If you are new to casino gambling, chances are, you’re thinking that you are surrounded by aliens who speak a different language. Newbies often complain that the only thing they understand is the word “bet”. But don’t make the mistake of asking because by doing so, you attract unscrupulous individuals who will soon drain your pockets. Like most industries, casinos also have their own jargon and vocabularies. To avoid confusion and to get the most of your time in a casino, here are the most common casino speak you might hear the next time you go casino gambling.

To start off your casino gambling vocabulary, here are key money terms you should remember. “Action” refers to the cash wagered by a specific player within the game. This means activating the money or putting the money into play by betting. The term aggregate limit means the sum of the pay-outs the casino lost in any game. Aggregate winnings are the sum of your casino’s winnings, in other words, the money you lost to the casino. Of course, when someone tells you that you dropped your bankroll, do not reply that you didn’t withdraw anything. A bankroll or “wad” refers to your total casino wagering money. Since you don’t use actual money in placing bets, the bankroll is your lifeline inside the casino so don’t lose it. Contrary to the example, most people in the casino won’t tell you that you dropped your bankroll. You cannot place whole wads in a single bet because most games in the casino use betting limits. These indicate the least and most amounts of moolah you can place as a single bet.

There are several roles you might fill or characters you might encounter within the premises of the casino. If somebody asks if you are an active player, don’t answer that you’re new or whatever. As long as you are in a game or still playing in your current game, you are an active player. Being a banker or dealer means that you get to shuffle and deal the cards to the other players, so don’t sit and stare stupidly when given the deck and declared the banker. Pity the poor souls who are barred from casinos. Being barred means they are not allowed entrance to the casino, ever. Offer consolation when you hear someone in the casino saying that he is a candidate for the Vegas black book — this means that he is persona non grata in any Vegas casino. This is the end of his happy casino gambling days, so buy him a drink.

This is just to start you off with your gambling vocabulary so you won’t be a sitting duck when you go casino gambling. I stress, this list is by no means complete. Read casino books and visit online casinos or frequent casinos to brush up on casino gambling vocabulary. After all, knowing half of what your opponents are talking about is half the battle you would encounter in casino plays.

There are a couple of really good reasons why an internship at a casino or a hotel makes sense for students. The first one is that it gives you an opportunity to try out a working environment before graduation. You may find that you are on the right track as far as your plans are concerned, or the right area of specialization for you may be completely different from what you had originally anticipated.

The second reason why an internship at a casino or a hotel is a good move is that it allows you to show a potential employer what kind of employee you would make. Even if you don’t end up being offered a permanent position at the end of your internship, you will be able to indicate that you have some job-related experience on your resume. This will give you an advantage over someone who has only classroom training.

College and university students enrolled in hospitality programs can get help finding available internship programs. The employer does have the final say in whether you will be hired for an internship program, but colleges and universities have staff members who can help you to target your search to opportunities that would best fit your interests.

An internship can be either paid or unpaid, and you can be hired for one during the fall, spring, or summer semesters. Each program is different, but you can expect the internship will last anywhere from three to six months.

Your academic record will be taken into consideration when you are being considered for an internship at a casino or a hotel. A GPA (Grade Point Average) of 3.0 or higher will likely be needed to show these potential employers that you would make a good intern.

Students interested in applying for internship opportunities at casinos and hotels can also look for opportunities online. Some of them will be posted on job boards. Simply use the word “intern” or “internship” when you are conducting your search, along with the word “hotel” or “casino,” as the case may be. You can also limit your search to a particular location by typing in the name of the city or state where you would like to work.

Another strategy you can use to find available internship positions is to contact a potential employer directly. Many hotels and casinos have internship information listed on their web site. It would be listed in the “Jobs” or “Careers” section of the site.

If there is a particular casino or hotel you are interested in that hasn’t offered internships in the past, you can still approach that employer to see if they would be willing to take you on as an intern anyway. Keep in mind that each employer that offers internships has to start somewhere.

When you are looking for a summer internship program, you are not necessarily limited to local jobs. Internships are available nationally, as well as in such countries as South Africa, Mexico, Ireland, Costa Rica, Germany, Spain, Ecuador, France, and more. If you think you would like to get an idea of what working in the hospitality industry in a foreign country might be like, then one of these positions may be just what you are looking for.

Start thinking about where you would like to spend your internship and start applying early for available opportunities. That way, you won’t be disappointed.

By: Jeff Craft

In the early days of Web casino development may of the site owners and operators were striving to recreate the atmosphere of the big-house gambling centers. Since online casino play takes place primarily at home, designers felt they needed to make the experience as much like a live experience as possible.

Only in the past few months have gambling-industry insiders started to rethink how they present their online sites. Some have even suggested taking a few of the “bells and whistles” away because these extras might distract the online player from the task at hand. For some in the business, this will be a difficult concept to grasp, much less to accept. Casinos have always been well-lit, colorful, fascinating, and even a bit noisy – all by design. Now, a handful of people are suggesting taking this in a new direction.

Much of the argument for making online casino sites a bit more conservative comes from those who style themselves as “serious” players who don’t need the color, lights and bells that a recreational gamer might desire. A couple of industry watchers have suggested a serious survey/research study to determine just what it is players want in their online gambling. Are rich colors and full-motion video the most important details, as opposed to challenging and potentially lucrative games?

For years the belief has been that the atmosphere mentioned earlier – lights, bells, conversation buzzing around us – is what brings players back. If this is true, then online sites would need to recreate this, literally making the computer screen look and sound like the inside of a live gambling hall. There is little doubt that the world of Web-based casinos has grown rapidly, exploding into a major industry in a matter of years. All of this has happened without the familiar surroundings, sights and sounds of those big rooms.

So what is it that has drawn millions of people to the world of online gambling? Is it just the thrill of blackjack, craps, slots and poker? We certainly haven’t enjoyed the camaraderie of other gamblers or the efficient service of a cocktail waitress. Even without these amenities, gamblers seem to be gravitating toward online play. A British study shows that while gambling overall decreased a few percentage points from 1999 to 2007, the number of players online actually increased.

Are players showing a strong desire to play slots, roulette, blackjack and other games at home, without having to deal with the travel and expense of going to a live casino? Is the economic downturn we’re experiencing reaching into the world of live gambling?

In the past, Web-casino designers and managers have had little choice but to provide the same atmosphere as a player would get in a “brick-and-mortar” casino. These designers and managers will still have to provide almost-perfect software and game variety to keep players coming back. But will they have to concentrate so much on casino colors, lighting, graphics and sounds as they did in the past?

Some in the industry say no. As the legendary songwriter Bob Dylan said, “The times, they are a-changin.”

By: Jim Hale

The online casino industry has always been a very competitive one. From 1997 when Intercasino (laying claim to the first casino online) started taking bets to 2000, around 1,500 casinos flooded onto the internet in something akin to a gold rush, and competition for new players was fierce. But the carrots that are now being dangled are a quantum leap from those offered back in the ‘old days’ and a good portion of the increases have occurred in just the last 2 years.

For those uninitiated with the industry, bonuses as the name suggests, are real money contributions made by a casino to a player’s account. They come in many forms and sizes, but the most common is the new player sign up bonus. That is, a player opening a new account with a casino and depositing real money, will have his or her account credited with additional cash following the deposit of their own cash. So if a casino is offering a 100% match bonus capped at $500, for every dollar deposited by the player to $500, the casino will match it dollar for dollar. Some offers are structured to include multiple match bonuses with varying percentage matches for each.

The bonus money is real and belongs to the player, although there are strings attached. In order to prevent players signing up and then immediately withdrawing bonus funds, there are always ‘times wagered’ conditions attached. Usually you will need to turn that cash over 15 or 20 times playing one of the casino’s games before you are eligible to withdraw it.

Currently, a handful of casinos are offering an astronomical $5000 in multiple deposit sign on bonuses. This is a lot of money for any business to hand out to customers as an inducement to try their product, and one has to question whether casinos are reaching a point where their bottom lines are being severely impacted by these promotional strategies.

It also indicates that the industry is having to compete harder than ever before for new players. This is despite the fact that after quickly reaching a saturation point, the number of casinos online has not changed significantly over the last 5 years. So the market is either becoming more discerning, shrinking, or being cannibalized by other gambling options.

One likely contributing factor is the US government’s Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Law. Passed in late 2006, the legislation aim was to prevent US residents from accessing offshore gambling operators by rendering it illegal for payment processors (Mastercard, VISA etc) from facilitating payments from Americans to these operators. While many US players continue to gamble online despite UIGEA, its impact on the world’s online gambling market size must be considerable when you consider that prior to its enactment, Americans comprised half this market.

Whatever the reason, the fact remains – bonus amounts are now at ridiculous levels.

By: Milton Shaw

Casino winning advice & strategies #1 – You will typically find the looser paying slot machines near the bar or lounge. Some areas where you will find tighter paying machines include around the table games. Simply because the casino does not want their table players annoyed by the sounds of winning machines.

Casino winning tips & advice #2 – When you are playing blackjack, I highly recommend that you hit on a 16. You will lose if the dealer hits higher then a 16, so why not take the added risk of taking another card. Cards 1-5 can land you a win on your hand of blackjack!

Casino winning strategies & advice #3 – Whatever you do while playing roulette don’t fall for betting on: 00, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. They have a 2.5% greater edge towards the casino winning then the other bets. Another good tip to win is to stay away from the single number bets. Since they are hard to win.

Casino winning tips & strategies #4 – The best paying game that is played in most casinos is none other then poker. Study up on this game if you don’t know it well and practice daily. You can actually win more money from playing poker then most casino games so play it!

By: Michael Vickers

A good casino guide is really important for the first time casino goers. The new casino players also can take the guide of these guides as knowing the terms will only make them mature. The next time you hear the word Bluff in the Poker table do not get confused for that is to term a player who is trying to drive the other players out of the game worthlessly.

Call the card you remove from the deck before dealing a card in the community cards a Burn Card. Never get frustrated if you are winning Comps during your initial visits to casinos as this means a complementary gift that is delivered to the players. You can also receive comp points in case you are willing to play more on the casino.

The terms mentioned in the casino table forms a different language, a very own language of the casino maniacs. In order to prove you as good as well as practiced casino goers, only winning luck is not enough. It is all fun and you should try to look smarter as you play.

A casino guide of the terms will help you a lot. It is better for you to invest in even money as that signifies a bet that promises to pay you back the same money you gamble. The Jack, the Queen and the King are called as Face Cards in the deck of cards. In old casinos you may meet a High Roller. A High Roller is a player who wins as well as loses big though betting a bit. Do not call the money you wager an investment but a Bankroll for that is the proper term for it.

Though there are different terms applicable to different games of casino, a casino guide is always a good help. It is always useful that you refer a glossary meant for casino games whether you go playing poker or try your luck through slot machines. Being a favorite game of gambling throughout the world, almost equal terms are used in all casinos in every corners of the world. In this way, knowing the terms properly, you can communicate with persons representing all the countries through the casino table.

Never forget to refer a casino guide before trying your hand at the casino table for winning the game requires knowing a certain rules as well as strategies. It is the terms as well as strategies that will make you a practiced hand in casino in due course of time.

By: Tyler James Ellison