To celebrate the launch on the 19th, Gambling Inc. will unveil special promo codes on its site that will entitle visitors to exclusive bonuses at sponsoring casinos.

January 19th, 2004 marks the official launch of budding online casino portal, Gambling Inc. The portal, which positions itself as an informative source for jackpot hungry gamers, will provide visitors with the latest news, bonuses, reviews and game rules in addition to forums and tips on where to play.

Though the site has been live since November, the official launch was delayed in order to allow time to fix glitches and to build momentum. In a short amount of time, Gambling Inc. has already earned a Google ranking of 5/10 and has caught the attention of several leading casino operators who are advertising on the site.

To celebrate the launch on the 19th, Gambling Inc. will unveil special promo codes on its site that will entitle visitors to exclusive bonuses at sponsoring casinos.

Visit www.gamblinginc.com on January 19th for full details.

source PRWEB

Research and Markets are delighted to announce the addition of The 2003 Casino and Gaming Market Research Handbook to their offering

The 2003 Casino and Gaming Market Research Handbook is"the most comprehensive resource for the online gambling business market data available from any source.”

This newest edition of the handbook is completely updated to cover the new issues facing the casino and gaming industry in this new economy and troubled global state of unrest.

The commercial casino gaming industry is an important sector of our nation’s economy. The more than 355,000 individuals employed by the industry in 1999 made more than $9.8 billion in wages (including benefits and tips), and spending by the industry and its employees created approximately 500,000 more jobs nationwide. In addition, the more than $3 billion in gaming tax revenues paid by the industry to the states and communities where casinos operated provided funding for needed services and programs.

An analysis is provided, including current
and expected market opportunities, for the major industry sectors. The report provides a profile analysis of almost 100 key players, and a future market outlook. Every state and international jurisdiction offering gaming is assessed and covered in this report. Every sector of the industry is also assessed in the handbook, from lotteries to riverboats, casinos to tribal gaming markets, slot machines to table games pari-mutuels to legal sports betting military casinos are also assessed.

Every possible resource was utilized in the compilation of this new report. Extensive Internet searches, all industry publications and periodicals, contact with gaming executives and visits to every major gaming destination in the country. We believe this newest and seventh edition is the best resource available. Place your order today and have the report on your desk tomorrow.

For a complete index of this report go to
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/19744

About Research and Markets Ltd.
Research and Markets Ltd. are Europe’s largest resource for market research. R&M distribute thousands of major research publications from the world’s leading publishers, consultants and market analysts. R&M provide you with the latest forecasts on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest market trends.

For additional information on ResearchandMarkets.com, their range of reports or their value-added services, visit their web site at http://www.researchandmarkets.com or mailto:press@researchandmarkets.com

source PRWEB

By Rob Jay

The following information was obtained from various seminars conducted at the recent G2E convention held in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas – Online gambling on sports in America has surpassed the total handle of Las Vegas casino-based sports books.

A December, 2002 Congressional Report by the US General Accounting Office stated that online gaming reached new heights in 2002 as worldwide revenues topped $4 billion. Of that amount, over $2 billion was wagered by US residents. Bear Stearns backed up these findings by estimating the worldwide market would have been in excess of $5 billion had many American credit card providers not discontinued offering transfers to offshore sports books. Meanwhile, the Nevada handle on sports books was less than $2 billion in 2002; this is the first time in a decade that the Nevada handle dropped below $2 billion.

Certainly, part of the decline in the Nevada handle can be blamed on less Americans traveling and an overall downturn in the economy. Perhaps an even bigger factor, however, is the proliferation of slot machines in Nevada casinos. Slots now represent 70% of the profits of Nevada casinos and offer a 6% hold while sports books have an average 3% hold. Thus, it is not surprising that sports books are losing square footage overall in casinos while slots are gaining in space allocated to them.

According to Debbie Silverman of Gone Gambling (www.gonegambling.com), an industry portal site, another big growth area for offshore sports books is that many local bookmakers are referring business to the offshore books for safety. Large players are also moving to the internet due to more attractive odds available from the offshore books than are available in Las Vegas. In addition, many offshore sports books attract players with bonuses that you won’t find on The Strip. Anthony Wayne, spokesperson for licensed Curacao-based sports book ewinner (www.ewinner.com), said that his company offers a 15% initial deposit bonus to new depositors. “With all of the new competitors out there,” said Wayne, “you almost have to do something special to try to attract new players.”

The Congressional Report goes on to state that one million Americans gamble online every day. One of the reasons for the large amount of online sports bettors is the similarity between the typical sports gambler and the typical heavy internet user, according to David Lee, of Mandalay Bay casino. Lee stated that 77% of online sports gamblers are men. They tend to be single, 25-34 years old, college educated, and with incomes between $40,000 and $80,000 per year. A survey of 2900 internet users by online gaming industry research company, The River City Group (www.rivercitygroup.com), backs up Lee’s findings. The 2001 study indicated 74% of online gamblers are male and that they are among the youngest, highest income, highest education group on the internet. They are also technologically advanced, early adopters, and heavy wireless users.

Jared Davis, president of Triumph Marketing (jared@triumphwebsolutions.com), a marketing agency that has clients in the online gaming industry, tends to agree with the conclusion of the studies. “A typical customer for an online sports book is a male 25-40 with an average income of $70,000 per year. They are typically college educated and avid sports fans.”

Future growth of the online gaming industry will come more rapidly on a worldwide basis than in the United States, says the Congressional Report. Americans, which now represent half of the online gaming revenues, are projected to be only 24% of the $14.5 billion worldwide market anticipated in 2006. Japan is of extreme interest to the industry because its household internet penetration of greater than 80% is the largest in the world and it is a country nearly as obsessed with sports as America is. Countries with even more long-term promise for the industry are China and Malaysia where already two times more people have gambled on the internet than have purchased a product online.

“Without question, the largest areas for growth are South America and the Far East due to increased internet usage and cultures immersed with a long history of gambling,” added Davis. “These markets have only a small percentage of the saturation levels of North America and western Europe and offer operators markets where the cost of acquisition (of new customers) is remarkably lower.”

While international markets clearly offer an opportunity for expansion, the offshore industry can continue to attract more new players to the industry in all countries if it satisfies new player concerns. According to the River City Group, the primary concerns of potential new players include: a hassle free experience; quick payments; easy instructions; attractive web sites; easy registration; secure credit card transactions; certificates from consumer protection agencies; better odds; ability to play for free; 24/7 customer service.

Since the first internet gaming sites began appearing in 1995, 73 governments have approved some form of internet gambling. The industry has grown from 900 to 1400 sites in the last two years, according to The Internet Gambling Report. In recent months, however, most industry analysts believe the amount of sites has actually declined. The number of customers is not growing at the same pace as the number of sites and “consolidation among operators is the most logical transgression within the industry,” said Davis.

Today, only two states, Utah and Hawaii, have no forms of gambling permitted. Although the United States has clearly not endorsed internet sports gaming, it is interesting to note that more than 80% of horse racing bets are now made away from the track at off track betting locations and through other media like interactive television.

One other conclusion of the Congressional Report is that most online players would prefer to play with a “name brand” casino rather than those virtual unknown offshore books available on the internet. With market share at the Las Vegas casinos continuing to decline to the offshore sports books, casino operators can only hope that they will soon be endorsed to operate online again.

source PRWEB

If you are playing a shoe game with eight decks and can double on anything, the basic house edge is -0.55% a little more than half of one percent.

Double after splitting + .13 reduces the house edge to -0.42

Double on 10 and 11 only - .21 increase the house edge to -0.76

By using basic strategy you know when you should double down. The reason that doubling down is so favorable is that you are doubling your bet when you have the best opportunity of beating the dealer. Most of the time this is when the dealer is at their weakest. This happens when the dealer shows an up card, which can possibly cause them to bust.

Many computer simulations have been run to determine the frequency that a dealer will bust based on their up card. Take a look at the table below. Up Card 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ace
Percentage Bust 35 37 40 42 42 26 24 23 23 17

The worst cards for the dealer are the 2 through 6. They will bust more times with these cards showing. Your double down will be successful more against these cards. There are other situations where you will double down with a ten against the dealer’s nine or an eleven against a dealer’s ten. These are close calls and some newer players hesitate to do this. Although you will not be as successful with these plays as many times as when the dealer has a smaller card it is still the correct strategy to do so. In the long run you will win more money by doubling in these situations than you will lose.

Some players are hesitant to double down because they are afraid of losing a double bet. If the size of your bet when you double down makes you sweat, then you are playing at table stakes higher than you should be.

Most casinos will let you double down for less than your original bet providing it meets the table minimum. This is foolish. You only double in favorable situations and it are to your advantage to double for the maximum. Strike while the iron is hot!!

As an experienced player I can say that I love double down situations. But you must realize that there will be times when you will run into a negative streak. I have had some nights when the majority of my double down situations were losers. Its frustrating but negative fluctuations occur. If you are a newer player and this happens, you may have a tendency to want to deviate from correct strategy and not double down. Do not give in to the temptation.

Until next time, remember:
“Luck comes and goes…Knowledge stays forever.”

source About.com ~ Bill Burton

So always play full coins on the progressive. But what about the other types of slot machines? First you have to decide which type of slot machine you want to play. You have the choice of a video Slot or a Reel type slot machine.

The new video slots are fun and exciting and the slot makers are doing their best to make sure they are very entertaining. One other thing they have been doing to the video slots is adding pay lines and the number of coins you can bet per line to increase the amount bet on each spin. There is a reason for this. Video slots, especially those with fancy bonus screens take a little more time per spin than do the regular reel machines. While the video reels are spinning or the bonus round is playing, players are not putting money into the machine. Compare this with the reel type machines that take three coins and spins rather quickly. So by making it enticing to bet more coins per spin they recoup some of the revenue the machine is not generating during the normal spin/play process.

In the last few years the slot makers have been adding more pay lines to their games and have been increasing the number of coins that can be played on each line. Most of the new video slot machines have a minimum of nine lines and you can play any number of coins from one to ten on each line. The standard on the most new machines is five coins per line which means a maximum bet would be 45 coins. The amount for a maximum bet would be $2.25 for a nickel machine and $11.25 per spin for a quarter machine. If you want to play just a single coin on each of the nine lines it would be 45 cents for the nickel and $2.25 for the quarter. It can cost you a lot more money to play video slots than a standard reel machine.

One thing to take into consideration when deciding whether to play video slots or reel slots is the return on a single spin. On a reel machine when you do have a hit you get at least your money back for that spin your money back. This may not be the case with a video slot. You might have one line that is a winner and pays three coins but you lose on the other eight lines. It cost you nine coins for the spin and you only get three so you are still out six coins for that spin.

You should also consider that the big jackpots on most machines are only paid if you are playing maximum coins. On a reel machine it may be 3 or 4 coins. On a video slot it is more likely to be 45 or even 90 coins. Since most of the jackpots on the video slots don’t fall into the “Life Changing” dollar amounts as a game like Mega-Bucks or the other progressive machines, you may decide to just play one coin per line instead of the maximum. Since you know that your chances of hitting the big one are slim you may get more entertainment out of playing just one coin at per line and stretching your bankroll.

So it boils down to deciding to play maximum coins to try to hit the big jackpot or just playing one coin for entertainment. There really is no reason to play 2 though 9 coins on a tern coin per line machine unless you are well ahead and in that case you may as well just play the maximum for a few spins and hope for the jackpot. The other alternative would be to drop down in the denomination of machine that you play. Play a single coin per line on the quarter machine and play full coin on the nickel machine. It works out to the same amount.

The choice is yours. Whether you decide to play video or reel slots with one coin or the maximum, remember that playing slots should be considered entertainment. If you do get Lucky and win, then good for you. But never play more than you can afford to lose if things go bad.

Until next time, remember:
“Luck comes and goes…Knowledge Stays Forever!”

source About.com ~ Bill Burton

source LasVegas News

Pocket Aces
A pair of Aces is the most powerful starting hand in Texas Hold’em. The nickname for this hand is Pocket Rockets or American Airlines. No matter which name you prefer it is the most desired starting hand in the game. But don’t plan on seeing it too frequently. There are 1326 two cards combinations that can be made from a 52 card deck and there are 6 combinations for each pocket pair. 1326/6 = 221 so your odds of being dealt pocket aces, or any other pocket pair, are 220 to 1.

If you were playing a game of two card showdown, you pockets aces would win every time. However in Hold’em there are still five more community cards to come. Your pocket Aces will win about 80% of the time when you are heads up with just one player but will only win about 35% against ten players. Getting beat when you have pocket aces is known as getting your aces “Cracked.” For this reason you want to narrow the field when you have aces. You will do this by raising and re-raising the pot. Too many times a player will try to slow play their pocket Aces and just limp in with then allowing other players to get into the hand cheaply. They then get drawn out on and then complain about the bad beat they took. In reality it’s their own fault for not narrowing the field with a rasie. The other reason to raise is to get the most money in the pot for the times that your aces win. This swill make up for the times the hand does not hold up.

Pocket aces just about play themselves. You can play them from any position. There is not much thought involved, as the only decision you have to make pre-flop is whether or not to raise. Playing single aces need a little more thought.

Single Ace
Many players look down and see a single ace as one of their starting hands and get all excited. They think they have found a winning lottery ticket that they need only to bet tow cash in. This is partly due to the fact that you will only have an ace in your starting hand about 15 percent of the time. But a single as is not as strong as some players think it is. Many losing Hold’em make the mistake of playing a Single ace from Any Position. In my logbook I put the acronym SAP for this type of player and that is actually what many of them end up being when they play a single Ace.

If you are in a ten handed game and hold a single ace the probability that no one else holds an ace is about 25 percent. In other words, when you have an ace there is a 75 percent chance that someone else also has an ace as well. The second card that is with your ace is the kicker. When you play a single ace with a small kicker this is known as playing a weak ace. Playing a weak ace from early position is incorrect as you can be raised and re-raised. If you don’t flop an ace you will probably lose money. If there is another player in the hand who has a bigger kicker you will be a loser if an ace comes on the flop and your hand does not improve.

If you start with a single ace you will pair one or your cards on the flop about 32 percent of the time. Half of the time it will be your kicker rather than your ace. If you have a big kicker you will sometimes be better off matching your kicker on the flop. If it gives you top pair you will also have the top kicker to go with it.

As a good player you will not be playing a single from any position however there are many players, especially in low limit games, who will. If an ace flops and you don’t have one you have to be prepared to fold if you can’t beat a pair of aces or have a good drawing hand that can improve. We all know that sinking feeling when we rasie with pocket Queens and Jacks only to see an Ace fall on the flop. With a few Single Ace Players in the game we usually have to let it go and save money.

Laying Down Aces
It’s not only smaller pairs that you will need to lay down at times. Occasionally you will have to release your pocket Aces. If you have two black Aces and three hearts come on the flop, you are probably up against a flush if there is a bet and a raise. Many players refuse to lay down pocket Aces no matter what cards are on the board. A good player will accept defeat and toss the Pocket Rockets before it costs them more money. It’s not fun to dump a hand that only comes about every 220 hands or so but that’s what a winning player does.

Until next time, remember:
“Luck comes and goes…Knowledge Stays Forever!”

source About.com ~ Bill Burton

One person’s elderly mother was certain she followed the required directions to withdraw her prize of $86.00. First withdrawal request approved by the bingo manager, denied by accounting. Thinking there may have been a mix up she made her request again. Once again it was approved by the bingo manager and denied by accounting.

A third time she made a withdrawal request, approved, denied.

The lady calls the toll free number for the bingo site, and her call is forwarded to Gerhardt the bingo manager. He tells her he has approved the withdrawal, just as he had done the two times prior, then it is sent to accounting where it is decided who will or will not receive their bingo prize.

“When I go to a bingo hall, I buy my cards, I win bingo, they pay me my money”. “Why,” she asks, “do they not pay me my $86.00?” Gerhardt explains to her that the company policy is, pay-outs are not to exceed more than ten per cent of the deposits for that week.

Feeling cheated, the lady turns to her son for help. The son calls and requests to speak to the bingo manager. “All my mother wants is to be able to enjoy her most favorite game in the world and receive what she has honestly won. The issue here is no longer $86.00, but the deceptions,” states the son. Gerhardt candidly explains the situation and his feelings about the company policy. He gives directions on how to contact the accounting department.

Receiving an unsatisfactory explanation the son begins to plan.

You see, this woman’s son is a very successful business man, who has amassed a fortune. He decides he will financially back a bingo site where his mother and all who desire can, as his mother stated “Buy their cards, win the prize, receive their money”. He appreciated the frank discussion he and Gerhardt shared. His instincts told him this was the man who could put his plan in motion. He approached Gerhardt with his proposal for launching CmeBingo.com, stating that all employees were to be honest and uphold a very strict code of ethics. Gerhardt knowing he morally could not remain where he was, wholeheartedly accepted the offer presented to him.

“CmeBingo is unlike other online bingo sites, one visit to Cme will prove it. Just read our cash out policy we have no play through requirements you win, you cash out, you get paid. As for our chat rooms, we have the best chat hosts, live from five countries. Truthfully CmeBingo is an International site our players can fund their account with twenty six different currencies.” Said Gerhardt General Manager CmeBingo.com

source PRWEB

source The Las Vegas Sun

source the Las Vegas Review Journal