German Notes

featured9 400x253 - What Went Wrong: EA’s Loot Box as Gambling Debacle

Blog

April 29, 2018

What Went Wrong: EA’s Loot Box as Gambling Debacle

Pretty much every gamer who loved Star Wars was definitely looking forward…

Gambling

March 29, 2018

Four Simple Ways to Enhance Your Chances at Placing the Right Bets

Have you ever made a bet with anyone regarding a particular event…

Gambling

January 29, 2018

Pitfalls About: Know About These Three Common Gambling Mistakes

Gambling is not without its risks and pitfalls. What is good about…

Gambling

March 29, 2018

Four Simple Ways to Enhance Your Chances at Placing the Right Bets

Have you ever made a bet with anyone regarding a particular event…

Blog

February 28, 2018

How to Successfully Gamble with Your Friends and Not Make Enemies?

For a lot of those who gamble, it is pretty much an…

Gambling

January 29, 2018

Pitfalls About: Know About These Three Common Gambling Mistakes

Gambling is not without its risks and pitfalls. What is good about…

Gambling

December 14, 2017

Online Gambling Guide: How to Spot Good Websites

Gambling online is a great way to unlock new gambling experiences. When…

Blog

April 29, 2018

What Went Wrong: EA’s Loot Box as Gambling Debacle

Pretty much every gamer who loved Star Wars was definitely looking forward…

Gambling

March 29, 2018

Four Simple Ways to Enhance Your Chances at Placing the Right Bets

Have you ever made a bet with anyone regarding a particular event…

Blog

February 28, 2018

How to Successfully Gamble with Your Friends and Not Make Enemies?

For a lot of those who gamble, it is pretty much an…

What Went Wrong: EA’s Loot Box as Gambling Debacle

April 29, 2018January 6, 2018 webadminBlog, Information

Pretty much every gamer who loved Star Wars was definitely looking forward to the release of Star Wars: Battlefront II. That was, until everyone realized the massive black hole of funds it was turning out to be. It was around November 2017 that the game was finally released and everyone who lined up to buy the game was highly excited to try out being Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker.

What Happened?

What everyone got was a game that was designed to pretty much keep the players spending in order to progress with the story. Players were all introduced to the idea of having to purchase loot boxes in order to have the chance to obtain certain characters or items. While this does not sound so bad if you are Electronic Arts, the whole world clearly thought otherwise.

Like we pointed out before, gambling is defined as putting up something of value for the chance to get something of value in return. As many legal bodies would come to agree, EA’s loot box platform does qualify as gambling. Some may be able to argue that microtransactions have been a part of other games especially in mobile platforms. What a lot of people forget is that there is a critical difference between microtransactions in mobile games and EA’s attempt.

Image source: starwarsgaming.net

Difference between Microtransactions for Mobile Games and EA

Mobile games will let you know exactly what you will be getting with their microtransactions. What EA did with Star Wars: Battlefront II was to give people no control over what they were getting when they purchase a loot box.

Of course EA does not think that their loot boxes should be considered as gambling. However, they do accept the fact that there was such tremendous backlash on their pay to win system. After several other games that did not exactly meet player expectations, it just seemed that most consumers simply had enough with EA’s antics.

Food For Thought

The very idea that even certain aspects of video games are now being labeled as gambling is, of course, worrying to a lot of individuals—particularly those who are parents. While we think that EA’s decision to put in a pay to win is pretty reprehensible. As for the loot box debacle, the definition of gambling does fit the loot box that Star Wars: Battlefront II.

In our opinion, game developers and large companies like EA really need to stop with the whole incomplete games (Downloadable Content) and paying more in a game that you already purchased as a whole.

Four Simple Ways to Enhance Your Chances at Placing the Right Bets

March 29, 2018January 6, 2018 webadminGambling, Information

Have you ever made a bet with anyone regarding a particular event or outcome? It could be something as simple as betting which sibling would get asked to take out the garbage or which classmate would get the highest grade again. If you answer yes, you’ve already done “sports” betting. Betting on sports is an activity under gambling that has a lot of supports around the globe. Winning at it may seem capricious and down to one’s luck but that is not necessarily the truth.

Betting on sports does have bit of a trick to it and if you follow these four tips, you can find your odds of winning going up a little bit higher:

Study the Sport

There are a billion things that affect the outcome of a sporting event. While you cannot have a direct hand at influencing it, you can watch up for the signs and changes through the seasons. Team dynamics always plays a part at getting good results. When you want to make a bet on a particular team, it would be important for you to analyze how well they’ve been doing in the past few seasons. Who was a part of the team back then? What was different about the other teams? These little questions will help you build a profile regarding the team and their potential performance.

Try Out Different Betting Platforms

Most physical locations simply offer the odds and leave it up to the bettor to take it or leave it. Other platforms like online gambling often offer in-depth analysis and actual graphs that can help bettors track the past performances. Trying out different platforms will help you see which one you would be more comfortable with.

Avoid Emotional Betting

When placing bets on certain teams that you follow, it can be easy to let your emotions overrun your decision making. However, when it comes to betting, it is always important to leave your emotions out of it. Make sure that you only make grounded decisions when it comes to spending your money on anything that has to do with gambling.

Continuously Refine Your Analysis

Let experience be the greatest teacher when it comes to placing bets. When you do manage to get a winning bet, do not let yourself grow overconfident with your abilities or the team that led you to victory. Always make sure that your analysis is evolving, otherwise you will end up making bad and antiquated decisions.

Food For Thought

Betting on sports does not have to anything difficult or complicated. It is an activity that can provide a lot of insight regarding old and new sporting events around you. While choosing a team or particular result can seem daunting, all it takes is a little bit of effort and you can be more confident about your choices.

Infographic source: wagerminds.com

How to Successfully Gamble with Your Friends and Not Make Enemies?

February 28, 2018January 6, 2018 webadminBlog, Gambling

For a lot of those who gamble, it is pretty much an established desire to play with friends. However, as money is on the line, tempers might run a bit on the high side. So how do you gamble with or against friends and not make enemies of them?

Game night with friends can become a pretty special tradition. Everyone has to deal with a lot of stress in their daily lives and having a fairly regular get together to decompress and have a bit of fun is important. When people gamble with friends, the atmosphere is naturally a lot different than those in casinos. It should ideally be more relaxed and informal.

That being said, when people get too comfortable some bad habit naturally slip out. This is out of the belief that friends will be naturally more tolerant and forgiving. Whenever money is involved, this is another story altogether. In order to avoid sticky situations when gambling with friends, you can try some of our own tried and tested techniques:

Keep the bets and antes to only a specific maximum

When everyone is in agreement that maximum antes per hand or round should only be a friendly amount (like $10 to around $50), no one really has to worry about losing a large amount of money. That way, everyone can simply enjoy the evening. This is something that many of us adhere to in our own personal game nights with close friends.

As gamblers, we all know that antes can stack up pretty high. However, having a set maximum should keep a nice cap at the level that one may lose.

Try avoiding the use of money altogether

One of our writers regularly hosts a game night for her friends at her home. She solved the issue of money causing friction by using colorful chips without any actual monetary value. She and her guests feel more relaxed and get to place the focus on enjoying the game and each other’s company rather than keeping a sharp eye on their earnings and losses.

Food For Thought

At the very heart of it, gambling is a social activity. At the very core of us, human are very social creatures. It only makes pure sense to combine the two—especially when it involves people that you like and trust. When you play with friends, it is natural that you would still want to win. In the end, you need to ask yourself what is more important: winning or your friends.

Pitfalls About: Know About These Three Common Gambling Mistakes

January 29, 2018January 6, 2018 webadminGambling, Information

Gambling is not without its risks and pitfalls. What is good about them is that they can be prevented—or at least lessened through careful preparation and knowledge. Today, we take a look at three of the most common gambling mistakes that pretty much anyone can make if they are not careful about it.

1: Playing a Mismatched Game

In the world of gambling, there is a LOT of games that any player can choose from. Some of them may wholly rely on luck while some of them require quite a bit of skill. A mismatched game is one that does not fit your current skill set. If you know nothing about technical skill games, you and your wallet would be better served by learning about it first before letting your “luck” lead your way. No matter how lucky you actually are, if you do not know how a game is played, you have very little chance of winning. Not to mention that you will also inconvenience other players.

2: Dulling Your Senses with Substances

When you play at a casino or gambling hall, you may be offered refreshments. In certain establishments, actual alcohol can be served. It would be in your best interest to keep that to a very minimum. When you dull your senses with drinks or narcotics, you up the chance of making bad calls on your bets or games. When you gamble, make sure that you do so with a clear mind. After all, you are spending your hard earned cash. It would be best if you are not so flippant about it.

3: Breaking Away From Your Gambling Budget

When you play and you seem to be on a winning streak, it can be quite tempting to keep on going despite the fact that your established gambling budget has already been depleted. Any smart gambler will tell you to separate your winnings from your gambling budget. That way, you do not end up overspending. When you break away from your gambling budget you put yourself in a very perilous situation.

Food For Thought

Knowing what to avoid is the first step in not making those mistakes. If you DO happen to make the mistakes anyway, at least you will know how to bounce back from it and what you should not be doing again. Life is all about learning from your mistakes and passing on the lessons to those that come after us. We hope that the mistakes we have listed are not ones that you have encountered before and will not encounter in your gambling experience.

Going to Macau for Gambling? Remember these Cultural Rules!

December 29, 2017January 6, 2018 webadminBlog, Information

Gambling is pretty great in itself. Being able to visit other countries in order to experience their gaming offers is pretty special too. When you do go to other places, it is important to stay in line with their cultural rules.

Don’t: Tip

One thing that you should learn before you offend any feelings is that you do not tip in Macau. This stems from the Chinese practice of only billing what is owed by the customer—not anything more. Although there are hotels that do practice tipping because of their international staff, it is generally not practiced.

Don’t: Speak Loudly

Locals are generally soft spoken and shy of foreigners. It is considered to be highly rude if you talk quite loud out in public. Even when you are calling the attention of staff at a restaurant or an establishment, it is often affronting to the locals if you do it quite brashly.

Do: Follow the Dress Code

Most, if not all, of the casinos and gaming establishments in Macau have strict dress codes. If you want to be let into most polite establishments, we suggest that you find out before hand what their dress code is and dress accordingly.

Don’t: Tap Your Bowl with Chopsticks

Of course if you are going to travel somewhere, it is important to know etiquette when it comes to meals. While there are western eating utensils available, chopsticks are still the preferred utensils. So when you happen to be in a place where eating with chopsticks is the norm, make sure that you take steps to understand what should and should not be done. Always remember that food is served in a revolving manner, if you are offered food, you should try it. If you have any allergies, do let your host know beforehand so they will know what not to serve you.

Don’t: Maintain Eye Contact for Prolonged Periods of Time during Greetings

Chinese individuals often lower their eyes as a sign of respect. If you are presently greeting someone, avoid keeping long eye contact as this is perceived to be rude. The last thing you would want is to offend the wrong type of person.

Food For Thought

Macau is under Chinese law and they are pretty strict with their laws. As such, it is important that you avoid any mishaps that may cause any misunderstandings that can mar the experience. Take to heart the information we have curated for you and you will not have to worry about anything that would rob you of having a good time.

Online Gambling Guide: How to Spot Good Websites

December 14, 2017January 6, 2018 webadminGambling, Information

Gambling online is a great way to unlock new gambling experiences. When you gamble online, it is important to check if the site you go to is actually legitimate. When our technology evolved and gave birth to the digital platform, it was inevitable that crooks and criminals would step up their game. As such, it is crucial that you know how to tell apart the good sites from the bad ones.

Good Sites Are Professionally Made

Legitimate websites will spare no expense into making their platforms user friendly as possible. Legit websites will be made by teams of actual web developers that will always be on-hand to standby for any issues that are reported by patrons. If the site you are looking has a lot of missing information or half made pages, you should be wary.

Good Sites Have Working Contact Details

Legitimate websites will always list down their contact information. However, there will be sites that put in contact information just for the sake of having them. In order to make sure that the gambling site you use is legitimate has working contact details. Before you sign up, make sure that you can actually reach the emails or phone numbers that they listed. After all, if you cannot reach them from the start, how sure are you that you can reach them when you actually need them?

Good Sites Have a Lot of Positive Feedback

If you do an engine search of the name of the site you’re using, you must be able to read feedback about it. In the age of the internet, everyone is all too willing to share their opinions. As such, you can always find information from forums and articles. It would be important to be discerning of where you read the glowing feedback. If the information you read seems highly manufactured, best to not trust it.

Food For Thought

While online gambling is completely convenient, it is still important to never let your guard down. It is highly important that you make sure that the website you choose to use is above board. We have heard a lot of people who honestly thought the website they has signed on with was legit until it was time to play or pull out funds. We would hate for that to happen to you.

As such, take a good hard look at the site that you are presently signed on with for online gambling. Is everything legitimate?

Infographic source: betbubbles.com

Hum That Tune! Four Songs That Are Actually About Gambling

November 29, 2017January 6, 2018 webadminGambling, Information

Gambling has managed to integrate itself into various arts and entertainment. Not only is gambling represented through movies but they have captured the imaginations of various singers and bands through the years. With gambling being a regular part of our culture, it is certainly not surprising that there would be a LOT of songs that are inspired and written about gambling.

We’ve rounded up a few songs that heavily feature the hobby of gambling.

The Gambler – Kenny Rogers

Always trust country music to bring about some of the most iconic songs about gambling. When you listen to the song it tells the tale of a gambler telling his son how to play poker. Knowing when to hold, fold, walk away, and run are all pretty useful pieces of advice that anyone can use when gambling. What is great is the fact that these tips can also be applied to everyday life. If you are a fan of the TV series Supernatural, you will automatically think of Bobby Singer when you hear this bittersweet tune.

Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts – Bob Dylan

One of the classics by the incredible Bob Dylan, this song makes use of gambling as a metaphor for the highly complicated story that it carries. The nearly nine minute song transports the listeners to a word where gambling, crime, and jealousy are the name of the game.

Desperado – The Eagles

It seems that if there was anything to support the claim that poker is the most played card game in the world, the songs written about it would be proof enough. This little ditty sang by the legendary group The Eagles is all about poker references and tongue-in-cheek correlations to other things in life. Who ever said that gambling cannot teach you good lessons needs to listen to this song!

Good Run of Bad Luck – Clint Black

A song from 1994, this country hit talks about all the potential hazards of letting your tender feelings lead when you “gamble”. The talented Mr. Black makes use of gambler jargon to use as the tools to tell his tale—which invariably ends up as a love story. This song makes a feature at the gambling themed movie Maverick.
<span style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" data-mce-type="bookmark" class="mce_SELRES_start">?</span>

Food For Thought

Songs about gambling often carry lessons in them. As you may know, singers and other artists often utilize their personal experiences to make songs that just speak to their listeners. Just like the songs that we have listed above, the artists made use of gambling to convey other messages that anyone may be able to relate to in their daily lives.

Which song about gambling do you like the most among the ones we’ve listed above?

Taking Suitable Care: How You Can Gamble Smart From the Start

November 14, 2017January 6, 2018 webadminGambling, Information

It is true that there are millions of individuals that meet unfortunate incidents while gambling. However, if you take the time to arm yourself with proper knowledge, you can gamble smart right from the start. These tips are ones that we have carefully curated over the years of our own personal experiences.

Set a Budget Solely For Gambling

When you start out, it can be easy to use whatever money you have access to. This, however, is the start of a big mistake. When you decide that you are going to gamble, it is important that you set aside a budget dedicated for it. That way there is a shield between your gambling money and the rest of your money that is supposed to go to monthly responsibilities.

Start with Games of Luck

Gambling is a combination of luck and skill. When you do not have much of the skill yet, it would be good to start out with games of luck. These are the slot machines, roulette tables, and even to an extent, the lottery.

Invest in the Hobby

When you are planning to make gambling as something that you do on a fairly regular basis, it would be good to invest in it. By invest, we mean put in more time and effort rather than money. Study up on the different sort of ways that you can improve your chances of winning. Better yet, learn about the ways that you can lessen the odds of you getting scammed out of your hard earned money.

Food For Thought

Staying on the responsible side of things is always the best way to approach anything that has risk. This applies to more than just gambling. Many of us have had our own negative experiences and how we dearly wished that we knew these tips when we all started out.

Moving forward, we all hope that these tips all find you in good health. Staying responsible is key to unlocking better experiences and sustainable gambling.

Infographic by: casinouk.com

Starting With the Basics: What Exactly Is Gambling Anyway?

October 29, 2017January 6, 2018 webadminGambling, Information

Just saying the word “gambling” is enough to illicit a myriad of responses from people. While some would be positive, an overwhelming amount is usually negative. Why is that exactly?

Gambling as an Activity

By the truest definition of the word, gambling is all about putting something that you value (usually money or pride) on the line without an assurance of getting the result that you want in the end. It is, in the strictest definition, a risk. Gambling, as an activity, has been spotted throughout history. Many of the early civilizations had gambling as part of its culture.

If you have heard of the gladiators of Old Rome, that was a form of gambling! Gladiator owners all pit their fighters against each other, putting something on the line and the winning gladiator to establish the outcome.

In more recent years, gambling is seen more like a vice which leads millions to ruin—at least, that is what every pearl clutching aunt will tell you. However, it takes a gambler to really tell you what gambling is all about.

Gambling as Something Positive

Gambling is the gateway to certain experiences that a lot of people do not get to undergo. While it is something that you can earn from, this is not the sole reason why people gamble. It is the entirety of it. The sights, sounds, friends that you meet along the way, the thrill, and uncertainty! We admit that it is not for everyone but this does not mean that you should not give it a try.

Food For Thought

Despite the age that gambling has, it is still met with a variety of factions. There are those that simply believe that gambling is something that we are all better off without. There are those that are now willing and able to look past the old beliefs—to see the actual positives that this brings to more than just our own interests. With this article we have reflected our understanding and approach toward gambling.

Now is our turn to ask: what do you think gambling is exactly?

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Apr
	1	2	3	4	5	6
7	8	9	10	11	12	13
14	15	16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25	26	27
28	29	30	31