editor, Author at LearnPlayWin

Games with the best winning odds at Online Casinos

September 21, 2021 By editor

It used to be that we would have to get up and go to the casino of our choice to pull the lever on the slots, throw dice at a craps table, or play endless hands of blackjack while cigarette smoke wafted and hung over the table like a damp rag. But those days are gone if you want them to be because now, we have the luxury of having a casino directly at our fingertips. Want to play a few hands of blackjack while you wait for your oil to get changed? No problem it’s all here for your gaming pleasure.

Some of the best online betting sites and casinos have gambling deals for new players as well as seasoned pros. These are state-of-the-art, high-tech, virtual houses of action transport the user to immersive slot machines, as well as table games that replicate the real thing. Many of these established and well-respected online betting sites also have live blackjack dealers to add an additional layer of authenticity.

Once we make our way to these online casinos, which games give us the best chance at walking away with more money than when we entered? Well, there are no guarantees but below we will list those online table games that give us the best shot at taking the house’s money!

Blackjack

If you are new to Blackjack and are uncertain of the rules, you are in luck because it is not only one of the easiest games to learn but one that also gives the house the slightest edge over the player. Blackjack is easy to learn and only just a bit more difficult to master but the gist of the game is to get as close to 21 without going over. If your hand beats the dealer you get even money on your investment so if you bet $10 then you will get $20 if you win ($10 investment + $10 win profit = $20).

The player gets dealt two cards as does the dealer with one of the dealer’s cards facing up for the world to see. Each card has its face value with jacks, queens, and kings equaling 10 while aces can be either a 1 or an 11. Therefore, if you are fortunate enough to get dealt an ace with a 10, jack, queen, or king you have blackjack! That’s right 10 +11 =21 and that’s the perfect hand that will give the player 1 ½ times his money. If you bet $10 on the hand you would have a $15 profit (1.5 x 10) plus your initial investment of $10 equaling $25 back to you.

The reason Blackjack is such a terrific game is that the house edge is only about two percent against inexperienced players and just ½ a percent against experienced players. Once you learn the nuances of Blackjack you will be coming back to the tables to try your luck, have some fun, and hopefully make some money. The best part is you can do it all from the comfort of your laptop or mobile device because the best online casinos all have outstanding mobile platforms!

Top 10 Online Casino Games with Lowest House Edge

1. Blackjack (Single Deck) 1.5%

2. Craps 1.4% – 5.0%

3. Baccarat 1.5%

4. Three-card Poker 1.5%

5. Video Poker 0.5% – 5%

6. Slots 2.0% – 10%

7. Roulette (single zero) 2.5%

8. Pia Gow Poker 2.5%

9. Caribbean Stud Poker 5.0%

10. Backgammon 4.82% – 6.39%

These percentages are the average for several of the major online casinos but they can differ slightly depending on where you choose to play. The Blackjack house advantage in the table above, listed at 1.5 percent, can be reduced if you are an experienced blackjack player and you understand when to take a hit and when to abstain, allowing the house to bust on its own.

A hand holding aces with poker chips scattered all over a laptop

There are two main betting strategies to keep in mind when you are gambling at an online casino. The first of which is to play the games with the lowest house edge. Secondly, it is imperative you become familiar with techniques to improve your chances in games like Blackjack.

One of the most rudimentary rules is to stay on 12 or more if the dealer’s up-card is showing a 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. The dealer must take a hit unless they have 17 or better so if they have any of the above cards, we assume they have a value card of 10 as their down-card. Once the dealer takes their mandatory hit, the chances are is that it will be a 10 which means the dealer would bust (go over 21) without us having to do anything.

Also, make sure to take advantage of online casino bonuses being offered at the best online casinos. They can keep you in the game and allow you to play on house money…at least for a while.

Learnings About Intelligence From A Chess Grandmaster

September 20, 2021 By editor

Perhaps no single game has been associated with pure intelligence more than chess. Not checkers. Not video games. Not counting cards at blackjack. Not outsmarting bookies at Canada’s top betting sites for sports.

Why’s that? Well, when we think of the intellect from a traditional standpoint, chess features every element of it. Memory? Check. Pattern recognition? Double check. Forward-thinking decision making? Yes and that’s a clean sweep.

Players that reach the highest ranking — dubbed grandmaster — are almost always called geniuses. It’s an association that’s not common with the top players of many other games. What can we learn from these genius-level grandmasters?

Well, a lot. One player named Josh Waitzkin has been very open about his process for learning — not just chess, but anything and everything. He’s written books and made the rounds on podcasts to distill what it takes to be a genius in any subject. We’ve summarized many of this talking points below for your one-stop convenience:

The Art Of Learning

Waitzkin’s magnum opus is his 2007 book, The Art Of Learning. It’s half a biography about his rise in the chess world at a very early age and also half a self-help book for learners that’s chock full of insights. Here’s a brilliant two-sentence summary of Waitzkin’s outlook on genius-level skills:

“The key to pursuing excellence is to embrace an organic, long-term learning process, and not to live in a shell of static, safe mediocrity. Usually, growth comes at the expense of previous comfort or safety.”

This runs counter to conventional wisdom that eschews some people as being born geniuses fresh out of the womb. In fact, that term is a bit of a slight to Waitzkin, as if his outlier success is innate and not the product of hard, long, and meticulous work.

Waitzkin is a giant believer of growth mindsets, not fixed ones. And as the aforementioned quote says, growth doesn’t just happen. No, it needs to be sought out through challenges and adversity — which comes at the cost of comfort.

Not All Practice Is Created Equal

Alright, we’ve already said it takes work to reach mastery in any field. However, the work needs to be purposeful. In the study of intelligence, this is called “deliberate practice.”

The term was coined by Anders Ericsson, a pioneer in the study of intelligence. He’s the researcher that Malcolm Gladwell borrowed from for his 10,000 hours hypothesis — the required amount of practice time it takes to become a master at something (though, Gladwell’s interpretation of Ericsson’s work is slightly faulty).

Anyway, what makes deliberate practice actually “deliberate” isn’t just the time poured into it. No, it’s the thinking about thinking. One has to completely absorb themselves in the material being learned down to every last nook and cranny.

Waitzkin has a brilliant quote about this delibertness when learning: “sometimes the study would take six hours in one sitting, sometimes thirty hours over a week. I felt like I was living, breathing, sleeping in that maze, and then, as if from nowhere, all the complications dissolved and I understood.”

Don’t Just Work, Relax Too

Thus far, we’ve spent the majority of the article stressing long and hard work. However, the opposite of that — deep relaxation and rest — is also necessary to achieving mastery.

Waitzkin drew this insight from spending time at the Human Performance Institute. Located in Orlando, the institute has studied high-achieving athletes like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods in the past. During these studies, researchers figured out outlier performers did in fact have an “off” switch. MJ-level athletes WERE able to completely relax in the moments of inactivity away from playing.

At this same institute, Waitzkin learned the importance of routines, both to ramp up activity and tone it down. There’s something about getting into a routine that allows the mind to slip into the “right” frame of mind. This manifests in early wake-up times or certain working locations which can “trigger” intended mind sets.

The Art Of Learning is a book about meta learning. What we covered is just a snippet of what’s included, but as the world continues to change at break-neck speed, “learning about learning” isn’t a bad idea — especially from a developed-genius like Waitzkin.

Top Ways to Improve Your Skills at Any Game

September 2, 2021 By editor

Every game is different, which is why people who are good at backgammon are not necessarily going to fare very well when playing Call of Duty. Each game has its own specific set of skills that a player must master if they want to be successful.

This means there are different processes required to master these skills. For instance, while playing blackjack you may want to memorize the optimum choice of whether to hit or stand depending on each hand value, but while playing Forza Motorsport you’ll need to spend time improving your race craft and ability to carry speed through the corners.

While each game does have these specific requirements, there is a typical approach that you can take to improve your playing abilities for just about anything.

Look for How-To Guides

You are definitely not the first person to want to improve your gaming skills, so it’s almost a guarantee that there will be a huge library of content online that’ll give you hints and tips. Even the most niche titles will likely have a small community of people somewhere who share insights.

For those that enjoy playing card games, you won’t have to look very hard. Most sites that offer them will have entire sections dedicated to how to play poker, for example, covering elements like the rankings of each hand, the mechanics of each betting round, and basic strategies.

The same content is available for video games. Fans will be able to find maps that show where pickups and Easter eggs are located, how to get through each mission or level, and even explain the pros and cons of each tool, weapon, or playable character.

Read Strategy Books

While you can find most content online, you may wish to go further and read in-depth insights into different strategies and tactics. These can usually be found in books as the format gives the author more room to delve into the finest minutiae of each aspect.

Older games are the ones where you’ll find the most books available as there has been more time for authors to write them and for publishers to distribute their content. Card and board games typically also have more books written about them as they have longer lifespans than video games.

For example, there are plenty of great books for learning and improving backgammon skills. One of these, Backgammon for Winners, was written by the two-time winner of the World Championship of Backgammon, Bill Robertie, who uses sample games to examine the key traits to winning play.

person playing chess with toppled pieces

Watch Others Play

As great as you are, there are almost definitely going to be players that are better than you out there. Therefore, it’s highly likely you’re going to learn something new by watching them play.

The internet has made it easier than ever to watch just about any game being played. Streaming sites like Twitch are dedicated to this sort of content and cover everything from popular video games like Call of Duty, Fortnite, and League of Legends to traditional games like chess and poker.

These streaming sites give you access to live streams as well as back catalogs where you can catch up on events that you missed. The biggest events will often include commentary just like in a sports broadcast, giving you more context and better explanations for the actions being taken and decisions being made by the players.

Practice

Of course, you can do plenty of preparation and theoretical learning, but you’re not going to improve your gaming skills without actually putting them into practice. Therefore, it is vital that you practice as much as you can as often as you can.

In fact, professional gamers, such as those that compete in esports tournaments and professional poker players, will often spend hours each day playing and then even longer reviewing the “game tapes” so they can see their strengths and weaknesses and find areas to improve.

Latest Tech Advancements in Online Casinos and Sportsbooks

August 27, 2021 By editor

The best online sportsbooks are also equipped with state-of-the-art online casinos whose impressive and immersive graphics get more robust with each passing year. The technology used to fire these engines and provide a virtual world for those who enjoy slots or table games is ever-improving. Therefore, we thought it would be interesting to shed some light on exactly what’s transpiring in this booming industry and the technological advances that keep its customers coming back for more.

In addition to the stunning graphics used in the online casinos, we should also be cognizant of the best sports betting app being offered at the best online sportsbook. This stunning mobile platform allows its customers to make wagers on the go and provide a bevy of betting options from sides to totals to the latest futures and prop bets. It’s all here in the palm of your hand, making wagering seamless with an easy-to-navigate dashboard. But let’s talk about the technological leaps and innovations currently being made to make the customer’s experience even more compelling.

Virtual Reality

We know VR from video games but it is being used in the online casino business as well. It transports the users to a new environment and the greater this virtual reality, the more immersive the experience for the user. The two industries have much in common from a technological aspect and strides in one area often complement the other.

Many of the newer, more innovative virtual reality casino playgrounds require a headset to complete the experience but those who prefer mobility over environment can choose that as well. It is all here because of the bustling industry that makes online casino gambling and sports wagering so exciting.

One company, in particular, XR Casino, recently announced a ground-breaking cross-technology, multiplayer, blockchain technology-based online gambling platform for Extended Reality (XR) technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Virtual Reality (VR).

The big news is that players on different devices will be able to play XR casino games like blackjack, roulette, and slots with each other. The launch is expected in August of 2021 and XR Casino CEO, Dan Martinez, released the following statement:

“XR technologies are changing the way we interact with each other and eliminating the need for expensive equipment. Tech giants such as Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have invested heavily into AR, VR, and MR to speed up mass adoption through both hardware and software solutions. XR Casino has first mover’s advantage in providing XR SaaS solutions to online, traditional casinos and sports betting companies. Our solutions create value for the gambling industry and offer competitive differentiation to attract new Generation X, Y, and Z players worldwide.”

Blockchain Technology

If there is one industry that has embraced cryptocurrency, it is online gambling. Blockchain technology is the science that has allowed the digital currency boom of Bitcoin, et al. And the online sportsbooks and casinos are nearly universal in allowing their customers to fund their accounts and make regular deposits using crypto.

Blockchain technology is the reason why deposits and payouts can be so readily facilitated while giving the user anonymity never before seen with credit cards and bank wires. It also safeguards the user’s personal information which has become increasingly critical in this new age of shared personal data.

Esports

Video gaming, online casino, and sports betting have started to cross paths. Similar technology is used to power both and many of the best online sportsbooks are offering betting propositions on esports tournaments. This new trend grew exponentially during the global pandemic when traditional sports were shut down and bettors had very few alternatives. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention and now esports tournaments like League of Legends, Fortnite, DOTA 2, and many others can all be wagered on at most of the premier online books.

Esports Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: EBET), a leading global provider of innovative esports wagering products and technology, has recently submitted a provisional patent application for a technique that leverages artificial intelligence to build odds models for use in a betting algorithm for esports tournaments and different stages within the tournament.

Bart Barden, COO, Esports Technologies, said, “I’m extremely proud of our quant and modeling team, which continues to develop potential industry-leading data solutions. Harnessing cutting-edge modeling and artificial intelligence to create the technology for this planned next-generation wagering tool demonstrates our commitment to innovation and our focus on the needs of esports enthusiasts and bettors everywhere. We continue to advance and innovate the esports wagering experience for customers.”

Essentially, this technology will make adjustments as the tournament is in progress, allowing bettors to wager on teams throughout a tournament and during the games. Betting on which team will finish in the top three or outside the top five, or on which round the team will advance to, are examples of bets that might be placed with this new technology.

A Brief History Of Gambling

August 6, 2021 By editor

Introduction

People have gambled for as long as civilization has existed. It’s a relatively safe way to get your heart pounding by introducing a small amount of risk into your life, with the possibility of winning something for your trouble, of course.

Throughout this short history of gambling, you’ll see how the practice has developed from ancient China and Mesopotamia to the modern-day, where the latest blockchain technology is being combined with the industry. Online gambling is also mentioned here. You can see online gambling at work at https://www.stardustcasino.com and similar gambling sites.

Ancient Gambling

We don’t know when gambling as a practice started in human history. Like with so many historical practices, nobody thought to write the first occurrence of gambling down, they were preoccupied with other things.

That said, the oldest examples we have come from ancient China and Iran. Gambling has been identified in every Chinese dynasty, starting in the Xia Dynasty some 4,000 years ago. That’s the oldest known instance of gambling though there are probably older practices that we don’t know yet and may never know.

Modern gambling practices like lotteries, mahjong, and pai gow have origins in China. The first playing cards are thought to have come from 9^th Century China, too. Even back then, provincial governors would take a cut of profits of the games they’d allow to be played in their realm.

As for Egypt, that’s where we have found the oldest dice. They were found at Shahr-i Sokhta, or The Burnt City, a Bronze Age site in modern-day Iran. Dice were thought to be a trinket used by fortune-tellers and others who claimed magical ability but gradually became a gambling object. Dice were ubiquitous, having been excavated in ancient Scotland, the Indus Valley Civilization, Greece, Rome, and Japan, all independently of one another.

Speaking of Greece and Rome, pottery from those civilizations seems to indicate that gambling was available for animal fights and chariot races. Around 600 BC, the first Roman circuses took place where bets were encouraged and craps were played with old Roman dice.

Gambling In The Renaissance

Gambling continued throughout human history but the next historical landmark occurred during the Renaissance period. This is where certain European societies had to decide to allow or forbid gambling and decide how regulated the games ought to be.

The first regulated casino was Il Ridotto in Venice, Italy. It was made in 1638 to create a stable gambling environment since the carnivals at Venice allowed such games, which were illegal to play at other times and other places in the city. After a century of operation and paying heavy taxes, the Ridotto was closed after stricter gambling laws in the 1700s.

During that timeframe, the first French casinos were established in Paris and organized gambling spread through continental Europe. The roulette wheel was established there and other games, like vingt-et-un, have their origins in Spain and France. The taxation gains were made clear for local governments, paving the way for acceptance despite the Church’s disapproval at the time.

Gambling In The United States

As the New World took form, lotteries were used to fund the original 13 Colonies that would become the United States of America. Jamestown seems to have conducted lotteries the most out. Horse race betting also took place in Virginia and was used as a meeting place for the social elite, where formal codes and shared values were established. In 1769, restrictions on gambling were added to the list of grievances toward the British Crown.

French settlers brought roulette and vingt-et-un to the US early into its lifespan and Mississippi steamboats became popular gambling venues. As industrialization took hold of the USA in the 20^th Century, gambling machines were invented in New York and San Francisco.

As the Internet developed, the logical next step was to take the gambling online. Relaxing legislation was instrumental to many of these organizations and, in response, the USA and many other countries scrambled to introduce protective legislation against fraudsters.

Blockchain Gambling

With the rise of cryptocurrencies and the tech used to facilitate them, the blockchain is being studied for gambling applications. The future of gambling is likely to take place on the blockchain, where cryptocurrencies can replace chips and all transactions are transparent, anonymous, instantaneous, and cost everybody less.

Blockchain projects that use metaverses and other VR worlds allow for the possibility of digital casinos in the future too, staffed by real people but conducted anonymously and safely via cryptocurrency.