Select Page

What is roulette?

The most popular game in casino was and will be roulette. If you ask any person what games are in casino the first word he says is roulette. The rules of how to play roulette are really easy and maybe it is the reason of its popularity. There are three types of roulette exist in our days:
•    American roulette (Double zero roulette). Here 38 numbers: zero, double zero and numbers from 1 to 36
•    European roulette (Single zero roulette). Here 37 numbers: zero and numbers from 1 to 36
•    French roulette (Single zero roulette). Forefather of European, has the same wheel but different playing field
•    Russian roulette
These three types have some differences: numbers arrangement on the wheel, playing field, accessible stakes, procedures of playing and each type has own special rules (”En Prison”, “La Partage” and “Surrender”).
American roulette players use variegated counters. They seat at the one table and each of them has different counters. It considerably simplifies procedures of stakes and winning payouts. Counters can participate only on specific playing table. Dealer sells it with specified price. Player can turn his counters into money or traditional counters. Counters are removed from table by the dealer’s hand. When you play American roulette the casino’s advantage to win is 5.26% for any stakes except 00, 0, 1, 2, and 3. In this case advantage of casino is 7.9%. Two persons service the table intended for 6 players (dealer and his assistant who sorts counters)
In European roulette players usually use standard or classic counters. You can buy it in casino cash desk. Croupier uses special blade to remove the counters from the table. The advantage of European casino is 2.7%. European roulette’s table is serviced by 3 persons, one in the middle turns the wheel and two others service two playing fields. This table is intended for 16 players maximum.
Russians always confuse these two types because rules practically the same. Russian roulette undoubtedly deserves separate attention.

Hands of Poker or How to evaluate card combinations

There is a lot of kinds of poker exist all over the world. The most popular are Draw Poker, Poker with Joker, Oasis Poker and three-card poker.

Draw Poker – is the standard form of Poker. If you are absolutely not aware of the rules it’s the best chance to start familiarizing. The main target of draw poker is to collect the strongest hand of 5 cards. After first lead you can refuse your cards or get the card replacement. All cards should be hidden from other players before final Showdown or when it’s absolutely necessary.

There are two things which you should know to play Draw Poker. First are hands of five-card poker and second is ranking that means order or course of the game including how and when you should stake. In this article I will try to describe all Poker Hands you should know to play.

Poker Hands

Hand of poker is collected with the best 5 cards combination and evaluated according the following list. The first is the strongest.

  1. Royal Flush: A-K-Q-J-10 all cards are the one suit
  2. Straight Flush: any five successive cards of one suit
  3. Four-of-a-kind: 4 cards of one type (e.g. four kings)
  4. Full House: 3 cards of one type and one pair
  5. Flush: any five cards of one suit
  6. Straight: any five successive cards
  7. Three-of-a-kind: 3 cards of one type (e.g. three queens)
  8. Two pairs
  9. Pair: 2 cards of one type (e.g. two jacks)
  10. Absence of pairs: five different cards of different suits

There are no wild cards in Draw poker all suits are evaluated equally.

How to play Poker? Course of Play

Each poker round starts from dealer appointment. Each player from the table becomes dealer and then gives this chance to player sitting on the right.
For example if you now distribute the cards next time the player sitting on the right will do it. Dealer gets the pack and reshuffles it. Each player brings in ante. It’s special fee which gives you opportunity to play the next game. If you don’t bring in ante you are just sitting out. These sums of money are placed in the center of the table (in the pot). When the ante has been put dealer starts to distribute the cards one by one for each player while each has five cards. Players receive their cards and evaluate their hands. Player sitting on the left of dealer starts the game. He can make a bid, pass (do not make a bid) or refuse the game and fold (take the cards off).

The next player sitting on the left does the same. If he decides to make a bid he should call this bid to confirm it. Also he can raise the bit in case he considers that the situation acquires changes. He can do it only before the dealer confirms the bet. So each player including dealer makes the personal decision. If the dealer receive amounts of bids players should call their bids to continue the game. All raises are not available now. Now players can discard all or some cards in hope they will collect the better hand.

If player requires the cards replacement the dealer should give him new cards. But the cards of course should be hidden. The next round players anew continue or stop playing (call of fold the game) and all procedures repeat again.

In the final of the game players make a Showdown. After the final round players open their hands to show cards combination they have collected. Players compare these combinations and the “best hand” receives the pot. If two players (sometimes it happens) have the equal card combinations the pot is splitting for two players 50/50.

Poker as the most “profitable” gamble

It’s not a secret for us that poker is one of the most popular games nowadays. It appeared five centuries ago nearby in XI century as scientists suppose now. Firstly the gamble appeared in Europe to be more precise in was popular in France, Italy and Spain. At that time the rules had some differences and commonly it was announcement of players’ stakes and comparison of cards combinations. Person who had the biggest combination was a winner. With the lapse of time the rules acquired changes while the modern poker appeared as large as life. It has got all recent varieties and rules.
Poker was brought in America from Europe during colonization. Here it became national gamble and here exactly people start to play it with 52 cards. Today it is one of the most popular games not only in USA but all over the world. Poker was the first gamble appeared in casinos which were then developing rapidly. Starts from the last century “club poker” was born and acquired its popularity. In that game gamblers played not versus croupier but versus each other. Today there are more than ten kinds of club poker exist which are different from each other with the insignificant features. But all it have the one aim to get the biggest combination of 3 or 5 cards.
Interesting facts:

In 1963 in the popular Las Vegas Grand Royal casino located in USA was fixed the biggest winning in Poker with Joker. Someone with name Jason Kamuela staked maximum on ante (it is $5000) and then exchange one spade Royal Flush card. He exchanges his spade ace for Joker (It should be noted that in Royal Flush Joker is exchanged only for spade ace) and wins (according payout rate 1:100) $1 000 000. People say not without purpose that of course it’s nice to win something in roulette or black jack but only in poker you can win your “assets”.

“Progressive” view on Caribbean Poker

When you’ll visit a casino next time look at Caribbean Poker tables and you’ll see that every player almost makes an additional stake on jackpot.
Majority of game analysts will say you: “By no means!”. Stake on jackpot is one of the worst, casino advantage here reachs 60, 70, even 80% subject to jackpot size. Even when jackpot becomes rather big and player’s advantage reachs, payings are so rare that your chances are imminent zero.
But when a player asks me if to make an additional stake I always answer with counter questions: “And what is your aim? What are you playing for?”.
For some players the aim of visit a casino is a decrease of casino advantage to minimum for own’s gain maximization. These players not only don’t stake on jackpot but don’t play Caribbean Poker at all. 5,2% casino advantage by optimal strategy is too much. Serious players go to play blackjack (casino advantage by basic strategy is 0,5%) or dices (casino advantage is 0,6% by combination Pass/2хOdds).
Caribbean Poker players gather around tables because of two reasons. First of all it is a light relaxing game, one of the slowest in casino. Secondly staking on jackpot gives them a chance of a big gain which can’t be get in other card games. Blackjack gives up a higher percent to a player but blackjack player never leaves a casino with $10.000, $100.000 or even $712.070 (record jackpot in Caribbean Poker) after the one one-dollar stake.
Jackpot hunters make the additional stake at the same time with the main stake. Most of Caribbean Poker tables have coin slots in front of the main game box. Player put one-dollar fish to the slot before deal. When all stakes are made a coin falls into coin slot simultaneously with deal beginning and the indicator is alight.
After all cards are dealed a player decides if to play or not. After a dealer turns up player’s cards who is in game, players who staked on jackpot and have flush or higher get a fixed sum regardless of dealer’s cards.
Additional stake winnings are pay in compliance with a table reminiscent of videoPoker. In the majority of casino $1 stake gets you $50 for flush, $75 for full-house, $100 for 4 of a kind, 10% of jackpot or $5.000 for street flush and full size of jackpot for royal flush. It is minimal payings established by Mikong Gaming company, casino can raise stated values.
Each of winning combinations is not easy to get in Caribbean Poker. So, flush occurs one time for 509 games on average, full-house one time for 694 games, 4 of a kind one time for 4165 games and royal flush one time for 649.740 games! In aggregate a winning on additional stake occurs one time for 273 games on average. You can osreve your dollars dissappearing in table’s depth during 7-8 hours before you’ll get something instead.
The more jackpot the less casino advantage. When jackpot reaches $261.950 a stake cease to be losing and a player gets an advantage before casino. But it doesn’t mean that you immediately get a perfect chance to win greately. You’ll win one time in 273 games as before. It means only that if you have staked on jackpot endlessly you didn’t come off a looser finally.
But even when staking on jackpot gives a player an advantage he still looses 5% on basic Poker stake. To make a game profitable in tote with $5 ant a jackpot value has to reach $351.200 already.
Let’s back to initial question: have a Caribbean Poker player to make an additional stake? It depends on you. When jackpot size is low casino advantage is great and winnings are rare whether or no. If you care about your money don’t stake on jackpot better. But if you prefer slots and jackpot fans point of view and ready to suffer additional losses for the sake of big gain, the Caribbean Poker its’ additional stake is right for you!