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The A - Z of Gambling
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Addiction As fun as it is to bet a few pounds on the Grand National, get involved in a bit of online poker or use a scratch card or two, Gambling Addiction is a serious problem which can lead to financial and emotional problems.
Blackjack Also known as Pontoon and Twenty One, Blackjack is one of the more simple games you’re likely to find at a casino - most of us have played a hand or two (usually with buttons or pennies mind you). Blackjack, however can become complex when you’re playing for money and requires extreme skill and a good head for making decisions.
Craps Craps (stop giggling) is a dice game with players betting money on the outcome of a role of the dice, which could seem like a silly gamble and the easiest way to lose a million. However, people can make money on craps and the game is so popular thanks to its uncertain nature and the risk of losing it all on the role of a die.
D’Alenbert system A staking plan where one unit is added for a game one and one deducted for a game lost. Put simply this is a form of insurance betting so you never lose too much money - for each game you win you raise your bet by one unit and for each one you lose you lower your bet by one unit. Sounds to us like taking the fun out of it.
Eye in the sky If you really want to sound like Joe Pesci or similar next time you’re at a casino refer to the CCTV in the room as ’the eye in the sky’. Cameras are placed around casinos for security and for owners to see exactly what’s going on at their tables, whether someone is cheating or winning a little bit too much for their liking.
Faro Now a little played game Faro was hugely popular back in the 18th century on these shores. A complicated card game played with two decks Faro was banned in France on severe penalties and over here it was decried as a scam which would destroy families and ruin players.
Grease We’ve all heard of ’greasing the wheels’ and to grease in a casino is much the same thing - offering a bribe over a game. Very bad etiquette indeed.
House edge The house edge refers to the advantage that the casino has over the player, usually achieved by the sneaky bunch offering lower than the actual odds.well, they have to make their billions of pounds somehow.
Indian casinos Indian casinos are those that belong to and are run by Native Americans. Although gambling is officially illegal in most of the US, Native Americans are allowed to run casinos in certain areas, governed by special regulations.
Jackpot Woohoo! The big win on the slot machine - you know the bit when all the pennies come flying out and it makes a big noise.
Keno Derived from the Chinese Game of the White Dove, Keno is hugely popular over the pond. With similarities to bingo it is played with balls rather than counters.
Lottery We can’t help but feel that the lottery (sorry, lotto) is slightly less glamorous than the rest of this A-Z. Really, what’s glam about buying tickets in the smelly 24 hour garage, watching Eamon Holmes’ cheap quiz and that wobbly set? Oh, except that this Saturday you could be a millionaire.
Martingale system Another one of these system thingies for betting. The oldest and most popular of all of them, the Martingale System, involves doubling up your bet after each loss. Infalliable in theory it does involve a very large bankroll, which means it’s pretty useless for us normal girls and boys.
Negative expectation Who knew betting money on something could get so complicated? This is the amount of money you expect to lose in any given time on any particular game.
Online Since the internet exploded in to our homes and offices online gambling has become big business. In the UK it gives us that Las Vegas excitement at our own desks in a country where you’re as likely to be in a casino as you are to be in Robbie Williams’ mum’s house.
Poker Poker? I don’t even know.oh, never mind. Poker is the most well known card game outside of snap (and we’re not sure that’s a usual casino type game outside of playgroup) and the mainstay of ’boys’ night in’.
Quads Four of a kind in Poker. As we understand this is a Good Thing.
Roulette Roulette is to gambling what Kate Moss is to modelling. The figurehead, the most glam and exciting one and the one that attracts addicts and madmen (sorry Kate, we couldn’t resist). If you’ve never played before a croupier spins a roulette wheel with a ball inside that must land in one of 37 or 38 pockets, numbered and coloured in relation to squares on the table - you can bet on a single number, on odds or evens or on black or red.
Slots Known over here as a fruit machine these must be the least fashionable of the gambling games, popular with old men in pubs and students desperate for enough for a bag of chips on the way home. When you get to know the patterns of a slot machine it becomes much easier to get it to pay out - but don’t be surprised to find all your friends have gone home after watching you feeding your pounds into the machine for five hours.
Tapping out Tapping out is losing all your bank roll which means no more gambling for you, and a real telling off when you get home and after explain to your wife/husband/parents etc.
Underlay Nothing whatsoever to do with carpets, an underlay is a bad bet - betting more money on an event than can be justified by the odds.
Vegas The spiritual home of gambling, Las Vegas is Mecca for roulette fanatics. Our answer? .
Wheel of Fortune AKA the Big Six Wheel, the Wheel of Fortune has nothing to do with Nicky Campbell or indeed John Leslie. An old carnival game it has much in common with roulette as there is a wheel containing symbols matched by a table which gamblers can bet on. Hugely unpopular because it’s just too easy to lose to.
X-rated This describes the situation you will find yourself in if you partake in a game of strip poker. Whereas poker is usually associated with a boy’s night in, strip poker is definitely more enjoyable when both sexes are involved. The aim of the game is to beat your opponent at poker and get them naked in the process - think, Jade Goody in Big Brother. Or rather, don’t, if you are reading this eating lunch.
Yacht You’ll need one of these to be a real high roller- how else are you going to get around?
Zero When you have zero its time to step away from the table and leave the game. Don’t bet more than you can afford to lose.
