Author: Jeremiah Booker

Everyone knows how casino games work, don’t they?

Actually, you’d be surprised. I’ve heard some of the most insane strategies and ideas about how to go about playing real money casino games.

The purpose of this post is to explain how casino games work so that maybe there’ll be less misinformation about it in the future.

This is ideal for those who don’t yet know much about gambling and are looking to learn more about how most casino games work.

Math Is a Critical Part of Understanding Casino Games

Some people think that casinos and real money online casinos make money from their games because they cheat. That’s not at all true. Casinos don’t have to cheat, because they use the math of larger numbers to guarantee themselves a profit.

Here’s how that works.

Every casino game has payout odds, which is the amount you get paid if you win the bet compared to the amount you had to risk.

Many games have even odds where, if you bet $100 and win, you get $100 in winnings. Other games might pay off at 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 if some conditions are met. If you bet $100 and win, you’ll get $200 or $300 given those odds.

The thing about these bets is that you can also use odds to describe the probability of winning.

For example, if something is going to happen half the time, the odds are even, or 50/50.

If something is only going to happen 46% of the time, and the bet pays off at even money, someone is going to profit in the long run. And someone else is going to lose in the long run.

Guess who’s going to win 54% of the time on a casino game? That’s right. It’s the casino.

More About Odds and Probabilities Related to Casino Games

Let’s look at a really clear, specific example of how this works in reality in the game of roulette.

A real money roulette wheel has 38 numbers on it, and you can place a bet on which number the ball will land in. If you bet on the right number, you get a 35 to 1 payout.

Now, suppose you have a table full of gamblers, and each person picks one number and bets $100 on it. Or suppose that one player decides he absolutely MUST win, so he bets on all 38 numbers.

What’s the outcome for the casino? They win 37 of the 38 bets, for $100 each, so they win $3,700. They lose one of those bets, and they pay out $3500 on the winning bet. This leaves them with a $200 profit.

If you average that $200 profit by all 38 bets, you’ll get $5.26 per bet on average. And that’s how the casino makes its money, by paying out at odds lower than the odds of winning.

How Slot Machines Work

Of course, most people don’t play table games like blackjack, craps, or roulette anymore. 80% of most casino revenue comes from the slots.

How do the slot machines work? As it turns out, they work almost exactly like the table games. The major differences are the bigger payouts for the top jackpots and the correspondingly lower odds of winning them.

Also, on a gambling machine, your payout is done on an “x for y” basis rather than an “x to y” basis… What does that mean?

Well, it means that you don’t get to keep your original bet in addition to your winnings. You’re trading your original bet for what you’ve won.

This means that if you win an even money payout on a slot machine, you’re not actually winning anything. You just didn’t lose any money. In a table game, that would be considered a “push,” which is a fancy casino term for “tie.”

Let’s say you have 2,000 different possible outcomes on a slot machine. Then, let’s say you have 1,800 possible payouts on all the winning combinations.

That slot machine game would have a 90% payback ratio, which is the amount that the slot machine pays back on average on every spin. It’s like paying a 10% tax on every bet.

Are Casino Games Random?

I read a lot of blog posts from an author who likes to point out that most casino game outcomes aren’t TRULY random, but they’re close enough. They’re confused about what random means.

It’s still random, but the odds are just tilted away from what they should be.

Casinos don’t have an incentive to have a non-random roulette game with a biased wheel, though. If they did have one, they’d be putting themselves in a position where savvy players could figure out the bias and profit from it.

They make MORE money offering random games than they would if they had games that were predictable.

That’s an important thing to understand about how casino games work. The casinos are incentivized to make sure they’re random and fair. If they weren’t random or fair, the casino would make less money.

What Are the Different Types of Casino Games?

Casino games can be broadly categorized into three types:

1. Gambling machines
2. Novelty games
3. Table games

Gambling machines are currently the most popular type of casino game in the United States. Slot machines are an example, and video poker is the second most popular example. But you can also find video blackjack and video roulette games.

Novelty games include games like keno and other “carnival style” games. These games tend to have a higher mathematical advantage for the house than gambling machines or table games.

Table games are the games you see played at the various tables in the casino. The most popular of these include baccarat, blackjack, craps, and roulette.

The problem is that you have to be familiar enough with the pay tables for the variations of video poker to spot the ones with the higher payback percentages.

With most table games, you can bet a low house edge by just sticking with the best bets at the table. And at some tables, all the bets carry the same mathematical edge.

Which Casino Games Are Best?

The best casino games to play are the ones you enjoy the most. That advice runs counter to what you’ll read on many sites.

Most books and websites advise you to stick with the games with the lowest edge, but I disagree with this advice.

Imagine this. Suppose you’re playing blackjack for an hour, and you’re pretty sure that you’re going to lose $10 per hour while you’re playing. Let’s also suppose you HATE playing blackjack.

On the other hand, you’re playing slots for an hour, and you’re pretty sure you’re going to lose $50 per hour while you’re playing. Let’s also suppose you LOVE playing slot machines. Which game should you play?

At the end of the day, if you play casino games, you’re going to lose all your money if you play long enough. That’s just how the math behind the game works.

So, even if you’re going to lose your money faster on a game with a high house edge, if it’s more fun, that’s the game you should play.

How Can I Win More Often Playing Casino Games?

In the long run, you can’t win unless you’re some kind of advantage player. Learning how to beat the casinos in the long run is beyond the scope of this post.

But, in the short term, the nature of random chance means you’ll sometimes win. I’d estimate that 20% of the time, you should be able to walk away from the casino with some winnings in your pockets.

Start by playing games with the lowest house edge. This means playing blackjack and learning the correct basic strategy for the game. It also means learning about the pay tables in video poker and learning how to play that game with the correct mathematical strategy.

Craps is another game where you can get a low house edge, but you have to stick with the best bets at the table. At some games, like roulette, almost all the bets have the same house edge. But, in craps, many of the bets have a really big advantage for the casino. Avoid those bets.

The best way to increase your odds of walking away from the casino a winner is to stay far away from the slot machines. They have the worst odds of winning, except for maybe keno.

Conclusion

That’s the basic idea of how casino games work and what you need to do to get the most out of them.

What questions do you have about casino games now? Post them in the comments, and I’ll try to answer those questions.

Land-based and the best US online casinos have 1 thing in common when it comes to blackjack games. They all offer blackjack games. Things diverge between the online and land-based worlds quickly.

The land-based casino watches out for cheating. Players may try to swap chips or cards. Or a team of players may set up shop.

Online casinos don’t have to worry about player swapping chips or cards. Online cheaters are more likely trying to game the bonus deposit systems.

There are so many differences between online blackjack and land-based games it’s hard to list them all. Many of the differences are small details. But they add up to create very different experiences.

When I’m playing blackjack online I can set up the table I want: private or group, reshuffle or play through a deck, live dealer or computer dealer, style of play, and so on.

When visiting land-based casinos you must take what the casino offers and hope for the best. If you walk into a casino and realize you made a bad choice the nearest alternative could be a 10 minute walk or a 30-minute drive away.

Here is how I size up the blackjack tables.

Begin with the Casino Website

The Internet makes research easy and simple. Browse the casino’s website for information about their blackjack tables. Many of these sites only say how many tables they have. Some tell you which blackjack rules they offer.

If you’re not satisfied with the information try contacting customer service. They’ll usually tell you what you need to know.

You should also look for pictures of the blackjack dealers. I’ll explain why below.

Follow up with Online Traveler Reviews

I don’t spend much time reading casino review articles but I do look for recent travel site threads about casinos I’m interested in. If I can find a discussion that’s less than a year old I assume the casino is most likely still offering whatever games the tourists mention.

This is not a perfect system. I like to read real customer reviews because they sometimes mention interesting deta8ls, like when the tables are most likely to be closed.

If you spend enough time in casinos you’ll know when the tables begin to open up but it’s always good to know what the house custom is before visiting.

I have passed on visiting a few otherwise interesting casinos because they didn’t man their blackjack tables at good times for me.

If someone has uploaded pictures of the casino staff I look through them. I also pay attention to what the customers say about staff.

How the Dealers Dress is Important to Me

You’re in a casino. It’s all about being entertained. The dealers are part of the package.

I’ve visited a couple of Vegas casinos where the dealers were women wearing somewhat revealing clothing. It was distracting. I am sure that was what the casino had in mind.

Casinos aren’t the only companies doing business in fantasy. But if I want to stare at women in tight, revealing clothes there are other places I can go.

Blackjack Is supposed to be one of the least profitable games a casino offers. And yet many casinos make a tidy profit from blackjack. You can see for yourself if the casino must report its earnings to a state gaming commission.

Everything in the casino is distracting enough. They keep the alcohol flowing, the slot games bing and ding even when not being played, and the ambience is relaxing and soothing.

The last thing I want is to start fantasizing about the dealer. So I favor the professionally dressed dealers.

Always Check the Table Rules

You should prefer 2:1 and 3:2 blackjack to 6:5 blackjack but even if you don’t have a choice about that you need to look at the other table rules.

Does the dealer stand on soft 17 or not?

What are the table minimums and maximums?

How many decks does the table use?

How are the cards shuffled?

If you like the surrender option look for it.

How many players does the table accommodate?

Can you split aces, double down any way you want, etc.?

If a casino has 2 or more open blackjack tables are they using the same rules or do you have some choices?

Study the Players before Sitting Down

If you get a bad vibe about the players at the table then why sit down with them?

I’ll look to see how many alcoholic drinks they are enjoying. If it looks like a hard-drinking group I’ll pass on playing with them. If you like playing cards with people who are enjoying the booze then choose the table with the most drinkers.

You can’t stop people from leaving a table or joining it but “birds of a feather” tend to play together in my opinion. If all but one guy at the table seems annoyed or irritated, he might be why the others are not happy.

If you feel self-conscious about betting less than other players then look at their bets. This is not a sticking point for me. I don’t mind being the only bettor playing the table minimum.

Do You Want More Decks or Fewer?

You’ll read online that casinos do and do not care about card counting. The truth is that they take it seriously enough they have changed the games to make card counting less effective.

The fewer decks a table uses in its games, the better – unless they are automatically reshuffling the cards. If the dealers reshuffle manually on a frequent basis that also hurts card counting.

If you really want to count cards you’ll either need to look high and low for a table with few decks that doesn’t reshuffle or you’ll need to count for large decks.

The longer you play and the more attention you pay to things like variance the fewer decks you’ll want to see on the table. But the casinos decide how to set up the games.

High rollers can sometimes negotiate their own terms or may be offered slightly more advantageous games. The casinos are competing for the most money in the game, not for the largest number of customers.

Does Table Location Really Matter?

Some people say you should avoid tables located close to the casino entrance. This is a psychological strategy. If you prefer gaming with a stable crowd then the hard-to-find tables may be your choices.

But I’ve watched people come and go at tables in every part of the casino. Either they sit and win or they lose and leave. Once in a while someone with a pile of chips sits there and runs it all down.

What is important is your state of mind.

Are you annoyed by constant coming and going?

If the commotion of people sitting down and leaving upsets your game then maybe you should look for a video blackjack machine. You don’t have to share it with anyone.

If mere distractions bother you then why are you in a casino?

The casino may be designed to lull you into gambling away your money but it’s also there to attract people. Sound and movement surround you. The blackjack tables are not good places for solitude and quiet reflection.

Conclusion

When it comes to land-based table games buyers have few choices, but you should be as much of a chooser as possible.

Real money online blackjack doesn’t offer the same ambience as sitting in a casino but you’ll find many more options to consider.

Picking a blackjack table shouldn’t be complicated but it’s worth spending a little time walking around the casino, getting the feel of the place. If they have several tables open take the time to study their rules.

Half the game is psychological. Unlike in poker where you try to psych out other players in blackjack the psychology is all about where you are comfortable and confident.

If you don’t feel confident sitting at a table for any reason then get up and find something else to do. Second-guessing yourself won’t help and you won’t enjoy the game.

The most important thing to look for in a table game is a good time. If you’re not having fun then go wherever you can find your good time. The tables will always be there.

Humans have been playing games of chance since recorded history. Many of the gambling practices we have today have their origins in the annals of history and even prehistory. A lot of the items we use in gambling, such as dice and playing cards, started off with different purposes. In fact, most of the games we play today began with different names and different rules.

This is a list of gambling firsts. Precursors to modern games include the early games of pakapoo and trente-un. Their modern versions are known as keno and blackjack. Dice, for instance, were originally made of animal bone and used to foretell the future. The origins of playing cards are more contentious, while the first casino still survives to this day.

Here are seven origins of the modern gambling world.

1 – Astragalomancy (Dice)

Dice has been used in gambling since the beginning of recorded history. Like most items in our modern world, the origin of dice may be unrecognizable to most today. Scholars believe that dice started as a form of divination called “astragalomancy” or “astragyromancy.”

These “astragali” were originally knucklebones or other small bones of animals used to divine the future. The bones were either rolled like modern dice or picked at random from a bag then interpreted by the caster. The earliest discovered astragali date back over 8,000 years and have been found in archaeological sites all over the ancient world.

Although bones were the most common material, astragali have been found fashioned from fruit pits, seashells, and pebbles. Over the centuries, numbers, letters, and symbols were added to the pieces. Specifically, dots representing numbers called “pips” were introduced to dice in ancient Mesopotamia, creating the version of dice we recognize today.

Because of the shape of knucklebones, astragali originally had two rounded sides and four flat sides. This evolved into, pyramid-shaped dice, cubed shaped dice, and eventually, many-sided dice like the famous Dungeons and Dragons D20 with 20 sides. Dice evolution hasn’t stopped there; modern incarnations include asymmetrical polyhedrons with as many 100 sides, barrel dice (cylindrical with flat surfaces), and dice with sides featuring everything from modern letters to astrological signs.

2 – Il Ridotto (First Casino)

Although gambling houses have existed since recorded history, Il Ridotto has the distinction of being the first mercantile Western casino. Its creation came from the Venetian government’s attempt to crack down on illegal gambling clubs. Il Ridotto, meaning the “The Private Room,” was created and opened to the public in 1638. The casino was located in a wing of Venice’s Palazzo Dandolo which still exists today as the palatial five-star Hotel Danieli.

Il Ridotto was a creation of the Great Council of Venice, making it not only the first modern casino but also the first government-owned gambling house in Europe. Gambling in the street was common in Venice at the time, so the Ridotto was created to regulate the gambling habits of its more well-to-do citizens.

The two most popular games at Il Ridotto were biribi and basetta. Biribi played like a modern lottery, where players would choose numbers and win on a matching draw. Basetta was played similar to many modern card games and later became the game of faro.

The casino bankers would take a cut of player’s bets known as vigorish in gambling terms, generating revenue for Il Ridotto. The casino closed its doors in 1774 at the behest of local lawmakers.

3 – Pai Gow (Dominoes)

Pai gow is an ancient Chinese game originating in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). It’s played with numbered tiles traditionally made of bone or ivory. And it’s believed that these tiles were brought back from China by Italian missionaries where it was adapted into the domino sets we recognize today.

A pai gow domino set has 32 dominoes as opposed to the Western 28 domino set. They are black with white and red pips. Each tile is divided into a set of pips ranging in number from 1 to 6. Pai gow tiles have two suits, military and civil. It was originally a military-themed game. Each civil tile has a ranking based on its Chinese name while each military tile gets its values from the pips.

Chinese dominoes have different names depending on the region they’re found in with one common name in Cantonese being “gwat pai,” meaning “bone tiles.” The oldest set of pai gow tiles dates back to the 12^th century. Like modern Western dominoes, Chinese dominoes can be used to play a variety of games including pai gow, tien gow, and gǔpái (literally bone tiles).

4 – As-Nas (poker)

As-nas was a 17^th card game originating in Persia and played throughout the region. It is widely regarded as the precursor to poker, although there are contentions. Some scholars argue that the game of as-nas is contemporaneous with poker’s popularity in early 1800s America. This suggests that the games might have developed independently.

The as-nas deck consists of either 20 or 25 cards depending on the deck used. Unlike modern playing cards, as-nas cards have only four or five designs. For example, a deck of 25 would have five aces and five each of the five court cards. Court cards usually consist of kings, ladies, soldiers, and entertainers in descending value. Aces generally depict lions and other animals engaging in battle or with celestial bodies.

Aside from the word “as” used to refer to the highest card (ace), as-nas is most similar to modern poker in its gameplay. Each player gets five cards and is given the chance to fold, bet, and raise. Three like cards and a pair is the highest hand. The game does not allow flushes or sequences because there are no numbers or suits.

In as-nas, only one hand is dealt and players have the options to bluff referred to as “fire off a gun” or tûp zadan. After each player bets or folds, the cards are flipped and the winner takes the pot. When two players have the same hand, the other cards break the tie. 20=card as-nas can be played with a standard deck by removing all numbered cards except for 10.

5 – Aleatory Contracts (Gambling and Investment)

An aleatory contract is a term used for an uncertain event that determines an obligation. Why does this make the list? That’s because any form of gambling is considered an aleatory contract. In the case of gambling, the outcome of an uncertain event (a game or race) determines the obligation (payout) for the recipient.

An aleatory contract is an agreement between two parties based on uncertain outcomes. One party pays, one party receives. Features of investment that can be considered aleatory contracts include options and derivatives. This gives a new meaning to the phrase “gambling on the stock market.”

6 – Pakapoo (Keno)

The origins of the modern game of keno is an ancient Chinese game called “pakapoo” by Westerners and “baige piao” by Chinese. The legend surrounding the game and its relevance to Chinese history revolves around a lottery that the Han Dynasty held in the 2^nd century B.C. to raise military funds. The name baige piao means “white pigeon ticket,” referring to the practice of sending the lottery results to rural regions via carrier pigeon.

The game originally used 80 characters found in the Chinese text, Thousand Character Classic. Each player has a sheet with all the characters and marks a designated number of them. These sheets are compared to the dealer’s master sheet, and the player whose sheet most closely matches the dealer’s sheet wins. Modern games allow players to choose up to 20 numbers with payouts depending on the amount of numbers matched.

The game of pakapoo was brought by Chinese immigrants to the US during the 19^th century and eventually became the game of keno. The first known use of the word keno to describe the game was found in Houston in 1866.

7 – Trente-Un and Vingt-Un (Blackjack)

The modern game of Blackjack evolved from the games trente-un and vingt-un. In the French game of trente-un (meaning 31), players try to assemble hands totaling 31. This is believed to have been reduced to 21 (vingt-un) over time to increase the pace of the game.

The first reference to French 31 was in 1464. French Vingt-un spread throughout Europe and to the Americas in the 1800s.

Vingt-un was played with an original French playing card deck which differs from a standard 52-card deck. Original French decks contained 32 cards with ones representing aces and the numbers two through six removed. They are still sold today and share the suits of modern playing cards.

Conclusion

The origins of modern gambling are rich with interesting facts and folklore. There is often an earlier version of games played with different rules, under different names.

In the modern world, we see casinos and home players creating variants that could be the new standard for future generations. Gambling terminology has also evolved over the centuries to include new meanings for old words.

This list of gambling firsts is by no means complete. Like many other human activities, gambling is ancient. Games have been lost to history; numerous fortunes have been won and lost.

The next time you engage in an aleatory contract, have fun knowing you’re engaging in one of the oldest forms of human entertainment: the activity of gambling.

Gambling is, by nature, a risky activity that involves betting your livelihood on games of chance. You can even get carried away and bet real money that’s meant for other bills and expenses.

But the good news is that even if you lose, you can come back and fight another day. With any luck, you might even turn into a winning gambler.

However, a rare breed of gamblers is willing to risk far more than just money. They’re willing to put their lives on the line!

I’m going to discuss some gamblers who made the ultimate bet and were unsuccessful. Most of these people knew that they faced certain death by losing, although one had no idea what was coming to them.

1 – Niagara Falls Swim

Niagara Falls has been the site of many deadly incidents. At one time, many people (unsuccessfully) attempted to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

Matthew Webb attempted a different death-defying feat involving the massive waterfall that separates the US and Canada. He set out to swim in Niagara’s whirlpool rapids and come out alive.

Webb was no stranger to the daredevil game. He was the first person to swim across the English Channel without any artificial aids.

The English Channel swim made the former steamship captain famous. Webb performed a number of stunts in the aftermath and even became a professional swimmer.

Perhaps the latter caused Webb to overestimate his abilities by taking on Niagara Falls’ whirlpool rapids. Successfully swimming the rapids is thought to be an impossible feat.

Nevertheless, Webb set out to be the first to pull off the impossible in 1883. He staged a series of unsuccessful funding ventures to make money from the attempt. Despite failing to generate much money, he embarked on the swim anyway. He started swimming near the waters under the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge.

Many accounts claim that he probably survived the first portion of the swim. But he eventually drowned around the entrance of the whirlpool. He was later buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Niagara Falls, New York.

Bobby Leach, who was the second person ever to survive the Niagara barrel plunge (behind Annie Taylor), attempted the same feat decades after Webb.

He tried to swim the rapids multiple times and failed each time. On one particular attempt, he had to be rescued by a famous riverman named William “Red” Hill.

2 – Soviet Pilot Alexander Kliuyev

Attempting an extremely dangerous bet is a bad enough idea by yourself. The situation only gets worse when bringing other people into the matter.

Soviet pilot Alexander Kliuyev made such a wager with his co-pilot, Gennady Zhirnov, on June 28, 1979. Flying commercial aircraft Tu-134A, Kliuyev and Zhirnov were nearing a landing at Kurumoch Airport.

During the approach, Kliuyev bet his co-pilot that he could pull off an instrument-only approach with curtained cockpit windows. Simply put, he thought that he could land the plane without seeing the ground.

The bet was already going badly for Kliuyev when he received ground proximity warnings at an altitude at 65 meters (213 ft). He should’ve aborted the landing and performed a go-around based on the warning.

However, Kliuyev kept trying to stick the blind landing. The aircraft hit the ground at 280 km/h) and came to a stop upside down.

As for Zhirnov, he tried to save passengers after causing one of the deadliest plane crashes in Russian history. He died of cardiac arrest while being taken to the hospital afterward.

Kliuyev survived the crash and was sentenced to 15 years for his role in the bet. He only ended up serving six years of the term.

3 – Jack McCall and Wild Bill

James Butler Hickok, better known as “Wild Bill,” is the one gambler on this list who didn’t make a single bet realizing that it could result in death. However, gambling did lead to his untimely murder.

Wild Bill became a folk hero in the Wild West. He was a jack of all trades, serving as a soldier, spy, scout, wagon master, lawman, actor, showman, and gunfighter.

He earned his notorious reputation in different ways. However, he also fabricated tales about his exploits and became more myth than man. Hickok became very familiar with death and gambling early on. He had a duel with Davis Tutt over a watch that he lost to the professional gambler.

Wild Bill asked Tutt not to wear the watch in public, because he was embarrassed by the loss. Tutt failed to oblige and continued wearing the watch around Springfield, Missouri.

Hickok would be on the receiving end of such an incident later in his life. He badly beat Jack McCall in a poker game in Deadwood, Dakota Territory.

Wild Bill loaned McCall money and bought him breakfast afterward. However, McCall was allegedly insulted over the affair.

McCall later returned to the same saloon and shot Wild Bill in the back of the head. McCall was arrested and acquitted of murder charges in a Deadwood courtroom.

He was later arrested, though, in the Wyoming Territory. McCall was retried and hanged for the crime on account that Deadwood wasn’t an official US jurisdiction at the time.

4 – William Bergstrom: The Mysterious Binion’s Craps Player

William Bergstrom briefly became known as the biggest high roller in history during the early 1980s. Unfortunately, his high-rolling ways would contribute to his suicide.

Born in Austin, Texas, Bergstrom made a small fortune by buying and selling properties in the Lone Star State. He eventually took his profits and begin gambling them at Las Vegas casinos.

He first showed up to Binion’s Horseshoe Casino in September 1980. Bergstrom earned the nickname “Suitcase Man” after bring two briefcases during the trip, one with $777,000 and the other empty.

Benny Binion, the casino’s owner, always honored a gambler’s first bet, regardless of the size. Bergstrom, who was anonymous at the time, gambled the entire $777,000 (approx. $2.4 million today) on the don’t pass line.

The shooter established a point of six. They then went on to seven out two rolls later. This result gave Bergstrom a $777k win, the largest ever recorded at the time.

The Suitcase Man packed his insane win in the empty suitcase and left immediately afterward. He wouldn’t return again until March 1984, three and a half years after the original win.

This time, he wagered $538,000 on a single roll. Bergstrom was successful and proceeded to win three more wagers worth an extra $117,000.

He came back in November of the same year with a $1 million bankroll. The amount consisted of $550,000 in cash, $310,000 in cashier’s checks, and $140,000 in gold Krugerrands (South African coin).

He wagered the entire million on the don’t pass line. The shooter immediately tossed a seven winner on the come-out roll.

Bergstrom lost the entire amount and committed suicide just a few months later in February 1985. He swallowed pills in his home and soon passed away.

Bergstrom’s family was initially unsure why he chose to kill himself following the $1 million loss. After all, he still was doing alright fine financially.

A suicide note from Bergstrom later revealed that his suicide may have been triggered by his breakup with a man who was 10 years younger than him.

Conclusion

The reasons for death-defying bets range from people wanting to show off to being in a mentally bad place.

David Webb wanted to prove that one could swim in the Niagara Falls’ whirlpool rapids and survive. However, even as accomplished at swimming as he was, Webb couldn’t pull off the feat and drowned.

Alexander Kliuyev made the most careless wager on this list. He risked the lives of 94 people to win a bet made with his co-pilot. Kliuyev landed a passenger plane upside down due to the wager and killed 70 people.

Wild Bill never bet his life on a game of chance. However, his gambling ways eventually got him killed. You might have thought that Hickok would’ve given up gambling after shooting Davis Tutt over a lost gold watch. But he kept playing poker and was later shot in the head by Jack McCall.

William Bergstrom was unfortunately suffering from depression when he began a brief high-rolling gambling stint. He was initially successful, winning sums of $777k and $655k on two separate occasions.

However, he lost a bet of $1 million dollars on real money craps and later died by overdosing on pills. Bergstrom’s suicide note revealed that he was depressed about an ended relationship.

Luckily, not many bets result in deaths like these. But there’ll no doubt be similar deadly gambling incidents at some point in the future.

The house always wins. But when it comes to real money blackjack, the way the house edge works is quite a bit different than in other games.

Before I dive into the topic, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page on this one—there’s not a game in existence where the house doesn’t have an edge.

That funny phrase about how “the house always wins” isn’t just a clever casino spiel, it’s reality. Casinos could not exist if they didn’t have an edge. It just wouldn’t make sense from a business standpoint.

Every game you play in a casino has a house edge. And how large that edge is depends on the rules the casino puts in place to some extent, and on you to some extent—your strategy, your tactics, your knowledge of the game, your decisions on how you play and why you make the plays that you do. All of these things affect how large the house’s edge truly is.

So, how does that house edge work for blackjack, anyway? Let’s take a look.

Start Thinking in Percentages

If you don’t like math, you’re probably not going to like gambling much. Or, at the very least, you’re not going to be very good at it.

Now, as mentioned before, there are many factors that determine the house’s edge, but you’re looking at anything between 0.5% (if you’re implementing a good blackjack strategy) and a few percent (or even more).

There’s a reason so many gambling movies focus on blackjack. It’s one of the games where you can potentially come out on top if you know what you’re doing.

Why? Because the house edge only really means something for a statistically significant number of hands. What that little percentage up there means is that, on average, all players who are playing blackjack are going to lose about 0.5% of what they bet over time.

It’s clear right away why this only means something across a large number of bets. If you bet $100 and lose a hand, there’s no possible way to lose 50 cents. You either win some money, you lose some money, or you end up neutral.

But if you add up all the bets of all the players who are currently on the floor of a casino, and you start to measure the amount won and the amount lost over time, you’ll see that the house is going to be up about 50 cents a hand on average.

Casinos are profitable for precisely this reason. The rules are set up so that, statistically and over time, house losses are negated by house wins, and a slight profit is made. Slots tend to have the worst odds (and thus, are most profitable for the house), but the house holds an edge in almost every game available to you. But there are rare exceptions.

What Determines the House Edge

There are a number of factors that specifically determine the house edge. First and foremost is strategy. If you don’t know what you’re doing and don’t have a clear strategy, the house edge is going to be closer to 2% than 0.5%.

Other rules that can often feel completely strange or incalculable to new players also affect the house edge. For example, the amount you can win if you play a natural (blackjack—21) plays a big role in the house edge.

You’ll find that some casinos will pay you 3:2 on a natural (which means, for example, that you get $15 on a $10 bet), but many other casinos have moved to paying 6:5 (you get $12 if you get blackjack on a $10 bet). That greatly increases the house edge, so avoid it if you can.

Other rules play a factor—does the dealer hit or stand on a soft 17? Can you double after a split? Can you double on any first two cards? How many hands can you re-split to? Can you re-split aces? Can you hit on re-split aces? What about when a dealer gets a blackjack—do you only lose your original bet? What’s the surrender rule?

All of these seemingly insignificant rules play a huge role in the house’s edge, but remember—the house is winning over time over many different hands.

You don’t have to play a lot of different hands, you can come out on top.

Beat the House – Walk Away When You’re Winning

If you decide that the house edge in the casino you’re playing in is, say, 1%, that means you’re losing about 1% of whatever you’re betting over time.

But what happens when you win on the first hand? Let’s say you hit blackjack on your very first hand—lucky, but certainly not impossible.

Let’s further say that you bet $100 on that firsthand and the casino pays 3:2 on a natural, so you’re now up $50.

What happens when you walk away? You walk away with $50.

See, the house edge only means something over thousands of hands—tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands—all the hands that you play and that everyone else plays.

But if you only play a few hands (even a few dozen), you’re not in the realm of statistics anymore, you’re in the realm of randomness and luck.

If you walk away from the table before you start to lose (and you will start to lose if you play enough hands), then you’ve just beaten the odds.

The same can be said for losing, however, if you find yourself down, cutting your losses may be the best way to go. It’s certainly possible you can win your money back and get on top again, but on average, you are literally paying money to play, in the form of that 1% of your bet that the house is claiming on average.

The Solid Base of the House Edge That You Can Never Overcome

While we can talk all day long about blackjack strategy and how much money you make on a natural and all that jazz, I think it’s instructive to look at the origin of the house edge in the first place.

Every game you play in a casino has some simple rule that automatically guarantees the house and edge of some sort. Games of pure luck keep that house edge rigid, for example, there’s not much you can do to influence the odds of a roulette wheel. You place your bet, you let that sucker spin, and you either win or you lose. That’s that.

Blackjack’s house edge may be much more flexible given how you can apply strategy, but the foundation of the edge comes from the simple fact that you can bust before the dealer even has a chance to play their hand.

Think about it! If you bust, the dealer might have busted as well, but it still counts as a win for the dealer because you bust first. The dealer doesn’t have to reveal their hand until the end.

That translates into a huge advantage for the dealer. The house starts off with such an enormous advantage that all those other rules have to be put into effect just to get the darn thing down to something reasonable, and even then, you need a solid strategy if you’re going to beat the house.

What Is a Blackjack Strategy?

A blackjack strategy is essentially a set of rules that takes into account probabilities of cards turning up and then makes recommendations one what you should play based on your hand and the card the dealer has revealed.

While there are more than a few blackjack strategies out there, you’re going to need to do at least some studying if you want to understand how to reduce the house edge and get yourself to a place where you can at least have a chance of making some profit.

Remember, even with a strategy, the house still maintains that edge. There’s no way around it. So, on top of whatever strategy you come up with, it’s still a good idea to learn how to get out when the gettin’s good.

Sometimes, you’re going to walk away when you feel like you’re on a winning streak. At the beginning, I say that you’re going to have a bad time if you don’t like math, and it’s true. Every hand you play is a complete tossup. There’s no such thing as having a hot or cold streak.

The only way you beat the house is to quit when you’re ahead.

Conclusion

The house edge works in blackjack in just about the same way it works in every other game, that is to say, it works for the house and against you. Learn some blackjack strategy, take free gambling lessons at some of the bigger casinos, learn what you can learn from watching the pros, but ultimately, if you want to beat the house edge, learn to walk away.

Casinos are a business, but not everyone knows that. Casinos regularly make money from unwary gamblers. If you’re walking into a casino to just have a bit of fun on the slots and tables, or if you don’t expect to win anything back, great—casinos are more than happy to oblige you.

However, many serious players look at casinos differently. Yes, they still want to have fun, but just like someone who likes to go hunting on the weekends is going to learn the best places to hunt or the most cost-effective ammunition, someone who has a passion for gambling is going to do everything they can to get the most out of the experience.

That being said, gaming is far different from most hobbies. The owners and managers of casinos understand the methods of encouraging people to take risks they might otherwise avoid. They know how to win.

But if you know the rules they’re playing by, you can learn to level the odds and walk away with a small bit of profit, all while having a good time. Learn how casinos make money and why cautious gamblers still lose money below.

1 – Casinos Are Another World

One of the main ways that land based casinos keep the money rolling in (and you on the floor) is by bringing you into their world. When you walk into a casino, they want you to stay as long as possible, and they have the advantage of controlling the building.

What does that mean? It means no windows to the outer world. It means no clocks on the wall. You might as well have walked into Narnia, because you’ll have no idea what time it is or how long you’ve been playing.

And if you’re having fun? Well, time flies, doesn’t it? You’ll spend hours more in the casino if you don’t notice the sun setting, if you forget to check your watch, and an easily accessible clock isn’t on the wall.

But it’s a lot more than that.

Finally, all casinos are filled with light and sound and distractions. They want you paying attention to anything but what you have to do tonight or what you’re doing right now at the table. The lights and sounds and people are all meant to keep your eyes off the game, to keep you from playing your best. If you’re distracted by the cocktail waitress and the trapeze artists jumping through the air above your head, you’re not going to be playing your cards right.

What this means is that you need to be rigorous about paying attention to the time and learning the layouts. Always wear a watch, and set limits on how long you’ll play.

2 – Chips Aren’t Really Money, Right?

Another simple, yet extremely effective, trick is the use of chips. Think about this, if you had a pile of cash in front of you, thousands of dollars all in hundreds, and the next bet is a grand, how easy would it be to count out 10 Benjamins?

But if all you have are a handful of colorful chips that are the exact same size and shape that only really differ in color, then your mind struggles to make the conversion. You have to think for a second and do the math. But if you’re caught up in the fun of playing, or if you don’t even know what time it is, you’ll probably throw that thousand-dollar chip in like it’s nothing.

Always remember to keep a running tab of how much those chips are worth, and count each time you make a bet.

3 – Free Booze for All

Alcohol affects your judgment, and where do you need proper judgment more than at the tables? Most casinos give away at least a few drinks, which means you’re going to find yourself overwhelmed with booze into just about any casino you walk into.

While you might wonder how the casino can afford this, you just have to remember their incredible purchasing power. Casinos are gold mines. They‘re purchasing alcohol in astounding quantities. Believe me when I say that they’re coming out on top on this one. They can afford to give you free booze.

If you want to avoid this, it’s pretty simple—either stay sober or cut yourself off early. A little alcohol goes a long way toward reducing your mental focus and increasing your chances of making a bad play.

4 – Slots for the Win

Slots are big money makers for a number of reasons. First, they’re independent of other patrons. You don’t have a dealer there watching you to see if you actually know what you’re doing. You don’t have a group of other players judging you. Anyone can walk up and throw money in. These are especially enticing to new players who feel nervous about the tables.

Slots have preset payouts. The casinos can do everything in their legal power to ensure payouts are as low as possible. They’re also everywhere. Most casinos stick slots in every available corner.

The place is lousy with slot machines! How easy it is to toss in a couple bucks while you’re waiting to meet someone or taking a break from the tables? Too easy.

The advice for this one is simple. Be careful about slots just like you would any other table. Don’t treat them like a video game on your phone. Carefully track how much you’re putting in, and set a limit.

5 – Complimentary Everything

People love to brag about getting a complimentary room at a casino (or anything else, you name it), but the reality is that the casino is only comping something because they expect to make their money back.

Not to mention the fact that they own the hotel rooms. The cost for you to purchase a room compared to the cost for them to have a room empty for a night are much different.

The main reason this works so well is that, in the majority of cases, the comps are meant to get you to come back. In the long run, the house always wins. If you won big today, the casinos are going to do anything in their power to get you back again and again until lady luck evens the score.

The moral of this story is simple. Don’t let comps get to your head and make you think you’re unique. The casino is betting on you coming back with a bigger ego, less attention to detail, and prepared to make the mistakes you didn’t make this time.

6 – Eat and Drink All Night Long

It seems so simple, but it’s so true. People stop gaming when they’re hungry and thirsty. Good food all night long is hard to find in most cities, but casinos understand that players craving hamburgers are players who leave… unless there happens to be a great burger joint right there in the casino.

If you find yourself at a casino long enough that you’re getting hungry or thirsty, go outside and take a break. Navigate the maze, get some fresh air, get a bite to eat, then decide if you should go back.

Nobody makes good decisions on an empty stomach.

7 – Everyone Sees a Win

This last one is inevitable. When someone wins big, they like to make a big deal out of it. Lights go off, people cheer, employees come out of the woodworks to celebrate. In short, everyone stops what they’re doing to see the big win.

You don’t quite have the same experience when you have a big loss. The casinos don’t want you looking around and seeing sad faces. They want you to see the absurdly lucky folks who just hit the big one.

Once you see it, you’ll get it in your head that you might be next. It’s the same reason you see news stories about lottery winners—the lotto loves these pieces. Everyone sees the big money and imagines what they’d do with it. So, they buy a ticket.

See this for the psychological trick that it is. Someone else winning has zero effect on your odds of winning. The numbers don’t change just because someone finally hit the jackpot.

Conclusion

The savvy player walks into the casino with an understanding of the game. This is a place where statistics and math rule, and everything else is suspect. Enjoy the scenery for what it is, but understand that the odds are stacked against you. See their tricks for what they are, just tricks that have no bearing on the actual odds of your game of choice.

Most people gamble for fun and the chance to win more money than they wager. It’s exciting to walk into a casino with a pocket full of cash and high hopes. It’s a bit like the exciting feeling you get when you take a big birthday check to spend on stuff you’ve always wanted.

The difference between a trip to the casino and a birthday buying trip to a mall is that you’re all but guaranteed to leave the mall with something of value. When you gamble you’re more likely to leave the casino with less money than you took in.

If you’re only paying for fun then gambling is no different from seeing a concert or a movie. You spend your money on the time you spend at the venue.

The difference between gambling and watching a film in a cinema is that you’re not likely to hit the ATM machine for more money to see the next movie. Casinos install ATMs so their visitors can gamble away more money.

Short of carrying a bag of cash into a land-based casino with you, what are your options?

If you had an endless supply of money it would be a simple thing. But since most people live on a budget here are a few great ways to ensure you only gamble with what you can afford.

1 – Start with a Free Bank Account

Keep your gambling money separate from everything else. A separate bank account makes the most sense. And thankfully you can open free bank accounts through online banks or some special debit card offers.

Just as an example, you can buy a Bluebird card at Walmart and you won’t be charged a monthly fee for using it. Bluebird is a bank account service based on a debit card.

The important thing is to keep your money where it is safe and you have instant access to it. Even if you go over budget for the night, as long as you only withdraw money from your gambling funds account you won’t hurt your personal finances.

2 – How to Save Money for Gambling without Thinking

If you like paying for things with your smartphone then you’ve probably considered joining a service like Acorns, Chime, or Stash. These applications and others allow you to round up on all your purchases so that a little bit of money is dumped into a savings account for you.

As you make incidental purchases throughout the month your savings grow incrementally. You can invest this money or transfer it to another bank account. You can also withdraw it at an ATM if your account has a debit card option.

Another way to save money is to deposit everything you earn into a savings account throughout the month. Only pay yourself a “salary” once or twice a month, leaving as much in savings as possible. When you’re ready to fund a gambling account then make a transfer from savings.

By paying yourself from savings to checking account you still keep your expense money separate from your discretionary savings.

3 – Use Several Gambling Budgets in Land-based Casinos

This is a more convenient money management method for slot game players but I’ll show you how to create mini-bankrolls or mini-stakes for table games in a similar way.

If you take $200 cash into a Las Vegas casino you can divide that money into 4 lots of $50. Put $50 into a slot machine and cash out. Repeat and get 4 tickets.

If you only want to play table games then buy 4 chips for $50 each. These are your starter chips and you can cash them in at each table if you want to play with small denominations.

A third way to do this is to buy a cheap wallet for gambling. I use a long wallet with 4 pockets and I put 2-5 twenty dollar bills in each pocket.

However you carry your money around, the idea is to take a break or change games when you run out of starter money from 1 ticket, chip, or wallet pocket.

If you have a good night you can rotate the tickets or chips, gradually building up the value until you’re ready to cash in. Never cash in everything at once.

On my best nights, I found myself splitting tickets to start over and still had money left over in my wallet.

4 – Divide Your Bankroll to Create Forced Stops

If you only intend to play one game then divide your bankroll into a few high denomination chips or tickets as I suggest above. But instead of switching them out, play through each chip or ticket until you’re tired or the money is gone.

If you take a $50 chip to a table game and cash it in for ten $5 chips you can make 10 small wagers or 5 larger wagers. Just keep playing from that money until it’s gone.

If you have a good game and win you’ll eventually want to take a break. Take your winnings, cash them in, and don’t think about them again. You’ve still got at least 1 more mini-stake.

I like to play with as little money as possible to help me make thoughtful choices.

5 – Keep a Clear Head

I’ve mentioned taking breaks already but this is important. Everyone knows the casino wants to lull you into a semi-stupified state of mind. They want you coherent enough to gamble but relaxed enough to not care if you’re losing money.

Even when you’re gaming from home you should be aware of how much time is passing and what you’re doing. Keep a clock next to the computer so you see the time passing. Program your smartphone to sound alarms every 30-60 minutes.

It’s important to get up and move around. But you need to avoid alcohol and stay off drugs if you’re serious about managing your money well.

Anything that makes it hard for you to think or count is a sign you need to take a break and clear your head. Walking around the casino is a great way to do this. Make 2 trips.

Contrary to what some people say, eating isn’t necessarily a good idea. While you do need to eat if you eat too much you’ll become tired. You need to walk around for a few minutes after eating at the casino.

It’s best to eat small, light meals over several hours.

6 – Review Your Gaming Choices

Some people keep a gambling diary but most players never do. Still, if you gamble often you should know what to expect for your money.

If you don’t know the probabilities associated with your favorite games you should spend some time researching them. The more you take into account your favorite games’ return to player percentages, how often they are likely to pay prizes, and how much they cost to play the easier it is for you to plan your gambling budget.

If you’re playing at an online casinos you have player accounts. The better casinos allow you to look at your deposits and game histories. You can afford to take some time to review your history.

It’s better to know where you’re spending the most money and getting the most from the time you spend. Don’t assume it’s all working out fairly in the end. You may be cheating yourself without realizing it.

7 – Invest Your Winnings

Whether you’re thinking of becoming a professional or want to buy a house, bank your winnings. Don’t put them back into your gambling budget.

A good gambling budget comes from your regular income. I’ve talked with players who only wanted to play from their winnings. I’ve never met one who could keep rolling it over indefinitely.

After several years of dipping into my checking account at the worst possible times, I promised myself I would only gamble with the money I could afford to throw away. And that money comes out of my paycheck.

Anything I win goes into the bank, and I mean the non-gambling bank. If it’s a really small amount I’ll leave it in my wallet for incidental expenses like drinks and snacks.

If you can afford to keep playing from your paycheck without rolling over your winnings, you’ll become used to playing on a regular, predictable budget. You’ll know when you’ll have enough money to play again and you won’t worry about how you’ll get there.

Conclusion

Boring as it sounds money management should be an important part of everyone’s gambling lifestyle. Even though we say that gambling is for entertainment the truth is that it becomes mixed up with our monthly incomes and expenses. If you have a couple of thousand dollars in your account right now and you don’t know how much of that came from gambling, you’re ready to make a few small changes.

Keeping the money separate simplifies things and reduces stress. I found I started enjoying my playing time more when I didn’t have to worry about money. I’m not rich but I’m confident I won’t be betting the car payment next week.

There are two kinds of luck, magical luck and random luck.

Superstitious people appeal to, and may believe in, magical luck. They avoid stepping on cracks, don’t open umbrellas indoors, and carry around a “lucky” rabbit’s foot.

Gamblers quickly develop small rituals when playing the same games. These rituals may not be appeals to luck. They border on obsessive-compulsive behavior and may, according to some experts, be a subconscious attempt to control the game.

Random luck is just that, good fortune that occurs because you’re in the right place at the right time. It doesn’t matter how hard you pull the handle on the one-armed bandit. All that matters is that you are the person who spins the wheels when it’s time for a jackpot.

If you’re looking to change your luck while real money gambling, check out some of our tips below.

Thinking Positively Affects Many Outcomes

Although motivational speakers have taught us to use the power of positive thinking for decades, science has found only slight evidence that this might work.

Men who believe they have beaten a rival experience a spike in testosterone. In a competitive situation where strength or stamina help, a slight boost in testosterone can be a positive thing.

Other research seems to show that optimistic people tend to live longer. We don’t understand why this happens, but more studies have still found that positive thinking can help people heal faster.

The one common thread in all this research is that thinking positively affects how you perform. And when you’re gambling, you need to make the best decisions you can. That’s a type of performance.

Therefore, putting a positive spin on your gambling improves how you play the game. And the better you play the game, the more likely you’ll come away a winner.

It’s a small advantage but it’s not one to be overlooked. Besides, you’re more likely to have a good time if you’re feeling bright and positive about your gameplay. People who can only see the downside of the game are less likely to appreciate small wins or believe they can win at all.

When Playing Slot Machine Games, Choose Games Likely to Pay

There are two ways to interpret this advice. You can choose games likely to pay big jackpots or you can choose games that are likely to pay more often.

But you need to be a little more precise than that. A networked progressive jackpot game with an advertised minimum $1 million jackpot is more likely to pay a big jackpot than a non-progressive game that tops out at $10,000.

It’s an obvious distinction but if you’re looking for games “more likely to pay,” you need some clarity. You really want to choose a slot machine game that’s more likely to pay you back with a little extra.

And there are slot machines that do that. They eventually take someone’s money, but they are less likely to take everyone’s money than other slot machine games.

Most experts tell you to look at the theoretical return to player, or RTP. This may be reported in the slot machine’s help screen. It may be implied by a sticker on the machine that says “game pays about 1:4.”

A low volatility machine is less likely to pay big prizes but more likely to pay lots of small prizes. A low variance machine is less likely to experience a wide swing between how much money it keeps and how much money it pays.

The best slot machine games have low volatility (pays often) and slightly high variance (paying good prizes). These games probably have high RTPs but not all high RTP games have the combination of low volatility and slightly high variance you want.

When the Game Gets Rough, Change the Game

Even if you’re the best poker player in the world, sooner or later, the cards go against you. Gambling depends on random chance to create a challenge.

When I’ve lost more than 20% to 30% of my stake at the blackjack table, I get up and walk around. Not only does this help clear my head, it gives me a break.

Slot players have hundreds or thousands of games to choose from in any large casino. If you’re not having fun, there’s no reason to sit there and let the machine take your money.

Winning is great, but losing can either be torment or the cost of enjoying yourself. If you’re not having fun, just find a game you’ll enjoy more. There’s no reason to pay for entertainment that isn’t entertaining.

Play Two Games at a Time

Playing two games simultaneously is easier to do on slot machines and video card games. You can also do it on video keno and sometimes, at the blackjack table.

If you’re comfortable with the challenge, it may be more entertaining even if you lose. But playing two or more games at the same time requires more brain power if you’re required to think.

Slot game players often play two machines at the same time when they’re bored and the casino isn’t full. You’re usually expected to give up the extra game if all the machines are occupied.

Truthfully, there’s no statistical advantage in playing two or more games at a time. But some players feel they have better luck doing this. Even if your positive thoughts aren’t influencing the random number generators, they’re affecting how you enjoy the games.

Stop Taking Extra Risks

If there’s one thing a casino will do for you, it’s give you more opportunities to lose your money. They’ll add progressive or side bets you really don’t need to take. Some slot machine games allow you to bet a prize you just won on a “double or nothing” bonus.

Those double or nothing bonus games improve the house edge. You’re only playing with money you won on your original bet. Even on a 50-50 game, you’re giving the casino a chance to keep the prize it just paid you.

This is why blackjack experts say you shouldn’t buy insurance. The chances the dealer has a blackjack are less than the chances you’ll win or push. When you take insurance, you’re betting the dealer has a blackjack.

By the same token, using any betting system that requires you to raise your bets to win back money you’ve lost is just adding risk to risk. Simple multiplication shows us that maximum bets pay better than minimum bets but you’re still playing for revenge, not fun.

Conclusion

I don’t believe in magical luck. When I find myself brushing my shoulder or falling into some other rhythmic tic, I either stop it or quit playing the game for the day.

Sure, gambling rituals make some people feel more comfortable. If it helps you relax and enjoy the evening, there may not be any harm in spinning around three times and throwing salt over your shoulder.

Random luck is something you can change by putting yourself into a different environment. It may change for the worse, but even so, you have the option of changing the game again.

Some of my readers probably turn their noses up at bingo and keno. These are games which seem beneath the notice of the average casino gambler, and I like to think my readers are above average.

But it’s never good to ignore opportunities. Keno and bingo both provide opportunities to have some fun when gambling, even though it’s a different kind of fun from blackjack or poker.

Here’s why should add bingo and keno to your personal gambling routine.

Bingo Is Fun

I was talking to a friend of mine just a couple of days ago about how accepted bingo is as a form of gambling. As far as I know, it’s the only gambling game that’s regularly played in a church setting. It’s also probably the most popular and fun gambling game in the world.

Heck, just look around the bingo hall. Are those people having fun? You bet they are.

Bingo is fun because of the game’s social aspect. Most of your time in the bingo hall is spent chatting with the other players. In that respect, it’s like poker, but without the strategic element.

Some of the bingo players I know visit the bingo hall with at least one friend, but most of them go with a group. Even if you go by yourself, you’ll probably meet some people you can talk to.

I think bingo is even more social than poker, by the way. After all, when you play poker, you’re usually sitting at a table with half a dozen people—nine opponents, tops. But in a bingo hall, EVERYONE is playing together.

Bingo is also fun because of the suspense factor. You can see how close you are to winning, and if you’re close, the anticipation is worthwhile.

The other reason bingo is so much fun is the size of the prizes. Unless you’re playing slots or keno, you don’t really see the kinds of jackpots in bingo that you do with other casino games.

In fact, your odds of winning a big jackpot in bingo are probably better than they are in any other game with a large prize.

Keno Is Fun, Too

I was unfamiliar with keno the first time I visited a Las Vegas casino. But once I’d played the game, I started to understand its attraction among gamblers of all stripes.

One of the reasons people love it is because of how easy it is to play keno for real money. It’s as simple as deciding how many numbers you want to play from the 80-number keno card available. The max is usually 20 numbers.

Once you choose your number, you decide how much you want to bet. Once you’ve turned in your card along with your wager, you can sit back, relax, and wait for the results.

Keno results are like lotto results. They’re determined randomly by the drawing of various numbered, plastic balls. The more numbers that are drawn matching the numbers on your keno card, the more money you win.

You should keep in mind that you won’t ever match all 20 numbers even if you decide to play all of them. I say this with the certainty of someone who has actually looked at the math behind this eventuality.

Sure, it’s possible, but it’s so unlikely that it might as well be impossible. Also, keno is a slow-paced game. This makes it boring for some gamblers, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, keno is one way you can stay in action in the casino even when you’re involved in other activities. I personally like to play keno online while I’m eating breakfast.

Add to that the excitement factor of being able to win a life-changing jackpot, and you have a great gambling option.

And casinos make variations of keno available to mix it up enough that you’ll never be bored. Once you’ve “caught” five keno numbers or more, you’ll be hooked for the rest of your life, I promise you.

Social players should love keno, because you can hang out in the keno lounge with your buddies, put a little money into action, and have great conversations and enjoy the fellowship keno has to offer.

More About the House Edge and the Rate of Play

When you’re estimating the “cost” of playing a gambling game, it’s easy to project an average hourly loss rate for the game. You just multiply the game’s house edge by the average bet size and the number of bets you’re making per hour.

Blackjack, for example, is well-known for having one of the lowest house edge percentages in the casino. If you play with perfect basic strategy, you can play a game where the house only has an edge over you of 0.5%.

Let’s assume you’re playing heads-up with a deal for $5 per hand. You’ll get in about 200 hands per hour in this example, which means you’ll be putting $1,000 per hour into action. With a house edge of 0.5%, your projected, average hourly loss is $5 per hour. That’s cheap entertainment, for sure.

Now, let’s look at keno. The house edge for this game is 35% or more. That makes it sound like a really expensive game, but let’s look at the other numbers.

Most people won’t play more than 10 or 12 games of keno in an hour. Most people only buy keno tickets for $1, so you’re looking at putting $10 per hour into action.

35% of $10 is only $3.50, so on an hourly basis, playing keno is cheaper than playing blackjack. Sure, it lacks the intellectual stimulation of trying to decide how to play each hand, but keno isn’t a contest of will or intelligence.

It’s a chance to be social and maybe win some money.

Keno Is Better Than the Lottery

The gambling game that keno is most comparable to is the lottery. You’re looking at a house edge that, while still high, is considerably lower than you’d face when playing the lottery. 35% is better than 50%, and you get to play more often than once or twice a week.

Also, the lottery lacks the social aspect of keno or bingo. When’s the last time you saw a group of people getting together to socialize while watching the results of the lotto drawing?

Yeah, me neither.

Money From Bingo Often Goes to Charity

Bingo isn’t treated the same as casino games. Some of this is because bingo halls regularly donate a large percentage of their money to charitable causes.

I’m sure that some of the entrepreneurs running some of these casinos in Las Vegas donate some money to good causes here and there. But that’s not the same as being in a business that consists almost entirely of giving a huge percentage of your profits to charity, as you do with bingo.

Conclusion

I’m fascinated by gambling games that involve numbers. This includes bingo, keno, and the lottery. These are fun games where you can win large jackpots while socializing with other friendly, fun-loving gamblers.

Do you ever play bingo or keno? If not, do you think you might give either game a try after reading this post? Let me know in the comments.

So before I even go into the top 2 anime gambling films, I am going to do a brief rundown of what anime even is. Although the popularity in the west continues to grow each year, there are still plenty of people in the US who have no idea what anime is, what it’s all about, or why they should care (and trust me, you should—it’s an incredible artform).

For most people in the US, especially adults, anime is something they just don’t have experience with. They might have seen it for a second or two while checking on their child while they watched cartoons after school, but they still may not know that what they saw was anime (or how to tell the difference between the anime shows versus all of the non-anime cartoons out there).

What is Anime?

The word anime is Japanese for the term “animation.” The Japanese use it to refer to all forms of animated media that’s outside of their homeland (Japan).

For those of us who live outside of Japan, the word anime refers specifically to animation that has been created and produced inside Japan, while also meaning a “Japanese-disseminated” animation style.

It’s hard to explain what the art style looks like exactly, but the most common explanation is this:

“Anime includes those cartoons where the characters, especially the female ones, all have really big eyes.”

Most people have probably stumbled across the art style at some point, even if they don’t know it, and to be honest, there really aren’t a lot of people in the younger generations who don’t at least know what it is.

The earliest commercial Japanese animated flicks date back all the way to 1917, and since then, the industry has grown exponentially. Anime started to emerge in the 1960s, and by the late 20th century, anime had spread internationally.

Anime is a distinct art form, especially when compared to other styles of animation. It uses distinct styles of production methods, combining graphic art, characterization, cinematography, and even clever and brilliant styles of emergent technologies.

When creating anime, the focus is less on the animation and movement and more on the realism of settings and camera effects including panning, zooming, and angle shots. Character proportions and features can be quite varied, including characteristically large emotive or realistically sized eyes.

Believe it or not, there are over 430 productions studios, including huge and well known names like Ghibli, Toei Animation, and Gainax. Once English dubbing was introduced into anime, there was a pretty rapid rise in international popularity. This led to international studios adapting and using it as an art form.

If you’re not familiar with anime as an artform, then you’ve probably come across it in video games. Because much of modern video gaming originated in Japan, you’ll see a lot of videos today, whether produced in Japan or other parts of the world, that have the same anime style.

And if you don’t play video games much, you’ve almost certainly heard of the biggest media franchise in the world—no, I’m not talking about Star Wars (although you’re right to believe it’s huge).

Actually, it’s Pokemon. That’s right, not only is Pokemon the largest media franchise in the world in terms of profit, but it’s also a perfect example of the anime style. If you’ve ever taken your kids to any of the animated Pokemon movies (or the recently released live-action Pokemon movie Detective Pikachu), then you’ve seen anime.

Now that you have an extremely basic understanding of anime, I want to talk about some great anime films that center around gambling and or casino life.

Gambling movies that are not anime have been extremely popular worldwide over the decades, so it’s probably not much of a surprise that gambling is big in anime as well. Gambling can be an exciting and exhilarating experience, but obviously there’s a portion of the population that struggles with it, so including gambling in a movie can be a way to come close to the lifestyle associated with gambling without actually putting your money on the table.

I think some of the draw for anime creators and movie directors is the high drama of gambling. When you have brilliant minds battling it out for high stakes while doing tricks, bluffs, and planning schemes in order to aid in the winning process, you’ve got a recipe for edge-of-your-seat action.

These movies are similar to western gambling movies, except they are anime! There are so many more films that could be on this list, but for now, I am just going to go over 2 really great anime films about gambling.

1- The Money of Soul and Possibility Control

The Money of Soul and Possibility Control is an animated series from 2011 that was produced by Tatsunoko Production. The plot of the series follow Kimimaro Yoga, a student studying economics. Living in a country whose economy is in shambles, but also being surrounded by peers who show off their luxurious lives, Kimimaro understands the significance of money.

He has been struggling to make ends meet, and then, one evening, his whole life as he knows it is completely turned upside down when a stranger with a top hat on arrives at his doorstep one late evening.

He’s introduced to the alternate reality of the Financial District, which is kind of like a real money online casino, where money flows abundantly if a person uses their “future” as collateral. In the series, the term for fighters is entres, and entres can have large quantities of money if they win, and risk having their future altered if they lose.

Yoga has to adapt in this new world if he is going to protect his wealth and his future. As the series progresses, we see Kimimaro start to realize the impact that the alternate reality of the Financial District is having on the real world.

One of the important lessons in the series is Yoga having to learn just how much money is really worth. The entire storyline was created and directed by Kenju Nakamura. The first airing of the show happened on Japan’s local station, Fuji TV, April 15, 2011. It was shortly after released on DVD and Blu Ray by a company called Toho. It eventually made it to the United States, the UK, and Australia.

What I like so much about this movie that really sets it apart from your classic gambling movie is that it’s not so much about specific, well-known table games, but rather is about the consequences that gambling itself can have, including gambling addiction. It’s a metaphor for what happens when you let gambling get out of hand and start to control your life, so I like to recommend it to people because it’s a different take on the traditional gambling flick.

2- Saki

Saki is a 25 episode anime adaption of the popular manga series called Saki (manga is basically Japanese comic books). The series first aired on TV in Tokyo on April 06, 2009. The anime portrays a peek into what the gambling environment might look like in China and other parts of Asia.

The game played in the anime is a popular game played while gambling. Saki is everything you would expect while watching a tournament-style sports game (minus the high levels of testosterone). The cast is predominantly female, and the story revolves around Saki Miyanaga, a high school freshman who does not like mahjong.

Mahjong is a tile based game usually played with 4 players that was developed by China during the Qing Dynasty. Unless a family is playing for fun, gambling is very common in Asia during a mahjong game.

Growing up with a mahjong-obsessed family, Saki becomes resentful toward the game because of how it would cause her family to treat her. If she lost, she would lose her gift money for New Year’s. If she won, her family and older sister would just get upset with her. In the midst of being emotionally scarred and having trauma around her family and the game, she curiously follows her friend into the schools mahjong club.

Saki then joins her friends in the national mahjong tournament, but this is where the story starts to get a little out of hand—playing the game wakes up several of her inner demons (in a literal sense).

I think again what I like about this anime is that it’s a very different take on gambling and doesn’t romanticize the experience of gambling or make it seem like more than it is. I don’t think it necessarily demonizes gambling, but it does have a lot of metaphors about the effect that gambling can have on you personally and on your family, and for that reason, I think it’s definitely an anime worth checking out.

Conclusion

While there are a number of anime films out there that concern gambling, I think these are 2 of the greatest. What do you think? Is there anything I left off this list? Let me know in the comments!

Riverboat casinos conjure images of gamblers in pork pie hats, the mighty Mississippi, and Mark Twain smoking corn cob pipes. These pieces of Americana can still be found in cities across the United States and make exciting vacation destinations.

Typically, this style of real money casinos are found along the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast. States known for their riverboats often border and contain tributaries of the Mississippi, although not all.

Once railroad transportation rose to dominance in the early 20th century, riverboats became entertainment destinations with its live music, dancing, and gambling. The riverboats carried guests on small excursions often leaving and docking every several hours.

Riverboats are known as a type of legal fiction, meaning they were created to limit the areas where gambling establishments could be constructed and often never leave the dock.

1 – The Amelia Belle in Amelia, LA

The first riverboat on the list is from Boyd Gaming, a casino and hospitality company based in Paradise, Nevada. Located in Amelia, Louisiana, between Morgan City and Houma, the Amelia Belle rests in the Avoca Island Cutoff waterway.

One of the most beautiful riverboats on my list, this four-story casino has a classic turn of the century look and is impressive when lit up at night. Unique table game offerings include Three-Card Poker, Ultimate Texas Hold’em, and Mississippi Stud.

Along with your standard fare, the casino has a regular $10,000 giveaway and offers an advertised $777 slots jackpot. Don’t miss their touted Cajun Buffet for classic Louisiana favorites.

2 – The Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, Illinois

The Grand Victoria is located on the Fox River in Elgin, Illinois. The destination is a holding of El Dorado Resorts, owners of the Tropicana, and another riverboat casino on my list, the Isle of Capri.

40 miles west of Downtown Chicago, the Grand Victoria boasts four restaurants:

1. Buckinghams Steakhouse and Lounge
2. Indulge Show Kitchen Buffet
3. Crave Deli
4. Prime Burgerhouse

The casino contains over 1,100 video poker and slot machines in addition to 36 table games. It is the highest-generating casino in the state of Illinois and is known for its community outreach programs. So, you can take added comfort knowing that your fun is contributing to local toy-collecting programs and not-for-profit organizations.

3 – Casino Queen Marquette in Marquette, Iowa

If you’re looking for a more personalized experience, this is your destination. The Queen Marquette is a smaller riverboat casino operated by CQ Holdings and is located in Marquette, Iowa. Like most of the riverboats on this list, the Queen Marquette rests on the Mississippi River. Across the river, you’ll find the quaint midwestern town of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

Although the Queen Marquette has only eight tables games, it more than makes up for it with over 566 slot machine games. Table games include blackjack, Mississippi Stud, Ultimate Texas Hold’em, 21+3, Fusion Roulette, Shoot to Win Craps, and Fusion Blackjack.

Although most casinos have hosts whose job is to provide personalized service to casino guests, the Queen Marquette puts extra emphasis on this staff. Owing to their smaller size, they tout more focused attention and accommodation in planning your visit.

4 – Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall in Shreveport, Louisiana

The Sams’s Town name is synonymous with gambling in Las Vegas, but this casino in Shreveport, LA, brings the luxury of Vegas to the South.

All Sam’s slots are progressive, meaning with each play, your chance of winning one of several jackpots becomes greater. A spin of the ol’ triple double stars will win you a jackpot over $90,000.

Along with standard table games, Sam’s Town Shreveport offers variations such as Craps no More, Mini Baccarat, and Let it Ride.

If you’re feeling luxurious, stay in the 760-square-foot Magnolia Suite and dine at the elegant William B’s Steakhouse. Spa Blu offers a variety of spa treatments, including massages, facials, body treatments, manicures, and pedicures. Relax in their dry saunas and steam rooms to unwind after a long day of winning. Check out their entertainment venue, Sam’s Town Live, for great local and national acts.

5 – Hollywood Casino in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Hollywood Casino is located right across the street from the state capitol building on the banks of the Mississippi River in downtown Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Hollywood Casino has an extensive Tier Credit program. At the Executive Producer level, customers can enjoy such benefits as personal host service, access to the exclusive Producer’s Lounge, and free sports tickets.

Hollywood Casino has your standard slots, video poker, and traditional table games.

The Hollywood boasts several restaurants, including The Celebrity Grill, Epic Buffet, the Take Two Deli, and more. After that, you can take to the links on the Copper Mill Golf Club.

Copper Mill is a “links-style” course reminiscent of those found in Scotland, with a unique layout that’s a combination of holes with three par 3 holes, three par 4 holes, and three par 5 holes on each nine. You can also take in the latest movies at the Movie Tavern which offers restaurant quality food while you relax and enjoy the show.

6 – Isle of Capri in Lake Charles, Louisiana

The Isle of Capri Casino, located off the aptly-named Lake Charles in Lake Charles, LA, provides a classic casino experience with a wide range of luxury suites.

The casino contains 30 table games, 11 poker tables, and over 1,100 slots. Like many casinos in southwest Louisiana, you’ll find the unique game of Pai Gow based off of the ancient Chinese game of dominoes adopted for a modern card deck.

Restaurants include the steakhouse Otis and Henry’s Bar and Grill, the Farmer’s Pick Buffet, and the diner-style Lone Wolf Express. Check out the lineup of live local entertainment and hear the unique sounds of Louisiana Swamp Pop, a variation of classic zydeco native to southwest Louisiana.

After dinner, relax on the upper deck with a drink, take in the view of the city lights, and watch the locals stroll along the downtown waterfront.

7 – Treasure Chest Casino in Kenner, Louisiana

Located in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner, Treasure Chest is a 24,000-square-foot dockside riverboat resting on placid Lake Pontchartrain. Enjoy the distant view of the downtown New Orleans skyline and picturesque cypress tree groves in the bayous surrounding Kenner.

Unique table games include Mini Baccarat, Fortune Pai Gow, Flop Poker, Three-Card Poker, and Four-Card Poker. Restaurants include the Vista Buffet and Cafe Pontchartrain, both serving favorites of Louisiana food culture.

Once you’ve eaten your fill of boiled crawfish and steamed crab legs, take in the live entertainment in the Treasure Chests Caribbean Showroom. National acts are great, but the local Cajun and zydeco acts will give you a unique musical experience.

Conclusions

Riverboats may not have all the bells and whistles of your standard casinos (although some do), but what they lack in Vegas style amenities, they more than make up for in character. Riverboat casinos are perfect for those who are in it for the main draw, gambling, and would like to do so in a unique environment.

There are many destinations for riverboat casinos up and down the Mississippi River. There are also a few outside the confines of the “Mighty Mississippi.”

The next time you’re at one of these uniquely American establishments, hearken back to the turn of the century and imagine yourself amongst maverick gamblers and saloon-style showgirls. Riverboat casinos are the stuff of movies and novels, but you can still experience the atmosphere of this early American tradition today.

Keep your eyes peeled when on deck, you might see Huck Finn floating by leisurely on a wooden raft off on his next adventure.

Blackjack and craps are my two favorite casino games. When I’m asked which game I recommend to casino gamblers, I always point them to real money blackjack.

This post explains why I do that. Why is blackjack the best casino game of them all?

Blackjack Is Easy to Understand and Play

Anyone who knows anything about casino game design knows that one of the challenges of creating a new casino game is making the game simple enough that the average gamblers can understand how to play in just a few minutes.

Few games have accomplished this better than blackjack. The rules are dead simple, you get two cards. They’re worth the amount on the face of the card, with the jack, queen, and king worth 10 points each. Aces are worth 1 or 11, whichever is better.

You want to get a higher total than the dealer, but you also want to keep your total to 21 or lower. Any total of 22 or higher is a losing hand.

You play your hand first, deciding when to take additional cards and when to stand on your total. The casino plays their hand next, and they do so according to a prescribed set of strategies. They usually have to hit any total of 16 or lower, and they have to stand on any 17 or higher.

If your total is higher than the dealer’s, OR if you’re still in the game when the dealer busts, you win even money.

And when you get a card worth 10 with an ace, you get a blackjack, which pays off at 3:2. You have some other options, but they’re mostly just variations of hitting and standing.

The basics are so simple that a second-grader can learn how to play.

Blackjack Has the Lowest House Edge in the Casino

One way to compare casino games is by looking at the house edge for each game. This is the amount the casino expects to win from each bet expressed as a percentage. It’s based on comparing the odds of winning to the payout odds for that bet.

The house edge is a long-term expected win. The less time you spend playing, the more likely you are to see results different from the mathematical prediction. (Casino games are still random.)

The longer you play, though, the closer your results will eventually come to the mathematically predicted results. Most casino games have a house edge of close to 5%.

Most blackjack games, though, have a house edge of between 0.5% and 1%. Every time you bet $100 on blackjack, the casino expects you to lose between 50 cents and a dollar. That’s a big difference in the cost of your entertainment.

Blackjack has one catch when it comes to the house edge, though. To get the low percentage that I quoted, you must play with the correct strategy. More on that in the next section.

Blackjack Has “Basic Strategy”

Imagine if you were playing with a blackjack player who hit any total of 20 or lower – in other words, he tries to get exactly 21 on every hand.

Now, imagine being a player who mimics the house strategy of standing on any 17 or better and hitting any 16 or lower. Which of you would lose more money during an hour of blackjack?

That example clearly illustrates that there’s a strategy to blackjack. Neither of those two strategies are optimal, by the way. They’re just great at illustrating how much money you can lose by not making the correct decisions at the blackjack table.

Basic strategy is the comparison of every possible total you could have with every possible dealer up-card and what the mathematically best move to make is in every one of those situations.

You can find a card with basic strategy in the gift shop of any hotel and casino. You can also learn basic strategy online. Not only does basic strategy lower the house edge on blackjack, but it also makes the game more interesting. It takes time and effort to memorize basic strategy, but it’s worth it.

If you ignore basic strategy, you’ll face a house edge of between 2% and 4% higher than otherwise. It depends on how far your personal strategy deviates from the correct basic strategy.

Blackjack Is Available for Low Stakes

One of my favorite things about blackjack is that it’s available for relatively low stakes. Combine that with the low house edge, and you have an affordable way to while away the hours enjoying some gambling entertainment.

You can find blackjack games with betting minimums of $5 or $10 per hand throughout Vegas, but be careful. Some of the lower stakes games, especially on the Strip, only pay out 6:5 on a blackjack (or a “natural”) instead of 3:2. Don’t dignify a game like that with your presence.

You can find blackjack for $3 per hand in some other casinos in Vegas, but usually not on the Strip. You can also find low limit blackjack games online and in other gambling destinations.

When you figure that you’re probably only going to play 100 hands or so per hour, and maybe even less than that, you’re talking about putting only $500 or so into action per hour.

If you’re playing with basic strategy and mediocre rules where the house edge is 1%, you’re only looking at an average hourly loss of $5. That’s as cheap as watching a movie, and you’re an active participant.

You Can Count Cards in Blackjack

Counting cards isn’t for the faint of heart, but it isn’t illegal, and it isn’t cheating. The casinos want you to think it is, but that’s their problem, as long as you don’t get caught.

You don’t have to memorize a deck of cards to get an edge at blackjack by counting cards either. All you have to do is keep a rough estimate of how many low cards and how many high cards are left in the deck.

How does this get you an edge? You get a 3:2 payout for a natural, right? And the only way to get a blackjack (or natural) is to have an ace and a 10, right?

Those are the high cards in the deck. As those get dealt, your probability of getting a blackjack lowers. But as the lower cards in the deck get dealt out, your probability of getting a blackjack increases.

And because of the nature of a random, shuffled deck of cards, you’re going to have an uneven distribution some (or a lot) of the time.

When that uneven distribution favors you, when there are a lot of high cards left in the deck, you raise the size of your bets. The easiest system for counting cards is to add 1 to the count every time you see a 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 get dealt. Then, subtract 1 from the count every time you see a 10 or an ace.

When the count is positive, raise the size of your bets. The higher the count is, the bigger your bet should be. The only trick after that is to not get caught.

Even though counting cards is legal, casinos don’t like it, and they reserve the right to keep you from playing their blackjack games. Some of them will even trespass you from their property altogether.

Blackjack Players (and Dealers) Tend to Be Friendly

I know that not everyone is as social as I am, but if you are, blackjack can be even more fun because of the other players at the table. Just don’t socialize so much that you hold up the game. The other players will hate you for that.

You’ll understand how annoying that is once someone does that to you. The other important rule of etiquette is to occasionally tip the dealer. You don’t have to tip amazing amounts, but you should tip a few bucks an hour. That dealer is a service professional, and she’s relying on your tips to make her living.

Conclusion

Blackjack is my favorite casino game, and it should probably be yours, too. The reasons are clear, but the biggest one is that blackjack gives you the best probability of going home a winner.

The house still has an edge, but it’s the lowest edge in the casino.

Nobody is happy after a losing gambling session. But most people are at least able to keep their cool after blowing their bankroll.

Unfortunately, other gamblers are sore losers. In fact, some players have gone downright nuts after losing a significant amount of money at casinos in the US.

From lawsuits to murder, certain gamblers now live in infamy due to their actions after losing. Below, you can read about seven people who refused to accept their losses.

1 – Jack McCall

Jack McCall was a buffalo hunter in the Wild West during the late 1800s. He eventually made his way to a gold mining camp outside of Deadwood, South Dakota.

On August 1^st, 1876, McCall got extremely drunk at Nuttal and Mann’s saloon in Deadwood. He proceeded to lose a large amount of money to “Wild Bill” Hickok in poker.

Wild Bill was a gentleman about the matter and offered to both loan McCall money and buy him breakfast. McCall begrudgingly accepted, but he was also insulted by the offer.

The same poker game raged on the next day, this time, without McCall. Hickok normally sat with his back to the wall so that he could better protect himself against enemies.

On this day, though, he couldn’t get such a seat. McCall took advantage by walking up and shooting Wild Bill in the back of the head. Hickok died instantly. McCall, meanwhile, made a drunken and unsuccessful getaway attempt.

He was apprehended and tried for murder at the mining camp. McCall argued that he was justified in his actions, because Wild Bill allegedly killed his brother in Kansas. The jury believed him and found him not guilty.

Many associated with the matter were critical of the decision. Some questioned the validity of the mining camp court as well. Nevertheless, McCall was a free man for a while. He was arrested again in Wyoming after bragging about murdering Wild Bill.

Such a retrial would normally be considered double jeopardy. However, Wyoming authorities argued that Deadwood wasn’t officially part of the US court system.

McCall was brought to a federal courtroom in Yankton for a retrial. This time, he was found guilty of murder and hanged three months later at age 24.

2 – Safa Abdulla Al Geabury

Safa Al Geabury became notable for his Islamic art collection, which was valued at $1 billion. His clout earned him a large marker at the Ritz Club in 2014.

Al Geabury proceeded to lose £2.2 million in one session at the prestigious London casino. Markers are supposed to work like credit, where gamblers repay any potential losses.

However, Al Geabury simply decided that he wasn’t going to pay. He argued that the Ritz took advantage of his gambling problem and he wasn’t responsible for the losses.

The problem for the Swiss businessman, though, is that he previously signed documents stating that his gambling problem was under control.

The Ritz Club used these documents to win over Justice Simler. The judge also felt that Al Geabury contradicted his own story too many times.

At this point, it seems like the case should’ve been closed and Al Geabury would pay his debt. Only, he still refused to cover the market.

Justice Simler ordered Al Geabury to return to the London courtroom and finish the matter. But the sore loser claimed that he couldn’t afford the trip from Switzerland to the UK.

Simler finally had enough and charged Al Geabury with contempt of court. The latter ended up being sentenced to almost one year in jail as a result.

3 – Terrance Watanabe

Terrance Watanabe made a fortune as the CEO of Oriental Trading. He took over in 1977 and built it to a company that was making hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

In 2000, Watanabe decided to retire and sell his controlling stake in Oriental Trading. Up until this point, the Japanese-American businessman had been completely focused on his company.

Now armed with several hundred million dollars, he decided to start enjoying life. For Watanabe, this enjoyment all began in the casino. He stayed for weeks on end at various Las Vegas casino resorts. Watanabe indulged in everything from illegal drugs to casino games during his visits.

Unlike many high rollers, he didn’t discriminate on what kind of games he played. Watanabe was even willing to play high-stakes slot machines and keno, which both have really high house edges.

He didn’t fare too well on the gambling floor. He lost $120 million dollars in 2017 alone. Watanabe soon blew through the fortune that he earned as head of Oriental Trading. His problems came to a head when he was sued by Caesars Palace for writing $14.75 million in bad checks.

He fought back with a countersuit that blamed Caesars for letting him use drugs on their property. The Nevada Gaming Commission hit the casino with a $225,000 after hearing the allegations.

However, this fine didn’t absolve Watanabe of his debts. He still had to settle out of court with Caesars for an undisclosed amount.

4 – Brad Booth

Brad Booth was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the mid-2000s poker boom. “Yukon” Brad made a fortune in live and also real money online poker.

He also became famous for playing on the TV show High Stakes Poker. His comeuppance was quite notable when considering that he spent years grinding in the remote Yukon Territory.

Booth’s career hit a major roadblock, though, when he was part of the Ultimate Bet cheating scandal. He estimates being cheated out of $2 million by UB consultant Russ Hamilton throughout the mid-2000s.

The losses didn’t end here, though. No longer confident in his game, Booth proceeded to lose another $4 million. He blamed the scandal for causing him to question his skills at every step of the way. Unfortunately, he’d never get any retribution for the cheating incident.

Booth eventually began launching online attacks against Phil Hellmuth, who was once a prominent UB-sponsored player. Yukon Brad claimed that Hellmuth knew more about the scandal than he led on.

Eventually, though, Booth ran into more troubles of his own and had to stop focusing on the past. He was outed by Doug Polk after failing to repay $28,000 from a cash-for-online funds swap.

Booth still grinds in low-stakes cash games in Vegas. However, his reputation is largely ruined as a result of not repaying Polk.

5 – Harry Kakavas

Harry Kakavas was once a highly successful Australian real estate developer. He amassed millions of dollars by developing homes on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Rather than using these profits to further his business, Kakavas began gambling large amounts of money at Melbourne’s Crown Casino. He wagered an estimated $1.5 billion and lost $20.5 million of this amount during his gambling heyday.

Kakavas chose not to pay up and instead launched a lawsuit. He claimed that the Crown Casino had taken advantage of his gambling addiction.

Kakavas cited the lavish comps that the Crown offered to keep him coming back. For example, they’d send a private jet to pick him up.

The High Court ruled that casinos have no duty to “protect gamblers from themselves.” The court also noted that Kakavas was by no means a special case in terms of compulsive gambling.

6 – Erick Lindgren

Erick “E-Dog” Lindgren started out with a very successful poker career. He began winning major tournaments just before the boom years (2003-06), including a $1 million prize in the 2002 WPT Partypoker Million III cruise.

The wins kept rolling in for Lindgren. He eventually landed a lucrative sponsorship deal with Full Tilt Poker that reportedly paid him $300,000 per month.

Beneath all of his success, though, was a festering sports betting problem. Lindgren bet and lost millions of dollars on sports. He was able to handle these losses when the Full Tilt checks were rolling in. However, he eventually lost this sponsorship deal after Black Friday (Apr. 15, 2011).

Things quickly spiraled out of control for Lindgren from here. By November 2012, he admittedly couldn’t repay his sports betting debts and entered rehab.

He was also dealing with a lawsuit involving a $4 million loan from Full Tilt. According to Howard Lederer, a former board member of the poker site, he accidentally loaned Lindgren $4 million instead of $2 million.

E-Dog refused to pay, or couldn’t pay, the money back. His inaction and refusal to answer texts regarding the matter prompted the lawsuit.

Lindgren finally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015. He had less than $50k in assets while owing over $10 million to various creditors.

7 – Stu Ungar

Stu Ungar is perhaps the greatest gambler who ever lived. He dominated gin rummy to the point where he couldn’t find a single person willing to take him on in a straight-up game.

“The Kid” instead had to offer major handicaps to draw opponents. For example, he would play each hand from the unfavorable dealer position just to get action.

Ungar transitioned to poker in 1977 following his inability to find decent rummy games. Just a few years later, he won back-to-back WSOP Main Event titles in 1980 and 1981.

Unfortunately, Ungar began using cocaine around this same time. He initially used it to help power through long poker sessions. However, his cocaine usage eventually became a lifelong habit. The Kid also began losing lots of money with sports betting.

He spent most of the 1990s making losing sports wagers and spiraling out of control. Ungar got a break, though, when Billy Baxter staked him in the 1997 WSOP Main Event.

He’d go on to win the 1997 Main Event along with a $1 million prize. He split half of the money with Baxter. Sadly, Ungar went back to his old ways by abusing drugs and losing money through sports betting. He died just one year later due to a heart attack brought on by years of cocaine abuse.

Conclusion

Most of the gamblers on this list were very successful people at one time. Some even managed to conquer gambling itself and win millions of dollars in the process.

Unfortunately, each person discussed here also went mad when they suffered major gambling losses. Jack McCall even resorted to murder after his losing poker session to “Wild” Bill Hickok.

Terrance Watanabe and Harry Kakavas both launched lawsuits when they lost. They each tried claiming that the casinos in question took advantage of them. Neither successfully proved their argument and were forced to pay whatever they could as a result.

Despite owning an expensive art collection, Safa Abdulla Al Geabury just flat out refused to pay a large market to the Ritz Club. Al Geabury was stubborn to the point where he spent 10 months in jail on contempt of court charges.

Brad Booth and Erick Lindgren were both highly skilled poker players. However, each lost money to the point where they could no longer pay back backers and creditors. Stu Ungar is the most tragic tale on this list. The three-time WSOP Main Event champ could never kick his sports betting and cocaine habits. The latter eventually cost him his life.

The seven gamblers covered here are definitely among the most famous to lose their wits. Sadly, they won’t be the last.

Everyone who has seen a Las Vegas crime movie has undoubtedly run across the idea that, at some point, the hero of the film will end up in a windowless, cameraless room inside of casino at the order of the film’s villain.

In that room, the villain’s thugs beat the hero senseless and leave him there to devise some Hollywood-clever way to escape.

If you’re not sure what I mean, the best movie featuring such a room is Ocean’s Eleven which, if you haven’t seen it, you really should. Go ahead. I’ll wait… Back now? Good.

Anyway, those cameraless beating rooms probably don’t exist. Not that most casino operators would tell me if they did, but it seems unlikely given the stiff competition among the best casinos in the US that they would have places where you might get the pulp beaten out of you.

Still, it’s fun to think about these rooms, which is why we will look at the origin of the cameraless room, talk about why a casino might have them, why they don’t, and draw our own conclusions about whether they really exist.

The Origin of the Cameraless Room Myth

The origins of the cameraless room appear to be shrouded in myth. One source that I found said that it might have started with the book Bringing Down the House, though the myth appears to be much older.

Back in those days, instead of mega-corporations owning casinos, the mafia either owned them outright or had a big stake in the person who did. And, if Hollywood has taught us anything, when the mob becomes involved, public beatings soon follow.

Historical Precedent for Casino Beatings

Still, it’s hard to get a read on whether there were beatings even back in the 1950s through the 1970s. In and of itself, that’s likely a controversial statement.

From what I can tell, everyone accepted it as fact that casino thugs would seek out cheaters and beat them up as a warning back in the day. Does that mean it happened? Well, it was hard to find a single case where it did even in the case of some famous blackjack card counters.

With that said, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. It’s probably safe to assume that stealing money from a casino in the 1950s likely got you noticed by some people you’d rather not be noticed by. In turn, those people said hello with their firsts and thus, the legend of the Las Vegas casino was established.

Still, whether those beatings took place in a cameraless room in a casino is also up for debate.

Detained, Not Beaten

There is perhaps one modern source of the cameraless room myth—casino detention. Per current law, casino employees can detain anyone as long as there is suspicion of cheating and the detention is not considered extreme.

Really, any casino employee (who all undergo extensive anti-cheating training) has the ability to stop a casino patron on suspicion of cheating and ask them questions. This is probably a little uncomfortable for casino customers when they experience it and, very likely, could circle back to the idea that these detained alleged cheaters may go to a beating room when security gets ahold of them.

Suffice it to say, while security team members may not be the perkiest casino employees, that’s a far cry from thugs who deliver beatings behind closed doors.

What About Casinos Outside of Las Vegas?

Just to be clear, up to this point, the casinos we’re talking about are the big, fancy, visible casinos along the main Las Vegas Strip. Those casinos are governed by a certain set of laws and expectations that likely aren’t the same for Native American casinos, casinos in other countries, or casinos on cruise ships.

It’s safe to say that these types of casinos operate under vastly different laws. Foreign laws, Indian reservation laws, and the law of the open seas are all completely different than United States and Nevada gaming law. Could any of these types of casinos have the famed cameraless room or still beat people up?

While I don’t have any proof, Native American casinos seem pretty safe. Cruise ship casinos also seem pretty safe despite the fact that you can’t really escape the ship if you get caught cheating.

Foreign Casinos May Be a Problem

Native American and cruise ship casinos are probably safe, but it doesn’t take a lot of searching to find that cheaters have been attacked in Cambodia. Still, even this appears to be an isolated incident compared to the number of folks who actually go to these casinos.

With that said, it never hurts to be respectful when you gamble in foreign countries. The fact of the matter is, you probably don’t know the law or the customs.

Why Casinos Might Have Cameraless Rooms

It’s actually highly likely that Las Vegas does have cameraless rooms somewhere in the casinos. Traditionally, these include casino hallways and bathrooms.

But in all seriousness, if you could find the plans for a casino, you might run across a few rooms that don’t have any cameras in them. However, this would not be proof that the casinos were using them for beating anyone.

Ultimately, I think we want to believe that casinos have beating rooms because it adds an element of danger and mystery to the whole operation. Maybe it is true. More than likely, if those rooms do exist, its so that casino security can have a conversation with words, not fists, with suspected cheaters before the cheats are escorted out.

Why Casinos Don’t Have Cameraless Rooms

The lack of a solid beating story from anyone in the last few decades is pretty good proof that casinos don’t have cameraless rooms used Ocean’s Eleven-style. Also, there are two really good reasons why they don’t routinely beat cheaters like we see in the movies—marketers and lawyers.

Why marketers? Consider this. You run MGM Grand and you just found out that Mandalay Bay security beat the tar out of a guy caught cheating. Your next great marketing campaign will center around how your casino is a great place to be and not somewhere you’ll get physically assaulted.

In fact, patrons would leave any casino where beatings happened in droves to the point where the offending casino would likely either shut down or get new, less violent owners faster than it takes to lose a stack of chips at the poker table.

There’s simply no room in Las Vegas’s competition for mob justice. This is doubly true in today’s legal environment. If a patron were to be attacked, they could sue a casino for a lot of money. Like we said before, casinos are owned by large corporations who don’t want to have to go to court over a cheater they could have just thrown out.

The Final Verdict

Given that the world is run by marketers and lawyers, ultimately, the reasons against there being cameraless rooms seems pretty compelling. If this article would have been written 30 years ago, my answer would likely have been different.

It was a different time back then and, as I said, there’s enough circumstantial evidence that I believe there were probably some beatings that took place in the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s.

Today, they have either been renovated or feature camera systems.

Still, a lot of this is hearsay. The casinos clearly aren’t going to advertise the existence of cameraless rooms, either today or in the annals of history. It would be bad for business, and they’re not going to risk anything like that. In turn, that does nothing for the rumor mill that wants to believe such rooms exist.

Conclusion

Whatever you think about cameraless rooms, don’t be afraid to go to a casino unless you’re cheating. Most people will never do anything that warrants a cameraless room, so it probably doesn’t matter.

In the end, the fact that we can enjoy stories with such rooms is what really matters. Happy gambling!

Card counting has long fascinated gamblers and the general population alike. Many see it as a path towards quick riches.

Some even attempt to embark on this path in hopes of winning big. They dream of being like the MIT Blackjack Team and many other successful card counters.

However, there’s another side to counting beyond the money and Hollywood glamour. This advantage gambling technique isn’t always as great as it seems.

Therefore, you need to look at the pros and cons before jumping into the matter. Here are three reasons both for and against counting cards.

The Case for Card Counting

The obvious benefit to card counting is that you can make money with it. But as you’ll see below, the advantages of counting go deeper than just financial gain.

1 – Counting Cards Isn’t as Tough as It Seems

Blackjack card counting is sometimes presented as a technique that only mathematical geniuses can pull off. However, this thought is far from the case.

You can actually learn card counting in as little as a few minutes. You just need to study a simple system.

The Hi-Lo is a favorite among both beginners and experienced counters. It’s easy to get started with and offers you a big enough edge to win consistently.

Everything starts with the values you assign to each card as it comes out of the deck:

• 2 through 6 (low cards) = +1
• 7 through 9 (neutral cards) = 0
• A through 10 (high cards) = -1

The goal is to count until you get a positive count worth +2 or higher. At this point, enough low cards have come out of the deck to where you have a stronger chance of getting a natural blackjack.

The catch, though, is that most blackjack games feature six to eight decks. Therefore, you need to convert your running count into a true count.

You must divide the running count by the number of remaining decks to do so. Here’s an example:

• Your running count is +12.
• Four decks remain in the shoe.
• 12 / 4 = +3

The last matter is deciding how much to bet when the count is positive. You want to start raising your wager when the true count is at least +2.

However, you need to avoid wagering too much out of the blue and drawing suspicion from the casino. The easiest way to accomplish this is by raising your wager by predetermined betting units.

Here’s an example:

1. Choose a unit size (e.g. $25).
2. Determine your true count (e.g. +3).
3. Subtract 1 from the true count (3 – 1 = 2).
4. Multiply this number by your unit size (25 x 2 = 50).
5. You should bet $50 per hand while the true count is at +2.

Counting cards definitely isn’t as simple as basic blackjack strategy. However, you can see that it’s not brain surgery either.

2 – Card Counting Is One of the Few Ways to Make Gambling Profits

Believe it or not, the casino doesn’t want you to make money, at least when they’re facing you. They don’t mind if you win profits in poker against other players. However, they don’t want to provide you with a living.

That said, casinos have stamped out most of the ways you can beat them. Card counting is one of the few remaining routes towards guaranteed winnings.

As covered later, these guaranteed winnings aren’t so easy to make. But they’re possible, nonetheless.

Card counting isn’t the only advantage gambling technique in the world. Hole carding and shuffle tracking can also bring you profits when done right.

The key difference, though, is that these methods are also infinitely harder and more time-consuming. You need to find one of the rare dealers who consistently flashes their hole cards for this technique to work.

Shuffle tracking works similar to card counting. However, it involves a more complex process of tracking certain cards throughout the deck. Unless you want to become a hardcore gambling expert, then card counting is the path of least resistance.

Of course, you can also win in poker by beating other players and the rake. The problem, though, is that poker has gotten much tougher in recent years.

When compared to card counting, you need to study poker a lot more to beat stakes that can bring in reasonable profits.

3 – You Can Make Your Own Hours

Most people clock in and out at set work times. They never get the joy of being their own boss and making their own hours.

Card counting offers you this rare ability. You choose when to visit the casino and how long your sessions will last.

Of course, some of your hours will depend upon the situation. For example, you may know that the second-shift crew at a certain casino is more lenient towards counters.

In these cases, you need to follow the money and play during the most profitable scenarios. Nevertheless, you still have a choice on when you play and leave for the night.

Chances are that you won’t have to play for many hours each week to make a solid living. If you and your team (if applicable) are good enough, you may earn plenty of money in 20 hours’ worth of work.

You don’t even have to make a full-time living through card counting. Instead, you could merely supplement your income with up to 15 hours of play each week.

The Case Against Blackjack Card Counting

The points covered above definitely make card counting seem like a worthy pursuit. However, you should also consider the drawbacks to trying to make it as a counter.

1 – You Don’t Have a Very Big Advantage

One of the biggest card counting myths is that pros make a fortune every night. This falsehood is perpetuated by Hollywood movies that show counters earning tens of thousands of dollars in a single scene.

Such profits are possible every now and then, especially if the stakes are high. But you shouldn’t expect to win every time out.

Of course, you’re not guaranteed winnings with such thin margins. You’ll only win in just over half of your sessions at this rate. Dealing with losing streaks is an unfortunate part of card counting. You need to have a large bankroll to cover any potential downswings.

As a team, you’re advised to have between $20,000 and $25,000 to comfortably play without risk of busting. You’ll want around $10,000 as a solo counter to survive the volatility.

2 – Card Counting Takes Practice and Dedication

Earlier, I explained how you don’t need a PhD to count cards. But you do need a strong work ethic to become successful.

Learning how to count is only a small part of the matter. You should also practice counting a lot in the beginning.

The goal is to condition yourself to count in the distracting casino environment. After all, you need to keep up with the dealer’s speed while also putting up with players’ chatter. One good way to practice is with free online blackjack trainers. However, these trainers don’t simulate the exact casino environment.

Therefore, you’ll also want to visit a real casino and either count off to the side or play for low stakes while practicing. This method is the only true way to properly condition yourself for what’s to come.

As you can see, card counting isn’t just about learning a simple system and making big profits right away. It instead requires a lot of work and planning beforehand.

3 – You Have to Avoid Getting Caught

The biggest deterrent to counting cards is the fact that casinos will throw you out, at least if you’re caught anyway. You can avoid being detected, although you’ll find this difficult on a regular basis.

Staff members are trained to spot counters. They’ll especially be tipped off if you spread your bets too widely.

Bet spreading isn’t the only concern. You also have to fit in with the other players so that you don’t come off as a cyborg-like counter.

These skills take time to master. Unfortunately, you don’t have much chance to develop them before running out of places to count.

If you’re caught counting at an MGM Grand property, for example, then you’ll be blacklisted from all of their properties. That said, you need to work hard to avoid getting caught from the beginning.

Conclusion

Does the good outweigh the bad with card counting? For most people, card counting isn’t worth the effort. They don’t have the patience or bankroll to count with any hope of long-term success.

But this doesn’t mean that you have to be turned off from the matter. You may especially be drawn to counting if you’re really serious about earning gambling profits.

It also doesn’t require you to pour hours into gaining an advantage like poker does. Instead, you can quickly learn how to count in a matter of minutes.

The key, though, is that you’re able to maintain a proper count in the face of casino distractions. You’ll find this task much harder when you’re at a real table with real chips on the line.

You really have to know yourself before jumping into card counting. Furthermore, you also need the desire to want to be a successful gambler.

Assuming you’ve always been fascinated with people who make a living with gambling, then you may have what it takes to count cards. If this process sounds like too much work, then you might just want to count for fun at low stakes.

Everyone should visit the casinos in Las Vegas at least once in their gambling careers. It’s a city unlike any other in my travel experience. But America has more to offer the casual gambling tourist than just Las Vegas.

There was a time when the Gulf Coast was America’s gambling mecca, and Las Vegas was almost an afterthought. Today, over 90% of all Americans live within a two-hour drive from a gaming venue. The only surprising statistic about US real money gambling is that land-based gambling is still illegal in some states.

Although Las Vegas is easy to get to, it can be expensive for most Americans. We want to be well-fed, entertained, and sleep in safe, comfortable accommodations. Nowadays, we also expect stylish venues, a variety of themes and architectural styles, and plentiful attractions.

Here are my top three choices for the best casinos outside of Las Vegas in the United States.

1 – Beau Rivage Resort and Casino

Located in Biloxi, Mississippi, the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino is the most famous and popular of modern Gulf Coast casinos. Travelers need to fly into Pensacola, FL, or New Orleans and take a car or bus along Interstate 10 to reach the casino. But I can assure you, it’s well worth the trip.

Among American travelers, the Beau Rivage is one of the top five gambling destinations. It has earned more five-star reviews on travel websites than nearly every other casino in the country.

MGM Resorts owns and operates the Beau Rivage, which was originally designed to be a Las Vegas hotel. Maybe that’s a major reason why the resort is so popular with travelers. You get a touch of Vegas outside of Vegas.

With 11 restaurants to choose from, you’ll never have to leave the Beau Rivage when you get hungry. You won’t be able to visit them all in a typical two-day stay unless you force yourself to do that.

Players can choose from baccarat, blackjack, craps, and roulette for table games and over 1,800 modern slot machine games. MGM Resorts customers will appreciate being able to use their M life Rewards cards and earn points within the system.

The casino offers a luxurious poker room, a high limit lounge, and hosts the Million Dollar Heater Poker Series. Guests can also download and play free mobile slot games on their smartphones to earn rewards, including room nights, meals, show tickets, and more.

2 – WinStar World Casino

Located in Thackerville, Oklahoma, the WinStar World Casino is probably the most famous non-Vegas casino in America. It’s the largest casino in the world and is located about an hour’s drive north of Dallas.

Because it’s located in the Great Plains, the WinStar casino has room to spread out and accommodate everyone. You can stay in an RV campground or in the resort’s luxurious hotel. If the main hotel is booked up or too expensive, you can stay at the Inn at WinStar.

WinStar boasts two fine dining restaurants, 10 casual dining restaurants, six fast food restaurants, and five bars and lounges. You won’t run out of things to do and places to visit while you’re there.

Travelers can also spend time shopping at five in-resort stores, including a gift shop, two boutiques, and a smoke shop. Guests can shop at the Isle at WinStar for casual items all hours of the day, seven days a week. You’ll almost never have to ask for directions to the nearest off-resort store.

One reason why WinStar is so popular with travelers is that it hosts big and small events like concerts, conventions and business meetings, weddings, and social events. You won’t spend much time wondering what there is to do in Oklahoma. You’ll wonder how to spend more time doing things there.

But what makes WinStar so famous in the world of gambling is the nine-plaza gaming experience. They cover a mile of gaming floor space, and WinStar claims to have more electronic and table games than any other casino in the world.

You’ll ask what’s so special about Las Vegas when Oklahoma has the WinStar World Casino. The resort offers everything, including an elegant poker room, the Lightning Link immersive gaming lounge, a bingo hall, off-track race betting, and thousands of slot machines.

The main gaming venues are designed around the Far East, New York, Paris, and Brazil.

In consumer reviews, WinStar is only slightly less popular than Beau Rivage.

3 – Harrah’s in New Orleans

The Harrah’s brand is legendary in the US casino industry. Harrah’s is part of Caesars Entertainment and that means top-value gaming and resort experiences for customers. Guests will appreciate being able to use their Caesar’s Rewards club cards, too.

New Orleans has a lot to offer casual visitors. The Crescent City is one of America’s top-rated tourist destinations and it has been featured in movies and TV shows around the world.

Harrah’s offers a modern gaming experience, including separate playing areas for smokers and non-smokers alike. But it wouldn’t be New Orleans if there wasn’t a twist on gaming.

The Hoodoo Party Pit livens up the table games with DJs on the weekend and voodoo-themed gaming. People aspiring to be the next James Bond can choose between mini-baccarat and midi-baccarat. Midi-baccarat allows players to touch the cards, just like in the movies.

Other table games at Harrah’s include pai gow, several styles of poker, craps, blackjack, and high card flush. The poker room is an elegant callback to the stylish riverboat era of Louisiana history, sitting just off to the side of the main casino. Players sit at up to 20 tables.

They accept call-in reservations for the poker room up to 30 minutes before you arrive. You’ll always know you have a seat when you get there. And if you love WSOP events, Harrah’s New Orleans is on the circuit.

The slot machine gaming at Harrah’s is top of the line. The casino offers over 1,500 games, including over 700 penny slots. Machines are spread out across more than 100,000 square feet of floor space.

Video poker enthusiasts will be overwhelmed by the more than 200 machines on the floor. You won’t be able to play them all in one visit.

Harrah’s boasts nine restaurants, including two upscale venues.

Beer lovers will want to dine at Gordon Biersch, famous for brewing their own beer.

There is always something going on in New Orleans, but Harrah’s has its own event schedule, too. There are game tournaments, art shows, and clubs. And the resort has an elegant meeting area for special events.

Conclusion

I wanted to write about the top 10 casinos outside Las Vegas but there was so much to say about these three that I knew it would take up too much of your time.

You could spend a lifetime visiting all of America’s casinos and only visit half of them at most. While local players enjoy having quiet venues to spend time in, it’s the grand resorts that we love to talk about. And that’s because they give us plenty to talk about.

May your gaming trips be fun, safe, and memorable! Enjoy gambling at any one of the three best US casinos outside of Las Vegas that we listed.