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Here is one of my latest ‘bad-beats’:

Playing Omaha the flop is 7-7-10 and I have pocket 10’s. I check the flop to see if I can spot someone with a 7 and maybe they will bet and I will make some cash. Nobody bets the flop and a K comes on the turn, the first player bets $200 and I raise all-in, an extra $290. We open and sure enough he had 7-K. The river comes and low-and-behold it is a 7….bad, bad beat. This is a friendly cash game and bad beats ussualy get a scratch-and-win lottery ticket but there was none left.

I was thinking I maybe should have bet $100 on the flop but I would have gotten called by the same player because he had trips and no matter what I bet on the turn (if I had more cash) he would have had to call, so I guess I was destined to lose that hand. Feel free to leave comments about your own bad beats.

 So who likes to play games? I do, I do!!! Seriously I am 40 years old but I love to play all sorts of games. I remember when I was young, a pre-teen, my favourite game was monopoly and something called ‘Movie Makers’. I was actually able to find that one on Ebay a few years ago and might break it out to play with my kids soon.

These days you can find a zillion games by heading over to your nearest web browser any typing in free online games, your search will yield tons of great time-wasters from racing games to card games.

One way I have been spending quite a bit of time lately is playing online poker, it is a lot of fun but can be quite addicting. I mostly limit myself to mirco (small bet) tournaments of $1-$2 but I still can manage to lose $50 on a bad week.

A very lucky gambler has made one million pounds, or about $1.97 million, from a 50 pence ($1) bet, British bookmaker William Hill said Saturday.

The man, who William Hill has not identified, correctly guessed the outcome of eight horse races Friday, beating odds of two-million-to-one.

He walked into a William Hill branch in the north England town of Thirsk and placed wagers on eight horses in eight different contests in a so-called “accumulator bet,” the company said.

His first win came when a horse called “Isn’t That Lucky” won the 2:55 p.m. race at the Sandown track, southwest of London. By the time “A Dream Come True” crossed the finish line at the Wolverhampton racecourse in central England later that evening, the man had won 1 million pounds.

William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe says the man was oblivious to his win when he came to a different William Hill branch Saturday to place more 50 pence bets. Sharpe said the man had not won any of Saturday’s wagers, losing 2.50 pounds.

“If he does it another 400,000 times we’ll have it all back,” Sharpe said.

William Hill, one of the biggest players in Britain’s gambling industry, operates more than 2,000 betting shops across the country. I have never heard of that type of play but what a fantastic fluke.

Some nice news for Obama last month when a federal judge has allowed Nevada Democrats to hold presidential voting in casino hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, potentially helping Sen. Barack Obama in the next round of the campaign on Saturday.  For the first time, Nevada Democrats planned to set up nine locations for Saturday’s vote so casino shift workers, who are largely represented by a union that endorsed Obama, could attend caucuses and vote for a presidential candidate.

The ruins of the Bethlehem Steel plant in Pennsylvania are of great interest to many history buffs. The plant is embedded in U.S. history, having had a role in everything from arming U.S. warships, to providing materials for some of the countries best architectural achievements. A deal for an $800 million casino complex on the site may give history fans the chance to learn the story of one of America’s most important industrial companies.

The new slot machines casino, to be opened by the Las Vegas Sands Corp., will open it’s doors early in 2009, and it is hoped that the financial boost from the casino will help to pay for expensive maintenance work on the site so that the historic buildings can be opened for public display.

Sands has already saved 20 buildings from demolition, and many people are now petitioning for public access. ‘’It’s a terrific opportunity,'’ said history professor Howard Gillette from Rutgers University in New Jersey. ‘’Bethlehem tells the whole story of industrialization in America, and de-industrialization.'’

Sands have expressed support for the idea of telling the Bethlehem Steel plant’s story. They have already dedicated one of the oldest buildings – the Stock House, which dates back to around 1860, to the city for use as a visitor’s center.  Great to see a casino taking an interest in preserving history.

In Illinois, The State Appellate Court have ruled that the law which allowed the Emerald Casino firm to move its operation to Rosemont does not prevent the Illinois Gaming Board from revoking the firm’s gambling license.

The Emerald Casino firm has been fighting for years to open a branch in Rosemont, and had its license revoked in 2005 after an investigation found that officials had lied to state investigators and sold shares to investors with ties to organized crime rings.

Emerald had appealed against the ruling, citing a law passed in 1999 which they believed gave them the right to open a casino in Rosemont. The ruling, given this Monday by a panel of the District Appellate Court in Chicago was unanimous.

The ruling was praised by Illinois attorney General Lisa Madigan, who said that it helps ‘protect the interests of the people of Illinois against unsuitable individuals operating casinos.’ No one from Emerald was available for comment, although Emerald have asked to appeal the ruling to the Illinois Supreme Court.

If they lose the appeal, then the 10th casino gambling license will become open, allowing an expansion of gambling in the state – something that is presently under discussion as lawmakers consider allowing another land-based casino in the area, as well as slot machines at race tracks. Other options for the expansion of gambling in Chicago include the increasing of the number of riverboat casino licenses available.

So yesterday I went to the casino to play 5-10 limit hold ‘em and here are 10 reasons I like playing there as opposed to an online casino.

1 spot - mid 40’s hippie, plays a lot of hands and likes to roll his eyes everytime he got rivered, which was often.

2nd spot - young asian guy, talked non-stop about how if he could just win a couple more big hands he could go home.

3rd spot - angry shaved head guy, liked to complain everytime someone beat him with crappy hole cards.

4th spot - Nice old guy, around 65-70 years old, good balanced player caught a lot of nice hands.

5th spot - Moi, pretty tight but plays some ‘flyer’.

6th spot - Nice older lady, British accent missed a lot of straights and flushes, lost around $400 during the few hours I was there.

7th spot - Middle aged Asian guy, pretty tight and quiet.

8th spot - Late 50’s, also quiet and tight player.

9th spot - Very tight middle aged guy likes to smile and talk to him neighbours a lot, only plays ace-picture or higher.

10th spot - Very tight player, middle aged with a little slcked back hair. Also likes to play ace-picture and better.

11th spot - My buddy, loud annoying….won the first hand after sitting down and called out he had “nuts” which was really 7th nuts. Everytime he won a hand he would tell the dealer to “ship” his chips.

The point is that sometimes sitting in at the casino can be fun and entertaining, where as the online casino can be a bit boring. At the end of the night I lost $60 but had fun.

As mentioned below I do love to gamble. I remember my dad taught me to gamble around the ago of 10. We used to play poker with monopoly money and he would tell me what hands beat which and some of his expert strategies. It was a nice father-son bonding experience and it has led to a life-long interest in gambling. I live in Canada so it is not always easy to go out to a casino, since the closest is around a two hour drive, so playing in an online casino is very appealing. A few of my concerns though are whether the casino’s are honest and offer me good value for my gambling dollars.

One of the best ways to protect yourself and to make sure your online casino experience is a good one is to do a little research. I often go to websites that reveiw online casinos and keep track of which are recommended and which are best to avoid. So far all my online gambling experiences have been positive but I am still down around $900 for this year. Hopefully lady-luck will shine on me before 2008 rolls around.

Hi and welcome to my hobby! My personal hobby is gambling, I just love the idea of pitting myself against the house in a battle of wits to try and come out the winner. Blackjack is my game of choice and I have studied many books on the subject. The reason I love blackjack so much is because if played properly the house only has a very slight edge, less than 2.6%. Which means with proper play and good money managment I am able to win more often than not.

Personally I like to play blackjack in person at a brick and mortar casino. But with the popularity of online casino gambling I get a chance to play a lot more. Tuesday nights is my online blackjack night and nothing (except maybe a hot-date) ever gets in the way. My limit is $20 and if I turn it into $100 I quit. So far for the year 2007 I am up a grand total of $330!! Not much I know but I love the thrill of winning and beating the casino.

“A Harvard Law School professor best known for defending the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers and for helping parents sue chemical companies in a case popularized by the film “A Civil Action” has a new cause: poker.

“Charles Nesson wants governments to relax restrictions on poker players. He has formed the Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society with some of his students to promote poker as a fun learning tool and to redefine it as a game of skill, rather than a game of chance.

“‘I’d like to legitimate poker as an educational instrument,’ Nesson said. ‘It’s a great way to learn and practice the skills of seeing what things look like from another person’s point of view.’

“Locally, Nesson wants to loosen Massachusetts’ limits on small-scale poker tournaments.  With the number of poker tournaments shown on TV I think this is a natural extention.