By Samantha Williams

There are a number of systems people use for gambling, these are used online and off and one such a system is the negative progression system, positive progression is anther as is hedge betting. These can be used when playing Blackjack or most other casino games. The only system that casinos do not welcome when you are playing blackjack is card counting and this is completely illegal. However the casino has to be able to prove that you are card counting first.

There is no system that is able to beat the house edge in blackjack or any other gambling game for that matter. If you believe someone who tells you that such a system exists, you have better be pretty sure they are more intelligent than Albert Einstein, because he even pondered the problem and said that systems for beating the house edge are impossible. He also said the only way to actually do this is by stealing when the casino is not looking. Think about this before a con artist with a sure fire negative progression system sells you this for $20. Rather put the $20 on the blackjack table and buy a few chips, you will get more value.

Negative progression systems are dangerous to the extreme and anyone who tells you otherwise, probably wants to part you from your hard earned money. The principle of a negative progression system is to increase bets after a loss, if you think about this, then it is understandable that casinos love players who make use of systems.

Ultimately when you play blackjack or any other game, you should increase bets after win and decrease them after a loss, this is just simple good money management however. The Martingale system is even more dangerous than the negative progression system as it encourages you to “double” bets after each loss. So as you can imagine, the casinos love the Martingale system even more than negative progression!

Money management when playing blackjack or any other casino game is wise whereas systems are dangerous.

Hedge betting is another matter entirely and in many games this is a feature of play. In blackjack you are able to make an insurance bet and this is essentially what hedge betting is, you make one bet to offset the potential loss on another bet. This is the same in craps when you make a Don’t Pass Line bet and an odds bet or place the 6 and 8.

Casinos always win in the long term; gamblers win in the short term as the casino is effectively taking advantage of probability fluctuations. The player has the option to stop playing at any time and fortunately the winning gambler is the gambler who knows when this time comes.

By: Samantha Williams

Every now and then you come across a casino story that captures the interest of everyone. Benny Binion’s story is just such a story. He was a visionary in Las Vegas and the first to offer a fair gamble to the man in the street. It took hard work for him to make his casino free of limits, but he did it and the outcome was pretty remarkable.

The son of a horse trader, he was seriously ill as a child, so his father took him with him on business. The fresh air did him good but he never went to school. He learned poker and gambling from other horse traders and it interested him such that this was to be his education.

His partner in business did not want to raise limits in their casino, but Benny saw the opportunity not only for himself but for his gambling public. He went out on his own, opened the Horseshoe Casino and raised the maximum bet from $50 to $500 on craps. Other casino owners hated this but the public loved it and flocked to Binion’s casino.

When he wanted to raise Keno limits to $500 too, he was threatened by Dave Berman so he didn’t. Eventually he worked it out with Dave Berman, but this was the only time he ever backed down and didn’t do something he wanted right away, he obviously took this death threat seriously, but he did get his way to raise keno limits.

Over 40 years in this industry he raised limits ever higher, to $10 000, but his dream of a casino free of limits was no longer a dream. He invited players to place higher wagers if they pleased as long as it was only the first bet.

One notorious incident saw a gambler called Bergstrom asked Binion if he could place $1 million bet. Binion agreed, as long as he stuck to the first bet only. Bergstrom returned a few months later (in 1980), had a suitcase filled with $777 000, apologizing for not raising the whole million. They didn’t convert the cash to chips, just laid it down on the craps table on a “don’t pass line” bet.

The shooter rolled and 7′nd out in three rolls. Binion counted out $777 000 more to Bergstrom, and personally escorted him to his car. Bergstrom made a few more bets like this in the following years and returned with $1 million in 1984. Binion’s son Ted took the bet when Bergstrom again went to the craps table and placed $1milion on the “don’t pass line” on a come out roll. It came out ace six and it was all over.

Bergstrom was an inveterate gambler, and a few months later, he gambled the ultimate wager; his life. Played Russian roulette, and lost to the grim reaper – obviously not a casino free of limits! However, myth has it he died for love, not money!