Pearls

The finest quality natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries, and because of this, the word pearl became a metaphor for something very rare, very fine, very admirable and very valuable. A pearl is a hard, round object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of mollusks, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes of pearls occur. Almost any shelled mollusk can, by natural processes, produce some kind of pearl when an irritating microscopic object becomes trapped within the mollusk's mantle folds, but virtually none of these pearls are valued as gemstones. A black pearl and a shell of the black-lipped pearl oyster are interesting. Two groups of mollusk can bivalves or clams produce saltwater pearl oyster farm, Serum, Indonesia Nacreous pearls, and the most desirable pearls. One family lives in the sea: the pearl oysters. The other, very different group of bivalves live in freshwater, and these are the river mussels. Saltwater pearls can grow in several species of marine pearl oysters in the family Pteriidae. Freshwater pearls grow within certain) species of freshwater mussels in the order Uniondale, the families Uniondale and Margaritiferidae. These various species of bivalves are able to make nacreous pearls because they have a thick iridescent inner shell layer called mother of pearl, which is composed of nacre. The mantle tissue of a living bivalve can create a pearl in the same manner that it creates the pearly inner layer of the shell.

Responsible Gambling

Seeking to reduce problems from pathological gambling, the Bureau of Gambling Control is working with cardrooms and others to encourage Responsible Gambling Programs.

California also operates a state Office of Problem Gambling to promote public awareness and assist victims and their families. The Bureau of Gambling Control is coordinating with the Office of Problem Gambling to ensure that state programs take into account, as much as practicable, problem and pathological gamblers as required by state law Welfare and Institutions Code section 4369 et. seq.

If identified, pathological gambling is a treatable mental disorder. By fostering responsible gambling policies and programs within gambling establishments/facilities and developing government-industry initiatives, the impact of problem gambling could be greatly reduced in California.

Poker Paigow

Paigow

Pai-gow poker is a banking poker game played in some of the California card clubs and casinos. The object of pai-gow poker is to make two poker hands that beat the banker's hands. The player is dealt 7 cards that he makes into a five card hand (high hand) and a two card hand (low hand). The hands are played and ranked as traditional poker hands (with one exception: A2345 is the second highest straight), and the 5 card hand must be higher than the 2 card hand. If both hands are better than the banker's hand, you win, if both lose, you lose, otherwise it's a push. The banker wins absolute ties (i.e. K Q vs K Q). The game is played with a 52 cards plus one joker. The joker can be used as an Ace or to complete a flush or straight.

Each player spot has spaces for a bet, low hand, high hand and sometimes the house commission. The dealer deals 7 7-card hands in front of the chip tray. The banker can be a player, but is usually the house. The banker designates which hands go to which player by shaking a dice cup with three dice; the banker's position is either 1, 8 or 15 and the hands are passed out counterclockwise. So, if the dealer is the bank and the dice total to 6, player 5 gets the first hand, player 6 gets the second, the dealer gets the third and so on. The dice mumbo-jumbo appears to be ritual stuff --- you don't need to worry about anything until you get your hand.

In pai-gow poker, the only strategic decisions are how much to bet and how to set your hand. The simple basic strategy for setting your hand is to make the highest 2-card hand that is less than your five card hand. If you can't figure out what to do, you can show your hand to the dealer and they will tell you how the house would set it.

In the California card clubs, all wagering is between players, so the option to be the bank rotates among the active players. The rule differences from the IP rules are that the Joker is wild, and the house commission is a flat $1 per hand ($10 minimum bet).

Pai-gow poker is an easy game to play, and since each hand takes a while to play (dealer has to shuffle for each game) and most hands push, you can play on $20 at a $5 table for quite a while.

Poker Crazy Pineapple

Crazy Pineapple

Crazy Pineapple Poker is played with a standard 52-card deck. Blinds are posted by players who sit in consecutive clockwise order from the button. Action is initiated on the first betting round by the player to the left of the person who posted blind clockwise from the button. The blinds act last on the first betting.

All players receive three cards dealt face down (hole cards) as their initial hand. The first round of poker betting occurs. Check and raises are permitted. Three cards are turned face up in the middle of the board simultaneously (flop). These board cards are community cards and available to all players. The second round of betting occurs. At this time poker players choose to keep two of their three cards hole cards from their initial hand and discard the third. The next two board cards are turned up one at a time with a round of betting after each card. After the final round of poker betting has been completed, a player may use any combination of five cards (for example, one hole card and four from the board, etc.) to determine their best hand. A player may use all of the board cards (playing the board). The winning poker hand must show both hole cards face up on the table. The best five-card poker hand wins the pot. In the event of a tie, the pot is split equally.