Category Archives: Uncategorized

Don’t let turistas ruin your vacation

It might not be life threatening in any way, but a turista is equally discomforting. It is one of the most common health problems that affects travelers and ends up ruining their entire holiday. Turista, the Mexican word for traveler’s diarrhea, is one of the most unpleasant problems that a person can have while on a holiday. Turistas has been technically been defined as three or more unformed stools that are passed by a traveler within a period of 24 hours. One of the main reasons behind touristas is gastrointestinal infections that arise from consuming bacteria contaminated food or water. Therefore, understanding the importance of making your body to adjust to the fatigue, time change, disruption of eating habits and travelling is extremely important. Moreover, destinations that offer a warmer climate, i.e., destinations like South America, Asia, Mexico and Africa, are known to be more dangerous than most other places.

Diarrhea

Just imagine yourself on that perfect spot on the beach with your loved one while you take in the atmosphere and sip some cocktails with your loved one. All of a sudden that all too familiar grumbling sound in your stomach might lead to a 100 meter dash to the closest restroom. Well, this is the world of turistas. Therefore, a number of travelers end up spending most of their holidays fearing from this unpleasant problem, lest things go wrong. However, there are a few ways of ensuring that you don’t suffer from turistas on your vacation.

The best way to start your precautions is by taking probiotics 7 days before you plan to leave for your journey and take them all through the trip. This allows you to increase the resistance levels of your digestive system and prevent it from being affected by foreign bacteria. Moreover, using probiotics has proven to help in reducing the persistence as well as the duration of turistas.

Make sure that you drink water and beverages from sealed bottles only. If you do not have access to mineral water, don’t forget to boil the water before drinking it. Using boiled water for brushing your teeth is quite important as well. If you don’t particularly wish to have boiled water, you can also go for tea or coffee instead.

You should also ensure that you don’t put ice cubes in your drinks. Ice cubes are made out of local water and the chances of these ice cubes causing an issue in your digestive system are quite high. You should also ensure that you only eat peeled fruits and vegetables that are hot and have been cooked recently. Stay away from salads and raw vegetables at all costs.

Washing your hands before every meal can also help you to ward away the turista inducing bacteria. Using antiseptic gels is possible as well.

Other things to avoid include non-pasteurized dairy products, undercooked or raw meats or seafood and roadside food items.

Following these simple steps can allow you to enjoy an exciting and tourista free vacation.

Poker Cruises

All You Need to Know About Poker Cruises

test
If you’re interested in travelling and you also love playing a game of poker, a poker cruise might be just the thing you’re looking for. And if you’re looking to club your spouse’s idea of a beautiful cruise to some exotic island to your idea of a holiday in Vegas, a poker cruise is an ideal solution. Booking a poker cruise is extremely easy and all you require is your passport as a proof of identification. You are allowed to decide when you wish to cruise, how long you wish to cruise for, what add-ons you want on your cruise, etc. Most cruise lines also include meals in your cabin prices that include “eat all you want” meals.

Popular Poker Cruise Providers in the US

There are two major poker cruise providers in the US – Poker Player Cruises and Card Player Cruises. Poker Player Cruises offers poker cruises on the Royal Caribbean routes with an average 7-night cruise costing about $1189 plus tax per person. Guests are allowed to enjoy poker games while the ship is at sea and the games shut down once the ship comes to port. Card Player Cruises offer a range of cruises on the Royal Caribbean and the Holland America route. Guests can also book cruises to Alaska, Hawaii and the Caribbean. Most cruise ships offer a range of amenities apart from poker that offer guests with a variety of things to do.

What to expect

Poker cruises never have a shortage of things to do. In fact, you might end up playing less poker than you plan to because of the number of distractions that you’re likely to encounter. For example, when a ship pulls into a port, you might want to explore the local island and take part in sightseeing and island hopping tours. You can also expect to be served with some great food while on board without having to pay anything extra for your meals. Cruise liners also offer a range of on-board activities such as nightclubs, ice skating, swimming pool, sun decks, rock climbing, sports and games, group activities, fitness centers, mini golf, basketball, etc.

The poker rooms in a poker cruise

Remember, you need to book your cruise through poker providers in order to play in the poker rooms on-board the ship. If you don’t book your itinerary through a poker provider, you’re not allowed to play. If you’re new to poker, you can always take advantage of the low limit tables and the beginner classes that are offered to help newbie poker players. If you’re already a pro, you can move on to one of the higher limit pro tables and enjoy a game of serious poker. Some cruises also offer exciting poker tournaments that include entry fees of $100 – $300. Most tournaments revolve around No-limit Texas Hold’em.

vacation

Smoking problems

Smoking is strictly forbidden in poker rooms. These rooms are also known to be extremely professional and have an extremely low tolerance for players who harass other players or the staff. The idea is to allow all players to have a good time. Therefore, players creating a problem can be removed from the room.

Money-On-Board

All cruise lines offer their guests with access to safe deposit boxes that allows one to store valuables such as cash and jewelry while on board. Most cruise lines also offer cash advances on credit cards. Many cruises are also known to use Sail and Sign formats that allow players to register their credit cards or make cash deposits on the day of sailing which can then be redeemed for shore excursions, beverages, photos, etc.

What is the House Edge?

Casinos are known to be so many things. Some consider them to be a place to have fun, some consider them to be a place where they can get rid of their anxieties and worries and some consider them to be a place where they can hone their gambling skills and make some money in the process. Irrespective of what you believe the casino to be, you should understand that it is the duty of the casino to try and extract as much money as they can from their customers and still send them home with a smile on their faces.

The process of extracting money is not even close to what you would call cheating. In fact, most games offered by the casino have an inbuilt profit system that allows the casino to profit a certain percentage of each bet. The process that allows the casino to pocket a part of the bet money is known as the house edge.

A house edge, also known as the casino advantage, refers to the difference between the true odds and the odds that the players are offered on each win. For example, you bet a total of $100 in a game that offered $100 upon winning. The probability of winning or losing in case of true odds would be 50-50. Therefore, the players could expect a total of $100. However, while playing in casinos, players might only be offered with a return of $95. The $5 retained by the casino represents the house edge, which would be 2.5% in this case.

The entity that controls the play of the game and sets the rules of gambling is called the house. The house makes its money by enjoying a winning advantage which is built into each and every game that it offers. Some games might have a lower house edge while others might have a higher house edge. The higher the house edge, the lower the chances of winning. For all purposes, the house edge for a set of games can be determined as the ratio of the money lost by players with respect to the total money wagered.

Different games have different payouts and different calculations for determining the house edge. A few games that are actually based on the skill of the player include video poker and blackjack. If a player manages to play these games with proper strategies, they can actually expect a positive return. Therefore, the casino enjoys a very small house edge in this case. On the other hand, if a player spent time playing the slots, they would have to deal with a clear house edge that would force them to forfeit a certain percentage of each bet to the casino.

The lowest house edge is always offered by online casinos as they can operate on the lowest possible margins due to their lack of infrastructure costs, lower staffs, cost benefits, lesser overheads and lesser utilities. This allows them to retain a greater percentage of their revenues and thereby offer their players with a lower house edge so that more players win at their games. And simply put, the more the number of winners, the more the number of players who get attracted to the casino. And, the more the number of players, the more the revenue earned by the online casino.

Online versus offline poker

Play poker like a man!

In the past few years, we witnessed an impressive increase in the number of websites offering their users the chance to compete one another at online poker tables and in online poker championships. Such websites are trying their best to imitate the environment you would find in an actual casino, from the way in which tables are displayed by their software to the sheer diversity of game types and bank rolls available.

The main advantage online poker offers players is the fact that you can play from the comfort of your home. You do not have to sit on the same chair for hours on end, and you can always get up and make yourself a sandwich or get yourself a beer. It is something which appeals to many players who would otherwise need to waste hours preparing and traveling to a nearby casino.

Another advantage is the fact that unlike a regular casino, online casinos have unlimited game tables. Gone are the days when you would travel to a casino just to notice that all the tables are full. Furthermore, online casinos are always open and you can play as much or as little as you want. The tables run a wider range of games, and this allows you to change the game if you get bored of playing just one variety of poker, as well as expand your knowledge and learn new, fun games.

Online poker is also more beginner-friendly. Most online casinos allow players to gamble using play money, a website virtual currency devoid of any financial value. This gives gamblers a chance to learn more about the game and test their skill and luck against others without actually losing money. Once a player has decided he wants to try his luck at live tables, he can choose one of the many low bank roll tables and play there until he feels prepared to go to higher blind tables, a process which helps everyone to learn at their own pace and also save money.

Unlike regular casinos, where anybody can recognize you, in an online casino you are identifiable through an username and an avatar. This element of anonymity gives many a boost in confidence, and makes communication, socializing and, implicitly, learning, much easier for everyone. Furthermore, it makes things easier because there are no tells in online poker. Only bet patterns differentiate between the amateurs and the pros at the tables.

Online poker games are very fast paced by comparison to regular poker games. The number of hands played has been maximized by not needing to shuffle, deal, move chips, and other actions who add up to a few extra minutes in every offline poker hand.

We hope that you agree with us when we say that online poker is a great choice for many players. We encourage you to give it a shot, particularly if you’re just learning the game or if patience is not one of your qualities.

Gambling in Europe Part 2

Europe is bigger than you’d imagine.

Gambling in Europe is a silly phrase because there are so many countries with so many different social statuses around Europe. Many countries around Europe are very poor, especially the ones in the East.

However, gambling in the Northern Europe may get a bit more interesting. The players are rich and their stakes are higher. Their poker pots are definitely higher as well as the antes.

This may come off as a very intimidating event for many players from smaller (and poorer) countries, but one must remember that the living conditions in these countries are better, and more expensive.

Some of these “rich” countries in the North include Norway, Finland, and Sweden. Many like to play here for the luxurious feeling, the attractive women as well as the Scandinavian and Nordic feeling. People are generally more friendly as well.

Gambling in these countries might be a bit different, however. American casinos offer free alcohol to all players, but what about European countries? Many casinos around Europe do not offer free alcohol, especially in the poorer ones. The tipping culture is also vastly different due to the cultural differences between America and all the countries located in Europe. There are currently about 50 countries in the European continent.