Of course, we gamble online mainly to entertain ourselves but we all have to admit that it is a lot more entertaining when we win. The smart thing to do is not to count on winning but there is nothing wrong with focusing our attention on the games where the odds are the most on our side.

Craps has the lowest house edge of all with only .60% advantage to the house. This doesn’t mean it’s the easiest to win but it’s the closest thing to even chances with the house.

Blackjack is next on our list with the house edge only .80%. Couple that with it being more of a game of skill and you have much higher odds of winning playing blackjack than most other casino games. Maybe that’s partly responsible for it being one of the most popular online casino games.

Baccarat as a banker has only 1.17% house edge while as a player it goes up to 1.63%, still not bad as odds go. This game isn’t as popular as blackjack mainly because the game is more complex to learn.

Pai Gow Poker comes in at a very respectable 2.5% house edge. As with any form of poker, skill counts for as much or more of your chance of winning as luck does.

Roulette brings the choice of American wheel or European wheel styles. When it comes to reducing house edge, you’ll want to go with the European style so that the house advantage is only 2.7%

While anti-gambling rhetoric would have you believe that compulsive gambling, or gambling addiction, is a widespread problem among all gamblers but this is not the case. The percentage of gamblers who let their love of gaming take over their lives is actually very small. The opponents of gambling also try to say that online gambling is more addictive than land based gambling but there isn’t a shred of scientific evidence behind this.

Many cases of those who do encounter issues caused by gambling are not truly compulsive gamblers but those who had poor judgement but want to remove responsibility for their actions. It’s more soothing to say you have an addiction than to just admit that you did something stupid. Not to say gambling addiction doesn’t exist because it does and there are things that you can watch for, either in yourself or others, that may indicate a real problem.

Preoccupation with gambling can be a sign of trouble. Talking about strategy or past betting all the time instead of other topics is a symptom of preoccupation. This also carries over to spending more money and more time gambling and this will grow as the problem worsens. If you or a friend are lying to family members about the amount of money or time spent on gambling, that is a sure sign of serious trouble. The numbers of truly addicted gamblers may not be as large as rhetoric says they are but the problem is quite real for some people.

With today’s mobile technology, each generation of mobile device gets more and more powerful. Today’s cell phone is more like a miniature computer than just an ordinary phone. With the wireless internet access and large networks, people are doing things that used to be reserved for the home computer. One of those things that has grown in popularity the past few years is mobile gambling.

Many of the top online casinos offer a mobile gambling application now. You simply download the software to your mobile device and within minutes you could be playing one of your favorite games. The newer the phone, the more likely that it will be compatible with the applications but be sure to read all the specifications at the online casino site.

Each online casino will have a list of compatible devices so it’s a simple matter to read down the list and see if yours is on it. Each platform could have different requirements so be sure to read the details on each online casino that you are interested in. If your device isn’t compatible, it would be a good idea to note which ones are so when you are ready to upgrade, you will know which one to get.

Once you have the application downloaded to your mobile device, it usually is only a matter of minutes before you can be playing. If you don’t already have an account with the casino, you will likely be prompted to do so first. If you are already a member, most of the time you can just log in with your usual information and you’re good to go.

I have always been an avid reader and lover of words. I like knowing where the word or phrase came from and why we say things the way we do. Combine that with a love for gambling and it’s a match made in heaven. Many of the words and phrases used in everyday English originated with gambling in some way. There are some phrases that we all know came from gambling, such as “you bet” or “when the chips are down” but there are many that most people are surprised when they learn where the phrase came from.

Hazard – The word means to risk or expose to danger by definition but it came from the Arabic phrase meaning “the dice”. During the Crusades in the Middle Ages, the Europeans picked up many dice games from the middle eastern and Asian peoples they met. As time went on, dice became the tools of gamblers and hustlers so became associated with the danger of losing all your money.

Across the board – This phrase originated at the turn of the century in America and referred to a bet on a horse to win, place or show in the same race. The bets were marked on a sheet (called a board by the bookmaker). Now of course, it mean to embrace all categories without exception.

Put my two cents in – This comes from the phrase “put my two bits in” which referred to the ante in a typical poker game in the old west days of America. Two bits equalled fifty cents at the time. Through the years, it has come to mean putting your opinion into the discussion.

There are, of course, many more terms and phrases that are in popular use with roots in gambling in some form. As I find more, I will be sure to save them to share with you in a future post.

I see a lot of comments from people complaining because the online casinos won’t give them their winnings via credit card. I’ve even some go so far as to accuse the online casinos of trying to stiff them or scam them out of their funds. That is simply not the case, or at least in most cases. The online casinos cannot refund more than you actually deposited via that credit card. It’s not a policy that they chose but one that is forced on them by the credit card companies.

The credit card companies must follow extremely strict regulations when it comes to what they can and cannot do. They must comply with the law in every country that they do business in and that can be a tightrope by itself with the wide variations from country to country in the banking laws. The biggest reason they will not do this is to not be facilitating money laundering.

Money laundering is when you try to take illegally obtained funds and put them through legitimate businesses to cover the trail and make the money look clean, or legal revenue. The credit card companies have no way of knowing where those funds came from when you try to refund more than you deposited. It would cause far too high a burden on the company and the casino to do all the documentation that would be needed to prove the legitimacy of the funds.