Going to the casino for the first time. (1 Viewer)

[Don Solosan]

It's entirely possible the websites I read this at were wrong, but I don't think your reasoning works either. A casino has hundreds of slots; say they have a small percentage of them paying out more -- there's still a net gain in profits and in image.

As for legality, I don't know what you mean by "seeding," but my understanding is that the various gaming commissions set the lowest permitted payout, and the casinos just have to stay above that. Why would it be illegal to go over 100%?

 

[Seth--L]

I think what Jeff means is that it is illegal for the odds to vary between slot machines (of the same pay out); they all have to have the same odds. As you've noted, the intention of changing the odds on certain machines is malicious because you're trying to fool people into thinking they have better odds than they really do.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

When playing blackjack, if it isn't too busy, try roaming the tables. Walk around until you come to a table with 1 or 2 open seats and wait for the dealer to shuffle. Watch the other players for a few hands, judging their abilities (you don't want to sit down at a table with the clown who takes busts cards, doesn't split correctly or is obviously drunk). If everyone seems to be doing well, keep watching them play (be courteous). If the dealer seems to be hot, sit down and start playing. Disrupting the shoe can really turn the cards in favor of the players. Be aggressive with your first 3-5 bets as those will probably be the hands most in your favor. Of course, it's still gambling so this method can backfire and give you a good beating but from my experience, when you catch a good table, you can take some serious coin off the dealer.

Another strategy might be to go head up against a dealer. Odds on blackjack are rated for a full table of players, so the casino wins on slightly better than half the hands per deal. Going head up now levels the odds at 50/50. Then it's just a matter of who gets the percentage of bust cards that would've gotten dealt to other players when there is a full table. If you get them (most bust cards being 9's, 10's and face cards), you should win big. If the dealer gets them, you're dead. If the dealer is getting those high cards, best to pack it up and go to another table.

As others have said, just have fun. Talk to the dealer, talk to the other players, interact. Even if you lose, spending a few hours at a blackjack table can be a great time.

Bruce

 

[LewB]

I have to disagree with that statement. The odds are the odds, whether you are going 1 on 1 with the dealer, or the table is full. Even card counting doesn't change the odds per se, but identify an opportunity when you can take advantage of a favorable period during the game. Playing the dealer by yourself only makes the likelihood of losing greater. You are playing more hands per hour than if the table were full. By doing this, you are effectively 'speeding up time'. Time is the casino's friend. The odds say that 'over time' the house will win. One of the factors in determining comps is 'amount of money at risk'. Play at a BJ table and you are estimated to put x dollars at risk per hour, where x = your average bet times the number of hand per hour(hands per hour is a constant number pre-determined by the house). Increase the number of hands per hour and you effectively lower your comp rate.
I would try to play 'big' for the first few hands when you get to the table for the following reasons:
1 - Assuming that you enter at the start of a shoe, you are only fighting the natural house edge, assuming a 'normal distribution' of the freshly shuffled cards. You might catch a break and win a couple of the higher bets before the 'count' of the shoe turns unfavorable. If it turns favorable, you are set up to play 'with house money' while you may actually have the advantage (doesn't get any better than that).
2 - When you start playing and hand the dealer/floorwalker your rating card, you are entered into the system to start earning comps. These folks are busy, so they usually only see your first bet or 2. Make that bet larger than your normal play in the hopes that they mark you as a $25 player instead of a $10 player. Remember that your comps are partly based on the average bet.

 

[Jassen M. West]

I have the sudden urge to go watch Oceans Eleven or Rounders.

 

[Don Solosan]

Okay, I'm ready to retract the business about LOCATION. Apparently it was true once, but everybody got wise, so no more.



They're not fooling anybody, because they don't have to state the odds on any of their machines. With any other activity in a casino, the gambler knows the odds -- but not with slot machines. So there's no guarantee made to the gambler. You might as well go throw your money down a sewer. Some of that data gets reported in gaming publications, but it's useless as far as determining the payout odds on a particular machine. And even if you did know a certain machine was paying 105%, it wouldn't necessarily do you any good, because that's the long-term odds, not the odds for the short time you'll be playing the machine.

The web sites I consulted seem to back me up on the varying odds. Some casinos even have signs over certain machines announcing "98% payout." Some will put the sign over a bank of machines, but not all the machines are set to 98%. So it doesn't seem to be illegal to mix things up.

 

[Chu Gai]

Find a downloadable game that you plan on playing and practice what you've 'memorized'.

 

[Jon_Gregory]

Ok, went this weekend and just got back. Played the slots a bit, just for fun and came out ahead on them actually. My wife got addicted to the fun little penny slots and sat there and actually won $40 on penny slots. I played the $5.00 blackjack table for about 3 hours on $40. I was up to $100 and then slowly lost it all. I went to have fun and not win money so I was just wanting to play as long as I could. It was a fun experience and will definately be going back sometime.

 

[Todd K]

3 hours? That is a aterrific run. Don't think I've ever lasted that long. You've learned a lesson now -- don't get greedy. It's a problem when you start out small, like $40. You think you're only up $60, but you're actually up 150%. Not bad at all.

 

[Robert_Gaither]

Wwwhhaaatttt???!!! you mean you didn't have to sell yourself to get a ride back home... obviously you didn't have enough fun!

 

[LewB]

Wow, up $60 on a $40 bankroll is great ! Now you see how time is the house's friend. You had a good time and stayed with your plan, that's the main thing. But, should you decide to try and leave with more than you started with you now understand how hard it is to quit when you are ahead. Greed is another thing that the casinos count on. I can not remember if I ever left a game when the last hand I played was a winner.

 

[RichP]

Wow, can you please come play at my table?

If you hadn't noticed, that $10 and $20 adds up to quite a bit if you "make errors in your judgment." And if you are unaware, there are Limit games that play at $400/$800. The word "Limit" does not imply small stakes, they are two completely different things.

I will guarantee you that more players go broke playing high stakes Limit Hold'Em than do playing No-Limit.

And that's essentially my point, Limit Hold'Em requires more pure Poker skill to be a consistent winner. Anyone can push all-in with Pocket Aces and take the coin flip, that's not Poker skill, it's luck. Knowing when to raise on the flop when you're on a flush draw and pushing the middle pairs out is Poker skill and is shows up more in Limit than it does in No Limit.

No Limit is far more of a pre-flop game than Limit is. You can get lucky and double up in NL and not play another hand. In order to get ahead in Limit, you have to be consistently good, and consistently make the correct decisions, hand after hand after hand.

 

[Mark Booth]

Resurrecting this very old topic to share my exciting wins.

I enjoy playing slot machines at a casino near our home. For the last year or so, I've been going about once a week. The machine that is my favorite has changed over time, but my current favorite is a Rainbow Cash progressive machine what offers the possibility to play for the four progressive levels even with a minimum bet (50 cents). The progressive levels and their base payout amounts (which build over time until someone wins them):

Mini - $20
Minor - $50
Major - $800
Grand - $5,000

I've won the Mini & Minor payout levels dozens of times, even on a 50 cent bet. But on May 1 of this year, I hit the Major on a $1 bet:

https://www.thephotobooth.net/Big-Win/n-Dk2TfN/i-Xd988Qv/A

One week later, on the machine right next to the one I hit on May 1, also on a $1 bet, I hit the Major again:

https://www.thephotobooth.net/Big-Win/n-Dk2TfN/i-FK6qtfk/A


Two days ago (Wednesday), I put $100 in the machine I was playing on May 1 and had built it up to $145 and change when I got the progressive feature and then this happened:

https://www.thephotobooth.net/Big-Win/n-Dk2TfN/i-qFmHXg8/A

It was a VERY good day!

Mark

 

[Sam Posten]

Congrats, don't put it all back!

 

[Mark Booth]

I asked for $786 in cash and $5K in a check. The casino hosts seemed disappointed that I wanted a check for most of it. The check has already been deposited in my money market account. Some of it will be used to pay taxes on the win in April.

It took them over an hour to pay me. I kept wondering why it was taking so long. A conversation with a friend (that has won big jackpots several times) revealed the answer... The casino's security personnel needed time to playback the surveillance feed to make sure I didn't do anything to cheat.

BTW, for anyone that might ever play using someone else's players card... If you hit a taxable jackpot (over $1,199) the players card in the slot at the time had BETTER be your own players card. If you are playing with, say, your spouse's players card and you are the one to spin the reels that results in the big win, the casino is not obligated to pay you. And they WON'T pay you. If you don't have your own players card then play without ANY card in the slot.

A lot of couples have two copies of the same players card. That way they can build up comp points all the more quickly on a single players account. And that's fine, the casino actually allows you to do that, UNTIL you hit a taxable jackpot. Then it could be trouble.

Mark

 

[JQuintana]

Congrats on your win. I go to our local casino a couple of times a month.

The most I won on a .25 cent slot with max bet of $1.50, was $6500. They only pay in cash and I always tell them to take out taxes prior to giving me my winnings.

Now my mom is a high roller sot machine fan and she's won at least 2 five figure winnings in the last 2-3 years. She is the lucky one in our family.

 

[jcroy]

(A very different perspective from a degenerate gambler).

If you have issues with addictive behavior or anything prone to extreme OCD obsessive compulsion type stuff, then don't even walk into a casino in the first place.

Degenerate gambling takes over your life, even more than heavy drinking.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Congrats on your winnings, Mark. Just make sure you don't give it all back. After all, Las Vegas wasn't built because people are winning all the time.

Personally, I've never been attracted to casinos. Been to a few, and was bored quickly. My gambling is restricted to small games on the golf course (it's rare anyone wins or loses more than $10 in a round) and my one fantasy football league with 11 other friends ($125 buy-in for the season). I did win $75 in my golf league this year (2nd place in regular season, plus won the year-end tournament for the 1st time in 28 years).

I don't think I need to report to gamblers anonymous just yet.

 

[Bryan^H]

I like playing the slots at a Casino from time to time....but the cigarette smoke is so heavy in the few that I go to that after a few minutes my eyes start tearing up. That is the only problem I have with them. The most I have ever won was $300. Half of which I put right back into the machines like a dummy.

 

[Todd Erwin]

I have a casino one block from my house. I've been living here for just over a year now, my first visit inside was two weeks ago, my wife and I went in to visit the restaurant. Food was awful, the place reeked of cigarette smoke. Still haven't gambled yet, except my health.