Roulette, meaning “little wheel” in French, is played by tossing a metal ball into the wheel as it’s spinning around. This wheel has a series of numbers running around the outer edge, with a wedge between them. Roulette numbers are also marked red or black which represents the odd or even numbers.

The object of Roulette is to place bets on what number the ball will land on and be correct, so the first thing players should know are the different types of bets that can be made. Don’t be overwhelmed by the large number of betting options though, there are several and the payout varies on each of them. So lets take a look at them;

The even money bets are the safest bets with a payout of 1:1 . Examples: high/low, even/odd or red and black

The dozen and column has a payout of 2:1 . Examples: betting that one of a particular dozen numbers hits on the next spin of the wheel

The five-number bet has a payout of 5:1 . Examples: betting that one of these 5 numbers will hit: 0, 00, 1, 2 or 3.

The corner has a payout of 8:1 . Examples: betting on a block of 4 different numbers coming up

The street bet has a payout of 11:1. Examples: betting on 3 different numbers in a horizontal line

The split has a payout of 17:1. Examples: betting on two numbers that are adjacent

And the straight up bet pays out 35:1 . Examples: A bet on an individual number

As with anything, the higher the payouts, the less your chances are of winning. My advice would be to only occasionally bet the higher odds and stick mostly to the even bets. I’m not saying stay away from the large payouts altogether though. Making those corner, split or straight-up bets can and do produce some huge winners at the wheel of fortune.

There are two types of Roulette, the American and European versions. The American roulette wheels have two zeros, where the European only has the one. This increases the odds of winning more on the European wheel. Most all online casinos have them both, but playing at the American wheels really make no sense because of the better odds on the European wheel.

And always remember folk, gamble responsibly !

You can find plenty of online casino action at American friendly sites like Doyles Casino .

Lets start with a few Blackjack terms that players should know :

blackjack - When the first two cards dealt to a a player is an ace plus a face card or a 10, also known as 21.
stand - Keeping the two cards you are dealt and not drawing another one.
bust – When the total points of all the cards in a hand add up to over 21.
hit - Taking another card. Players can draw as many cards as you wish until you bust.
push - This is a tie and the player gets his bet back .
surrender - Players can decide not to play a hand and they lose only half the bet.
double down – Players can double their bet but are only allowed one more card.
split - If the first two cards you are dealt are equal in value, like two face cards, you may split your hand into two hands. When doing so you will have to place a bet on the second hand which is equal to the original bet.

For those that have never played blackjack, the object is to be the one to have their cards total the closet to 21 without going over while having a better hand than the dealer.

The dealer has to take a hit at 16, so this increases the dealers risk of busting and giving you more of an opportunity to win the hand. Always remember that the true object of the game is to just beat the dealer, not to get 21 !

If you are dealt a pair of aces or eights, it’s always good to split them. These two cards are not good for a pair in your hand, but if you’ll split them they could make you two pretty nice ones.

Another thing that a lot of the amateur players do is buy insurance. I don’t recommend it, the odds are not worth the cost of doing so.

The only time anyone should make these insurance bets is if there is a possibility of a high number of face cards remaining in the deck, and with online play it’s just not possible to count the cards in our opinion. So it’s best to just stay away from the insurance all together.

Players should never chase their loses. If you find that you are on a losing streak, just quit for the day ! Sometimes we all have a run of bad luck, that’s life, so just take a break and come back another time to try again.

And remember, never gamble with money that you can not afford to part ways with. Gambling should remain fun and you can’t be doing that if you are worried about losing .

Players can get some nice deposit bonuses at online blackjack casinos, and should take full advantage of them. Never deposit money till you have read what sort of bonus offers they have, and make sure to use them when depositing !

At the Gambling Tabloid we want to help you become that winning player, so we’re going to try and share a few video poker strategy tips to help you on your way.

1. If you are dealt cards that can’t be used to make a winning hand, like a pair, trips or four cards of the same suit or part of a straight, then just discard them all and draw five new cards.

2. Never throw away a pair just because it’s small, and don’t keep a kicker (an extra card along with your pair)to go with that pair ! This will only reduce your odds of drawing three of a kind.

3. If you have an open ended straight draw (can be completed on either end) without a pair, go for the one card draw, but I don’t recommend drawing to an inside straight (to fill the middle of an incomplete straight).

4. Anytime you have a flush and it lacks only one card in the hand from making the straight or royal flush, discard that card and just go for it. You may not always make the hand, but that’s when the odds are the best to completing it.

5. Don’t bet the minimum . Payouts on a video poker machine isn’t much if you simply get a pair, whether you play one coin or five you’ll simply have your wager returned. But when it comes to the Video Poker royal flush, going one credit to five is like going from a mobile home to a mansion. A royal flush with one credit on most video poker machines is a 250 credit win, 500 with two coins, 750 with three coins, and 1,000 with four coins. But bet five coins and it then leaps to an astounding 4,000 credits !

6. And last but certainly not least, learn your poker hands ! It’s surprising how many that start playing online poker do not know that a flush beats a straight, or that a boat (fullhouse) beats a flush.

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Online players can get their share of excitement shooting craps at the online casinos as well. Here at the Gambling Tabloid we’ll try and give you the basic rules and a few pointers to help you on your way to becoming a winning player.

Craps Rules :

Craps is where a player known as “the shooter” is rolling two dice on a board . If the dice comes to a total of 2,3 or 12 the shooter loses . But if the dice total comes to 7 or 11, that’s known as a natural and is an automatic win .

If the shooter rolls a  4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 or 11, that number is then set as the “point” and they have to roll again. The object is to then roll their point number again before they roll a 7.

Craps Strategy :

A craps table layout can look very complicated to someone that does not know the game, but there are a few safe bets that you can make to have a little fun and excitement, and possibly even win some money.

What’s known as the pass line bet is the simplest to make and in online craps has the best chance of winning.

Betting on the pass line just means that you think the shooter will win and to bet on the don’t pass line means you don’t think the shooter will win. So the simplest strategy for any player who likes to see action is to have a new bet on either the ‘Pass line’ or ‘Come’ on every throw.

The Come bet is like the Pass Line bet, but this is a bet that may be made at any time. And if you’re superstitious you may not want to bet against the shooter, many longtime gamblers consider betting against the shooter to be bad luck though.

Always remember that when you play online craps every roll is always independent of every other roll ! You can find plenty of online craps action by downloading Doyles Casino .