By Samantha Williams

There are two ways to look at a gambling casino, and you will find that you either belong to one school of thought or the other. The one philosophy is immortalized in a Wilson Mizner quote, and he says “Gambling -The sure way of getting nothing from something.” The other philosophy is epitomized in a Joseph Conrad quotation which states “It is the mark of an inexperienced man not to believe in luck.”

Both of these schools of thought have their own place and basically encompass the half full theory or the half empty theory. But one thing that is important is believing in luck, most players who are lucky and win in gambling casinos, believe they are lucky. It has something to do with positive thinking where the glass is half full. Going with the Wilson Mizner school of thought will only lead you to believe that the glass is half empty and is not such a good place to be for a gambler.

While games such as poker require a certain amount of skill, luck still counts. Skill and strategy is very important with poker as psychology plays a role and this is the only game where you, the player, doesn’t need a winning hand to win the game. Most of the other games you find in casinos whether you are playing online or not, don’t require much skill, just knowledge of the rules and which bets are the best for your pocket.

Roulette for example; because such large amounts of money can be won and lost so quickly with this game, people have been trying to formulate winning strategies for centuries. But even geniuses such as Albert Einstein said that the only sure fire way to win from a roulette table was to steal from it. And there are only two places on the wheel which are reserved solely for the bank. It is a completely random number game where luck really counts, as well as a knowledge of skillful betting to ensure some kind of decent return for your wager.

Roulette has been called the King of Casino games because it has been played in the most glamorous gambling casino Mecca’s including Monte Carlo. Myth also tells us that the inventor of this game made a bargain with the Devil to obtain its secrets. This myth stems from the fact that the numbers from 1 – 36, if added together, total 666 which is reputed to be the number or mark of the “Beast”. Perhaps this is why luck really does count when you are playing roulette. Regardless of what kind of casino game you play, the most important question you can ask yourself is “do I feel lucky?”, not “do I feel skillful?”

By Samantha Williams

There are many different reasons why people play casino poker, it has proven itself to be the most popularly played game online, and is also a popular competitive game in live poker rooms worldwide. It offers social rewards, entertainment, education – it takes skill to play, and you can make money. You will however find that most players who do make money playing this game, started out to have fun; they are generally of a competitive nature and they just got really good at playing. A desire to win is the most brilliant excuse for playing poker, but it is also the best way to learn more about it.

Making sense of this game also means coming to terms with a lot of jargon. There is special jargon which governs particular types of poker such as Texas Hold’em or Omaha, and just general jargon, which is probably the best place to start learning. Find yourself a good glossary resource before you begin, one that explains what the jargon is and what it means, you should be able to find this at most casino poker sites.

Understand that “Blinds” are forced bets which take place off an ante, and understand how this works. If you are playing a game of community poker such as the Hold’em games, the card which are shared are often referred to as being “Board Cards”. This is another form of jargon.

Learn about draws, flops, implied odds and limit poker, in fact learn as much as you possibly can. In casino poker, the more you know the better you will fare. Try to read books by experts on the subject, these are usually guys who have made big money playing the game; guys who are your poker hero’s, you are more likely to listen and learn from them than you would anyone else.

Virtually everyone who is anyone in world poker, big stakes games has written a book. Try to unpack your mistakes when you don’t win and ask the winner if he would mind giving you a post mortem of his game. Unpacking and looking at the mistakes you made in your own casino poker game will help you to learn from your mistakes.

The most important thing you must do is play, play video poker for practice; you can find free games online if you like until you are ready to graduate to the pay for play games. Then get yourself seated around a table and play with other casino poker players. It doesn’t matter if you play online; this is just as good a learning environment as any. The games are the same, the rules are the same and they have been set up to virtually completely emulate a live experience.