Online Casino Gambling Strategy: It's in the Cards!

Gambling is as old as civilization itself. Greeks, Egyptians, Aztecs and Mayans rolled bones - the ancient version of dice - for entertainment and divination. This practice eventually evolved into gambling. Today, gambling is found everywhere from street corners and back alleys to poker rooms and lavish Las Vegas casinos. With the advent of the Internet, online casinos began to flourish, as people found that they could try their luck from the comfort and privacy of their own homes. There are a number of online casino games, each with its own strategy. Here are some highlights of gambling strategies for popular online casino games: Baccarat: This is a card game in which two hands are dealt. One is called the Player and the other is called the Banker. The gambling strategy for Baccarat is to bet on which hand will have the higher score, or to bet on a tie. Two cards are dealt to the Player hand, and two to the Banker. The cards are totaled according to the following system: cards 2 through 9 are face value; cards 10, J, Q, and K equal 0; and the ace counts as 1. If the total is a two-digit number, only the number in the ones' place counts. For example, if a 7 and a 9 were dealt, the hand would count as 6 (7 + 9 = 16). If you correctly bet on the outcome, you win. Typically, a winning bet on Player pays equal money; a winning bet on Banker pays equal money less a commission - usually five percent; a winning bet on Tie typically pays 9 to 1. Blackjack: This is a card game for which the objective is for the player to get cards totaling as close to 21 as possible without going over, and at the same time still having a higher total than the dealer. The cards are totaled according to the following system: cards 2 through 9 are face value; cards 10, J, Q, and K equal 10; and the ace counts as either 1 or 11. Bets are placed before the cards are dealt. The gambling strategy for blackjack involves choosing when to be dealt another card (a hit) or when to stay with the hand you have (a stand). One of the dealer's cards is showing and the other is hidden. The dealer must hit on a 16 or lower; in some games, the dealer must also hit on a "soft 17" (an ace and a 6). Typically, if the dealer is showing a 2 through 6, and the bettor has less than 16, the gambling strategy is to stand. The gambling strategy is that the dealer's hidden card ("hole card") has a value of 10, and he will have to hit. If so, there's a strong likelihood that he will receive a high card and go over 21 ("bust"). When the dealer busts, all players still in the game win. If the dealer is showing a high card, the gambling strategy for blackjack is to for the player to hit if he has a hand totaling 16 or less. If the player has two cards of the same value that total 12 to 16 (two sixes, two sevens, or two eights), the gambling strategy is to split the cards, with each number forming a new hand. The bettor must place a bet equal to his first bet on his second hand, and now plays two hands instead of one. If the bettors cards equal 10 or 11, the gambling strategy is to "double down," which involves placing a second bet equal to his original bet and receiving one card face down. Craps, poker, Pai Gow poker, and roulette are other online casino games that each have a gambling strategy.