For years, I wouldn’t look at any online casinos. I’d play online bingo. I’d try online poker and more recently, I started playing online backgammon which I’m not so good at, but I would never play regular online casino games. My friends would tell me about winning at online slots, or how they were amazing at Pai Gow or Caribbean Poker, but I’d never try any of those games.

Know why? I’m a social person. I like to socialize. When I play online bingo, there are plenty of people to talk to. Online poker - same thing. Even backgammon sites will let you chat with other players, but when you’re playing the slots, there’s no one to talk to.

Lately though, a few of my friends have been telling me about some online casinos that let you play table games with a live dealer and multiple players. So I decided to check it out. I set a time with a friend, and we got a private table for my induction into this novelty. And there I was, at a real table, playing Caribbean Poker with my buddy. Guess what? It was great!

I didn’t even win, but I had a great time. I think these new live-dealer games are totally amazing. I just really enjoy the interaction, not to mention getting to root for my friends while I play.

It’s great to be able to play blackjack, roulette, and craps with my buddies, and I’m already having a much better time with all those table games than I ever could have imagined, but there’s still no motivation for me to play slots or video poker or keno. I suppose it would be easy to make Keno a multiplayer game, but that leaves video poker and slots as a separate issue.

So I’m wondering, what will come next? I mean is there room for multiplayer slots? How would it work? Could we compete against other slots players? Could we have chat screens working when we’re at the slots? Would it be fun to chat with other players when we’re playing slots or would everyone be too focused on their own slot machine?

For me, though, the new trend of live dealers and multiplayer games has opened up a whole new arena of play. I used to enjoy some of the table games at live casinos, and I’m much better at blackjack than I ever was at Texas holdem, so it’s already done wonders for my budget!

I actually wonder what makes people interested in single-player games. I mean, it must be really lonely and pretty boring just clicking at a screen without talking to anyone or rooting for your friends. Why would anyone want to play that way? Am I shortsighted? I wonder, am I different from most gamblers or is this a trend that works for pretty much everyone? I hope it’s the latter, because I really hope to see more and more online casinos open up chats and multiplayer games in the future!

Three-card poker is a popular addition to the casino world that combines two games in one yet is still simple to play. The game was invented during the early nineties and has rapidly gained popularity ever since in both Internet and earthly casinos. The two parts to Three-Card Poker are called “Pairlus” and “Ante and Play”. Players can place bets on either or both of these games in each round on the same dealt hand. Play is against the dealer in Ante and against a list of winning hands in Pairlus.

Three-Card poker is played with a standard 52-card deck and the order of play for Three-Card poker is as follows: First players make their Ante and/or Pairplus bets. A player can make a bet on either or both parts to the game. The dealer then gives each player and himself three cards all dealt face down. Players can then examine their cards and play continues differently for the two parts of the game.

Players in the Ante game must decide to either fold or raise with a ‘play’ bet depending on the strength or weakness of their hands. A raise is equal to the original Ante wager. The dealer then displays his hand and compares it to the players. The dealer must qualify his hand by showing at least a queen or higher. If the dealer doesn’t qualify the player wins even money and the raised bet is pushed.

If the dealer does qualify then the higher hand wins based on an order of poker hands that is comparable to other types of poker. So for instance, a straight flush would be the highest hand and so on down through three of a kind, a straight, a flush, a pair, and a high card.

If the player’s hand beats the dealer then both the Ante and the play bets pay even money. If the dealer has the higher hand then both bets lose. A tied hand is pushed.

The Pairplus bet is paid out according to a displayed table of possible hands similar to the way video poker is paid out. The better the player’s hand ranks on the list the higher the payout and top end hands can have payouts of up to 40 to 1. There are slight variations in the payout tables at different casinos. The player’s hand is all that matters and the dealer’s cards are irrelevant.

Strategy in Three-Card poker can be quite easy. If you have a queen or better and with at least a six and a four you should raise your bet. The reason is that this hand is a borderline hand. If you are holding cards lower than the six and four your chances of losing go up by enough to not make it worth the raise.

On roughly two out of three hands the dealer will qualify so your singleton cards are important. If both the dealer and player are holding a queen it will be down to the remaining singletons to decide the hand and the six and four put you just above halfway up the rank of hands.

Online gambling is a big attraction. It is convenient because you can play from home and it is cheap because the minimum stakes are more than affordable. The attraction can be fatal because first time winners want to keep on winning and first time losers want to recoup their losses.

Most players get over this initial fascination and get into a healthy realistic rhythm. But there are those who get carried away and waste their time and fritter away their earnings in an unending bout of online gambling. Hence it is essential to know how to gamble responsibly so that you do not fall into the trap. There are three kinds of personalities that have found to characterize compulsive gamblers.

The first consists of those who do not have a reality check. They live in a dream world and even before they start online gambling they have planned what they will do with their winnings. Itineraries for round the world trips have been planned and real estate to be purchased has been located. Some have even identified charities to which they will donate funds. Unfortunately the funds never materialize.

The second characteristic is emotional insecurity. People who find it difficult to interact with other persons are very comfortable sitting in front of their monitors. They have few emotional needs themselves and do not know how to respond to the emotional needs of others. Video poker makes no emotional demands on them and it is one happy relationship till the bill starts mounting up.

The third characteristic is the get rich quick bug. Those who believe that they can become rich without blood, toil, sweat and tears are likely victims of compulsive gambling. Responsible gambling is to have self-imposed mechanisms in place that will prevent you from being sucked in the whirlpool of compulsive gambling.

You are crossing the line if you are wagering tomorrows lunch money on “red” in roulette. You are crossing the line if you are postponing the economics assignment due tomorrow for one last fling at blackjack. You have already crossed the line if you are borrowing to deposit in your online account. And you have already crossed the line if your wife is preparing the divorce papers.

If you are too far gone then do not worry. Organizations like Gamblers Anonymous, Responsible Gambling Council and the National Center for Responsible Gaming are at hand. The first thing you have to accept is that you cannot gamble again. Unless you are prepared for that you rehabilitation will not begin. Counseling and interacting with others in your position are mechanisms used by these organizations to cure compulsive gambling. But the only lasting solution is to develop another interest to replace online gambling.

I believe that prevention is better than cure and have my own mantras. If I win I set my original bankroll aside and splurge the rest. I do not gamble to pay the installment on my loan or my credit card bill. And if I lose my bankroll I open up a can of baked beans instead of eating out that night.

It seems like only yesterday when this fun game started appearing in Casinos in the United States. As you might expect from the name, Caribbean Stud Poker got its illustrious start in the Caribbean. It eventually worked its way onto cruise ships and one day the game finally docked on U.S. shores.

This exciting game is now offered in just about every casino, both online and in the real world. It’s usually considered a party game, because, like Blackjack, everyone is playing against the dealer.

Caribbean Stud Poker is played on a Blackjack-style table and seats multiple players. If you’re playing the game online, you might be the only one playing-some online casinos are offering multi-player games now.

The layout for the game has three main betting areas. First, there’s the Ante spot, which is where your initial wager goes. Next there’s the Bet spot, which is why you bet to stay in the game-more on this later. Finally, there’s the progressive jackpot wager slot. When you drop $1 into this slot, you’re entered into the progressive jackpot.

Quick Game Play

In other articles, I’ll go over the game play and strategy in more detail, but for now, let’s run through the general game play of Caribbean Stud Poker.

Before the hand is played, you must enter a wager. The lowest betting limit I’ve ever seen in the real world is $5. You might find limits lower online. So, let’s imagine that you placed $5 on the Ante spot.

Next, you need to decide if you want to be entered into the progressive jackpot. If so, put $1 into the slot. You can’t be entered into the jackpot after the hand is dealt.

After all players have made these two moves, the hand is dealt. You’ll be given five cards. This game doesn’t have many big decisions. Unlike video poker, there are no draw cards, so these are the only five cards you’ll get. At this point, you need to decide if you think your hand will beat the dealer’s hand or not.

You can choose to fold now and lose your Ante wager, or you can stay in the hand and place a Bet wager. This new wager is equal to two times the Ante wager. So, if you made a $5 wager to start the hand, your Bet wager would be $10.

After all players have decided, the deal flips over his or her hand and bets are either taken or paid. At this time, any progressive winners are paid.

Time to Learn More

This article was just a quick intro to Caribbean Stud Poker. In other articles, I’ll go further into detail about playing the game, including progressive payouts, game decisions, playing strategy and more.

For now, I hope I’ve wetted your appetite for this fun game.

I’ll admit it. I like playing Pai Gow, but it can be lonely. Walk through just about any Vegas casino and you’ll do some work to spot the Pai Gow table(s). This “Americanized” version of an ancient Chinese game isn’t as popular as it should be.

Pai Gow is growing among gamblers, but in the real world of limited floor space, it still takes a backseat to Craps, Blackjack, Roulette, and even Three-Card Poker. I think many players stay away, because the name of the game confuses them. Pai Gow just sounds intimidating, but it isn’t.

I’ll submit to you that learning to play Pai Gow is fairly straightforward and simple. If you learn to play, I’ll bet that you’ll be having a lot of fun with the game right out of the gate.

The Pai Gow Table

Pai Gow is played on a table that’s similar to Blackjack. So, if you play Blackjack, this should make it more comfortable for you to start. The game has six seats for six players and the dealer spot, which is at the top of the table just like Blackjack.

Each player’s spot has three game areas, which are vertically one after the other. The first game area is where you put your wagers and this spot is on the top. Next, you have two areas for your cards. You see, once you get your cards, you’ll split them into two hands-this is where the magic happens.

The two card areas in Pai Gow are for your highest hand-bottom game area-and the 2nd highest. These are two hands that you’ll create. This is where strategy plays in and we’ll go over all of this in other Pai Gow articles on this site. Right now, let’s just concentrate on some simple basics and build a good foundation for enjoying this fun game.

Quick Play Information

I’m not going to run down play in detail here, but I will in other articles on this site. Let’s go over the general play flow of Pai Gow.

Pai Gow is played with a regular 52-card deck, like Blackjack can be, but there’s one change. Pai Gow uses one joker card. If you’ve played poker or video poker, you’re already set, because the winning hands work pretty much the same way-we’ll go over this and the couple of differences in another article.

Even though there are other players in the game (possibly), everyone is playing against the dealer-just like in Blackjack. You’re betting that your hands will beat the banker’s hands.

Ah, now here’s where we need to pause. I said the banker’s hand. Unlike Blackjack, players can get the opportunity to be the banker. As a player, you can accept or decline when it’s your turn to be the bank. But, again, I’ll go over this in more detail in another article.

Get Excited

I hope you’re curiosity is up just a little. Pai Gow is an exciting game to play and I’ll be teaching all the ins and outs on this site.