May 21, 2013

Craps basics

Craps is a casino table game that has been poularised by Hollywood, however very few movies that represent the game give any idea of how to play. To play craps the basics are very easy and encompass the pass and don’t pass line bets. Knowing the two basic craps bets you will be able to join the crowds and enjoy the action.

Learn to play crapsPass line bets

The pass line on a craps tables is clearly marked and pass line bets can be made by placing your bets on it. Once your bet has been made you are able to roll the dice on the come out roll. On this roll, if either a 7 or an 11 comes out you win and your bet is doubled. If you roll 2, 3 or 12 you lose, and if you roll 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 you establish a point.

Once the point has been established you will need to keep rolling till you again roll the same value as the point. Once you do, you will double your bet. However, if you roll a 7 while trying to again roll your point, you will lose your bet.

Don’t pass line bets

The second basic craps bet is the don’t pass line bet and is an exact mirror image of the pass line bet. If you roll 2, 3 or 12 bet your will double your bet, and with the appearance of a 7 or an 11 you will lose. In addition when you establish the point by rolling a 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10 you will be hoping for a 7 rather than the point value again.

You are ready to go

With these two bets in mind you will be able to take on the Vegas Palms craps tables and enjoy the excitement that comes with the roll of the dice.   

Blackjack Bust Percentages

Blackjack is often seen, by the novice as a game of strictly luck with little skill and strategy involved. However, with a bit of mathematics and a fluid strategy, this apparent game of luck can have predictable outcomes.

Blackjack Bust PecentagesOne of the most important information for any blackjack player to know is the dealer’s bust percentages. With these percentages the player is able to predict the possibility of a dealer busting with just the information obtained from the dealer’s one face up card.

Blackjack Dealer Bust Percentages

Dealer’s Card 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ace
Bust % 35 37 40 42 42 26 24 23 23 17

 

These percentages can be very useful when using a lot of basic blackjack strategy. They can also be helpful when deciding whether to split or double down on a hand. When the bust percentages are high it gives the player more freedom to play these hands out and increase their winnings.

In Classic Blackjack on Vegas Palms online casino, you play with one deck. Using the bust percentages as well as tracking the percentages of high cards that come out, you will be able to effectively predicate down to a reasonable certainty your chances of winning.

Top 10 Jacks or Better hints

Top 10 Jacks or Better hintsJacks or Better video poker is the single most strategy based online casino game running today. As a result, skilled players with strong strategy based gameplay can expect significant gains. The two most commonly used Jacks or Better strategies employed are basic strategy and optimal strategy.

Although there is much debate to which strategy is more effective, from a purely mathematical view it is calculated that employing basic strategy will result in a payout ratio of around 99.46%, while employing optimal strategy will give an expected 99.54% payout ratio.

Basic strategy, uses a hand by hand decision making table that advocates the action for just about any hand you could be dealt. Making a mistake while using this strategy is likely to cost 0.08% or one total bet every 1178 hands.

The following are the Top 10 Jacks or Better hints:

Hand received Action to take
Royal Flush or Straight Flush Keep all five cards
Three of kind Keep the three of kind
Suited KQJ or QJT Keep suited royals and draw for a Royal Flush
Three to Royal Flush Keep three to Royal Flush, discard even low pair.
KQJT Draw to straight, discard even pair of tens.
Suited QJ, no more this suit Keep the suited QJ
Two suited faces Keep the two suited faces
Suited JT Keep the suited JT
Suited QT, no more this suit Keep the suited QT
Garbage Discard all – never keep three to flush and straight on four with gap.

 

The above is just a selection of hand by hand decision making that should be taking using the basic strategy for Jacks or Better. Although it will get you on the way to employing the strategy, it should be clear that it will only be useful for the specific hands stated.

Roulette and the Martingale System

Roulette is fundamentally a game of chance, however this hasn’t stopped players from attempting to create betting systems in an attempt to outsmart the house. One of the most commonly used and possibly easiest to implement of these systems, is the Martingale system.

Roulette and the Martingale SystemHow the Martingale System works:

  • Bets are made on either black or red
  • You begin by making the minimum table bet, and if you lose you double your next bet. If you lose again, you again double your bet. You continue to double your bet until you win, after which you return to betting the table minimum.

You can try your hand at implementing the Martingale System with the practice play option on the Vegas Palms Online Casino.

This type of betting system is not meant to create big wins, but rather a number of small wins over an extended period of time. In addition, this system also requires you to have a large or unlimited bankroll to ensure that you never lose.

The Gambler’s Fallacy:

Although the Martingale is one of the more commonly used roulette betting systems it is not without its limits. The major problem with systems like the Martingale is that it suffers from the Gambler’s Fallacy. The Gambler’s Fallacy presupposes that an event that has not happened recently becomes overdue and thus, more likely to occur. However, in actuality, in roulette each spin has independent probability not related at all to previous or future spins whatsoever.

Albert Einstein described the only way to win at roulette stating “No one can possibly win at roulette unless he steals money from the table while the croupier isn’t looking.”

Top 5 winning blackjack tips

Blackjack is one of the easiest casino table games to pick up, and can be enjoyed by both the novice and expert player alike. Before you jump in headfirst though, here are the top 5 winning blackjack tips to be aware of:Top 5 winning blackjack tips

  • The game is 21 – it seems obvious, but very often players get too invested in tactics and forget the objective is to hit 21.
  • Choosing a table – your choice of blackjack table is just as important as your bankroll. Ensure that when you pick a table the maximum bet is not higher than 5% of your bankroll.
  • Spit Aces and 8’s – these are the best pairs to split. Any face cards or 10’s are to be left alone at all cost.
  • Basic tactics – hit hard till you reach 17 or higher, stand on 17 or more and if the dealer has a 10 hit a soft* 18.
  • Advanced tactics – against a dealers 4, 5 or 6 you should double down with 9 and play soft hands of 13-17. If the dealer holds a 7 or higher, play basic tactics. Against a dealer’s 9 or lower, double down on a 10 and always double down any hand of 11.

*A soft hand is one that holds an ace that can still be selected as either an 11 or a 1.

The above encompasses just about the entire range of blackjack strategies from basic to advanced, as well as giving you some insight into difficult decisions. At Vegas Palms Online Casino, you can play a wide variety of blackjack variants, including the all new European Blackjack Redeal Gold.

Remember the game is 21, enjoy your time at the tables!

If Justin Bieber was a call centre agent

Top five call centre queries - Justin BieberGood day, my name is Justin Bieber as long as you call me, I’ll be your call centre agent – how can I help you?  I’d like to be everything you want, when assisting you with your queries. If I am your agent then any of the top 5 call centre queries will be answered in no time.

I Believe, I can assist you with the top 5 Vegas Palms Online Casino queries:

  1. New Player Welcome Bonus query – how to sign up, deposit and get your Deposit Match bonuses.
  2. Free Spins query – if you would like to know how to claim Free Spins that have been extended to you.
  3. Banking query – needing some help with withdrawals or deposits.
  4. Free Play query – if you are looking to find out how to transfer your winnings from your competition account, or any general information on how this promotion works.
  5. Documentation query – when you need to enquire about what documents you need to supply, how to supply them or why you need to.

I can be your Buss Lightyear call centre agent, fly across the globe to assist you. With the Beebs as your call centre agent, Bieber fever will have a hold on you in no time.

Bieber is not really a call centre agent, but here at Vegas Palms Online Casino we have knowledgable, friendly consultants waiting to assist you with any query you may have.

To contact the call centre you can:

  • Fill in a quick and easy contact form
  • Bieber’s home country of Canada can phone the call centre at 1 866 745 2416
  • Chat to one of the agents live for an instant answer to your queries

 

Play video poker online

If the excitement and romance of poker has captured your imagination, but you’re not confident enough to take on other players face to face at a land-based casino, then why not build up your skills playing video poker first?

Video poker is much simpler than table poker in that you’re playing against the Dealer, not a table of seasoned professionals. The object of the game is to build a stronger hand than the Dealer’s. The Dealer will give you five cards. You choose which cards to hold, and which to discard, so the Dealer can replace them with (hopefully) better ones. The money you win depends on the strength of your hand – have a look at the game’s paytables for a breakdown of the payouts.

All Aces Video Poker - cards dealt

All Aces Video Poker – cards dealt

All Aces Video Poker – cards held

All Aces Video Poker – cards held

All Aces Video Poker – new card dealt

All Aces Video Poker – new card dealt

Video poker usually offers a Doubling Phase too, where you and the dealer each get to draw a card. If your card is a higher value than the dealer’s then your win amount is doubled. You can carry on Doubling until you reach the casino’s Doubling Limit, or you draw a card that’s weaker than the dealer’s. If this happens, you will lose all your winnings, so be careful how far you push your luck!

While you’re building your poker skills and confidence at Vegas Palms, you could also try some of our other table games like baccarat or blackjack. If poker’s your passion, you could also visit PokerTime, which is another member of the Fortune Lounge family. It offers even more poker varieties, and you can play against other players. See you at the tables!

Roulette tips and myths

 

Play European Roulette Gold at Vegas Palms

Roulette is a game so steeped in history, that it’s no wonder that myths and superstitions have attached themselves to it. While the superstitions may add an air of romance, though, serious players would do well to keep their eyes on the ball – and their bank balance – and disregard the myths when there is money on the table!

A few tips to make the most of your roulette experience:
1.    Play European roulette rather than American roulette. The main difference between the two games could give you significantly different chances of winning! Let me explain. American roulette has 38 numbers, including two green ones, the single zero and the double zero. The European version has one less number – it doesn’t have the double zero. That little number almost doubles the house’s edge – so stick to the European version, and your chances of winning improve.
2.    There is a superstitious belief that the “sleeping number” is a good one to bet on. This is a number that the ball hasn’t settled on in a while, and some people believe that this means it’s due to fall soon. This is not supported mathematically. The ball has no memory, and neither does the wheel. It has no concept of fair play, and with each spin, all the numbers on the wheel have an equal chance of falling, regardless of any spins that went before. Sad, but true.
3.    If you are new to the game, try out the free versions so you can get a feel for the game before you put any money down.

There are no actual game strategies to make you win more often, because roulette is purely a game of chance, but if you keep the superstitions at bay, and an eye on your bankroll, Lady Luck could smile when you least expect it!

Play roulette, blackjack and a number of other classic table games at Vegas Palms Online Casino – and if you’re a new player, you’ll get a welcome bonus too!

Slot lingo explained – Part 2

Never played online slots before? Wondering what all the fuss is about? We’ll demystify the slot slang for you, so you can spin the reels like a seasoned professional. It’s much more fun when you know what the symbols mean and what they do to help you win. In Part 1, we explained how Wilds are your friends. In this post, we’ll look at Scatters.

Scatters – The Scatter symbol is usually linked to the main theme of the game, and along with the Wild, is one of the most important symbols in the game. Scatters are the only symbols that Wilds can’t replace.

The benefit of Scatters is that you don’t have to get them in specific positions in order for them to pay out. Usually three or more anywhere across the reels will mean a payout for you. Generally speaking, the more you get, the bigger the payout.

Usually three or more Scatters, sometimes in specific positions, will trigger an extra feature. In some games, this feature will be a Free Spins feature, and in others, a Bonus feature. For example, in the Surf Safari slot game, three or more of the Scatter symbols (the game logo) will trigger the Safari Surfwax Bonus feature, where you can choose from the 15 Surf Waxes to reveal the prizes they hide.

As slots are getting more interesting, and more features and special bonuses are added, it can sometimes seem a little confusing, but knowing the basics will help you play all the fancy new video slots at Vegas Palms Online Casino with confidence.

Play the free version of Surf Safari below, and see if you can collect all the prizes that Scatters can bring!   

Slot lingo explained – Part 1

Wilds, Multipliers, Scatters… if you’ve never played online slot games before, the terminology, whirling images, and inexplicable wins could make games seem more complicated than they actually are. We’ve scanned through a few reviews of online slot games and explained some of the most common slot terms, starting with the Wild and all its souped-up cousins, so the next time you click on SPIN and the whole screen lights up and bursts into joyous sounds, you’ll know why!

Wild – this symbol acts as the slot equivalent of a Joker, which means that it can substitute for any other symbol (except the Scatter, usually) to make up a combination. It is often the theme symbol of the game, for example: in Rhyming Reels – Old King Cole, the picture of the king is the Wild symbol.

Stacked Wild – this is a feature of some games, where three or four blocks in a reel are Wild, so essentially they are “stacked”. The whole reel could be Wild, or partially Wild, depending on how the stack settles when the reel stops spinning.

Expanding Wild – these Wilds do exactly what it says on the can. When they turn up on your reels, they expand to make the whole reel Wild, significantly improving the winning possibilities.The Grand Journey’s expanding Wild is a good example.

The Grand Journey's expanding Wild

Some games, like Rhyming Reels – Old King Cole, have two different Wilds, some only offer expanding or stacked Wilds in their Free Spins features, while some don’t offer the souped-up cousins at all. No matter which you meet, and no matter how civilized you are, the Wild is your friend! Pop into Vegas Palms Online Casino and try out a few slot games today!