Your very first experience at a table game

What happened during your first experience playing at a table game?

Was it fun, nerve-wrecking, disappointing, etc? Were you at first intimidated by the game, players, dealers, rules, etc while approaching the table? Were you helped? Did you win?

 

I went to Vegas the day of my 21st birthday. I flew from Cleveland and my brother Atlanta. We stayed at the then Slopicana now Tropicana b/c rates were dirt cheap(I actually liked my old room).

I sat down at the 3 card poker table and bought in for $60. The pit boss naturally asked for my ID and wished me a happy 21st. I was up/down up/down and then hit 2 straights in a row and cashed out a couple hundred ahead. I then got drunk.

 

Not done that yet - have always found it a bit intimidating. Maybe this trip!

 

No doubt it can be intimidating for a virgin. My first time was craps. It was my first Vegas trip and wasn't even planned. We were in Arizona for some spring training games and one of my buddies wanted to road trip to Vegas. We were only in Vegas for about 36 hours, got a room at the Holiday Inn (Harrahs now). I had no clue what was going on at craps but I was hooked on the excitement. Now I'm a junkie.

BJ can be intimating too since the whole table is waiting for you to make a decision and there are often blowhards who will criticize your play if you don't play what they think is "correct" (I've often noticed most of these "experts" don't even play basic strategy themselves".

Best advice is the find a slow craps table and tell them you are new. Most dealers are glad to help. Some casinos offer craps lessons and then open up a table just for those in the class.

 

Only done it once so far. I'd been playing BJ on myVegas for a while using a strategy card. We were walking through Casino Royale and they had $5 BJ. I stood back for a while watching the game and picking up on the hand signals they were using. there were 2 couples playing with one open seat. Pretty soon they were encouraging me to sit down and play, nice friendly bunch.
So sat down and bought in for $100. Played for a while, got up to about $140 or so, never did drop below my initial $100. Once I was back down to it I colored up and left. Well I was actually at about $110 but after tipping the dealer I still had my original $100.
Other people playing were great if I had any questions. I think that would be the biggest difference in how well your first trip to a table would go. Couple of a-holes and it would have been a completely different experience.

I would have kept playing longer but my wife was standing there watching and I figured she was probably ready to start heading down the strip lol.

 

If it's a full table you can try to sit close to third base so you have a little more time to make your decision. If you sit AT third base you'll often take heat for "taking the dealers bust card". EVEN IF YOU PLAY PERFECTLY. I rarely say anything back to those cretins. I'll just play at another table.

It really doesn't take long to get comfortable playing any of the table games. 99% of the other players and dealers are great. Everyone at the table was a newbie at one time.

 

First time ever I sat down at a BJ table at Circus Circus and bought in for like $40. I got it up to $80 in no time and have been hooked ever since. Wasn't intimidated at all, don't understand why people would let this stop them from playing any game. 99% of the players/dealers are friendly and will help anyone who asks.

 

I was 18 at an indian casino in MN. I had no clue what I was doing. I split tens and an 80 year old man threatened to kick my ass.

 

That might just be the El Capitan in Hawthorne, NV. Talk about an oasis. lol

 

This sure brings back some fun memories! My hands are sweating just thinking about it though!

It was about my 4th trip to Reno and I was getting bored playing the nickel slots all the time. After practising for hours at home, I finally had the nerve to approach a blackjack table at the Onslow Casino. I waited till around 2 in the morning when the dealers were bored and the tables were empty and looked for the friendliest dealer. Approaching the table trembling, I explained to the dealer it was my first time. She didn't roll her eyes or anything so I sat down and plunked my purse on the table. She nicely told me to put my purse on my lap. I cautiously stuck out a huge $2 bet. The cards were dealt and I grabbed them with 2 hands. She smiled and said "use one hand only". I looked at my cards and forgot every rule in the book. The dealer offered a suggestion and I did whatever she said. I went to slip the chips under my stack and knocked them over. The dealer leaned over and kindly straightened them up.

The second hand was easier than the first, the third hand even easier and the dealer helped whenever I asked. Just when I was finally relaxing, a kind looking older gentleman sat down (think Doyle Brunson type). I explained it was my first time playing and that I didn't want to ruin his game or slow him down so I picked up my chips to leave. He said if I left then he would leave, so I nervously stayed.

Doyle and the dealer were really patient with me, in no hurry and Doyle explained to me the reasons for splitting 8's and a few double downs. While I didn't always go with their double down suggestions because I was betting so much (lol $2), it turned out to be an enjoyable hour and I left a few bucks up.

For the next couple trips, I stuck to the empty table at 2 am plan but stopped leaving the table if anyone else sat down. The first hand really is the hardest!

 

Me and some buddies headed to Vegas during Spring Break of '97. I had just turned 21 the prior October. None of us had ever played blackjack at a casino before but we had been practicing our basic strategy for the past week or so. After being unable to locate a $5.00 BJ table at Harrah's (these still existed at 3/2 in '97), we asked a pit boss if he could open one for us, and he did. So we all plopped down at the table and waited 15 minutes or so for them to wash the cards, etc. We all ordered drinks while waiting, and I got a Corona complete with lime wedge. Anyway, just as the dealer was beginning to deal our first hand, I did the old "drop-the-lime-in-the-bottle-then-stick-your-thumb-in-the-bottle-and-turn-it-upside-down-so-it-gets-evenly-distributed-throughout-the-entire-beer" routine. You can probably guess what happened next...that thing EXPLODED all over the table/cards/chips/dealer/. Took me quite a while to live that one down.....

 

Very first experience at a table game:
It was about a decade ago, on my first trip to Las Vegas: I was there with my business partner and we were exhibiting at a convention.
The convention was at The Venetian and on the second to last day just when things were wrapping up for the night we met this attendee who owned restaurants and was also a regional marketing rep for a couple of restaurant chains.
We were talking to him as they were shooing us out of the convention space and we walked back in to the casino. The bars were a little noisy and we just wanted to find a place to sit down for a little bit and finish talking and go over some ideas with this guy and we wound up sitting at a Caribbean Stud table.
It was just the three of us at the table, the whole section was pretty empty and so we were able to play and talk and have a couple of drinks.
There wasn't really any intimidation or nervousness about playing since that was really just secondary to our talking to the guy.
I had no idea what I was doing in the game and in the end I wound up losing almost $200, but over the next 6 months from meeting this guy and spending the time with him he brought 946 restaurants on to our online ordering system.

 

My first experience on a table game: It was in the 80's. I was with my gf in Reno. We were waiting (in line) to get into a show. Since we had about 15 minutes to kill and we were standing alongside the tables (not even sure what casino that was in) I decided to put down $3 on a bj table. I won. Since I didn't really know how to gamble I just parlayed it. Kept winning....$6, $12, $24, $48, $96. At that time my gf who knew how to gamble grabbed me and told me "we have to go" and helped me pick up my winnings.

You know how it went, lol, "wow, this is so easy, etc. etc.". Actually I read books on card counting and with a single deck it seemed that the cards favored me. I think it was more just beginners luck though because I tried the card counting thing after that and could never get it down so I would win.

That was a great time for me, my gf had a relative that timeshared a house up in the mountains. It was winter so we stayed home a lot. Also lucky that we didn't have an "accident" because we didn't protect ourselves.

 

My first table game was BJ in AC 30 or so years ago. First trip to a casino and was with my sister and a friend and I walk in, go cash in 40$ into quarters and proceed to sit at a slot machine and lose that in about 10 minutes and I sat there scratching my head thinkin..."this ain't right". LOL
I got up and walked around and stood by a blackjack table and watched for a bit and then sat down. Was intimidating but I tell you my $60 buy in took me thru 4 or so hours and I think I walked away with a profit of some sort, maybe 20 or so.
I think in AC the dealers were "stiffer" back in the day (haven't been there for about 25 years) meaning not as easy going as the dealers I have dealt with in LV.

 

I was super nervous! Mainly because I wasn't 21 lol.

Sat down at a BJ table for $100 and just tried to act like I was supposed to be there...played for 30-45 minutes or so.

 

On my second trip to Vegas my younger brother and his wife as well as my best friend and his wife decided we were going to try our hand at craps. My brother read a book on how to win at craps and gave us a crash course on the plane flight out. We ended up at a table at Excalibur because the minimums at Aladdin where we were staying were too high. We were just betting the pass line with odds since we forgot everything we learned because of the heineken's when this pretty blond girl from California asked if she could squeeze in at our end of the table. She started giving us tips and we all started copying her bets. By the time we were done we all left the table at least 400 hundred up. I remember walking back we stopped and bought tickets to see EFX at the MGM with our new acquired wealth.
Mark

 

I was on a cruise ship where you only had to be 18 to gamble. But I was 17 and had my brothers ID in case they asked, which they never did. I bought in for $40 and after a few hands I was up $20, I was so excited I quit playing for the day! I already had an understanding of basic strategy at the time, and I also knew the hand signals from watching others play.

 

Mine was my first "adult" trip to Vegas in 2011 at the MGM Grand.

They used to have this blackjack game where the first card was automatically a face card (there was literally a picture of a face card on the felt). I wish I could remember what the game was called. It is long gone now.

No one was at that table so my two friends and I decided to play there. The dealer was helpful. She explained how this game was different from regular blackjack and we were like, "okay, lets play!" (regular blackjack was very intimidating and stressful at the time because we didn't know how to play). I think we just played a few hands and won maybe like $20 and were like, "Okay, thanks! Bye!"

 

Was at an Indian casino in MN and sat down at a $5 table. Played for awhile and an A6 came up. I don't even remember what I did but some mulleted hillbilly wearing camo to my left bitched at me because I screwed up his hand. I ignored him and continued playing. Another few hands and he sez, "I'm gonna move over here so this guy can't keep screwing me" and he moves directly to my right. A few hands later he gets pissed again and says to me "haven't you ever read a book on blackjack?"

So I have had it at this point and I tell him to shut up and leave if I am ruining his game. He bitches back at me and the dealer tells us both to cool it. Later I get another hand and I don't know how to play, so I ask "what do I do here, smart guy?" He smarts off, and plays a little while and leaves.

A new dealer comes in who is really nice, and I tell him the story of the camoflaged chumbalone.

He tells me "It's your dough, you play it however you want!"

If not for that guy I probably never would have played again....

 

On my first trip to Vegas I found an empty roulette table with a friendly female dealer. I bought in for 40 dollars and played black/red while she explained how to bet the inside numbers and answered all my other questions. Lasted about 2 hours on that $40 dollars and could never thank that first dealer enough for her kindness. Well, I guess I could have tipped her better...