IDnow and netID cooperate for identity wallet

IDnow to become an active part of the European netID Foundation’s ecosystem

Munich, January 30, 2024 – IDnow, a leading identity verification platform provider in Europe, announces its cooperation with the European netID Foundation. The goal: The introduction of an identity wallet for netID users in Germany as an alternative to the offerings of US platforms.

Developed by IDnow, the netID Wallet app will be available for users to download later this year and will allow them to reuse and share stored digital identities.

Self-determined and even simpler reuse of identities

netID is an open standard that enables users to access online services of netID partners (among others SĂźddeutsche Zeitung, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, ProSiebenSat.1 and United Internet with the WEB.DE and GMX brands) via the same login details, all in compliance with data protection regulations. The introduction of the identity wallet will make storing and retrieving identities even easier for around 40 million potential users.

Bundled in one digital location, users can access and verify proof of identity such as ID cards, driving licenses, social security data and much more on their smartphone at any time – making everyday processes more efficient. netID partners, in turn, can significantly simplify their processes for verifying customer data, for example for invoice purchases, and thus make them more cost-effective.

Wallet can be used by the partners of the netID ecosystem

The initial verification of the user’s identity to create the wallet is carried out using the proven IDnow solutions. Once the identity has been confirmed and the digital wallet has been successfully created, the user decides with whom they want to share what data. Anyone who uses the wallet once to register with a mobile phone provider, for example, can use it again at any time with one of the partners in the netID ecosystem for verified identification.

The wallet is another step toward the future: the European Commission is about to publish a new version of the eIDAS regulation (electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services), which is expected to come into force in 2024. All EU citizens should have a digital identity by 2030. The launch of the netID Wallet supports this goal.

“netID has been simplifying digital life in Germany since it was founded. Transparency and data protection have always been at the heart of what we do. We see the netID Wallet as the logical next step in the further development of the netID offering. Thanks to the cooperation with IDnow, we can offer our users secure and user-friendly identity verification that will even be able to serve regulated use cases in compliance with eIDAS in the future,” explains Uli Hegge, CEO of the European netID Foundation.

“We are delighted to have gained a trustworthy partner for our identity wallet in Germany in the form of the European netID Foundation and to be an active part of the netID ecosystem in the future,” says Uwe Stelzig, Managing Director DACH at IDnow.

“IDnow and netID pursue similar goals in terms of data security and user-friendliness, which we are now also pursuing together in identity verification. With the introduction of the wallet, users no longer have to identify themselves again and again, but can save their verified identities and simply reuse them the next time. In this way, netID partners can offer their users even faster and secure access to their services,” continues Stelzig.

Poker Strategies to Improve Your Decision-Making Skills

Numerous strategies exist that can help poker players refine their key cognitive choices, and with any slight edge in the game being huge in 2024, we’ve taken a look at some of the ways you can take your decision-making in poker to the next level.

KEY MOMENTS WHERE THE PRESSURE IS ON

Every poker player worth their salt sits down at the table prepared to bring their A-Game, and in the key moments, make the right decisions. Not everyone can do that, of course, but the first thing to establish is what those key moments actually are. It is impossible to remain focused for a 12-hour day at the poker felt, so ascertaining what makes an important decision is vital.

Chess players often speak about focus being a movable scale rather than a binary ability that, like a switch, is either ‘on’ or ‘off’. Focus can be soft or hard in poker too. An example of soft focus might be the sort of spot where you’re not involved in a poker hand, but when the players who are reach showdown and have to display their hole cards, you make sure to look up from your phone and take note of these shown cards. Hard focus might be an all-in hand you’re involved in where either your stack or your opponent’s ends up being totally at risk.

Determining what should demand your total focus is a personal opinion, but it can often be summarized as a decision that has a big effect on your own place at the table or someone else’s. The biggest moments in your favorite poker shows are likely to tell you what those are. We’ll all remember where we were when Vanessa Selbst couldn’t quite find the fold with a full house in the first level of the WSOP Main Event against Gaëlle Baumann. We can probably all recall the first time we saw Erik Seidel’s call after Johnny Chan’s infamous ‘Look to the Sky’ in the 1988 WSOP Main Event.

The big moments require total focus. Would Selbst or Seidel have acted differently with a better ability to focus? Those hands are tough to formulate a cohesive plan of attack in and marginal when it comes to the final decisions, so it is unlikely. But unless you find yourself deep in an event you could win millions in, your own ‘hard focus’ moments are likely to be simpler – if you put yourself in the position to make optimal strategic decisions.

Emotional Control: Pre-Match Preparation

Every poker player must prepare for a poker tournament or cash game in the right way. For some, this will be a large bank of sleep to preserve their mental energy for the big moments. For others, such as Tight Poker columnist and former champion ultra-runner Dara O’Kearney, it could be invigorating the mind and body with a long run in the days before a major event.

Whatever your method, pre-match preparation to put your mind, body, and soul in the right place is vitally important. Poker decisions made by a tired mind will be lacking. Physical stamina is important late in days when events are won and lost or when the biggest cash game pots are scooped. Feeling comfortable and in the right mental state to execute decisions effectively is pivotal to making a profit in poker.

There are any number of ways of preparing yourself, but few are better than the old adage that you are the sum of two vital human basics – what you eat and how you sleep. Mastering a good routine in both respects is crucial. With nutrition and rest, the twin pillars upon which to base your preparation, how you plan for a cash game session, multi-table tournament (MTT), or live event is almost a case of trial and error. You can read about what others do, but your own gauge of how each process refinement affects your performance (short-term) and results (long-term) will be key.

I once asked an elite player who won a lot of money playing online poker how he prepared for a final day in a big SCOOP, WCOOP, or other such MTTs. He replied with one of the most unique answers I ever heard to such a simplistic kind of question. He said that around an hour before the final day – or any poker session! – kicked off, he would go out into his garden armed with a blindfold. He would scatter a selection of items in his garden and take a mental picture with his mind.

Then he would put the blindfold on and attempt to walk to the end of the garden, touch the fence, turn around, and come back to his back door. If he struck an object in his path, he would have to start again. When he made it all the way to the fence and back without striking any objects, he would remove the blindfold and be ready to play.

The Power of Mathematics

The 17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth once responded to questions about his mathematical capabilities by confidently declaring that he knew the odds of any poker hand to within two decimal places. The answer may have owed a little bravado to the formative era of The Poker Brat, but there was an element of truth to it too. Hellmuth’s math knowledge was so good that his victory in the WSOP Main Event of 1989 changed the game and allowed those who focused on numbers to take incrementally large steps forward in the game of poker.

In this fresh era of GTO (Game Theory Optimal) play, mathematical ability is infinitely more important to this day. Poker, by its very definition, is a sum game that relies on incomplete information being interpreted by the players involved, and only by understanding the odds and probabilities of certain cards coming can you make correct mathematical decisions.

From push-fold charts to post-flop strategy, studying the numbers is often time-consuming and a difficult theory to immerse yourself in. Breaking it down into bite-sized pieces of advice to digest is important, as is taking in the information in a format that your brain responds to positively. From video training to strategy books, via tactics discussed on podcasts to online articles such as these, doing the work is vital, so make sure you do it well.

Adapting to Opponents: Examples of Key Decisions

Poker is full of tough decisions, but if you build up a list of questions in your mind ahead of those decisions approaching then you’ll be best prepared to deal with them when they come along. The first consideration you should make is towards your opponent, with the player more important than the cards you’re taking on at all times. Ask yourself how they are playing, whether they have been aggressive or passive and whether they are stepping out of character with their behavior in the current hand.

Once you have a handle on your opponent(s) emotionally, consider your own perceived image to them. Are they displaying any tells or behaving in a way that is dramatically different from their previously demonstrated patterns? Also consider your table position in relation to your enemy – then you’ll be able to appraise the situation in a more strategic manner and take advantage of any weakness.

Poker is all about gathering relevant information and making the best decision based on that data. Using logic, you’ll then be able to make that key decision with as much confidence as you can possibly have. From there, the cards will decide.

Being a Hero

Key decisions are often those moments where outside observers will look back on and say either ‘How did they make that call?’ or “What a great fold – how could they lay that down?’ Making the Hero Call or the Hero Fold is tough and will often be decisive in how your major result came around. Look at the past WSOP Main Events and you can probably remember an amazing fold or hero call that the champion made.

Making a big lay down is essentially laying down a really good hand when you have worked out that your hand is still beat by one that is even better. While it is hard to have any kind of strategy that declares ‘I’m going to make a hero fold/call today’ at the beginning of the action, you should certainly be confident that should it come down to it, you can make that tough decision. These often come from the gut, that part of you that just knows you’re losing or winning in a certain spot.

I once spoke to the great Sam Razavi, a British poker professional who has made a career making huge plays. In one particular tournament, he won solely the title and around $50,000 in prize money purely because he made one great bluff at a key moment. He’d worked out his opponent’s hand down to almost the exact cards and followed through on his gut feeling with total conviction.

Sam told me that gut feeling was really the accumulation of knowledge over time and your brain then telling you that for reasons based on cognitive ‘muscle memory’, you can make the right call. Should you be wrong, that supposedly impulsive instinct is then refined over time, and your gut feelings then become more informed, often without you being fully conscious of the thought process.

We’d all like to do such things but jumping across that ‘Execution Gap’ between believing we are doing the right thing then actually pulling the trigger is much harder than it sounds.

Taking on Tilt

Let’s talk about tilt. Not just in your own game, but in that of others too. Tilt in poker is reacting emotionally to a poker hand and letting that emotion affect the next hand or even several after. This is often associated with taking a bad beat. Let’s say you are all-in with pocket queens against the pocket sevens of a player with three-quarters of your stack in a big live event. As all the chips are committed pre-flop, another player tells the at-risk player with sevens that they folded a seven too. Then, a seven lands on the river, and you’ve lost a huge chunk of your stack to a one-outer.

That kind of bad beat could easily affect you thereafter. Down from possibly 200 big blinds to under 30, you’ll have to adjust your play accordingly and have fallen a long way back down the ladder despite playing the hand perfectly. Overriding the sense of justice is difficult, and you will need to strategize completely differently, possibly for hours or days of the event. Getting over this ‘tilt’ feeling is hard, but it can be just as hard if you go on a series of hands when you’re winning. Can you still play your A-Game and not dust off chips needlessly through a sense of overconfidence? It’s crucial that you do, but ‘Winner’s Tilt’ is a thing, having recently been referenced in Daniel Negreanu’s look back at why he had a losing 2023.

Getting a handle on your emotions is crucial to success at the poker table. One thing that many players don’t consider, however, is how to exploit this tilt in others’ behavior. If you notice someone tilting, either from winning a pot or losing one, make sure that you take advantage. Charge them more with your bet-sizing if they’re splashing around with newly won chips. Punish their loss-chasing mentality if they’ve been on the wrong end of a bad beat, particularly if it was to you.

It is pivotal in poker that if you are to have any success, then the greatest strategy is to separate the decision you’re making from the outcome of that action. Being as objective as you can while retaining an emotional balance is going to help you stay on the right side of tilt in your own mind and crucially, take the maximum in chips from those who are unable to do so.

In Conclusion

Understanding negative triggers to your own A-Game and exploiting those weaknesses in others’ games is the optimal strategy when making key decisions. Being comfortable in those marginal moments can often come down to a ‘gut feeling’ that is refined over time by your own experiences at the felt.

Executing key decisions at the poker felt comes down to a focus – both hard and soft – on making positive decisions and not focusing on the consequences but refining the process of your decision-making skills. The 10-time WSOP bracelet holder Erik Seidel was coaching the comparatively inexperienced poker player and author Maria Konnikova.

When she told him about the decisions she was making and the result of the hands, he asked her to leave out the part where chips were won or lost. All that mattered was the decision, the process, the execution, the work. The chips will fall where they may, but if you keep improving your strategy in making key decisions, over time you’ll always win more than you lose.

FanDuel and Operation Hope Offer Free Financial Literacy Counseling for MA Residents

FanDuel Group and Operation Hope have teamed up to promote financial literacy and offer Massachusetts residents free financial counseling. Teaming up with the non-profit organization is part of FanDuel’s efforts to demonstrate its commitment to responsible gaming (RG).

Through the partnership, Massachusetts residents can access Financial Wellbeing Coaches from the financial literacy organization’s Hope Inside program. The coaches will offer participants virtual and in-person financial health sessions at no cost.

The sessions will teach Bay State residents how to manage their entertainment spending—including their gambling budget—as well as some more general lessons like:

  • Strategies to build savings
  • How to improve one’s credit (FICO) score
  • Getting out of debt

In addition to providing coaches, the partners will release content about financial literacy and promote the Hope Inside program’s availability and financial counseling.

The program will be promoted through mass media, including radio, social media, and other digital platforms. FanDuel has a page on its website dedicated to the partnership, through which interested Massachusetts residents can reach out to the Wellbeing Coaches.

Financial Counseling Is Another Step of FanDuel’s RG Efforts

Responsible gaming has become a big focus for the gambling industry, including FanDuel Group, which includes FanDuel Casino and Sportsbook. Christian Genetski, President of FanDuel, said that Operation Hope’s work has shown that when people have financial literacy, they can manage their spending better.

He reiterated that the partnership is an important step in FanDuel’s RG efforts:

FanDuel is committed to giving back to the communities in which we operate, and we believe that supporting proven financial literacy programs is a natural extension of our work to promote and empower responsible gaming. Partnering with Operation HOPE, a leader in the space, to help fund critical financial literacy education and providing access to financial counseling in communities across Massachusetts is the latest evolution in FanDuel’s efforts.

In 2022, FanDuel’s parent company, Flutter Entertainment, introduced the Positive Impact Plan. The plan’s goal is to promote “sustainable customer relationships.”

One target is for 50% of Flutter’s global customers to be using one or more of the company’s Play Well RG tools by 2026, rising to 75% by 2030.

The company is well on track to achieve that. Flutter’s 2023 mid-year financial report shows that 42% of global customers have adopted a tool part of the Positive Impact Plan. The report also revealed that the company spent ÂŁ45 million ($54.7m) on “safer gambling initiatives.”

FanDuel also has created the “PlayWell Day.” During the event, company employees worldwide attend virtual and in-person seminars on the importance of RG.

Could The Industry Do More?

FanDuel is not alone in supporting responsible gaming. In December 2023, MGM Resorts International donated $360,000 to the International Center for Responsible Gaming (ICRG) to fund RG research. Over the past year and a half, the ICRG has also received over $1 million from Bally’s Corporation.

However, many point out that more funding is needed for RG research and programs. The National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) recommends that operators set aside 1% of their revenue for RG and problem gambling programs. Meanwhile, the National Association of Administrators for Disordered Gambling Services (NAADGS) says the number should be 2%.

To put that in perspective, Flutter’s global revenue for the first half of 2023 was $9.3 billion. Its spending of $54.7 million during that period equals 0.6% of that.

That said, operators are far from alone in failing to spend as much as advocacy groups recommend. According to the NAADGS, U.S. spending on services to treat gambling addiction in 2022 was a mere 38 cents per capita. That number is significantly lower than other services like drug and alcohol programs. States would need to spend several dollars, not tens of cents, to meet the recommendations of the NAADGS.

The post FanDuel and Operation Hope Offer Free Financial Literacy Counseling for MA Residents appeared first on Bonus.com.

Memoir by SharmaJI – PokerGuru

Memoir by SharmaJI


Posted by Naman Sharma on 2023-04-04 at 7:56 PM

SharmaJI Blog

After busting two recently found bankrolls, I was sure I needed to do something differently (mostly bankroll management errors and skill overestimation). I consider myself one of those ‘feel-players’ who know very few technical details about the game, but my love for poker is such that I keep bouncing back somehow.

Working for PokerGuru and seeing the journey of numerous poker enthusiasts and pros, I’ve sometimes been envious and uncertain. However, it has also been one of my biggest motivations to persevere despite losing considerable money.

I was on top of the world after scoring a career-best payday (3rd in PokerStars India’s Master Minds [8-Max] for ₹89,125) in November 2022, and it was smooth sailing for some time. January and February were drastic months for me as one thing led to another, and I went bust before realizing it.

On the other hand, March was a harbinger of new opportunities. Although I have much to learn, I was asked to stream for PokerGuru under the ‘SharmaJI’ moniker, one of the most exciting challenges I’ve ever been issued.

On March 30, right after reaching the PokerGuru HQ, the usual work continued, with everyone pitching in for the Daily Majors report. I was writing about a few of the ongoing NPS and ITM events, wondering when I would get to take down an event.

Around 6 PM, I started grinding on PokerStars, playing the ₹375 buy-in, ₹50K GTD Super Stack PKO 8-Max. Only fifteen minutes into the event, I busted out once, and in hope and desperation, I fired my second bullet, which did the trick for me. Moving one step at a time, I was doing everything quite cautiously and built a decent stack before the close of late registration. The next step was to wait for the money bubble to burst, which was a task. Somehow, I reached the money and entered the final table as one of the shorter stacks.

Won PokerStars India's ₹50K GTD Super Stack PKO 8-Max
Won PokerStars India’s ₹50K GTD Super Stack PKO 8-Max

 

On the FT, I worked my way up before a misclick of folding pocket aces once. Lady luck smiled upon me, and I found a double-up with pocket jacks. The game continued, and at the time of three-handed play, I was again the shortest stack before jamming jack-eight suited (diamonds) from the button and finding a double-up from another runner who held ace-king suited (spades). After that, I had the chip lead; from then on, it seemed like a cakewalk. I eventually shipped the tournament for ₹12,154.

Got lucky with J8 of diamonds
Got lucky with J8 of diamonds

 

What made March 30 even more memorable was my getting to the final table of two more PokerStars India tourney’s ₹1 Lakh Gtd Ultrasonic (4th for ₹7,754) & Late Night Last Chance [Hyper-Turbo] (4th for ₹1,089).

This is a start, and I feel blessed to be part of a community that is so supportive when at the end of the day, we are all competing against each other at the tables.

Also, a big shoutout to all who have been tuning into my streams. I hope to see you all on my next stream very soon.

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Ulasan Sbobet di tahun 2020

ulasan-sbobet

SBOBET adalah bandar online tertua dan tepercaya di Asia. Mereka terbuka untuk petaruh pro dan amatir, dan menawarkan peluang terbaik dan batas tertinggi dari semua situs taruhan olahraga Asia.

Mereka menerima pemain dari semua negara Asia dan menawarkan dukungan bahasa dan mata uang untuk sebagian besar wilayah.

Mengapa bermain di SboBet.com?

  • Bandar taruhan online terbesar di Asia.
  • Batas taruhan tertinggi.
  • Memiliki odds terbaik untuk sepak bola.
  • Tersedia dalam banyak bahasa dan mata uang.

Profil Kasino

  • Didirikan: 2004
  • Lisensi: Filipina
  • Bonus: 100% hingga ÂŁ 150
  • Kode promo: DEPBON3
  • Poker: Tidak
  • Kasino: Ya
  • Taruhan Olahraga: Ya
  • Kompatibel dengan Ponsel: Ya

Ulasan Pakar SBOBet.com

Dalam artikel ini saya akan membagikan informasi mengenai situs taruhan online www.sbobet.com. Walaupun ulasan ini mencakup informasi tentang bahasa yang disediakan, mata uang, opsi perbankan dan informasi tentang sejarah perusahaan, formatnya berbeda dari ulasan pada umumnya. Ini karena saya sangat familiar dengan SBOBet dan karena mereka tidak seperti kebanyakan bandar judi internet.

SBOBet Ramah Kepada Para Penjudi Profesional

Sebagian besar bandar taruhan tidak mau mengambil taruhan dari petaruh yang menang, terutama mereka yang mempertaruhkan taruhan lebih tinggi. Ini berlaku di bandar judi Asia seperti Dafabet dan M88, di situs taruhan Las Vegas, di divisi online bandar taruhan Inggris seperti Ladbrokes dan William Hill, di bandar judi Australia utama seperti Sportsbet dan Sportingbet, dan daftar ini masih panjang.

Dengan semua contoh tersebut, ketika seorang pemain memenangkan jumlah tertentu, akun mereka ditandai untuk ditinjau. Manajemen risiko kemudian akan memutuskan apakah pemain itu beruntung, atau apakah ia seorang petaruh yang menang. Jika mereka memutuskan yang terakhir, batas taruhannya dipotong. Seringkali batasan ini mencapai serendah maksimum $ 5 atau $ 10, yang secara tidak langsung berarti bahwa pemain dilarang bertaruh.

Di SBOBet, hal ini tidak terjadi. Petaruh profesional diterima dan batas taruhan pribadi tidak pernah diberlakukan.

Yang juga unik di SBO, semua batas taruhan adalah maksimum “per taruhan” dan bukan maksimum secara kumulatif. Sebagai contoh, Liga Primer Inggris: untuk 1X2 (home/draw/away) taruhan maksimal umumnya sekitar USD 2.000, tetapi jauh lebih sedikit untuk long shot dan lebih banyak untuk favorit. Untuk handicap Asia mereka biasanya US $ 8.334.

Anda dapat menempatkan taruhan maksimal ini sebanyak mungkin ini sesuka Anda. Satu-satunya alasan untuk batas per taruhan adalah memberikan kesempatan kepada odds manager untuk menyesuaikan lines. Bagi  dia,  tidak masalah memesan taruhan sebesar USD 1 juta, selama dia dapat memindahkan lines setelah setiap taruhan maksimal. Setelah odds berubah, Anda kemudian dapat memutuskan apakah Anda ingin bertaruh pada odds yang baru.

Contoh di atas melibatkan liga populer. Untuk olahraga yang kurang populer seperti bola voli, taruhan maksimum akan jauh lebih rendah (untuk bola voli, nilainya hanya USD 84). Untuk liga dan/atau olahraga lain, batas ada di suatu tempat antara contoh yang diberikan ini. Tapi, tidak peduli apa itu olahraga atau batasan yang kita bicarakan, sekali lagi … ini adalah batas per taruhan (bukan kumulatif). Anda dapat membuat taruhan maks sebanyak yang Anda inginkan.

Baca juga: Ulasan 188Bet

Margin Rendah Mengurangi ”Juice”

SBOBet tidak hanya memungkinkan taruhan maksimum tanpa batas, di banyak pasar mereka melakukannya dengan odds terbaik. Anda tahu, bandar mendapatkan keuntungan dengan membebankan komisi pada setiap taruhan.

Ambil contoh ini: Secara teori, jika sebuah tim kemungkinan persis 50% untuk menang, maka tanpa komisi, taruhan 1 akan menghasilkan 2 (1 stake + 1 win).

Namun, pada sebagian besar bandar judi online ketika sebuah tim 50% kemungkinan menang payout akan menghasilkan 1,90, atau mungkin 1,94, dll. Saat peluang 50% jumlah odds kurang dari 2,00 adalah margin laba bandar judi dan bagaimana mereka menghasilkan uang. Jadi, jika mereka membayar 1,90, bandar tersebut memiliki margin keuntungan 10%. Jika membayar 1,95, bandar tersebut memiliki margin 5% dan seterusnya.

Alasan saya menggunakan rentang atau range adalah karena tidak semua bandar judi beroperasi dengan margin yang sama; beberapa memiliki margin yang lebih tinggi sementara yang lain menawarkan nilai yang lebih baik kepada pelanggan dengan membebankan komisi lebih sedikit pada taruhan mereka.

SBOBet menawarkan peluang yang serupa dengan situs Eropa pada 1X2 (Home/Away/Draw), tetapi ketika berbicara tentang handicap Asia, margin mereka adalah yang terendah yang ada di industri ini. Ini berarti pada handicap Asia, SBOBet biasanya memiliki odds terbaik.

Jika menggunakan contoh acak, pertandingan Serie A Italia antara AC Milan dan Lazio memiliki odds berikut di tiga situs yang terdaftar.

SBOBet.com AC Milan -0.5 1.72 / Lazio +0.5 2.30

Ladbrokes AC Milan -0.5 1.72 / Lazio +0.5 2.06

William Hill AC Milan -0.5 1.65 / Lazio +0.5 2.20

The -0.5 / +0.5 adalah handicap dan di posisi  ini jika pertandingan seri, berarti Lazio keluar sebagai pemenang untuk tujuan taruhan karena AC Milan memulai dengan memberi mereka setengah gol. Hal penting untuk diperhatikan adalah desimal yang  ada di belakang odds. Ini adalah seberapa banyak jumlah yang dipertaruhkan 1 unit untuk menang. Tidak masalah jika kita berbicara satu dolar, quid, euro, rupiah, ringgit, yen, baht atau mata uang lain yang dipertaruhkan. Jika  odds 1,72 – setiap 1 unit mata uang mempertaruhkan pengembalian 1,72 (1 stake + 0,72 profit) pada taruhan yang menang.

Dengan pemahaman di atas, perhatikan dalam contoh bahwa SBOBet menawarkan line terbaik dari tiga situs terlepas dari tim mana Anda bertaruh. Ini karena margin mereka jauh lebih rendah dari standar industri. Ini merupakan salah satu fitur yang menarik pengunjung profesional untuk menggunakan situs web mereka.

Apakah SBOBet Legal?

Untuk pemain profesional yang belum pernah mendengar tentang SBOBet, apa yang baru saja dibahas mungkin terdengar terlalu bagus untuk menjadi kenyataan. Namun, SBOBet adalah situs taruhan berlisensi penuh dan 100% sah secara hukum. Untuk para penggemar EPL, Anda tentu tahu bahwa mereka sebelumnya merupakan sponsor kaos West Ham United dan merupakan sponsor taruhan resmi Asia dari 6 klub liga utama yang berbeda.

Mereka sudah menjalin hubungan dengan salah satu bandar diskon piutang terbesar di dunia ketika mereka meluncurkan bisnis online mereka pada tahun 2004. Pada saat itu mereka berlokasi di Filipina dan pasar utama mereka adalah Asia Tenggara termasuk Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Kamboja dan Myanmar.

Pada tahun 2008, SBOBet dengan agresif mulai melakukan ekspansi internasional. Sudah tersedia dalam bahasa Inggris dan banyak bahasa dan mata uang Asia, mereka menambahkan opsi mata uang GBP, EUR dan AUD ke situs mereka. Mereka juga mulai menawarkan situs web, perangkat lunak, dan dukungan pelanggan dalam bahasa Rusia, Jerman, dan Spanyol juga.

Mereka juga mendapat lisensi baru untuk gaming dan memindahkan operasi mereka sebagian besar ke Isle of Man.

Komisi Pengawasan Perjudian Isle of Man yang melisensikan SBOBet sangat ketat dan dihormati di industri perjudian. Mereka juga melisensikan situs poker terbesar di dunia, PokerStars dan Full Tilt, dan divisi online bandar bandar Irlandia Paddy Power. Komisi ini mengharuskan semua dana pemain dipisahkan dari kas operasi. Ketika SBOBet pindah ke Isle of Man pada tahun 2008, mereka memindahkan saldo pemain ke Barclays (Private Clients) International Limited. Itu adalah anak perusahaan Isle of Man dari bank besar Inggris Barclays yang mensponsori Liga Premier Inggris (EPL).

Pahami juga bahwa sebagai merek yang benar-benar global, SBOBet memiliki opsi perbankan yang tersedia untuk pemain dari seluruh dunia. Ini termasuk metode seperti eNets untuk Singapura, Poli untuk Australia, Przelewy24 untuk Polandia, ePay.bg untuk Bulgaria, dan banyak lagi. Mereka tentu saja juga mendukung e-wallet global seperti NETELLER dan Skrill. Semua perusahaan melakukan bisnis dengan SBOBet karena mereka adalah perusahaan benar-benar perusahaan yang legal yang dilisensikan dengan baik dengan sejarah dan rekam jejak yang mengesankan.

Fitur SBOBet

SBOBet.com terkenal karena odds sepakbola handicap Asia mereka yang terkemuka, yang tersedia baik untuk prematch maupun in-play. Hampir setiap liga sepak bola dan kompetisi dari seluruh dunia tersedia untuk bertaruh. Odds untuk in-play benar-benar yang terbaik di industri. Meskipun menu mereka tidak mencolok atau flashy, fungsionalitas situs lebih baik daripada antarmuka lain yang biasa ditemukan di web. Pembaruan odds langsung diotomatisasi tanpa perlu menyegarkan atau refres browser situs. Taruhan dapat dibuat dan dikonfirmasi pada layar yang sama yang menunjukkan odds.

Selain taruhan sepak bola, SBOBet menawarkan odds banyak olahraga lainnya. Ini termasuk bola basket, baseball, tenis, sepak bola Amerika, atletik, bulu tangkis, sepak bola pantai, tinju, kriket, bersepeda, panah, hiburan, hoki lapangan, finansial, futsal, golf, bola tangan, hoki es, lacrosse, seni bela diri campuran (MMA) , motor sport, olimpiade, biliar/snooker, rugby, squash, tenis meja, bola voli, polo air dan olahraga musim dingin. Sementara limit jauh lebih kecil daripada untuk sepakbola, sekali lagi: limit adalah per taruhan. Di SBO terbuka kemungkinan untuk mendapatkan banyak uang dari olahraga minor juga.

Yang juga layak dicermati adalah SBOBet tidak hanya untuk taruhan. Mereka juga menawarkan bentuk perjudian lainnya. Di bagian game mereka, Anda dapat menemukan balapan virtual. Game greyhound virtual ini disebut Platinum Hounds dan game balap kuda virtual disebut Dashing Derby.

Ada juga banyak permainan kartu termasuk permainan kartu Italia Sette e mezzo (tujuh setengah), 100 hand jack atau video poker yang lebih baik, dan Red Dog. Game lain yang ditawarkan termasuk permainan dadu Lucky Dice, permainan slot Fireworks Friendly, Fluffy Favorites, Secret Garden, White Wizard, Temple of Iris, dan Sheman’s Dream, dan keno, kartu kunci, dan hi/lo.

Apa yang disebutkan di atas hanyalah bagian game di situs web mereka. Ada juga blackjack, bakarat, roulette, dan sic-bo. Untuk video poker, game yang tersedia adalah Deuces Wild, Jacks or Better, Jokers Wild, Keno dan Bingo. Pilihan mesin slot sangat besar dengan 47 macam versi slot super (alias slot video) tersedia untuk dipilih.

SBOBet juga memiliki buku telepon untuk taruhan pacuan kuda. Terakhir namun yang paling penting adalah bahwa pada tahun 2009 Komisi Pengawasan Perjudian Isle of Man untuk pertama kali memberikan lisensi kasino dealer live dan dikeluarkan untuk SBOBET. Kasino ini memungkinkan pemain untuk bermain blackjack dan bakarat secara live melawan dealer manusia yang duduk di meja judi fisik yang nyata di studio kasino yang sebenarnya. Ini seperti menempatkan taruhan secara langsung di Makau atau Vegas, tetapi menggunakan web cam dan taruhan ditempatkan secara online.

SBOBet tersedia untuk pemain di sebagian besar negara. Pengecualian penting adalah Amerika Serikat, Prancis, Turki, Belgia, Yunani dan Jerman. Untuk negara-negara ini, SBOBet tidak menyediakan layanan demi kegunaan hukum atau strategik.

Bagi penduduk di negara-negara lainnya, situs web mereka tersedia dalam bahasa Inggris, Cina (简体 中文), Indonesia, Vietnam (Tiếng Việt), Thailand (ภาษา ไทย), Rusia (Pусский), Jepang (日本語), Korea (한국어), Jerman (Deutsch) ) dan Burma.

Di SBOBet, akun taruhan dapat dibuka dalam pilihan Dolar Australia (AUD), Pound Inggris (GBP), Euro (EUR), Dolar Hong Kong (HKD), Yen Jepang (JPY), Ringgit Malaysia (MYR), Dolar Singapura ( SGD), maupun mata uang Thailand Baht (THB). Bagi mereka yang mata uang pilihannya tidak terdaftar, tidak perlu kuatir: Dolar Amerika Serikat (USD) juga tersedia.

Sebagaimana Anda mengumpulkan informasi dari ulasan SBOBET ini, Anda akan paham bahwa perusahaan ini memiliki banyak hal untuk ditawarkan semua jenis penjudi. Mereka aman, sekuritas terjamin, dan dapat diandalkan dan dipercaya oleh petaruh olahraga terbesar di dunia, baik amatir maupun profesional.

Virginia Lawmaker Introduces Bill To Legalize College Sports Betting

Virginia legislators have introduced a bill to legalize betting on Virginia college sports.

The bill, VA SB124 submitted by Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, would allow gambling on Virginia college teams except for prop bets.

How would Virginia’s laws change because of the new bill?

VanValkenburg’s bill would simply eliminate language in the current sports betting laws that prohibit betting on college teams based in Virginia. Seven sections in Virginia’s sports betting law mention college sports.

The key section that the bill would change lists three betting prohibitions:

  • Youth sports bets
  • College sports prop bets
  • Bets on Virginia college sports teams

The submitted bill would essentially delete the third bullet, retaining the first two prohibitions.

If the bill succeeds, it would likely be a big boost to the state’s tax revenue, as betting would increase, thereby generating more revenue.

Virginia is home to several major colleges with considerable followings in basketball and football. The big names are the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech, but other colleges with notable sports programs include:

  • George Mason University: Made a magical run to the Final Four in 2006
  • Virginia Commonwealth University: A regular in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, making the Final Four in 2011
  • Old Dominion University: Made it to the men’s baseball  NCAA in 2021
  • James Madison University: Women’s softball made a run to the Women’s College World Series in 2021, upsetting Oklahoma in the first round before falling to the Sooners in the semifinals.

What Virginia sports betting would look like with in-state teams?

It’s hard to say how much of a boost betting on in-state college teams would provide Virginia’s sports betting revenue numbers.

Because bettors in the state can already place bets on college contests, we’re not likely to see a big bump in revenue. That being said, legalizing betting on Virginia teams gives fans of schools big and small a chance to do what they’ve probably wanted to do for a long time.

Should the bill pass, it’s possible we’ll see sportsbooks such as DraftKings and FanDuel capitalize on that loyalty by offering promos focused on Virginia college programs like Virginia and Virginia Tech.

That being said, VA law prohibits sportsbooks from marketing to minors and those under 21 years of age. So don’t expect to see on-campus advertising and promos.

What’s next for Virginia’s college sports betting bill?

Right now, VA SB124 is sitting with a Senate gaming committee. If the committee approves the bill, it may go to another committee or might head to the Senate for a vote.

If the Senate approves the bill, it will go to the House for a vote. And, if it passes, it will go to Gov. Glenn Youngkin‘s desk for a signature.

The post Virginia Lawmaker Introduces Bill To Legalize College Sports Betting appeared first on Play USA.

Best Fortune Teller Websites For Accurate & Free Fortune Telling In 2023

Response to recent security concerns

WPN takes game security and integrity very seriously. We deploy significant resources and technology toward identifying any bad actors that look to gain an unfair advantage or cheat our players out of their funds.

Players have recently expressed concern over a group of accounts playing over the course of the past 12 months. These accounts have all been through a rigorous set of security protocols through the natural course of business. These protocols were performed in real-time prior to the list being made public earlier this month. Given the serious nature of the accusations against these specific accounts, we have undergone additional review.

As a result of the standard protocols, the majority of the identified accounts have previously been prohibited from playing on the site and have not been active since the protocols were enforced. Several dozen of the publicly identified accounts passed the screening, which included hundreds of hours of video recordings of play that we insisted be performed to assure that the account was legitimate. Given the continued concerns expressed by members of our player community, out of an abundance of caution we have decided to suspend each of these accounts and put those accounts through additional scrutiny before they are permitted to continue play.

In accordance with our policies and where such determinations can be made, we will refund players where we have identified bad actors negatively impacted other players.

The fight against bad actors using a variety of means to cheat is an ongoing battle for all online poker operators. We are committed to investing in staying ahead of these cheaters.

As part of that commitment we consistently review our security protocols and make changes and improvements based on feedback, player behaviour and as  a result of our continual investigations into suspicious play. Our current security protocols include:

  • Mandatory player documentation updates
  • Captcha technology and table pixelation changes
  • Software that renders bots who use live data collection such as PPL or OpenPPL ineffective
  • Video-recorded sessions of players for pattern evaluation where play is matched to previous hand histories to compare results
  • Deep dives of hand and play history across all our games
  • Recent banning of virtual and remote access machines
  • Introduction of features such as PLO Reshuffle which puts folded hole cards back into the deck to reduce collusion opportunities
  • Recent partnership with GTO Wizard to enhance GTO analysis protocols and detection
  • Investment in tools that improve data analysis and detection capabilities

As a result of these recent concerns, we are undergoing a full review of these current protocols and expect to make additional changes and enhancements to our security measures and to increase our already significant investment in security and game integrity.

We hope that players will continue to trust us with their play as they have for more than 20 years and will take comfort in the knowledge that protecting the game is one of our most important activities.

The Misunderstood Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

So, if King was distrusted and maligned by mainstream America during his life, was it his martyrdom at age 39 that changed public opinion and transformed him into an almost saintly American hero? Not immediately, says Theoharis, explaining that it took 15 years of lobbying by civil rights leaders and sympathetic legislators to finally convince Congress to commemorate Martin Luther King Day.

President Ronald Reagan, who was against the holiday during his first term in office — he agreed with former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover that King was a communist — changed his tune when running for reelection and needed to close a “sensitivity gap” with minorities and women.

Signing the bill in 1983 that made King’s birthday a national holiday, Reagan skillfully laid out the elements that would become the national fable:

“Now our nation has decided to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., by setting aside a day each year to remember him and the just cause he stood for. We’ve made historic strides since Rosa Parks refused to go to the back of the bus. As a democratic people, we can take pride in the knowledge that we Americans recognized a grave injustice and took action to correct it. And we should remember that in far too many countries, people like Dr. King never have the opportunity to speak out at all,”

Theoharis says that Reagan’s genius was to frame King’s story as another example of American exceptionalism.

“We had an injustice and we corrected it. It’s all about the power of individuals and the power of American democracy,” says Theoharis. “These will be key elements in terms of how the Civil Rights Movement comes to be memorialized in our national culture.”

By 1987, four years after the creation of MLK Day and nearly 20 years after King’s murder on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, a full 76 percent of Americans had a favorable opinion of King and those numbers only continued to grow, says Theoharis. (By 1999, King came in second on a Gallup survey of 20th-century individuals Americans admired most, behind Mother Teresa.)

Political scientist Sheldon Appleton wrote in 1995 that younger, college-educated white Americans tended to support King and both of these demographics were larger in 1987 than in 1966. He also noted that the widespread lack of knowledge about King and the Civil Rights Movement in general (see “Now That’s Amnesia” at the end of the article) might have also colored earlier perceptions. “Perhaps recent media treatment of King has helped to induce selective memory by some middle-aged and older Americans,” Appleton wrote.

Of course, Americans have every reason to venerate Martin Luther King and to celebrate his accomplishments. He didn’t do it alone, and he had his flaws like any other man, but as Carson explains, he also had an undeniable gift for challenging Americans, then and now, to make good on the promise of our founding principles.

“He had that ability to link the goals of the civil rights struggle to ideals that most Americans believe that they have,” says Carson. “That’s what he was doing in [the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech in Washington]. We as a nation justified our independence with a human rights statement called the Declaration of Independence. The question is: Can we live up to that?”

How To Play Safely At Online Casinos

Online casinos are fun and entertaining, however, it’s always good to remember to play safe, be it with regards to responsible gaming, playing on licensed sites or choosing secure payment methods.

During these emergency measures, the safety and well-being of our players is our top priority, which is why we’re reminding you of our safer gambling tools.

Gamble Responsibly

We want you to have fun but be responsible every time you play with us. LiveRoulette encourages its players to gamble responsibly, and to use your funds wisely. Borrowing money to play, spending more than you can afford or using money which has been saved for other reasons is not the right way to go, as it can cause problems for yourself and the people around you.

LiveRoulette has several responsible gaming tools in place to help you play in the right way. You can set up your own gaming limits, budgets and boundaries. We work together with the Global Gaming Guidance Group (G4) to provide players with the tools to prevent unhealthy gaming behaviour. Here’s a recap of our top tools:

Set Deposit Limits

If you’re spending more time at home or you’re spending more time online, you can control your funds with a daily, weekly or monthly deposit limit. You can set up these limits through My Account and accessing the Responsible Gaming page. You’ll also be prompted to set a limit when you first open an account.

Use Reality Checks

These days, most online casinos offer cool-off options, from 24-hour time outs to more permanent solutions. Need a reality check on your gaming? No problem. With LiveRoulette you can be notified through a Reality Check which helps you keep track of how long you’ve been playing. You can be informed every 15 minutes, 30 minutes, one or two hours, depending on the frequency you choose.

The Reality Check feature will automatically stop the game you’re currently playing until you either decide to continue with the game or you choose to exit. This feature gives you a detailed breakdown of your online casino activity, such as information about your current gaming session with regards to time spent and information regarding any wins and losses.

Take Time Out

Think you might be playing too much? Give yourself time to cool off by temporarily suspending your account.

For players who may wish to self-exclude on a more permanent basis, LiveRoulette and a number of online casinos allow you to register with GamStop. GamStop is a handy and free service which allows players to self-exclude from all online gambling companies which are licensed in Great Britain. To find out more information and to sign up for this service simply visit www.gamstop.co.uk.

Take A Self-Assessment Test

If you’re concerned about the possibility of developing a gambling problem you can try our online Self-Assessment test (if you’re a registered player), and see what the results show. If your test result has reason to concern you, consider activating a timeout on your account or contact customer support to receive further advice.

Protect Your Kids

It’s illegal for anyone under 18 to open a casino account in the UK, and we take all the necessary precautions to ensure we do not attract or target minors. All accounts are fully age-verified before anyone can play, and if an account cannot be verified for any reason it is suspended, and no play can go ahead.

Whilst you and your children might be spending more time at home, there are measures you can take to ensure that your children aren’t exposing to gambling sites:

  • Do not play in front of your children or minors.
  • Log out as soon as you’ve finished playing.
  • Keep any card details secure and out of reach.
  • Do not use auto-fill for email addresses, passwords and other account details such as usernames.
  • If you share your computer with people who are not yet of age, you can install software such as NetNanny to monitor, limit and protect your family from harmful content.

A Final Word Of Advice

Do not gamble if you feel anxious, tired or frustrated, and do not let your gambling get in the way of your daily activities. Gambling is not a solution to financial problems and should be done with your entertainment budget, not with your phone bill or rent money.

Decide how much you can afford to lose before you start playing, and remember once it’s gone, it’s gone. Apart from setting monetary limits, set yourself a time limit or a particular time window for play.

Get More Help

Should you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us or call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133.

12 BEST HARRY POTTER BOARD GAMES


Harry Potter Board Games

Are you a big Harry Potter fan? This article is for you! With magic, beasts, and terrifying villains, there is no shortage of fun and crazy board games that can fit into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

In this article, we will break down 12 of the best Harry Potter games out there. So, if you are a big fan of all things Harry Potter, get your wand ready and prepare to venture through the Harry Potter world from your tabletop!

This post contains partner links to various products.

1. HARRY POTTER HOGWARTS BATTLE

QUICK FACTS

  • Cost: $49.90
  • Players: 2 to 4
  • Objective: Secure the safety of Hogwarts by battling and defeating villains who wish to gain power over the school. 

In Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle, players work together in a cooperative setting to stop the forces of evil from taking over the school. Players will take turns resisting the Dark Arts and battling it out in hopes of pushing the dark forces back. If the heroes fail, it surely spells disaster for not only Hogwarts but the world. Hogwarts Battle is not only one of our favorite Harry Potter board games but also one of the best deck building games out there!

HOW TO PLAY

Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle is a cooperative game, where players will choose classic characters from the series to play as. They must work together to stop villains from overtaking precious locations on the board. Players will have to survive the dark arts, and villain attacks. Then play their cards, collecting resources and attacking villains. Players will also need to gain influence so that they can better the cards in their decks.

2. HOGWARTS MAGICAL MAYHEM

QUICK FACTS

  • Cost: $39.99
  • Players: 2 to 4
  • Objective: Score the most points for your team.

Hogwarts Magical Mayhem is a fun 3D board game. This game is made of several mini-games where you can score points for your team, but watch out, doing poorly could cost you as well. From assembling the board to performing various dexterity-based actions, this game is made for everyone. 

HOW TO PLAY

To play Hogwarts Magical Mayhem players will join teams to compete as members of. There are 8 separate mini-games, some requiring different skill sets to complete. Players will compete to do their best at each mini-game which includes making potions, taming beats, finding the right pathways, beating the hydra, and more. We also can’t forget everyone’s favorite, a rousing game of quidditch. Once all the games are complete, players compare scores to see who is the champion of Hogwarts, 

3. CLUE: WIZARDING WORLD HARRY POTTER

QUICK FACTS

  • Cost: $37.33
  • Players: 3 to 5
  • Objective: Find the Suspect by knowing the place, spell, and the person who committed the crime. 

This is a magical twist on the classic game of Clue. Players will play as various wizards at Hogwarts. One of the Students has vanished and all the characters are suspects. Players will need to explore the grounds to rule out various wizards, spells, and locations. Once they have a solid accusation they can bring it to the Headmaster.

HOW TO PLAY

Just like classic Clue, players will roll dice to move around the board. As they do so, they will find help cards to rule out various spells, locations, and suspects. Players will need to watch out because there is a possibility of running into the dark mark. If a player comes in contact, they could lose house points if they do not have the right help cards. Losing all your house points removes you from the games, so be careful. When a player is sure of their accusation, they can make their way to Dumbeldore’s office to accuse! 

4. HARRY POTTER MAGICAL BEASTS

QUICK FACTS

  • Cost: $26.99
  • Players: 2 to 4
  • Objective: Identify the magical beast by collecting clue cards. 

In Harry Potter Magical Beasts players compete to collect clue cards to identify magical beasts. They must strategize to keep their clues safe from other wizards, and research to find what beast they are pursuing. 

HOW TO PLAY

To play Harry Potter Magical Beasts players will roll dice to move across the board. There is also a special side of the dice that causes the board to flip! Creating crazy circumstances and advantages for the wizard’s turn. Players will race, looking for clues across the board, and slowly compiling clue cards for different beasts. When a player manages to get 4 clue cards that identify a beast, they win!

5. TRIVIAL PURSUIT: WIZARDING WORLD HARRY POTTER

QUICK FACTS

  • Cost: $21.99
  • Players: 2+
  • Objective: Answer questions correctly and collect all 6 wedges.

It is the classic game of Trivial Pursuit, but it features categories and questions all about Harry Potter! Compete with your friends to have the most extensive knowledge of the universe. Race to be the first player to win. 

HOW TO PLAY

Players will roll dice to move in Trivial Pursuit: Harry Potter. After each movement a different player will read a trivia question, matching the category the current player landed on. If the player answers correctly, they may continue, or may sometimes collect a wedge. Once a player collects all the wedges, they can climb to the middle of the board to answer one last trivia question correctly to win. 

6. CATCH THE GOLDEN SNITCH

QUICK FACTS

  • Cost: $19.99
  • Players: 3 to 4
  • Objective: Earn more points than all other players

Catch the Golden Snitch is a fast-paced, dexterity-based board game. Players all take their turns simultaneously, making the play area chaotic. Players will compete to collect sets of cards to score, all while stealing, blocking, and always being on alert for the golden snitch. It is based on the game of Quidditch from the books.

HOW TO PLAY

Players all take their turns simultaneously in Catch the Golden Snitch. The players will receive their own decks to draw from. Players will draw cards and discard them as quickly as possible to collect sets of matching cards but never have more than 5 cards in hand. Players may get sets of items that award them points at the end of the game, pairs of seekers who only give points if they catch the snitch, and various other card types.

Some cards when collected prevent people from stealing from you. Others will allow players to throw a bludgeoner at another in an attempt to sabotage other players’ hands. Some sets allow you to steal other players’ sets. After a random amount of turns the golden snitch will be released into the air. The player who catches it first is allowed to score their seekers. The release of the golden snitch also ends the game. The player who earned the most points wins.

7. HARRY POTTER LABYRINTH

QUICK FACTS

  • Cost: $36.99
  • Players: 2 to 4
  • Objective: Collect all of your characters and return to your starting space.

In Harry Potter Labyrinth you will compete against the other players to find and collect all of your secret characters. You will constantly be changing up the board, and moving objectives. Race to find everyone and return to your starting is to be crowned the winner. 

HOW TO PLAY

On a player’s turn, they will look, secretly, at the current character they are attempting to rescue from the Labyrinth. Players will have to strategize a way to move across the ever-changing landscape by selecting and sliding in new tiles on their turn. Once a player reaches the character, they reveal their card and start searching for the next missing characters. Once a player has found all of their assigned characters, they will then need to make their way back to their starting location to win!

8. MISCHIEF IN DIAGON ALLEY 

QUICK FACTS

  • Cost: $24.99
  • Players: 3 to 5
  • Objective: Remove all the wrong items from your shop, while collecting all the correct items.

Mischief in Diagon Alley is a super fast-paced, real-time game. Players will be rolling their three dice and using their instruction to move around items on the board. The goal for each player is to quickly assemble all their shop’s items and remove all the wrong items from their shop. 

HOW TO PLAY

Players will simultaneously roll three dice. The dice will tell you what item you can move, what direction it can be moved from, and how many of the items can be moved. Players will roll, move the correct items to their shop, and the wrong items out. Rolling again immediately after finishing their previous roll. The first player to have all of the correct items in their shop, and no incorrect items, wins. 

9. MUNCHKIN HARRY POTTER

QUICK FACTS

  • Cost: $29.99
  • Players: 3 to 6
  • Objective: Reach level 10 by killing monsters. 

Munchkin Harry Potter is a Harry Potter board game mashup of traditional Munchkin and the Wizarding World. Players will decide on their character, defeat monsters in combat, and avoid curses and death at all costs. Players will compete and sabotage others in an attempt to be the first to reach level 10. 

HOW TO PLAY

Players will take turns fighting monsters, searching rooms, and playing cards. The goal of the Munchkin Harry Potter is to reach level 10, but to do so and win you must defeat a monster. Players will also be able to help or harm other players, by applying curses, giving cards, or helping to fight monsters. Beware of death, because you will have to start all over. 

 This version of the game can be added to others to make an even crazier experience. 

10. CODENAMES: HARRY POTTER

QUICK FACTS

  • Cost: $24.99
  • Players: 2+
  • Objective: Find all 15 Order of the Phoenix Members before time runs out.

In Codenames: Harry Potter players will split into two teams. Players will then take turns giving clues for the other side to correctly guess the members needed. Once all 15 of the members from both sides of the board are found, the players all win. Watch out! There are Ministry Officials and, even worse, a death eater on the loose! This fun Harry Potter game is a fun twist on classic Codenames.

HOW TO PLAY

Players will take turns giving their opposing teammates a single-word clue, followed by a number of cards this clue applies to. The opposing team will then think and discuss the clue before touching a tile to indicate a guess. If it was a Phoenix Member,  they are one step closer to winning and get to guess again. When it is a Ministry Official, they lose time and have to end the turn immediately. If it is the dreaded death eater, you have lost the game. Once finished their turn it is time for the other team to follow suit and complete their turn in the same fashion. If players manage to get all 15 members found before the end of the game, they win!

11. HARRY POTTER GUESS WHO?

QUICK FACTS

  • Cost: $34.99
  • Players: 2
  • Objective: Be the first to correctly guess who the other player’s character is. 

Harry Potter Guess Who? is a magic-filled version of standard Guess Who? The players will compete to see who can correctly figure out who the other player’s secret character is by asking wild and entertaining questions to their opponent. This is, without a doubt, one of the best Harry Potter board games for younger players.

HOW TO PLAY

Each player will choose their character and then take turns asking questions about them. On a player’s turn, they will ask a single yes or no question to their opponent. Their opponent will then answer honestly the question. The player will then go through their remaining choices and narrow them down by flipping them closed if they do not fit with the answers to their questions. The first player to ask the opponent if their character is “so and so” and be correct wins. 

12. HEDBANZ WIZARDING WORLD HARRY POTTER

QUICK FACTS

  • Cost: $18.99
  • Players: 2 to 4
  • Objective: Collect 5 chocolate frogs first.

In this game Hedbanz Wizarding World Harry Potter, players will compete to guess correctly what they have tucked in their headband. They have a certain amount of time to ask questions to get closer to an answer. If they successfully guess they earn a chocolate frog!

HOW TO PLAY

Players will on their turn put a card in their headband. There will be a timer to keep track of a player’s turn as well. The player may then begin to ask yes or no questions to determine what they have on their headband. If they are having trouble a player may use a potion which will have another player give clues in a different manner. If the player manages to guess correctly they gain a chocolate frog, and if there is still time they may draw a new card and begin to guess again. Once a player has earned 5 chocolate frogs, they win. 

YOUR HOGWARTS FANTASY IS WAITING!

If you or someone you know is a huge Harry Potter fan, these are some great games for you. These games range in difficulty, and mechanics meaning you’ll have many options for Wizarding World fun. This list of 12 Harry Potter games is sure to delight. We have taken all the guessing out of buying these games, and now you can decide which of these great games is perfect for you!

Looking for some more fun themed board games? Check out our list of the 11 best Disney board games!

Amber Crook
Latest posts by Amber Crook (see all)

What Is Pot Control & Why Does It Matter?

You’ve probably heard the poker term pot control before. If you want to know what it means and why it matters, read on.

This article covers:

  • What is Pot Control?
  • Why Should You Pot Control?
  • How Important Pot Controlling is for Poker Players

I will also give you some concrete examples of when you should pot control and when you shouldn’t so that you leave with a much better understanding of this concept.

Let’s dive in!

What Does Pot Control Mean?

Pot Control in poker means checking (or betting small) with the aim of maintaining the size of the pot so it doesn’t get much bigger. Pot controlling is generally done with marginal hands that are uncertain to win at showdown.

Here are some examples to illustrate this definition:

  1. You are in position and you check back instead of betting
  2. You are facing a bet and opt to call instead of raising

In both cases, your action allows you to reach the next street without increasing the size of the pot.

Pretty simple, right? Let’s move forward!

Why Should You Control the Size of the Pot?

From a theoretical perspective, there is only one reason why you should pot control: to increase your expected value (EV).

Different hand strengths perform best at different pot sizes given the same stack-to-pot ratio (SPR). Let me give you some extreme examples so that it becomes clear.

Suppose you are holding middle pair on a board with both straights and flushes possible — on . Would you rather be in this situation in an…

  1. 8bb pot with 96bb left in your stack; or
  2. A 70bb pot with 150bb left in your stack.

Intuitively, and correctly so, we feel that we’d rather have that marginal hand in the smaller pot. If the pot has already ballooned to 70bb, the odds of our measly middle pair being the winning hand are much lower.

Why is that? Because of the range filtering that occurred to get to the current size of the pot. For a pot to get to 70bb, that means that the opponent has shown aggression (or called our aggression) on multiple streets and/or with large bet sizes.

All of these actions indicate a good hand for our opponent. Comparatively, for the pot to have only increased to 8bb, that means that there has been a lot of checking and/or small bet sizes involved, all of which point towards a lower hand ranking for the opponent.

How Important is Pot Controlling?

Pot control is a very important concept to integrate into your game. It is one of the cornerstones of poker strategy, and it’s one of the reasons why some beginning poker players end up losing a lot of money.

Here’s the mistake beginners tend to make…

They keep betting with hands that are too weak for the pot size that they are building. As a result, they end up losing the hand too often — and the pot they lost is much bigger than it should have been.

If you find yourself consistently betting and/or raising with medium-strength hands, then you are probably costing yourself a lot of money. Most of the time, you force folds from too many worse hands and get called by too many better hands. That is the opposite of what you want to happen at the poker table!

Example of When You Should Pot Control

Let’s consider the following scenario:

You raise first in from Middle Position with . The Big Blind calls.

The flop is . The Big Blind checks, you fire a c-bet of 1/3rd of the pot. The Big Blind calls.

The turn is the giving you second pair. This is a very reasonable hand to pot control. If you bet and get called, you will force your opponent to fold many hands you beat (like and ) and call mostly with hands that have you beat (like ). 

There’s one other big downside to betting: you open yourself up to being check-raised. Against a check-raise, you will certainly be forced to fold your middle pair, forfeiting the rest of your equity by not seeing the river. 

By pot controlling, you allow yourself to see the river for free. This gives you the opportunity to bluff-catch profitably on the river if your opponent has a missed draw. Or, you might hit trips or a two pair and win money from the hands without having committed any money against them when you were behind.

This all sounds like a great deal!

Wrapping Up

This is all you need to know about pot controlling to play better than most of your opponents!

Tell me, have you been thinking about pot controlling this way until now? What have you learned that is different from what you thought before?

Let me know in the comment section down below!

If you want to learn about another critical poker concept, check out What is a 3-Bet? Why (And How) You Need to 3-Bet More Often

Till’ next time, good luck, grinders!

Note: World-class pro Doug Polk has created a new poker crash course called The Postflop Playbook, which costs just $7 and takes less than 2 hours to complete.

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When you get The Postflop Playbook, you will learn how to make quick and profitable decisions that translate to more (and bigger) winning poker sessions. Learn more now!

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Top-notch Casino Benefits at Fair Go

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Sycuan Presents $180K to 25 Charities During 2023 Holiday Gift Giving Ceremony

Sycuan Presents $180K to 25 Charities During 2023 Holiday Gift Giving Ceremony

(San Diego, Calif.) – Dec. 15, 2023 – On Thursday, December 7, Sycuan Casino Resort presented $180K to 25 different charities during its 2023 Holiday Gift Giving Ceremony.

Each December, members of the Sycuan Tribal Council and the Sycuan Executive Team individually select a charity to donate to on behalf of Sycuan. The Holiday Gift Giving Ceremony has been held at Sycuan more than 10 times and has supported a variety of causes over the years ranging from social and health services to the arts and the environment.

“The Holiday Gift Giving Ceremony was founded in 2006 and is something we look forward to each year,” said Cody J. Martinez, chairman of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation. “The event brings together many diverse organizations and change-makers that are making a major impact in the community. This year, we are honored to support more than 20 organizations with a variety of admirable causes.”

Charities Involved (A-Z): Alzheimer’s Association of San Diego, Alzheimer’s San Diego, America’s First Policy Institute, Bichon FurKids, Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County, Children’s Book Party, Church of the Immaculate Conception – Music Ministry, ElderHelp San Diego, Garden of Innocence, Gary Sinise Foundation San Diego, Grossmont High Music Program, Monarch School, NAMI San Diego, Ocean Discovery Institute, Postpartum Health Alliance, Rady Children’s Hospital – Cancer Center, Rocking Horse Ranch, San Diego Youth Services, SAY San Diego, Sharp Guardian Angel – Shankar Sundaram, Skinny Gene Project, SOMBFAB – Some of My Best Friends are Bald, The Animal Pad, Thrive Outside San Diego/San Diego Foundation and Urban Street Angels.

About Sycuan Casino Resort

Sycuan Casino Resort began as a humble Bingo Palace in 1983. Now more than 40 years later, it has become a community landmark and one of San Diego’s premier casino and resort destinations. Sycuan recently completed a $260M expansion, which includes a 12-story luxury hotel tower with over 300 guest rooms and 57 suites. Guests can enjoy a wide range of onsite amenities including a variety of new restaurants from fast-casual to fine dining, meeting and event space, a full-service spa, fitness center and a state-of-the-art pool and gardens area with a lazy river and swim-up bar. Sycuan also boasts a newly expanded casino floor for a total of 2,800 slot machines and 54 table games in a variety of gaming options. Sycuan is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information visit www.sycuan.com or call 619-445-6002.

Most Anticipated Mobile Games Coming Out in January 2024

2023 was a great year for gaming. We witnessed some of the greatest titles, such as Baldur’s Gate 3, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Street Fighter 6. This great streak has raised the bar, meaning games launching this year must crank things up. 

As you gear up for the headlining releases, how about keeping your hands warm with mobile games set to launch this month? It is time for some tap-and-swipe action. Here are the most anticipated mobile games coming out in January 2024. 

5. Art of Rally

Art of Rally is a well-crafted love letter to rallying fans by Funselektor. The gorgeous and well-detailed sim racing game adds to the huge library of racing games available without making it feel crowded. The game launched on Xbox One and Series X/S in 2020, with the PS4 and PS5 consoles getting a release in 2021. Now, mobile gamers can get their hands on the game, which is set for release on iOS and Android on January 18, 2024.

So far, the game has received great reviews on its console releases. Aside from the micro-freezes and slowdowns, Art of Rally is a one-of-a-kind racing game. It looks like a really simple game on the surface, but it gets harder once you crack it. The earlier stages are a cruise, but you’ll deal with faster speeds after knocking down some levels.  

What strikes me most about Art of Rally is the minimalist graphic detail. It shows that little is enough, and you don’t need a graphically demanding game to have a good time. Moreover, the game also features a neat line of vehicles that vary in controls, adding layers of complexity and realism. Plus, there’s plenty of content to dive into. You can learn a thing or two about the history of racing from the career mode or burn rubber and break limits on different tracks. 

4. Warframe

Warframe is one of those games that will bring out your rage with its difficulty. But once you get the hang of it, you get quite comfortable. The free-to-play MMO has been around since 2013, when it launched on PC and has received ports to various platforms, including Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and 5, and later on Xbox Series X/S. The devs have confirmed the game’s launch on mobile platforms, scheduled for early 2024.

Ideally, Warframe has you playing as a Tenno, a biomechanical unit with no recollection of its past. This is partly due to their suspended animation that casts them into a deep sleep, only to be woken up far into the Earth’s future. You’ll occasionally go head-to-head with various factions in the game, which helps you advance your Tenno. The game is heavily mission-based, meaning you’ll be traversing different planets to defeat various threats, including giant robots. 

The only downside to this game is its complexity. You may need to keep an open tab on the game’s Wiki to navigate through. Thankfully, the Warframe community is very welcoming. You’ll likely stumble upon a player or two willing to help you through the missions. I hope the same applies to the mobile versions. 

3. Zenless Zone Zero

From the studio that brought you Genshin Impact comes an enthralling brand-new IP set in the fictional world of New Eridu. A great disaster known as the ‘Hollows’ has tragically hit the world, and the New Eridu is the last surviving colony. This last civilization has also cracked the code in harvesting valuable resources from the disaster, transforming adversity into abundance. 

This abundant city is now the center of attention and a desired settlement for the unsettled. Playing as a proxy, you must traverse New Eridu and conquer adversaries while getting to the bottom of the mysteries in the city. 

Zenless Zen Hero is a tad different from the roguelike games in HoYoverse’s massive library. But it features roguelike elements when exploring the Hollows. As the proxy, you send out a Bangboo that you control remotely to visit the world through a series of TVs. The TVs are tiles where combat ensues, and you collect buffs for your progress.

Moreover, Hoyoverse recycles elements from Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. If you’ve played any of these games, you’ll feel right at home with this new IP, set to release on mobile in 2024.

2. Minion Masters

Thanks to Netflix, the legendary Minion Masters is getting a remake and re-release. The game is expected to launch in January 2024 and is available to Netflix-subscribed members. The game will receive a huge facelift, as described by the devs, including a UI rework and huge code. 

Here’s a quick breakdown if you’re hearing about this game for the first time. Minion Masters is a collectible card game. Well, of some sort. Why some sort? Because it features elements that place it in the Multiple Online Battle Arena Category. Ideally, you build a deck of minions and spells, then assign a hero. Next, you place them on two lanes against your opponent, doing the same against you. Once you place your minion, you have no control over its actions, so choose your spot wisely. The player who dies first loses. 

This formula is certainly familiar if you’ve played Castle Crush before. A few notable differences are that the mobile version will support cross-play but won’t support cross-progression. 

1. Money Heist: Ultimate Choice

Strap on your red suits and don your Salvador DalĂ­ masks because a major heist is coming. Netflix stunned the world with their highly-praised TV show ‘Money Heist’. The gripping and emotionally charged series captivated viewers with its intricate plot and, of course, the high-stakes heist. 

Now, players can delve into this world right from their mobile phones. The interactive game will explore the themes of crime, drama and love, where you decide whether to remain loyal to your team or seek vengeance for your loved ones. Moreover, you’ll encounter and interact with the TV series’ iconic characters. 

The game will be available for Netflix members starting January 5, 2024. 

And there you have it. Our most anticipated mobile games coming out in January 2024. What’s your take on our picks? Which game will you play first? Let us know on our socials here.

Hoping for a Strong start to 2024

Cheltenham

FINE CASTING gets a narrow vote in a very tight race for the TV opener of 2024 at Cheltenham (12.55pm) at 4/1. A pretty smart bumper horse, he perhaps didn’t quite meet the standards expected of him as a hurdler, but his chasing debut was solid and suggested there’s more to come off this sort of mark. Although a couple of smart ones are in opposition, his good fourth in the Imperial Cup suggests he’s not overmatched in good company, while the most compelling evidence is his excellent record on heavy ground.

ANGELS BREATH is a risky proposition at 9/2, but might have been found a suitable opportunity at last (1.30pm). Clearly he’ll never quite be the force of old, but a good trawl through all his good back form suggests he’s essentially a high cruising one pacer with an aptitude for bad ground and who is probably crying out for this trip. A smallish field should suit quite well, and there must be a suspicion that Inch House won’t love the ground, while Cloudy Glen is best fresh and Stumptown needs the headgear to work some magic.

SHAKEM UP’ARRY is racing off the same mark as when an excellent third over course and distance at the Festival (2.05pm), and there is every chance he could run even better in this small field affair at 5/1. His record in midwinter on testing ground is very good, while his bold showing in the Coral Gold Cup strongly suggested he was in extremely good heart. Given it was simply his stamina that gave out, a drop in the weights looks generous.

COME ON TEDDY shaped well enough on his comeback to think there’s still a bit of gas in the tank (2.40pm) at 10/1. Habitually effective both at Cheltenham and on deep ground, he’ll furthermore appreciate a return to the more stamina sapping New Course over hurdles, and shouldn’t find the race getting away from him as was the case last time.

STRONG LEADER has possibilities at 9/2 in the Relkeel (3.15pm). He’s significantly less exposed than the others, and looked to be coming right back to form upped in trip at Ascot. The ground is a bit of an unknown, but it’s not ideal for the front pair either. It’s hard to think Bob Olinger achieved an enormous amount beating Zanahiyr the other day, while Marie’s Rock was good in this last year but has been a bit hit-and-miss since, even allowing for three miles stretching her.

Musselburgh

IN THIS WORLD ought to build on his promising effort last time in the first of two televised races from Musselburgh (1.10pm) at 2/1. That was in a race of more depth at Cheltenham, and I liked the way he finished off there, suggesting that two and a half miles on an easy track should be fine.

CRACKING DESTINY has quite sound claims of following up his recent win in the Auld Reekie (2.20pm) at 11/2. Although the handicapper has taken action, that was a cosy success and – most crucially – he should get a very similar pace set-up here with Fidelio Vallis and Corrigeen Rock in the line-up.