Monthly Archives: February 2021

Blackjack, also known as 21, is the theme of the 2008 hit movie 21. Its loosely based on the novel, Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich, a true story about the activities of The MIT Blackjack Team during the 1980s. But how much of the movie is true to life?

The main difference between the true story and the movie is the historical accuracies, like the use of mobile phones which didnt exist in the early 80s. Another obvious discrepancy shows Blackjack being played at the Red Rock and Planet Hollywood Casinos in Las Vegas but they didnt open until the mid-2000s. If mobile phones did exist at the time, the MIT team would likely be gambling at online sites like those found at sister casinos.

In both real life and the movie, the players successfully manage to pull off a mass scale card-counting scam, despite none of them being experienced gamblers or from a criminal background. In the movie, they are all highly talented students with exceptional maths brains from one of the top universities in the USA and are tutored by a card-counting mastermind.

In real life, the team was formed by three individuals, with the brains behind the initiative being Bill Kaplan, a Harvard Business School Graduate. Having already recruited and trained a similar team in Vegas, he formed the MIT Blackjack Team employing the same business principles and practices as before. Unlike the movie, students were recruited from sources other than the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Kaplan himself was from Harvard as well as Jane Willis the real-life Jill Taylor in the movie.

One of the first to join Kaplan was JP Massar, whose interest in gambling led him to attend a university short course entitled How to Gamble If You Must. His chance meeting with Kaplan was timeous and together they managed the team throughout the 1980s. The third person, John Chang, an MIT Electrical Engineering graduate joined them in late 1982. Chang remains involved in counting cards but has since been blacklisted in most casinos.

In the movie, exceptionally bright and talented students, especially in the field of Mathematics are observed by Micky Rosa, a professor of the university, who recruits and teaches them the art of card counting and other winning strategies. He puts them through a rigorous round of training before introducing them to the Blackjack tables but doesnt play himself, rather observing and training his protegees whilst making a tidy profit from their winnings.

In the movie, the main character, Ben Campbell is a Maths genius with phenomenal numbers skills. His ambition to study at Harvard is scuppered due to lack of funds, which makes him an easy recruit, and very soon he is raking in the money. His initial intention to make just enough to fund his studies is overtaken by his success, the excitement of the game, and his disagreement with Micky Rosa.

His real-life counterpart, Jeff Ma, was one of the youngest MIT Blackjack Team recruits and very soon swapped his intentions to attend Harvard for the Blackjack table, which he found more rewarding and exciting. The movie has been criticized for its casting of Ben as Jeff Ma since Ma is of Chinese heritage and bears no resemblance to Ben.

In the movie, Bens father passed away, but in fact, Jeffs father is very much alive and was a guest at the 2008 movie premiere. The money Bens mother offered him towards his studies in the movie didnt happen in real life as Jeff came from a wealthy family and could have afforded to study.

Jill Taylor, another of Professor Micky Rosas recruits, persuades a reluctant Ben to join the team and an on-screen romance develops. However, Jill Taylors real-life counterpart had no romantic connection to Jeff Ma. She and was simply brought into the team at the same time as her boyfriend and nothing ever occurred between the two.

Bens constant weekend absences in Vegas jeopardizes his relationship with his two best friends resulting in them kicking him out of their project group. Highly upset and frustrated, he haphazardly loses $200,000 at the casino. In truth, John Chang declared that this would never happen as any member of the MIT Team would be too disciplined and controlled to do anything like this.

In the movie, Cole Williams is the Casino Security Chief who is tasked with watching the players, and, in particular Ben, after it becomes obvious that he isnt playing a straight game. Ben gets beaten up by Williams and ordered to stay away from the Casino. In reality, this would never happen as major casinos typically use professional security companies such as the real-life Griffin Investigations. Their employee, Andy Andersen, was instrumental in bringing down the MIT Team after following and observing them over several years.

Link:

How True was the Story Behind the Hit Blackjack Movie 21? - Film Threat

BetMGM Casino is gearing up for the Big Game in style. The operator is running some great casino promotions in both Pennsylvania and Michigan ahead of the Big Game this weekend.

On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will come head-to-head in the Super Bowl 2021.

BetMGM Casino Michigan is celebrating with $20 risk-free bet offer: if the first touchdown scorer is not what you correctly picked, you get your bet back..

Meanwhile, BetMGM Casino Pennsylvania is doing things a bit differently: There, if you wager $20 on Premier Blackjack Pro, they get a $5 free bet they can place on the Big Game. And of top of that, if you wager $20 on jackpot slots you get $10 in casino freeplay. So thats a combo $15 in value for very little work.

All these offers expire in the next day or two, so if you dont have an account yet, get signed up and check the details below.

BetMGM Casino is live in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Iowa!

Players that want to make a bet on first to score a touchdown during the Big Game should check out the offer on BetMGM Michigan.

Opt in to the promotion, then bet the first TD. Get this right and youll win the bet, as standard. But guess wrongif someone else gets to the endzone firstthen youll back your bet, up to $20, in free bets credited to your account.

The money will only be credited to a players account once the wager has been settled. Note: Only the first Touchdown is eligible for this offer.

Thats not the only offer available right now. Until April 30, 2021, every day a player logs in their BetMGM Casino account they will get a chance to Spin the Wheel and receive one of valuable prizes:

Sign up to BetMGM MI Casino today to get $25 FREEPLAY and 100% Deposit Match up to $1000

Sign up to BetMGM MI Sportsbook today New Players Get a Risk Free First Bet up to $600

Over on BetMGM Pennsylvania, there are two promotions ahead of the Big Game.

The Big Game Bet & Get can be accessed through the BetMGM Casino February 5 to 6. Thats today or Saturday, so if youre interestingdont hang around.

Players must opt in to The Big Game Bet & Get promotion and then wager $10 on Premium Blackjack Pro. Do that, and you get a $5 free betsimple as that.

Once the blackjack wager has been made, the $5 free bet will automatically be added to your account. You can use this for the Big Game, but you dont have to: It has an expiry of seven days, so it can be used on any sports bet during that window.

But thats not all. Players in PA can get a $10 Freeplay bonus on any table game just for wagering $20 on Jackpot Slots. This promotion got underway on Feb 1 and runs all through to the 7th (thats Big Game Day, just in case you forgot).

Players must opt in to the table games promotion via the casino lobby. Once $20 has been wagered on Jackpot Slots, $10 worth of casino freeplay will automatically be added into the players account.

The $10 FREEPLAY can then be used on table games (excluding any live dealer games.) However wagering requirement are 20x, so for every $1 in FREEPLAY a player must have wagered $20.

In other words for a $10 FREEPLAY a player must go on to wager $200 in order to cash out.

Sign up to BetMGM PA Casino today to get $25 FREEPLAY and 100% Deposit Match up to $1000

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BetMGM Offering Big Game Promotions for Casino Players in Michigan and Pennsylvania this Weekend - Pokerfuse

One of the most favorite pastimes for many people around the world is gambling, especially casino gambling. Over the years casino games have evolved and been developed to provide the most entertainment value for your money, as well giving you the opportunity to win a lot of money.

There are hundreds of people around the world who gamble for a living, and are successful at doing it, so it is entirely possible. One questions that doesnt get addressed very often though is, are slot games the best to play if you want to make money?

This largely depends on many factors, so continue reading to find out which games are the best for profit, and if slot games are one of them. Before reading this article it goes without saying that you should make sure that you choose a casino which pays out fast if you are looking to make money, Casino Reviews NZ has compiled a list of fast payout casinos here.

Two of the most important phrases to know if you are planning on making money from slots, or any casino game, is house edge and payback percentage, or return to player percentage.

The house edge, or payback percentage are essentially the same thing, just calculated differently. The payback percentage is the amount of money that a player could win when winning, and is a percentage from the sum of all of the bets from other players, over a period of time.

The house edge is basically the advantage that the casino has over you, and a lower percentage means you will make more money over a period of time than a higher percentage. You should always choose a game with the lowest house edge, as well as one that allows for the perfection of skill, since this will increase your chances of winning.

When it comes down to which games are the best to play in order to make money, this is highly dependent on your skill level depending on the game.

For example, blackjack has a house edge of 0.5%, and video poker has a house edge of 0.46%, which is extremely low considering that slot games have a house edge that range from 2-15%, one of the highest that a casino can offer.

Even though the house edge is low, doesnt mean that you will be able to win easily, even if you have a 49% chance of winning, because it is partly a skill-based game. On the other end of the spectrum, craps has a house edge that ranges from 0-16.67%, but you have about 50% chance of winning, and this is because its entirely luck based. Essentially this means that in terms of skill-based games, house edge can only give you an idea which game could potentially be profitable, but at the end of the day, that is almost ultimately dependent on your skill.

Making money from slot games is entirely theoretically possible, however it is probably not the best idea. Firstly, the payback percentage might be quite high for many slot games, but it also varies depending on the denomination you are using, as well as the fact that the house edge is also incredibly high. What this means is that the odds of winning at slots is about 1 in 49,836,032. This is because there are various unseen factors when you spin the reel, and each spin is an isolated instance that isnt dependent or determined by any previous spins. Another factor to consider is that the house edge for all games, especially slots, is calculated over a long period of time, and while you might win a large sum of money today, there is no skill involved to emulate another win, and you could spin the reel a thousand times consecutively and never regain the money you spent spinning, or never win again.

If you are trying to make money from any casino game, you should avoid gambling without a budget, as you might unknowingly spend more than you have. It is also important to never chase losses, as this will almost always result in losing even more money.

The most important thing that you should never do is just play a game without knowing the statistics or percentages, as knowing these will allow you to lose less often, and help you to choose games where you have better odds of winning.

Here is the original post:

Are slot games the best to play if you want to make money? - The Game Haus

A

n Indiana Senate committee passed on Thursday a gaming compact that would allow table games and sports betting at the Four Winds Casino in South Bend. The agreement will now go to the full Senate to be ratified before moving to the Indiana House.

The compact was finalized last month between Gov. Eric Holcombs administration and the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, which operates the casino on tribal land at Indiana 23 and the U.S. 20 Bypass.

Under the compact, the state would allow the Pokagons to operate Class III gambling, which includes table games such as blackjack, craps and roulette, as well as slot machines, in exchange for a share of revenue. The casino has been operating more limited Class II gaming, which allows forms of electronic bingo played against other guests, but not against the house.

The Senate Appropriations Committee sent the compact to the full Senate by a 12-1 vote Thursday, with no discussion beyond brief words of support from a state gaming official, the Pokagon tribal chairman and several lawmakers.

Sen. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, recited the Pokagon bands many contributions to the South Bend community over the past five years, including several million dollars to the city of South Bend and hundreds of thousands more to local charities.

Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Bremen, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, praised the agreement as a very simple, fair compact.

During the roll-call vote, Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, said he voted no because gambling is a moral issue for him, though he voiced general support for the Pokagons.

The compact is a first for Indiana, where Four Winds is the only tribal casino operating on federally designated land. Indianas other casinos are commercial operations that are licensed and taxed by the state.

In Michigan, this is kind of commonplace, Mishler said, but this was all new to us.

The state cannot tax a tribal casino, but can negotiate revenue sharing as part of the compact required by the federal government. The Pokagons have agreed to pay the state 8% of the net revenue from slot machines at the South Bend casino, and 2% to the city.

During brief remarks before the committee Thursday, Pokagon Tribal Council Chairman Matthew Wesaw said the negotiation of the compact lasted more than a year, partially because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but yielded good results.

This will help us as a Pokagon tribe to continue to improve the quality of life of our citizens, Wesaw said, but the one thing I really want to note ... is the revenue thats generated by this operation is revenue that stays right within the community.

Mishler previously suggested the compacts ratification was something of a foregone conclusion because the federal government could step in and allow the Pokagons to conduct Class III gaming with or without the states approval.

See the rest here:

Indiana: Four Winds South Bend casino could offer table games and sports betting - Yogonet International

In the popular imagination, the term poker conjures images of stone-faced Texas holdem players tangling in high-stakes tournaments. But while that No Limit variant is surely the most well-known worldwide, dozens of different poker games have been developed over several centuries of play.

Your grandparents probably passed a few bucks back and forth between pals during weekly Seven-Card Stud games, while todays college kids prefer the action-packed Pot Limit Omaha.

Poker truly is the most eclectic branch of the gambling family tree, so much so that its even inspired several successful table games. But for every Three-Card Poker and Caribbean Stud, youll find your fair share of clunkers like the poker table game failures found below.

Released in 2005 during the height of the Poker Boom, Tequila Poker was conceived by designers at the Delaware-based Alma Gaming LLC. The game made its debut at the Hard Rock Casino Las Vegas, and despite never catching on in live casinos, Tequila Poker was added to the Playtech iGaming software suite one year later.

The underlying concept of Tequila Poker is quite honestly one of the more interesting Ive come across while covering the casino industry.

The game essentially positions traditional Five-Card Draw alongside a blackjack hybrid in parallel lanes headed toward a fork in the roadbefore asking the player which way they want to turn.

Heres how it works To begin a hand of Tequila Poker, the player antes up with a mandatory wager before receiving four hole cards face down. A standard 52-card deck is in play, but as youll see, those cards can hold different values depending on the players preference.

With your four-card starting hand now in placewell say you got the Jh-10h-Ah-As for demonstrations sakethe fun really begins.

The dealer will then ask which secondary wager youd like to place, the Tequila Poker bet or the High Tequila bet. You can only choose one and the bet size must match your Ante.

As the name suggests, the Tequila Poker bet uses a standard five-card poker hierarchy to determine your payout. Royal flushes pay 200 to 1, straight flushes are good for 50 to 1, four of a kind returns 15 to 1, a full house brings back 8 to 1, a flush pays 7 to 1, a straight offers 5 to 1, three of a kind 3 to 1, two pair 2 to 1, and one pair (of aces) pays even money.

With your Jh-10h-Ah-As in the hole, youve already locked up an even money payout with the pair of aces. And after making the Tequila Poker bet, youll draw not one but two additional cards with which to try and improvea likely bet given your pair, three-card flush draw, three-card straight draw, and three-card royal flush draw.

On the other hand, you might prefer the High Tequila bet, which utilizes blackjack scoring to set its own pay table. Using the usual blackjack points system, your Jack-10-Ace-Ace is worth 42 points, with two 10-value cards and two 11-value cards locked in.

You need at least 46 points to win even money on the High Tequila bet. Check out the payouts below:

As you can see, the worm can turn rather quickly at the Tequila Poker table The strategic implications in a game like this are massive. Just consider the example hands possible scenarios to see what I mean.

The Jh-10h-Ah-As gives you a longshot chance to score that royal flush payout for 200 to 1 in Tequila Poker. You can also hit a full house for 8 to 1, a flush for 7 to 1, a straight for 5 to 1, three of a kind for 3 to 1, or two pair for 2 to 1.

Meanwhile, on the High Tequila side, youll have two aces left in the deck to move from 42 to 53 points and score 15 to 1, while any 10-value card gives you 52 points for a 7 to 1 win.

Of course, you could swing and miss altogether by drawing a 2 or 3, leaving you with a worthless 44 or 45.

You can still find Tequila Poker floating around on obscure Playtech iGaming platforms, but in the live arena, the glass ran dry over a decade ago.

In order to understand the doomed Pyramid Poker concept, you first have to learn about one of the most popular table games played today, Pai Gow Poker.

Players are dealt seven cards before setting them in two hands, a five-card high hand and a two-card low hand. Both hands are then compared to the dealers dual arrangement, and the player only wins when both of their hands are best.

Poker pro Tom Franklin conjured up Pyramid Poker by making a just single adjustment to the Pai Gow Poker framework. Instead of using seven cards to set your two hands, Pyramid Poker only sends three cards the players way.

From there, you simply size up the three-card slate before setting a two-card high hand and a one-card low hand. The only requirement for these hands is that the high hand outrank the low hand. Suits and straights arent relevant in this game, so its a simple pair and/or high card affair.

Take a three-card deal like A-Q-8 for example. Here, you could place the A-Q together as a likely High hand, winner, but that 8 isnt a favorite to win the low hand. The better play would be to use A-8 in the high and Q in the low. Now, you have ace-high to work with on one side, and the second-best low hand with a queen.

The dealer must follow the House Way with their hand, a holdover from Pai Gow Poker, so they have to use the middle card in any unpaired hand as their low. With something like A-7-3, theyd wind up with a slightly worse A-3 in the high and a pipped 7 in the lowsending you both halves of the pot.

Pyramid Poker was approved for live play in Washington state, but no casinos ever took Franklins bait. That led to a brief run in the online realm, but once more, players decided to bury Pyramid Poker once and for all.

If youve ever played the popular Mississippi Poker table game, youll pick up Criss Cross Poker rather quickly.

Game designer Ronald Laduca adapted Mississippi Poker, in which players take two hole cards and hope to make strong hands by combining them with three community cards, to create Criss Cross Poker.

Laduca may have gotten a little too creative, as the unusual two-pronged betting approach combined with a bizarre community board setup ultimately doomed the game.

Criss Cross Poker players place two wagers to ante, the across bet, and the down bet. After taking two hole cards, the player then watches the dealer put out five cards as so:

Next up, the player uses their two hole cards in conjunction with the three horizontally aligned cards to form the across hand, plus the three vertically aligned cards to form the down hand.

Both hands are scored against an escalating pay table, but those payouts arent nearly enough to put up with the headache known as Criss Cross Poker.

TCS John Huxley launched Lunar Poker in 2009, and the game became an immediate flop.

With esoteric game play elements such as the Super Betand its payouts for weird hands like Five Face Cards and Five Cards of the Same ColorLunar Poker wasnt poker as most players knew it.

And in the base game, options like Buy and Exchange are similarly foreign.

Lunar Poker was an example of an overly ambitious project that tried, and failed, to reach the stars by bundling too many odds and ends into a single product.

This game is nothing more than Three-Card Poker for players who dont know how to play Three-Card Poker.

In a Q Poker hand, everything plays out identically to Three-Card Poker except for one caveat you dont choose between folding or playing, you choose between surrendering or standing.

With a higher overall house edge than its superior predecessor, Q Poker was destined to disappoint.

Pokers multidimensional format and multitude of variants makes it a perfect vehicle for table game adaptations. Indeed, the Three- Card Pokers, Casino holdems, Pai Gow Pokers, and Caribbean Studs of the world have become certified staples on most casino floors.

Nonetheless, not every hand can wind up a winner, and the five poker-based table games showcased above provide ample proof.

The next time you see a strange new table game using poker as its foundation, play a few hands to try it all. Because as these busts make clear, you may not ever have the opportunity again.

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Forgotten Poker Table Games - Poker Games You've Never Heard Of - BestUSCasinos.org