Gambling at Casinos in Romania

The only legal form of gambling in Romania is in casinos, so it doesn't look like Romania's casinos have much competition for the gambling dollar. This is something of a change for the country, as until 1989 it was run by a rather unspeakable dictator called Nicolae Ceauscescu. Certainly nothing as liberal and open as allowing people to do as they wished with their own money would have been allowed. This meant that while there was indeed easy cards tricks gambling (as of course there is everywhere), it was underground, in the black economy. When there was an uprising and the dictator, alongside his wife, was shot, then the country started to move back into the more normal state of affairs. Legalizing gambling, allowing Romania's casinos to start up, was an obvious part of this process.

A list of Romania's casinos includes:

Arad: Casinoul Astoria Arad

Bucharest: Astoria Casino

Casino Blindo Hotel Sofitel

Casino Bucharest Hotel Inter-Continental

Casino Bucur

Casino Kings

Casino Palace

Casino Paris & Hotel

Casino Victoria

Casino Vox

Grand Casino

Lido Casino & Lido Hotel

Marriott Grand Hotel & Casino

Mirage Casino Hotel Ambasador     marked cards

Perla Princess Casino

Planet Princess Slot Casino

Plaza Casino Club

Princess Casino Havana

Constanta: Cazino

Felix: Casino Salzor

Galati: Sofin Hotel & Casino

Iasi: Bond Casino Mokdova

Mamaia: Casino Best

Rimnicu Vilcea: Casino Royal

Sinaia: Hotel Palas

Peles Castle and Casino

Timisoara: Casino Senitor

Casino Sterling

As you can see, there is a thriving casino sector. However, it does need to be said that Romania's casinos might not all meet the usual description of a casino. Many of them have no gaming tables at all, or do not offer roulette, or have other omissions. Some of them have only video poker games and similar electronic games available, for example.

In common with much of Eastern Europe and the ex-Soviet Union these days (and Romania, despite the 1989 events, was something of a slow starter), there are a goodly number of people who have made very large sums of money very quickly. Some legally, some not, and some in a grey area inbetween. Romania's casinos are a frequent stopping place for all three of these groups, and it does pay to find out which are the best casinos in any specific town you are visiting.

In the best high quality Romania casinos, you might still find those who have made their money all too quickly, but you will be assured that everything from the decorations to the quality of the food and the drink will be of the very best.

Is investing in stocks equal to gambling?

Many people believe that putting your money in stocks is equal to gambling. But is it? The answer is yes and no.

There are people in the Indian share market who treat the trading as a means to make quick money. They will buy on rumors or tips from friends, relatives, online forums in the hope of making a fast buck. They may have not even heard of the stock they want to buy. They have no use for fundamentals, state of industry or economy. They dabble in penny stocks. And they always have unreasonable expectations of return, without a true appreciation of risks. This sort of trading is in a way gambling trick cards.

There are millions of other investors who make informed decisions while buying stocks. These decisions may be based on technical analysis, fundamental analysis, financial, understanding of a company, understanding of risk and reasonable expectation of return. These investors aren't gambling. They are basing investment decisions on a proper study of the markets, prices and weighing the risks.

These investors usually have a long term perspective on the Indian share market. They don't check live online prices every few minutes on the stocks they own. They are, usually, indifferent to short-term price action. And have no use for rumors and ‘insider' tips.

Of course, profits are never guaranteed in the share market. But, informed investors lower the risk of loss juice cards and reduce the chance aspect in their investments.

Another fundamental difference between stocks and gambling is the ability to cut your losses. Consider that an individual bets on a number in roulette and loses. There is no way he can cut his loses. The money he has invested is gone. However, if the same individual buys shares of a company and tracks the stocks, which can be easily done by observing and analysing online share prices, he/she can pull the money out if he/she senses a risk of the stock losing value in the future, or minimise losses if the share price comes down.

Gambling whether on stock markets is a zero sum game. There is no creation of new wealth. Whereas investing in the stock markets is a way of providing funds to companies to provide services or manufacture products. And over the long-term leads to wealth creation. Hence, it is not a mere transfer of wealth from one hand to another, but creation of new wealth. 

Top Gambling Strategies for Craps

When you want to come out of a craps game like a winner, having a sound strategy is second to none. The game of craps is crazy and loud and extremely changeable. Nobody knows for sure what numbers are going to come up on the rolls, and so many bets can be made on the table that you are going to lose all your money in a flash if you don't have a strategy going into the marked cards game.
You just need three basic things for a good strategy: a calm attitude, a solid betting scheme, and proper bankroll management. The most important thing here, in my opinion, is bankroll management. How you manage your gambling money during play will mean the difference between cleaning out and walking away a winner. No need for complexities here, folks. Just set a limit on how much you are prepared to lose, and even by how much you should win. Lots of people go into a game without a set limit, lose their initial bankroll, then keep playing to regain their losses, losing more money than they were prepared to lose in the first place.

Sometimes the opposite is also true. You may get a good start on the game and keep on winning until you reach a good enough amount. It's time to walk away, but you've decided to keep at it since you're "hot", but then the tides turn and you go on a losing streak, losing all your winnings and including your initial bankroll. This is the reason why bankroll management is so important.

Let's use a bankroll of $800 as an example here. Pretty good bankroll if you ask me. Now let's suppose that you've had a bad day and you lose it all. You've set your limit at $800 before you got into the game, remember? So you should have no problems walking away from that day's losses. Don't ever try to stay and win your money back at that exact time and day, because it's almost guaranteed that you'll end up losing more money than ever easy cards tricks. Now, if you've set a winning limit of $300 to $400 and you do win, it's a wise decision to take your winnings and play with them from that point forward. You're still playing, but this time it's the casino's money you're playing with, and your own money is still safe in your pocket.

Now let's get into the game itself. You are allowed to bet as many as you please in a craps game. There are so many bets to be made in craps, but some of them aren't even played by more experienced players because of the high improbabilities of these bets ever winning. The best bet that i can recommend here is to play the passline bet on the come-out roll, then after the point is established, you can play the come bet. You will not win huge amounts here, but then again, you won't run the risk of losing big either. This is not the bet to make if you're looking to make a pile of cash in a short time. There are other strategies for playing that offer bigger rewards, but the risks are also higher.

The last piece of advice I can give you is to stay calm and composed throughout the game. This is especially important if you're losing. You are gambling, remember? So there are certain risks involved here, and there are no guarantees that you'll always come out a winner. Anyway, much of the excitement from gambling is that you always stand to win or lose with every roll of the dice or turn of the card, so remember that and have fun.

Gambling And Super Powers

X Ray Vision:
The ability to see thru other objects would be a great help in casino games such as poker, blackjack, and baccarat. You would be able to know what every other player had in their hands and what the next cards to be dealt were. So you could know when you should fold and when you should raise the bet in poker. You would know when to bet on the house and when to bet on the player in baccarat and when to hit when playing Blackjack. This ability would not really help much for roulette or craps. 
Invisibility:
This super power easy cards tricks may be good as a teenager to sneak into the locker room of the opposite sex, but it definitely is not the best for gambling in a casino unless you are working with a partner. With a partner you could find out what the other players have in their hands for poker, and in Roulette the invisible one could stop the ball on a certain number or could move your bets to the winning number as soon as the ball stops on its own.


Rubber Dude:
The power to stretch and bend could be really cool and it can be helpful in a casino, but you have to be careful. If you are going to move your bet on after the dice has been rolled in craps you have to be careful there are 4 people that work at a craps table watching you, but it can be done.

The Thing:
The things super power was that he was made of stone and had almost unlimited strength. This would be good if he wanted to become a professional wrestler or an UFC fighter. He would be undefeatable. How to you punch something made of stone. What submission hold works on rocks, but how strong you are is no advantage to cheating in a casino.

Manipulate Fire:
This would not be a good power for casino gambling. There is lots of wood in a casino and a small fire could quickly become a big hotel fire trapping and killing thousands.

 

Speaking to Animals:
This would be really cool if you were trapped in the woods or if you fell off a boat or from an airplane, but unless you are playing poker and there is an aquarium or some caged animal behind the other players I really do not see the advantage juice cards.


Kinesis:
If I could pick any power at all I would want to be able to move small and large objects with my mind. This would allow me to cheat at craps and roulette by manipulating the outcome of the game without anyone seeing.

Telepathy:
This super power would fall right under X Ray Vision because you would know what everyone had in their hands, but you could never know what was the next card in the shoe like you would if you could see thru things. So this would be helpful but not the best one to have.

Super Hearing:
The only way I can think of to make money with super hearing in a casino would be blackmail. I am sure people talk about things they should not discuss in public in a casino thinking they are safe with all the noise of the casino.

The Flash:
If had the ability to move faster then the eye could see, you could have a big advantage in a casino. You could change your bets or change the cards in your hand without anyone being able to see you

Mind Control:
This would be one of the best of them all even better then X Ray Vision. It would not matter what you had in your hand you could make everyone think you won. This is the only super power that would work in an online casino, and that is assuming that you can control the minds of people who may be across the world.

If you should ever gain a super power you should know nothing says you have to use it for good. 

Cutting in Card Making

Some of us could have this traumatic experience when we were still little kids and we were asked by our teachers to make a handmade card, one boring afternoon. Of course, we are all excited. Making a card is new to us and at a very young age, we are already overflowing with ideas. Card making knows no rules or boundaries. We could do whatever we want with our cards trick cards.

However, when we are already in the process of card making, things start to get messy. Many ornaments and decors won't stick the way we wanted them to be. Our so-called masterpiece is not working as planned. Little by little, it has become a complete failure. Our output at the end of the class is certainly not the card that we visualized hours back. What could even be worse is that we are already dead tired after the activity. We are all tired, stressed and yet our output is even more toxic to look at. Not to mention that we got a failing mark with that piece of garbage.
What could be more painful that? Putting your heart and mind into something and yet it ends up as an eyesore or worse garbage to someone else's perspective. After such horrible experience, who would want to work in a card making project again, right?

But then again, we should not dismiss card making altogether. It may have had our heart broken once but certainly, there is still a chance for us to come up with a beautiful and attractive card. We could also take into consideration that now that we are already older, we already know better. We already know the tricks of the trade. And without us realizing it, we could have already known some things that we should have known when we were asked to work on our first card making project once upon a time.
In working on a card making project, our best friend should be our scissors. Cutting is the most prominent activity or skill that is required in a card making project. If you don't know how to cut or you don't have a durable scissors to work for you, then you are all set to fail. Indeed, scissors forms a very integral part of the card making process.
Now, we already know better. We are somewhat familiar with the different kinds of scissors available in the market. Specialized cutting tools like the craft knifes and trimmers would work well in achieving our planned card making concept. It would also be better and smooth if we would use cutting mats, which come in various sizes and are available at any craft stores.

10 Questions with Team PokerStars Pro Ville Wahlbeck

Ville Wahlbeck is fifth on Finland’s all-time live tournament money list, and unquestionably one of the greatest mixed-game players the country has ever produced.
He’s cashed at the WSOP 12 times, including winning the $10,000 8-Game Championship in 2009.
He also once told us he was quitting the pro poker grind.
As of late Wahlbeck has been focusing on cash games but he told us he’s itching to get back on the live tournament scene.
We spoke to him about prop bets, tournament plans and the changing landscape of online poker in Finland in our latest Q&A.
PokerListings.com: What’s the biggest prop bet you’ve ever made and did you win it?
Ville Wahlbeck: Overall I think I am a small winner in my golf bets. And other prop bets also cheat poker.
I did win a good one two years ago when I bet quite big that I would make more than 33 out of 100 three-point throws (European lines). I got a nice extra from everything over 33.

"It's always nice to see Juha's face after he loses a bet."

I was far from certain if I'd make it since it had been years since I had touched a basketball and I never actually played the game. I only liked to shoot some baskets every now and then.
But it wasn't even close because I scored 46. The joy of winning was increased by the fact I collected from Juha Helppi, and it's always nice to see Juha's face after he loses a bet.
I also have a funny prop bet in football, where Theo Jorgensen and Johnny Lodden both have to make at least 6 out of 10 penalties against a national level goalie. I'd say Theo has a small chance and Johnny is close to drawing dead, so I'm expecting to collect that one too.
Who are a few young Finnish up-and-comers, who we might not know but who you think will be big poker stars?
There are many young Finnish players trying to work their way up. I'm a bit hesitant to name any because I don't really know if they would like it, so I leave it in secret.
Why does Finland keep producing some of the world’s best high-stakes players, even though it’s a relatively small player pool?
I agree that there are loads of Finnish players in high-stakes games at the moment. But I would say the main reason for this is that PLO has taken over NL as the usual high-stakes game.
And in Finland PLO has a long tradition, and obviously it is much easier to develop your game when you’re playing against good opponents.
Is there something different about the Finnish playing style compared to other Nordic countries?
Not much. There are some spots where I occasionally notice differences, but it is nothing major. I would say the difference is in experience.
Most of the Finns that are playing in high-stakes PLO games these days play hundreds of thousands of hands each year. They don’t have many leaks in their game. They have good game selection and they don't tilt.

"I think by far the best value is to play less known poker variations with a slightly smaller buy-ins."

Some might play only heads-up or three-handed and some focus on six-handed games. Some like to play with full buy-in and some prefer to shortstack. Everyone seems to be playing according to their strengths.
Have the fields changed much in big buy-in tournaments in games like HORSE and 2-7 since 2009 when you had so much success at WSOP?
I'd certainly like to play more big buy-in tournaments in HORSE or 8GAME, but unfortunately it is not possible. They play them only during WSOP. So I can't really say much about how the fields are since I can only play them once a year.
What games still offer good players the biggest edge in bigger live tournaments like the WSOP?
This is a good question. For a good all-around player in WSOP I think by far the best value is to play less known poker variations with a slightly smaller buy-ins like $1,000-$2,000 dollars, like 10-Game tournament, Razz or a Omaha Hi/Lo tourney.
They have a relatively big number of participants, but more than half the field is clueless and a solid player has a great chance to make a deep run.
The same goes with smaller NL tourneys in general. It is much easier to make a score in a $1,000 dollar EPT side event than in the main event.
What are you focusing on in your poker game these days?
Mostly cash games, but I'd like to start playing marked poker a bit more tournaments.
What are the biggest goals you still want to accomplish in poker?
Another bracelet or a win in an EPT main event would do fine :)
What kind of image does poker have in mainstream Finnish culture? What do people in Finland say when you tell them you’re a poker pro?
Being a poker pro is more "normal" than what it used to few be years ago. But I still think poker pros’ images to the mainstream are more glorified than it actually is. People don't understand how much practice and dedication playing poker professionally really takes.
What are your thoughts about PokerStars.eu and what impact it will have for Finland?
It is simply great. I expect more Finnish players to move their action to PokerStars now that it is working under EU license.

Live Blog: Ivey Goes for 9th WSOP Bracelet

Phil Ivey is at his third final table of the 2012 WSOP and we're shipping full coverage of it in our live updates of Event 24, $5,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Eight or Better.
Click here to follow Ivey's latest run at his 9th WSOP bracelet.
***Update*** Sunday June 10: Phil Ivey finished second, losing to now two-time bracelet winner Andy Frankenberger, in Event 17, the $10k Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship, .
Click here to read step-by-step coverave of Phil Ivey's latest bracelet run.

Friday, June 8: Phil Ivey Eliminated 7^th in $5k Stud Hi-Lo ($34,595)

The unthinkable has happened. Phil Ivey has been eliminated. 

Even when Ivey was down to less than one big bet we still had high hopes. After all, he’s Phil Ivey.
But it wasn’t to be. Despite doubling up just a few hands ago Ivey was in need of a serious infusion of chips. He went after those chips in a hand against Todd Brunson but couldn’t put the cards together to earn himself even half the pot.
Ivey’s final hand began with Adam Friedman bringing it in with the 2♦ and Ivey completing with the A♥. Brunson and John Monnette also came along, with the 3♠ and Q♣, respectively.
Brunson bet on fourth street and only Ivey called. Ivey check-raised all-in on fifth street and Brunson called.
Ivey was ahead for the high side with a pair of sevens but Brunson had a wheel draw and an ace which he could pair.
Brunson nailed his straight on seventh street to scoop the pot and send Phil Ivey home in seventh place.
Ivey narrowly misses his ninth bracelet, but records his 23^rd WSOP final table.
And with that we are done live blogging Ivey’s quest for his ninth bracelet. Hopefully he will make another final table so we can pick this up again marked cards.

Ivey Rallies with Emergency Double

Phil Ivey is staging a comeback. He was down to less than one big bet but now, after chopping an all-in and then doubling up, he’s back up to 68k (almost three big bets!)
The first hand saw Ivey all-in on third street with (A♠ J♣)2♦ against (9♦ 8♥)3♦. By seventh street Ivey had paired his ace, good enough for the high, while Brunson had made an eight-low to take the other half.
Just a few hands later Ivey was all-in on fourth street with trip nines against Ziyard’s trip sixes. Neither player could pull out a qualifying low and Ivey pulled the 68,000 back to his corner of the table.

Bonus Ivey Photo Gallery

Ivey in Critical Condition

Phil Ivey is on life support at this final table. The eight-time bracelet winner is down to his last few bets and already found himself all-in once, chopping to stay alive.
He lost a moderately-sized pot to Adam Friedman before shipping the majority of his stack to Zinman Ziyard.
The hand started with Sven Artzen bringing it in with the 2♦ and Ivey completing with the 5♠. Ziyard raised with the A♦ and only Ivey called.
Ivey check-called one bet on fourth street, got a free card on fifth and check-called again on sixth.
Ziyard: (X-X) A♦ 7♦ 6♠ J♥
Ivey: (X-X) 5♠ 5♦ 2♦ K♦
Both players checked seventh street and Ziyard showed A♥ Q♦ 5♣ and Ivey threw his cards to the muck.
Ivey was down to just 35,000 after that hand.
Not long after, Ivey was all-in against Nikolai Yakovenko. The hand started with Todd Brunson bringing it in and Yakovenko raising. Ivey called all-in and Brunson folded.
Ivey showed A♣ J♥ against Yakovenko’s A♦ 2♥.
By the time all the cards were dealt Ivey had made a pair of eights to take the high while Yakovenko’s six-low was good for the other half.
Ivey is still very much in danger.

Ivey Makes Final Table

We’re down to the final eight players in this event and Phil Ivey is sixth in chips with 230,000.
Here are the final table counts as eight-handed play gets going:

• Adam Friedman – 707,000
• John Monnette – 686,000
• Sven Arntzen – 549,000
• Nikolai Yakovenko – 343,000
• Todd Brunson – 259,000
• Phil Ivey – 230,000
• Bryn Kenney – 207,000
• Zimnan Ziyard – 203,000

On the way to the final table Ivey got in a few big pots, mainly against recent bracelet winner John Monnette.
The first pot saw Monnette get bets in on every street, scooping the pot with an eight-high straight and an 8-7 low.
Not long after, however, Ivey managed to take a few chips back from Monnette.
Ivey check-called bets on every street and bet out on seventh with(X-X) 4♥ A♠ 4♠ T♣ against Monette’s (X-X) K♣ 8♥ A♦ 9♣.
Monnette folded to Ivey’s final bet and Ivey chipped back up to 260k.

Ivey Battles Bari, Outlasts Hellmuth

Phil Ivey started Day 3 of this event sixth in chips with 234,000, just a few thousand chips in front of 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth.
Ivey is a mixed-game powerhouse at the WSOP. He's got eight bracelets and every one of them was won in a non-Hold'em event.
In 2002 Ivey won three bracelets and two of them were in Stud events, including the $5k Stud Hi-Lo event he's playing in today.
Today Ivey's first real taste of action was against 2011 bracelet winner Allen Bari.
Bari was short and doubled through Ivey to get his day off on the right foot. Bari then lost a big pot, which was a blessing for Ivey since Bari doubled through him again just a few hands later.
The second double-up started with Ivey bringing it in with the 2♦ and Bari completing with the 8♦. A third player called and Bari bet fourth street when he received the 4♦. Only Ivey called, now showing 2♦ 6♠.
Bari check-raised all-in on fifth street and Ivey called infrared ink. They turned over their hole cards.
Bari: (7♦ 3♥) 8♦ 4♦ Q♦
Ivey: (4♥ 2♣) 2♦ 6♠ 5♦
Bari managed to spike his flush on seventh street and with neither player making a qualifying low Bari got the double.
While Ivey's day got off to a rough start he did manage to outlast Phil Hellmuth.
The Poker Brat had been feuding with Adam Friedman since this event began and the two didn't pull any punches this afternoon.
Hellmuth was crippled in a previous hand against Alexander Krapivinsky but it was Friedman that took the last of the Brat's chips
Friedman and Hellmuth played a big pot to seventh street with Friedman making  a flush for the high and a six-low to scoop the entire pot.
Shortly after, Hellmuth was all-in with a pair of nines on third-street against Friedman’s A♠ T♠ 2♠. Friedman paired his ace to scoop and eliminate Hellmuth.