Casino Blog

If you would like to start your galbling business you need to know the answer to this question:
Is gambling more prevalent among the working class?

Action and Control
Ask any working class gambler in the bookies shop or around the roulette wheel why they gamble, and you’re likely to receive a similar answer - it’s their only chance to make it in life.

The working class man or woman stuck in a humdrum existence in an office or on the shop floor is craving for excitement. They’re unlikely to get it at work, and their career paths are such that they’re unlikely to end up in management positions with attractive salaries. (more…)

save this post as PDF

Gambling and superstition were made for each other. Did you see that guy at the roulette table with a rabbit’s foot hanging from a chain around his neck? Good luck for the gambler, bad luck for the rabbit.

Good luck also comes if you blow on the dice before you roll them. But what happens when it’s a woman who blows on a man’s dice? Remember the floating craps game in the movie Guys and Dolls?

A lady never leaves her escort
It isn’t fair, it isn’t nice
A lady doesn’t wander all over the room
And blow on some other guys dice.

Such an act is bound to bring bad luck.

Scientific research
More than a decade ago, two psychologists from the University of Laval in Canada, who researched the subject of superstition and gambling, invited participants to think aloud while gambling and observed that 70 percent of the verbalized perceptions were erroneous.

Some of the comments by gamblers were: “The machine is due; I need to continue”; “Here is my lucky dealer; I always win with him”; and “Today I feel good; it must be my lucky day.” Similar results were observed with all the different games, blackjack, roulette, lotteries and video lotteries.

Superstition geography
The Chinese can be very superstitious, especially when it comes to gambling. Some Chinese gambling superstition thinking and behavior have become essential parts of the Chinese culture and are popularly accepted by most of the population. (more…)

save this post as PDF

Hollywood has had somewhat of an infatuation with Las Vegas, ever since such 1960s classics as The Cincinnati Kid (1965, starring Steve McQueen) and The Sting (1973, with Paul Newman and Robert Redford). Gambling-oriented movies have proliferated since the 1990s. We bring you a list of 10 of the best in that period (in order of year produced).

Casino (1995)
Based on the book of the same name by Larry Shandling and Nicholas Pileggi, this academy award-nominated film was directed by Martin Scorsese.

Robert DeNiro plays Chicago bookmaker Sam “Ace” Rothstein (based on the real-life character Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal), who is sent to Las Vegas to run casinos for the Mafia in the 1970s. With the help of Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci) Rothstein secretly runs the casino operation while also being involved in a love triangle with wife and former prostitute Ginger (Sharon Stone), who remains in love with her pimp, Lester Diamond (James Woods). (more…)

save this post as PDF

Don’t take gambling so seriously. Have a read, have a laugh and see the funny side of losing at poker.

Six guys are over at Stan’s house for their weekly poker game. Abe is having a bad run and keeps losing. Finally he decides to go for broke - all or nothing. He bets everything he has and loses over $500 on the hand. He clutches his chest, chokes, turns blue in the face and drops dead at the table. Showing respect for their fallen comrade, the other five complete the hand standing up.

Roberts looks around and asks, “Now, who is going to tell the wife?”

They draw straws. Don Smith, who is always a loser, picks the short one.

They tell him to be discreet, be gentle, don’t make a bad situation any worse than it is. Remember that Abe’s wife may not be so well, either.

“Gentlemen! Me, discreet? I’m the most discreet man you will ever meet. Discretion is my middle name, leave it to me.”

Don walks over to Abe’s house and knocks on the door. Abe’s wife answers and asks what he wants.

Don says, “Your husband just lost $500 playing poker.”

She hollers, “Why that no-good so and so! Tell him to drop dead!”

Don says, “I’ll tell him.”

save this post as PDF

In an election year, everyone watches the candidates. That’s so obvious that we never think about it, but it’s a basic fact that colors everything “we,” the people and the candidates, do. This year, we’re all living in a fishbowl.

Some background
Since the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), in 2006, the online gaming community has kept a close eye on political contests. Gamers want to know who’s running for the open seats, and where they stand on Internet gambling. Let’s face it: there’s a large bloc of potential voters out there who want this Act repealed. (more…)

save this post as PDF

1994 - In the beginning…
Gambling, casinos, casino games and wagering have existed for thousands of years. But it was this year that Microgaming, the first online gambling software provider, was founded and the entire industry started rolling. Microgaming remains one of the industry’s leaders to this day.

By passing a free trade gambling law, Antigua and Barbuda make it possible for online casino companies to base their Internet operations in this Caribbean nation. The country remains a central location in and around which the industry evolves to this day to a large degree.

1995 - Early Position
Joining Microgaming, CryptoLogic, an online security software company, develops methods to make secure financial transactions over the Web.

With the software and security now developed, it is time for the first online casino to launch - InterCasino. It would continue leading the way for the years to follow, winning prizes along the way for best online casino.

1996 - The First Buy-In
The stage is set, software developed and security issues solved. InterCasino accepts the first real money wager online. It will pay out over $3 billion in winnings in the decade plus since. (more…)

save this post as PDF

The brainchild of legendary casino owner and poker player Benny Binion, the WSOP has now become the annual Olympics for poker fans the world over

Early days
The World Series of Poker, or WSOP was established in 1968 as an invitation-only promotion by Tom Moore of San Antonio, Texas. It was held in the Holiday Hotel and Casino in Reno, Nevada, the “biggest little city in the world.” That inaugural event was won by veteran poker player Crandell “the Dandy” Addington.

Two years later, in 1970, the WSOP took place at the Binion’s Horseshoe casino where a series of cash games including five-card stud, deuce to seven, low-ball draw, razz, seven-card stud and Texas holdem were introduced. That year, Johnny Moss took home the prize money. He was subsequently elected as the first World Champion of Poker by his fellow players, receiving a silver cup as a prize.

Harrah’s steps in
Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. purchased the Binion’s Horseshoe casino in 2004, and retained the rights to the World Series of Poker. Harrah’s is a private gaming company based in Nevada, which operates casinos, hotels, and golf courses. It is currently the largest gaming company in the world with annual revenue in excess of $7 billion.

In 2005, the WSOP venue moved from Binion’s to the Rio Hotel and Casino, which is situated just off the Las Vegas Strip. In addition to the regular gaming event, a $2 million free roll Tournament of Champions was held, the event being won by Annie Duke in a “winner-takes-all” event. (more…)

save this post as PDF

Trying to put an end to online gambling would be like trying to kill email.

One can do virtually anything on the Internet, from ordering dinner, buying clothes, trading on the stock exchange and checking one’s bank balance. If you want fun you can do the crossword, watch a movie, listen to music or gamble online.

The only limit to the Internet is man’s imagination. Having found this ‘new’ freedom it is impossible to take it away. Try and stop online gambling and watch what happens! (more…)

save this post as PDF

While most of the world is struggling with a case of severe finanacial downturn, Macau reported a 54 percent revenue increase in the first six months of this year

Macau is “gambling town” is every sense. Over 70 percent of all income is a direct product of gambling. All the other niceties are used strictly to entice more gamblers

This is in direct disproportion to Las Vegas where only 20 percent of resort revenue is derived directly from gambling. Merchandise, shows, bars and clubs, high-end restaurants and pricey hotel rooms provide the rest.

The Las Vegas casino industry is showing a [news/theheadlines/2008/3/10/vegas-strip-revenue-down.php|decline in income] in the current economic downturn and it seems that it is as a result of the diversification of business away from the primary concern, namely gambling. As casino management searched to find new revenue sources they left themselves open to the surges of the general economy.

Gambling builds strong
The Online Casino Advisory’s gambling analyst Sherman Bradley, suggests that gambling growth, if properly exploited, may continue unaffected by the economic situation of the world. Macau clearly demonstrates this.

Bradley’s view is that Las Vegas would find it more profitable to return to its roots. “The good old days of the $1 shrimp cocktail, $2 steak dinner, and comped rooms will act as effective insulation against the slumping economy.”

Asian growth
In the meantime, PricewaterhouseCoopers has identified the Asia-Pacific region as the world’s fastest growth market, with new casinos in Macau, Thailand and Singapore spurring an annual revenue growth of 15.2%.

By 2012 the Asia-Pacific region should account for $37.2 billion in gambling revenue, or around 24% of global gambling revenue, compared to $18.3 billion in 2007, or 16% of global gambling revenue.

save this post as PDF

Overall evidence says Democratic VP candidate apathetic - but not negative - about gambling.

It’s official - Joe Biden is Barack Obama’s choice to be the Democratic vice-presidential candidate in the 2008 US Presidential Election. So what would a Democrat administration mean for the future of online gambling in the United States of America, now that Biden is on board?

Biden’s record
Delaware Senator Joe Biden hasn’t made many statements on online gambling during his 35 years as a legislator. A search of his voting record and of gambling-advocate websites does not show a man rushing to legalize online gambling. But the little evidence there is would warm the hearts of pro-gambling advocates.

Biden’s voting record shows that he was one of just 10 senators to vote against a 1998 Internet gambling amendment that set higher penalties for knowingly gambling over the Internet and for knowingly creating an Internet gambling business. (more…)

save this post as PDF