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Monthly Archives: September 2021
8 Tips On How To Win at Blackjack – SpeedywayMedia.com
Posted: September 4, 2021 at 5:53 am
Are you an ardent blackjack lover, but not a successful player? Or are you just looking to try out your luck with a good old blackjack game, but you are not sure where to even start? Either way, youre in the right place! Take a look at these 8 tips on how to win at blackjack and get ready to gamble.
Regardless of whether you are playing in-person or online, if you do not choose the right casino, none of the tips and tricks to come that are supposed to help you win will matter. Always check the casinos background before you decide to play their blackjack, and look for all the information available, including the name of the owner or service providers, licenses, and reputation. If you are surfing the internet to find a casino site, beware that not every online casino is trustworthy and safe. Moreover, there are many scamming websites pretending to be online casinos. In order to ensure your investment wont go to waste of a frauds pocket, use software tools to check the websites credibility.
You cant play the game if you dont know the rules may be a cliche saying, but it is downright true when it comes to the game of blackjack. Many beginners, and even the more experienced players, make a common mistake of taking the rule sheets for granted. Knowing the rules by heart and being able to go back to them at any moment of the game is a prerequisite to becoming a successful blackjack player. What is also important to always bear in mind is that not every blackjack game is the same. Each variant is played by different rules, and even the smallest detail can affect the house edge. This is particularly important for online blackjack since games are provided by different software developers and therefore have different rules and house edges. Closely examine the help section of each game to ensure a complete understanding of the game and increase your chances of winning. Once you know the rules, you will be able to absorb the wisdom of the ultimate blackjack tips and get the game going.
Once you have familiarized yourself with the table rules of the game variation of your choice, is it time to put the cards on the table, figuratively and literally. You need to get to know yourself as a blackjack player before you invest more of your time and money into becoming a winner. Depending on the type of player, each strategy has advantages and disadvantages. For example, the Martingale betting strategy is meant for the fearless players, those looking to win big but are also ready to lose a lot of money. On the other hand, a conservative or basic blackjack strategy is a safer option for those not yet as self-assured of their gambling competencies. The utter idea of picking the rights strategy is to get the best winning odds at the time. Tellingly, each blackjack variation requires a different strategy for different optimal results and different type of a player. Many professional players would take years and lots of effort to hack the game, that is, learn how to play each hand with the best chances to win. However, nowadays, and with all the information we have at our disposal thanks to modern technology, you can easily search through the most optimal blackjack strategies for a specific game using one of the blackjack basic strategy calculators.
In line with finding your soulmate blackjack strategy, you should always remain grounded and remember your budget limits before raising a bet like a millionaire. Although this is not a trick to be used at the blackjack table, it is one of the most critical rules you need to adhere to as a gambler. Only when your bankroll starts to build up, you should allow yourself to slowly raise your stakes. Placing a bet that is out of your league can be detrimental both to your bank account and to your career as a blackjack player.
Blackjack insurance will be offered to you in most, if not all, blackjack games online. It refers to a side bet which is offered in cases when the dealer shows an ace, in order to ensure you are against the dealer getting a blackjack. Despite the fact that getting the insurance would potentially save you from big losses, it is not as good as it sounds. Finally, the odds of the dealer making blackjack are too small to compensate for the price of the insurance itself.
Keep your eyes on the table, your focus on the cards, and your mind on the price. Paying attention to all the possible details is the key to beat the odds.
To guess when is the right time to double down or to split is half of the games success. Even though things need to be more complicated in order for the game to be as exciting and risky as it is, there are few rules set in stone regarding this. Increasing your money on the table largely depends on doubling down. When youre given a starting hand of 11, always double down, because there is a high probability that your next card will be valued a ten and you will finish with 21. On the other hand, when the dealer shows a face or an ace, it is time to stay away from doubling down. When it comes to splitting, it is slightly more complicated. Therefore, the only splitting rule to live by is to never split pairs or 10s, 5s or 4s. For all the other combinations, you will have to refer to your blackjack charts and personal sense for gambling.
Always remain in control. If you hit the ground, take a break. If you touch the sky, also take a break. Dont let the gambling spirit take you over and affect poor decisions. In situations when you do wish to proceed in playing after the lows and the highs, make sure to establish new bankroll and limits beforehand.
What may trick many blackjack players to-be is the simplicity of the blackjack game. However, there is plenty more to it. Although it is not a complicated casino game, it requires skill and dedication in order to become good at it. With this list of tips in mind, a bit of luck, and some exercise, youll be mastering the game of blackjack in no time!
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How viral memes did the Taliban’s work of helping them rebrand – Business Insider
Posted: at 5:53 am
You've seen them on Twitter: the videos of Taliban fighters struggling to understand how gym equipment works, enjoying a pirate ship amusement park ride, and driving dodgems and riding carousel horses.
Many of the videos have gained millions of views and thousands of sharesa testament to the oddity of seeing members of a proscribed terrorist group that have taken control of a country of 38 million people in a matter of weeks acting like buffoons.
While it's highly unlikely these videos have been deliberately seeded by the Talibanwho are more focused at present on selling themselves as compassionate, competent leaders in waiting for Afghanistanthey do help the terrorist group in their attempt to rebrand as Taliban 2.0.
"I'm minded to think back to a piece of research my colleague was involved in where they looked at ISIS magazines on Twitter," says Joe Whittaker, lecturer in cyber threats at Swansea University, whose research monitors how ISIS uses the internet. "They found the people trying to deliberately spread propaganda with the intention of radicalizing or recruiting was vastly outweighed by what you might call 'useful idiots' with a negative tagline just spraying it around social media."
The worry, says Whittaker, is that "people think they're being funny and it may have a humanizing effect."
Certainly, posts revolving around the 'Taliban are just like us' premise are viral catnip. One image of Taliban fighters eating ice cream shared on Twitter by journalist Sami Yousafzai received 8.4 million impressions in a little over a week. As one commenter noted, "sadly the posts of their war crimes didn't get 1/100th as much".
Whittaker points out that the Taliban has a difficult branding exercise to carry out entirely besides being mocked by online posters poking fun at their workout technique. "They've got to sell two very different messages to two different audiences," he says. They have to try and convince the west and anyone who may at a future point want to engage in military actions or sanctions that they are a changed group, willing to respect human rights and women's place in society. Yet to the jihadist world they're trying to sell that this is a country run under sharia law. "You see that in their messaging: they'll say things like: 'Women have a place in society', then caveat it with 'in line with sharia law'," says Whittaker.
"Clearly, being the incompetent boob or dancing to musicwhich is a no-no in a jihadist groupcan be contrary to the message they want the jihadist world to see, but could potentially be useful to what they want the west to see," he adds. While he doesn't believe they're deliberately seeding meme-ready videos and photos designed to make them look incompetent or less dangerous than they actually are, their existence online and half-life on social media does more good to them than harm by downplaying their risk to international order. And we could be helping that by prolonging its existence.
The Taliban have been the subject of memes that promote their prowess on English language social media through the Taliban Chad meme: a character who is happy living outside of western norms, owning guns, marrying multiple women and ignoring political correctness. "He's not burdened by ideals of 'Western democracy'", says Idil Galip, who studies memes at the University of Edinburgh, and runs the Meme Studies Research Network. "This is a pretty deliberate use of the Taliban."
But the co-opting of the Taliban's jubilant videos celebrating its routing of the allied forces in Afghanistan is something different, she says. "You have these videos which are shared indiscriminately, by people who are not concerned by making an intentional political point. The videos are sort of meaningless and hyperreal, terrorists eating ice cream, terrorists on a merry go-round, terrorists with funny voices."
Some of them are legitimate videos, taken in Afghanistan in the last few weeks and months. Others are categorically not: a video purporting to be Taliban fighters celebrating by dancing to music was fact-checked as a fraud. Others still have an uncertain provenance: one showing men crashing bobsleds into each other, tumbling out of the cart, hasn't been categorically proven or disproven to be legitimate.
In a way it doesn't matter. The absurdity behind the legitimate, real videos is almost unreal anyway. Which is the point, says Hussein Kesvani, author of Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims, who is studying how fringe communities communicate online at University College London. "The people who are sharing these memes and are fascinated by them grew up in the shadow of the war on terror," he says. "They can see the horrific effect of what's happened, and what's going to happen now. You've got this end of this war that defined a generation and a generation of politics, but ended catastrophically. How do you process something like that?"
The answer, Kesvani says, is humor. "Not just through humor but absurd humor. It's like processing a trauma."
There is something absurd about the peril in which Afghanistan now lies. The gym video that went viral and kickstarted the posting of such absurd videos highlights that most clearly. "It showed people who don't know how to lift, and aren't particularly strong, but could defeat the U.S. army and U.S.-trained army in record time. It was this unintended satire of what U.S. military power presented itself as being."
The videos, then, are "a way of reflecting on western imperialist hubris," says Kesvani. Yet by making the Taliban the butt of the joke, we run the risk of downplaying how much of a headache their ascendancy could cause for the future of the region, and the rest of the world. "The danger perhaps is in reframing the Taliban as these oafish group of normal guys who just happened to win unexpectedly against American military forces," he says.
Sadly, there are several historical precedents for memeifying individuals or groups to the extent that their dangers are downplayed. U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson practically designed a photocall around a zipline to become a meme in 2012. He became prime minister five years later off the back of his larger-than-life persona, and promptly delivered a no-deal Brexit and bungled the U.K.'s coronavirus response. 132,000 people have died. Donald Trump followed a similar playbook, with similar results. And in 2015, John Magufuli became president of Tanzania and the butt of East African Twitter because of his scything economic cuts. Two years on from #Whatwouldmagufulido, he turned on the country's LGBTQ community.
The outlook in Afghanistan could be equally grim as that country's new leaders become the internet's latest meme, fears Kesvani. "This is a group that has been around a very long time that has been documented for a very long time," he says. "It's like this willful ignorance of what is going to happen to that country and what is going to happen to those people."
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RSI, Evolution Expand Partnership with Exclusive Blackjack Tables in PA, NJ – Casino News Daily
Posted: at 5:53 am
The Keystone State and the Garden State are Rush Streets strongest markets.
The two dedicated environments are powered by live casino expert Evolution and their launch marks further expansion of Rush Streets existing partnership with the major provider of live dealer solutions.
At present, the two studios offer three Blackjack tables each that are available exclusively for BetRivers and PlauSugarHouse players in the two above-mentioned states and make it easier and faster for these players to take a virtual seat at the popular online live dealer tables.
The newly launched environments offer a mix of live Blackjack offering that is available to play 24/7. Rush Street noted that the two studios not only promise safety and convenience, but also offer the type of personal experience that its customers expect from the operators brands.
Rush Street Interactive currently provides online casino-style gaming and sports betting operations in ten US states where these practices are legal, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, Michigan, Indiana, Virginia, Colorado, Iowa and West Virginia. The company is also active in Colombia offering its services via the RushBet.co brand.
Commenting on the newest addition to their already extensive offering, Rush Street Interactive CEO Richard Schwartz said that since the initial rollout of live dealer games with Evolution in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, they have had multiple requests from their players to add exclusive tables with seats only available to those players.
Mr. Schwartz went on to explain that their customers can now benefit from dedicated seats where they can chat and interact not only with their dealers but also with fellow players in their online community. Interaction is happening in real time to add a fun social aspect to the betting experience as if they were at a land-based casino, the executive concluded.
Players will also be offered the traditional benefits they are usually offered playing online casino games with Rush Streets digital brands. Every bet a player makes on the newly added Blackjack tables will earn them bonus store points that can be redeemed at BetRivers and PlaySugarHouses Bonus Stores for wheel spins, free bets, bonus money, and more.
This is the latest expansion of an existing business relationship between the online gambling operator and the live casino specialist. Last summer, Evolution debuted a selection of its First Person games in Colombia with Rush Streets locally licensed brand.
Source: Rush Street Interactive Launches Exclusive Live Casino Tables On BetRivers And PlaySugarHouse In Pennsylvania And New Jersey, PR Newswire, September 3, 2021
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Comedian Chelsea Handler delivers comedy with a dose of therapy – The San Diego Union-Tribune
Posted: at 5:53 am
Some people say that life is too short, but comedian Chelsea Handler declares that its too long.
She blames annoying people for making her existence tedious:
Like folks who say anyways.
Its not a word.
And room service attendants who serve chicken fingers with a knife and fork.
Its shaming.
Then, there are the guys who show up for a date wearing flip flops with jewelry, order an ahi tuna sandwich for breakfast and ask her to name her top 10 favorite bands.
These are all observations that cause Handler to cringe and her fan base to laugh, and the kinds of subjects she tackles on her Vaccinated and Horny Tour.
For those who will miss her sold-out Sunday show at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay, theres also her HBO Max special, Evolution, her new book, Life Will be the Death of Me and You Too! and her weekly advice podcast, Dear Chelsea, distributed by the iHeart Radio Podcast Network.
Handler prepared material for The HBO Max special by performing her stand-up comedy in small clubs on the East Coast.
The special was just over an hour and I had to economize my time, Handler says.
So, a lot of what was left out was repurposed in the new show Im currently touring with. I talk a lot about my dogs and their interest in getting a restraining order against me. They think my housekeeper is their adoptive mother and Im just an au pair who roams through the house every couple of weeks.
Comedy is a serious business, a mostly-male art form often inspired by tragedy or a sense of outrage. Early notable female comedians such as Lucille Ball, Joan Rivers and Roseanne Barr got laughs with self-deprecating humor or narratives about husbands and family life.
But Handler is one of the contemporary female comics who explores a wider realm of topics and mediums. She is bawdy and unrestrained about womens sexuality, racism, drugs and social issues. More than once, she has had to submit a public apology for remarks that crossed the political correctness line.
While that hasnt made a difference in her success, it makes writing comedy a medium that can expose social and political inconsistencies with humor more challenging.
We arent allowed to say what we want, Handler says. Its whatever. I dont subscribe to the theory of we cant say anything. You can say a lot and be very clever about it, so why not try?
This image released by HBO Max shows Chelsea Hander during her comedy special Chelsea Handler: Evolution.
(Associated Press)
Handler has made a career of trying. She has worked as a producer, a talk show host (Chelsea Lately), a sitcom actress (Are You There, Chelsea?) and a stand-up comedian with numerous specials to her credit. Shes authored a half dozen books, most on the New York Times best-seller list.
Im really into language and reading, says Handler, who is currently perusing author Jory Flemings How to Be Human: An Autistic Mans Guide to Life and Bestiary by K-Ming Chang.(Shes also is writing the forward for Shelly Tygielskis Sit Down to Rise Up: How Radical Self-Care Can Change the World.)
I probably read more than people would think, Handler says. Im fascinated by words and language. Thats why I like to communicate in so many different mediums. I like to talk. I like to write. I like to perform. It all works for me and I feel like when you recognize what you are good at doing, then you have to focus on doing that in an honest, authentic way.
Earlier this year, Handler launched the advice podcast Dear Chelsea with co-host Brandon Marlo, who is also Handlers calm and collected personal assistant. Together, they offer advice to callers who submit online questions. She said one of the more interesting calls they got was from a transgender man who struggled with smoking marijuana on a daily basis.
I said, Ill take a 30-day break from weed with you in solidarity, Handler says. He did it and came out to his family. His whole life opened up. Once he stopped, he had clarity and that kind of conversation is very moving and inspiring.
One of the themes in Handlers comedic work is her decision to see a therapist, and she poignantly details her experience in her new book and in some of her comedy routines.
Handler, one of six siblings, was born to a Mormon mother and Jewish father. When she was 9 years old, her 22-year-old brother, Chet, died in a hiking accident a tragic loss that impacted her family life. Handlers mother died 22 years later, from complications due to cancer.
In her book, Life Will Be the Death of Me, Handler details, with the help of her therapist, the steps she took to understand that her fear of loss and unresolved grief kept her from experiencing intimacy.
Though she remains single and still dating, Handler, now 46, states that she is fiercely independent and that she likes that status.
Listen, she says. I have never been more confident in my decision-making skills of remaining childless and alone. Im very grateful for my strategic choices, made on the off chance that I would be living through a global pandemic. Im not stuck at home, either home-schooling kids or plotting the murder of my husband. Talk about seeing the future and knowing what would work for me. I dont want to toot my own horn, but beep, beep.
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Humphreys Concerts By the Bay, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island
Tickets: Sold out
Online: humphreysconcerts.com
Manna is a freelance writer.
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The Story Behind the Movie 21 – Film Threat
Posted: at 5:53 am
As the world struggled to get to grips with a pandemic that kept us indoors twiddling our thumbs, thousands of new hobbies came out, while some old favorites rose from rekindled ashes. Watching movies and visiting online casinos topped the list of preferred pastimes, and the 2008 movie aptly called 21 brings both of these together.
For those of you still in the dark, 21 is another name for blackjack, a popular casino card game requiring some skill, and the inspiration behind the title. Ive tried my hand at blackjack a few times myself with dismal results, so I reckoned watching six MIT students younger than myself become millionaires playing it might teach me some tricks. In fact, after finishing the film, I can recommend that nowadays you can just try this blackjack strategy from home in online casinos. My second reason for watching was Kevin Spacey (who Ive been in love with since American Beauty) and his performance as Mickey Rosa, the genius mastermind behind the whole plot, certainly doesnt disappoint. Hot on his heels comes Jim Sturgess, who plays the lead (Ben Campbell), a broke MIT student who is refused entry to Harvard Medical School due to impossibly high tuition fees.
Based on a true story (the novel Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich), the plot is tight and slick as the game itself from the moment Rosa, Bens somewhat eccentric math professor, introduces the lad to a small group of students who he is training to count cards in blackjack. Spotting a way to pay off his school fees, Ben joins the group for a travel to Las Vegas, for beating the house and making millions with their practised strategy. The ending is rather disappointingly foreshadowed by one of Bens card-counting partners, who predicts that Ben will eventually be overcome by greed and this is exactly what happens. Enter Cole Williams; villain extraordinaire (Laurence Fishburn), whose hatred for Rosa leads him to attempt to ruin all the group has worked for, and youve got a movie that has you forgetting where youve put your popcorn.
Skill and high stakes abound in this movie where the accuracy of the portrayed characters is usurped only by the thrilling Las Vegas ambience. The action at the table is fast-paced and smoother than you would ever see it, hoisting the game of 21 high into realms of richness and mystery. The story is based on real events, and what happens onscreen is not as far removed from real life as others have been. Add the romantic love interest (for what hero could do without one?) and the movie ticks all the boxes.
For me, the best parts all revolve around the table when action was fast-paced and the characters pulled off their best poker faces, although I wished it couldve started off earlier. As a personal fan of The Big Bang Theory, the dialogue was pleasingly geeky, but generally free of jargon, with the soundtrack falling just a little short.
Is 21 worth watching? In a word, yes (if only to watch Kevin Spacey). But, all jokes aside, though 21 may fall short in some areas, the acting is great, the plot interesting, and the blackjack thoroughly exciting. So, even if youre just in it for the cards, thats certainly reason enough.
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‘The Card Counter’ Asks Whether an Abu Ghraib Torturer Is Worthy of a Second Chance – The Daily Beast
Posted: at 5:53 am
While discussing his new film The Card Counter in an interview with Deadline, filmmaker Paul Schrader presented a paradox, both railing against the supposed insidiousness of cancel culture while decrying peoples strong aversion to personal responsibility. What I was trying to capture from this moment, he explained, is this lack of responsibility people seem to have. I didnt lie, I misspoke, I didnt touch her inappropriately, I made a mistake. Nobody is really responsible for anything.
What Schrader fails to realize is that cancel culture is most often invoked by those wishing to evade responsibility (its the culture thats toxic, not me!), and while context is indeed important, it doesnt grant you an indulgence. I am reminded of Bob Baffert, the legendary horse trainer, who blamed cancel culture when his Kentucky Derby-winning horse was found to have tested positive for steroids.
This is all, of course, germane to Schraders latest, which centers on a mysterious card counter by the name of William Tell (Oscar Isaac, more brooding than ever) who, after a ten-year stint behind bars, drifts from casino to casino across the U.S. winning small sums of money at blackjack and Texas hold em. An early sequence sees William pocket $750 counting cards at blackjack before booking a cheap motel room, removing the artwork and devices, and covering all of the furniture in white sheetsfor he is a ghost who lives an ascetic life of cards, sleep, and the occasional glass of whiskey.
Like many of Schraders antiheroes, from Taxi Drivers Travis Bickle to the eco-conscious Pastor Ernst Toller of First Reformed, William is a haunted diarist in search of absolution. And he believes hes found it in Cirk (Tye Sheridan), another lost soul whom God dealt a terrible hand. So, he hatches a plot to make things right: get staked by La Linda (Tiffany Haddish), who bankrolls a stable of card sharks; win a few high-stakes poker tournaments; pay off Cirks debts; and reunite him with his estranged mother.
It is fascinating that the aughts poker boom, ignited by Chris Moneymakers storybook win at the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event, has yet to inspire a single decent poker film (a few eye-hemorrhaging scenes in Casino Royale notwithstanding). The Card Counter wont change this, as it is far more concerned with the burden of guilt than what happens on the feltand because of this, its OK to overlook some of its slip-ups when it comes to the world of gambling, such as misdescribing prize pools, extolling roulette odds, and failing to so much as mention the importance of timely aggression in poker or what makes William such a gifted poker player in the first place other than his steely edge.
Early on in the film, we learn that William Tell is a cutesy alias; his real name is PFC William Tillich, and he served that lengthy prison sentence after he was found to have tortured detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. In maze-like, washed-out flashback sequences shot with a fisheye lens, we see PFC Tillich brutalizing his prisoners and giddily posing with them, a la Lynddie England (who only ended up serving a year and a half behind bars). That PFC Tillich arrived at Abu Ghraib a softer man and was hardened under the tutelage of a Major John Gordo (Willem Dafoe), a sadistic civilian contractor specializing in torture, begs the question of whether he also fell victim to a corrupting systemthough, as Tillich asserts, Nothing can justify what we did.
Schraders film poses intriguing questions about redemption and self-reproach. Given the extreme nature of Tillichs crimes, is he redeemable? Has he served his penance? Should we allow his guilt to consume him, or is he, too, worthy of a helping hand? Isaacand his beautiful head of graying hairdoes a fine job of stirring up pity for Tillich, another of Gods lonely men bearing the weight of our collective sins on his shoulders. His chemistry with Haddish, who provides another way out of his misery, is powerful, culminating in a hallucinatory stroll through a neon-lit park, captured on high by a roving drone. But The Card Counter tips its hand when, during a pool-side tte--tte with Cirk, Tillich draws a parallel between a poker player going on tilt (or becoming consumed by emotion and making a series of bad plays) to force drift, a phenomenon whereby torturers no longer see their captives as human and apply more and more pain. In what world are these two even remotely the same?
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4 Games of Chance with the Best Odds – San Diego Entertainer Magazine
Posted: at 5:53 am
Some people gamble for the thrill of it and dont care about the odds. Others actually like the idea of beating crazy odds for even crazier pots. However, most of us like to get out of the casino with more than we went in. While casino games are about luck, there can still be an element of strategy, and the first trick is knowing which games give you the best edge. Lets take a look at some of the games of chance that offer the best odds.
Roulette might be seen as the quintessential game of chance, but its actually one of the games where the house has the slightest edge. However, you should know that the style you pick will make a huge difference.
For instance, American roulette gives the house a 5.26% edge, which is not very great. European roulette, on the other hand, gives the house only a 2.7% edge. The reason for this is because the American version has a double-zero pocket whereas European roulette doesnt.
Some people still like playing all variations, but they can be difficult to find at your average casino. If youre one of these people, playing online could be a great option. If youre worried about the odds, know that there are plenty of casinos where you can play live roulette. This way, youll be 100% sure that youre getting the same odds as you would in any casino.
Poker is the best game of chance for people who hate gambling. In reality, poker is a game of skill with an element of chance, not the other way around. This is why you have professional poker players that win tournament after tournament or always end up on final tables. That couldnt happen with something like craps, for instance.
There are many ways that you can improve your poker game as well. People attend boot camps to refine their skills, but there are tons of manuals with just as many techniques that you can use. Playing online is also a great way to refine your skills. This will also give you the fundamentals and allow you to play in a controlled environment before playing live.
After poker, Blackjack is the most popular game for players who like to use their skills to increase their chances of winning. Blackjack is one of the games that give the house the lowest edge at around 1%. But some experienced players can reduce that edge to 0.5%.
This is because there are many strategies that you can apply here, and were not talking about card counting, even though its perfectly legal. The best players try to not only get the highest count, but also understand the odds of the house going bust, and use this to their advantage. Blackjacks rules and structure make it a popular game for advantage play, and it has many vulnerabilities that can be exploited by savvy players with good mathematical skills.
Craps may look like its pure luck since youre betting on a roll of a dice. However, what makes craps a great game for odds is the number of side bets you can make. You dont necessarily have to bet on a roller getting a 7 or an 11. You can also bet against the shooter to increase your odds. So, you should spend time learning the rules of the game so you can maximize your chances of winnings.
If you are looking for casino games that give you a real chance to win and apply a little bit of strategy, these are all great choices. The most important strategy you can use, however, is solid bankroll management, so make sure you have that down first.
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4 Games of Chance with the Best Odds - San Diego Entertainer Magazine
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The Top 5 Actors Who Game When Offstage – Film Threat
Posted: at 5:53 am
Its hard to imagine any celebrity having the moment to play games when theyre jetting off to remote islands to work on their next blockbuster, but somehow these picks manage it.
Did you know a surprising number of celebrities are avid gamers? You have to assume the lure of playing comic book and gaming characters intrigues them enough to have them reaching for the controller. Read on for the stories behind our top picks for celebrity gamers.
If youve ever been shot in the head by a guy in a check print suit, congratulations, youve met Chandler Bing, or Benny as his friends in New Vegas know him.
Yes, you might already be aware that the 90s funniest awkward friend was featured as the prime villain in Obsidians 2010 spin-off to the Fallout franchise: New Vegas, but you might not know this happened because he was a huge fanboy of the series.
After telling Ellen that he played so much Fallout 3 that he began to feel the pain of carpal tunnel syndrome take over, and then handing her a signed copy of the game, apparently word got to the team at Obsidian.
Obsidian was famously left to their own devices by Bethesda who didnt think much of the new addition, but with supreme writing, a few gameplay tweaks to elevate the experience and now with Chandler Muriel Bing as the main villain (that isnt a complex ideology anyway) Obsidian released what has been called the best Fallout game in the franchise.
Ah, the woman who doesnt shower, as Mila Kunis will now forever be known, was actually too busy playing World of Warcraft. The Thats 70s Show alum has expressed an addiction to the game that could only be quite cold turkey, by moving on to Call of Duty.
In a 2008 interview she told Jimmy Kimmel that at the height of her addiction she was an active member of several World of Warcraft guilds and that she even had to quit one because a fan in the guild recognized her voice.
It makes you wonder who else is really on the other end of that sword
Oh yes, Jason Bourne is a gamer. Matt Damon let his knowledge of games slip on a recent episode of Hot Ones, saying that he turned down a bunch of money to reprise his role as Americas answer to James Bond in game form.
Damon refused apparently because he wanted the game to not just be a first-person shooter, and that he wanted it to be more like Myst, a graphic adventure puzzle game rife with lore and beautiful locations.
Of course, the game was released without the voice or likeness of Damon in 2008, as a third-person shooter, thank you very much, Matt. It received average reviews, so maybe they should have listened to him.
Matt Damon is also a fan of lady luck, having been known to spend his nights as a professional poker and blackjack player. Most of Matts favourite Blackjack and poker games can be found at NewCasinos, the place where you can enjoy outstanding new casino sites.
Apparently Shazam actor Zachary Levi now has his eyes on the gaming adaption corner of Hollywood. Specifically, hes looking at two stars of the Naughty Dog development company: Uncharteds Nathan Drake and Joel from The Last of Us.
Levi told Brazilian website Cinema com Rapadura that he thought Nathan Drake would make for a very fun role, calling him the next Indiana Jones.
Unfortunately, both The Last of Us television show and the Uncharted film series have now been cast with The Red Viper of Dornes Pedro Pascal playing Joel and Marvels Spiderman, Tom Holland, playing Nathan Drake. But you never know. Maybe Ellies actor will have to drop out?
Vin Diesel is famously a gamer, and as proud of it as you can get, which always brings a chuckle when you consider his brand of muscle-bound, punch your problems away mentality his characters seem to have.
But the family-oriented Fast and Furious star is a big fan of role-playing games, be that on video games like World of Warcraft or with the tried-and-true dice in Dungeons and Dragons.
After lending his voice and likeness to two The Chronicles of Riddick games and a Fast and Furious spin-off game in 2020, he has even gone so far as to put his name as executive producer to video game Ark 2, which is a follow up to Ark: Survival Evolved, an action-adventure survival game set to be released in 2022.
He has even spearheaded a movie based on his own D&D witch hunter character called The Last Witch Hunter, with a sequel confirmed in 2020.
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Slotegrator adds studio Rhino Gaming to its distribution network – Yogonet International
Posted: at 5:53 am
T
he iGaming content aggregator and solutions provider, Slotegrator, announced Thursday that it has entered into partnership with iGaming studio Rhino Gaming.
Rhino Gaming currently offers 13 titles, with new releases added every two months. Its best known products are its slots, with games such as Classic Triple Seven, Diamonds Wild, and Supaball, plus the Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild poker titles.
Rhino Gaming also offers a selection of tables and card games including blackjack, roulette and baccarat.
Operators will also be able to acquire Rhino Gamings set of retention and marketing tools, aside from its back office solution enabling advanced performance tracking.
In an official press release, Henrik Svensson, CEO at Rhino Gaming, commented on this new integration and said: We are excited to be partnering with Slotegrator and believe that our portfolio will perform very well on their vast distribution network.
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Slotegrator adds studio Rhino Gaming to its distribution network - Yogonet International
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Trapped in the self Catholic Philly – CatholicPhilly.com
Posted: at 5:52 am
Richard Doerflinger
By Richard Doerflinger Catholic News Service Posted September 3, 2021
Recently Ive seen television footage of two protests against vaccine and mask mandates. In my home state of Washington, a protester held up a large sign saying, My Body My Choice. A protest in Louisiana featured the slogan Freedom of Choice.
These, of course, have been mantras of the pro-abortion movement: Whatever I choose regarding myself is valid and beyond reproach, simply because its my choice.
Of course ones choices about abortion and the pandemic affect more bodies than ones own, devastatingly so in the former case. But some protesters were probably staunchly pro-life, objecting to vaccines that were developed (or later tested) using a cell line from an abortion performed decades ago. How must they have felt, seeing those slogans?
For me, that question leads to political, cultural and even spiritual reflections.
Libertarianism emphasizing individual freedom and some distrust of government power has always been part of American politics.
In recent decades, both major parties have embraced it to some extent, applying it differently: Democrats favored a strong government in economic matters but maximum freedom on moral issues of life and sexuality; Republicans favored the free market economy but defended traditional norms on the social issues.
That seems to be breaking down. Corporate America promotes the freedom to choose ones sexual orientation and even ones gender; and formerly pro-choice Democratic politicians work to force others to fund and even perform abortions.
Culturally this has been a long time coming. Social commentators once called the baby boom generation, born during the prosperity after World War II, the Me Generation. But some of the boomers descendants make them look socially responsible by comparison.
In the 1980s, sociologist Robert Bellah and philosopher Charles Taylor called the dominant worldview of our time expressive individualism. It sees persons as atomized individuals, who fulfill themselves by expressing their inner truth so they can invent their own destiny and even identity. Personal autonomy is the core of the person.
Law professor O. Carter Snead points out in his impressive new book What It Means To Be Human that on matters of life, death and procreation, this tends to reduce human relationships to contracts for mutual benefit, discarded when they no longer serve ones personal goals.
Even the human body becomes a mere instrument for achieving those goals and vulnerable people at the beginning and end of life who cannot freely express and pursue such goals may not be persons at all.
Snead shows that this ignores fundamental aspects of the human condition. We are embodied beings, not sovereign wills trapped in prisons of flesh. Our very existence depends on the love and care of others, beginning with our parents, and our flourishing depends on our learning to give and receive love.
What does expressive individualism make of religion? It can accept being spiritual but not religious spiritual wayfaring can be yet another way to advance oneself, and there is no religious authority to contradict that. But it has a serious problem with the Judeo-Christian claim that human flourishing comes from my loving God above all, and my neighbor as myself.
As Bishop Robert E. Barron says, Your life is not about you is a central Christian message. Jesus says to take up our cross and follow him, that we must lose our life to save it. Explaining the Sign of the Cross, Msgr. Ronald Knox used to say that its vertical gesture spells I and its second gesture crosses that out.
Nothing could be more alien to the self-absorption typical of our culture. Which means that nothing is more desperately needed.
***
Doerflinger worked for 36 years in the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He writes from Washington state.
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Trapped in the self Catholic Philly - CatholicPhilly.com
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