| The Japanese, in many senses earth's premier gambling nationality, bet billions a year on power-boat racing. Belgium The Belgians apparently bet small fortunes on bird singing. No, really. Birds are kept in covered cages and bets are placed on the pitch and duration of bird song. Apparently. Iran The game of red dog is a simple affair; it is actually based on a child's game. In the casino version, each player puts up a wager. Two cards are dealt. If they are consecutive, the hand is a tie and no money changes hands. If they are of the same value, a third card is dealt. If this card is also the same, this is a "triple" and winning bets are paid off at 11-1, otherwise the hand is a tie. If the two cards are neither consecutive nor identical in value, the value difference between them is calculated and one is subtracted from the difference. This is called the spread. For example, a 6 and a 2 is a spread of 3. A 4 and 6 is a spread of 1, and so on. Aces count as 14, while kings, queens and jacks count 13, 12 and 11, respectively. Suits are of no basic significance. After the spread has been determined, players are offered the option of doubling their wagers. Then a third card is dealt. If it falls between the values of the first two cards, the players wins. If the card falls outside the values of the first two cards, the players lose their wagers. Players are paid off at even money for spreads greater than 3, 2-1 for a spread of 3, 4-1 for a spread of 2, and 5-1 for a spread of 1. BASIC STRATEGY The best strategy is to raise with any spread of 7 or greater. HOUSE EDGEIf you just selected online casinos at random, the chances are very high that you would be ripped off at some point, either by software blatantly designed to cheat or, more typically, simply by not being paid if you win. The estimates of the numbers of crooked casinos in general are as high as 30%. However, you'd be stupid to select online casinos at random. There is a wealth of information on the web about which sites pay and which sites don't. The one cast-iron guarantee that a casino will not rip you off is that it has a regulated presence in the terrestrial gambling world. I call this the bricks & mortar principle. Obviously an operation with a reputation and pedigree offline is not going to start cheating players blind the moment it sets up online. Real-world casinos are not allowed to operate online operations in the US currently, however British and Australian casinos, which are strictly regulated by gaming boards with real teeth, are. For this reason you will never be ripped off by the likes of stanleyacropolis.com, williamhillcasino.com, or lasseters.com. Unfortunately there are not that many of these well-regulated and well-run casinos. The next consideration you should have about an online casino is that it pays. Find out if someone else has played at a casino you are proposing to play at. If they have been paid recently, the chances are very, very good you will also. Bethedealer.com and other similar sites like playanddeal.com allow you to do this. By playing against the house you accumulate "credit points", which allow you to deal against other players, if your bankroll can handle it. When you're the house, you'll have a 2% edge over the average player, since detailed studies have determined this as the average disadvantage a typical player has against the house. The 1.5 rake the casino itself charges dealers to deal reduces that to 0.5%. To do this you have to play an equal amount as a player; using basic strategy you play at 0.5% disadvantage, which wipes out some but not all of the edge when you are the house. You would therefore expect to break-even if you bank the same amount as you wager. |
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