When some people think about Las Vegas, they don't picture casinos and the famous 'strip'. They picture saloons and gunfights, women in dresses from a bygone era, and train robberies. In other words, they picture the Old Wild West. To them, a trip to the city can mean only one thing: horseback riding in the desert, cowboy-style. Week-end and holiday cowboys from coast to coast, and some from abroad as well, flock to the city for the genuine cowboy experience that only Las Vegas horseback tours can give them.

Located just twenty-five miles outside of the city is Old Nevada, a fully functioning replica of an 1880's mining town, and the Bonnie Springs Ranch. The ranch offers a variety of riding-tours that take you into the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area at various times of the day. Most of them will either start or end with a genuine cowboy meal at the ranch, and a trip through time in Old Nevada.

The earliest ride in the day is the breakfast ride. It lasts about one and a half hours, and takes you into the desert just as it is waking and coming to life. After the ride, it's back to the ranch for a big breakfast. People who prefer to sleep in a bit can have the breakfast first, and take a later ride.

At mid-day the colors in the desert are at their peak, and you will get the chance to see for yourself the rich redness of the mountains that gave Red Rock Canyon its name. There's a big western lunch waiting for you when you get back from your ride.

A dinner ride takes you out on the trail during the mid to late afternoon. You will not only experience scenery of remarkable beauty, you will also see the changing colors of the desert sky as sunset starts to fall. After the ride, there is a western-style dinner.

You can wind down your day on the trail by having a little fun watching a simulated gunfight and hanging at Old Nevada, by visiting its wax museum, or by doing some souvenir shopping. There is even a melodrama that is enacted at the Saloon. For the kids, there is a petting zoo, and on weekends and holidays, a posse show that gets them involved in hunting down a villain.

About forty-five minutes outside of the city is another great horseback riding location. The Sandy Valley Ranch offers a full-day ranch experience designed to give you an authentic taste of cowboy life. Your day starts off with a morning ride in the Mojave Desert, followed by a light lunch. During the afternoon, you head back out to the desert for a cattle-drive, followed by some cowboy games when you're done, then it's off for a sunset ride. When you get back, you will be put to work helping to pen the cattle before wrapping up your day with a genuine western barbecue.

Should you happen to be feeling romantic, and are looking for that genuine western style romantic overnight trip, there is a combination sunset ride and barbecue, followed by a night in a covered wagon. In the morning you have to face the chickens when you collect your own eggs for breakfast.

If you are longing for the Old West, you can find it easy enough with Las Vegas horseback tours. They are certain to satisfy the cowboy in your soul.

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Posted under Horses

Gambling can be defined as betting that must result either in a gain or a loss. Gambling in certain parts of the world has grown at an unprecedented rate over the last decade and is an increasingly popular recreational activity. Gambling is neither, risk taking in the sense of speculation nor investing. A person chooses to gamble whenever he or she takes the chance of losing money or belongings, and when winning or losing is decided mostly by chance.

While gambling was once referred to as being illegal, or even viewed as a disreputable activity, social customs and beliefs have shifted. Surveys indicate that the general population favors funding charities, health care and other important initiatives through the funds that are raised from gambling. Gambling is now a million dollar industry in places like Canada, and its growth is likely to continue.

There are different reasons why people choose to gamble. Individuals may be gambling to win money, to socialize, for excitement or to pass time. For some people, gambling may become a serious problem that affects all aspects of their lives. And as gambling becomes more accessible, the number of people affected by problem gambling also increases. While some may consider gambling to be associated with casinos and racetracks, there are countless activities that are considered gambling.

There is a likelihood that the individual chooses to be impulsive which sows the seed of the Gambling addiction. When you go into a casino or sit down in front of a slot machine and you get reinforced, then you're going to start anticipating money coming your way. Now, there are several types of learning.

One such type of this kind of learning is if you went into a casino and sat at a slot machine and you won every single time and then suddenly you stopped winning and you kept on losing, you could walk away from that slot machine because you would say to yourself "well I was winning then and I'm not winning now, there's no reason to continue or to hope for a turn of events".

Another sort of learning is where every time you went to the slot machines and you put your coins in and you never won, well chances are you won't become addicted. This is just another form of learning where they purposely make the slot machines pay out a certain percentage of the time. What happens over time and the casinos are aware of, is called variable reinforcement. So you don't know how often or even when that next pay off will happen.

This is the form of learning that converts normal people into gamblers. They become hooked by this variable reinforcement principle due to the fact that they are unsure of their next win. They can teach you or you can learn, that you cannot predict the pattern of when you're going to, when to win or know when to pull out and take your money the better for them. So you're going to stay there and stay on until some point when you have to leave because you've been taught if you just hang in there that slot machine that card game will eventually pay off. The anticipation is what drives them and keeps them going. They are salivating waiting for the reward.

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Posted under Horse Riding

One of the reasons that the popularity of sports gambling has skyrocketed in recent years is its accessibility. It's easy to bet on most major sports because everyone understands the basics, which teams are good and why they win. Horse handicapping, on the other hand, is a completely different and somewhat arcane discipline. Where there are some shared concepts, success at sports betting doesn't guarantee the same playing the ponies. Legendary sports handicapper Jimmy 'The Greek' Snyder was famous for killing the books with his sports plays--and giving it all back with his inept horse bets.

Were not going to suggest that the information here even scratches the surface of what you need to know to become a serious horse handicapper. There are countless books, DVDs and other media that you should check out if this is your goal. If youre interested in simply knowing the basics so that you can enjoy a day at the track, here are some basic concepts of horse handicapping:

Reading in Fundamental: The first thing you should do when you arrive at the horse track is to purchase a track program and a copy of the Daily Racing Form. The Daily Racing Form (or DRF for short) is the Wall Street Journal of the horse handicapping set. The track program will offer much of the same information about the specific track, but is frequently in a more user friendly format than the often arcane DRF. The basic stats you'll find in these publications are the names of the horses, jockeys and trainers, the morning line odds, and the types of bets available for each race. You'll also have past performance charts, which are the bread and butter of serious horse handicappers. These charts reveal a lot about a horse and what theyve done on the racetrack, including its record, where it ran, the quality of competition it ran against, and what position the horse was in at various points in the race. Most tracks have customer service types that are helpful in clearing up anything you dont understand. While asking the personnel in a sports book who they like isn't a wise idea, its OK at the track for a reason well now discuss"you're not playing against them.

You're playing against other bettors, not the racetrack: A big difference between sports wagering and horse betting is the function of 'the house'. In horse racing, you're not playing against the track--instead, you're betting against the other patrons. The track simply serves as a 'banker', accepting money and paying bets. For this service, they take a percentage of the money bet on each race (called the 'takeout'). The odds on a horse aren't set by the track, but rather by the amount of money bet on each entry.

The odds in the newspaper are known as the 'morning odds' and are essentially educated opinions. They're not much different than 'overnight lines' in sports betting. They can serve a function for handicapping, but often will not reflect what will transpire when the actual betting begins.

Handicapping basics: There are so many different approaches to handicapping horse races that its difficult to even know where to start. Some handicappers emphasize past performance data. Others factor in the results of recent workouts, while others prefer a visual examination of the horses in the paddock.

Once a handicapper gets an idea what will happen in the race, he has to factor the available odds into the proposition. A favorite may be an unattractive wagering prospect due to a prohibitively high price, while a long shot may be a good wagering value based on a high potential payback. It all boils down to wagering value, which is simply a matter of doing a math. Teaching the youth of America solid math skills is crucial for no other reason than to help them gamble effectively and profitably.

Horses and Trainers: Some handicappers place a great deal of importance on the horses breeding lineage"the quality of his parents and grandparents "as an indication to his performance potential. This may be particularly important early in a horses career, but after a half dozen or so races what hes done on the track becomes more important than his pedigree. Trainers, like Bob Baffertt, can also be an important consideration much in the same way that coaching can play an important role in sports wagering.

The horse's jockey: Jockeys are free agents, meaning that they get paid on their performance. In theory, this means that they'll do their utmost to win in every given race. While there are a few exceptions, many serious horse handicappers downplay the importance of the jockey. Assuming the horse's 'mount' is competent, there are much more salient factors to consider when handicapping a race than the jockey.

Don't Go Overboard, and Try to Find What Works For You: As with any new betting discipline, its always sound advice to not go overboard with the amount of money you wager. These are just the basics of how to bet a horse race and what some of the salient factors are in determining who will win or lose a race, and doesn't even to begin to scratch the surface of successfully handicapping the sport. If you want to learn more, Id suggest starting with the Daily Racing Form website, after which a simple Google search can expand your options from there.

Ross Everett is a consulting handicapper for Sports-1 and an authority on horse race and CFL football betting . He's a well known and widely published expert on sports handicapping theory, as well as financial investment strategy. He contributes to a number of websites providing insight on how to bet on CFL football, MMA and boxing.

Posted under Horses