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Logical Fallacies in Gambling Games

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Gambling fallacy is the fallacy of the chances’ maturity. In other words, this is a belief that when one event occurs more times than normal at one point, it is less likely to act this way in the future – and vice versa. These events are statistically independent and commonly associated with gambling, though this psychological phenomenon can definitely occur elsewhere, too.

When a person attempts to rationalize their future manoeuvres in situations with elements of randomness, they can be guided by the gambling fallacy in the attempt to predict what happens next. As you can assume, gambling fallacies are most common among problem gamblers.

mistake label on a binder

What are the Different Gambling Fallacies?

There is no full or definite list of gambling fallaciesavailable anywhere since, after all, this is one type of a cognitive bias. As a result, there’s a debate surrounding defining the fallacy of online poker gambling or any type of gambling for that matter.

That being said, you can come across various fallacies if you do a bit of a research. There’s the distinction between culture and gambling fallacies to begin with. But the fact remains that fallacies are present all around, even among players who gamble at lowest deposit casino and those who play at a physical, live casino.

Here are the four most popular and frequently found fallacies in the casino world:

Monte-Carlo Fallacy

This fallacy is so popular that some people even refer to gambling fallacies with this name. This is the classic example, the one related to the failure to understand random events and their independence. The results of this fallacy are people who bet on the opposite outcome to occur because they believe that statistical deviations in one will be corrected by statistical deviations in the other direction, just for the purpose of evening things out.

Monte-Carlo fallacy is the reason for some of the top gambling mistakes made by casino players. For example, a person who believes in this trusts that if a gambling machine hasn’t paid out in a while, it will most likely pay out in the short future, and vice versa.

Another example is the belief that if you choose an orderly sequence of numbers like 1, 2, 3 etc., you are more likely to win compared to a non-orderly sequence.

Have you done this before? Many players who’ve played casino games like the pokies NZ real money use this logic behind picking the pokies and machine they play on.

Hot Hand Fallacy

Gambling devices like wheels and machines are programmed to produce random outcomes. This would mean that the past outcomes have absolutely no influence on future outcomes. However, some people believe that a winning streak on a single device will portend more winning. A similar belief under this casino fallacy is that certain winning numbers will re-appear more frequently than other numbers.

And of course, there’s the hot hand belief in sport betting when people believe that they are more likely to win at a certain time because the luck has been on their side. This superstition is present with many players despite the data from research that shows that random chance is most frequent with sports betting.

Illusion of Control

The next common tendency among gamblers is to believe that the action of a person can influence random events. For example, many people today prefer some ‘lucky numbers’ over others when playing lottery or the roulette. They always pick these numbers instead of choosing random numbers. This is more of a superstitious belief when people think they have control over the outcome of gambling. In fact, superstitious conditioning contributes to this type of illusion.

Thinking that you have control over the lottery numbers can cause you to make repetitive mistakes, therefore reducing your chances to win. Gambling is random and should be perceived as such.

Base Rate Neglect

Lastly, there’s the so-called base rate neglect. This fallacy occurs when people ignore the general probabilities based on statistics when they judge the frequency of an outcome. Instead, they estimate the frequency by the available instances in their memory.

Base rate neglect if the belief that if you participate in commercial forms of gambling, this is an excellent strategy for making money. Or, there’s the belief that winning the lottery is more likely to happen to you if you are aware of the number of people who have won the lottery over the years.

Are there other fallacies?

There are, of course, many other known logical fallacies, many of which are evident in the world of gambling. However, no one can surely determine or categorize the existing fallacies.

One interesting example is that of the sceptical inquirer gambling fallacies. According to this source, there are two twin fallacies – one of appeal to sanctity, and one of appeal to righteous indignation. Both attempt to shield the ideas from criticism, investigation or discussion and are rather common. Even so, these are not so frequently found in the gambling industry.

How to Avoid Logical Fallacies

Naturally, logical fallacies are not a great idea when you’re gambling with real money. To avoid them, you can implement one of two techniques: deductive or inductive reasoning.

Deductive reasoning happens when you start with general premises and move toward a more specific, more certain conclusion. Inductive reasoning happens when you start with a specific premise and reach a generalized conclusion.

The bottom line

Logical fallacy is only true until you start looking at it from a logical perspective. If you know how to detect a fallacy, you’ll realize that this is not the right approach. In return, this could save you from many gambling mistakes. Fallacies are common and superstition-like. They are all around and specifically created to mislead people. Those who believe in fallacies believe that logic has nothing to do with their gambling outcome. They find logic in strange superstitions that are implied by others.

Remembering the Most Controversial Poker Hands of All Time

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Poker tournaments usually run fairly smoothly, but occasionally some maverick moves shake things up.

Poker is a beautiful game, the strategies can be complex, and once you’ve got the rules sorted, you also need to learn how to use body language to your advantage. Rarely is a great poker player made without the ability to bluff. One thing is for sure, despite clarity about the rules and professional players’ ability to remain cool under the most knee-trembling of circumstances, there is an occasional mixup. Below you’ll learn about some of the most controversial poker hands of all time.

Justin Schwartz at the 2016 World Series of Poker

Although the rules of poker are relatively simple and followed closely by most players,  there are some unwritten rules that basically come down to etiquette. Schwartz definitely showed disregard for them in this hand, which ended up sparking a hot debate. It’s common knowledge that you shouldn’t talk about a hand if you’re not in it. However at the 2016 World Series of Poker main event Justin Schwartz really riled up the rest of his poker table by doing just that. After folding his hand, he commented on the play between the remaining Daniel Negreanu and Federico Butteroni. Eventually, Max Steinberg decided he’d had enough and pulled Schwartz up on it (presumably much to the delight of his fellow players!)

This One is Just Bizarre

poker chips and cards
Keeping your cards to yourself is one of the first things anyone learns in poker!

This video made the rounds as possibly the most ridiculous hand ever played, and to be honest, we’re inclined to agree with this diagnosis. Thinking that all of the other players had folded, Vicente shows his cards, not realizing that Alfredo could still call.

It turns out that both of the players have a solid hand. The only thing is, Vicente is now playing with all of his cards on show. As the hand progresses, both positions of the players strengthen and Vicente tries to goad Alfredo into folding. The strategy doesn’t work, but miraculously he manages to beat Alfredo’s hand purely on the luck of the deal. Eventually, despite showing his hand it looks like Alfredo wins it. It’s a bizarre twist of fate and surely down to player fatigue. A hand like this is the kind of thing you don’t expect to see more than once in a lifetime.

Estelle Denis at the 2009 World Series of Poker

Even the best players in the world get it wrong sometimes, and at the 2009 WSOP, Estelle Denis was about to find out how wrong can one go. While the dealer should, of course, remain vigilant when scooping up the cards, it is technically up to the player to look after their cards, or disastrous hands like this one can happen.

First of all, JC Tran put out a bet of $32,000, and when it came time for Denis, she put in her remaining 142,000 chips. The next part is almost inexplicable, but the dealer swipes Denis’ cards right into the muck. Denis immediately notifies the dealer who asks if she protected her cards, to which she explains that she was all in. The floor person was asked to pull Denis’ cards from the top of the pile, and if she described the hand that she’d said, then she’d be allowed to continue to play. Denis claims she had two aces, but the cards the floor person pulled didn’t match. Denis was ordered to forfeit the $32,000 as JC Tran had bet and her hand was proclaimed dead. Denis was understandably mortified, but despite this blunder, she still went home with $36,626 in her pocket, which isn’t to be sniffed at!

Easy Tips for First Time Gamblers

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Voice bubbles saying "tip"

If you are not cautious the first time you gamble, you might lose a lot of money. There are steps that you can however follow for you to have a great time at the pari pop casino. Here are tips that you can follow as a first time gambler.

Short Time Limit

You should set a short time limit for your first gambling session. If you do not set a time limit you might continue playing until you lose all the money that you have. Setting a time limit is good because after the set time you will be able to decide whether you still want to play or to stop and it will save you money.

Set Small Budget

Set a budget that you will gamble with, that way you will not have to worry about spending all the money in a casino. Stick with your budget so that you do not spend more than you have budgeted for. If you lose your starting budget then stop playing for the day.

Use Minimum Bets

Use the bets as this will save you some money, this applies whether you are gambling online or on a newzealandbetting online betting casino. You can also find a tournament with low entry fee. Finding a tournament will be good as you will gamble on a set fee and not worry about overspending beyond your budget.

Small Sports Wager

You can also make a small bet on a sporting event, that way you can enjoy the game longer. It is a cheap form of entertainment.

Play Mini Baccarat

The game is a great starting point for first time gamblers. It has a low house edge and it is easy to play as well. You can actually win the game, what is amazing about this game is that you do not even have to know how it is played. All you have to do is bet and the dealer will deal the cards to see who wins.

Do Classic Skill Games Help Improve Your Casino Game?

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Hooded guy holding an ace

While we love a wide range of different skill games in practically every format available, we can’t help but notice how this doesn’t seem to be the case for everyone. Specifically, in the instances of online casinos, many classic games like rummy and cribbage don’t have much or any representation among the otherwise broad array of choices available.

This might not turn us off playing entirely, but it does raise questions of preparedness. With this in mind, we want to examine which skills learned in our more traditional games can transfer to iGaming, how might we utilize these skills, and why most traditional skill games haven’t (yet?) made the leap to online as other games have.

Understanding the Odds

Perhaps the most fundamental part of skill games, and a part which can be very useful in offering transferrable skills, is the ability to understand odds. Whether making up a board in rummy or figuring out where to put your next tile in dominoes, understanding the mathematical basis of the experience forms its backbone.

When making a move, you don’t just calculate what could give you the biggest score now, but also what to save now for future moves, what your opponent is likely to hold and play, and how you might prevent them from achieving a better score. This on-the-fly calculation is a skill which, while not identical, is still largely transferrable over an enormous range of different iGaming entries.

For example, games on Mr Gold online casino such as slots, baccarat, and video poker all require understanding probabilities as a baseline. From here, in poker especially, being able to match these probabilities with different winning combinations will massively increase a player’s odds of success.

The Human Aspect

Games like rummy and dominoes are, after all, about defeating your opponent. For the head-to-head games within iGaming, this gives a straightforward comparison. No matter how well you know the odds, the human aspect of gaming can always throw an additional element of unpredictability into the mix.

That said, human behavior, especially when it comes to a competitive will, can be learned, understood, and played to your benefit. Forcing people into getting frustrated in rummy will work much the same as it does in classic poker, and the same can be said for other games and forms of manipulation.

The basics of these ideas can be brought to the competitive iGaming arena with little fuss, with the only caveat coming from the indirect nature of play. When playing in person, understanding the way a person feels can be as simple as looking at their face. Online play, on the other hand, normally lacks this level of interaction, so judgments must be made on player actions and against previous experience. This makes gaining advantages here more difficult, but far from impossible.

A Question of Access?

As for why more skill-based classic games haven’t come to iGaming, this is a much more difficult question to answer. Fundamentally, it is likely down to legacy. The most popular head-to-head games in land-based casinos revolve around poker and poker, unlike many of our favorite skill games, has a strong historical basis in casino gambling. From riverboats to Macau, poker has always been a mainstay, and most new casinos embrace this.

Also contributing to this success is the relatively low cost of cards for games such as blackjack, baccarat and indeed poker – which, combined with their place in history, means picking up the game is simple, and desirable for millions of newcomers. It could also be true that rummy is simply far more fun on a casual level, whereas games like slots, blackjack, and roulette have been built around having money on the line to give them an edge.

Looking at the big picture, the answer to the question of if skill game expertise can translate to iGaming success is a resounding yes. The caveat here is this transference applies far more to some games than others and can rely on the slight expansion of existing knowledge. While it won’t give players a guaranteed win, there is little doubt that those coming from a background of skill games will do better than those starting fresh.

The Comeback is on: Classic Games Becoming Much More Accessible

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Old man playing checkers outdoors

For most people of pre-00s generations, the gateway into classic board and card games was through family members, such as parents or grandparents. Not only did this allow the younger player to be walked through the processes of the game, but it also gave them someone or some people to play against.

The likes of rummy, dominoes, backgammon, and checkers would all be passed down, but in the modern age, with portable entertainment everywhere, the tradition is waning. However, many people have taken to keeping classic games in the modern conversation, making them even more accessible via digital platforms.

Here, you can learn to play several classic games as well as learn key strategies and discover where to find some helpful reading. Classic gaming continues to evolve into the digital space, with online guides as well as ways to learn and play the games with the necessary opponents through popular platforms.

Making the world’s classic games accessible and competitive

While there are many online browser adaptations available of classic games, the leading gaming consoles don’t have much of a classic game offering. This might be because developers don’t think that there’s an audience for the games. However, one upcoming game feels that it has cracked it and is ready to make a splash with a plethora of the world’s classic games.

Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics is coming to the incredibly popular and accessible – due to its hybrid hardware – Nintendo Switch. As the title details, the game features 51 classic games from around the world. These include: mancala, backgammon, checkers, speed, blackjack, chess, Texas hold’em, war, pig’s tail, and mahjong solitaire among many others.

By compiling 51 classic games, the Switch title becomes much more appealing to potential players. Furthermore, some of the games will be playable online against other players, which means that even if you’re on your own, you can still get the authentic experience of competing against others. It’s an important aspect as playing against the computer can get tedious, and it doesn’t replicate how real people play.

Of course, having all of these games available in one neat package on a popular console will help to bring more people into classic games. Those who get Clubhouse Games for perhaps one or two titles – even if it’s the toy boxing or air hockey – will be more inclined to try and learn others.

Bringing the real-feel experience to devices

Most classic games invoke an element of player-versus-player competition, or an aspect of a player taking on someone who controls or runs the other side of the game. As such, without other people or a proper establishment around, many don’t get the chance to try some classic games, let alone practice them to gain experience.

Now, with the availability of online platform gaming, people in regions around the world have been able to learn and play some of the most long-lasting classics. Particularly in South Africa, you can play games like roulette, craps, and baccarat on trusted gambling sites as the platform gives the necessary support of a dealer and operator to perform the stages and sort any winnings. Of course, this can come from going to a land-based casino, but for many, these are either too far away or can be daunting if the potential player isn’t familiar with the games.

Being digital games, there’s the added benefit of the online classics providing one-click access to on-screen rules and strategies within the games as well as them being played at the player’s pace. Once the game has been learned and mastered, players using specific platforms can also then try out the live variants. These live casino games are streamed to devices and feature human dealers, giving the game authenticity.

Classic games are being kept alive and are even making a comeback in some areas thanks to people bringing them to digital platforms. With increased accessibility and more information available, even those who are no-longer learning through traditional means can still access and enjoy classic games.