Does anyone win at Indian casinos? (1 Viewer)

[Dave Poehlman]

I went to one of our state's fine Indian casinos this past weekend. First off, I have the worst luck as far as gambling goes. And, I am too much of a chicken sh*t to play blackjack... so, I usually just sit down at the slots. (I love roulette.. but the state only allows slots & blackjack in our casinos)

Well, I didn't win.. at all in the few hours I was there! It would have been more of a time saver to just hand the money to the cashier and walk out.

Someone make me feel better and tell me they can't win either.

 

[Mark Schermerhorn]

I've had about even success between Vegas and the Indian casinos here in MN. I primarily play slots as well since I'm not much of a gambler (played blackjack more back when I was 18-20 oddly enough). You're right though, some nights you just don't get anything. At all.

That being said though most people locally say vegas has a better payout than the casinos here. That wouldn't suprise me because here there is no other local gambling competition (we have something like 8 casinos scattered around the state), in vegas you've got something like 25 casinos all in one city. Also aren't slot machine payout rates mandated by law? They could be different between vegas and the Indian casinos. Maybe the indian casinos don't even have a law on that since they're on Indian territory. Anyone know?

 

[Al B. C]

Yeah - The Indians!

 

[MickeS]

A friend won last time we went. So yeah, some people do. It's all about knowing when to stop.

 

[Randy Tennison]

My biggest win ever was at an Indian reservation casino in Hinckley, MN. Don't get too excited. It was only $625.00. But, I've never topped it at any of the casino's in Kansas City or Vegas.

 

[KyleS]

First

but the state only allows slots & blackjack in our casinos

As far as Indiana gaming casinos go state laws mean jack diddly squat to them. They may agree not to have some games or not to have alcohol on the gaming floor but the state cant do a single thing to enforce it if they change their minds. The reason that Indians can have casinos in states where gambling is not permitted is that the land they own is not part of this nation and hence is not under our laws. Heck they dont even have to pay you out if you win if they dont want to (of course that wouldnt be good for business but it has happened).

KyleS

 

[Chet_F]

Your first mistake was sitting at the slots - i never win on the slots.....don't waste your time. That being said my mom always wins and I mean wins - $600 at a time. I have MUCH better luck at the blackjack tables. Sorry to hear you lost...better luck next time.

 

[Paul_Fisher]

Well, I was watching this show on the Discovery channel about casinos, and all the slot machines must have at least 75% payoff during the life of the machine. This obviously doesn't mean that you will win 3 out of 4 times, it just means that the establishment that bought the machine will get 25% profit over the life of the machine.

I also learned that each casino has the option of what percent payoff they want their slot machines to be. The lowest they can legally have is 75%, so guess what most casino's choose---75%. Anyway, it was a very interesting show. FYI- the $1 slot machine has the highest ODDS of paying off. So if you're going to play slot, play the $1.

 

[AjayM]

Playing slots is the biggest reason you don't win. The odds are WAY out of your favor. Now if you go to have a good time that's one thing, but I never play slots in hopes to ever win any kind of money. I've sat in front of nickle, quarter, dollar slots for periods of time and never come out with any money, except once I was playing quarter slots waiting for a poker table to open up and I magically hit a small pot of around $40 (I only put $5 in the machine to kill some time), so I immediatly paid out...and I had most of my buy in money for the poker game.

Now I'll play poker or blackjack and I have a little bit of a chance to either win some, or at least play the game longer (depending on if I want to just pocket winnings, or just play the game). But in either case the house is still getting their money out of me.

Andrew

 

[Evan S]

We have two of the biggest indian reservation casinos in the world about 25 minutes from my home. Foxwoods Casino (the biggest casino in the entire world, including Vegas), and Mohegan Sun Casino.

I have gambled at both and recently went to Vegas in February for vacation and gambled there as well.

I have won money personally or seen friends of mine win big sums of money at all three casinos. I have also witnessed huge losses.

I suppose it's really no different from any casino anywhere in the world. The house holds the odds, you are probably going to lose and if you walk in there with money you don't mind dropping, you will be better off.

Personally, I always seem to do slightly better in Vegas, but I only play Blackjack and I suppose the odds are the exact same whether I play it here or 2500 miles away.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Yeah, I really need to sit down and learn Blackjack. I know the basic game.. I just don't know the details of when one should stay or double-down.. etc.

And.. the tables are always packed at these indian casinos.. the state only allows them to have so many. So they cram them in a little roped off area so they can make more room for slots.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy gambling and I realize slots are the worst way to go.. but not to win anything seems a little amazing to me.

 

[RobertR]

Do the comments about relative odds also apply to video poker and video blackjack?

 

[Joel Mack]

Dave,
Check out a program called Blackjack Mentor. I downloaded it via a link from Deepnet Technologies.
Works great, and taught me a lot about the game.
When I go to the boats in Iowa, I stay away from the machines entirely. Speed kills, and nothing is faster at taking your money than the slot machines. I'm strictly a table games man, myself. Craps mostly, but I like blackjack, too.
Looking forward to my Vegas trip this weekend. Never been before...

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Thanks Joel, I'll check it out.

Good luck in Vegas.

 

[AjayM]

There's a million and one strategies for playing blackjack, way to numerous to post here. The simplest strategy that will put you on a very close playing field to the house is to play their rules. The house never double's down, splits hands, etc. They have basic rules like hit/stand on 16 or 17.

To go any further than that and you need to start counting into the deck. So try and find a table that uses a small shoe (it will be posted somewhere, and if not just look at the shoe and estimate how many cards in the deck). From there the simple counting is just high/low, paying attention to the number of high cards in the deck versus the number of low cards. For instance, if you play high low and you've seen lots of low cards come out but not many high cards and are then dealt a 10 or 11, you can double down on it and your chances of hitting a high card (9-10-face card) are pretty high.

There's also strategy about where to sit, there are pluses and minuses to everything, sitting on the side that get's dealt last gives you time to look at everybodies cards, but you run the risk of sitting next to people who don't know how to play, like they will hit when there are lots of high cards in the shoe and the dealer is showing a 6 or a 5 (depending on rules if the dealer has to hit or stand on 16/17).

It can get very involved, but some simple strategy will allow you to walk into a casino with $XYZ in your pocket and play longer than if you sat at the slot machines, or played roulette, etc. Which is how I usually look at it, I don't mind losing the money but the amount of time it takes to lose can either be a fun evening (maybe a couple of hours of playing) or a horrible evening (hitting the ATM machine after 20 minutes).

I'm kind of jealous as the Indian casino's down here don't have blackjack, just poker and slots (and of course Bingo!), but I don't get a chance to play poker enough to really get a hold of the "human" side of it (reading 7 different players as to what they are holding and when they are bluffing), but it's still fun none the less.

Andrew

 

[Joel Mack]

Good luck in Vegas.

Thanks, I'll do my best.
Speaking of Vegas, anyone have any tips on where a beginning Poker player might find a good beginners/low-rollers game? I've heard that The Mirage, Bellagio, and Mandalay Bay are good. Any others?
Thanks!

 

[Steve Russell]

My friends parents actually won a car at a mid-michigan indian casino. They were on their way out and had a few buck left to blow. Put it in a slot machine with a grand prize of a new car and won. Someone had already won the car that they had on hand, so the casino put them up for the night in a suite w/dinner and a show. The next morning they took them to the local GM dealership and my buddies mom picked out a brand new Intrigue. Kinda cool.

 

[MikeF]

There's also strategy about where to sit, there are pluses and minuses to everything, sitting on the side that get's dealt last gives you time to look at everybodies cards, but you run the risk of sitting next to people who don't know how to play, like they will hit when there are lots of high cards in the shoe and the dealer is showing a 6 or a 5 (depending on rules if the dealer has to hit or stand on 16/17).

You run the risk of sitting next to people who don't know how to play no matter where you position yourself. Sitting closest to the dealer is optimal to the extent that you're counting cards. If you're not counting cards, it doesn't matter a damn where you sit.

 

[Martin G]

Joel,

A word of warning about playing poker in Vegas.

I would stay away from the lowest limit games ($2,$4) as they tend to have people in them who will call anything. Noting is more frustrating then have someone call a stupid bet and then get lucky. $3,$6 games are generally considered to be your best bet at winning.

 

[AjayM]

Following the house's rules in respect of your own decisions is the goofiest strategy ever. Simple math, not card counting, demonstrates that two aces should be split when the house is showing a 6, and that you must hit on 16 when the house is showing a face. There are some very basic strategies available that can be used without ever counting cards. The odds will be in the house's favor, but by significantly less than the method you propose. (Of course, you can reduce the house's advantage even further by counting cards. Unfortunately, if you get too good at it, they will simply kick you out.)

I agree, following the house rules is not the best strategy, but it is far better than going in and "winging it", which is what I see probably 85-90% of players doing. There's a whole chart available all over the net that shows you basic strategy, when to hit/stand/split/double down based on what you have in your hands vs what the dealer is showing. That will get you even further along with the game. Counting cards, yes it will get you thrown out and yes it is "illegal" to do, but trust me that unless you devote all your time to it you will never get to the skill level where you can win all the time. Counting simple hi/lo will give you a small edge (but you're probably not even going to be ahead of the house odds).

Go to Yahoo games and play blackjack in a room by yourself against the dealer, you can select how many decks you want, wether the dealer hits/stands on 16, etc.

Andrew