Gambling Tips and Advice

Basic Gambling Rules

1. Budget your money.
2. Gamble only with money you can afford to lose.
3. Decide beforehand how much you want to spend during your gambling session. Don't exceed the spending limit if you lose.
4. Predetermine a goal for your winnings, pocket some, and gamble only with the remainder.
5. When you are winning, increase your bets only gradually.
6. Never play when you are tired.
7. Play only at tables you can afford. You should be able to cover at least 25 bets.
8. Keep your gambling expectations reasonable.
9. After five consecutive losses, leave the table.
10. Have fun and quit while you're ahead

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Beginners Approach to Card Counting

Blackjack is the one casino game that has been perceived as being "beatable." The reason for this is because the odds change with every deal of the cards. In other words, blackjack is unique in that it is possible to alter your playing strategy on future deals based upon what happened in past deals out of any one shoe.

This concept sets the game in a class by itself. In roulette, past spins of the wheel have no bearing on what will happen in the future. In craps, past rolls of the dice have no bearing on what will happen in future rolls. The probabilities never change in these games, but in blackjack they do.

It is the ability to keep track of what cards have been dealt that separates the astute blackjack player from basic strategy players, and to an even greater extent, those players who employ no strategy whatsoever but choose rather to approach blackjack as a game of chance and make wagers according to intuition.

But, you may ask, when you're playing blackjack games that use six or even eight decks of cards, is it really worth your while to count? You bet it is! It will require you to become an interactive player instead of a passive one, but the rewards will be there.

Games played out of multi-deck shoes can make keeping track of the cards easier in that they are all dealt face up. In Las Vegas, single deck and double-deck games are dealt face down, which means you have to be quick to take notice of the cards when the dealer flips them over at the conclusion of the hand.

Just practice looking at the other player's hands instead of just your own. All the cards are out there on the table for you to see, so you might as well take advantage of the opportunity to get an edge on the game few players bother to learn.

Don't let the handle "card counter" scare you. It really isn't as difficult as some systems would have you believe. You don't have to keep a running count of every card that's dealt. Just paying attention to several "key" cards can give you enough of an edge to put you a cut above even the better-than-average blackjack players.

Let's assume you're sitting at a full table (seven players). On an average, the number of cards played out for each game is equivalent to about half a deck. If we take into account about a deck and a half is cut out of play at the shuffle, we can expect 12 or 13 hands to be played out of every shoe.

Now let's begin our simplified card tracking strategy. Remember: It's not a scientific method, so it will not be as accurate as many systems which require a great deal of study time and practice. This is designed to just get you started on acquiring an additional edge to augment basic strategy.

The only cards we're interested in are the fours, fives, sixes, and aces. Why select those cards from among all the others? Mathematically, the fours, fives, and sixes are the cards that make strong hands for the dealer. When they are depleted from the shoe, especially the 5-value cards, the better it is for the players.

The aces speak for themselves. Only when there are aces in the shoe is there the possibility of a "blackjack", which pays off at 3-2 and is one of the true advantages in playing the game.

Let's put our strategy to work. Start keeping a count of the key cards with the first deal out of the shoe. After five or six deals, about 48 of the 4-5-6 value cards should have been played. If less have been played, the remaining deals out of the shoe may favor the dealer. If more have been played (depending on how many more) the remainder of the shoe can favor the players and you may want to increase your bets accordingly.

Keep a separate count of the aces. If you know there are a lot of them still in the shoe after six deals, hope for those blackjacks to come! Many times you won't discover an advantage either way, but when you do it's a great feeling.

One word of caution. You are not allowed to bring pen and paper to the table with you. Keep your count in your head and be ready to capitalize on favorable situations instead of letting the dealer scoop up your chips game after game.

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Winning at Slots

If you love to play the slot machines, don't be suckered into buying one of the "sure fire systems" to beat them that you may come across in a newspaper, magazine, "infomercial", or in a direct mail advertisement. They're all a big waste of money. The only "sure fire" thing about them is the profit it will generate for the developer.

It's this simple: There are no systems to guarantee that you'll win. When you play slot machines you're playing a game of pure chance. The odds are always stacked against you because the computer chip that governs slot machine play is programmed to guarantee a profit for the casino. Period!

If you're looking for a rational approach to "getting an edge" in slot play, consider these game plans: (A): "Smoke out" the machines that appear to be programmed to return a higher percentage of money back to the players or (B): Employ wise slot machine play along with prudent money management. My advice is to opt for strategy (B).

The widely accepted and recommended way to play the slots is to always play the maximum number of coins on each spin. For example, if you're playing a 2-coin machine, drop in two coins every time. Similarly, if you're playing a 3-coin machine, drop in three coins every time. The only problem is, cold machines can wipe out a $50 session bankroll in a hurry. If you're playing a 2-coin dollar machine, 10 pulls with no return will eat up a twenty dollar bill in a minute.

In spite of the risk of catching cold machines, dropping in the maximum coins is the best way to play, but ONLY if you're playing a progressive machine or if you're playing a particular game in which the top award is much higher with maximum coins played than it would be with less than maximum coins played.

For example, IGT's Red, White, & Blue Sevens machines do not have a graduated pay scale for the top award. I've seen them with an award of $1,000 for one coin played if you line up the jackpot symbols, but a $5,000 jackpot with two coins played. It's great to win $1,000 for a dollar, to be sure, BUT it can be a sickening feeling knowing that if you had put just one more dollar in you would have collected $5,000.

To avoid such disappointment, and at the same time attempt to make your session bankroll stretch a little farther, here's a tip: If you want to play less than maximum coin in, search out the game formats that offer a perfectly balanced pay scale. In other words, find the machines in which the top award for two coins played is exactly double that of the top award for one coin played.

At least two game formats that offer such pay scales are IGT's Double Diamond machines and Double Jackpot machines. The 2-coin varieties offer 800 coins for the top award with one coin played, 1,600 coins for the top award with two coins played, and on the 3-coin formats, 2,400 coins for maximum coins played.

You're still taking a monetary risk by not playing maximum coins, but it's a risk that doesn't carry a penalty. You know that by playing one coin you stand a chance of winning less than if you had played more, but that risk is in perfect ratio to your play. It's not like some game formats where just because you bet one coin less you're going to get hurt five times over.

My method of attack on these machines is to take a ten dollar bill to a dollar machine and get 10 pulls for a dollar spin. If I get shut out, I simply walk away and try another machine. If I get something substantial back in the way of winnings, I pocket a good portion of the profits, then maybe risk two coins per play for a while. If things get cold again, I either go back to one coin or move on.

Remember: Don't think you're going to "beat" the machines. You're not. About the only thing you can do is to play smart and attempt to keep ahead of the game.

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Roulette Made Easy

If your gaming ventures are restricted to playing the slot machines because you feel intimidated by the table games, try stopping by the roulette wheel! It doesn't require the basic strategy knowledge you need to play blackjack, it's not as fast-paced as craps, and it gives you a much better "bang for your betting dollar" than the slots.

Roulette, THE game of choice in Europe, proceeds at a relaxed, leisurely pace. Since, for all practical purposes, it is based on pure luck, roulette can be appealing to a wide spectrum of gaming enthusiasts. It's easy to learn, and if you know how to manage your bankroll, it can be loads of fun.

There are 38 numbered "pockets" on an American roulette wheel. Thirty-six of them are numbered 1 through 36. Eighteen odd numbers, 18 even numbers, 18 black numbers, 18 red numbers. The remaining two pockets are labeled "0" and "00", the dreaded green colored pockets that give the house its edge. Let me explain:

If you bet a number on the roulette wheel and the ball lands on the number you bet on, the true mathematical odds would pay you 37 to 1 since there are 38 possible places the ball could have landed. But in the casino you will only be paid 35-1, which amounts to a 5.26 advantage for the house, a "built in" edge that guarantees them a profit over the long run.

Even though players can get a much better deal playing basic strategy at the blackjack tables or making the most advantageous wagers at the craps tables, the roulette wheel is still worth a spin, especially if you're trying to "wean" yourself from the slot machines.

The mistake most people make at the roulette wheel is being too eager to dive head first into the game playing the numbers. Grabbing the roulette wheel by the throat by going right after the "inside" of the board can be suicide for a modest bankroll. Sure, the payoffs can be big, but you've got to be mighty lucky to have that little ball land on the right number.

A more conservative approach is to take advantage of the even money and 2-1 wagering propositions that the roulette wheel has to offer. They are called the "outside" bets: The even money bets include red or black, odd or even, 1 through 18, and 19 through 36. The 2-1 bets include the "dozens" (1 through 12, 13 through 24, and 25 through 36) and the columns (first column of 12 numbers, second column of 12 numbers, and third column of 12 numbers).

Your strategy will be to try to build up your bankroll with bets on the even money and 2-1 propositions BEFORE you attempt to go after the 35-1 payoffs and some of the other ways to bet on your lucky numbers. Wait until your stack of chips grows a little before you invest a portion of your profits.

In addition to betting a number "straight up", there are other inside wagering opportunities called "split" (a bet on two numbers) that pays 17-1, "street" (bet on three numbers) that pays 11-1, "corner" (bet on four numbers) that pays 8-1, and "side street" (bet on six numbers) that pays 5-1.

One roulette wager to avoid is a 5-number bet that gives you the numbers 0, 00, 1, 2, and 3. This bet pays 6-1, but carries a huge house advantage of 7.89 percent, the only roulette wheel bet that exceeds the standard 5.26 percent.

The game proceeds at such a pace that a friendly dealer will be happy to help you place your bets and explain some of the roulette wheel procedure. And remember: Your play affects no one else at the table, so don't be afraid to step and play roulette, a great alternative to playing the slots. With a little bit of luck you'll be able to stretch a modest bankroll much further than if you had played the slots.

And just as with all other casino games, it's not easy to win! If you are fortunate enough to turn a nice profit, don't make the mistake of betting it all back! Capitalize on your good fortune by pocketing a good portion of it.

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