2019 – Zzz Sss

3 Interesting Facts about Gambling in the United States

Jun 27, 2019Nasir HuangGambling News

Most people know what gambling is. It is a competition across various games where bets are made and rewards are earned.

This article will reveal several interesting facts that people don’t know about gambling in the United States.

Online Poker Trends

There is a gigantic push being made that is utilizing the power of the internet and poker. From these past years, there has been a movement to maximize the reach of gambling games. That is why there were online casinos created which saw more gambling games coming online.

This is especially true for poker. In this case, several states have joined forces to bring a combined pot to online poker. These are New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware. Players from these different states will allow people to play with each other online.

This way, the pools in the tournaments where these states play will be inflated to quite a large sum. Other states have caught wind of this and want to join in on it.

The Dark Side of Gambling

While it is great to talk about things like prize pools and more money, there is indeed a dark side of gambling. If left unchecked, people could become addicts and their lives could be negatively affected by this.

In a recent study more than 6 years ago, more than five million Americans looked for treatment due to gambling problems.

While the government is helping with state-funded programs, it is not enough. Data suggests that less than one percent of these people got help from these programs.

Vicinity is Vicious

The last thing we have to share with you is the vicinity of casinos or legalized gambling areas. The fact is that when casinos are real near a person, the people within 10 miles might have twice the chance of getting a gambling addiction problem.

If you put it into perspective, more than 50% of slot machine revenue is comprised of these people who live nearby and have gambling problems. This was from a study that was conducted for the past decade.

We hope these facts have helped shed light on gambling in the United States.

3 of the Longest Gambling Games in the United States

May 25, 2019Nasir HuangGambling Games

Some people think that gambling was a recent invention. However, some people don’t realize that gambling is something that has been around even before written accounts of histories have been made.

There seems to be something inside people that push them to compete for certain things. The Zzzsss team believes it stems from the comparison. People can’t help but compare themselves to other people. They wish to prove who is the better one.

Thus, let’s take a look at which gambling games have stood the test of time and are still being played to today.

Horseracing

Horseracing is a sport that has been around for thousands of years. It actually started way back then, when the different tribes of Asia raced around their own horses. They were also the tribes who first tried to control and domesticate these horses.

In the 1600s, the game first came to America when the British brought it over. There, it gained popularity as it did in most areas of the world.

After 200 years since it was first introduced into the country, it then faced regulations that would help to keep the sport under control.

Now, it continues to be a worldwide phenomenon. There are a great number of racehorses that came from the United States. You may recognize some familiar names such as Man o’ War, who won 20 races.

There is also the horse Secretariat, whose fame now reaches legendary status due to the film that has been developed for it.

Poker

Poker is a game that started thousands of years before as well. Its exact origins are still unknown. However, in the 10^th century, there is a similar game that was chronicled in China. Then six centuries later, it was seen in Persia.

The closest origin of poker we know is from France. It was a game called Poque that saw people get dealt three cards. It was said that bluffing was a big factor in this game.

In the 1800s, poker got introduced to America when the French colonists were in New Orleans. Slowly but surely, it started evolving to where it is today.

Poker is a giant force these days. It is such a popular game, and the number of people who don’t know about the game is minimal thanks to television shows, films, and the Poker World Tour.

Now, there are variations like the very popular Texas Hold ‘Em, Seven Card Stud, and Draw Poker. This game is a staple in every casino and gambling establishment.

Blackjack

Finally, we have Blackjack. Like any other well-established game, blackjack’s origins are still undetermined. We only have breadcrumbs left throughout history.

The first time it was heard of was in the book of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. It was a game called 21. This was in the 1600s. A hundred years later, there was also a similar game in France of the same name, albeit a different language.

When it got to America though, it was initially shunned. The Americans felt that the game was a bit boring.

This is when the casinos thought to add a special bet to the game. This allowed for more people to get sucked into it and enjoy the competitive approach.

Apart from these games, what others will stand the test of time? How many more songs about gambling will be written? How many more celebrities will gamble? We hope to find out.

2 Bizarre Gambles on Musicians

Apr 25, 2019Nasir HuangGambling Culture, Gambling Gamesmusical tips, musical trivia, passion of musicians, popularity in music

When gambling was on the decline, casinos thought up of a few things that could help keep their sales up. One of the ideas that came to be was inviting musical acts to head to Vegas and perform. This would attract more people, especially gambling games.

However, in some weird twist of fate, these musical acts sometimes become the thing that people are betting on.

Here are a couple of bizarre bets on musicians.

Katy Perry

The Super Bowl. For years, this has been a momentous occasion each year. Television ratings will tell you that it is one of the most watched events in the history of television. That is why there are a lot of ads put on it. Time is money as they say.

A good ad showed at the right time in the Super Bowl can significantly increase the popularity of the brand that puts it out. Take Tide for example. When they released their hilarious, “It’s a Tide ad” commercial amidst the Tide pod controversy, it was a huge win.

Similarly, musical acts who perform well in the Super Bowl get another notch on their belts. Oddly enough, one of these musical acts had become the subject of a weird bet.

The musician was Katy Perry, a singer whose fame and popularity do not need to be introduced.

A multitude of football fans that day was not only betting on whether the New England Patriots or the Seattle Seahawks would win. Instead, they were also betting on whether or not Katy Perry’s breasts would reveal themselves on center stage as well.

Elvis Presley

It’s the King! The King has long passed. Long live the king. Or at least that is what one person wished.

While the king of rock and roll has long since gone to the big peanut butter and banana sandwich saloon in the sky, several people think that he had faked his own death.

Capitalizing on it, bookmakers set up a bet for people who believed that Elvis was alive. The odds were enormous though, coming at 2000/1 and 100/1. A person who had bet £300 would have won more than £300,000.

The bet was set to end by 2017, meaning Presley needed to come out and say he was alive by then. Sadly, only the bookmakers won on this one.

These are only a few odd bets made on musicians. We are sure that as time moves on, that more of it will happen.

3 Must Hear Songs About Gambling

Mar 26, 2019Nasir HuangGambling Culture, Gambling News

They say that visual art like drawings and paintings is how we fill space. On the other hand, songs are how we paint time.

Let’s check out several must hear songs about gambling that you can listen to and paint your time with.

Shape of My Heart

The first song we’ll be tuning in to is Sting’s Shape of My Heart. The concept of the song is quite an interesting one. It is about a poker player. However, this one is quite unique and not like a regular poker player.

Instead of winning for money, the poker player that Sting talks about is only playing to gain more knowledge about the game. He plays to understand how the laws of probability are and studying to try and crack the code of poker.

Huck’s Tune

Next up, we have Huck’s Tune by the Bob Dylan. The song was actually made for the Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore film called Lucky You. The song is indeed a theme for the movie.

Like the movie, the song recounts and explains how dangerous playing poker can be. He talks about how it can affect money and more importantly, the relationships of a person. It is a great accompanying track to the film, as it speaks about exactly what is happening on screen.

Good Run of Bad Luck

Finally, we have Good Run of Bad Luck by Clint Black. This is a top country song that, while not totally about gambling, sees life through several of the gambling experiences and sayings.

It tells the story of a person who follows his dreams and heart, only to be unlucky enough to keep losing like a set of bad hands at a poker table.

Why not add these songs to the playlist and play them whenever gambling rolls through your mind?

The reality is that gambling is growing, and legalization of gambling is opening up too. For those interested, you should learn as much as you can.

2 Musicians Who Gambled Too Much

Mar 19, 2019Nasir HuangGambling Games, Gambling News

Gambling is always something different for each and every person. There are a lot of reasons why people can like gambling. The competition. The winnings. The risk of the loss.

The one thread though that ties through these are that if the interest continues at an unchecked pace, it could end up costing people way more than they bet in the first place.

Let’s take a look at several musicians who rolled the dice too hard and didn’t know when to just fold and leave.

Gladys Knight

Gladys Knight – Wikipedia

Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the “Empress of Soul”, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, and author. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight is known for the hits she recorded during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which also included her brother Merald “Bubba” Knight and cousins Edward Patten and William Guest.

She is considered one of the greatest artists in history. Her power, range, and emotion in singing have given her the title of Empress of Soul. It’s Gladys Knight who fronted the Pips. She had famous songs like Midnight Train to Georgia and Heard it Through the Grapevine.

In her book about her life though, she stated that she had a problem. A gambling problem that is. She admitted that she was caught up in the simple game of baccarat.

In the game, people need only try to add their cards to 9. The simplicity allows for a lot of people to get into the game. It also allows for people to get addicted.

Moreover, she was way into sports betting too.

In one night, she binge-betted more than $40,000. It may not sound like a lot, but keep in mind that this was in the 80s. Back then it was a lot.

She admitted that she needed help when she realized that she was neglecting the care her son needed.

50 Cent

50 Cent – Wikipedia

During his career Jackson has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and won several awards, including a Grammy Award, thirteen Billboard Music Awards, six World Music Awards, three American Music Awards and four BET Awards. He has pursued an acting career, appearing in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2005), the Iraq War film Home of the Brave (2006) and Righteous Kill (2008).

Another musician who got a bit deep by the gambling bug was 50 Cent. Early news found that 50 had made a series of good sports bets. Previously he had bet a million dollars on Floyd Mayweather Jr. to beat Oscar de la Hoya.

He also bet half a million on the New York Giants to beat the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship, making the New Jersey gambler one of the biggest bettors from the state.

Despite any gambler’s success though, it doesn’t take much for luck to go away. Thus, even though he won numerous bets, soon he filed for bankruptcy.

Let this be a lesson to everyone who is interested in gambling. And may it be one that you don’t catch the Zs too.

If you want to learn more, why not check out this post that compares music critics to gambling historians.

2 Comparisons Between Gambling Historians and Music Critics

Mar 10, 2019Nasir HuangGambling Culture

Every topic is fascinating to somebody. Be it about bees, flowers, summer loves, and even the gambling industry, someone will always be interested in these. That is why gambling historians came out and studied the fascinating topic.

When people think of history, specifically the history of gambling, people usually act one way. They usually roll their eyes and get as far away as possible from the topic. This is a common reaction to history. Perhaps most people have had negative experiences with their history classes.

The thing that they don’t realize is that there is so much to learn from any history really. It is interesting and always has something that people can learn from.

The truth is though that gambling historians aren’t that far off from music critics. Let’s take a look at several reasons why that is.

Everyone Has a Favorite

Much like every critic or person who understands the subject a lot, they each have a favorite. For gambling historians, it would make sense to study its history as a whole, but it is a really deep topic that if put in books would span so many books that couldn’t fit in a single book shelf.

This is really because there are so many gambling games out there. Blackjack, poker, and craps are only the staple ones. However, what about games like the Philippines’ Pusoy Dos? Russia’s Durak? And so much more.

Naturally, historians would gravitate – at least initially – to the things that interest them the most. They go write about the gambling games that they like the most.

This applies even much more to music critics. There are currently so many genres of songs out there. Soul, Classical, Country, Rock, Rap, and even specific ones like K-pop. With everything out there, it just isn’t realistic to find a music critic that can currently encompass and critique all of the genres.

Within those specific genres, there are so many groups and artists that perform and make songs. And each of those artists make a plethora of songs that could fill several thousand iPods (or would it?).

Again, it would make the most sense that these critics only listen to genres and artists that they are mostly interested in. While most music critics endeavor to review as much music as possible, I’d likely trust a critic that is interested in a specific type of music I have.

Interpretations

Finally, come the interpretations. Historians do have facts to draw from. Written accounts and the like. However, the lessons behind these facts are subject to different interpretations.

It is much the same with music critics. Depending on their ability and the criteria they apply when they review pieces of music, their review of a song may largely differ from how you feel about it.

The best piece of advice we can give is judge for yourself. You can take what they say, but don’t take it as gospel. Whatever works for you really.

Gambling historians aren’t that far apart right? An interesting thing to think about when you meet historians again.

You can also try out books, as there are great casino gaming stories you can learn from and enjoy.