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Common
Mistakes Made by Casino Players
by Henry Tamburin
It's no secret that casinos have a mathematical edge over players on all their
games. This alone makes it tough for players to win. The higher the casino's
edge, the lower is the chances the player will end up a winner. But besides
this edge that players must face every time they make a bet, the vast majority
of players also manage to shoot themselves in the foot by making bone head plays
that only increases the casino's edge even more. I see it all the time in casinos
throughout the US. Take for example these five observations I made on a trip
to Las Vegas last weekend with my family.
Mistake #1. Playing Blackjack With Poor Rules
After we checked in to the Golden Nugget Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, I walked
through the casino and found blackjack being dealt with 2 decks of cards on
some tables and with 6 decks of cards on others. Most of the 2 deck tables were
crowded with players. There were not nearly as many players at the 6 deck games.
Generally the odds are slightly better for the player at a 2 deck game vs a
6 deck game. But at the Golden Nugget the rules were not the same. The dealer
hit soft 17 on the 2 deck games but stood on soft 17 at the 6 deck game. You
could surrender and double down after pair splitting on the 6 deck games but
not so on the 2 deck games. Bottom line - the casino's edge over a basic strategy
player was nearly twice as high on the 2 deck game compared to the 6 deck game.
Unless you were card counting, for the average blackjack player the better game
was the 6 decker. Don't make the mistake of playing blackjack on tables with
worse rules and a higher casino edge then nearby tables with better rules and
a lower casino edge.
Mistake #2. Not Taking Advantage of The Odds Bet
On this same trip, my older son wanted to play craps so we walked across the
street to Binions Horseshoe casino. Much to my surprise, Binion's lowered the
odds they were offering crap players from 100 (where it had been for about a
year) down to 10 times the amount of your pass line bet. No matter, it was still
a good deal especially with a minimum $2 bet on the pass line.
As I looked around the table at the other crap players, only a few were betting
the odds. Most had red ($5) and green ($25) chips on the pass line without any
odds. The cost to players for making the $25 bet on the pass line is 1.4% (casino's
edge) times $25 or about 35 cents. My son had almost the same amount riding
on the shooter but at a cost of only 3 cents. How did he do that? By splitting
up the $25 bet into a $2 pass line wager with $20 in odds. The odds bet cost
nothing because the casino's edge is zero. Therefore, the cost is simply 1.4%
times the $2 pass line wager or 3 cents. Don't make the mistake of placing a
large bet on the pass line without odds. Instead, bet as small as possible (the
table minimum) on the pass line and put the rest on the odds bet.
#3 Play Only Full Pay Video Poker Machines
My wife wanted to play video poker so she wandered over to the Four Queens Casino.
There she found a bunch of 25 cent standard jacks or better machines. The ones
that were getting the most play had a payoff of 8 coins for a full house and
6 coins for a flush (1 coin payout). It says this right on the face of the video
poker machine for every player to see. Yet hidden in the maze of these video
poker machines were some that paid not 8 but 9 coins for a full house and 6
for a flush. Naturally, no one was playing these higher paying machines - they
were to busy losing their money on the lower paying 8/6 machines. Don't make
the mistake of playing video on machines that are not full pay. If you don't
know what a full machine is, then learn before you play!
#4 Check out The Wheel Before Playing Roulette
We were touring the New York New York Casino and my daughter-in-law wanted to
play roulette. She was about ready to buy-in at a crowded roulette table when
I spotted her and pulled her away. "Let's go next door" I said.
Next door to New York New York is the Monte Carlo Casino. Why play roulette
there? Because their roulette wheel contains only 37 numbers as opposed to the
38 numbers on the wheel at New York New York casino. As is usually the case,
there were less players at the more favorable single 0 game then there were
next door at the less favorable double 0 game. What's the big deal about one
less 0? A decrease in the casino's edge by about 50%. That is a big deal. Don't
make the mistake of playing roulette unless you know for sure there is not a
better game in the area.
#5 Play Certified Slots
We were at the Sahara Casino so my boys could try one of the new simulated auto
racing car games (by the way, both my boys faces were green when they finished
their "wild ride"). My younger son wanted to play the slots so he
rushed off to the first dollar slot machine he found and started pumping coins
into the machine. "Hold it", I said. "Don't put another coin
into that machine. We are going across the street". You see across the
street is the Stratosphere Casino where their dollar slots have been certified
to pay back at least 99%. The ones at the Sahara, well who knows what their
payback is? Don't make a mistake of playing just any old slot machine. If a
casino has signs certifying a high payback, that's a better deal then one that
doesn't. And don't get suckered into the "pays UP TO 99%" lingo that
you'll find on marquees all over Vegas. There may be only one slot machine in
the whole joint paying 99% - the rest, who knows??
Don't make mistakes that increase the casino's edge. Play smart by first learning
the rules and then learning how to cut the casino's edge to the lowest level
possible. That's the smart way to have fun and improve your chances of winning.
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Henry Tamburin is one of America's premier casino gambling writers and the author
of Henry Tamburin On Casino Gambling - The Best of The Best plus 5 other best-selling
books. Visit his web site for casino players at http://www.smartgaming.com.
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