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Blackjack – Part of the Gambling Boom

Casino gambling has a very interesting history. From the beginning, the casinos were established as a form of recreation and a way to earn money from what people were willing to bet.

Throughout the years they developed a more efficient dealer system and provided new services to customers. In present, most of casinos are placed near or combined with hotels, restaurants, art galleries, shopping centers, etc. in order to have all services you wish in one single place and spend more time having fun.

As a result, the money used on gambling was constantly increasing and casinos were crowded with players.

But this is not as easy as it seems. For example, around 1910, Nevada, a well known gaming venue, was confronting with so many complaints because of gambling addiction that the promoters of casinos had to put an end to their businesses even though they brought prosperity on the communities that surround these establishments.

The gambling activities started again in 1930 but not with the same glamour. The businesses were moving slowly now. One reason is Great Depression, a negative economic period with large effects in all aspects of life. Another way of keeping people away from casinos was the negative public attitude through the gambling because of Mafia that was placing in doubt the credibility of the gambling system, leading the casinos almost to bankruptcy.

Now gambling is rampant. Why? What was happening all of a sudden? In 1962, Edward Oakley Thorp, a scholar and also a player, wrote Beat the Dealer, the first book to prove mathematically that Blackjack could be beaten by card counting. His strategies, focused on Blackjack game, can still be employed with great efficiency today.

Due to his revolutionary book people swarmed again in casinos and were generating profitable revenues. Instead of humble beginnings, it seems that casinos are here to stay. Just think about Las Vegas, Nevada and the significant economic growth of these areas.

A multitude of literature resources can be found regarding the force of gambling and its impact. Some extol its positive virtues, others blame its addiction.

Anyway, casino gambling is about winning. And one of the most winnable games is Blackjack. That’s why it is a very popular game in every casino.

Blackjack is a good choice for beginners, for very rich people and less rich people who are addicted to gambling or attempted to raise money. With a proven blackjack strategy everyone can win constantly and go home with a smile on their face.

4 Tips to Winning Double or Nothing Tournaments

Double or nothing tournaments are much different than normal poker tournaments because they have a very unique payout structure. In a double or nothing tournament half of the players in the field double their buy-in and half lose theirs. The fact that so many players cash combined with the fact that there is no difference in prize amount between first place and the last casher means the strategy for these tournaments is very unique.

Tip 1 – Play Tight in the Early Stages of the Tourney At this stage of a double or nothing tournament you want to play very tight and only play big hands. The less experienced double or nothing players will likely be playing a lot of hands and you want to let them. If you do find a good hand you should play it aggressively in order to keep from allowing your opponent to suck out on you.

Tip 2 – Maintain Your Stack through the Middle Stages In the middle stages of a double or nothing tournament the blinds will start to increase and you will need to steal blinds on occasion to maintain your stack size. You can’t have your stack getting too small at this stage because you want it to carry you through the later levels.

Tip 3 – Survive the Late Stages In the late stages you should just be focussing on surviving. At this point there will be about two-thirds of the field remaining which means there will only be a few more busts before you cash. If you have a big stack at this stage you should just hold onto it and not risk any chips when you don’t need to. If you have a short stack you will want to compare your stack size to the other short stacks and if you are in a non-cash position you should get aggressive and try to gain some chips. If you need to get aggressive you should try to use your position to your advantage and you should also attack the blinds of the medium sized stacks. These players with about an average stack at this point will be wanting to fold their way into the money and you can take advantage of this by stealing their blinds.

Tip 4 – Avoid Coin Flips in the Early Stages In double or nothing tournaments it is best to avoid coin flips in the early stages because they are negative expected value. This is simply because if you lose the coin flip you’re out of the tourney and you lose the buy-in, whereas if you manage to win the coin flip you just have double the amount of chips and you aren’t even guaranteed to cash. This theory holds true only because the top prize you can win is only double your buy-in and by winning the 50% coin flip you haven’t even guaranteed yourself this cash.

Double or nothing tournaments are a grind and once the non-experienced players go out in the early rounds it all comes down to who can best adjust in the late stages and get the cards when they are needed.