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Tech Trends Changing Online Casino Gambling

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augmented reality girl on bike

This may come as a surprise to a lot of people but the casino industry has played quite a huge role in economies all over the world. In fact, the casino industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that generates jobs every year and you can win big with sports betting with betting.

It’s no secret that technology has played a major role in casinos and gambling. In fact, new technologies are being created every day. In this article, we look at technologies that are changing the online casino gambling industry.

Augmented Reality (AR)

This recent technology is gaining a lot of popularity. In fact, almost every industry now has at least one app for Augmented Reality. This technology has also found its way to American casino. Online casino gamblers get to experience a 360° gaming experience on their mobile devices. This technology allows gamers to get immersed in their games, making it quite difficult to separate reality from virtual reality.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

This technology is also gaining popularity and is quite big news at the moment. The technology offers a seamless gaming experience to players through personalized experiences.

With artificial intelligence, user data is collected and then adapted to the whole process. This allows users to have an optimal experience.

Facial Recognition

Online casino gambling requires a very high level of security since people’s money is on the line. Nowadays, most devices now come with some inbuilt security features which protect them from any harm. Thanks to facial recognition software, security is now top-notch. This technology detects flagged faces from a distance. This allows any measures to be taken so as to protect the players.

Cryptocurrencies

This technology is taking over the world like wildfire. Cryptocurrencies are there to do away with exchange rates, currency conversions, and any other technical drama that may be encountered when carrying out transactions across different countries. This popular technology allows online casinos and gamblers to make transactions seamlessly. Also, the transactions are secure.

How to Play Contract Whist

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A right hand holding playing cards

Whether you’re playing with your 90 year old grandmother or your five year old nephew, whist is one of those games that is a fit for every situation. The game was invented way back in the 1700s, and forms the basis for a whole variety of more complex trick-taking games, including hearts and even bridge.

The simplicity of the game in its most basic form can make things a little repetitive, but by playing contract whist, you add a dimension that brings a whole new level of strategy.

Whist basics

The game can be played between any number of players, and with any number of cards, although the seven-card hand is the most common variant. Sites like Cool Old Games are a great resource for the finer points, but here’s a quick run down of the basics. Players take it in turn to lead by laying the card of their choice. Each subsequent player must play a card of the same suit if he or she has one. If not, the player can either play a trump, which will automatically beat the leading suit, or discard a card from an alternate suit. The trick is won by the player who played the highest trump, or if no trumps were laid, the highest card of the leading suit. Whoever wins the trick then has control and chooses with which card to lead the next trick.

Contract whist

In basic whist, hearts are trumps and it’s a case of whoever wins the most hands being declared the winner. Contract whist adds two key dimensions to gameplay. The first is that when the cards have been dealt, each player must predict how many tricks he or she will win in the hand. The second is that whoever predicts the largest number gets to choose which suit will be trumps. In the event of multiple people saying the same number, they each cut the deck at random, and whoever reveals the highest card gets to choose.

Clearly, this presents some interesting dimensions. If you have a several cards of a single suit, you might be confident you can win three or four tricks – but only if that suit is trumps. Say three, and you might be outbid. Alternatively, some hands result in everyone “shooting low” and you find yourself in a position where players are leading with low cards to avoid winning more tricks than their prediction, or “contract.”

Scoring and added variations

Typically, the players will agree in advance how many hands will be played. In each hand, the player scores a point for every trick, plus a ten-point bonus for successfully meeting his contract. This gives the opportunity for a “defensive” strategy, in which you might consistently aim at a contract of one or two, stay out of battles to dictate trumps, and essentially keep your head down, looking to consistently win your contracts.

A fun variation is to play each hand with a different number of cards, from three to 10.  Each player takes it in turns to decide, starting on the dealer’s left, and regardless of who won the last hand.

If you thought whist was a little basic, give contract whist a go. You’ll find it breathes new life into this classic game.

How to Become a Poker Master

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Mastering poker is no easy feat. Whilst most card games have a relatively straightforward set of rules, to start with, poker requires a good understanding of the ranking value of different card combinations which include:

  • High card
  • One pair
  • Two pairs
  • Three of a kind
  • Straight
  • Flush
  • Full house
  • Four if a kind
  • Straight flush
  • Royal flush

As you can see, there are quite a few combinations and rankings that you will need to understand. Then, you also have to get your head around the tactics involved and the psychological side of the game. You will have heard the term ‘poker face’, which originates from the way poker players are able to conceal their expressions, so they don’t give their game away to their opponents.

When you’re sat with an unbeatable hand, you need to make key decisions regarding psychology – raise the stakes too much and you could cause your opponent to fold early. This is just the start; there is so much more to understand and get to grips with if you are to become a good poker player.

Learning the basics

Different people like to learn in different ways, so it is best to find the right way for you. Some people prefer to watch YouTube videos that explain the rules, whilst others like to read books. There are loads of websites dedicated to teaching novices the ropes if you like to do your research that way.

Other people prefer to learn poker by playing the game, either without any money at stake or using very small sums whilst they develop their understanding. You can take a look at our recommended live games to have a go at one of the poker games if that is your favorite way to learn how to play games, or just come back to it when you have built a good understanding of the game.

Like most games, the more you play, the more you improve, so playing regularly will help to get you quickly up to speed. As your understanding of the rules advances, you can start to think about applying more complex tactics to your game. David Sklansky’s books on poker, such as The Theory of Poker, are a good place to start if you are looking to take your poker to the next level after mastering the basics.

As a successful professional poker player, Sklansky has been sharing his tactics and insights into poker through numerous books and videos; there are few players in the world who can offer his experience and knowledge.


“poker 005” (CC BY 2.0) by raffaelesergi1977

Styles of play

Poker players tend to rotate through different styles of play:

Tight – A more cautious approach with few risks

Loose – A high-risk approach

Aggressive – Putting pressure on other players with big bets

Passive – Allowing the opponent to dictate play, with more calling than betting

The more comfortable you become with floating in and out of these styles, the better chance you have of success, as you become less predictable. This is particularly important if you play with the same players on a regular basis.

This is just a very quick introduction to the best ways to develop your poker knowledge and skills but, in reality, it can take years to master. However, if you spend the time to educate yourself and practice, you will have a really good chance of becoming a poker master.

Beginners Guide to Backgammon: The Terms

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When it comes to learning anything new, there are nearly always a few new words associated with that game or hobby that people will throw around which will confuse the newbie to the game, and when it comes to Backgammon that is no exception, there are plenty of ‘Backgammon words’ that will stump new players to the game, so bonusbets.com is here to demystify the mystery surrounding some of these terms.

Blots – This is one of the most important terms to learn. A blot is a single checker on a point. This is important because your blots are open to attack by the opposing player. Any player landing on a point with your blot on it will ‘hit’ that blot and send it back to the bar.

Bar – This isn’t the place you go to get a nice drink to wash down your recent defeat at Backgammon but refers to the area in the centre of the board. Normally the fold that the board folds along if you board folds like a chess board. This centre line is where all of your checkers start, and it is a sort of starting line if you like. Once one of your checkers has been hit, then it is returned to the bar to start again.

Hit – This is a term to describe landing on an opposing players blot. If you can hit a blot, then it is sent back to the bar, thus making it much harder for your opponent to win. It is important to try and hit your opponent’s blots whenever you can, as long as this doesn’t leave you open to being hit back. Making a hit can be a very tactical move in Backgammon and should be considered carefully.

Make a Point / Build a Point – This is the process of you landing more than a single checker on a point on the board. This is strategically important because unlike a point with a blot, a point with two or more checkers on cannot be used by your opponent, you have effectively stopped them from being able to move to that point. It is also defensive in that your checkers on a built point are not open to being hit by your opponent and so it will keep them safe.

Prime – A prime is a row of anchors that you have made, that locks out your opponent from moving into the area. These are built side by side and will shut down your opponent from being able to use that area of the board. They are mainly constructed for the purpose of trapping or containing your opponent’s checkers, preventing them from moving.

Home Board / Outer Board – These refer to specific quadrants on the board. The Home Board is the final quadrant on the board. The area in which checkers must land before they are able to be cleared from the board. So there are two home boards, one for you and one for your opponent. Opposite to each of the home boards are the outer boards. Therefore there are two of each on a board.

Video Poker: How Did it all Start?

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Author: Jonathan Turner

Video Poker is one of the most popular games in both brick and mortar casinos and online casinos, and the game has a fascinating history – from its earliest iterations to the versions now played today.

While video poker machines are typically traced back to 1970, the origins of the game go back much further – all the way back to 1891. That was when the New York-based Sittman and Pitt Company created the first video poker game that would forge the foundations of the machine game that would eventually be rolled out at casinos in Las Vegas, and ultimately around the world.

The original game had five drums – now known as reels – and each drum had images of 10 playing cards. A player would insert a coin into the machine, pull the lever, and wait for the machine to provide a combination of the 10 cards across the five drums to make a poker hand.

Charles Fey – credited as the man who invented the very first slot machine – then refined this video poker machine in 1898 by inventing the Card Bell, which paid out up to 20 coins for a royal flush. Fey wasn’t done there, however, and in 1901 added a hold feature that allowed players to hold one or more of the cards and re-spin the rest. This machine was called the Skill Draw poker machine.

It was the Skill Draw poker machine that made these games stand out when compared to regular slot games, as it gave the players a measure of control over the cards, rather than the blind luck players rely on when playing regular slots.

Fascinatingly, these machines only had 50 cards instead of 52 – which makes sense considering they were designed with 10 cards per five reels. Typically, it was the 10 of Spades and Jack of Hearts that were excluded, which therefore reduced the odds of a royal flush by 50 percent.

Following these early versions, it wasn’t until 1970 that video poker machines started to appear more commonly. A machine created by Dale Electronics called Poker-Matic was introduced to casinos throughout Las Vegas, but interestingly the game was not all that popular. Given the boom of casino poker at the time, this video version failed to capture casino-goers’ interests.

That all changed, albeit gradually, when a man named William ‘Si’ Redd came on to the scene. Redd pitched his version of a machine he called Video Poker to the bosses of his company in Chicago, which they outright rejected.

After taking over the patent, Redd formed Si Redd’s Coin Machines (SIRCOMA) after striking a deal with Fortune Coin Company. After releasing his version of the video poker machine, interest started to increase and by 1981 it was one of the most popular games in casinos across Las Vegas.

Video poker still needed a lot of refining, most importantly determining the house edge that would make it worth casinos’ time to house the machines on their floors. This process involved dozens of people playing video poker for weeks and recording their results, which were then used to determine the house edge. And if you think, everything nowadays is done just by creating algorithms!

From there, video poker has evolved and is no longer limited to casino floors but is one of the most popular games in online casinos.

Sports betting – like betting on NFL Super Bowl favorites, winners of the English Premier League, and horse racing – makes up the majority of online gambling, but there is still a massive industry for online casinos, and video poker makes up a crucial section of that industry.

And to think it all began nearly 130 years ago with a humble five-drum slot machine in Brooklyn…