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Playing Against the House Advantage.

Discussion in 'Casino Gaming' started by Ben Jammin, Oct 4, 2015.

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  1. Ben Jammin

    Ben Jammin MIA

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    Every game in Las Vegas, or any other gambling establishment anywhere for that matter, has a built in house advantage on every game.

    Focus on Vegas. Vegas is the most competitive in the country, with lower house edges than any other gambling destination in the world. The competition among the casinos is fierce, and each casino or gaming company competes for your gambling dollar.

    Locals casinos in Las Vegas generally offers a better return on various games such as slots and video poker, whereas table games such as Craps and Roulette are the same no matter where you play, Blackjack being the exception with the advent of the 6 to 5 payoff on a Black Jack in many casinos on the Strip and elsewhere, so we don't play those.

    Other variations of Black Jack, restrictions on doubling down, number of decks in the shoe or hand dealt and so forth also diminish the possibility of a winning outcome. Blackjack used to be the favored game for the true gambler for many years if not decades, and it still is the king of all table games, provided you can endure the high table minimums required to play the holy grail of Blackjack, the single deck double on anything dealer stands on any 17, re split aces and so forth. These games still exist, at a minimum bet of $25 to $50 a hand. Sometimes a $100 minimum on a busy holiday or fight weekend.

    The average gambler with a modest bankroll can still enjoy a night or more of gambling at a minimum loss as long as the basics are adhered to and the variance doesn't get you you right out of the gate. ( that's an unexpected run of bad luck). Just learning the basic strategy for your game of choice and adhering to it under any circumstances, not succumbing to the urge to play those hunches (we all do it) and a good money management system in force and followed to the letter no matter the pain threshold. In other words, the discipline to quit while you're ahead.

    If we can follow those guidelines, and stick to the games with the lowest house advantage, play them correctly, that is to say with perfect basic strategy, quit while we're ahead and never and I mean never try to "win it back" we can have a pretty good time gambling and even win some money to take back home with us so we can tell or friends about how we beat the pants of Las Vegas rather than the alternative "Ya I lost but I had a great time doing it !" To that I say "Bullshit" Who are you trying to kid?

    So, take the time to practice on line and learn the basics of your game of choice before you put in those hard earned $100 dollar bills. There are literally hundreds of web sites you can play any game on for free, with tutorials and advice on everything from basic strategy to money management, how to choose the right game with the lowest house advantage and how to play it correctly minimizing the house's take, and in the interim you might just qualify for a few comps in the process, such as free rooms, food and of course free drinks to even the nickle players.

    I directed a friend of mine who likes Video Poker to the Web Site vpFREE2. He booked a room on a promotion they were running at the Boulder Station, a locals casino. He and his wife got lucky and came back with a total of winnings exceeding $25,000 dollars. Needless to say they are now comped VIP status as Chairmen. My pal is taking me on the next trip all expenses paid.
    Ain't Life Grand!

    Good Luck!
     
  2. ronc

    ronc VIP Whale

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    Thanks for the reminder to play the best games for your money...

    Money management is the key to not allowing things to get out of hand. I don't have a "stop" goal for winning but I do for losing. Hit the number, and we're done. Why no "stop" goal for winning? I don't want to stop when things are going my way!! What I do instead is raise the "stop" for losing in relationship to my money. My money? Yes. When you collect a chip on a win and get your chip back, that is all YOUR money. None of it is the casino's! They don't think of the money you lose to them as YOUR money, why should you think they money you win is theirs? So...if I am in for $200 and I get to $400, I'll stop if I go back to $300. No matter what happens then, I will quit up $100 or more.

    Slots are different. They get you with some big win opportunities, but they take money at 5%-10% per bet (depending on denomination and how they are set up). The casinos have few real "penny" slots but they set what they call "penny" slots at a high win rate (for them) even if you are betting $1-$5 dollars on them. No matter...my wife only wants to play slots. How do we handle that? Controlled burn. Yep. She only takes $20 at a time to the machines and doesn't risk being a little tipsy and getting out of control on that one machine. She gets extra drinks in addition to conservation of cash...I order drinks for her at the tables (most servers will bring extra drinks if they know someone else with you is playing and you let them know you appreciate it by tipping), so she gets $20 and a drink. Some have called me out for controlling money like that, but she would blow through $100's like they were pennies if she had a handful of money and free reign. We agreed (and that is the key--it wasn't my decision) to this method. It has worked well.

    The other thing I try to do is extend counted time by not coloring up when I need to take a break. They often keep the "meter" running at your playing average while you take short breaks. One casino that I was in for 5 1/2 hours has me down for that much playing time and my wife down for 2 1/2 hours of slotting even though we took a 2 1/2 hour dinner break. I actually played the same amount of time as she did but our individual theo amounts almost matched in spite of me playing craps at a low level and her not having any luck at the slots. Anyway, do what you can to extend table time without being too obvious. Every extra dollar in comps is, well, and extra dollar in comps...as long as it doesn't cost another real dollar!!
     
  3. adbynot

    adbynot High-Roller

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    Which place puts playing time on slots instead of coin-in?
     
  4. ronc

    ronc VIP Whale

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    I asked a host at Stratosphere how our play was rated and this is what he came back with:

    5.8 hours of table play, 213 theo
    2.8 hours of slot play, 210 theo

    They called us the day after we played to ask if we wanted to move there for the rest of our trip (we were already at the airport). Another host reached out to me recently and this info was part of our exchange about a possible stay there.
     
  5. paperposter

    paperposter MIA

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    once you walk away from the table there supposed to close you out wether you color up or not
     
  6. ronc

    ronc VIP Whale

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    My experience has been that all of my time gets counted when I take short breaks every hour or so...stretch, restroom, etc.

    I did color up before dinner on the night I mentioned; I expected to be closed out. That didn't happen but I agree that it should have. My leaving was very obvious--I hit a "12" for $300 immediately before leaving and after coloring up everything else.
     
  7. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Nice break on the rating! Reading this forum makes me think asking for rough ratings while tipping the table decently isn't a terrible idea. They seem to mess up in either direction fairly frequently. Trying to fix underratings and let overratings slide would be ideal.

    Do you get a little flustered when the wife shows up for another $20 within 10 minutes? But guessing it's saving money in the end, right?
     
  8. sindustry

    sindustry VIP Whale

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    I'm not so sure about Vegas having lower house edges than any other gambling destination in the world.
     
  9. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Depends on the game, and which part of Vegas you are talking about vs.the other location discussed. My "home" casinos definitely have better quarter VP available than the Strip and even some of downtown. Both still have 9/6 Jacks (99.54%) while I usually play 35/8/5 Bonus (99.66%). No free beer though. :cry:
     
  10. ronc

    ronc VIP Whale

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    Sometimes she gets a little tipsy and forgets the deal...I hand her $100 and she says she is going to break it and bring the $20's back but never shows up...I don't really care but she ends up realizing it wasn't too much fun losing $100 to a machine that she normally would only give $20. I only get flustered if she touches me when I have the dice at the craps table. I know all of the odds stuff, I am a regular at the Wizard's site, but somehow she can bring out the 7 at the worst times!! She can have as many $20's and drinks (don't forget part 2 of the equation--better drink service at table games in most places) as she wants.

    Does it save money? Maybe. Maybe it just makes our time in the casino longer on our bankroll. I do feel that slotting costs us more now (less decent wins) than it used to; used to being 10 years ago or so. Is it a bad run, tight machines, or what? Who knows.
     
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