# Tips for When You Visiy a Casino



## longknife (Jan 23, 2014)

[From a  book I wrote]

THE BASIC RULES OF GAMBLING

This is not meant to be a complicated set of rules to memorize. It's just a list of things Ive learned over the years that seem to make sense.

1. *HARD MONEY NEVER WINS*. If you cant afford to lose it, don't play it! The realistic way to look at gambling is that it's a form of entertainment during your visit. You budget money for gambling as you would for accommodations, meals, shows, and so on. When you lose that gambling bankroll, QUIT! I can guarantee that if you take out five or fifty or five hundred in order to get even. you might as well walk up to the pit boss and hand it over.

2.* LEARN HOW TO PLAY WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO PLAY*. I am amazed that otherwise intelligent people put their money at risk without having a basic idea of what they're doing. Yet, I see it day in and night out. There are hundreds of books, probably several hundred websites, and many casinos to learn how to play each and every game. The casinos offer classes because they know it will not reduce their win but will allow you to play longer so you will think kindly of them.

3. *NEVER SHORT COIN A SLOT MACHINE.* Every single slot machine has a payout structure that drastically reduces the jackpot for less than the maximum amount of coins. In fact, short coining is what causes so many jackpots to get to outrageous levels

I did not personally see this but was told about it by someone who did. A man was playing Megabucks at a Strip casino and came to a time when he desperately needed to use the facilities.

He had his wife sit down at the machine so he wouldnt lose it. The jackpot was well over twenty-five million dollars and several people waited for a free machine. The woman sat there as her husband had asked her to do. After about ten minutes, people began to grumble and tell her to play or give it up to someone who would. She ignored them. After a few more minutes, someone went to the pit boss and complained. The slot boss soon showed. The slot boss sympathized but told her she would either have to play the machine or clear out her credits and turn it over to someone else. More than a little shaken and upset, she pulled a token out of the tray, dropped it into the machine and pulled the handle. THE FOUR JACKPOT SYMBOLS LINED UP and she won something in the tens of thousands of dollars instead of the twenty-five million. We can all imagine the husbands reaction when he got back.

Before that, a young man hit a Megabucks jackpot but was under twenty-one and they had to reset the meter. That particular jackpot got to well over thirty-five million before it was hit - by a cocktail girl who worked at another casino. The sad part is that two weeks later, she was hit by a drunk driver, her sister-in-law was killed, and she was left paralyzed for life. (The drunk driver walked away with minor bruises.)

4.* IF YOU ARE UNSURE OF SOMETHING, ASK*. In live games, all you have to do's ask the dealer who will call over the pit boss who will then go out of his/her way to explain what you want to know. Every poker toom has clearly posted rules. Don't feel embarrassed. It's your money and you have the right to know what's going on.

5. *DONT OVERDO THE BOOZE*. Casinos offer free drinks for the simple reason that alcohol dulls your senses and puts you in a state to make mistakes. The house will generally get your money as it is, so why increase their advantage?

6.* DONT BECOME ENAMORED WITH ONE MACHINE*. In the long run, the machine will outlast you. Just because you see a lot of chances coming up for the jackpot doesn't mean it's there. It just makes sense that if the machine's taking your money and not giving you any credits, get off it and find another. This looks easier than it is. Believe me, after all these years, I still fall into the trap of thinking the machine just HAS to come up a winner. If the machine's giving you credits/ money, play it until it turns cold and get off. Oh yeah! We have all had the experience of leaving a machine and watching someone else come along, sit down, and hit the jackpot. So? That jackpot wasn't meant for you and you could have played it another ten hours and it would have only taken your money. Of all the so-called secrets of gambling, the most important is simply being in the right place at the right time. In other words, LUCK!

If you just have to play that machine but need to take a walk to the powder room, leaving a plastic coin bucket on the seat or asking another player to watch it for you is an open invitation to disaster! Anyone can come up and take the machine, play your credits, or even cash them out and walk away. I have seen it happen, even in small local casinos where everyone knows everyone else. The only safe way to reserve a machine's to call over a slot person and ask them to shut it down for you. They will write your name down, the time you left and when you are due to return, and shut it off - after you have removed any credits you might have.

7. *GET SOMETHING FOR YOUR PLAY.* If the house you are in has a Slot Club - join it! It costs you nothing and you can get free meals, free rooms, and free gifts. It's their way of tracking players. As I related, over the years, I have picked up a lot of great stuff from slot clubs.

And, don't worry about only coming to town once or twice a year. Your points will be there for several years and, even if you stay away longer, they can be retrieved from the system.

8. *ENJOY YOURSELF.* If you cannot, then you have a problem and should not be gambling.


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## Politico (Jan 24, 2014)

Number one rule. Don't visit casinos.


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## ZenBubba (Jan 24, 2014)

Gambling is an inefficient way to piss away money.


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## Luddly Neddite (Jan 24, 2014)

ZenBubba said:


> Gambling is an inefficient way to piss away money.



Actually, I think its a very efficient way to piss away money.


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## Luddly Neddite (Jan 24, 2014)

Sorry but the op is just plain dumb. 

There's a reason why casinos look the way they do. The reason is, they win. The "gambler" does not win. The house does. You can pretend to be a whiz at poker or whatever your poison is but, in the end, the house wins. Period. 

I think casinos are boring but if you're gonna do it, decide how much you can afford to lose and quit when you've lost that amount.


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## Papawx3 (Jan 24, 2014)

I don't go to casinos because I can't stand the smoke or the smell from other folk's cigarettes.  How can I possibly enjoy my time there if the smoke is so bad that I can't breathe?


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## hjmick (Jan 24, 2014)

9. *CARDS.* Count them. Trust me, casinos don't mind...


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## Mr. H. (Jan 24, 2014)

I was at a Blackjack table and the guy was dealing from a 3-deck shoe. 

All of a sudden, out comes a card face up. Personally, I was pissed as hell but everyone else blew it off. I should have called a boss. Somebody's ass should have been nailed over that.


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## percysunshine (Jan 24, 2014)

Luddly Neddite said:


> Sorry but the op is just plain dumb.
> 
> There's a reason why casinos look the way they do. The reason is, they win. The "gambler" does not win. The house does. You can pretend to be a whiz at poker or whatever your poison is but, in the end, the house wins. Period.
> 
> I think casinos are boring but if you're gonna do it, decide how much you can afford to lose and quit when you've lost that amount.



Seems like you agree with the op. Points 1 and 5.


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## Jughead (Jan 24, 2014)

Mr. H. said:


> I was at a Blackjack table and the guy was dealing from a 3-deck shoe.
> 
> All of a sudden, out comes a card face up. Personally, I was pissed as hell but everyone else blew it off. I should have called a boss. Somebody's ass should have been nailed over that.


What gets my goat in blackjack is a player who should have stood on his hand, and instead takes a card that should have been dealt to the dealer, and would have busted the dealer. That's when I get up and move to another table.
I enjoy Blackjack. It's a game that I play often when visiting casinos. If you're skilled at the game, you can do rather well. If you have an exceptionally good memory, or a photographic memory, Blackjack is the game to play. Card counting is probably the best way to win at the game. Once you keep winning though, the casinos will ban you. They'll know you're counting the cards. What hints that someone may be card counting is a player whose decisions go against basic strategy and instead bases his decisions on the relationship of the high and low cards left in the deck.


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## percysunshine (Jan 24, 2014)

Jughead said:


> Mr. H. said:
> 
> 
> > I was at a Blackjack table and the guy was dealing from a 3-deck shoe.
> ...




How can I count cards with an eight deck shoe that gets reshuffled half way through the shoe?

I enjoy the game, and can pick up on a streak, but I can't count.


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## Jughead (Jan 24, 2014)

percysunshine said:


> Jughead said:
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I guess the best way would be to hope that the dealer forgets to shuffle the deck. With a photographic memory, counting cards is fairly easy. Without one, you'll have to estimate the remaining decks in the shoe. First you'll need to estimate the number of decks in the discard pile. Afterwards, you'll need to subtract that number from the total number of decks in the shoe when shuffled. You'll need to divide your current count by that to get a true count.


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## Noomi (Jan 24, 2014)

Papawx3 said:


> I don't go to casinos because I can't stand the smoke or the smell from other folk's cigarettes.  How can I possibly enjoy my time there if the smoke is so bad that I can't breathe?



Have non smoking ones?

I have played the pokies a couple of times. I have no idea how people can become addicted to pushing a few buttons and watching flashing lights on the screen. Its boring as heck.


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## Mr. H. (Jan 25, 2014)

Jughead said:


> Mr. H. said:
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> 
> > I was at a Blackjack table and the guy was dealing from a 3-deck shoe.
> ...


I got called out on that once. Made me feel kinda shitty. Then I thought "go sit somewhere else:


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## jon_berzerk (Jan 25, 2014)

Mr. H. said:


> Jughead said:
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along time ago i had a gambling buddy 

we would hit a casino quite a bit 

one day we ran into a guy that taught us how to read 

a specific type 7s machine 

we used his method and over a course of a few months 

picked up thousands and thousands of dollars 

eventually the casinos started to watch us 

they even asked us what we were doing 

we always had a blast 

today those machines are hard to find 

but some of the older indian casinos still have em


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## Politico (Jan 25, 2014)

And you got rich right?


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## JakeStarkey (Jan 25, 2014)

We have not gotten rich on the 7s at the Indian casinos in OK when we play there, but we have done well.


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## R.D. (Jan 25, 2014)

> 5. DONT OVERDO THE BOOZE. Casinos offer free drinks for the simple reason that alcohol dulls your senses and puts you in a state to make mistakes. The house will generally get your money as it is, so why increase their advantage?



Free booze if you win.   Very expensive booze when you lose


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## Jughead (May 5, 2014)

percysunshine said:


> Jughead said:
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Looks like Ben Affleck has been banned for card counting.


> In real life, however, the Oscar-winning actor appears to have turned the tables on the casino industry, taking the Hard Rock in Las Vegas for hundreds of thousands of dollars through the legal but frowned-upon practice of card counting.
> 
> Now it seems that the high-rolling Affleck, 41, may have had his chips, after the casino barred him from its blackjack tables for life, with surveillance officers reportedly declaring his calculated playing way too obvious.
> 
> Youre too good at the game, Hard Rock security managers are said to have told him as they escorted the actor from the blackjack tables and found him and his wife, Jennifer Garner, the actress, a taxi back to their hotel.



Affleck Banned From Casino For Card Counting


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## longknife (May 5, 2014)

Jughead said:


> percysunshine said:
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He was *not* banned for card counting!!! They simply claimed that he changed his strategy at an unusual time and asked him to leave and not return.


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## Jughead (May 5, 2014)

longknife said:


> Jughead said:
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Casino staff had asked him to stop card counting several times, but I guess since what he was doing wasn't illegal, he wasn't fazed.


> &#8220;While playing at a table, Ben was asked repeatedly to stop card counting. However, he would not stop. The casino staff told Ben that he was being too obvious.&#8221;


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## yazi (May 30, 2014)

I have not been there at the casion but i suggest to you that be aware to the robbers and do not eat down food in low shops and culture is awesome and popular...


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