Archive for March, 2011

New Gaming research Rates Casino Blackjack Least Addicting

In a recent international research conducted by the University of Sydney, which correlated levels of harm caused by Gaming addiction to specific Gaming activities, blackjack was found to be the least harmful.

The research focused on interviewing patients within Gaming rehabilitation centers to determine which forms of Gaming caused patients’ lives to become unmanageable.

The results of the research showed that less than 1% of all individuals who sought inpatient treatment for Gaming addiction sited blackjack as their game of choice. The recently published research was conducted by addiction experts attached to the University of Sydney Department of Psychology.

The research showed that betting on sporting events and no-limit cash poker games were listed by 85% of respondents as the chief cause of seeking long term Gaming rehab treatment. Not even one person in treatment indicated that playing online blackjack caused disorder within their lives which led to treatment.

The research also showed a statistically significant correlation between alcoholism, drug abuse and problematic Gaming. Playing poker while intoxicated or under the influence of narcotics was found to be 15,000% more likely to cause major financial difficulties than playing sober. Virtually every single punter admitted to placing the majority of oversized bets on long shot sporting events as a result of being intoxicated.

The research demonstrated that sports Gaming, no-limit poker, betting on horse races and lottery were the primary causes of self-destructive behavior when mixed with alcohol and drug abuse. No correlation was found between loosing or winning at blackjack and addictive behavior based on the ten point rating system used by the research team.

The research defined a ‘problem gambler’ as an individual who spends significantly more money on the activity than planned, and fails to consider the possible consequences of such behavior. Gamblers Anonymous spokesperson Michael S. explains – ‘If you see nothing wrong with Gaming your rent money, missing work, skipping your child’s birthday party because of a 2 to 1 odds bet, you have a problem.’

How Long can you Play Internet Blackjack?

Many new players are afraid to sit down at the Internet Blackjack tables because they don’t know how far their money will go. They hear too many horror stories about some random player losing all of their money in the first 10 minutes, and so they are scared to play. But the reality is that you should have no problem getting plenty of play at the Internet Blackjack tables provided you know the following concepts.

How long you’ll play in $5 Internet Blackjack
Assuming you are worried about how long you’ll last at the Internet Blackjack tables, it’s a safe bet to say that you will be playing $5 Internet Blackjack. So we’ll focus on how many hours you’ll be able to play $5 Internet Blackjack.

If you’re at a 6 or 7 person table, it is likely that you’ll be dealt anywhere from 60 to 80 hands per hour. Taking the low end of this range (60 hands per hour) and assuming you give the house a 1% edge when playing, you would only be losing around $3 an hour (60 hands X $5 X 0.01).

Obviously this is a pretty generic model since there is also splitting and doubling down involved, but you get the picture. It doesn’t really take that much money to play Internet Blackjack assuming you’re only making $5 bets. And the $3 an hour figure is assuming you make a mistake or two along the way, and don’t narrow the house edge down to 0.5%.

Will Internet Blackjack always be this cheap for you?
There will be times when you suffer through horrific losing streaks, and the $3 an hour rule doesn’t apply to you. But there will also be plenty of sessions where you go on big win streaks and make major cash. So as long as you play enough Internet Blackjack, you won’t have to worry about going bust right away assuming you bring a large enough bankroll to play with. It’s recommended that you have at least $100 in play to survive the rough variance patches.

Internet Blackjack Side Bets

Players and non-Players alike have this belief that casinos rake in huge profits with Internet blackjack.

But let’s look at the numbers for a second to dispel this myth: if players wager a total of $2,000,000 in one night while giving the house a 1% edge (overall), the casino makes $20,000.

$20,000 is definitely a lot to the average person, but it’s not really much when you factor in the operating costs that both land-based and online casinos have.

Seeing as how casinos don’t rake in tons of profit through Internet blackjack, they offer side bets to earn more money. Here are some of the common side bets you’ll see in casinos.

Pair Square
Pair Square side bets offer a nice payout at 10 to 1, which is one reason why people still make this wager. To win a Pair Square bet, your first two cards need to be of the same rank. Unfortunately, the 10 to 1 payoff doesn’t negate the 6% house edge on Pair Square bets.

Royal Match
The Royal Match side wager is a little more favorable than Pair Squire since it gives the house a 4% edge. To win a Royal Match bet, your first two cards either need to be suited (3 to 1 payout) or be a suited king and queen (10 to 1 payout). You’ll normally only find the Royal Match side bet offered in single deck games.

Over/Under Bet
With an over/under bet, players wager that their score total after two cards will either be over 13 or under 13; if a 13 is dealt, you automatically lose. The over/under wager is one of the worst Internet blackjack side bets you can make because it gives the house almost a 7% edge on over bets, and a 10% edge on under bets.

Super 7’s
If you think the over/under bet is bad, wait till you read about Super 7’s. The Super 7’s bet offers increasing payouts as sevens are dealt – e.g. one seven awards a 3 to 1 payout, two sevens offers a 50 to 1 payout, three sevens offers a 500 to 1 payout. Further value is added when the 7’s are suited since two suited sevens awards a 100 to 1 payout, and three suited sevens gives out a 5,000 to 1 payout.

And while all of this sounds great, the house holds an 11% edge on the Super 7’s bet.

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