Everyone in gambling talks about it but it remains an obscure muddled subject. The topic is further muddled by those who confuse money management with sure-fire betting systems almost all of which lead to a precarious crossroad where more and more money is risked in the misguided hope of recovering that which is already lost. In the long history of gambling, from the earliest recorded history to the modern era, there has yet to surface a single betting system that is a proven winner. Like the medieval quest to turn lead into gold and water to wine, all attempts have failed. These systems have exotic names like Martingale, Grand Martingale, Fibonacci, D'Alembert but don't be fooled. The most logical money management system is simple but effective: bet less when losing and more when you are winning. Casinos understand that if you are losing, the chances increase you might "chase" your losses with even larger bets to get even. The worst time to start throwing larger bets out is when you are losing. You are probably not thinking clearly and would do better to change tables, lower your bet, or stop altogether.If you find that you are winning steadily, try betting a little more. Even betteradvice is to leave when you have won. If your initial buy-in was for $100 andyou have doubled your money, you could do a lot worse than leave. You might thinkyou are giving up potential losses but the odds are with the casino that thelonger you stay and play, the better chance you have of losing it. In the gamblingworld, there is nothing worse than winning some money, then losing it and more.

Basic Rules of Play
Players place their bets prior to the cards being dealt. Tables and onlinecasinos will have a minimum bet required to play the game. Once all bets areplaced, each player and the dealer will receive two cards. Starting to thedealer's left side, the cards are dealt in a round one at a time to each playerending with the dealer receiving his second card face down. Depending on thegame, the player's are either dealt their cards face up or face down.

Each card in Blackjack has a certain value. Card between 2 and 10 simply havetheir face value regardless of suit. Jacks, Queens and Kings always have a valueof 10. An Ace can count as 1 or 11 depending on what is most beneficial to yourhand.

Player's add the value of their cards and either decide to "Stick" or"Stand" with their current cards or receive another card, called a"Hit" or "Draw," hopefully raising their total closer to 21without going over.

Once all players have decided to "Stand," the dealer reveals the facedown card known as the "Hole" card. If the dealer's hand is between 17and 21, he or she may not draw any additional card. If the dealer's hand is 16or below, cards must be drawn until the dealer's hand has a value of 17 orhigher.

Blackjack Bets
Blackjack can be won in a few different ways. If your first two cards total 21,you have Blackjack and win 3:2 odds (A $5.00 wager pays 7.5 additional dollars)on your bet automatically unless the dealer draws Blackjack as well causing atie or a "Push." In the case of a tie, no money is won or lost. Youwin if your hand is closer to 21 than the dealer's hand. This type of win pays"Even Money" meaning that you win the same amount of money that youwagered. A $10.00 wager wins 10 additional dollars. Finally, if the dealer"Busts" or has a hand that exceeds 21 and your hand is less than 21,you win!

Double Down - A double down allows you to double your wager while youstill only have two cards in your hand. You are required to take one more cardonce you double down and cannot receive any additional cards after this. A handthat initially adds up to 10 or 11 is often the hand to double down on. Why? Theten card is the most frequently occurring card in the game of blackjack.Remember that the 10, Jack, Queen and King all have the value of ten multipliedby all suits. Because of this, there is a high chance that the third card thatyou receive will have a value of 10 bringing your hands value to 20 or 21.Pretty smart.

Splits - You can double your stakes another way by using a split. If youroriginal cards are of the same value (Ex. 7 and 7 or 9 and 9), you can splitthese two cards into separate hands creating two hands and a second bet equal toyour original bet. You now are playing two hands separately and increasing theirvalues by hitting each hand until you are ready to "Stand." The payoutfor winning on a split is always 1:1 or even money even if you have Blackjack.This is due to the fact that you did not get Blackjack using your original twocards.

Insurance - Insurance bets are not recommended for the basic player, asthe odds of winning with this type of bet are low. Insurance bets can be made ifthe dealer's face card is an ace. The dealer might have blackjack meaning thatyou automatically lose unless you also have blackjack, forcing a"Push."

Buying insurance means that you are protecting yourself in case the dealer hasblackjack. A $20.00 bet would cost you an additional $10.00 in insurance asinsurance normally costs half of your original bet. If the dealer does not haveblackjack on his turn, you lose your insurance wager and the hand continues tobe played normally. If the dealer does have blackjack, you lose your originalwager but win twice the amount of your insurance. In essence, you break even asinsurance pays 2:1 odds. Again, insurance protects you from losing money in casethe dealer has blackjack.

The Roulette table is composed of two sections, the wheel itself and the betting layout, better known as the Roulette layout. Heading the layout design is a space containing the figures 0 and 00. The main portion of the design is composed of 36 consecutively numbered rectangular spaces, colored red and black alternately, arranged in three columns of 12 spaces each, and beginning with 1 at the top and concluding with 36 at the bottom.

Located directly below the numbers are three spaces marked 2 to 1. Along one side of the columns are rectangular spaces marked 1st 12, 2nd 12 and 3rd 12. Further outside are spaces labeled 1 to 18, 19 to 36, Odd, Even, and two diamonds colored Red and Black. Each space, individually or in combination with other spaces, represents a possible wager.

The Roulette wheel, has 38 small compartments, called canoes, divided by partitions called frets. The compartments correspond to the numbered spaces on the table layout. Pairs of odd numbers are alternated with pairs of even numbers and individual spaces alternate between black and red. The two zeros are green in color and are placed at opposite ends of the wheel.

The wheel is set into motion by the Roulette dealer, called the croupier, and a small ivory ball is sent spinning in the opposite direction around the inside rim of the wheel. As the ball and the wheel begin to slow, eventually the ball comes to rest in one of the 38 canoes and represents the winning number.