My Wife Hates Live Dealer Blackjack

May 3rd, 2012

My wife hates live dealer blackjack. Or more specifically, she hates it when I play the games. She says they are exploitative or sexist or something like that and she asks why the dealer couldn’t be a man. Or an old, big-boned woman.

I like the live dealer games. Playing blackjack online instead of at a land casino always caused a sort of disconnect. It was just you against a computer program with no human component. No other players at your table. No dealer to talk to. Live dealer games changed that. With live dealer blackjack at some of the best online casinos, you can watch a live video feed of a real dealer and even interact with them via chat while you play.

My wife says things like “why are all of the dealers attractive women? Are all blackjack classes at modeling schools?” I just she’s just jealous because my wife, though lovely, is about a decade beyond her prime. Don’t get me wrong. She still looks good, but not long ago she was a real head-turner. I think she resents these young ladies who deal my cards getting my attention. But what she needs to understand is that once I turn the computer off, those dealers are gone, but my wife is still there. Hey, it’s not like I’m playing strip blackjack (though there’s a cool Android App for that).

I love playing live-dealer blackjack and it’s not because I like staring at their chest while I play. Well, it’s not entirely because of that. It’s mostly because the games are more personable, more human. They make me feel alive. Those dealers can never compare with my wife, though, because no matter how good they look, they’ll never cook me a chicken pot pie.

Is Playing Blackjack Online Better

April 24th, 2012

In the beginning, any casino games online paled in comparison to their offline counterparts. You simply couldn’t duplicate the excitement and atmosphere. Though in some ways that is still the case, things are changing. You don’t have to be a regular reader of www.cnet.com to know that technology is developing exponentially faster than ever before, including in the online gambling industry. The technological advancements change the game entirely.

Now when people go to a website to play a little online blackjack, they can play against a live dealer via a video feed and chat system. They can communicate with the other players at the table. In blackjack tournaments they can compete directly against other players as they try to win prize money. The blackjack software is faster, smoother, and more lifelike.

All of that means that online blackjack is becoming more and more like the offline version of the game. With the entertainment gap shrinking, online blackjack is becoming the best way to play the game. As noted on blackjackhero.com, when you play online you already have the advantage of being able to play at your own pace, no matter how fast or slow that is. If you want a rapidly paced game, you can play as fast as you want. If you want to play slow so you can study a basic strategy chart and analyze each move, that is also an option.

As online blackjack becomes more social and includes more interactive features, it will increase in popularity. I doubt that land casinos will ever be completely replaced by online casinos. After all, you can’t replicate having a night out on the town. Still, online blackjack is here to stay and some day may be as popular as playing the game offline.

Online Casino Security

April 11th, 2012

If you are going to engage in gamblingonlineforrealmoney, then you need to make sure you are playing at only the safest of online casinos. That means the casino’s security must be top-notch. Without making things too technical or complicated – that’s what websites like http://techcrunch.com/ are for – here are the key points when it comes to online casino security.

The first key point is that the online casino needs state of the art encryption. The encryption programs, usually provided by the licensed software, protect all of your transactions, including deposits and withdrawals. Just as with banking online, it is important for your online casino transactions to be encrypted so people can’t access your sensitive information.

On a similar note, you need to be sure that your information stays with the casino. Some businesses sell your information, such as name, address, and email, with third parties so those companies can contact you and try to sell products to you. The best online casinos will not share your information with any third parties.

The games themselves have to be safe as well. You want to be sure that the games aren’t fixed or that they don’t pay out at an unacceptably low rate. Regulators check the game software to ensure that they have acceptable odds and that the random number generator is working properly. They also check for problems such as player collusion in multi-player games like poker. For that reason, you should make sure the online casino uses software that is proven by regulators to be safe and fair.

Large Crowd Seeks Blackjack Jobs

March 7th, 2012

It is a sign of the times. The American economy is in shambles. People are out of work and there is still competition for all jobs that emerge. That is why people are so eager for new casinos to arrive in town. New casinos mean new jobs. According to an article on Bing News, a soon-to-open casino in Maine has attracted quite a crowd in its first job fair.

On Saturday, the weather in Oxford, Maine was bad. It was cold and wet, but the hard rain didn’t keep unemployed residents away. Oxford Casino, coming soon to the area, held its first job fair, looking to fill 50 blackjack dealer jobs. A crowd of more than 500 people arrived to apply for the positions. Scott Smith, a spokesman for the casino, said that their goal was to get a pool of at least 100 people for the positions. With over 500 applicants, you have to like their chances (the casino’s, not the applicants, which are not good).

There is a rigorous application process for blackjack dealers. Of the 500 at the job fair, many were eliminated by a math test. The written math test is used to weed out those who don’t have the math skills to be good dealers. Those who didn’t pass were then directed to other available positions at the casino. Everyone who passed the math test became a formal applicant. Those applicants were then interviewed and those that the casino liked will have to attend and graduate an eight-week dealer school.

The casino, run by Black Bear Development, is scheduled to open sometime this summer, with no exact date set yet. Sources say that most of the job fair attendees were middle-aged and there were more men than women.

Antigua Online Gambling

February 22nd, 2012

If you’re going to play blackjack online, you need to find a safe online casino that you can trust. After all, not only will you be spending money there, but you will also be sharing your personal information, including banking information or credit card information. If that information wasn’t protected and fell into the wrong hands, or if the casino itself was the wrong hands, you could be in big trouble. That is why it is so important to play at online casinos that are licensed by reputable jurisdictions. One of those is Antigua.

The government of Antigua was the first in the world to regulate online gambling. As the first online gambling jurisdiction, it has earned a reputation for ensuring that any licensed casinos are safe and fair to players. Antigua regulators have been licensing online gambling since 1994 and the Division of Gaming focuses on protecting players, preventing money laundering, and enhancing all of the safety and fairness features of the industry. Auditors go through transactions at the online casinos and test the software to look for any problems.

Players who live in the United States can play at any Antigua online casino and it is legal as long as they are not located in a state that bans online gambling. There are more than 50 online casinos that are located in Antigua and licensed by Antigua’s Division of Gambling. For a list of safe and respected online casinos available to the American gamblers, visit http://onlinecasinosforusplayers.co.

Practice Blackjack Strategy

February 8th, 2012

You have to practice often to be a good musician. You have to practice to be a good painter, athlete, writer, cook, or basically anything else that involves skill. Practice is necessary to keep your skills sharp. For some reason, though, people don’t think about practicing the skilled game of blackjack.

The skill in blackjack may not be as obvious as in the above activities, but it is there. Players need to remember basic strategy and know what the best move is to make in a situation. They have to analyze the situation and then play the odds. This is easy to do if you have memorized basic strategy and practice or play the game frequently. However, if you don’t play often and don’t practice on free games or by yourself, it can be easy to make mistakes. You think you still remember blackjack basic strategy, but you make the wrong decisions because you’re remembering it wrong. It can happen to anyone if the strategy isn’t fresh in your mind.

That is why we recommend that you practice regularly. You can use free blackjack games at the online casino to practice. You can play by yourself with a deck of cards and a strategy card. You can play against a friend. However you practice, the key is to play the game as you normally would, rather than doing crazy things simply because no money is at stake. For tips and advice on basic strategy as well as charts and other guides, you should check out a great blackjack site, http://howtoblackjack.org/.

Blackjack Online Casinos

January 25th, 2012

Not all online casinos treat blackjack players the same. Many casinos seem to cater predominantly to slots players. Slots are the most popular casino game and are more profitable for the casinos, but blackjack is also popular (the most popular table game) and the blackjack players need to be treated well.

An easy Google search can help you find a good number of online casinos that are safe, fair and licensed by trusted jurisdictions. But not all of those casinos are going to be good for blackjack players. For the blackjack player, a good casino is one that not only carries a blackjack game, but has several varieties, including some variants with side bets. Though the side bets don’t offer good odds, players often enjoy playing them for some variety on the traditional game.

In addition, a good online casino has blackjack tournaments. Those allow you to play blackjack with little risk but still have the chance to win money. You would simply pay an entry fee and then join the tournament. The players with the most points win prizes. In some cases, there is no entry fee to join the blackjack tournament. Those tournaments are called freerolls.

If you look hard enough, you can find online casinos that are great for blackjack players. These casinos have tournaments, blackjack variants, and bonuses made specifically for you. If you are sick of playing at casinos where you are considered a second-class player because you don’t play slots, don’t settle. Find a casino that suits you and your favorite game.

Blackjack Addiction

January 11th, 2012

You really can have too much of a good thing. There are people who think otherwise, but they are wrong. In moderation, blackjack can be one of the greatest games in the world. It is a fun game with the perfect mix of skill and chance. With a little strategy, your odds of coming out ahead are really quite good (at least, for a casino game).

Some people take it too far, though. Maybe they play too often. Maybe they play too long. Maybe their wagers are too big. Maybe they spend money trying to chase their losses. Make they take out a line of credit and bet with money they can’t afford to lose. All of those are symptoms of problem gambling, which is the #1 problem in the gambling industry, just as alcoholism is the biggest problem in the alcohol and bar industries.

Problem gamblers can lose a lot of money playing black jack online. Even if they create a plan enabling them to be responsible, they usually break those plans. If the person was able to control the addiction, it wouldn’t be an addiction. There are different levels of problem gambling, from those who spend more money than they wanted to those who lose their house, job and family because of addiction. People suffering from any of the different kinds of problem gambling can get help from Gamblers Anonymous. The group, which has a website at http://www.gamblersanonymous.org/ga/index.php, is dedicated to helping problem gamblers meet support groups, helping them get the information they need, and giving them individual counseling through web chat, a phone call, or another medium.

Free Online Blackjack

December 28th, 2011

Blackjack has the lowest house edge of any of the games at a casino, online or offline. It offers the best odds and gives players the best chance of making money, aside from skilled poker players. However, that doesn’t mean you don’t have to be careful. It is still a game of risk. For that reason, it is recommended that new players who are still learning the game start by playing free online blackjack.

Online casinos offer free blackjack games that you can play while you are learning basic strategy. In addition to practicing the strategy, you can get used to the game itself. Though the game of blackjack is pretty standard, the software for each online game is slightly different so it might take a little time to get used to how each is played.

While the upside to free online blackjack games is obvious – you can’t lose money – there is also a downside: you can’t win money. That is why the free blackjack tournaments are so great. Online casinos will sometimes run freeroll blackjack tournaments, where you can join without paying an entry fee and still win prizes. Though only the top players will win anything, there is no risk if you lose, since you didn’t pay anything to take part in the tournament, either through a buy-in or paying for wagers.

One thing to remember, though, is that re-buys will cost money. If you run out of credits in the free blackjack tournament, you have to options. You can call it game over and stick with the points you have, which may or may not be enough to win prizes. The other option is to pay for more credits and continue playing in the tournament.

Best Online Casinos for Blackjack

December 14th, 2011

If you are a blackjack player, not every online casino is a great place to play. There are some casinos that are good for some games, but not blackjack. There are some that aren’t good at all. Finally, there are some that are a blackjack player’s dream. When looking for an online casino for your blackjack use, here are some things to look for.

Look at the game selection. How many blackjack games are there? A lot of online casinos cater mainly to slots players, since it is both the most popular game and the most lucrative for the casinos. A lot of the slots-centric casinos only have a couple blackjack games, if any. A good casino for a blackjack player should have several different blackjack options, including some of the popular side bet variations.

Look at the tournaments. Blackjack tournaments are a great way to enjoy the game with less risk. Instead of putting real money down on each bet, you only pay an entry fee and then play the rest of the time on the house. Those who do the best in the tournament win prizes. Another advantage of blackjack tournaments is that they offer a more competitive experience than the traditional game. Unfortunately, most online casinos don’t carry blackjack tournaments. When it comes to tournaments, most online casinos only have them for slots. For that reason, take special care to find some that offer blackjack tournaments. A casino directory such as http://dir.yahoo.com/recreation/gambling/ can help you with that. By playing at the sites that cater to blackjack players, you can have a better experience and are more likely to get your money’s worth.