You never want to let this feeling go—but you will, at least until next time you light a cigar. That distinctive taste you long for is just one of the many reasons that keep you coming back to your humidor and grabbing another fine cigar. It goes without saying that understanding how to maintain a cigar’s peak flavor is an absolute must.

As in fine wine, cigars get better with age, if maintained properly. This can be accomplished with a humidor, which preserves the cigar’s ultimate flavor and prevents damage. The humidor manages the levels of temperature and humidity creating the perfect at-home environment for your cigar. Without this kind of assistance, cigars can become vulnerable to a number of problems such as broken wrappers, beetle infestation and mold. A humidor will increase your cigar’s shelf life and boost its amazing flavor.

All premium cigars are matured for 6 to 8 weeks in order for them to dry and stabilize correctly. This will also affect the way the cigars are burned and drawn, with full intentions of improving the cigar’s character and flavor. Your humidor should be set at the ideal conditions for long-term aging, which is 70/70, or 70 degrees and 70 percent humidity. The 70/70 conditions will allow your cigar to mellow, and in turn will help you to appreciate the complex character of your cigar.

At one point or another, every cigar hits its peak maturity for that perfect taste you so crave. Be careful not to “overage” your cigars. Over-aging occurs when your cigar hits its peak level of maturity and flavor, and cannot age any longer. When this happens, the cigar’s blend will no longer be as you remembered it and could start to deteriorate.

Keep in mind that the product you are aging is 100 percent a natural. When your cigar comes in a box that is still under-matured, just place it in your prepared humidor for about three months. After that time period, check on it once per month and see if the taste is aging well or not. A vintage cigar’s leaves can usually be healthy when aged for three to four years or more. You will find that the vintage cigar will be steady in construction and taste.

Some humidors include a top tray for cigars. Be careful that the top shelf is not preventing the cigars below it the moisture they need in order to stay healthy and continue aging properly. If you notice this happening, try using your humidor without the top tray.

In addition, there are also humidor features that will help create an even more ideal atmosphere to age your cigars. A humidification unit is a device that is attached to the inner lid of your humidor. This helpful accessory will assist with keeping humidity levels at a safe place.

A popular humidification unit is the Cigar Oasis XL Plus Digital Humidifier, which comes with a refillable foam-core cartridge that filters the air, and a mold retardant. Although there are many different types of humidors, Spanish Cedar is considered one of the best options for maintaining your cigar’s taste and freshness. You may also want to get a hydrometer, a gauge that indicates the humidity in your humidor to help maintain the atmosphere’s levels.

Properly aging a cigar is a meticulous, careful process. There will be times when you notice that the aging of your cigar is not for the better. There are also many different kinds of cigars, which respond differently to their maturity age. The majority of cigars will be ready to smoke after one year of aging. Habanos and Honduran cigars may be ready after one to two years of aging. Around two to five years is when the rest of the cigars should be ready to go and perfect for your enjoyment.

Since there are so many different types of cigars, this is only a guideline. The process of getting your cigar to its peak flavor will be taking notes while you age it and treating each cigar differently. Check on your cigar every month or so. It may take some time, but when you notice your favorite cigar has its peak flavor, you’ll want to do the process all over again.

Author: Cigar1
Meggan Werkheiser is a freelance writer who writes about luxury items such cigars.

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There are many times when 13,14,15,16 and so forth will win just fine. Many times you just have to stand pat and let the dealer bust. Today, I am going to briefly go over the procedure for playing Blackjack at a table with multiple players.

First, it’s important to know how many decks the game is played with. Blackjack could be played with 1,2,4, or 8 decks. Single deck blackjack (live version) is becoming a thing of the past. Most games are dealt from a shoe, which means they are 4 or 8 deck games. The more decks involved, the lower your changes of winning consistently.

You can still win at shoe games, but you want to play at single deck or double deck games if possible. There are still many double deck games around. If you play online, it’s important to ask so you know how many decks they are using.

The game starts with the dealer dealing two cards in a clockwise fashion starting with the player on his or her left. One card is dealt to each player at a time. The dealer will show one of his or her cards. This is called an up-card.

Once the dealing is complete, the first player to the left of the dealer is first to act. The dealer will always be the last to act-this gives casinos the edge. If you are brand-new to the game, imagine that the dealer has an 8,9 or 10 under his up-card. Once you get the feel of the game, it’s time to move onto more advanced card techniques.

When it is your turn, you have a few options. You could hit, which means to request another card. You could stand, which means to stay where you are and pass. You could double down, which means to double your bet and take one last card.

This option can only be performed if you have not taken a hit yet. You can also double for less if you like. If your first two cards match-like two 8’s-you can split them and make two hands, which also means you double your wager.

Each card is worth the number printed on it. The face cards are worth ten, and an Ace is worth 1 or 11-your choice. After all, players take their turn, the dealer turns over the unseen card. Most houses make the dealer stand on 17. If the dealer has less than this number, he or she hits the hand and continues to do so until the count is at least the stand amount or the hand busts. Blackjack is a fun game that’s easy to learn and profitable.

Author: Will Win is a professional gambler, ex casino dealer and author. For the best Online Casino Visit www.casino-magic.org

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In this game players can bet on all of their chips, From a beginners point of view it is quite easy to play the game. However they need to be very careful on how much money they bet. The most important thing is to consider probabilities, hand rankings, and odds. It is easy to learn the rules of the game, however to win the game one need master the game to its subtle intricacies.

The game is same as the ordinary Texas Holdem. The game is played with standard 52 cards.

It starts with two cards dealt to each player. Known as Hole Cards, these cards are dealt face down. The first round of betting begins after each player is dealt with hole cards. Same as Texas Holdem, in the game also there are community cards. Known as The Flop, these cards are placed in the middle of the poker table. The players are allowed to use these cards to make the best possible poker hand.

No Limit Texas Holdem  Forced Bets

Usually there are two forced bets in the game known as the Ante and the Blinds. An Ante bet is usually seen in tournament play, in which each player need to place a specified amount as bet before the game begins. The ante is not counted towards any future bets.

According to Texas Holdem rules for Blinds, two forced bets need to be placed by players on each hand. There is a small blind in the game this is half of the low limit bet size, and a big blind, which is generally same as the low limit bet size.

Before each hand begins, the player positioned immediate left to the dealer is forced to post the small blind and the big blind is put up by the next player towards left. These bets are regarded as live bets as the players can select to raise even if nobody else has.

The main aim of the game is to make the best poker hand with the cards in your hand and the community cards.

The game will be a test of ones own judgment of character, mathematical skills, and common sense. The game has more money at stake when compared with the other Texas Holdem games. The potential gains and losses are also higher than other poker variations. It is better to keep away from competitive No Limit games completely If you are not a skillful player.

Author: Christian Louis.
Webmaster of several sites around the internet.
For a step-by-step formula for winning at all your poker
games.

Look here http://www.nolimit-texas-holdem-strategy.com

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The most famous achievement in the sphere of “system” game against the casino was the so called “card counting” at blackjack – mathematically based methods of game allowing to get some advantage over the casino.

The casinos, surely, knows about the existence of “counters” and are trying to oppose them – from changing the rules to banning the game. Sometimes even exceeding the limits of reason and legality. In fact, all the history of the blackjack is the struggle between the gamblers and the casino which is more clever.

More than half a century passed since the first attempts of beating the casinos in blackjack, based not on the marked cards and intuition. There has been a peck of salt eaten since then, but the struggle is still going on….

Mammoth
Probably the first person in history who applied mathematic analysis to the game blackjack was Jess Marcum (originally Marcovitch) was born on 30th December 1919.

It happened at the turn of 1949 and 1950, when Jess, being an excellent mathematician and physicist-theorist got to Las Vegas. Then his mathematic flair prompted him that most possibly not everything depends on intuition in blackjack.

Marcum started analyzing blackjack.  First, the uniqueness of his attempt is that he performed absolutely all calculations with his pen on the paper, on principle without using any technologies whatever weak they might be at that time. Second he had found the solution!

Jess manually developed what is now called basic strategy and counting systems ten years before someone else has done that.  He counted that theoretically he had an advantage over the casino of about 3% –under the conditions of that time it was quite real.

Moreover, Markum had been playing blackjack in all known to him casinos- both in the USA and abroad.  His name appeared on the pages of the newspapers as an example of “lucky man” who managed to hit the jackpot.

Jess Markum also went down to history as probably the first man thrown out from the casino because of cards. Though at that time casinos did not understand that such system existed. Jess lived in Las Vegas for about a year. The casino owners exchanged the information when they gathered at the general meeting. And they were terrified.

After that Markum was not admitted at all Vegas casinos. He went to Reno. The same story- in half a year after unbelievable “luck” the casino owners started making inquiries about the incredible gambler. Then other states and cities. Then Cuba, the Bahamas.

Nobody knows how much money he has won during that time. One thing is known for sure- in fact, Jess Markum started the war between the gamblers and casinos in blackjack, that is still going on and getting more and more strained.

He did not share his calculations with anyone, and completely gave up playing against casino after a wide public publication of blackjack methods by other authors.

Jess Markum died in 1992, at the age of 72.

The four of Neanderthals
The next effort of great influence on the blackjack math was made in 1956 by the group of four mathematicians- Roger Baldwin, Wilbert E. Cantey, Herbert Maisel and James McDermott.

These people had never played in casino before, having spent a great number of m/hr, they created basic strategy of playing blackjack according to the most popular at that time rules and published it together with the calculation methods in the specialized math journal for statisticians – Journal of the American Statistical Association entitled “The Optimum Strategy In Blackjack”.

They made several slight mistakes in calculations which is nothing serious taking into account their enormous contribution. A year later they issued a small book Playing Blackjack to Win, which is now a bibliography rarity.

In fact their book and the article did not spark much furor, and remained almost without attention regardless of their innovative approach. However, the word almost turned out to be the key for all the gambling industry, as someone did paid close attention  to the research of the excellent four.

© Copyright 2006-2007 www.bonus-map.com

Author: Arthur Prudent is the developer of www.bonus-map.com , web site covering gambling news, features reviews on Casinos, Poker rooms, bingos, Sports Betting bonuses promotions and more.
Casino games history or how people have learnt to count cards Part1.

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Thorp’s era.

Being a young scientist, Edward O. Thorp regularly read mathematic journals. When he was a student, he was pressed for money. The idea of outplaying the casino on the basis of calculations appealed to Thorp and he decided to check the results of the “excellent four” and see what will come out of it. The result of his activity was a phenomenal book Beat The Dealer, now its sales are approaching million of samples.

Thorp chose the other way – he did not make analytical calculations, but with powerful at that time computer IBM (they were also called mainframe) he wrote several programs on Fortran, creating quite original methods for 60s. By the way, Thorp together with his research instructor Claude Elwood Shannon, a great scientist, were also involved in solving the problem “how to outplay the roulette?”

From his calculations Thorp understood that dead cards had a considerable affect on the gambler’s chances this or that way. His main idea was about memorizing the dead cards in somewhat simplified way and when the situation is beneficial for the player, make high stakes. By the way, this system still remains the basis of any methods and counting systems of blackjack.

The counting system introduced by Thorp, was rather complicated for usage in real casinos, required great concentration and large amount of mentally arithmetic actions. However with good training there was nothing impossible in its application.

Thorp’s book immediately became a success and bestseller. Everyone understood that with quite simple actions you can get an advantage. Every reader dreamt of enormous prizes. However, the casinos also knew the score.

Panic seized them. And in 1962 after Thorp’s book, all Las Vegas Casinos without exception changed their rules being afraid of mass influx of “system players”. The quality of the rules worsened terribly and no counting system could ever help you to win. Though the effect for casino turned out to be quite unpredictable and reverse – people stopped playing blackjack. And during several months, all the casinos had to return to the former rules for their own survival.

Another interesting effect caused by Thorp’s book- incredible popularity of blackjack outrunning the favorite American craps. A lot of people, after reading the book considered themselves potential winners and rushed to the blackjack tables. However, most of them had a bad understanding of the mathematical principles of the game did not become winners but quite vice versa. Therefore, casino got more clients and moreover losing clients. Since then their number is only increasing.

The system presented in the first edition of Thorp’s book was quite difficult even for professionals and only the few could apply it under the conditions of a real game. Something should be simplified.

The power behind the throne.
Julian Braun is quite a unique personality. He had hardly ever played a deal in real blackjack. But he played millions and maybe even billions of deals on the computer. Braun was a good mathematician and programmer and he got interested in Thorp’s idea and offered him cooperation in the sphere of calculations and programming.

Braun became the person who first invented the counting system Hi-Lo. He was behind the development of all modern systems the authorship of which belongs to Revere, Humble, Wong and Uston. He wrote the only book How to Play Winning Blackjack, but what a book!

Braun upgraded Thorp’s system on FORTRAN and made considerable changes and the second edition of Thorp’s book also contained Hi-Lo system in its modern form. It was quite a revolution in gambling world. Braun worked in IBM corporation and had access to probably most powerful computers of that time. This fact helped to build simple and efficient tool in struggle with casino.

Using Braun’s calculations the gambler mostly known as Lawrence Revere developed his own counting system and presented his results in the form of convenient tables which are applied in most counters of the world. Lance Humble based his HiOpt systems on Braun’s experience.
Regardless the fact that Julian most probably had never been to the casino, he became a power behind the throne of the blackjack and all the mathematical modeling of the game fell on him.
© Copyright 2006-2007 www.bonus-map.com

Author: Arthur Prudent is the developer of www.bonus-map.com , web site covering gambling news, features reviews on Casinos, Poker rooms, bingos, Sports Betting bonuses promotions and more. Casino games history or how people have learnt to count cards Part2.

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Each player can use any two cards from their hand and any three from the five common cards in the center of the table to make the best high hand.

The same is done for the low hand except that the low hand must consist of five any five cards that are eight or lower and not of matching value. Ace two three four five makes up the best low hand. If there is a qualifying low hand, the high hand and the low hand split the pot equally between them.

The rule that the low or the high hand must always use two cards from the player’s four is initially a trouble spot for new players as they forget this rule and bet a hand not using the two from their hand. After doing this once or twice, the new player gets this rule forcefully ingrained in their mind.

The other part of Omaha that catches new players is the fact that lower hands very seldom win. Three of a kind is not a winner as often as it is in Holdem. There are many straights, flushes and full houses dealt in this game as each player has nine cards to make a hand. Ace deuce is a good starting hand for the low, but another player or two often ties it.

When this happens, the high hand wins their half of the pot and the low hand players split what is left. What this means is you do not go crazy raising the hand with a low hand nut winner as it can be tied. The nut high hand can bet with impunity as the high hands are rarely tied.

The best hand that can be dealt in Omaha Hi Lo is a hand that is a scooper. This hand wins both the low and the high. Examples would be a five high straight or a five high low and an ace high flush. When you have this type of hand you are likely to win more than half the pot and very likely all of it.

Author: Andrew F

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5-Card Stud is a relatively simple game to play as each player is dealt 5 cards, one at a time.  The first one is dealt face down and then another face up.  There are variations of how the betting starts at this point, but the usual way is for the lowest card showing to start the betting.  A round of betting follows the face up card.

Those players that make the call are then dealt another face up card.  A second round of betting follows and those that call are dealt another face up card.  At this point each player has four cards. Any player with a high value pair has a very strong hand.  A player with high cards still has a draw.

Those players that call are then dealt a final face up card.  The betting is completed and the cards are turned face up.  The best high poker hand wins the hand and rakes in the pot.  If a player wants to see the way the game was played in the old days rent the movie Cincinnati Kid and watch the play.

It isn’t as easy to bluff the other players in the game because it is quite straightforward to work out what every player has as their best hand. The trouble in the game is that there are so few hands that the player may have in their five cards.

The deficiency of variations has caused the other poker variants to become increasingly more popular with card players. However it is still a fashionable card game variation which can break up the play from holdem games.

Author Andrew F. suggests you might like toplay poker at a american poker site.
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