There are a few misconceptions in some of the gamblers’ mind regarding the games played at the casino. For example, some believe that the slot machines at the casinos do not have any predetermined win or loss cycles. The win or loss cycles are determined by the random number generator principle as far as possible. This principle of based on what is termed as “functional probability”, which decides the gambler’s good or bad luck. When the reels were spun last time, the probability of winning or losing is the same when you spin them today.

It is not only with slot players who are under misconception. There are table game players, who have myths, misconceptions, and money-losing ideas on the various casino games that they like to play. People have known to form ideas about blackjack games, played at the various casinos. They have lost their entire buy on 6-deck game, supposedly at the best blackjack playing casino. Their view is how come they lost so fast if the game was the best in that particular casino.

The other myth that people have while playing blackjack is that, they assumed that there are 10-valued cards kept by the dealer in the hole. You make your hitting and standing decisions accordingly when the dealer shows you a 10 and you assume that he has a 20, which is a misconception. This is not so. Considering that, in a 52-card pack, there are 10-valued cards and 36 other cards which are not 10-valued, there is more possibility of the dealer in having a card different from the 10-valued ones in the hole, and more so when the dealer’s up-card is a 10-valued card.

It is wrong for you to take your decisions on the myth. The basic strategy decisions are entirely made upon the value of the dealer’s up-card. The computer finds out the best possible way to handle the situation. If you have 14 against the dealer’s 8 up-card, a combinational logic in the computer, based upon the hole card, comes up with the best way to play the hand.

There are myths as to the best way to play one or two spots. Some tend to think that, you have a better chance to win if you play two spots. There are others who think that by playing two spots you are liable to lose. Both the thoughts are wrong in here. Let us assume that you bet $25 each on both hands, making it $50, keeping the total bet the same on two hands. The only for you to play two hands instead of one is because of the volatility of the game. The probability of wining increases in playing two hands, when chances are that, one hand could lose while the other could win. According to the law of probabilities, your winning or losing streaks become diminished as you go on playing two hands, since as you go on playing your decision making tend to flatten out. This would mean that playing two hands gets you in the game twice as fast. With this you last longer in any given session of the game.

Just like various scams floating on the Internet, there are also such scams floating about on online gambling.  For every genuine product in the market, there is also a duplicate, which is a clever fake..

How it is done is simple. Just as you find a good coder to convert your site into a safe, secure one, there is someone else who is doing just the opposite, writing a code to overcome those security systems you put in place.

When the Pentagon computers were hacked, what chances do you have?

Anyway, the topic is the same as the one you face when you lock your doors at home and go away for some time. You have trip wires, your lights switch on automatically when it is programmed to do so, but your door remains locked! So If I am observing you, I would expect to see at least one or two people moving around, wouldn’t I? The movie Home Alone is a very good guide, even though there is a boy inside the house!

So how does one know which site is the right one or not?

Well you can search through the browsers and using their look ups to see what and where the gambling sites are. There are now a number of securities blocks (software) which show whether it is a proper site or not. Like Verisign, and so many others. All you have to do is to click on that security sign, and it will tell you it’s veracity, whether it is valid or not.

·         Even better, is the OS now coming from the vendors of software. They contain inbuilt firewalls, safety features, which enable or disable the ActiveX controls that are often required to access the site.

·         Second, if you are not sure, check out its website once again. People are now beginning to post their comments on the site online, whether they got scammed out of money, or whether they were not paid.

·         Third, if you get an email from a casino or gambling house announcing that you are a winner of x amount of pounds sterling, or dollars, or whatever currency, it sure is a fake. If you have not applied and paid for gambling, how come you won? These sites are known as 409 ones. Check out Lottery Scams in the search engines. Real sites would not be doling out those sums for free.

Another simple check: Check your mail. See where it coming from, and in the “to” box, see if you email id is there. If it is not there, it is certainly a mass mailer, and would be asking you to deposit a particular sum of money to collect the amount if you are not collecting it personally. You bet that when you go personally, you would be directed elsewhere. Try their phone, it will be picked up and you will be routed through that number to an undisclosed number and destination.

Try another check. Try replying to it, by pasting the email id on your favorite mail system. You will find it does not go to the email id of the sender but elsewhere, because that’s embedded in that fancy, legitimate name and email id ! When I hear more about these, I will try and let you know!