Poker Winner Blog

Casino operators spend vast sums of money on lavish décor to attract customers. The most flamboyant concepts and designs are found in Las Vegas and other popular holiday resorts around the world. European casinos, especially those in cities, are often less ornate.

Once inside the casino, the interiors are carefully designed to keep players there. Windows and clocks are absent, to make the passing of time less noticeable. Waiters bring refreshments directly to the gaming tables so there is no need to stop gambling if you are hungry or thirsty. Read the rest of this entry »

Slots

Slot machines (slots) are by far the easiest and most popular casino games to play because they require no skill on the part of the players. They also offer potentially huge returns for a small investment. There is an almost infinite variety of machines, with new designs constantly being developed. Most mimic traditional fruit machines, with basic symbols on spinning drums, but instead of the original three drums many now incorporate five drums, or payout lines, making it harder for players to win. Each coin played brings a new line into play, so it makes sense to play the maximum number of lines per spin. Mechanical systems, which used rotating drums and were activated by pulling a lever, have given way to push-button operated microprocessor-controlled machines with payouts controlled by computer chips, but there is no changing the popularity of the slots. Read the rest of this entry »

Apart from roulette, there are other casino games that are played using spinning wheels. These echo the original fairground wheel of fortune that is the forerunner of today’s mechanical games. They are all games of chance, relying more on luck than on skill.

Boule

Boule is found mostly in French and Swiss casinos. Like roulette, players bet where a ball will land on a spinning wheel. Instead of being divided into sections, the boule wheel has a series of indentations which are marked with four sets of the numbers one to nine. The ball used is much larger than that on roulette. Bets include single numbers (en plein), the colours red and black, high and low numbers, and even and odd numbers. Read the rest of this entry »

Slot machines are always popular because they pay out potentially huge jackpots for small stakes. A Las Vegas woman won the world’s biggest slot machine jackpot in January 2000 at the Desert Inn on The Strip. After staking just US$27, she won nearly $35 million on the Nevada Megabucks slot machine. The jackpot is paid out to winners over a 25-year period and shortly after winning she received her first instalment Read the rest of this entry »

BALLY World Famous Casino

Hollywood movie stars Cary Grant and Raquel Welch performed the opening ceremony when Ballys was built in 1973, at a cost of $100 million.

In 1981 a second tower was added and the hotel was expanded to over 2800 rooms. Now owned and operated by Park Place Entertainment, the Art Deco interior recently had a $72 million restoration. The complex includes restaurants and a shopping arcade. Read the rest of this entry »

Subliminal Practices

Casinos use a variety of subliminal practices to ensure they get the maximum amount of money from visitors before they get anywhere near a gaming table.

Casino design is no accident. Almost every feature is built in with profit in mind. Exteriors are lavish and use every marketing trick to get players to walk through the door. This is taken to the extreme in Las Vegas, where shows put on outside the casinos get people to stop and watch, and, hopefully, go inside. Read the rest of this entry »

Video poker shares some of the characteristics of a slot machine. The gambling gear itself is housed in a similar cabinet, and most have a coin slot and a payout hopper. Many have a slot-club card reader and/or a bill acceptor. The important difference is that on a reel slot you just pull the handle and hope for the best, but video poker involves an element of skill.

To the novice player, the main attraction of video poker is the prospect of pitting wits against the machine in fast action with a chance at a big jackpot. To the skilled player, however, the appeal is that some games offer an opportunity for a long-term profit. Just as in a live poker game, you can expect a considerable amount of risk and luck involved in the short term, but a player’s skill can make the difference between a winner and a loser in the long run. Read the rest of this entry »