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In the movies, director’s make it look simple to climb through air vents on the way to a major heist. A gambler found out last week that carrying out that plan in real life can be a tad more difficult.

The man had to be helped out of a ceiling shaft in the early morning after he was stuck traveling above the ceiling. he yelled for help and workers sounded the alarm. Paramedics then arrived on the scene and saved the man.

The motive is not yet known, but being that the event took place at the Crown Casino, robbery is being investigated by authorities. The man was charged with criminal damage and trespassing. He was booked and then bailed out of jail. He will return to face the court in early October.

Drugs and alcohol are being blamed in the preliminary investigation that took place. After he was saved from the shaft, the man was unable to recall how he ended up in the ceiling vents. He did, however, know his name and age. It is possible the man did not want to incriminate himself by revealing how he entered the vent.

The Oceans Eleven series’ of movies revolve around high end crooks who rob casinos. The movie may have inspired the man, but authorities are being careful not to speculate until they have had time to determine the facts in the case.

Casinos have been a common target among thieves in recent years. In Florida, one man walked into the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino poker room and demanded money. After he took several thousand dollars, the man escaped without being caught until days later when an anonymous tip led to his whereabouts.

As always, this news and online casino news is brought to you by Silver Sands Casino and African Palance Casino.

[Hat tip: Tom Jones]

One of the most difficult aspects of playing poker successfully is learning how to deal with aggressive players. This is especially true for newer players who haven’t acquired the experience to play against such players with the proper emotional detachment. What usually follows is an impatient or ill-timed counter-attack that is actually a well executed trap by the aggressor.

If you have a poker calculator, that kind of situation can be avoided by knowing exactly what the Aggression Factor (AF) of your opponent is, and what it means. If you use Hold’em Indicator or Tournament Indicator the formula for aggression factor is AF = (Raise% + Bet %) / Call %. Now what this actually represents is aggression after the flop only so therefore also includes betting for the turn and river. Keep in mind that pre-flop raising has its own distinct category.

In essence the AF factor therefore shows the relationship between how many times a player bets and/or raises compared with how many times he simply calls. So let’s say an opponent’s AF is 2.0. Well that is on the aggressive side to be sure but what it represents (for example) is that the player raised 5 times, bet 6 times and called 6 times. So that’s (5+6)/6=1.83 rounded up to 2.0. So as you can see by doing the math, this player prefers to lead the betting and probably only calls with odds and in position.

This player is probably experienced and knows what he is doing. There is nothing wrong with having an AF in this range and if the player is advancing his stack, while not making apparent errors, you can probably be assured he is dangerous and will be trying to trap you into handing over your stack. With a player like this, you need to take away the betting from him by betting first or re-raising. This player wants to play small ball, and will not like you re-raising, or betting out of position, taking the pot size out of his comfort zone.

Let’s look at another player’s AF just to compare. How about 11.5? Yes, you can get that high, and even higher. This player, let’s call him WrecklessBob77, hardly ever just calls. If he is in a pot he is betting or raising the flop, no matter what. To get an AF this high WrecklessBob77 has bet 21 times and raised 13 times while only calling 3 times. That’s (21+13)/3=11.33 rounded to 11.5. Placing this player at the “Gambler” end of the scale.

With a “Gambler” that has that high an AF, he is simply playing with too much aggression, especially if you see him in the lower limits. The fact that he is still around is probably the result of winning some big pots in marginal situations, excessive luck, and weak opponents. Those things never last nearly long enough, and this player WILL bet himself out of the game or tournament. The savvy players at the table will be drooling over his stack, simply waiting patiently to trap this maniac and bring it in. That’s what you should do too while knowing your position on him every hand, but also realizing you need strong hands to play this guy, so as not to be another one of his bad beat victims.

Brought to you by Silver Sands Casino!

Thursday last week saw a local journalist being killed by robbers who were attacking a casino in Mafikeng. The team consisted of 5 men, who were equiped with R5 rifles. The team entered the casino late in the evening and told everyone to lie on the floor.

The robbers broke into slot machines and stole money from the exchange – The amount has not been disclosed. Before running out the casino, the men shot a bystander. It is unknown as to why the man was shot though.

The police have not yet been able to arrest anyone, but they are looking into it.

Hanging out at casino’s is too dangerous, rather play online with Silver Sands Casino or African Palace Casino and save yourself the trouble!

A pair of Aces is the most powerful starting hand in Texas Hold’em. The nickname for this hand is Pocket Rockets or American Airlines. No matter which name you prefer it is the most desired starting hand in the game. But don’t plan on seeing it too frequently. There are 1326 two cards combinations that can be made from a 52 card deck and there are 6 combinations for each pocket pair. 1326/6 = 221 so your odds of being dealt pocket aces, or any other pocket pair, are 220 to 1.

If you were playing a game of two card showdown, you pockets aces would win every time. However in Hold’em there are still five more community cards to come. Your pocket Aces will win about 80% of the time when you are heads up with just one player but will only win about 35% against ten players. Getting beat when you have pocket aces is known as getting your aces “Cracked.” For this reason you want to narrow the field when you have aces. You will do this by raising and re-raising the pot. Too many times a player will try to slow play their pocket Aces and just limp in with then allowing other players to get into the hand cheaply. They then get drawn out on and then complain about the bad beat they took. In reality it’s their own fault for not narrowing the field with a raise. The other reason to raise is to get the most money in the pot for the times that your aces win. This will make up for the times the hand does not hold up. Pocket aces just about play themselves. You can play them from any position. There is not much thought involved, as the only decision you have to make pre-flop is whether or not to raise. Playing single aces need a little more thought.

Single Ace

Many players look down and see a single ace as one of their starting hands and get all excited. They think they have found a winning lottery ticket that they need only to bet to cash in. This is partly due to the fact that you will only have an ace in your starting hand about 15 percent of the time. But a single Ace is not as strong as some player’s think it is. Many make the mistake of playing a single ace from any position. If you are in a ten handed game and hold a single ace the probability that no one else holds an ace is about 25 percent. In other words, when you have an ace there is a 75 percent chance that someone else also has an ace as well. The second card that is with your ace is the kicker. When you play a single ace with a small kicker this is known as playing a weak ace. Playing a weak ace from early position is incorrect as you can be raised and re-raised. If you don’t flop an ace you will probably lose money. If there is another player in the hand who has a bigger kicker you will be a loser if an ace comes on the flop and your hand does not improve.

If you start with a single ace you will pair one or your cards on the flop about 32 percent of the time. Half of the time it will be your kicker rather than your ace. If you have a big kicker you will sometimes be better off matching your kicker on the flop. If it gives you top pair you will also have the top kicker to go with it.

As a good player you will not be playing a single from any position however there are many players, especially in low limit games, who will. If an ace flops and you don’t have one you have to be prepared to fold if you can’t beat a pair of aces or have a good drawing hand that can improve. We all know that sinking feeling when we raise with pocket Queens and Jacks only to see an Ace fall on the flop. With a few single ace players in the game we usually have to let it go and save money.

Laying Down Aces

It’s not only smaller pairs that you will need to lay down at times. Occasionally you will have to release your pocket Aces. If you have two black Aces and three hearts come on the flop, you are probably up against a flush if there is a bet and a raise. Many players refuse to lay down pocket Aces no matter what cards are on the board. A good player will accept defeat and toss the Pocket Rockets before it costs them more money. It’s not fun to dump a hand that only comes about every 220 hands or so but that’s what a winning player does.

This post brought to you by Silver Sands Casino, the ultimate online casino.

If everyone at the hold’em poker table plays loose then no one can win. The players will trade pots back and forth while the casino slowly rakes all their money. The better hold’em players will lose less, but in the long run, no one can win. It’s also true that no one can win if everyone plays tight. The tight players will trade smaller pots back and forth while the casino rakes all their money. The better hold’em players will lose less, but no one can win.

If everyone at the hold’em poker table plays the same, no one can win. Learning hold’em by playing hold’em is player’s folly. If you learn to play Texas Hold’em Poker like everyone else plays, you cannot have a long run edge.

To win at Texas Hold’em Poker you must play tight in loose games and play in loose games only. There is no other way. You have no edge in a tight hold’em game and you only have an edge in a loose game if you play tight. It might be possible to play loose and win if all the other players are complete fools, but nature does not provide enough fools who play hold’em poker.

As players come and go during a hold’em poker session the game will sometimes get tighter. You’ll see more players folding on the first round. The pots will be smaller. If your hold’em game gets too tight, find a better game or don’t play at all.

You want to be the only tight player in a loose hold’em poker game, but often there are one or more other tight players at the table. Sometimes loose players tighten up their play for whatever reason, but that’s usually temporary. You’ll have to take all of this into consideration when evaluating a hold’em poker game. There’s no exact way to measure it, but you can develop a feel for it.

Take notice of how many players call to see the flop each hand. With experience you’ll know if your game is too tight and you’ll know when a good game gets tight. You’ll learn which players have never seen two cards they didn’t like and which players fold more hands than they play. Experience will teach you when it’s time to leave the game.

Even good Texas Hold’em Poker players have lost money by playing too many sessions in hold’em games that were too tight to be profitable. Even if you play better poker than everyone else at the table, your expectation in a tight hold’em game can be little more than break even. Play tight.

Play tight in loose games. Play in loose games only.

Brought to you by Silver Sands Casino.

When it comes to poker, the truth is, most people play way too many hands. In fact, some poker experts suggest that you should play less than 15% of the hands you’re dealt…because you probably won’t have more than one big win per hour. For many online poker players, it would require too much patience to wait for that big hand—and be very tough to throw away anything except the “best hands.” But if you’ve got the patience and are willing to play tight, here are a few tips for playing the pre-flop, and deciding when to set money in or get out fast.

When in early position, only play hands AA, KK, AKs, AK, AQs, AQ, AJs, QQ, JJ, TT, 99 and 88. That’s it—nothing more. And if you’re raised, you may even want to throw some of the latter away. Only re-raise with the first few. When in middle position, you can play all the above hands, plus AJ, ATs, KQs, 77, 66, 55. And that’s it! Again, if raised, you may want to throw some of these away. Re-raise only with the top cards. In late position, or if in the small blind, play all of the above hands plus AT, KQ, KJs, QJs, 44, 33, 22. If raised, don’t be hesitant to throw any of these away. Only re-raise with the best cards above.

Of course, it never hurts to check anything in the big blind position and see what flops. But if someone has raised, use the above strategies to determine if it’s worth staying in. Is this tight play? You bet! When playing with this strategy, the first thing you’ll discover is how hard it is to throw away cards such as KT or even A9…but the odds show that for every one time you threw away a hand that would have won, you also threw away a hand that would have lost much more.

Playing tight like this isn’t always the most dramatic or fast-paced, but more often than not, it is more profitable over the long run. So get out there and play tight! And as you learn more about the game and your opponents, you can loosen up and increase your profits even more.

Brought to you by Silver Sands Casino.