Casino Trust

Everything in this article is absolutely true (meaning absolutely false) and the words come from the mouths of casino gamblers – adult casino players, not kids. However, the advice and opinions offered go from just bad to just horrendous and everything in between.

Too many casino players just have totally wrong opinions, and yet on some of these opinions those players just can’t let them go. Indeed, all the more horror for them if they cling to such falsehoods because it costs them a lot more in losses than they need to experience. In general, casinos don’t have such real horrors in their thinking for casinos it is just money in and money in.

New Betting System?

Joey: I’ve been playing for five years once a month and let me tell you I have the best method for my play. It works most of the times. That it does. You can’t ask for anything more than that. It is called the Martyrdale (sic) and it is a very old way to overcome a game that has a house edge. I have taken away the house edge by playing this way folks. I’ll share with you for free.

After every loss, you double your previous bet. Just about every time you lose you will win an upcoming bet and make all your losses back. What could be simpler than this? I am surprised that other players don’t play this way. Maybe because I am new to casino playing and I have fresh eyes and also that other players just haven’t given the games much thought. There would be no casinos if everyone played as I do. So maybe I should be happy and stay quiet.

Frank responds: Joey, nope and nope again, you will lose a few times here and there and guess what? You will be blown away those few times and your losses will be gigantic as you try to recover the previous bets you lost.

The betting system, by the way, is called the Martingale and it is one of the most dangerous methods of playing casino games. Play it enough and you will take a brutal beating. The house edge is working there bright and brutal and it will bounce on you all over even though you think you have a winning method. You don’t.

Collecting Comps

Nanny: Roulette is a great game and I am thinking of playing it. I look at the wheel and it has all those numbers, sure, but what if I bet all those numbers at once? I have to win on one number, right? Therefore, I will always break even on every spin of the wheel, right? Can you imagine the comps I’ll get because of that? I could probably live off them. What a life! The casinos will be paying for me to live like a billionaire.

Frank responds: Nanny, I’m shaking you now to wake you up. There are three different roulette games out there right now and all of them pay a winning number 35-to-1. Sounds good, right? But one game has 38 numbers (1 through 36 and a 0 and 00) and is known as the American game; the other game has 37 numbers (1-36 plus a 0) and is known as the European/French game; and the third game, the newest and the worst of them all, has 39 numbers, 1-36 plus a 0, 00, and 000. No country has taken discredit for that game.

If you bet all the numbers you will win on every spin, yes, but that win will not cover the losses you have on every spin too. So, you will, pardon my wording, go down the nastiest longest losing streak drain in history and find yourself landing time and time again quite hard.

Trying to figure out a way to out beat the casino is difficult, almost impossible. Take that truth to heart. Some very few (very, very few) methods have been developed to beat the house that work but those methods are hard to learn and execute in the casinos and the casino knows those methods and can usually spot a player attempting to use one. So, let caution be your buzzword.

Just for your information: The American game has a house edge of 5.26%, meaning a loss of $5.26 per $100 wagered. The European/French game has a house edge of 2.7%, meaning a loss of $2.70 per $100 wagered.

And that third game? The “untitled” game has a house edge of 7.69%. Yuck! Yuck! You can figure out what the house wins easily now…right? I have an easy way to do this figuring. Just dip into your purse or pocket and all that money will be theirs if you insist on playing this game the way you suggest. We roulette players have to hope the “Yuck, Yuck” game will fade out before we do.

Baffled by Basic Strategy

George: I looked at the “what is called basic strategy” for blackjack and some of the moves do not make any sense at all. I’ve got to think that the casinos have put out this strategy to cost the players a lot of money if they bet this way.

Okay, look at the player hand of 12 going up against the 2 or 3 dealer up-card? What the heck, the basic strategy says to hit your 12, seriously? Oh, come on, really? How about that bad hand of a 16 versus a dealer 10 up-card? Take a hit? Oh, man, idiotic.

Now, you have a blackjack and the dealer is showing an ace. That dealer could also have a blackjack. But the idiot basic strategy says to just stay on your blackjack and not insure your hand which gives you an absolute win. What gives? You are giving up a guaranteed win by not insuring. Nuts!

There are many more examples but you get the picture. The basic strategy has been sold to us by the casinos. Every blackjack player should see that truth.

Frank responds: You are wrong George. In every way. The casinos did not invent “basic strategy,” they would prefer if the casinos players just played their own made-up (and wrong) strategies.

Every hand you discussed; you will be playing incorrectly if you make the decisions you suggest. You will lose more and win less – simple as that.

One on One and Done

Unless you can practice an advantage-play technique such as card counting at blackjack or dice control at craps or you own the luck-goddesses of the universe, you are ultimately doomed to lose to the casinos in your contests with them.

It’s in the cards, and the ball, and the machine, and the dice. No way around that unless we win our first bet or session and quit forevermore. Then we are long-term winners even if our long term is just one bet or one session.

I do not think any casino players think differently. Oh, perhaps some have the idea that without a stroke of massive luck, they will still beat one of the most successful industries on the planet based on their betting styles. These players are poor losing souls indeed.

Okay, forgetting buckets of magical luck washing over you and seemingly endless hours of learning hard-to-learn advantage-play techniques, what is the best way to play the games without getting hammered over any prolonged period of time? I think I can answer that question.

Saving money is a good thing when you play casino games. I think you can actually be just as thrilled when you know your play is somewhat thrifty. Being thrifty will not reduce your chances to win some money. And a chance to win is always the reason we feel that delightful sense of anticipation as we wait for the next decision.

Get ready for my secret … here it comes – play only one bet at any game you enjoy playing. One bet at a time! Let’s look at some of the games and see how this idea works itself out.

Craps

Craps is a game with multiple bets, most of them simply awful, with house edges way, way up there in double digits. What’s worse is that craps players delight in making multiple bets at the game, some good, many rotten with those rotten ones usually taking away any chance that the players will be ahead – even today or tonight. Many craps players need truly good or great shooters to bring home the money to them.

Stop betting multiple bets. Stick with the following bets – only one of them:

1. Pass line or come bets taking the odds when these bets are up on a number. Make sure the odds bets are big and the line or come bets are small. The odds bet has no house edge attached to them. The formula is small line and come bets, highest odds you can afford or are allowed.
2. Play at tables that are crowded. The more players, the slower the game. The slower the game, the better for the player. The game will seem fast but being at an empty or relatively empty table will make the game much faster against your bets.
3. If you are a don’t player (a darksider) the advice is the same – one bet with the laying of odds. Full table or close to it. No place bets.
4. Do not make any place bets except (maybe) the placing of the 6 or 8 on the rightside of the game. Just one of those numbers.
5. I do believe in tipping the dealers but make your tips reasonable in relation to the size of your bets. Do not tip away your profits.

Blackjack

This the most popular table game and a cash cow for the casino against the players. Play one-on-one against the dealer and you are looking at over 100 decisions (or more) per hour. Yikes. Many blackjack hands come out to be more than one hand; doubling down, splitting pairs, with some of them really poor bets.

Here are your rules of play:

1. Play at full tables.
2. Only play one hand; do not spread to two hands, unless the basic strategy calls for it.
3. Go to the bathroom during playtime, not during the shuffles. That bathroom time does not risk any of your money. Relieve yourself without worrying about the casino relieving you of your dough.
4. Play perfect basic strategy and do not (do not) listen to the pundits who don’t think basic strategy is the proper way to play.
5. Tip in relation to your bet sizes. Do not go overboard if you are having a hot night.

Roulette

The oldest game in the modern casino – brought to you by none other than Blaise Pascal, a brilliant philosopher and scientist of the 1600s. This is a game with many opportunities to make many different kinds of bets. You can make any one of these bets – but just one bet, no more. But I do have my recommendations here as well.

• Do not play straight up by putting one bet on one number on the main layout. The chances of hitting that one number for a 35-to-1 payout will have you see many losing streaks, some of them very, very long losing streaks.
• There are three roulette games in today’s casinos, the single-zero game (0); the double-zero game (0, 00); and the triple-zero game (0, 00, 000). All the payouts for straight-up bets are 35-to-1 but the games get worse from one-zero to three zeroes.
• The house edge on the single-zero game is 2.7%, on the double-zero game is 5.26% and on the triple-zero game the house edge skyrockets to 7.69%.
• I recommend that you only play the even-money bets of red/back, odd/even, or high/low. The payouts on these bets are one-to-one but you will not experience losing streaks that are monumental as they can be with straight up bets on the main layout. You will win 18 times and lose 19 times on single-zero; win 18 times lose 20 times on double-zero; and win 18 times and lose 21 times on triple-zero.
• Only make one bet; do not spread out as other roulette players will do. It is a bad strategy and wastes a lot of your (hard-earned) money.
• Again, tip in relation to your session bankroll.

Do not play longer than you normally would even when situations look promising. This strategy is called one-on-one. Using it will not cost you as much money. Thrift is a good thing.

Serious casino gamblers understand the concept of the return of casino games. Simply put, it is the amount of money bet while playing a casino game that is returned to the player.

Most also understand that the return percentages given are mathematically calculated and are based on an infinite number of bets. They understand the short-term return percentages can vary significantly from the mathematically calculated long-term return percentages.

Few gamblers understand how the transition from short-term to long-term results works. Many gamblers, systems sellers, and pundits also do not understand this phenomenon.

Is any casino game ever due? Read on to find out.

Contents

1. Why do people feel casino games are due?
2. Definition of random games
3. Definition of due
4. The fallacy of a casino game being due
5. Summary

Why do people feel casino games are due?

As explained in the introduction, return from casino games can, in the short-run, vary dramatically from the mathematically calculated return percentage.

Take the simple example of flipping a coin. A player can bet on either heads or tails showing. A bet on the correct result pays even money. A coin can end up heads or tails. There is a mathematically calculated return of 100% in a fair flip since with an infinite number of flips both heads and tails should appear equally. The player wins one dollar on half the bets and loses one dollar on the other half the bets.

Here is an example. The player always bets one dollar on heads. If a head shows, the player wins one dollar. If a tail shows, the player loses one dollar. Here is a sample run.

• Heads – return is 100% (bets $1, wins $1, total win $1)
• Heads – return is 200% (bets $1, wins $1, total win $2)
• Heads – return is 300% (bets $1, wins $1, total win $3)
• Tails – return is 200% (bets $1, wins $1, total win $2)
• Heads – return is 300% (bets $1, wins $1, total win $3)

How about a more complex example? This is not a casino game but illustrates a point.

There are four red balls and one black ball ball in a bag. The player bets one dollar. A random ball is pulled out of the bag. If it is a red ball, and red was bet, the player wins one dollar. If it is a black ball and black was bet, the player wins four dollars since a red ball is four times as likely as a black ball. The calculated return on this game is also 100%. Here is a sample run.

• Black – return is 400 percent (bets $1, wins $4, total win $4)
• Black – return is 800 percent (bets $1, wins $4, total win $8)
• Black – return is 1200 percent (bets $1, wins $4, total win $12)
• Black – return is 1600 percent (bets $1, wins $4, total win $16)

In both cases, the player is up more than the mathematical average.

It seems logical that in the first case tails are due and in the second case red is due. This is the basis for the “due theory” in gambling.But, are tails or red truly due?

Definition of random games

Casino games are all classified as random games. This is accomplished by a randomizing method for table games, such as shuffling the card deck or randomly releasing a ball onto a spinning roulette wheel. On slot machines or video poker a computer software routine called a Random Number Generator or RNG is used.

What is the definition of random? According to Merriam-Webster, random means lacking a definite plan, purpose, or pattern. In the case of casino games, random means there is no pattern. Outcomes cannot be predicted.

Definition of due

Merriam-Webster lists several definitions of the adverb, due. “Required or expected in the prescribed, normal, or logical course of events: scheduled” applies to casino games.

The fallacy of a casino game being due

In both sample runs in section one, return percentage is skewed in favor of the player. The problem with thinking that something is due is the fact that by the very definitions of random (no pattern/cannot be predicted) and due (scheduled) nothing can be considered due in a casino game.

Almost every betting system touted by pundits and sold by systems sellers is based on the false assumption that something is due. One example is waiting until red has not appeared on a roulette table for 10 or 15 times, then bet red.

Because the specified event is random, it cannot be predicted. Black (or green) could appear for the next 20 or 25 spins of the wheel.

It works the other way also. In video poker, royal flushes occur once every 40,000 or so hands. But that does not mean that a player must wait 40,000 hands for the next royal flush. They can occur back-to-back … -to-back. It is unlikely, but possible in a random game.

Summary

The feeling among gamblers that some event is due in a casino game is very common. When slot machine players feed bill after bill into the machine only to have it quickly gobbled up by the machine, it seems logical to feel that some wins are coming.

When someone touts a betting system based on a certain event either happening or not happening, it seems logical that the system should work. Most often those systems do work – for a while. Ultimately, however, even the most logical-sounding betting system will fail and cause substantial losses simply because players are betting on a random event.

Believing that something is due in a casino game is not bad – in itself. What is bad is taking action that causes you to bet more money chasing this (false) due event.

Do not let logical-sounding but false ideas alter your normal, controlled play in the casino.

There are casino games where you win more bets than you lose and games where you lose more bets than you win. The total game’s results may be a loser for the player but this bet or that bet can go for the player more often than not.

There are games where the players’ losing streaks can go on and on. Take traditional roulette for example. If you are betting on one number, the ball can land in 37 or 38 or 39 different pockets – and that means you can go on a massive losing streak.

[Please note: The casino world now has three roulette games. You have the most popular American double-zero wheel, with a usually green 0 and 00; or the European/French single-zero wheel, with one usually green 0; or the new game of the triple-zero wheel, with the 0, 00, and 000 generally in green.

The payout for a winning single number is always 35 to 1 on all games. Yes, that triple-zero wheel is a killer when it comes to losing streaks because you have so many more pockets where the ball can possibly land! And the house edge is massive too. Deep breath: 7.69%! While the double-zero game comes in at 5.26% and the single-zero game comes in at 2.7%.

Oh, a little note here: the triple-zero game was created in a church! A church!]

Roulette Bets

Let us say, oh, you decide to bet all the numbers. Hey, why not splurge?Every spin will be a win! Hurrah! But every spin will also be a loss of either 36, 37, or 38 numbers depending on the wheel you are playing. Yuck! So, that’s a lot of losses for a single win. Yuck again.

Is there a way to make roulette more of a 50-50 game? Almost but not quite.

You can choose to bet the even-money bets of red/black, or odd/even, or high/low. Sadly, these even-money bets will pay even-money but they are not 50/50 propositions. You will win fewer times than you lose but betting this way can forestall very long losing streaks.

Sadly, no roulette game offers you the possibility of winning more bets over time than losing more bets over time. Still, some methods of betting are somewhat close contests in terms of winning or losing your individual bets. The even-money bets are decent wagers if your goal is to hang in there without being quickly wiped out.

Remember that roulette was James Bond’s favorite game but even Agent 007 couldn’t beat it.

Blackjack: The Most Popular Game

Yes! Yes! Yes! A game where you win more than you lose. Hurrah! Hurray! Hu-uuu-uum (cough, cough, cough).

No, no, sorry. Not so. You do not win more hands than you lose. I don’t know where you got that idea. You actually lose more hands than you win.

Players win about 44 hands, lose about 48 hands, and tie the rest of them. (These are approximate numbers but you get the idea.)

You see blackjack is a close contest where the house has about a half percent edge over a basic strategy player, but how that house edge is created has to do with premier or bonus hands.Here are some examples:

• The player receives a blackjack and is paid 3 to 2. (Some blackjack games have reduced this pay out to 6 to 5. Avoid those. That’s a big hit on your bankroll. No one needs that. If no one plays those 6-to-5 games, the casino will remove them … maybe.)
• The player can double down on certain hands. Which means putting up a separate bet on your hand and getting only one card. It is advantageous to double down correctly.
• The players can split pairs. The player can double down on some splits.

These hands bring the player more money if played correctly. You want to win more money in such favorable situations. This is where the players can overcome the high number of hands the casino wins at the game. More money is leaving the game than coming into the game.

Okay, so how do you play blackjack correctly? You learn the correct basic strategy for the blackjack games you wish to play. This strategy is the absolute perfect way to play your hands.

Now, if you are going to learn blackjack correctly don’t make the mistake of throwing in with “gamblers” who decry basic strategy as wrong based on their individual “eccentric” opinions. Basic strategy is the computer-derived proper play of every hand versus the dealer’s up-card. Period. Follow it and play the game correctly. Don’t follow it and your losses will be magnified.

If you have trouble memorizing the correct basic strategy most casinos will allow you to bring a basic strategy card to the table. Do so.

Some helpful hints for maximizing your chances of winning:

• Play at full tables. The fewer hands you play the better your chances of winning. The more hands you play the better the chance you will be behind. The fewer hands you play, the better the chance you will be ahead. This falls into a simple saying: The more money you bet on different hands, the better chance you will be behind.
• Go to the bathroom when the dealer is actually dealing and not while he or she is shuffling. There is no casino law that says you have to wait to go to the bathroom. You’ll generally get credit for your time even when you are in the bathroom if the casino is crowded.
• Do not play more than one hand. You are simply throwing more money into the casino house edge when you play more than one hand. Just lost a couple of hands in a row? Sit out the next hand.
• Take your time deciding what to do with your hand – even if you already know what to do! It is important to slow the game down as much as you can. A slow game will have you play fewer hands. The dealer’sjob is to deal fast and some dealers take that seriously; the player’s job is toslow it all down. Few players take that seriously.

Blackjack is a great game but you have to be careful with your playing decisions. A great game can become a bad game if you do not play correctly. Playing correctly is totally in your court.

Craps: The Exciting Game

World War II was the time craps ascended to become the favorite game of soldiers around the world (at least allied soldiers).

The game originated “down south” along the Mississippi River. It was a street game in the cities as it moved North. Have an alley near you? Great. The exact right place to play a game of craps.

The original name for the game was “crabs” but as the game moved North, northerners started calling the game craps since “crabs” sounded like craps to northern ears.

In the years of the great war, the game flourished. You had poker and craps, the two favorite gambling games. When the war ended, craps became the favorite table game in the casinos until blackjack deposed it due to the card counting revolution.

Craps is still in second place. By the way, if you check out a craps game you will discover that the game is a “man’s game” as most tables rarely have women players. When I learned the game, you would rarely (rarely, rarely) see a woman playing.

My first experiences with craps came when I met the late Captain, an Atlantic City legend. He had a “crew” of 22 high rollers and these folks were in the casino almost every weekend.

I was studying to do the lead role in a play, “The Only Game in Town” by Frank Gilroy, and I met the Captain in Atlantic City one night. Boy did I learn about craps and casino gambling from the man!

My entire gambling career began when I met the man. I dumped acting, directing and producing and teaching for the excitement of challenging the casinos. That’s a whole other story of how my wife the Beautiful AP and I tackled “chance and circumstance” and many of my books and television shows reference the Captain. It is rare in life that one person has so much influence over another but in my case, the Captain did.

The best way to play craps? Make one or two bets These can be the pass line and come bets with odds – forget the worse bets which is almost all of them and forget the darkside – why be hated? Also place the 6 or 8; all this after finishing the Five-Count. (In a future article I will write about the Five-Count.)

Mini-Baccarat: A Good Game Ruined by Speed

Two things you should be aware of when you play mini-baccarat: the speed of the game (when I say speed I mean SPEED) and the superstitions of some very superstitious players. Most superstitious players are quietly superstitious, right? But not in mini-baccarat. If they are superstitious they can be loudly superstitious.

You will note that the seat for number 4 usually has a number 5 as its number. Why is that? Superstitious players have requested that the casinos eliminate that position on the table – the number of that position that is – because the sound of that number reminds them (I think it reminds them) of death.

The casino didn’t want to kill anyone so they changed the number of the seat. They also want those players, many of them high rollers of the highest order, to play at their tables. Can you blame them?

The original game of baccarat used to be played on an extra-long table that had several dealers – males in suits or tuxedos; females in evening dresses. The game was expensive but it was also leisurely. Those long tables are now mostly gone; replaced by a somewhat large blackjack-styled table.

One of the fun parts of the game was the fact that players could deal the cards. Could such a rule have any impact on the game? Not at all but it was fun. Players no longer deal the cards. There is just one dealer, in a typical casino uniform who now deals.

Mini-baccarat has three bets: the bank, the player, and the tie. The bank’s house edge is a tiny 1.06%; the player has a somewhat larger house edge at 1.24% and the tie bet? A waste of your money! The bank pays even money but a commission of 5% is taken from a win since the bank bet actually wins more than 50% of the time; the player bet also is paid 1 to 1; while the tie bet – forget about it.

If mini-baccarat were played at the same speed as normal baccarat then, other than comfort, there is no harm done. But mini-baccarat is fast – so fast that its speed can go over 160 hands per hour! And the players are expected to bet fast and maybe even faster than that.

The tables usually have a host of side bets that they can make – usually crummy bets. These bets just suck the money from the players’ bankroll. You can almost hear the vacuuming sound as the money is sucked from the table. Woosh!

The low house edges on the bank and player hands are great; the speed of the game is not great and the side bets are awful. This is, sadly, a formerly terrific game, now ruined by the incorporation of speed.

HOWEVER, if you can cut your play down to playing only half the hands, then you should be okay. Add that to cutting out all bonus hands and all ties and (oh what the heck) all “player” hands and you still have a decent game. Try to slow down the game even more if you can by going to the bathroom during game time and not during shuffles.

Summary

Players love to gamble. That’s why they go to casinos. But there are better and worse bets. Make the better bets? You have a decent chance to win. Make the worse bets? Forget about it. You might get lucky tonight but over time? Seriously, you know the answer to that question.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

People have a tendency to catalog other people, places, and things as greats or not-so greats. This must be a part of our emotional constitution to define everything and everyone.

Fighting? Muhammad Ali versus Joe Louis? Who would win? Ali versus Marciano? Ali versus any name you want to put here. Ali versus Tyson; the young Tyson? Sometimes these debates can turn, well, brutal. I rarely take part in them. But I am certainly aware of them.

What’s the greatest building in the world? The tallest? The widest? The prettiest? Is a pyramid better than the original Taj Mahal? What mud hut has the best design in the Amazon jungle?

The world of gambling has its greats too. I’ve met some of them. In fact, I have been helped by some of them. In fact, one of them is my mentor – or was my mentor.

Ken Uston versus anyone? Paul Kean? The one and only “Arm”? The very Captain himself?

Poker? Who was the greatest poker player? Who won the most money at roulette? I wish I had the answers to all these questions. I don’t. But I do have some answers to some questions.

Here we go.

The Greatest Dice Controllers of All Time?

Yes, some players through training or innate talent can control the landing of the dice at craps. They can have consistent winning rolls.

‘The Arm’

I would put “the Arm” right at the top. I have never before or since seen anyone with dice control the way she had it. Interestingly enough she was not a gambler! She was a part of the Captain’s crew composed of about 22 or so players who frequented Atlantic City in the 1970s, ’80s, and early ’90s.

The Captain would ask her to roll the dice. He’d put up a pass line bet for her and that was that.

The Arm then rolled. She was not perfect; no shooter is but her sense of the game was beyond amazing. There were nights when the Captain’s crew were taking a licking and the Arm would pull them out of it. Often.

When she entered a casino (I swear) the other players would open up an area in front of her and let her through – like Moses parting the Red Sea. They were anticipating a miracle and often they got it.

Her craps throw was unique. I could never duplicate it. Trust me I tried. No one I ever met could duplicate it either. It was geared to her body I guess. It certainly wasn’t geared to mine. Or anyone else that I ever met.

I don’t even know how she set the dice. At the time I met her, I was in awe and I didn’t ask her any questions. I was always in awe. Yes, that was stupid of me but what can you do? It would have been presumptuous of me to ask. You don’t question a goddess.

How old was she at the time I met her? Probably 70-something or so.

I am guessing that the glorious Captain and his crew are playing craps in the afterlife. And right there with them is the Arm; a one-of-a-kind shooter.

The Captain

At one time he held the world record for the longest roll – nearly 150 numbers in a row.

The Captain had the most profound effect on me. He taught me everything I know about casino gambling. Although he was a craps player, he had a strong penchant for understanding the human psyche of the typical gambler. And he taught me about it. He taught me how to avoid the pitfalls of gambling.

He taught me how to manage my money and how to make sure I had enough funds to make it through the rough patches in my play.

The Captain understood that most players often had no idea of what those house edges they faced meant and what those edges meant for their money. His belief was simple; players thought they could win but they were counting on luck and luck was fickle. I saw this all the time. Someone got hot but that never lasted a long time. Then they got cold and cold could last almost forever.

Indeed, when I taught courses in dice control I was disappointed, then aghast, at players who continued to bet stupidly after the class. They were told that these bets would do them in … yet they continued to make them. And then (believe it or not) some of the teachers encouraged them to make these bets as well. I left teaching the subject when I realized that nothing I taught was getting through.

I was wasting my time. These players were gamblers. Could some students actually learn dice control? Indeed, they could, if they gave up the gambler’s idea that bets with ludicrous house edges could be beaten.

Interestingly, the Captain never pushed his ideas on anyone. Some of his crew were wild gamblers – that was their choice the Captain would say. Even some of his crew played the slot machines!

But the Captain stuck with his method of play and his method of shooting. He influenced Jimmy P., who became a good shooter when he reined in his inner gambler. And there was the Arm too. And me. And a few others.

I would say without question that the Captain was the greatest player I ever met. He’s long gone now, as are all the members of his crew. If there is an afterlife, these folks are waiting for the Arm to appear to get them out of their holes.

Those were the days.

Jerry “Stickman”

At the table, Jerry would remove his hearing aides (both of them) and the noise of the casino would disappear into a stillness and a kind of calm quiet. Then he would shoot those cubes.

He was (and still is) a great shooter. He only made the best bets and he never showed off or bragged. He was the consummate professional. You don’t meet many people like him.

He is also six-foot-four. And skinny. With long arms; a body especially made for dice control. When he bent over the table his arm could go past the real stickman.

I met him when I was teaching the dice control classes and when I quit he soon left too. I became great friends with him and for years we would both meet up in Atlantic City and shoot craps. Now our interests have become far broader.

I’ve lost most of my interest in beating the games, although I still enjoy the casinos and Stickman, my wife the Beautiful AP, and I continue to travel together. (And here this is our loving nod to Stickman’s deceased wife.)

My Blackjack Life

The best blackjack game I ever played was at the Maxim Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in the early 1990s. Every card except one was dealt from a single deck. When the cards ran out, the dealer grabbed the cards that already had been played, shuffled, and then dealt them.

The game had the best rules. You could surrender your hand; you could double any first two cards; you could split pairs and double after splits.

Even a basic strategy player had an edge on this game and my wife and I had a huge edge. We were $5 players back then. We were just learning how to count cards. We literally stumbled on this game as we were staying in this hotel.

We were going to stay in Vegas for a week but with this game? We stayed eight weeks; playing two hands each and playing for about eight hours a day. Oh, and if you got a blackjack while betting $5 you received a token that could be used anywhere in the casino – including at the gourmet restaurant.

At night, I practiced my dice control technique. And this game brought Paul Kean to our attention.

Paul Kean

I went to the Gambler’s Book Club and asked the manager Howard Schwartz if he knew someone who could teach me some tricks at this amazing game. He introduced me to someone who worked in the store, Paul Kean.

“He’s the best blackjack player in the world,” said Howard.

So why was he working in a book store? Best in the world?

Here is his story, edited, and made as short as possible which was always Paul’s wish. He learned card counting in the 1970s. He even taught Ken Uston, the flamboyant “King of Blackjack” way back when.

He was working the bookstore now because all the casinos in Vegas had banned him or gave him the option of betting no more than $15 on any hand. (He had some friends in the casinos.)

I told Paul about the game and invited him to dinner with my wife the Beautiful AP. He knew the game and a free meal? Why not.

“I can show you a method almost no one knows about,” he said. “It’s called end play.”

There was a time in Las Vegas when some casinos offered this type of blackjack game. End play was the method wise players used when the cards were about to be reshuffled. What would the count be at that time? Would you have an edge? How did you maintain an edge if the cards were taken from the discard rack, shuffled and replayed? How should you bet?

We went to our room and Paul gave us a detailed lesson on end play. Paul accepted the invitation(s) to dinner and we worked together on this “end play” and on other aspects of blackjack. End play was actually pretty easy.

The other things? As they say in Brooklyn (where I grew up) “forgetaboutit.” I couldn’t get a handle on any of these things. Follow clumps of cards in the shoe game? Couldn’t do it. Cut the cards so that the aces would come out right away. What? I was no Ken Uston but I didn’t have to be. Not really.

I was going through a divorce from my first wife and I was broke and $40,000 in debt.

How would I recover? The Beautiful AP told me this as we sat on the beach at Cape May in New Jersey: “You are going to become a famous writer. Money? You’ll have no money worries at all.”

She was right. The Beautiful AP and I were $5 players when we started our blackjack life. We’d range our bets from $5 to maybe $25 in high counts. By the time we left the Maxim? We were betting a hundred dollars and we’d move up to a thousand in high counts. And the casino was pleasant about this too. Remember, we played four hands! And had free gourmet dinners every night thanks to plenty of blackjacks!

When we were getting ready to leave to go back to teaching, one of the bosses said to me, “Frank, how can you afford to leave this game?” I thought he was going to have me arrested. “I, uh, haven’t lost too much …”

“Frank, Frank, how can you afford to leave this game. We’ll be closing it down soon.” Then I understood. He knew what we had done in our weeks at the Maxim.

“I miss my kids,” I told him truthfully. “And I’ve got to get back to teaching.”

“Say hello to Paul, if you see him,” he said.

“Sure,” I said.I never met Paul Kean again.

Sadly, I don’t know what happened to Paul Kean but I do know about End Play in blackjack. The Maxim was the only time I got to use it in a casino. But that game and then meeting the Captain started me on my path to where I am now.

I write.

I enjoy my life.

And my wife, the Beautiful AP was right about my future writing career. It is great to have a smart wife who loves you unconditionally.

… and my kids? They are pushing 50 now. Hard to believe. They will never know some of the greats that I have known and from whom I’ve learned.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

The best time to leave a casino is … when? I have not done a study of casino players on this topic, but it is my belief that most of them have no idea when the best time to leave a casino is for them personally.

They may bring along a certain casino playing stake (or, worse yet, choose to hit the ATM for their playing cash) and have some general idea how much they are willing to lose before giving up the quest for riches and heading home.

It is a sad fact that most gamblers do not have any plan regarding when they will leave the casino. Most will play as long as they are able based on how they feel and how long their money lasts. Some of them will play even longer by hitting the ATM to replenish the initial (and then ultimately lost) bankroll.

When is the best time to leave the casino?This article explores the topic.

Contents

1. Types of Casino Player
2. Good Times Charlie
3. Ima Got-rocks
4. Careful Carl
5. Summary

Types of Casino Player

It is very difficult to provide the best time to leave the casino that covers all types of players. Each type can have a different answer. This article will cover the following types of players.

• Good Times Charlie – Players who come to the casino strictly for entertainment. They have a somewhat limited gambling budget. They may know the rules of how to play the games they play, but they know nothing about things like basic strategy in blackjack or strategy for optimum play in video poker.
• Ima Got-rocks – Money is the least of this player’s concerns. The money they win or lose means nothing. It is a contest between them and the house. They may or may not know they best bets or games with the best return. They are in it for the action all the way.
• Careful Carl – Players who know the proper strategy for playing the games they like to play. They make low house edge bets such as the line bet – possibly with odds at craps. They know how to determine the video poker games with best return and know the proper way to play them. They bring gambling funds that are strictly reserved for playing and are not need for living expenses.

Good Times Charlie

Most players who fall into this category tend to leave the casino when they run out of money. Upon hitting a big win, most of this class of players will continue to play hoping for another big win. Most Good Times Charlies are focused on playing as long as they can. Far too often, even with big wins, “as long as they can” is until they run out of money.

There is technically nothing wrong with this approach – if they are playing with money they can afford to lose. That is, money that has been set aside and is reserved for casino play.

If this is the case, these Good Times Charlie players may go home depressed, but there is no long-term impact. The best time to leave for these Good Times Charlie players is whenever they like. They will be happier leaving if they are ahead, but they came for entertainment. Entertainment costs money and they are willing and able to pay the price.

Most Good Times Charlies have a different style, however. They may bring what they feel they can afford to lose, even though it may be needed for rent or groceries. These players hope to win to help with upcoming expenses. Worse yet, some of these players will run through everything they brought and then hit the ATM for additional funds. Rather than quitting when they are lucky enough to score a big win, they play until this is also lost.

Unfortunately, the best time for these players to leave the casino is – before they arrive. The casino has a house edge on everything. Players who don’t have the discipline to amass the funds to play plus stay within that budget should not tempt themselves.

Ima Got-rocks

Obviously, the best time for this type of player to leave the casino is whenever he or she wants. The money does not matter. They are playing for fun and/or excitement. Let them have it. They can certainly afford it.

Careful Carl

For Careful Carls the best time to leave the casino is a bit more complex. They are doing everything properly to give themselves the best chance of winning or playing for the maximum time possible.

Obviously, they will leave when they lose their bankroll. They will not hit the ATM. Leaving then will not hurt them. But, what about leaving when they are ahead? Many pundits promote this.

Sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it? The problem is, how do you define “ahead?” If they win the first hand of blackjack, they are ahead. Is this the best time to leave? They may never be ahead after this win. Leaving now would not make the trip worthwhile. One hand and quit? Really?

No, there needs to be a way to balance leaving when you are ahead and playing for a reasonable length of time.

Some authors promote trying to reach a certain win level of perhaps 10 units before calling it quits.

One method I like is locking up a percentage of each win. With each win, put 30 to 50% of it aside. This is not to be touched. This is profit to be taken with you with you when you leave. Continue playing with the remainder of your allocated bankroll until it is gone or are ready to leave for other reasons. Using this method, it is virtually impossible to leave the casino empty-handed.

For Careful Carls, this is the best time to leave the casino.

Summary

The best time to leave a casino depends on the type of player.

• Undisciplined players should leave before they come.
• Those with (nearly) unlimited resources can play all they want before leaving.
• Disciplined players should set aside a portion of each win to be taken with them when they leave.

The internet if full of books, strategy cards, pamphlets, and advice that tout winning at the casino. Some authors claim that by using their systems, you will win up to 75% of your wagers. Others claim that their systems will guarantee a win if you follow the betting patterns they promote.

Casinos are big business. They are able to build opulent structures, provide fine amenities, swimming pools, spas and a myriad of other creature comforts. These huge resorts employ tens of thousands of people to serve the casino’s guests.

Ask yourself this question, if there was a simple betting system that would guarantee a win for the gambler, would casinos allow the betting system?

Of course not. This article examines some common betting systems and shows why they will not work in the long run.

Contents

1. Up as you lose betting systems
2. Up as you win betting systems
3. Hedging your bets – winning a higher percentage of the time
4. Quit when you are ahead systems
5. Summary

Up As You Lose Betting Systems

An up as you lose betting system have the player increase the bet each time the previous bet loses. Each up as you lose betting system has different specifics.

• Some say increase by one unit with each loss.
• Some say double (or triple) the bet with each loss.
• Some start with one unit and raise the bet by the sum of the previous two bets – example: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, …
• Restart at one unit after every win.

The logic is that the system user will eventually win a bet, and hopefully the amount won will put the player back in the winning column.

The logic is sound. Eventually, the player will win a bet, if:

• The player has a large enough bankroll.
• The table limit is not reached.

If the player had unlimited funds, (the casino has virtually unlimited funds) the proper up as you lose system would guarantee a win.

Did you ever wonder why there are upper limits on gaming tables?

Part of the reason is the casino must have adequate reserves to pay any winners and upper limits help manage the reserve amounts. The initial, and primary reason, however, is to foil the up as you lose betting systems.

Up As You Win Betting Systems

Rather than increase bets as you lose, up as you win betting systems raise bets as they win. Similar to up as you lose betting systems, up as you win betting systems have different specifics:

• Increase the bet after each win – by one unit, half a unit, or something else.
• Double the bet after each win.
• Start upping the bet immediately.
• Start upping the bet only after winning a certain number of bets.
• Wait until having won a certain amount (such as being ahead by two or three units).
• Restart at one unit after each losing bet.

The logic with up as you win betting systems is that luck comes in streaks. Jump in on the winning streaks and keep the bets low on the losing streaks.

There are definitely streaks in gambling. Sometimes they are long – both winning and losing. The problem with up as you win betting systems is you never know when the winning streaks are going to end.

Up as you win betting systems can work well during long streaks. They perform miserably in choppy games.

Hedging Your Bets – Winning a Higher Percentage of the Time

The glaring advertising for this type of betting system is something like “win 80 percent of your bets.” They work best in craps and roulette, games that have multiple ways to bet on each event.

In craps they recommend making bets that cover multiple numbers.

• Bet the field – which will win if a 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, or 12 rolls. Separately bet the 5, 6, and 8. This system will win on any number except a 7.
• Bet a pass line and a don’t pass bet. This system wins on any bet but the 12 (or sometimes the 2).

There are other variations, but the all fall into the same category. The player wins on almost every roll.The downsides are:

• In the field bet system, you win each bet individually but lose all bets on a 7.
• On every bet on the craps table, the casino has an edge. It is a situation of bet more, lose more. Even though the player wins something, they do not win at a rate that matches the true odds of the bets.

Quit When You Are Ahead Systems

The main problem with these systems, is when do you say you are ahead? If you win the first bet, do you quit?Of course, not.

A better way to handle this would be to have a win goal and a loss limit. Quit when you hit either, knowing that you may quit earlier than you might want on the winning side.

Summary

• Betting systems abound with good-sounding claims.
• The fact of the matter, however, is no betting system can guarantee a win. Do not fall for the hype.

The world of cruising has exploded. There are cruise ships and cruise ports over much of the world that is not currently at war (earth is almost always at war). The cost of cruising is somewhat high but then again you tend to get what you pay for.

It seems that going on cruises has become a very enjoyable, fashionable trend. I know some people who go on several cruises a year and swear by them.

Being out of sight of land can be fun. What’s out there? Water and more water and wavy water and fierce water and, again, you can visit other countries and cultures.

When you cruise you aren’t stuck in a place or two. You can visit areas of the world you only dreamed about. Or never even knew you were interested in them. Perhaps going to different itineraries can be great fun too.

Why not see areas of the world you have never seen before? That you’ve only read about? They are all out there in the great wide blue waters.

Areas with lush jungles, and epic forests and gleaming beaches with happy swimmers, warm weather ports where folks have only heard about winter and never experienced it. Or on the flip side, the frozen areas such as Antarctica or the North Pole. Or Alaska!

If you enjoy cruising your choices are almost without end. You just have to stay away from countries that have not yet realized it is a waste of time to wage war when you only have one life to live.

And the food on cruises? (Maybe bring a bigger belt.) Wow! The drinks? Oh, yeah, hiccup! Your fellow passengers can be children (I’ll pass), teens (I’ll pass), 20s (I’ll probably pass), 30s on up to senior citizens (okay, that’s me).

What are the ships like? Oh, boy. They go from monstrously gigantic ships that make the Titanic look as if it were a row boat. You can book large suites all the way down to interior rooms that almost anyone can afford.

And then you have luxury cruise lines where you have your own butler (“Yes, your highness,” they’ll say, “what is your wish this morning, sire?”) and these ships rarely have more than a thousand passengers.

You can book cruises that allow you to hobnob with the young party folks or the older folks (I prefer the older folks!) and everything in between. So, take your pick!

And just about every cruise ship will have a casino. On cross Atlantic Ocean trips that casino will be open almost 24 hours.I guess you can say that gambling and gallivanting now go hand-in-hand. If you like to gamble then why not gamble in a cruise casino?

Slot Machines

Let’s first take a look at slot machines. I do not have good news here.From what I understand, the average return of cruise slot machines is about 80%. That is much lower than the average return of machines in land-based casinos.

You will note that this is merely a guess of mine as the cruise casinos do not have to release their returns unless they want to. And there are so many ships that keeping track would be an absolutely dull exercise in parsing playing percentages.

So, just realize you aren’t getting the best machine bets when you play the machines on a cruise ship. If you are a slot player, what should you do?

Play the lowest denomination machines. Play one decision at a time as opposed to multiple lines where you can have two, three, four or more options that you must pay to play. One decision at a time. And play as slow as you can without feeling that you are restraining yourself.

Generally, you can be on a cruise ship for 4 to 10 days and in that time you might have the desire to let it all hang out when you gamble. Restrain yourself if you happen to be that type of gambler. You want to enjoy the cruise, not lament it when it’s over.

For some reason, the slot machines attract a tremendous amount of play wherever they are found. This is true ever since they were invented over a 100 and then some years ago.

So, you must be smart enough to play them intelligently. One decision at a time! Remember that.

Blackjack

Blackjack is still the number one table-game in the casinos – be they land-based casinos or on cruise ship casinos. It is a game that requires knowledge of how to play the various hands you get against the dealer’s face-up card.

I think cruise ship casinos will allow you to bring a blackjack strategy card with you when you play so you make the right decisions on the proper way to play your hands. If you feel shaky about your strategies then ask if you can bring a card to the table. If you can’t then you might want to go to a simpler game, such as roulette.

The cruise casinos’ game of blackjack is somewhat weak when compared to the best of the land-based casinos. Most might have the following rules:

• Blackjacks will pay only 6-to-5 as opposed to 3-to-2.
• Dealers will hit a soft 17 (ace 6) instead of standing on all 17s.
• Games might be dealt from eight-deck or even-more-deck shoes.
• Doubling down might be restricted; you won’t be able to double down on any first two cards.
• You can’t double down on a split of pairs.

You will find that the table minimum bet is much lower than in land-based casinos and this is a very good thing. Be aware of the following:

• Only play one hand. Do not spread to two or three hands.
• Go to the bathroom when the dealer is dealing, not when he or she is shuffling the cards.
• The more hands you play, the better it will be for the casino, the worse it will be for the player.
• Play the lowest stakes you can that still make you feel as if you are gambling. No reason to play higher stakes than that.
• Do not allow the gambling to replace other activities such as the shows, the tours, and the like.

Roulette

Blaise Pascal created the game of roulette in the 1600s. Blaise was a man of many dimensions, a scientist, theologian, philosopher, mathematician, and his greatest desire in life was to create a perpetual-motion machine.

He failed in that as has everyone who has ever tried to do this but he still has one great thing he invented, the game of roulette. That may wind up being his perpetual motion machine.

Roulette was the number one game in the casinos until craps surpassed it in the 1940s and then blackjack took over in the mid-1960s. Still roulette has a large and loyal following.

Generally, the game you will play on a cruise ship will be the American double-zero (0, 00) wheel. There will be 38 pockets for the ball to fall into, numbers 1-36, and those green 0 and 00.

The payment for a direct hit on a number is 35-to-1. The real payout should be 37-to-1 but the casino can’t make any money if it doesn’t shortchange the payout to the winning player.

How should you play roulette? Obviously, that is your choice but I have certain ideas that I will share with you.

I do not like playing an inside bet on one number. There are 37 ways to lose that bet and only one way to win it. Yes, the payment is shorted at 35-to-1 and you can have very, very long losing streaks. That’s not for me.

I prefer playing the proposition bets of red/black, odd/even, or high/low. These are called even-money bets not because they are 50/50 propositions but because they will pay even money on a win.

The player will have 18 ways to win and 20 ways to lose. You can see that those interminable losing streaks will be rare.

The casino will still have the edge on you but you will feel as if you are in the game by playing the even-money bets.

There are some other proposition bets such as the dozens, the columns, and separate section bets on the layout. These will generally pay more than 1-to-1 but they are still better than going up on a single inside number.

You might be like me; long losing streaks just kill the game and those you can expect when you play directly on a single number.

And, say hi to Blaise Pascal when you play his game!

[Please note: The single-zero wheel (0) has a 2.7% house edge, while the triple-zero wheel (0, 00, 000) has a 7.69% house edge.]

Craps

This game started along the Mississippi River in the South of America and slowly made its way to the big and little cities (and alleys!) of the North.

It was called crabs. (Or krabs.) And was probably based on an English game called Hazard. But Northerners couldn’t quite get the Southern pronunciation of crabs correctly and they mistakenly changed the name of the game to craps. That’s what they heard. And craps became its name.

Yes, the game was often played in alleyways in the big cities and in illegal casinos owned by cigar-smoking steely-eyed gangsters (okay, okay, I have no idea who the actual gangsters were or if they smoked cigars or had steely eyes). It was the city game despite the fact that it originated along the banks of a mighty, muddy, river.

During World War II, the game (along with poker) became the military game. Soldiers and sailors played it in whatever spare time they had unless they were actually in combat.

After the war, craps became the number one casino game, often tied with roulette, where it stood almost invincible until blackjack took over first place in the 1960s. Blackjack is still number one.

Craps was also a man’s game because until this second the men dominate its ranks. I would say that perhaps 90-95% of the players are male. Women shy away from the game.

Craps has a multitude of bets, going from excellent down (all the way down) to some of the absolutely worst bets in the casino.

Make those awful bets, as many craps players seem compelled to do, and your prospects to win are remote. In fact, my mentor, the late Captain from Atlantic City, called the worst bets at craps the Crazy Crapper bets. That gives you some idea of what they are like and what happens to the players who make them.

Most cruise casinos will have one or two craps tables as each table requires at least four dealers.There are two types of craps games and they are played simultaneously; the “right” game and the “don’t” game, also called the “darkside” game. Guess which players are despised by the other craps players?

The rightside players are rooting for the shooter to make his point and the darksiders are rooting for the shooter to seven-out as quickly as possible. Maybe 90% of players are rightside players. The cheers you will hear at the craps tables are probably coming from rightsiders whose numbers and points are being hit.

(If you hear a splash, it is probably a darksider hitting the ocean waves!)

The best way to play craps is the simplest way. Bet one or two of the best bets and be done with it. The fact that there are dozens of bets should make you realize there is a reason most craps players ultimately become forlorn.

The best bets to make are the pass line (1.41% house edge) adding odds (no house edge) when the pass line number is established and (if you can afford it) a second bet, usually a come with odds or a place bet of the 6 or 8.

Two bets will suffice. You’ll have plenty of rolls where nothing hits and that is just fine. Enjoy the camaraderie at the table. Forget about betting the darkside as you might wind up being the player making the splash in the ocean. If you have never played craps buy a good book and study the game.

Conclusion: Enjoy your cruises and play some time in the casino, yes, but do not allow the gambling to take away from why you are on that ship. There’s a big world out there.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Here is a look at a few questions from readers about casino gambling.

A question from Doris about blackjack:

Mr. Scoblete, I am assuming you have played or read about most games. I know that blackjack is a tough game to play because you have to memorize “basic strategy” that explains why you have to hit, stand, double down or split pairs.I know there are other rules to follow when you play the game too.

Now, all of that seems very complicated. Why have a game that requires the player to memorize so much stuff – and that player will still have to face the house edge no matter what? Does that seem fair or even make sense? I doubt it.

I never thought that casino playing would require me to memorize a list of rules this long! Have you seen them?

I can’t even get through one playing card and then I discovered there were many cards depending on the type of blackjack game you are playing. You know that the rules of the game, the number of decks, what the dealer can and can’t do, yikes, changes how you play some of the hands! That’s a lot of work for not too much reward since you are doomed to lose ultimately, no matter what.

Now, here was my first experience playing the game. Yes, I sat right down and started playing and one guy – a real bully – kept criticizing my decisions. Finally. I had enough and told him to shut up.

I soon left the table and went to the bathroom where I cried. I’m not a little girl but this guy got to me. He really distressed me. It was like being in junior high school.

Now, here is what is weird. I still want to play blackjack. Yes, I do. It is the most popular table game in the casino and it seems like fun to play – if you know how to play it, that is. But do I really have to go through a college-level learning course to do so? Help required.

– Doris

Frank responds:

Sorry, Doris, but you ran into the biggest P.I.T.A that shows up at blackjack tables on occasion – the “expert,” the “professor,” the “Doctor” who often has little idea of how to play the game correctly but will ladle out a tremendous amount of advice, often the wrong advice too. And yell at you if you don’t follow his ideas.

It seems he’ll always be yelling. (Sometimes the expert is a “she.”) I’m sorry you had to be badgered by this guy but once you know how to play, guess what? You’ll still get badgered on occasion! It’s the price, other than facing the house edge, that we blackjack players have to face.

Still, when you can handle the game properly, you can just tell the “professor” you like to play the way you like to play and that’s that. “Sir, it’s my money.” That usually shuts them up.

Now, yes, you do have a lot of “types” of blackjack games where some of the rules aren’t like other rules other casinos might use. Take the handling of a soft 17 (A:6). Some blackjack games will have the dealer stand on the hand (that is good for the players) but many now will have the dealer hit that hand (that is good for the casinos).

Blackjack players – all other things being equal (which they rarely are) – should opt for the rules that are good for them if they can find those rules.

Okay, tonight, right now, purchase playing cards that explain how to play the different versions of “regular” blackjack that you will face. Don’t dive into Spanish 21 or the like, just get the right cards for regular blackjack.

Most casinos will let you refer to the cards while you play. And that’s how you’ll play until you get a handle on the game.

Blackjack is a great game but as you discovered there are (human) irritants involved in it. If you become a good player you will face about a 0.5% house edge, which means an expected loss of 50 cents per $100 wagered. That’s about the best bet in the casino.

More Lessons

Now, I am going to give you some insider tips to help make your blackjack play as close to perfect as possible. Follow these and you will find the game of blackjack even more fun.

• The general rule is that the more decisions you face the better it is for the casino. So, we try to keep the number of decisions low.
• Play at a full or almost full tables.
• Only play one hand. Do not spread to two or three hands. That simply means more money going to the casino over time.
• When you have to go to the bathroom, go while the game is being played, not when the dealer is shuffling. The hands you miss simply reduce the number of hands you played. Fewer decisions are better for the player. Fewer decisions are good for the player.
• Until you are comfortable with the total number of decisions you face at the game, always play with your strategy-playing cards in front of you – and take your time looking at the cards before deciding what to do. If other players try to speed you up when you aren’t ready, just ignore them or apologize for being a new player.
• A general rule here: Do not whine when things are going poorly for you. All blackjack players face streaks, some good, some bad. They are a part of the game.
• Do not play continuous automatic shufflers. These are killers for a blackjack player’s bankroll.
• When a dealer cuts cards out of the shoe look for the ones who cut a lot of cards out. That means you will play fewer hands. If you were a card counter, you would want the dealer to cut very few out of the shoe which means you’d get to see more cards to count. (If you have an edge, you want more. If the casino has the edge, you want less.)
• Should you tip the dealers? That’s up to you. I will tip.

A Question from Felix about Craps

I don’t know, I really don’t. I love to play craps but I am getting killed. Does anyone ever win? It seems like it should be easy but I am being slowly roasted.

I do get caught up in the game. That I will admit. I make a pass line bet and back it with full odds. I place the 6 and 8 unless one of those is my point. Then I buy the 4 and 10.

As the game flows I will throw out bets on some of the longshots, like the hardways, the field, snake eyes and the 12. I also like going up on the 11. These bets have big payouts. If the table has the Fire bet, yes, I will bet that because the payout is terrific.

I do not seem to be able to catch fire in the bottle when I play. I have made some great hits but they don’t sustain me for very long. What am I doing wrong?

I think I need some schooling.

– Felix

Frank responds:

Felix! Felix! Felix! Schooling? You need detention. Simple first: the more bets you make, the more bets you have to win. Even those longshot bets have to be hit enough times to keep you ahead of the game.

Yes, I know, I know those longshot bets are fun. But seriously no one – and I mean no one – can beat the game of craps for any serious length of time by making those bets. Just think of how much money you are putting on the table. And how many hits you must get to be ahead.

The late Captain, my mentor from Atlantic City, had a rather simple philosophy when it came to betting. Have a large bankroll and make a small bet. Don’t bet those “Crazy Crapper” bets either. Those are the longshot bets you referred to. You cannot beat craps by making those bets. That’s why the Captain called those bets Crazy Crapper bets.

A pass line bet with odds, and at best only have two bets with a come bet as your second bet, and leave it at that. Make sure the odds part is maximum if you can afford it. If not, make just one bet.

I know, this way of betting doesn’t seem exciting but as you start to see wins occasionally entering your ledger, you will see this is the only way to wager. (Always keep a ledger. You don’t have to show it to anyone but it will keep you honest with yourself.)

I am a big fan of craps. I know the fun of the game. But I also know that the only way to have a chance to win (short of learning dice control) is to make no more than a couple of good bets and let that be that.

Many craps players are totally caught up in the excitement of the game. That’s great of course but it comes with a downside. You lose money if you start throwing your money around on longshot wagers. Yes, the house has an edge on every bet but a couple of low-house edge bets gives you a chance to win some money.

Okay, enjoy your fellow players jumping up and down and screaming in joy or moaning in misery. That’s also a part of the fun of the game.

– Frank

A Question from Sean

This is about roulette. It does seem to me that this game has too high an edge on the double-zero wheel and seriously forget about the triple-zero wheel. How can you hope to beat a 5.26% house edge? The triple-zero is even worse.

But I can’t seem to find any single-zero wheels that I can afford to play. How can they make the payout for a hit a measly 35 to 1?

That’s my negative feeling. My positive feeling is that I love the game. I do. And not just because my first name is Sean (as in Sean Connery) the original and best James Bond.

My understanding is that roulette is the oldest casino game. Do you know its origins? Any information would be helpful.

– Sean

Frank responds:

I loved Sean Connery as James Bond. Some actors have “it” and he had “it” in spades. Actresses can have “it” too. There used to be an actress long, long ago, who was called the “it” girl, her name was Clara Bow.

Connery created the idea that James Bond would always bet the number 17 and for years now it is the number one number played at roulette.

Blaise Pascal, a scientist, mathematician, theologian, and philosopher tried to create a perpetual motion machine. He and so far everyone who has tried to invent that machine has failed. Oh, well. But Blaise did invent roulette and that game has been in the casinos since the late 1600s. That may be his perpetual motion machine.

It used to be the number one game, surpassed by craps in the 1940s and then blackjack in the mid-1960s. It is still one of the top three games in the casino.

As for the payouts, those wins do pay 35 to 1 but you really have long losing streaks at times if you go straight up on a number.

Let me suggest this: Make one of the even-money bets of red/black, high/low, or odd/even. These are “even money” because they pay even money (1 to 1) but you won’t find really long losing streaks on these.

You can also take a pause between spins. Maybe sit out three spins out of 20 or something to that effect. The casino’s edge can’t take your money when you are sitting out. Give this a try.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Do you want to know how the casinos get their edges over the players? This short answer is sufficient to fully explain the matter. Here it is: more money goes into the casinos then comes out of the casinos. Correct. You really don’t need a more detailed explanation than that.

That slot machine keeps more money than it pays out; so, does the blackjack game, and the craps game, and the roulette game and on and on it goes. You don’t need an advanced degree in mathematics to get this simple picture.

Now to make you forget precisely what is happening to you, the casinos structure their games to make them “fun.” You are always this close to winning the next decision. That fact allows the players to hang in there because the decision after the decision after the decision could be the winner!

Anticipation is a key to why people play casino games or lotteries and such. The anticipation is a strong enough feeling that it rivets most players to the games they love to play.

(At some point or other, the player will retire from playing. He or she could be ahead; more than likely he or she will be behind. And on it goes. Perhaps for eternity.)

How Many Players Should Be at a Table?

A lot of players prefer to play one-versus-one against the dealer. And that could be the fast way to epic losses. You want to play at full tables (or nearly full tables) in order to play the least number of decisions that you can.

Here is the truth: the more decisions that you play, the worse it will ultimately be for you. And you can’t escape that fact. More decisions means the game is better for the casinos. You can’t escape that fact.

Games that are fast (such as mini-baccarat) can hammer you even though the house edges at that game are rather small on two of the three bets. Play 150 decisions or so an hour and see where you wind up.

Oh, and don’t play the tie bet, one of the worst bets in the casino. Just play player and even better, just play bank which has the lowest house edge. One hundred fifty decisions – remember that number can be a mere one hour of play!

But even so. Such speed makes that game dangerous – low house edge or not.

Also, the number of superstitious players makes that game trying on your nerves if you find yourself surrounded by such players. At times they might (they actually might) blame you for their defeats. That has happened to me.

The house edges on the two best bets are good. The speed of the game is bad. If you want to play the game? Reduce the number of decisions you face by 50%! (Or more!)

Oh, Those Magnificent Slot Machines!

The number one casino game is the slot machines. More people play the slots than all the other casino games combined.

Slot machines are almost always one-versus-one, the player versus the machine. Machines come in with house edges between 8% and 16% – or thereabouts. No player is getting a break when he or she plays the slot machines.

They are fast if the player plays fast and most slot players speed up their play as time goes by. They take more than one coin (or credit) and they can lose a lot of money quickly and surely because some will take so many coins (or credits) that the wind in your hair will make you bald with how fast the machine obliges them.

Slot players do not – by and large – want to play table games because, well, because, just because. One-on-one at a machine is not scary, but having a bunch of other players playing the same game can horrify a slot player. Go figure.

Other than slot players who hit for outrageous sums on absolutely rare occasions which are (as stated) rare, the prospects for these players are dim and even dimmer than that.

Slot machines do have lights and sound effects and cartoons and such but these are simply there to distract you from the fact that losses are coming soon and sooner even than that. The world’s casino industry is built on slot machines.

How should a wise slot player play the machines if he or she must play the machines? Playing slowly is the best advice when it comes to how to win at slots.

And seriously, even slower than that.

In fact, so slow that in a race the slot player will not even appear to be playing. You’ll have to speed up the film to notice movement!

The bottom line is to play one coin or credit per decision. There I said it.And do it slowly, oh, so, so slowly.

I do not care what kind of machine you are playing, just stick to one coin or credit per decision and take your time hitting the play button. Come on, do you really think you will be one of the rare players who will hit for millions? Play one decision at a time and enjoy your time in the casinos. It won’t be too costly.

And What About Blackjack?

The most popular game in the casino, other than slot machines, is blackjack. It has been the king of the casinos’ table games ever since Edward O. Thorp worked out a system called card counting in the early 1960s in his book Beat the Dealer.

This system would allow the knowledgeable player to actually get a real edge at the game (meaning more money coming out of the game and going to the player) and that would put the casinos behind such a player who could work such magic.

Craps, the World War II game, had been the leader in the casinos up to that time but blackjack quickly surpassed it. Why? Because everyone thought they could beat the game – even if they never learned how to count cards or had enough money to suffer and ultimately beat the bad streaks.

The casinos soon panicked and then started adding more decks to the game from one to two to four to six and to eight. They placed the cut card not as deep into the shoe and generally ruined the pristine game that blackjack had been. (Single deck with great rules. Farewell.)

Next came unlimited continuous automatic shufflers. Then came games where a blackjack only paid 6 to 5 instead of 3 to 2. Then came all sorts of “different” blackjack games to sucker in the players. None really made big hits but they all won money from the players who were foolish enough to play them.

Still the good old single-deck game of blackjack from the 1950s was for all intents and purposes dead. Stone dead.

Some card counters are still out there but, in truth, they are rare. The casinos have seen to that. The game is just much tougher to beat. Even with an edge of 1% in favor of the players, they will see loads of bad streaks. A card counter’s bankroll has to be able to survive such losing streaks. Many blackjack players can’t survive the bad streaks.

But what else comes with blackjack? Now some decent news.

Blackjack is a game where your decisions on what to do with your hands count. These decisions mean you make more money or lose less money. Play properly and the casinos will still only have a half-percent edge over you. And that’s good.

Okay, do you double down on your first two cards? Split pairs? Double down after splits? What are your hitting and standing decisions? Do you ever take insurance? Are you getting paid 3 to 2 for a blackjack?

Anything else? Oh, indeed, yes. You see at blackjack there are some players, enough that you will definitely experience them, who want to “teach” you how to play properly as the game progresses. Are they expert players? They think they are. But, come on, are they really?

NOPE!

Most are total idiots. They subscribe to gaming gurus who think they have logically figured out the game but in reality their hitting, doubling, standing, and insurance decisions are by and large wrong. And they whine and moan when you make a good basic strategy decision that is right but unfortunately goes wrong.

And what is basic strategy? It is the computerized version of how to play every hand you are dealt against the dealer’s up-card. Even players who have played blackjack for decades can have played it wrong for decades. Sad but true.

The good news is that you can buy correct basic strategy charts from the Internet or from good gambling web sites. Yes, there are a number of different blackjack games but there are basic strategy charts for just about each and every game.

Buy the card(s) and take your time making your decisions about your hands. Doing this will mean you are playing a strong game against the house. And never rush your play. Players who rush will inadvertently make mistakes.

Craps: Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes!

I don’t know why this became a famous craps saying but it did. Craps, first known as crabs in the American South where it originated along the Mississippi River, became the “city game.” I guess it meandered into the alleyways of the North and became the number one game of soldiers during World War II.

The post-World War II casinos had craps galore as it was the number one game in just about every casino. That is until blackjack bumped craps out of first place. Blackjack is still in first place.

You’ve seen the craps tables and you have certainly heard the craps players cheering wildly when things are going well and moaning awfully when things are going poorly.

There are actually two craps games going on at the same time; the rightside game of players who are looking for the shooter to make points and numbers, and the wrong side game, known as the darkside, where the players are betting the shooter will seven-out as quickly as possible.

The darksiders make up a tiny percentage of craps players but they are out there. Rightsiders generally do not like darksiders. Some rightsiders hate darksiders.

Play craps on the rightside. Make no more than two bets – a pass-line bet and a come bet or a place bet of the 6 or 8. Craps is action-packed but too many players fall into the casinos’ trap of making many, many bets most of them with outrageously high house edges. Don’t fall into the trap!

And shoot the dice. It’s fun – although often it is also sad when you seven out quickly. Still, craps is a great game but a dangerous one if you don’t bet properly.

Do You Want Advice?

Many casino players do not want advice. If you are one of them then you can leave the room – but, better still, leave your wallet by the exit because, come on now, you will be losing just about every penny you bring with you to the casinos.

Over even a relatively short period of time that will probably happen. And that is why casinos make money; you lose, they win.

Advice: The house has the edge at almost every game almost all of the time. Chew on that will you? You can’t escape that fact.

What are the edges at the games? Here are a few:

• Blackjack with proper basic strategy: about one-half percent. Systems sellers will quibble or fully disagree with the true basic strategy for the various blackjack games. They are wrong. They will cost you a lot of money. They are, for lack of a better term, idiots.
• Craps if you make only the best bets which means pass line, come, don’t pass, don’t come and taking full odds when number is chosen by a roll of the dice.
• Placing the 6 or 8 in $30 increments. House edge 1.52%.
• Making other place bets? Don’t bother. The edges will go from single digits to double digits. And your bankroll will go into the drink. Just chew on that statement.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Take a relaxing walking trip around the casino. Come on, this won’t take too long I promise you.

Look at the table games of blackjack, craps, roulette, mini-baccarat, Pai Gow Poker and all the other table games that you will pass. Check out all of the bets you can make at all of these games. Each and every bet. Give them some thought.

Go by the slot machines, epic ones that pay out millions and multi-millions, and those smaller ones that pay out small amounts, and, oh yes, check out the video poker machines too. Note all the payouts. Each and every payout.

Now I have a question for you. Okay, what have you not been able to see in your scouring of the casino games? Give it some thought. I’ll give you a moment. What have you NOT been able to see, anywhere?

There is something curiously missing from all the signs hawking the casinos’ games.

In no game does the casino tell you how to play it or give you some clue as to what the return is if you play the machines or the table games correctly. No advice whatsoever.

What is the house edge? And what does that edge mean? Nothing.

In days past some slot aisles would proclaim something such as this: The machines in this bank will return about 98%. Great, but what did that really mean? Basically, not much. There was no way to get an edge at these games. You could only beat the machines by some form of luck and luck was and is an ephemeral item.

Some casinos may still hawk machines in this way. Paying back 98% means that the machine keeps two cents out of every dollar wagered over time – on average.

Checking Out Those Table Games

In craps, a game with so many different bets, it is hard to keep track of them all. Craps players are in the habit of betting more than one or two bets. Some will have a half dozen or more bets working at the game at the same time.

Yes, it is rare that a craps player will only make one or at most two bets at the game. Their concept of play is “the more bets the better!”

They are under the opinion that the more bets they make the more money they will make because with so many bets one or two can hit so that means more money is coming in to the player. Not so. So many bets can hit, yes. But there are so many misses that the losses craps players experience can be sky high, even if they have a winning night now and again.

What is the edge on all those craps bets? The casino might tell you the payout is 30 to 1, but it never tells you the percentage edge the house has over you when you make that bet. It never tells you what your losing expectation is.

Here is something to know if you love playing craps. The casino will not pay the true value of any bet you place on a number. I’ll explain this fact in the roulette section of this article. It’s called, for lack of a simpler word, short-changing. Keep that in mind.

Look over at blackjack, the most popular table-game in the casino ever since the mid-1960s, and nowhere does it tell you what the house edge is if you play the game with the correct basic strategy.

Basic strategy isn’t even mentioned in the signage at the table. That strategy is the only way to play the game to garner a one-half percent house edge over you.

[Please note: Unless you are a card counter there is no better way to play the game of blackjack than basic strategy but that is, of course, a whole different story.]

At roulette, do you want to know how the casinos get their edges over the players? It is simple; really simple. Ridiculously simple.

The casino always short changes the winning player! You don’t get paid what the bet is really worth.

When a player wins, he or she does not get paid the full value of the bet. On the double-zero wheel, the payout for a direct hit is 35-to-1. The true value of the bet should pay 37-to-1 since there are 38 pockets for the ball to settle into.

Take 38 players, each betting a different number straight up on the double-zero wheel (0, 00), and you have 38 bets on the layout. Yes, one bet must win. The players will lose 37 times but one player will win once and be paid that 35-to-1. In such a game, the casino will be ahead after every spin of the wheel. It can’t lose.

You do, of course, have roulette wheels with more or fewer numbers than the traditional American double-zero wheel. Let’s see how they fare for the players.

You have the best wheel, the single-zero European-French wheel (0) that has only 37 pockets but the payout is still that 35-to-1 instead of 36 to 1. Or you have the new wheel, the triple-zero “yuck” wheel with a 0, a 00, and a 000. There are 39 pockets but the payout for a winning hit is still that same 35-to-1, not 38-to-1.

Roulette goes from a decent game on the single-zero wheel to a rotten game on the triple-zero wheel. But the players (at least many of them) do not know this and some don’t actually care to know this. They just happily or unhappily play whatever wheel is in front of them.

No matter what bets you make at roulette, the casino will short change the winning player. Simple as that.

The short-changing of bets can be found at craps too. No place bet on the layout pays true odds except the “odds” bet. But to get the true payout on the “odds” bet at craps you have to have a pass line or come bet or a don’t pass line and a don’t come bet working. Those bets come with house edges too!

The player can’t create a betting formula that he or she can create to win at craps. There are no super betting systems. None.

Man, Do Tell Me More About Slot Machines

The slot machines are ubiquitous losers for those slot players who don’t even pretend that they can get even close to an edge at them. The machines were once called, the “one-armed bandits.” Well, they certainly deserved that name.

In the good old days, the slots had to pay out in gifts: “Harry just won a cigar!” You’ll note that some machines had winning rectangles – those rectangles stood for cigars. There were multiple fruit images too. You could win a boat load of fruit but more than likely what you won were just lemons.

How Slot Machines Work

It is simple formula. More money goes into the machines than comes out of them. It is not a hard formula to understand. Money goes into to the machines. Less money comes out of the machines; casinos therefore win, players therefore lose. All is right with the world from the casinos’ viewpoint, that is.

Machines just used to be mechanical devices; now they are computerized marvels. Over the last 150 years they went from simple devices to space-age magic. But they always did the same thing; take the players’ money. That was and is their goal in life; winning money. And that they do quite well.

Today’s machines are run by computers. The new computer program is called the RNG which is short for the random number generator (actually it should be called the “almost random number generator” as humans can’t really set up randomness in its randiest sense). But the RNG is so close to random that there is no reason not to call it random. No slot player will argue that fact.

The basic principle is the same as the basic principle has always been. More money goes into the machines than comes out of the machines. Most players don’t even question this fact because it is a fact of casino life and, as such, is accepted.

In short, you are expected to lose at every game you play!

Now What About Comps?

By the way, as an aside, your losing expectation is what opens the door to comps. You don’t get comps because the casino hosts like you. He or she may like you or may not like you, but that has nothing to do with how you earn comps. You earn comps by paying for them. Except a lot of players don’t realize the fact that the casino has a payment formula for comps. A very detailed one.

You get them because the casino can figure out what you are economically worth to them. Exactly what you are worth to them over a time period and they will return a certain amount of your expected losses in the form of “free” comps.

Your comps can mean “free” rooms, “free” meals, “free” transportation, “free” shows, “free” shopping sprees, “free” sporting events, and everything that the casino can tell you is “free” – but all of this is based on your expected losses at the games you play.

The player has to show the casino that he or she is willing to depart with their hard-earned money to pay for the “free” givebacks the casinos will initiate. Indeed, there is no “free lunch” in the casinos’ eyes. No free lunch at all.

How the Casinos Calculate Your Freebees

There are many formulas that the casinos use in order to calculate what a player is worth to them. It is not based on a player’s losses over time, but what the math says that player is expected to lose playing the way he or she plays.

That takes into consideration how much the player bets on average per decision and how long the player plays at his or her chosen games. The casino will then come up with a comp profile of the player and comp the player based on this profile.

The player who complains that he or she is losing and has lost a lot of money will (rarely) nudge the casino to give more in comps because of those losses.

It is pretty much an open and shut case for the casino. “Your expected loss is thus and such and we give you about 30% of those losses back in the form of comps and that, my friend, is that. You can win, you can lose, but we are basing everything on your potential losses over time playing how you play. Not on any immediate results.”

Low rollers walk a fine line when it comes to comps – after all, while their money means a lot to them, their value as individuals to the casino is not great in the scheme of things. Their value is great overall in the low-roller whirlpool but not as an individual. So, while the casino doesn’t want to alienate them, they can’t be catered to the way a high roller can be catered to. Those are the facts of casino life.

Most low rollers are aware of where they sit in the casino scheme of things. How could they not?

How the Casinos Judge Worth

The casinos have charts explaining what certain play at certain games means to them. Slot machines have the same formula – except different. The slot machine keeps track of the player’s play and based on its handy-dandy formula doles out the comp points.

Most players know there is some kind of formula for judging them but they are not exactly sure what that formula is.

Your play at the different games gives the casino insight into how much you will lose over a decent length of time. If the casino has a 5% edge over you then you can expect to lose 5% of all the money you bet. Based on those losses, the casino will reward you with a comp of up to about 30% (maybe 40%) of the expected loss.

Five percent of a thousand dollar-player is worth more comps than 5% of a $10 player.

All the best in and out of the casino!