Cleromancy

By Tom Howze

Las Vegas casinos are among the most popular places to visit in the world. Even with competition from casinos on Indian reservations, riverboat casinos and state run lotteries Las Vegas casinos attract more people and earn record amounts of revenue from gamblers. In 2005, there were 38,566,717 visitors that came to Las Vegas casinos that generated $9.7 billion in gaming revenue. Slots remain the top game people play while in casinos followed by blackjack, wagering an average of $626.50 each trip. Most visitors gambled on the Strip with downtown Vegas being their second choice. People love to gamble in Las Vegas and businesses love to open up casinos for them to wager in.

The question is sometimes asked, why do people gamble? When you look at the fun and excitement of winning, a lot of people enjoy the challenges of beating the house. After all, if you play smart and come out with a profit, it shows everyone that a person can “beat the odds” and win against the big institutions. And gambling itself is a safe form of risk-taking that some players looking for the “rush of excitement” can find. Social interaction is another reason as the fun atmosphere encourages people to be friendly and conversational. For some segments of society, like the elderly, this sometimes has an aura of attractiveness. Incentives like casino comps, free rooms and drinks or slot tournaments bring in those who like to be rewarded for their wagering. Plus there are the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars being offered in huge jackpots and progressives as far as the eye can see.

From an investment standpoint, the money made can be staggering. Owners and investors realize that from the long-term point of view, games of chance mathematically speaking are always in favor of the house. For example, slot machines owned by the most profitable Indian Reservation casinos in California earn over $500 a day each for which the casino may have invested $10,000 per device. And with slot machines lasting about 5 years, a machine could earn $912,500 during its lifetime. Multiply this figure by 2,000 slot devices, which a number of the largest Indian casinos have on their floors, and you can see the potential for why investors love gaming establishments. Earnings per machine are less in Las Vegas, where there is more competition but the concept of how money can be made is easily understood. Add to this shopping malls with high-end stores, convention facilities along with catering to business travelers, and things become even more attractive.

Players who frequent casinos can look forward to new, fun and innovative ways to enjoy their action. For one, keep your eyes open for wireless gaming at casinos. In July 2006 the Nevada Gaming Control Board came out with policy standards for wireless gaming to be used at casinos in Las Vegas. This has paved the way for hand-held mobile gaming devices to make it possible for gamblers to play slots and random-number-generator table games at public areas such as restaurants, lounges, pools and convention spaces. At the time of writing the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, its sister property the Palazzo, which is currently under construction on the Strip and the Palms have announced plans to feature wireless gaming. Another hot concept shown at the 2006 Global Gaming Expo currently in development by WMS Gaming is called “Sensory Immersion Gaming”. The sensory immersion gaming will be a new gaming experience that combines a BOSE 3Space audio system with new, real-time, 3D graphics display. The casino game showcased was “Top Gun” which was based on the 80’s hit movie with the same name. This game allows a player to be Maverick, Ice Man or Goose while playing the Top Gun video slot machine and makes you feel like you are in the cockpit flying.

With gamblers looking for fun and excitement coupled with casinos ready and willing to give it to them, anyone taking notice can always count on this relationship to be entertaining and profitable!

Tom Howze is a webmaster for sites that relate to the World Series of Poker with resources for Free Slot Machine Games and Online Casino Gaming.

By Sam Bundela Mohan

Casino Craps is one of the most thrilling casino dice games. Whenever, a game of craps is on full swing, you will experience loud yelling and curious shouting at the gaming table. Craps includes two dice for the game play. The craps table looks puzzling because the layout at both ends of the table is similar to each other. Many different bets can be played in the same table. Only one bet is played at a time which covers the one side of the table.

The look of the game is confusing and exciting because players can place several bets on different areas of the table at the same time. The time taken by the dice for rolling purpose makes the craps game a little bit slower and the result is determined after some time. The dice are made as per stringent standards and are regularly examined for any scratch or dent. They are replaced after eight hours of game playing. Casinos have standard regulations which are strictly adhered to. This casino game can be played by anyone due to its simplicity and thereby it has earned huge popularity among players.

Craps starts with the dice being rolled by players on the table. The numbers define the winner after the rolling of the dice is completed. Generally, the betting is done by other players when one player rolls the dice. Each player will roll the dice one by one in clockwise rule. The betting is controlled by the house who determines the odds. Players are free to place bets against the house for better rewards. The simplicity of the game makes it easier for new comers to participate in the game. As usual the betting is done and the dice is rolled on the table. Shooter is the player who rolls the dice and engages two dice at a time. The total value of the rolling is calculated on the face value of both the dice. As a player, all you are doing is placing a wager. You want that the ‘Shooter’ will roll the number he needs to win and so you will also. You are in not in competition with the ’shooter’ rolling the dice.

On the other hand, the house is expecting the ’shooter’ to become unfortunate in rolling the dice. All these actions make hooting and yelling in the casino. You hope the ’shooter’ to do well so you will be benefited. All the players will be losers if the dice makes ‘craps’, whereas with ‘natural’ landing of dice they will win.

Craps is not as difficult as it seems to be from the look of it. It is rather easier to learn by understanding the basics of the game. You should start with understanding the passline bet. Craps have around forty different bets and they are for experienced people and should be avoided by a new come in the casino game. It is the basic passline bet that you should learn as a new player of craps. A passline bet begins with the situation when a shooter starts his roll and you have placed a bet on it. You will win when the shooter makes points 7 or 11. You will definitely loose when the points are 2, 3 or 12. If the shooter rolls a different number than 7, it becomes your number. The shooter has to roll the same number before he brings in 7. If he can make it then you win. On the other hand, if the shooter brings 7 before striking your number, you have got to accept loss. You can further make different pass on numbers to will other bets also. In short, you must learn the passline idea of the basic craps game to enjoy the game.

By Doug Utberg

In the casino game of craps, two six-sided dice are thrown multiple times, and players place bets on which numbers will (or will not) be thrown. Craps players are fond of saying that the dice ‘have no memory,’ meaning that you cannot tell what the next roll of the dice will be based on the last roll. Any statistician will tell you that this observation is 100% accurate, since the casino puts multiple measures in place to ensure that the flight trajectory of the dice are random each time they are thrown. Thus, long strings of winning numbers aren’t necessarily the result of a ‘hot’ table… rather they are the result of random probabilities lining up such that the dice result in many consecutive wins.

While this sounds logical enough at first, many gamblers will also tell you elaborate stories of getting caught up in the excitement of a ‘hot table’ where many people are winning in rapid succession. In this case, the emotional side of our brain that believes in a ‘hot table’ (or ‘hot market’) overrides the logical side of our brain that tells us that repeated trials in the casino (or financial markets) are independent… meaning that the next trial is not influenced by the last trial. While this characteristic holds true for both financial markets and casino games, superstition will always factor into both types of activity. (Many craps players take their bets down whenever a player throws the dice off the table, based on the belief that the reviled ’seven’ will show up on the next throw)

The important point this phenomenon illustrates is that it can be very easy to get caught up in the momentum of a ‘hot market’ or ‘hot table,’ but in both cases our fortunes can turn very quickly. It wasn’t all that long ago when people were arguing that real estate values could never go down, and that it was a good investment at any price… or that there was a ‘new economy’ and stock prices would go up indefinitely. In all market situations, it is drastically important to remember that all bubbles eventually pop, trees don’t grow to the sky, and the dice truly have no memory.

Sincere Thanks,
Douglas J Utberg, MBA

Founder – Business of Life LLC
http://www.businessoflifellc.com/

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By Mansi Aggarwal

Dice games are the oldest and one of the simplest games that perhaps suit all ages. The dice games involved in gambling are one of the most exciting and popular ones.

Dice games have been played since centuries. So old is there origin that the historians do not know the inventor for sure. However, from whatever is available it can be safely said that dice games originated in different cultures around the same time. Illustrations of the games have been found on Egyptian tombs and the ancient Greeks also played the games.

In fact the Chinese dominoes are considered a variation of the ancient dice games. Apart from being a source of entertainment these games were used in the past for other major purposes like for determining future rulers, predicting future events and dividing property. ‘Cleromancy’ is the name given to the activity of casting die or small objects in order to predict the future. The initial dice was made up of pebbles, fruit stones, human or animal bones, sea shells etc.

Today, dice games form a part of the gambling excitement. While the common man uses standard dice, casinos use casino dice. The standard die is cubical in size with dots punctured on each side, counting one to seven. The numbers of the opposite side add up to seven. The standard dice has rounded edges to make it roll easily. The casino dice is more perfect primarily because its money that is involved! The hole punctured are filled with another substance to make each side weigh equal. the casino dice has an equal chance on landing on either side. Other kinds of dice are crooked dice, loaded dice, polyhedral dice.

The most exciting of the dice games played in casinos is ‘craps’. Craps can either be ‘street’ crap or ‘bank ‘crap. However, generally, this games involves shooting die to gat a seven or an eleven which is considered an automatic win and is called ‘craps’. Another game that is played using three die is Grand Hazard. The underlying concept of the game is betting on the outcome of the roll of die.

Shooting of the dice is integral part of some dice games. The activity decides one’s fate in the game. In craps, the player with the dice shoots the dice to a blackboard. The dice hits the blackboard and fall back. The side on which the dice falls is plain luck. However, some players use ‘rhythm rolling’ to control the outcome. By this technique, the player holds and rolls the dice in a manner to get the desired numbers. But this technique requires skill and practice.

Another manner is rolling the dice. Rolling the dice, however, can be manipulated. The player can hold on the dice and throw in a calculative manner to get a desired number. However, the players usually cannot manipulate in the casinos under heavy surveillance.

People who do not play dice games can have fun even collecting different kinds of die. Collecting die can be fun regarding their different shapes and sizes. The die of various casinos even have the name of their country branded on them.

Mansi aggarwal writes about dice games. Learn more at http://www.dice4everyone.com