I love to play cards. I usually play with my friends and sometimes with my family, so I’m not too worried about getting cheated out of my money. But sometimes I like to play in larger games with people that I don’t know all that well, or at the casino. And while you generally don’t have to worry about getting cheated at the casino, they have excellent security to rival most nuclear missile silos, it’s still something that I keep in the back of my mind. And of course, when I play with larger groups made up of people who are not my close friends, I’m always on the lookout for a cheat.

One gambling survey that I read one time suggested that 10% of all card games have cheating involved in them. So here are some ways to protect yourself and make sure you never get cheated…

When somebody shuffles the cards, make sure they never take them entirely off the table, not for any reason whatsoever. Often times a cheater will mess with the deck while it is under the table and you can’t see just what they are doing. Sometimes they will switch the decks completely under the table or off the table and when it happens, you may not be able to see it.

Another way to cut down on cheating is to make sure that you cut the cards at least one time during every single shuffle. Do this by pulling out the bottom half and placing it on the top of the pile. This simple act can cut down cheating dramatically as long as you do it every time somebody shuffles. Make sure the person cutting cards is not the same person that shuffled the cards, and make sure the same person doesn’t cut the cards every time.

If you think the cards that you are using have been marked in some way then riffle the deck. While you do this watch the back of the cards. A marked deck, when rifled, will show an animated sort of thing when they are rifled. That is to say, the design will shift like those flip books you made when you were a child. Remember those little animated cartoons used to draw on several sheets of paper when you were little? When you rifled the paper quickly a cartoon danced across the paper? That’s what you are looking for here…

If the deck has not been marked, the design on the back will not shift or move it anyway when you rifle the deck. This is a very easy test that you can do any time to see if your deck has been tampered with.

How can you tell who has brought the marked deck? Well, this is a little tricky. You have to watch each player, and watch their eyes. The person who brought the marked deck, is the person who keeps their eyes glued to the cards in everybody’s hands. If you see somebody staring at the back of everybody’s cards, then they are probably the person who brought the marked deck to the game.

Finally, you should always sit with your back to the wall. This will help keep people from sneaking up behind you while you are not paying attention and looking over your shoulder to see what cards you have and then signaling to the other players. It also keeps surveillance objects, like video cameras, from seeing your hand as easily.

So there you have it! How to protect yourself and spot a card cheat before they steal all your money.

By: Jason Markum

I love going to the races… but I hate losing all my money by making bad bets! If you think about it though, the point of going to the races shouldn’t really be about betting, it should be about enjoying the race. At least enjoying the race without losing your shirt! So how do you enjoy the race without feeling miserable from losing all your money with bad bets? That’s what I am going to talk about in this article today.

The first step is to decide how much money you are willing to lose. Set aside between one fourth and one fifth of that amount for entertainment betting, you know just for fun. The rest of that amount should be used for serious betting.

Next you need to control your spending. In order to do this, just bet around 20% of your capital every time you bet. And this doesn’t matter if you are winning or losing… even if you are winning, still continue to only bet about 20% of your capital each time.

Remember that 1/5 that we set aside for entertainment betting? Here’s what I suggest you do with it. Select a horse by name, or by jockey, or by appearance… or for any reason you want to under the sun. The point is, don’t put a lot of thought into it, just have fun and you may even get lucky and win a 10th of your bets this way.

On the other hand; for serious betting, stick to your tried and true rules. Always get rid of maiden races, that is, horses that are racing for the first time. Two-year-old races may also fall under this category. Also get rid of any horse that has never won before. Of course, these are just my personal suggestions and you’ll have your own.

In order to select the two or three horses most likely to win in any given race, check the handicappers choice in the racing form and tip sheets sold at the track. I usually look especially for handicappers who give as much detail as possible about each race. Look for things like how the race will be run, who the suggested front runners are, and who the “come from behind” horses may be. Also find ones that list suggested outcomes as there is usually some sort of logic behind these suggestions.

Next, consider the elements. Is it raining? In the racing form you will see what is called mudders, these are horses that have a history of doing well when it rains outside. Usually they are indicated with an asterisk. The more it rains, the more the track is softened by the rain, in the more the chances of these specific horses improve.

There are several types of bets that you can make at a horse race. You can bet to win, and that only pays out if the horse comes in first. You can also bet to place, and this pays out if the horse comes in first or second. Finally, you can also bet to show; and this pays out if the horse comes in first second or third. A combination of those bets such as a win and place or a show and win will usually increase your chance of a payoff, but in these circumstances the return will probably be smaller.

So there you have it! How to enjoy a day at the races without going broke and losing your shirt…