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Former Winnipeger Blair Kaplan Venables publishes book on entrepreneurship
We received this email from Blair Kaplan Venables, about whom we wrote in our June 26, 2019 issue when Blair was the guest speaker at the Jewish Child & Family Service AGM:
“My name is Blair Kaplan Venables, born and raised in the Winnipeg Jewish community, and I recently published & launched a book during the pandemic.
“The book is about entrepreneurship and it’s called Pulsing Through My Veins: Raw And Real Stories From An Entrepreneur. When I launched I became a #1 best seller in a few categories on Amazon such as Entrepreneurship and Hot New Releases in Women In Business.”
I asked Blair whether we might be able to obtain a review of her book from some other source since we received a lot of books to review but can’t always review them all. Blair sent the following review, which we present here with the permission of the author and her online publication.
Pemberton entrepreneur releases debut business book
Pulsing Through My Veins: Raw and Real Stories From An Entrepreneur available on Amazon
By: Alyssa Noel
At the end of 2018, Blair Kaplan Venables found out her dad was terminally ill.
The news felt particularly crushing because they had only reconciled when Kaplan Venables was in her 20s after many tumultuous years.
“My dad and I decided our legacy piece was we’d share our story together to help people,” she says. “We thought about sharing stories of resiliency.”
While Kaplan Venables has writing experience as a long-time Sea to Sky public relations professional, she decided to enrol in a Squamish writing workshop to help her hone her chops for her debut book—an accomplishment she had dreamed of since she was a little girl.
t was during that workshop she realized, “the book I want to write will be so much work,” she says. “I don’t want that to be my first work. It’s a legacy piece for me and my dad. It’s so important. But [I had] always wanted to write a business book. So I decided to write a business book.”
To that end, Kaplan Venables is still collecting stories of resiliency from around the world (visit iamresilient.info for more) with the aim of creating a coffee table book, but she dove headfirst into writing a business book. That project came to fruition in June when her self-published book Pulsing Through My Veins: Raw and Real Stories From An Entrepreneur was officially released.
“The goal of the book was to inspire entrepreneurs,” she says. “I learned a lot of stuff the hard way so you don’t have to.”
It might have been her debut, but Kaplan Venables says the writing process came easy.
“I love writing so it was never a daunting task. I’ve been writing blogs since blogs were a thing. I wasn’t writing a novel. I wasn’t writing fiction. I was writing from personal experience,” she says.
While it is, at its core, a business book, she also delves into deeply personal stories too. Using her marketing skills, she spent the week leading up to the book release promoting it before heading to Birkenhead Lake to disconnect away from cell service for the weekend.
“I didn’t feel vulnerable until people started buying my book,” she says. “I freaked out.”
The weight of it all hit her.
“I started going into my own head,” she says. “There’s a lot of self-doubt because I am my worst critic.”
But when she returned home, she discovered the book had spent an entire day as the best seller in the entrepreneurship category on Amazon. “For a week—the whole first week—I was No. 1 in Hot New Releases in Entrepreneurship and Hot New Releases in Women in Business,” she says. “The category I wanted to get No. 1 in was Entrepreneurship and I did it.”
While it’s been fulfilling to get feedback about the book from readers around the world, it’s been a challenge to launch a new release during a pandemic. But, Kaplan Venables has come up with some outside-the-box solutions.
For one, she’s going to be doing “roving readings” around Pemberton.
“I can’t throw a big party, so instead I’m arranging for my friends to show up in parks and driveways around Pemberton,” she says. “I’ll ride around on my bike and do readings and make a video. I don’t know if anyone has ever done it, but it seems fun.”
Find the book here.
This article originally appeared in Pique Magazine
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Volatility, Hit Frequency, and RTP: Why the Number Casinos Advertise Is the Least Useful One
The return to player percentage looks clean as a casino data point. It gives players a neat number, usually around 94% to 97% for many online slots, and that number feels easy to compare. A 96.5% game appears better than a 95.2% game. The problem starts when players treat RTP as a forecast for their next 50 spins or one evening.
You may find the RTP listed on slot pages on a leading online casino in Ontario, but the number only tells part of the story. Two games can share the same RTP and create different sessions: one may return small wins often, while the other may drain a balance before one bonus round changes everything.
The RTP Trap
Return to player (RTP) measures the theoretical share of total wagers a game returns across a very large number of rounds. In plain terms, a 96% RTP slot returns about $96 for every $100 wagered in the long run. That does not mean one player who deposits $100 should expect $96 back.
The trap sits in the word “theoretical.” RTP comes from the game’s math model. It works across huge samples, not personal sessions. A player can finish far above that percentage, far below it, or with nothing left after a short run of poor results.
Is it useless then? No, RTP can still help. It gives a baseline cost of play. Lower-RTP games cost more on average than higher-RTP games. Still, once a game passes a reasonable threshold, the next question matters more: how does it distribute that return?
Hit Frequency: The Number That Shapes Session Feel
Hit frequency tells you how often a game produces a winning outcome. This often misleads players because any win can count. A spin that returns $0.10 on a $1 bet may still count as a hit, even though the player lost $0.90 in real terms.
A game can feel active because symbols connect often, sounds play, and the screen keeps celebrating small returns. The balance may still fall. In many modern slots, “win” does not always mean profit on the spin.
Hit frequency answers one practical question: how much silence can you tolerate? Some players dislike long dry spells. Others accept quieter sessions because they chase bonus rounds or larger payouts.
The educational site Get Gambling Facts gives a useful distinction: RTP concerns the percentage of money returned over time, while hit frequency concerns how often a machine stops on a winning combination.
Volatility: The Risk Label Players Need More Often
Volatility, also called variance, describes how unevenly a game pays. Low-volatility games tend to return smaller amounts more often. High-volatility games hold more value in rare events: bonus rounds, premium symbols, multipliers, or jackpots.
Here is where RTP becomes less useful on its own:
- A 96% low-volatility slot may give modest returns and longer play from the same balance.
- A 96% high-volatility slot may burn through funds quickly unless the player hits a strong feature.
- A progressive jackpot game may look exciting, but it often places more value on rare top prizes.
The same RTP can hide very different risk profiles. Players who ignore volatility often blame the casino or the game when the session follows its math design.
Why the Same RTP Can Feel So Different
Picture two slots with 96% RTP. Slot A pays small wins on many spins, has a modest top prize, and rarely creates dramatic balance swings. Slot B pays less often but offers a large max win and volatile bonus rounds. The advertised return matches, but the experience does not.
Slot A may suit a player who wants a slower bankroll drop and more regular feedback. Slot B suits someone who accepts sharper losses in exchange for a shot at a heavier payout.
A Better Way to Read a Slot Page
Most slot pages give players more clues than they notice. The trick is to read the details together rather than chase the highest percentage.
Start with RTP. If two games look similar, the higher number has better long-term value. Then check volatility. If the game uses terms such as high, very high, or extreme variance, lower your bet size or expect shorter sessions. Next, look at the paytable. A huge max win usually means the game saves a lot of its value for rare outcomes.
A sensible pre-play check looks like this:
- RTP: What is the average long-term return?
- Volatility: How rough can the session become?
- Hit frequency: How often will the game show any wins?
- Paytable: Where does most value sit?
To Conclude
Casinos advertise RTP because it looks objective, tidy, and easy to rank. Players should read it, but they should not give it more authority than it deserves. For long sessions, volatility may matter more than a small RTP difference. For comfort, hit frequency may explain the feel better than the payback rate.
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The Popularity of Simpler Slot Games in 2026: Review From Casino Online CrazyTower Experts
Online casinos now fill their libraries with numerous video slots that have dozens of functions, long bonus rounds, complex mechanics, and so on. Interestingly, despite this huge range of modern options, many Canadian visitors at sites like Casino Online CrazyTower here https://crazytower.com/ca/ no longer want complicated gameplay that requires constant attention and long explanations.
Simpler slots now attract a wider audience because they save time and create faster sessions. So, let’s figure out why this change happened and reasons for the popularity of simpler machines.
Why Many Players Are Returning to Basic Gameplay
Modern websites like Casino Online CrazyTower pushed complex video slots for years, but many people now prefer classic formats again. Simple gameplay has fewer interruptions and is simpler in terms of budgeting, which is important when you gamble for fun.
These are a few potential reasons explain why simpler slots became popular again in 2026:
- Faster rounds. Symbols appear quickly, and rounds continue without long animations or extended bonus sequences.
- Easier controls. Most classic slots have simple menus and familiar layouts that don’t confuse new visitors.
- Smaller feature lists. Simple slots usually have standard wilds, scatters, and multipliers instead of dozens of random mechanics.
- Better session flow. People spend more time on gameplay instead of reading explanations about symbols and special functions.
- Lower visual pressure. Simpler slots use calmer designs and shorter effects that don’t overload attention.
Classic gameplay also suits mobile devices better because shorter rounds work well on smaller screens. Plus, many visitors now prefer games that start instantly and explain their mechanics within seconds.
Features That Make Simpler Slots Appealing
Simple machines at Casino Online CrazyTower and similar websites continue to attract attention because they have a high gameplay speed. Many classic titles also replicate older casino machines that people already know from physical casinos.
However, these aren’t the only factors that attract gamblers. So, check out this list:
- Short bonus rounds. Free spins and multipliers finish quickly instead of interrupting gameplay for several minutes.
- Common and standard paylines. Traditional layouts help people understand payouts without long explanations.
- Faster loading times. Simpler graphics reduce waiting time on phones, tablets, and older computers.
- Stable gameplay pace. Long cutscenes and constant pop-up notifications don’t interrupt the session.
- Traditional themes. Fruit symbols, bars, sevens, and classic casino designs still attract large audiences.
- Smaller menus. Important information appears immediately without complicated tabs or hidden sections.
Modern video slots often contain too many mechanics in a single game. Developers now combine expanding reels, random modifiers, mission systems, tournaments, and multiple bonus levels in one title. Many visitors lose interest because gameplay turns repetitive and overloaded with constant interruptions.
Compare this to a session when you get results immediately and aren’t interrupted. These still have free spins and even mini risk games, but not as loaded as innovative titles.
Conclusion
Simple slots usually create better replay value because people understand the mechanics immediately. Common and standard gameplay doesn’t cause frustration and allows faster decisions during casino sessions.
Many classic slots also function better during short breaks because rounds finish quickly without long bonus interruptions. That’s why simpler slots became popular again at many casinos, including Casino Online CrazyTower and such.
