of thumb, add 1/2 run when the game time temperature approaches 90F, and subtract 1/2 run when the game time temperature approaches 55F. There are six games today that are being played where it is pretty hot today, and adding the 1/2 run to these games’ totals resulted in a “no bet” for several of these games.

I read this rule of thumb regarding game time temperature in an excellent book Betting Baseball 2008 by Michael Murray. I also get MLB weather from VegasInsider.com.

Here are today’s picks, made moments ago at Intertops.

I’ve continued to post my MLB totals picks each day. Overall, I am 75-70 (51.72% winning percentage), for a net loss of $31.28 (-0.97% return on investment).

This briings to mind a point to consider if you read on the internet about a guy whose sports handicapping system is “9-3 in his last 12 SOLID LOCK PICKS” (or some similar claim). The point is this: Your record is irrelvant. What is relevant is your return on investment — how much money these picks made relative to the size of the bets that one had to make to win the money.

Here’s an illustration of my point: Suppose a handicapper claims to have a 9-3 record in his last 12. This could easily have resulted in a net loss if each of his picks was a heavy favorite, say -300 or worse. In fact, if each of his picks were at an average of -300, a 9-3 record is break even, and actually will have cost you money once you factor in the price of making deposits and withdrawals at some online sportsbooks.

I’d really love to see handicappers post their return on investment, rather than their win-loss record, when touting a sports betting system.

As I have said in the past, one way to increase your chances of getting a fair shake when gambling online is to play at accredited sites. eCOGRA is one such accrediting body.

eCOGRA oversees the online gambling activities of some 120 tier one online casinos and poker rooms owned by some of the biggest and most established operators on the Internet, and makes available a dispute resolution service to players at those sites which have been awarded eCOGRA’s “Safe and Fair” seal.

Recently, eCOGRA released their report on complaints received in 2007  which showed that 68% of complaints were decided in favor of the player.

You may also be interested to know that eCOGRA also accredits online gambling portal sites like The Online Casino Gambling Directory. I am proud to say that I am one of fewer than 100 such sites, and have been since October 2006.

If Caribbean Poker is your game, then check out the progressive jackpot at Empire Casino. If you’ve never played at Empire Casino, then you can take advantage of their 100% initial deposit bonus offer on your first deposit of between $25 and $200. Empire Casino accepts players from around the world, and has a variety of banking options including Visa, Mastercard, EcoCard, eWalletXpress, and several more.

Here’s a little bit more about Caribbean Poker:

Caribbean Poker is a fun and exciting game that includes an added bonus of a progressive jackpot. In order to qualify for the progressive jackpot you must wager $1 into the “progressive jackpot” slot before the hand is dealt. The progressive jackpot is won when you are dealt a qualifying hand, the payouts are based on the strength of that hand. A full house wins $100, four of a kind $500, a straight flush wins 10% of the pot, and finally a royal flush wins it all!

When playing Caribbean Poker you want to have a strategy. A good strategy is to always play the progressive jackpot. You can be playing a 5 dollar max bet table and still win the entire progressive jackpot which is more often than not, bigger than the max payout. Some other good advice is to always raise when you have A-K-J or better in your hand or A-K-and another card that beats or matches the dealers “up” card.