Author: Jeremiah Booker

Blackjack is one of the oldest games in the casino. It has been around in some form or another since the early 1600s.

Centuries ago, nobody could fathom that machines would be shuffling blackjack games one day. However, this scenario has come to life in the form of continuous shuffling machines.

Casinos use continuous shuffling machines (CSMs) to take pressure off the dealer and help speed up games. But they also turn off a portion of their players when using these machines.

Certain gamblers have misconceptions about CSMs that include everything from rigged games to a much higher house edge.

Should you share the same concerns? I’ll clear up this matter by covering more on CSMs along with why they’re so misunderstood.

What Is a Blackjack CSM?

A continuous shuffling machine features an opening at the top where dealers can insert clumps of cards. It has numerous slots located inside of it that serve as card holders.

This machine shoots played cards into the slots in a random manner. Once it has finished putting all of the cards into random slots, the machine pushes the clump to the top.

The dealer takes this card clump out of the machine and continues dealing. Therefore, they never need to completely stop play to shuffle a shoe (two or more decks).

Instead, they only briefly pause to grab played cards and insert them into the CSM. This process keeps games running more smoothly and without lengthy brakes.

Why Casinos Love Continuous Shuffling Machines

More and more casinos are adding CSMs to their tables. You can see the main reason why these machines are spreading throughout the blackjack world below.

Faster Games

Under normal circumstances, a dealer needs to stop a blackjack game and shuffle the cards. They typically do this after between 60% and 75% of the shoe has been dealt.

This stoppage can last for several minutes. The dealer must separate the pile into different clumps and riffle through each one.

The casino appreciates a well-shuffled and random blackjack game. But these stoppages also cost them money.

The house holds the edge over any recreational blackjack and wants faster games to capitalize on this advantage. A CSM allows casinos to deal around 20% more hands per hour.

More Profits

The exact amount that casino stand to make from faster blackjack tables varies based on different factors. A dealer’s speed and how many people are the table also play a role.

Simply put, though, gambling establishments want as many hands dealt as possible. They can win thousands of dollars more each day with continuous shuffling machines in the mix.

Here’s an example to illustrate how much casinos will earn with machine-dealt games:

Table without a CSM:

Table with a CSM:

Stops Card Counters

Casinos definitely don’t like card counters. A skilled counter gains an advantage over the house and makes guaranteed profits.

Professional players put a serious dent in casinos’ profits. However, continuous shuffling machines render card counting impossible.

Card counting needs deck penetration to make profits. Their positive count is much more accurate when 70% of the deck has been dealt versus just 20%.

The latter waits this long to shuffle, because they don’t want to stop the game frequently.

But the dealer doesn’t need to stop action to shuffle with CSMs involved. Instead, they can just grab a pile of cards every so often and throw them into the machine. As a result, card counters never get adequate deck penetration.

Common Misconceptions about CSMs

In their ideal world, gambling establishments would fill blackjack tables with continuous shuffling machines. They don’t do this everywhere, though, because not all of their customers approve.

Certain players absolutely refuse to play at tables with these machines. The same group often has the following common misconceptions about CSMs.

Raises House Edge

The average player will lose more money at tables with a continuous shuffling machine. Therefore, they may feel that these machines raise the house edge.

In actuality, a CSM lowers the house advantage by 0.014%. As a recreational player, you have a slightly better chance to win each hand at a machine-dealt table.

The reason why people lose more in these games, though, is due to the game speed. They see more hands per hour and are exposed more to the house advantage.

Earlier, I showed how a casino’s profits go up when a CSM is in play. The reverse is true for players, where they lose more money with machines involved.

Rigs Games for Casinos

It’s understandable that some gamblers mistakenly believe they face worse odds with continuous shuffling machines involved. The latter speeds up the action and causes more losses.

However, a much bigger misconception is that CSMs somehow rig the game. Those who believe this feel that the machine is somehow programmed to give the casino better odds of winning.

This same logic relates to slot machine myths. Many players believe that casinos can easily rig slot machines.

Gamblers have always had a mistrust of anything dealing with machines, because they can’t see the innerworkings like with a blackjack game

Casino stand to lose much more, including their license and hefty fines, if they were caught using a biased CSM (if such a thing even exists). Therefore, you don’t have to worry about casinos cheating.

Should You Play at Tables with CSMs?

Your individual preferences will determine whether you play at a blackjack table with a continuous shuffling machine.

You can see that there’s nothing to worry from a house edge or rigged-game perspective. Assuming you don’t mind the thought of a machine-based game, then you won’t mind playing at these tables.

However, you may also seek a more-classic blackjack feeling. A CSM doesn’t achieve this traditional aspect.

Instead, it makes games feel more robotic. If you like the atmosphere almost as much as the action, you should definitely look for hand-shuffled games.

The increased losses might also turn you off from these tables. Again, the quicker game speed will lead to increased losses on average.

You can win more money by studying basic blackjack strategy. But you also must deal with the more-realistic fact that you’ll lose when considering the house edge.

What’s Your Alternative in Blackjack?

Continuous shuffling machines may be slowly invading the gambling world. However, you don’t have to settle for these games.

Some international gambling destinations, on the other hand, feature CSMs at the vast majority of their tables. Macau and Monte Carlo are two of the most-notable casino hotspots that fall into this category.

You should definitely avoid these places when you’re trying to avoid continuous shuffling machines. The good news, though, is that the majority of the gambling world still offers plenty of hand-shuffled tables.

That said, I advise that you do research before playing blackjack in a prospective gambling destination. This research will ensure that you don’t visit a gambling hotspot and get a nasty surprise.

Conclusion

The point of this post isn’t to sell you on playing at tables with continuous shuffling machines. Instead, I merely want to show that CSMs aren’t as bad as some players think.

These machines don’t give the house a bigger advantage—they actually decrease it. They also don’t rig games to give casinos stronger odds.

You can expect a fair game with CSMs involved. However, you’ll also be more exposed to the house edge when considering that more hands will be dealt per hour.

Furthermore, you might like the feeling of being at a table where the machine shuffles cards. In this case, you should definitely seek out a traditional blackjack table.

Many people have won big in casinos over the years. However, the same winners are often high rollers or advantage gamblers.

The average person doesn’t have the bankroll to play high stakes. They also don’t possess the skills to earn consistent money like the pros.

Nevertheless, ordinary people can still win big in casinos. Below, you can read about 7 everyday gamblers who toppled the house.

1 – Patricia Demauro

Patricia Demauro holds the record for the most craps rolls without sevening out. In 2009, she performed 154 straight rolls before finally rolling a seven.

No, Demauro isn’t a expert in playing craps who claims to hold the secret to dice control. Instead, she’s a novice gambler who rarely visits casinos.

On that fortunate day in 2009, she we went to the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa with her friend, John Capra. Demauro’s original plan was to play slots while Capra played poker, but she eventually got tired of spinning the reels.

Having only played craps once in her life, Demauro wanted Capra to show her the finer points of the game. Little did she know, she’d set a record-breaking streak in the process.

After Demauro took the dice, she proceeded to roll them again and again. A crowd gathered as she continued producing rolls without crapping out.

2 – Jon Heywood

John Heywood is a former British soldier who lays claim to one of the biggest real money online slots jackpots ever. He won £13.2 million pounds through Microgaming’s Mega Moolah slot in 2015.

At the time, Heywood had just finished a military tour in Afghanistan. Upon returning home, he worked a minimum-wage job and played online slots on the side.

The Brit didn’t have a very large bankroll to play with. In fact, he deposited just £30 before earning what was, at the time, a record-breaking payout.

Wagering just 25p per spin, John triggered Mega Moolah’s bonus round. Then, he defied the odds to earn the “Mega Jackpot” and etch his name in slots lore.

Heywood initially thought that his payout was worth £10,000. However, he eventually came to realize that it was actually worth millions of pounds.

Rather than running out and looking for his dream home, Heywood waited until the money was officially his. He continued working has minimum-wage gig until Microgaming deposited the funds into his account.

Since the huge payout, Heywood has paid for his father’s extensive medical expenses and started a home renovation business.

3 – Cynthia Jay-Brennan

In 2000, Cynthia Jay-Brennan won the second-largest slots jackpot in history. She booked a $34.9 million win at the Desert Inn Casino.

A former Las Vegas cocktail waitress, Jay-Brennan was playing IGT’s famed Megabucks slot machine. She quickly landed three Megabucks symbols in the single payline and earned a life-changing amount.

Unfortunately, this payout would prove life-changing in more ways than one. A drunk driver rear-ended Jay-Brennan’s car when she and her sister were driving around Las Vegas.

Her sister died at the scene of the accident. Cynthia survived, but she was paralyzed from the neck down.

Clark Morse, the perpetrator, was a habitual drunk driver who had numerous DUIs on his record. He fled the scene only to be later found sleeping on his mother’s couch.

A Clark County Judge finally put Morse behind bars for life. However, justice didn’t come soon enough for the Jay-Brennans.

4 – Kevin Ripski

Caribbean stud may not be the first game gamblers think of when envisioning seven-figure wins. However, Kevin Ripski proved that this game too can offer serious money.

The Ontario, Canada native visited the Venetian Las Vegas in 2018. He began playing Caribbean stud and making $5 side bets in hopes of winning the Sands Millionaire Progressive jackpot.

Fortune smiled upon him as he received a royal flush. The natural royal netted the Canadian a $1,114,079 jackpot.

Ripski certainly doesn’t use the best strategy for the game. He plays “blind,” meaning he doesn’t look at his hand before betting.

“I let the dealer flip over my cards, so it’s a surprise at the end of the hand,” he said.

While Ripski doesn’t use optimal Caribbean stud strategy, he does the important thing by ensuring he qualifies for the jackpot.

“I always play the bonus bet for the very reason if you hit it and are not playing the bonus, you will regret it for the rest of your life.”

5 – Johanna Huendl

In 2002, Johanna Huendl was on her way to the breakfast buffet at Bally’s Casino Las Vegas. She suddenly got the whim to play a Megabucks machine before eating.

This whim would turn into a life-changing payout. Huendl hit the Megabucks jackpot and collected $22,621,230.

The Vienna, Austria native became motivated to play after seeing another person win a $3,000 payout. Soon thereafter, she’d celebrate a much-bigger prize.

“I looked away from the machine for a moment and when I looked back, the three Megabucks logos had lined up on the payline. I couldn’t believe my eyes!” Huendl exclaimed.

She initially thought that the payout was worth $2 million. Huendl was even more elated after seeing that it was actually worth $22.6 million.

She came to the United States via Austria as a young bride in 1956. The American planned to use a portion of the winnings to visit her native country.

6 – Soraya Lowell

Britain’s Soraya Lowell won a record-breaking bingo payout in 2008. Playing at the Club 3000 bingo hall in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, she scooped a £1,167,795 payout.

The mother-of-four attended the bingo hall with her neighbor, Agnes O’Neill. She shared the win with O’Neill due to a prearranged pact.

Despite keeping six figures, Lowell stayed at her minimum-wage cleaning job. She simply couldn’t decide what to do with the money and wanted to continue working.

“It’s easy to say what you’re going to do with the money before you win it. But in reality it’s very tough,” Soraya explained at the time.

“I haven’t got the slightest idea what to do with it. I had bought a car just before I won, so I don’t need a new one and I love my house and my neighbors so moving is out of the question.”

Lowell professed to loving her job and not being in a hurry to quit. She also noted that she really liked her coworkers.

Unfortunately, Soraya ran into trouble with tax collectors in 2012. Her local council took her to court over £13,214 in unpaid taxes.

She and her husband also faced bankruptcy after falling behind on their mortgage payments. They had to forfeit a £150,000 home to the Bank of Scotland.

O’Neill didn’t fare any better following her windfall. The 68-year-old passed away in her sleep just two months after collecting her share of the winnings.

7 – Elmer Sherwin

The odds of winning a seven-figure slots jackpot are extremely low to begin with. Therefore, Elmer Sherwin is a rare breed when considering that he won IGT’s Megabucks Jackpot twice.

He’s actually the only person in the game’s history to accomplish this feat. This fact makes sense when considering that the odds of hitting the Megabucks jackpot are just 1 in 50 million.

Sherwin had played casino games ever since he was old enough to enter a gambling establishment. However, he never won much until reaching his sixties.

Retired, he and his wife travelled the United States in a mobile home. They stopped in Las Vegas to visit family and play casino games in 1989.

During this stay, Sherwin began taking $100 a week to Vegas casinos. Despite having such a small weekly bankroll, Elmer struck gold when he hit a $21.2 million prize on Megabucks.

He collected a $4.6 million payout at Vegas’ Cannery Casino & Hotel in 2005. Elmer was motivated by history more than anything during the second run.

“I wasn’t after the money. I was after the prestige of hitting it twice,” he explained. “Cause I knew no one has done it. Lotteries and things, yeah, but not the Megabucks.”

Conclusion

Everybody dreams of going to the casino and winning a life-changing sum of money. However, the vast majority of players never see this dream come to fruition.

The seven gamblers discussed here achieved the near-impossible and got rich through gambling. Some even managed to hold onto their money afterward and live a life of luxury.

Of course, you should never walk into the casino expecting to leave a millionaire. But if you dream of getting rich through gambling, you can look to these stories for inspiration.

When it comes to cruising, gambling in the ship’s casino is one of the most popular activities. In fact, in the late evening it can be the most electric spot on the cruise ship.

In many ways the casinos on a cruise are very similar to what you’ll find on land, only on a smaller scale. If you’re someone who loves gaming, then you’ll feel right at home in a cruise ship casino.

That said, there are still a number of things you should know before gambling on a cruise. If you’ve never placed a bet on a ship, the tips and details below will make you a pro in no time and teach you everything you need to know before you try your luck.

1 – Which Cruise Ships Have Casinos?

If you’re wondering if there will be a casino on your ship, you can rest assured there will be. Mass market lines like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and the like always have casinos on the ship.

I want to mention one exception; Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America, a U.S.-flagged ship that sails Hawaii, is one of the few ships from a mass market cruise line without a casino.

The only major line I’ve heard of that doesn’t have gambling is Disney. Can’t really fault them, watching Donald Duck carve an ice sculpture with a chainsaw is likely a better way to spend an hour with your children.

This makes sense, putting the casino easily accessible means it’s easier for players to find and gamble.

2 – What Are Cruise Casinos Like?

In many ways cruise ship gambling is similar to what you’ll find in brick and mortar casinos. This also means that while they all have a familiar feel with flashing lights and ringing bells, each casino definitely sports its own personality.

Generally, the gaming floor is tiny by the standards of land-based casinos. On many ships, you’ll usually find closed-in areas with relatively low ceilings because decks above and below limit the ceiling height. The low ceilings and maze of games give the casinos an intimate feel. Yet, they are some of the biggest rooms on a cruise ship.

Some ships, most notably the newest ships in Norwegian’s fleet, have roomier, more open casinos. On those ships, the casino floor opens up to the rest of the ship, giving it a brighter feel.

As for the atmosphere, within seconds of walking into a cruise ship casino you’ll completely forget that you’re on the open seas. Given the casino size and number of passengers, evenings can get crowded pretty easily. That means the casino will feel high energy, with lots of people cheering, noise from machines, and an overall festive atmosphere.

3 – What Are Payouts Like in the Casino?

You already know that the odds are always in the house’s favor when it comes to casino gambling. That’s especially true on a cruise. To put it mildly, games on the ship don’t pay that well.

For example, the gold standard for video poker is a “9/6” machine, one that pays nine credits for a full house and six for a flush. This gives an expected payout of 99.5% if proper strategy is used over the long term. On ships you will often find “6/5” machines, meaning they offer a 94.9% payback.

For blackjack you’ll often find tables that pay 6-to-5 on blackjack instead of the normal 3-to-2. If you play a higher-limit table, then you might still find 3-to-2 payouts.

Craps will have odds bets, but they will be restricted somewhat. The best you can hope for is 3X-4X-5X, but I’ve seen some ships with even lower bets available. They also have the “Big 6/8” bets at tables that have a higher house edge.

So go to the casino and have a blast, but if your only goal is to get the best payouts, then you are often better off with land-based casinos.

4 – What’s the Gambling Age on a Cruise Ship?

While there are some exceptions, the majority of places in the United States require you to be 21 to gamble in a casino.

On a cruise the minimum age to gamble is only 18 years old. If you’ve ever wanted to try your luck but aren’t old enough to head to Las Vegas, a cruise ship might be just the place for you.

5 – Casino Limits for Table Games and Slot Machines

If you’re a low-stakes gambler, then you’ll feel right at home on a cruise ship. Minimums among all games are low, making it relatively cheap and easy for any level of player to enjoy themselves.

Obviously, there are penny slots as you’ll find in any casino. For table games you will find minimums starting at around $5 for most games.

This makes sense considering the potential customer base on a cruise. With only a few thousand people on the ship the cruise needs to be sure to appeal to the most people possible. Of course they also are aware that they have a captive audience.

Having said that, I have seen table games starting to climb towards a $10 minimum rather than $5.

6 – What Casino Games Are Available on a Cruise?

Like playing real money slots? You’re covered. In fact, whatever your game, they have them all. Despite the small size of cruise ship casinos compared to brick and mortar, they offer a vast selection of games.

Texas Hold ‘Em poker is also popular, with tournaments and play throughout the cruise.

One is similar to a “skill crane” where you use a joystick to move a key to push down stacks of dollar bills. But perhaps the most popular are the coin pusher machines.

The coin pusher machines are exactly like you’d find in an arcade, but instead of tokens they use quarters. You can try your luck to push quarters over the edge, along with wads of cash that are also in the machines.

Many cruise lines are also now offering their own scratch-off tickets available for purchase, as well as big lotto-style drawings with jackpots worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

7 – When Are the Casinos Open?

As you might guess, there are a number of laws that oversee casino gambling, depending on the jurisdiction the ship is in. That’s why there’s a simple rule, the casino is open when the ship is at sea.

On the day that you board the casino will be closed. It will open up later that night after the ship has set sail.

During the days that the ship is docked the games are closed, but available once the ship exits the jurisdiction of the port country. So on days at sea, the casino will be open 24 hours a day.

Note that if you want to play during off hours, like early in the morning on a day at sea, the table games may not be staffed. However, coin pushers and slot machines will still be available to play at your leisure.

8 – Keep Your Sea Legs

Which brings me to my next point. Fun, that’s what this experience should be all about. People’s definitions of fun can vary.

If you’re planning a trip with your friends or family without kids around, fun can often mean staying up late and partying, which means drinking. I recommend alternating nights to make life easier for you during the daytime.

If you’re planning a big night “out” at the casino, don’t spend the evening taking shots. Basically, just be a responsible adult, and you’ll be fine.

Treat your gambling funds as part of the trip’s expenses, no different from food and drinks, fine dining, and shopping with no expectation of returns.

Really, this should be pretty much the same mentality you have when managing your bankroll at any regular land-based. You should be playing with no more than you can stand to lose. Beware of the ATM.

Conclusion

If there is a casino game you’ve always wanted to play, but have been too intimidated to pull up a chair, then a cruise is perfect for you.

Not only is it less intimidating than a regular casino, but they even offer classes on table games for beginning players. You can come and learn how to play free of charge, for real money, so that when it’s time to play for real money you aren’t as intimidated.

In addition, the vibe at a cruise casino is simply more friendly. Remember that the dealers want to make sure you have an enjoyable time on the cruise and your other passengers are typically in a good mood. In addition, the stakes are typically low, so there’s usually not a ton of money at stake.

As long as gambling has been offered in one form or another, there have been stupid gambling strategies. And terrible gambling strategies are going to continue being used in the future.

The problem with stupid gambling strategies is they cost gamblers money. Most forms of gambling cost people money, but they don’t have to cost as much as most people pay.

Here’s a list of eight stupid gambling strategies that you need to stop using. You can find good strategies when you gamble, but the ones listed on this age are ones you must avoid.

1 – Doubling After Losses

This gambling strategy has been around so long that it has its own name. Called the Martingale strategy, you start with a small wager and double it every time you lose. When you make even money pay out wagers and use the Martingale system, when you win a bet you get a profit the same size as your original wager.

This doubling after losses system sounds really good, and you can make money using it for a while. But eventually you lose too many bets in a row and lose all of your money.

The odds of losing several bets in a row on even money bets are small, but the more bets you make the more likely it is that you’re going to have a long losing streak. You either lose all of your money or hit the maximum bet limits. This betting strategy always ends in a loss in the long run.

2 – Playing Keno

I’ve seen several different betting strategies for playing keno over the years, and there isn’t a single one of them that’s going to help you win more than you lose over time. Keno has an extremely high house edge that simply can’t be beat in the long run.

While the house edge isn’t usually higher on a keno machine than in traditional keno, the problem is that you’re risking a lot more money because you’re playing so many more games. With a house edge of 20% and higher depending on the pay outs and how many numbers you pick, keno in any form is a terrible idea.

3 – Slot Machines Strategy

Do you know if there are any strategies you can use when you play slot machines? I’ve seen several different slots strategies over the years, but I’ve never seen one that works.

Slot machines are designed using computers to keep a percentage of money bet on them and give back a percentage of the money. Over the life of a slot machine it guarantees a profit for the casino, and nothing you do can change this.

Slots are big money makers for casinos because of this. I rarely play slots, and when I do it’s on a machine with a progressive jackpot. I like to be able to use strategy to give me a better chance to win, and there aren’t any strategies you can use when playing real money slots to lower the house edge.

4 – Any Lottery Strategy

The worst bet in the casino is usually keno. The house edge is almost always over 20%. You already learned about playing keno in an earlier section, but there’s an even worse game you can gamble on. The worst gambling option most players use is any kind of lottery.

The edge on lottery games is often 40 to 50% or higher. Yet millions of people buy lottery tickets every day. You can find plenty of strategies for playing the lottery for sale, but none of them help you win.

I understand why people play the lottery. I even buy a ticket from time to time. You bet a few dollars and have a chance to win millions; sometimes hundreds of millions. But lotteries are set up to guarantee a profit, and it eats up a lot of the money spent on tickets.

This means that almost every lottery player loses money in their life. The only ones that don’t lose money are the ones that are lucky enough to win a big lottery. And the odds of winning big are so small that they’re almost impossible to comprehend.

5 – Mimic the Blackjack Dealer

Blackjack dealers have a strict set of rules they must follow on every hand. The table rules dictate whether the dealer stands of hits on a soft 17, but beyond this, the dealer always does the same thing.

When the dealer has a hard 17 or higher, or a soft or hard 18 or higher, he or she stands. When the dealer has 16 or lower, he or she hits.

While this is a decent strategy for the dealer, and it works because it’s simple, it’s a terrible strategy for players. You can easily use the best blackjack strategy by using a strategy card. Pick one up in a casino gift shop.

6 – Making Side Bets

Many casino games offer side bets in addition to the base game. Some of these side bets are better than others, but almost all of them have at least one thing on common. They all have a higher house edge than the base game.

This isn’t really any different than other bets offered in the casino, but side bets are optional. The best strategy is to never make any side bets. The most common side bet in the casino doesn’t even look like a side bet.

You just learned about this side bet in the last section. The even money insurance bet is simply a side bet hidden in the regular game of blackjack.

7 – Not Using a Bankroll

While you can find strategies that say that you can use some sort of fancy money management to beta the casinos, the truth is that there aren’t any money management systems that win money over time. But this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use proper money management when you gamble.

The best way to start using proper money management when you gamble is to use a bankroll. Start by setting aside a dedicated amount that you only use for gambling. You can add money to it when you need to, but when you have a dedicated bankroll it’s easy to track your wins and losses.

When you use a bankroll, it also helps you budget for your casino visits and know when you need to stop playing.

8 – Any American Roulette Strategy

American roulette is the wheel with a double zero spot. American wheels have a total of 38 spots. The other common type of roulette wheel doesn’t have a double zero spot, and only has 37 spots.

One of the most common strategies that players use when they play roulette is the double after losses strategy you learned about in the first section. But there are dozens of other strategies that I’ve seen over the years.

All roulette strategies have something in common. None of them actually help you win. Some of them work for a short time, but they all lose eventually.

The only strategy you can use when you play roulette to lower the house edge is to refuse to play on American roulette wheels. If you’re going to play roulette, only play on wheels that don’t have the double zero spot. You’re still going to lose in the long run, but at least you won’t lose as much as you’re going to lose if you play American roulette.

Conclusion

The worst thing you can do when you’re gambling is to use a bad strategy. Every time you use a stupid strategy it costs you money. Just because you use a stupid gambling strategy, it doesn’t mean that you’re stupid. It just means that you haven’t learned that it’s a bad strategy yet.

Now you know about the eight stupid strategies listed on this page, so you can avoid using them in the future. Find a few good strategies to start using when you gamble and you’re results will get better.

Casino games are what make the casinos’ worlds go round.

They also make the casino gamblers’ world go round, too.

But you’d be surprised at how little the average gambler knows or understands about how casino games work.

The purpose of this post is to explain some of the most important things you don’t know about casino games.

After all, if you’re going to play these games, you should know at least something about how they work and what that means for you and your money.

1- All Casino Games Have a Mathematical House Advantage

Every casino game has a statistical advantage built into the rules that favors the house, not the gambler.

This statistical advantage is called “the house edge,” and it’s always represented as a percentage.

The house edge is the percentage of each bet on that game that you’ll lose over a statistically significant number of bets.

In other words, if you place enough bets, the average amount you lose per bet will resemble the house edge.

The more bets you make, the closer your actual average will eventually get to the expected average.

Here’s an example:

The house edge on an average blackjack game – assuming you play with perfect basic strategy – is usually about 0.5%.

This means that over thousands of hands, you’ll lose 0.5% of every bet – on average.

If you’re betting $100 per hand, your expected loss per hand is $0.50.

2- A Lower House Edge Is Better, BUT It Doesn’t Necessarily Improve Your Probability of Winning

You’ll see novice gambling writers claim that a lower house edge means you have a higher probability of winning.

This isn’t the case, though – the probability of winning is a factor in determining the house edge, but it’s not the sole factor.

The other factor is just as important, and that’s the payout for the bet.

Here’s an example:

Suppose you had a slot machine with 10 symbols on each of 3 reels, and you have an equal probability of hitting any of those symbols.

Let’s also assume that this specific slot machine only has one winning combination – 3 cherries in a row.

The probability of getting those 3 cherries is 1/10 X 1/10 X 1/10, or 1/1000.

That’s the same as having odds of 999 to 1 of winning.

Now let’s assume that the jackpot for that combination is 995 coins.

The payback percentage for this slot machine game is 99.5%, which means that the house edge is just 0.5%.

But your odds of winning a spin on that slot machine are still just 1 in 1000, even though the house edge on this game is lower than any slot machine you’ll ever run into.

3- Most Casino Games Have No Skill Element at All

One way to categorize and compare casino games is by how much skill is involved. I can think of 3 categories right away:

An example of a casino game with no meaningful decisions to make is European roulette. Every bet on a European roulette game has the same house edge – 2.70%.

An example of a casino game where the bet you choose matters is craps. You can choose the pass line bet, which has a house edge of 1.41%, or you can choose multiple prop bets where the house edge is well over 16%.

Finally, an example of a casino game where your decisions affect the outcome is real money blackjack. If you hit when you have a total of 20, you’re probably going to bust. The decisions about how to play your hands matter.

But most casino games fall into the first category.

4- You Can Measure a Casino Game’s Odds With “Volatility”

Volatility just refers to the swings up and down in your wins and losses. With a game like the slot machine example I referred to in #2, you’re dealing with a low house edge but a lot of volatility.

You’ll rarely win, but when you do, you’ll win a lot.

And on those rare occasions when you win twice in a row, you’ll really stack up the dough.

But with a game like roulette where you can bet on black, the volatility is low. You have a 47.37% probability of winning an even-money blackjack bet.

In the long run, the casino still wins, but it still takes longer because you’re winning a large percentage of the time.

With slot machines, the hit ratio – the percentage of spins that result in a payoff – is usually between 30% and 40%.

5- Slot Machines Are Basically Just Fancy “Skinner Boxes”

BF Skinner was a famous behavioral scientist who did studies on how motivated rats were to pull a lever on a box. The reward for pulling the lever was a piece of cheese.

In one group of rats, they got cheese every time they pulled the lever.

In another group, they got nothing every time they pulled the lever.

Not surprisingly, the group that got cheese was far more likely to pull the lever on the Skinner box.

But then he tried something different.

He added a random element to a third group. Sometimes they got a piece of cheese when they pulled the lever, but sometimes they didn’t.

Slot machines work on the same principle.

Gamblers are motivated to keep pulling the lever because they don’t know if they’re going to get a winning combination or not.

6- Skilled Blackjack Players Can Beat the House

In Vegas Vacation, there’s a funny scene where Clark Griswold is explaining to his Cousin Eddie that blackjack is the only game in the casino where a skilled player can beat the house.

The implication is that if you use basic strategy, you’ll have a mathematical edge over the house.

This is not correct.

Even if you play every hand perfectly, the casino still has an edge over the player in blackjack.

It’s just a small edge.

But there are additional tricks a skilled blackjack player can take to get an edge over the casino, like counting cards.

But just knowing how to play each hand isn’t enough to get a mathematical edge.

7- The Slots Clubs Isn’t a No-Brainer

Every time you read an article about casino gambling, the writer insists with almost religious fervor that you should always belong to the players club and always play with your card inserted.

I understand their point. If you can get a percentage of your losses back in the form of rebates and freebies, you should.

But consider this:

What do you give up by signing up for the players club?

Don’t you have to give the casino your name, address, phone number, and email address? And what is the casino going to do with that information?

If you guessed that they’re going to send you advertising, you’re right.

Getting constant advertising might be fun for some people, but I’ll pass.

Also, if you have impulse control problems, getting ads from a casino is probably the worst thing that can happen.

After all, problem gamblers shouldn’t be getting come-hither ads from casinos. But don’t skip the players club because you suspect it will decrease your chance of winning. The casinos have no incentive to decrease your probability of winning.

In fact, they have an incentive to keep you playing more often.

That’s because the statistical advantage works because of the Law of Large Numbers.

The more you play, the closer you’re going to get to the statistical losing average they expect.

8- Craps Is a Way Better Game than Most Gamblers Realize

A lot of new casino gamblers avoid craps because they think it’s too complicated.

The truth is that craps is easy to learn and easy to understand, especially if you stick with the simplest bets at the table.

And those bets, coincidentally, are the bets with the lowest house edge.

Craps offers more fun and entertainment value than almost any other game in the casino, and the house edge of 1.41% or 1.36% on the simplest bets are a bargain compared to other games.

9- You’re Not an Idiot for Enjoying Roulette

Some gamblers write about roulette gamblers as if they’re the lowest of the low.

But the truth is, you’ll lose less money on average at the roulette table than you will playing slot machines.

Not only is the house edge higher on most slot machines, but the amount of money you’re putting into action per hour is a staggering difference.

The average slots player might make 500 spins per hour. At $3 per spin – which is a good average – you’re looking at putting $1500 per hour into action.

If you find a loose slot machine, one with a house edge of 6%, for example, your expected loss per hour is $90.

Contrast that with a roulette table. The house edge is 5.26%. but the number of bets you’re placing per hour is probably closer to 50 – maybe even less if the table has a lot of players.

Let’s say you’re betting $10 per spin instead of $3 per spin.

You’re putting $500 into action per hour.

With a house edge of 5.26%, the expected hourly loss is only slightly higher than $25, which is a much lower cost of entertainment than playing the slots.

AND, you don’t have to stress out about making decisions at the roulette table.

All the best are basically the same, mathematically.

10- Casino Games Are Both Better and Worse Than the Lottery

States with a lot of casinos don’t often have lotteries, but some people live on the border between 2 states. For example, I live in Texas, and we have a popular lottery but no casinos.

The casinos in Oklahoma, though, are just a short drive from here.

The house edge on the good bets, as we discussed, might be as low as 0.5%. But remember – the house edge isn’t the only factor determining how much you lose.

Most people spend less than $20 a week playing the lottery.

With a house edge of 50%, that’s an expected loss of $10 per week.

Go to a casino, though, and you’re almost guaranteed to bet more than $20 within your first hour.

Remember that roulette example from #9.

That’s a slow game with a low minimum bet, but you’re still putting $500 into action there in an hour.

Even though the house edge is 10% of that for the lottery, you’ll lose 2 to 3 times more money playing roulette.

Conclusion

Casinos and online casino games are a lot of fun, but it’s just like any other consumer business – it’s up to you to become an informed consumer.

This is your money we’re talking about. It’s up to you to make sure you gamble wisely.

And some familiarity with how it all works is a prerequisite for that.

Many casinos are historic establishments and as such, come with their own set of rules and regulations. While these will be second nature to regular attendees, for newcomers, they can initially seem daunting.

If you were introduced to casino games from the comfort of your home or office, you might not know the subtle dos and don’ts of betting in a land-based casino.

After the rules themselves, you’ll need to learn a few basic rules on etiquette to avoid wide-eyed glares from the dealer, and glances from your fellow players.

Ensure that your debut in the world of gambling is a resonating success by following this overview of casino etiquette. Here are a few simple tips for making your first casino trip a little smoother.

1 – Put the Tech Away

In a world in which smartphones rarely leave their owners’ hands, casinos play by more old-fashioned rules. It’s considered extremely disrespectful to be glued to your electronic gadgets when at the table, not to mention that it’s likely to have a detrimental effect on your game.

Take a brief vacation from modern technology and keep your focus on the matter at hand, your wallet will thank you for it.

Not only is talking on your mobile distracting to players trying to concentrate on their wager, it’s rude. In most cases, anyway, the croupier will ask you to turn your phone off while you’re playing, or to step away from the table so you can take your call.

So, if you want to capture that Vegas moment of bustling roulette tables and banks of slots, buy a postcard unless you want a stern warning from casino security.

2 – Learn the Hand Signals

When playing blackjack, it’s not enough to know the verbal commands; you’ll need to supplement these with hand signals. Most of these are relatively rudimentary, but vary depending on whether the cards have been dealt face up or face down.

When the cards are face up, you tap the table for “hit” and wave your hand over the table for “stick.” For “double,” place your matching bet next to your original bet and hold up one finger; for “split” use the same action with two fingers.

If the cards are face down, use your cards to scrape the table for “hit” and slide your cards underneath your bet for “stick.” Laying your cards face up on the table and placing an additional bet next to your original one indicates “double;” placing the bet next to one of the cards instead indicates “split.”

3 – Dress the Part

While most major casinos in Las Vegas operate a relaxed policy of dress, many others don’t. Depending on where you are, you may have to wear a collared shirt and nice slacks, and wearing sneakers might mean you’re going to have a long trip back home to change.

Check with the casino before heading out to make sure you’re not under-dressed. And of course, for men and women, it’s fair to say going topless is largely frowned upon.

4 – Mind Your Liquor

James Bond might knock back martinis at a poker table with debonair nonchalance, but unless you’ve also got the alcohol tolerance of a fictional super-spy, it’s best to pace yourself.

While there’s a long standing myth that casino employees will encourage customers to drink and so gamble more recklessly, most reputable establishments prefer customers to stay sober enough to handle the rollercoaster ride of jackpots and losses. Sipping a few cocktails can enhance your experience; but if you’re out to guzzle pints, head for the pub instead.

Casinos are playgrounds where the adults can chill out and have a good time while gambling. But don’t let the booze get the better of you and make for a terrible night for everyone at the  table.

5 – Cash in, Cash Out

Buying your chips is probably the easiest mistake casino newcomers make when sitting down at a table game.

For starters, make sure you’re aware of the minimum and maximum bets of each table as they will differ. These are clearly displayed on boards, so don’t sit down at a roulette table and hand over $5, only to realize the minimum bet is $10.

The croupier will catch sight of this and change your money into chips, announcing the amount as he does so.

Because roulette chips are specially colored, you’ll need to cash out before you leave the table. Indicate to the croupier that you want to leave by waiting for the end of a spin when they’re less distracted and he will change your roulette chips for generic casino cash chips. The same goes for blackjack or craps.

6 – Respect the Dealer

If a roulette croupier says, “no more bets”, he means it. If you’re unsure about the passage of play, take one of the casino’s fresher classes first, or watch the action for a while before joining in. It’s a good rule of thumb to listen to the dealer as they are directing the passage of play.

Yes, they work there and yes, they are professionals, but no dealer in the world wants to take responsibility for a player’s luck.

Consider your request from their perspective: it may sound harmless enough to ask what their recommendation would be with your hand, but if you follow their tip and lose, the dealer has no way to predict whether you’ll take it calmly and rationally, or become belligerent.

Two notable exceptions are Pai Gow and Pai Gow Poker, in which it’s common practice to check in with the dealer on the “House Way.”

7 – Handling Chips

At a roulette table, the dealer will give you a different color of chips to everyone else. This is to differentiate your chips from everyone else’s.

Remember your color and learn where the chips have to be placed correctly for a bet. Don’t be afraid to ask the dealer for help if you need; this way you won’t end up forfeiting bets by placing chips in the wrong place.

Never move, or remove, chips during a spin of the roulette or hand of blackjack, and don’t ever lay a finger on another players’ chips.

The croupier will place winning chips on top of your bets on the table and leave them. It’s your job then to remove the chips if you want or let it ride for the next bet.

8 – Be A Gracious Loser

While it’s perfectly reasonable to feel aggravated after a heavy loss or run of bad luck, it’s also an inevitable part of life as a gambler. Accusations of a rigged game or cheating dealer are extremely unlikely to be accurate, and no amount of grumbling will alter the result.

Even non-verbal reactions such as throwing away the cards or storming away from the table will show you up as a bad sport and an unwelcome guest at anythe casino. Thank and tip the dealer, excuse yourself from the table, and burn up your frustration on a long walk instead.

Casino games should be friendly and entertaining, both for you and the other players at the table. Don’t fly into a rage when you lose and start blaming the dealer or arguing with other players. Handling a gambling downswing should be handled outside the casino, not at the table.

9 – Learn to Tip

Unless you’re in a country where dealers can’t be tipped, it’s expected that you leave a small gratuity for the dealer when you get up to leave a table. It doesn’t have to be huge and don’t feel pressured to donate a big portion of your stack if you’ve had a good win. Only $1 on every small win or $5/10 when you leave the table will suffice.

Use your discretion to establish the exact amount, but always tip your dealers, waiting staff and parking attendant. Most of the casino staff will earn minimum wage and rely on tips to bolster their meager earnings.

Be courteous and professional with all the staff and do be generous if you’re winning. Even if you’re losing, it’s not your dealer’s fault. If they’ve made an effort to bolster your mood and improve your experience, the best way to thank them is with a reasonable tip.

10 – Know the Rules

Every player remembers their first time in a casino and should be correspondingly sympathetic towards novices, but a little knowledge goes a long way. While slots are fairly self-explanatory, it’s best to avoid the Craps table unless you’re confident that you understand the rules of the game.

If you want to hone your skills before joining a real game, many casinos offer free lessons in the daytime.

Alternatively, you’ll find plenty of online resources offering step-by-step coaching through the more complex games. By the time you sit at the table, you should be prepared to play with the training wheels off.

Conclusion

Follow these simple but important etiquette tips to avoid making a fool of yourself at the casino. Remember, casino gambling is first and foremost entertainment.

You certainly wouldn’t get sloshed at a broadway musical and stub the valet because you didn’t enjoy the show. You should demonstrate the same courtesy and decorum in the casinos.

A night at the casino can be an expensive but fun way to spend an evening.

Or it can be a total waste of money.

A professional shark, or even just an experienced visitor, probably knows what casino games are all about.

But a novice can easily be overwhelmed by decisions and get caught in some common traps. Casinos are businesses, after all, and their primary goal is to separate you from your spending money.

That can be fine.

If you’re just there to take in the atmosphere and feel like James Bond, then set a solid budget and play whatever game you most enjoy.

But if you want to improve your odds of getting one over on the house, here are 10 casino games you should never play:

1- Bingo

Here are 2 major reasons to avoid spending your time and money on bingo when you visit a casino:

2- Keno

Keno is, in concept, somewhere between bingo and a lottery.

Pick your numbers, wait for the winning digits to be announced, and see if you won anything.

The reasons for avoiding keno are much like the reasons you should avoid bingo:

1. Low odds of winning
2. Lack of entertainment value

But I’ll mention some distinctions.

Keno’s house edge is notoriously high. It’s harder to win any money playing keno.

You do have some meaningful decisions to make in keno, though:

You can choose to shoot for lower more reliable payoffs.

And while it’s not the game for everyone, there’s enough going on mathematically and superstitiously that some gamblers enjoy a round of this old Chinese game.

But most casino gamblers casino find better value elsewhere.

3- Double Zero Roulette

Also called American roulette, this variant has two ‘zero’ spaces on the wheel.

Single zero wheels, called European roulette wheels, are fairer roulette games offered at the average casino.

The house edge relatively low on European roulette compared to American roulette.

So, what’s the difference between these games?

Simple: The house wins most bets on zeros.

With two zero spaces on the wheel rather than one, the house’s odds double.

This might seem like a small thing, but statistically it adds up.

Roulette is an iconic game and worth at least a look for a first timer, but you should avoid the double zero trap and stick to European style games when you can find them.

4- Casino War

No, you did not read that wrong:

Though it’s more associated with bored kids killing time on a campout because they don’t know how to play any better games, there really are casinos that offer betting on the card game War.

No, it really isn’t any more exciting than you remember.

No, it really isn’t worth your time or your money.

If you’re unusually fond of the game because of nostalgia try it once and then move on.

5- Esports Betting

Most people are probably familiar with the basics of classic major American sports like baseball, football, and basketball.

While US sports gambling can be complex and isn’t something a novice should drop a lot of money on, it can be easy enough to have fun placing one or two simple wagers while watching a game in the casino bar.

But some venues – especially online — have started offering bets on esports – that is, bets on competitive video game playing.

In theory this is just like regular sports gambling.

But in practice, that’s a risky way of thinking.

Most people are familiar with regular sports – far more so than they are with competitive gaming.

Even if you personally know Street Fighter from BlazBlue or play League of Legends in your spare time, there’s still a big knowledge requirement to meet before you should start betting on these games.

6- Wheel of Fortune

You’ll see this game called a number of names.

But all of them involve a big wheel being spun and betting on the outcome.

And the odds drop heavily if you try for big money. On top of that, the game isn’t much fun.

It’s telling that these games are apparently disappearing, driven by falling player interest.

Follow their lead on Wheel of Fortune, or Big Six, or whatever they’re calling it these days.

7- Craps

Shooting craps can be a fun time and is an iconic gambling house mainstay.

But there’s one factor that lands it on this list:

Betting on craps is more complicated and more intense than it first appears.

You can place several types of bets:

From come or don’t come bets and pass or don’t pass bets, to place bets, to free odds bets, to hardway bets and more, there’s a lot to know.

Making it worse is that the craps table itself, where all these wagers are made and placed, is a nightmare for a beginner to understand.

And even though craps is a social game, the crowd at a craps table isn’t always welcoming to novices.

It can be worth your time and money to play, but make sure you learn how the game works before showing off your Sky Masterson impression.

8- Slots

The image of a desperate gambler, hunched over a one-armed-bandit, praying for a huge win that will likely never come, is drilled firmly into the popular consciousness.

But it bears repeating:

Like several other games here, slot machines are a trap of bad odds and little or no player input.

If you want to try slots once, that’s fine; pull the handle, watch the slots spin, enjoy the lights and music for a minute, scratch that item off your bucket list, and then go find something more rewarding to spend your time and money on.

9- Poker

Poker can be a great time with friends or family, but there are major differences between your weekly game with coworkers over beer and pizza and a serious poker game in a casino.

The buy-ins and the stakes are often higher, and you probably won’t know the people at your table.

Some of them will probably be new, and some of them may be ruthless sharks.

You should, at least, know the rules for the game you’re sitting down to in a casino poker game.

10- Any Game You’re Not Having Fun With

Unless you’re a professional gambler, the real point of a trip to the casino is to have fun.

For most people, the fantasy of hitting it big at roulette or cards or dice is just that:

A fantasy, and one that the people who run casinos cheerfully exploit to separate marks from money.

So, don’t worry about making money; worry about spending it in a way you enjoy.

Blackjack is one of the fairest games available in the casino, but if you don’t enjoy it, play something else.

You may be absolutely garbage at craps, but if it’s a game you love playing, play it.

Once you’ve set your limit for the evening, all you should be worrying about is safely having a good time.

Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.

Conclusion

Consider other things, too, of course:

If you don’t know a game, any game, no matter how simple it looks, you shouldn’t drop your paycheck on it.

That’s my list of games you shouldn’t play in a casino.

Agree?

Disagree?

Let me know in the comments.

Finally, please remember:

Gambling, practiced responsibly and in moderation, can be a fun pastime or hobby.

The most important thing to remember is to stick to a budget and not allow yourself to go over it, no matter how tempting it is.

The longer you spend trying to make back what you’ve lost, the more you’re likely to lose.

Accept that going home with a lighter wallet is usually the price of a fun time, and you’ll be healthier and happier.

Happiness looks different for everyone. For you, maybe it’s being at the blackjack table, drink in hand. Or having the financial security to go all in without the slightest hesitation. Or the freedom to pursue your lifelong dream of winning a WSOP Bracelet.

Regardless of your version of true happiness, having a happier, more satisfied gambling life is within reach. A few tweaks to your regular habits can help you get there.

Habits Matter

If you’ve ever attempted to break a bad habit, you know all too well how ingrained they are.

Well, good gambling habits are just as deeply ingrained. Why not work on making positive habits part of your routine as a gambler?

Here’s a sample of some daily, monthly, and yearly habits to help get you started on the road of happiness. Keep in mind that everyone’s version of happiness is a little different, and so is their path to achieving it.

If any of these create added stress or just don’t fit your style, ditch them. With a little time and practice, you’ll figure out what does and doesn’t work for you as a gambler

Say “Cheese”

You tend to smile when you’re happy. But it’s actually a two-way street.

We smile because we’re happy, and smiling causes the brain to release dopamine, which makes us happier.

Who doesn’t love the guy or gal across the table with a huge smile through it all?

Smile at the dealers. Smile at the cocktail servers. Smile at your fellow gamblers. Heck, even smile at the pit boss.

Get Fit

Exercise isn’t just for your body. Regular exercise can help to reduce stress, feelings of anxiety, and symptoms of depression while boosting self-esteem and happiness.

Even a small amount of physical activity can make a difference. You don’t have to train for a triathlon or scale a mountain to see a change.

The trick is not to overexert. If you suddenly throw yourself into a strenuous routine, you’ll probably just end up burnt out.

Consider these exercise starters:

Remind yourself of any fun activities you once enjoyed, but that have fallen by the wayside. Or activities you always wanted to try, such as golf, bowling, or dancing.

Mr. Sandman

No matter how much modern society steers us toward less sleep, we know that adequate sleep is vital to good health, brain function, and emotional well-being.

Most adults need about 7 or 8 hours of sleep each night. If you find yourself fighting the urge to nap during the day or just feel like you’re in a fog, your body may be telling you it needs more rest.

It’s especially easy to get caught up in the energy of the casino and neglect yourself on trips. Pay close attention to the time and get your rest.

Here are a few tips to help you build a better sleep routine:

If you consistently have problems sleeping, talk to your doctor. You may have a sleep disorder requiring treatment.

Be Grateful

Simply being grateful can give your attitude a boost, among other benefits. For example, a recent two-part study found that practicing gratitude can have a significant impact on feelings of hope and happiness.

Start each day by acknowledging one thing you’re grateful for. You can do this while you’re having your morning coffee or taking the elevator down from your room.

As you go about your day, try to keep an eye out for pleasant things going on around you. It may be something huge like hitting an online slots jackpot.

But they can also be little things, such as a casino employee offering you show tickets. Maybe even just the warmth of the sun on your skin as you lay by the pool.

With a little practice, you may even become more aware of all the positive things around you.

Give a Compliment

Research shows that performing acts of kindness can help you feel more satisfied.

Giving a sincere compliment is a quick, easy way to brighten someone’s day while giving your own happiness a boost.

Catch the person’s eye and say it with a smile so they know you mean it. You might be surprised by how good it makes you feel.

If you want to offer someone a compliment on their physical appearance, make sure to do it in a respectful way.

Take a Breath

You’re tense, your shoulders are tight, and you feel as though you just might “lose it.” We all know that feeling.

Instinct may tell you to take a long, deep breath to calm yourself down.

Turns out, that instinct is a good one. According to Harvard Health, deep breathing exercises help

reduce stress.

The next time you feel stressed or at your wit’s end, work through these steps:

If you’re having a hard time taking slow, deliberate breaths, try counting to 5 in your head with each inhale and exhale.

This exercise has been a sure-fire way to keep me from going on tilt more than once.

Embrace the Suck

A positive attitude is generally a good thing, but bad things happen to everyone. It’s just part of life and certainly a part of gambling.

If you get some bad luck, make a mistake, or just feel like you’re in a funk, don’t try to pretend you’re happy.

Acknowledge the feeling of unhappiness, letting yourself experience it for a moment. Then, shift your focus toward what made you feel this way and what it might take to recover.

Would a deep breathing exercise help? A long walk outside? Talking it over with someone?

Let the moment pass and take care of yourself. Remember, no one’s happy all the time.

Face Stress Head-On

Life is full of stressors, and it’s impossible to avoid all of them.

Luckily, you don’t have to. A noted Stanford psychologist, says that stress isn’t always harmful, and we can even change our attitudes about stress.

For those stressors you can’t avoid, remind yourself that everyone has stress. There’s no reason to think it’s all on you. And chances are, you’re stronger than you think you are.

Instead of letting yourself get overwhelmed, try to tackle the stressor head-on. This might mean initiating an inner dialogue or putting in some extra work, but the sooner you tackle it, the sooner the pit in your stomach will start to shrink.

Can You Hear Me Now

Unplug. Really.

Turn off all the electronics and put those earbuds away for at least one hour once a session. They’ll still be there for you later. If you still want them, that is.

If you haven’t unplugged in a while, you might be surprised at the difference it makes. Let your mind wander free for a change. Observe. Meditate. Take a walk and pay attention to your surroundings. Be sociable. Or be alone. Just be.

Sound too daunting? Try doing a shorter amount of time in more regular intervals.

Zen Master

There are many methods of meditation to explore. They can involve movement, focus, spirituality, or a combination of all three.

Meditation doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as simple as sitting quietly with your own thoughts for 5 minutes. Even the deep breathing exercises mentioned earlier can serve as a form of meditation.

Incorporate meditation into your gambling routine and see your winnings increase.

Treat Yo Self

No one to go out with? Well, what rule says you can’t go out alone?

Go to your favorite restaurant, take in a Vegas show, or go on that trip you’ve always dreamed of. You’ll likely be happier playing slots in Macau, if that’s on your bucket list.

Even if you’re a social butterfly, spending some deliberate time alone can help you reconnect with the games and places that truly make you happy.

Revisit Your Goals

People change, so think about where you’re heading and consider if that’s still where you want to go. There’s no shame in changing your game.

Becoming a professional poker player may not have the same ring to it than it did before being married with kids. It’s okay to embrace what makes you happiest today and work your gambling goals around that.

Let go of any goals that no longer serve you, even if they sound nice on paper.

Conclusion

You will be well-served to remember that gambling is a form of entertainment. Are you laying your bet for entertainment sake or to pay your light bill?

If it is the latter, I would encourage you to stop and possibly take a break from gambling.

It is almost impossible to not get caught up in the moment. Especially, when the competitive juices begin to flow. Just don’t go chasing bad money with good money.

I have one final piece of advice on how to be a happier gambler: For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.

Gamble on.

It depends on who you ask. Remember that because no matter how well someone explains odds and probabilities, it always depends on who you ask.

Another way to put this question into context is to look at the context of what people tell you.

If you consult a thesaurus the chances are pretty good that it will list odds and probability as synonyms. The same is true for chances and probabilities.

So, yes, it is fair and accurate to say that odds, probability, and chances all refer to the same thing. But only in certain contexts.

Even gambling games may use the words slightly differently. I wouldn’t stake any bar bets on the explanations that follow because you’re more likely to start a brawl than win a bet.

Remember that no matter how right you think you someone else will be just as right as you.

1 – There are Probable Odds and Payout Odds

I’ve rarely heard anyone say “probable odds” but usually when someone asks “what are the odds” they mean “what are the probabilities (or chances).”

On the other hand, I like to use the game of roulette to illustrate the difference between payout odds and probability. In single-zero roulette you have a 1-in-37 chance of picking the right number where the ball lands on its next ride on the wheel.

And yet the best payout odds are 35-to-1. Either the casino can’t do math properly or the game ensures that – over time – the house retains some small percentage of the players’ wagers. And that’s how the house edge works in every gambling game.

2 – Probability Is A Distribution, not A Prediction

Gambling books and articles quote statistics about the probabilities of games such as poker. The better books and articles include the standard disclaimer that the probabilities don’t guarantee anything. It’s a lot like reading a stock market prospectus disclaimer: “past performance doesn’t guarantee future results.”

Where do these probability estimates come from?

In some cases it’s a simple matter of calculating the probability distribution. There are 52 cards in a standard deck and only one Jack of Diamonds. The chance or probability or odds of drawing the Jack of Diamonds from any standard 52-card deck is 1-in-52.

The more complicated the game the harder it becomes to calculated the probabilities. So some people have turned to using computer simulations to estimate the probabilities. So they’ll run millions or billions of simulations and compute the average result.

Does it matter if a computed probability is based on simulations or precise calculations?

Probably not in most cases. Neither type of probability distribution guarantees you success – so they’re not predictions.

3 – Is Random Chance the Same as A Probability?

A probability distribution is a computed value or set of values. It’s based either on the rules or conditions of a game or a set of scores.

But random chance is by very definition unpredictable. Some people say random chance is an act of nature (or an act of God). You can’t predict random chance.

Probability theory cannot predict the future but it points you to where random chance is most likely to produce the result you want.

When people say “this system has a 98% accuracy rate” they mean that it has failed 2% of the time in measured results. Random chance could lead to failures in the next 10 trials.

Is that luck or something else?

Random chance is always with us and it may be based on something mundane like the wear and tear on physical parts in an engine. But how much wear and tear the engine experiences depends on unpredictable things, like how much dirt gets into the engine, how often the engine is overheated, and more.

Probability theory cannot point you in the right direction when a lot of outside factors influence random chance. Any system with an expected 98% failure rate may experience 100% failure in conditions no one tested for.

In gambling, random chance leads to a roulette wheel landing on red 32 times in a row (in 1943) and on the number ten 6 times in a row (in 1959). These are both highly probable events but thanks to random chance they can happen.

In this example random chance is not the same as a probability.

4 – We Estimate the Likelihood of Random Events Happening

We use probability to estimate how likely an unpredictable event is to happen. A probability distribution is measured in the infinite range of values between 0 (no chance whatsoever the event will happen) and 1 (it will always happen every time).

There is nothing to gamble on if all the players know in advance that an event will (probability of 1) or will not (probability of 0) happen.

If everyone is ignorant of whether an event will happen – as is the case in honest gambling games – then what everyone wants is a best guess at what is most likely to happen.

The payout odds are set based on the estimate of what is most likely to happen – the calculated probability. And this is probably why so many people use odds and probability to refer to the same thing. They are closely connected to each other and we are accustomated to using either word to refer to the reward or the risk.

5 – The Words Can Be Ranked by Use

Although odds is used to refer to both the payout and the expectation for the outcome of a wager, neither chance nor probability are. It follows that odds is the most flexible or ambiguous of these words.

The odds of something happening are the same as the probability that it will happen.

When people speak of the chance of something happening they mean the expected probability that it will happen. But when speaking of chance in itself they mean an unpredictable thing.

Of the three words probability seems to have the least use, but sometimes people speak of an indefinite probability when they really mean an unpredictable probability. That is similar to chance.

Chance may be personified. “We’ll leave that to chance” has been used in literature and drama. This may be an echo of when people preyed to gods of chance.

The only common variation on probability is its plural form, probabilities, when people say “think of the probabilities” – implying there are several possible outcomes.

6 – Probability and Chance are Sometimes Connected with Possibility

If there is a chance or probability of something happen then that means there is a possibility. The possibility is a thing itself.

It’s tempting to say possibilities don’t pay so this word would never be confused with payout odds. But then when thinking of future potential gain people sometimes say, “think of the possibilities”. These could be probable outcomes or potential gains and rewards.

Of all these words probability is used to set a precision of expectation no matter how unreliable that may be. And probability is also used to compare the likelihood of two or more possible outcomes. Odds is more often used to compare the value of payouts.

7 – Most People Provide Sufficient Context

Honestly, I’ve never seen anyone use odds in two different ways in the same conversation without explaining the difference between the expectation of a probable outcome and the precise payment for a possible outcome.

While these words may seem confusing given the different ways they are all used, it’s generally easy to understand what they refer to.

If you are confused about anything it is about where and when it is appropriate to use each word. It’s almost always okay to use them how you wish as long as you provide clear supporting context about what you are referring to.

Conclusion

People ask how these words are used because they are used so loosely. Writers who talk about casino odds and probabilities know what they have in mind. I’ve rarely read a book or article that didn’t provide clear context.

I think the confusion people feel arises from the myriad ways writers use the words, even though the readers probably understand what each writer means. If you are asking whether there is a right or correct use for each word, that answer is it depends.

Whether you’re on Netflix, Hulu, or just go to the movies sometimes, you won’t have to look hard to find a film that revolves around gambling. Some of these films are Oscar winners while others are regularly counted among the top 100 best films of all time.

Whether you’re into gambling or casinos or not, this particular genre of film has won popularity among all sorts of people, and not just in America, but around the world. While there are a lot of gambling films out there that are spoken highly of among critics, too many are just examples of people trying to jump on the bandwagon and ride the coattails of other great works to success.

The problem is usually exactly what you expect to find with bad films—the actors aren’t the right actors for the film (or are just plain bad), the script is written poorly, and the director really didn’t know what they were doing.

Or who knows, maybe everything was great until the editors took over, and they’re the ones to blame.

It probably comes as no surprise to you to learn that jumping on the bandwagon doesn’t always work. Despite the world’s obsession with gambling movies, there are more than a few that just plain suck.

I’m going to go over three of what audience and critics call the worst gambling movies of all time, though to be honest, there are probably plenty other gambling films out there that are even worse and never made it past the review stage.

1- Deal

This movie is definitely worth being on this list. To say that Deal is not a really good movie is probably being way too nice. IMDb rated Deal at a weak 5.4/10 stars.

The acting is subpar, and the script itself is just lacking. Tommy Vinson (Burt Reynolds), a former cardshark, had given up poker years ago after his marriage was put on the line and his wife threatened to leave him. After meeting Alex Stillman (Bret Harrison), Tommy inevitably gets back into the game.

Alex, a former law school graduate, is discontent working at his father’s firm as a junior clerk while also showing signs of being a great, pro-tournament-level poker player. Alex is still a rookie, up-and-coming poker player who has a lot of growing to do. Tommy offers to be Alex’s coach and proposes a deal: he will pay entry fees for poker tournaments as long as Alex follows Tommy’s instructions exactly.

Alex teaches Tommy all kinds of tricks, including how to cheat, and all is well until it isn’t.

Before I go into why this movie stinks, let me just note that Deal received a whopping 3%. Burt Reynolds has been called the greatest hollywood actor of the 70s and 80s, but he left the audience in the 2000s with a performance that was forgettable.

From the New York Times: “Reynolds doesn’t convey any of the lightning bolt insouciance that made him arguably the greatest movie star of the 70s and 80s (really) but rather just stands there.”

From ReelViews, “The film has more of a checklist of cliches than an actual script and, when it comes to the cast, director Gil Cates Jr. is scraping the bottom of the barrel.” One credit went on to compare Deal to an episode of the Teletubbies, with Teletubbies coming out on top.

Deal just kind of feels like a mess. It’s actually really sad when you think about it. You have one of the greatest actors ever just flopping in his old age. It makes you wonder if he was just the kind of person who was only able to play a defined ranged and couldn’t work his way out of that, or if it was just a bad script and bad directing. Who knows, but it’s definitely not a film I would recommend wasting your time on.

When you have epic films out there like Casino or Ocean’s Eleven or 21, there’s no point in watching something like this.

2- Lucky You

Moving on with our list of best gambling movies of all time, next we have a film starring Drew Barrymore and Eric Bana called Lucky You. Chuck Heever (Eric Bana), a main character of the film, is someone that goes all out in the world of high-stakes poker. However, that is not the case when it comes to other areas of his life.

He seems to be rigid and closed off in his personal relationships, avoiding emotional commitments or long-term expectations. Chuck wants to play in the 2003 World Series of Poker and win over a singer from Bakersfield named Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore) but first has to deal with a significant obstacle: his huge resentment towards his father, L.C. Cheever.

Cheever is a gambling legend and walked out on Chuck and his Mother at a young age. The movie incorporates a kind of father-and-son rivalry. We watch the 2 through the film as they prepare for a final showdown at the poker table. Chuck learns valuable lessons about life through the game of poker, and vice versa.

The movie tries to sell the idea that the way a player plays at the card table is a lot like how they live their life. After watching the film, I feel like a huge thing the film lacked was passion and energy. A lot of the audience and critic reviews claim that the film was probably 2 hours longer than it needed to be—saying that all we needed was fifteen minutes—and the rest was just a long, drawn out bore.

From the Arizona Republic, “This movie has so little to it that you begin to understand why they packed it with so much poker: They had to put something on the screen. But even die-hard Hold ‘Em fans will leave wishing for more.”

That was something I noticed—well it’s impossible not to. Way too much time is spent just watching the characters play poker, and nothing else is really happening. I forgot at some times what was really going on due to being so bored during some of the drawn out scenes.

I wasn’t surprised when I went back to rottentomatoes and saw the generous 38%. We’ve definitely got another film that’s not gonna make it on the top 5 best casino movies lists.

3- 3000 Miles to Graceland

The plot for 3000 Miles to Graceland takes place in Las Vegas during International Elvis Week. The strip is completely packed by a herd of men who are dressed up as a wannabe version of “The King.” Amongst all of the sideburns and jumpsuits, five of the impersonators are toting heavy weaponry in their guitar cases.

In 3000 Miles to Graceland, we meet Thomas J Murphy (Kevin Costner) and Michael Zane (Kurt Russel) , two criminal-minded tough guys that lead a gang of five, using the Elvis Impersonation as a cover to commit robbery—their agenda is to completely gut the Riviera Casino.

When I say gut, I mean that term in a literal way. These guys don’t just use the weapons to scare, but instead, left a pretty big body count once they were able to leave the Riviera with $3.2 million.

After losing guys during the heist, the main characters decide to split the winnings and start laundering the money. This powerhouse cast includes 2 of the best (and my personal favorite) actors of all time: Kurt Russel and Kevin Costner.

I’ll also give credit to whoever made the trailer for this film. I saw it in a theater, and I remember saying out loud that I was going to see it. The sad reality is that this film received 14% on rotten tomatoes. I think so much of this is due to the over-the-top filler that takes up so much of it.

There are a lot of loud gunshots, a lot of blood, a lot of death, so much of this stuff to the point that you start forgetting what the movie is really about. Reading the top critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, a bulk of the negativity aligns perfectly with what I am saying—too much filler.

Ultimately I think this movie ended up being one of those films where 2 big actions stars got to have a lot of fun with a terrific budget, but ultimately ended up putting out a dud because either the script just didn’t have what it takes to push the story to anything interesting beyond bloodshed or that the editing couldn’t capture the fun that was being had by these 2 guys.

Don’t get me wrong—I think the premise was a great idea, especially given how interesting the trailer was. I found it so enticing and was ready for a great action flick, but it just got bogged down in the unnecessary gore.

If you’re trying to find a great newer movie about gambling, this is one to skip.

Conclusion

I’m sure you can think of a ton more awful gambling movies that should go on this list. If there’s anything I left out, let me know in the comments.

Keno has been available in casinos for decades. It’s practically an institution in the gambling world due to its history.

Many people still enjoy this lottery-style game today. However, I can’t help but notice that keno is increasingly becoming an old person’s game.

Based on observation, I’d guess that the average keno parlor visitor is in their sixties. This game is similar to bingo with its older player base.

Why is the average keno player getting older and older? I’ll discuss several reasons why parlors don’t draw many young gamblers.

No Skill Involved

The obvious reason why the keno crowd is aging is because younger players aren’t joining the fold. Millennials in particular don’t embracing the same types of gambling that older generations enjoy.

Instead, millennials are more interested in skill-based gambling, such as poker, esports betting, and sports betting.

Keno is nearly the opposite of a skillful game. It requires you to guess which numbered balls will be randomly drawn from an air machine.

Here are common keno rules:

• You can put between 1 and 15 numbers on your card.
• You choose from 1-80 when selecting each number.
• The more numbers you pick, the higher the payouts you win.

The only true skill in keno is figuring out how many balls you should select to improve your odds (Pick 5 & better are often best). You can also research different casinos to see which ones feature the highest return to player (RTP).

This limited skill doesn’t impress a generation that’s grown up with Texas hold’em and sports betting. Most millennials don’t want to play a different version of the lottery — they want more control over their results.

Not Featured at Online Casinos

Online casino gaming sites push slots and live dealer games more than anything. Virtual table games and scratch cards are their next priorities.

Keno falls near the bottom of the totem pole.

Some gaming sites do offer multiple versions of this game. For example, you might find different skins for each keno variation.

By and large, though, online casinos don’t see keno as one of their big moneymakers. Therefore, you’ll need to do some browsing to find it.

Extremely Slow Gameplay in Land Based Casinos

Keno is one of the slowest games in brick-and-mortar casinos. Parlors typically only complete between four and six contests per hour.

This relaxed pace is attributed to the playing process. First, the casino must wait until enough players have filled out cards before holding a drawing.

Then, they must announce that the drawing is taking place and release each ball through the air tube. Winning tickets must be collected afterward and prize money delivered accordingly.

Keno gameplay isn’t quite as smooth as blackjack, for instance. The latter boasts a speedy dealer who can quickly deal hands, determine wins/losses, and collect losing chips.

Keno requires a more-comprehensive effort when considering everything that goes into drawings and determining winners.

Terrible Keno RTP

Those who play keno today grew up in an era when gambling strategy resources weren’t as widespread.

Sure, books were available in Vegas airports and large chains. However, the widespread availability of online strategy resources that we enjoy today didn’t exist in the mid-1990s and beforehand.

Many older gamblers are willing to overlook keno’s awful RTP as a result. Speaking of which, most keno games only offer between 70% and 90% RTP.

The Pick 1 and Pick 2 options are the worst. They usually pay back less than 80% in most casinos. But the rest of the Picks aren’t much better.

Younger gamblers are used to googling RTPs on whatever casino games they’re thinking of trying. They’re horrified when they see 75% RTP for keno.

Putting this into perspective, land-based slot machines — which can quickly drain your bankroll — generally offer between 88% and 95% RTP.

Compounding the problem is that you can’t do much to change these odds either. Keno strategy doesn’t go much further than choosing Pick 5 and above and researching casinos with the best payback.

Keno Hasn’t Evolved with Modern Gaming

Some casino games have survived for centuries with little-to-no innovation. Blackjack and roulette are among the few entries in this small class.

This game’s setup doesn’t lend itself to innovation. After all, providers can’t add fancy graphics and animations to land-based keno like they can with slots.

Internet gaming developers have tried giving online keno a fresh look with “crazy” or “party” variations that boast bright and/or abstract background colors. At the end of the day, though, these are just keno games with funky colors.

Perhaps a provider will take on the difficult task of modernizing keno one day. But as it looks now, the game doesn’t have much room for innovation.

Old Person Stigma Is Already Prevalent

It may be too late for keno to change its current perception. Older people already populate parlors throughout the US.

These same gamblers aren’t going to suddenly ignore one of their favorite games. Likewise, millennials won’t pile into keno parlors anytime soon.

Keno isn’t quite at bingo level yet in terms of the old-person vibe. After all, the latter is commonly viewed as a game played by old ladies during church fundraisers (at least in the US anyways).

However, keno could soon venture into bingo territory in the near future. Its player base only continues to grow older by the year.

Keno Is Becoming a Nostalgic Choice

Coin-operated slot machines have long been phased out by most casinos. Ticket-in, ticket-out (TITO) slots are much more prevalent today due to multiple advantages.

Nevertheless, a few Vegas casinos still keep coin-based slot machines on their floors. The idea is to capture the older crowd that wants to relive Sin City trips from the eighties and beforehand.

Keno could very well become the next coin-operated slot. It’s featured in fewer land-based and online casinos these days than ever before.

I could easily see this game’s popularity revolving around nostalgia at some point. Much like those who pump quarters into the few remaining vintage slots, keno parlors will eventually become limited antiques.

Conclusion

Bingo still holds the top spot as the ultimate old people’s game in America. However, keno is giving bingo a run for its money.

This game doesn’t have key elements that are attractive to younger gamblers, such as skill and high RTP. The main skill involved is choosing an appropriate amount of numbers that’ll raise payback.

You can at least exercise research skills to improve your keno odds. However, you can’t use the same stimulating strategy that’s available in games like Texas hold’em.

Unfortunately, you still won’t face great odds even when you choose Pick 5 or higher. Many keno games offer just 90% RTP or lower.

Even if you’re willing to put up with limited strategy and bad payback, brick-and-mortar keno can feel like watching paint dry. Some parlors offer as little as one game every 15 minutes.

Keno also suffers from limited availability in online casinos. Many young gamblers prefer betting through their smartphones and tablets. They can easily overlook keno when considering that it’s shoved in specialty sections.

Internet casinos don’t feel that this game offers enough to modern gamblers. They’d rather showcase the latest slots or live dealer gaming than a fast-aging game.

Even if you’re able to see past all the factors that date keno, you can’t overlook the crowd that fills parlors. You’ll find a bunch of sixty and seventy somethings populating these areas.

My prediction is that keno has 5-10 more years where it’ll be a relevant casino game. After this, it’ll likely go the way of coin-operated slot machines and become a rare vintage offering in downtown Vegas.

So, what exactly is a professional gambler?

A professional gambler is a person who lives from gambling and spends most of his time at the casinos. Professional gamblers are actually earning their paychecks by making the right bets when they play at the live casino tables.

In this article, I will go over some general misconceptions about casino gaming as well as go over a few real-world examples, gathered from several friends of mine who are professional Advantage Players. We won’t give out real names or when these “adventures” occurred, but rest assured this is about as truthful as an accounting of what real-world play is like.

The gambler lifestyle has been portrayed by Hollywood, and more so, by commercials for casinos, to be a glamorous one. Men are always dressed sharply and women are in their best gowns and, both seem to be having a wonderful time. They are winning money, eating at 5-star restaurants and drinking the best champagne.

This is all done to entice the average person to come to the casinos and gamble, but more importantly to lose the maximum amount of money they can. The reality of the casino gaming world is very different.

What Makes a Pro

The term “professional gambler” is sometimes used interchangeably for both people who earn part-time and full-time income through gambling.

But I keep a much tighter definition of a professional gambler.

Real pros not only make a profit through gambling, but enough to pay all of their living expenses. This includes housing, utilities, car payment, insurance, food, clothing and anything else deemed necessary.

A semi-pro is somebody who makes enough to supplement their income but doesn’t earn a full-time living through gambling.

But, when you are on the positive side of the spectrum it’s like taking candy from a jar labeled “free candy”. The hard truth is that the mentality of a professional casino player is equal to a manic depressive.

The gambling world doesn’t offer an abundance of opportunities to make a living, but there are a few different games where you can earn some nice profits. If you play smart and stick to the plan.

Game On

Let’s take a brief look at the most common games that you can make long term profits with and I’ll then go into each with more detail:

• Blackjack
• Daily fantasy sports (DFS)
• Poker
• Sports betting

Blackjack sees you try to win money directly from the house.

Casinos do everything in their power to hinder successful card counters. This includes using continuously shuffling machines, multi-deck shoes, and vigilant security measures.

Anybody who’s caught counting cards is often kicked out of the casino and banned. This is why it’s so important for card counters to blend in with normal players.

DFS and poker both see you compete against your fellow man. The house merely takes a small cut of tournament fees or cash game pots for poker.

Sportsbooks create lines in an effort to get equal betting action on both sides. The sportsbooks make their money by taking 10% juice from the losing group.

Every form of advantage betting has its pros and cons, but the key is that each of these activities offers the chance to make a healthy income.

Counting on It

People have been making a living through card counting since the early 1960s, and despite all the obstacles that casinos have put in players’ way, it remains possible to earn a living with card counting today.

You need a sizable bankroll in order to properly spread your bets and survive variance. The recommended minimum you should aim for is $20,000, but it’s better to have closer to $40,000.

How much you make depends upon several factors, including the following:

• Skill level – Successful counters have between a 0.5% and 1.5% edge on casinos.
• Hands per hour – 50 to 200 depending upon dealer speed & table size.
• Bet spreading – Difference between your lowest and highest bet.
• Deck penetration – The further into the shoe you get, the more confidence you can bet with.
• Counting system – Some systems are more accurate than others.
• Game rules – You want the best rules possible in order to lower the standard house edge.
• Tips – $5 per hour for the dealer is standard.

The final step is to figure out how many hours you’ll play and convert this into an annual salary.

The key is keeping an accurate count amidst casino distractions and blending in with normal players.

Fantasy

DFS is the newest game that offers skilled gamblers an opportunity to make money.

Daily fantasy sees you pay an entry fee to enter contests and compete against other players. The goal is to create lineups that score the most points and rank the highest in tournaments.

The truth, though, is that only a small percentage of those who play actually win. A study from 2015 showed that 1.3% of daily fantasy baseball players collect 91% of the winnings.

Saahil Sud, profiled in a WBUR piece, said he made over $3 million in profits in a single year. Former poker-pro Aaron Jones switched over to DFS and won a DraftKings contest worth $5 million in early 2016.

Of course, the average professional DFS player doesn’t earn quite this much. To determine a standard DFS salary, let’s consider the following factors:

• Entries per day— Most DFS pros enter several hundred contests every day.
• Stakes – Typical entry fees range anywhere from $1 up to $1,000.
• Fees— DFS sites tack on a 10% fee to each buy-in, which is where their profits come from.
• Skill level— Some pros have a bigger edge than others.

Of course, DFS is filled with variables, which is why it’s key to have a large enough bankroll to survive the ups and downs.

Poker

Poker has long been one of the most viable options for becoming a professional gambler. The reason why is because you’re competing against other opponents instead of the house.

It’s tougher to make a living in poker these days because the strategy is more prevalent. Real money online poker gives players a chance to rapidly accelerate their learning curve by seeing more hands per hour.

You can still become a profitable player with enough hard work and experience though. In fact, some pros still make six or seven-figure annual incomes with the game.

However, the vast majority of pros these days earn between $40,000 and $100,000 per year.

Poker is unique in that there are essentially two types of professionals: tournament and cash game pros.

Let’s look at the different considerations for cash vs. tournament play:

Cash Games

• Profit measured in big blinds (BB) made per hour.
• House takes 5% rake from cash game pots for running games.
• More control over annual salary than tournaments.

Tournaments

• Profit measured by rate of return (ROI) on buy-ins.
• House adds 10% fee to buy ins (e.g. $10 + $1 fee).
• Only the top 10-15% of the field makes money.
• Tournaments have more variance than cash games.

A cash player must figure out what stakes they must play to make a comfortable living based on BB earned per hour.

A tournament pro must decide what buy-in level they must choose to make a high enough ROI to live comfortably.

One more consideration here is whether you’ll dedicate the bulk of your time towards live or online poker.

Online cash games and tourneys offer more volume because you can play multiple tables. Plus hands and tournaments go much faster, giving you an opportunity to boost your hourly wages.

Nevertheless, many players find that their win rate is higher in live games. The most lucrative tournaments are found in land-based casinos, too, such as the World Series of Poker events.

Sports Betting

The good thing about sports betting is that you don’t need to have a massive win rate just to book profits.

Sportsbooks only take 10% juice from the losing side. This differs from DFS and poker tournaments where you must pay an extra 10% fee regardless of whether you’re a winner or loser.

The juice can be lowered or adjusted based on where the sportsbook is trying to push action, but 10% is generally the amount you’ll see taken from the losing side.

Pro sports bettors must be very keen at handling their bankroll since they’re dealing with such small profit margins. They also need to make larger wagers than “Gary the CPA from Ohio” to increase potential profits.

Some sports bettors have made millions of dollars with this model. But the average bettors are looking at more modest salaries ranging from $50,000 to $150,000 annually.

Conclusion

Being a pro gambler has some obvious benefits, including flexible hours, being your own boss, and the ability to increase your income.

Some gamblers, such as Saahil Sud and Bob Voulgaris, have even gotten rich with their skills. Of course, you may be perfectly happy making mid-5-figures, as long as you get to enjoy the aforementioned benefits, but there are also some downsides to be aware of. These include risk, highs and lows, no sick days, and the potential to lose everything.

The potential rewards can be great in the case of card counting, DFS, poker, and sports betting, but you also have to be disciplined and good at handling risk.

Long has the debate raged over whether a card cheat is properly termed a card sharp or a card shark.

Sharks, after all, are known for mercilessly attacking their prey, which would seem in this linguistic battle to favor the card shark camp, since those who manipulate the cards with the express intent of cheating others have no more conscience or concern for their victims than do their finned counterparts.

Yet card sharp also has in its favor that it seems to conjure up mental images of the poker cheats of the Old West, sharp-featured men with cards up their sleeves. Which, therefore, is it?

Both terms still mean someone skilled in cheating at cards, although in recent years card shark has also come to acquire the less odious definition of someone skilled at the play of cards.

Were that not so, one would have to question the naming of the 1978 TV game show Card Sharks, on which contestants tried to guess whether the next card in a sequence was higher or lower than its predecessor.

What’s in a Name

As to whether card sharp or card shark entered the English language first, the answer is far from straightforward. A print sighting of card sharp dates to 1884 and one of card sharper to 1859, while the first print sighting of card shark takes us back only to 1942.

You might think this evidence which would seem to settle matters. However, both sharper and shark (in the sense of one who cheats) antedate all of the above, sharper to 1681 and shark to 1599, evidence which could be seen as giving the nod to shark.

By the way, the “shark” in question has nothing to do with carnivorous fish; it instead likely entered the English language via the German schurke, a word that in the 16th century had the meaning of a cheat or swindler.

If you thought the answer might be found via looking at the words sharp and shark absent the word card, that pursuit also leads down a blind alley, because some definitions of both those words contain elements of cheating or connivance.

As for the word shark, in addition to encompassing the species of flesh-eating fish it identifies, it has over time come to serve as a label for certain dislikable characters: those who prey greedily upon others and those who by virtue of superior skill outmaneuver less capable opponents.

Common compound nouns have been formed from ‘shark’ that address both meanings, such as loan shark in the “prey greedily” category and pool shark in the “superior skill” category.

Background Noise

Card Sharks features two players who face off in a head-to-head elimination game with the goal of one player making it to the grand prize winning deck.

This show from legendary Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions features two contestants trying to predict answers to survey questions for the opportunity to play a game with oversized playing cards for a chance to win cash.

Each contestant has to decide if the odds are worth the risk of losing it all and making it to the big game. Ultimately, players can either take their earned cash and quit or continue betting with the hope of reaching the top for a chance to take home a major cash prize. Community star and funnyman Joel McHale hosts.

Typo?

‘Card-sharp’, sometimes written ‘cardsharp’, might be thought to be a misspelling of ‘card-shark’. The latter is the more commonly used of the two synonymous phrases, especially outside the UK, which is one of the few countries to prefer ‘card-sharp’.

It is sometimes suggested that one term derived from the other. There’s no clear evidence to support that view, although if it is the case then it must have gone from ‘sharp’ to ‘shark’ as ‘card-sharp’ appears to be the older term.

Such tricksters were also known as ‘broadsmen’ or ‘spielers’ and ‘card-sharping’ was also called ‘Greekery’ – a derogatory term that probably wouldn’t get past the political-correctness lobby these days.

The reason for thinking that ‘card-sharp’ and card-shark’ may be independent coinages is the existence of the two much earlier words ‘sharping’ and ‘sharking’. These terms for deceitfulness have been adopted into other phrases, for example ‘sharp practice’ and ‘loan shark’.

Whatever you think about how and when the terms were coined there can be little doubt about where. Both ‘card-sharp’ and ‘card-shark’ appear in print in the United States many times before they are seen in publications elsewhere, a sure sign of country of origin.

The first such devious card players were called ‘card-sharpers’ rather than ‘card-sharps’, although the dates of the earliest known citations of the two terms are close enough together to raise doubts as to which came first. ‘Card-sharpers’ was recorded by George Augustus Sala, in his Twice round the clock, or the hours of the day and night in London, 1859:

“German swindlers and card-sharpers.”

As mentioned above, the earliest known citations of ‘card-sharp’ and ‘card-shark’ come from the United States.

Brits vs Yanks

It seems overly generous to have two almost identical terms for the same thing and in time no doubt one will do to the other, probably ‘card-shark’ to ‘card-sharp’, what grey squirrels have done to red squirrels. Until then, it’s the dealer’s choice.

The former is generally the accepted term across the United States and Canada. They do both share the same general definitions: (1) a professional card player, (2) a person who is skilled in card games, and (3) a person who is skilled in cheating at card games.

For the British version of card shark vs card sharp, the implication is that the player is up to some form of shadiness or cheating. In American English, a card shark is simply someone who spends most of their time playing cards. Also, a player who demonstrates an extremely adept skill at cards.

German Confusion

If you look at the history of poker, you’ll see that the use of the term “card sharp” dates way back to the era of Wild West saloons and small town card rooms found all across America in the 1880’s. Long before PokerStars was just a twinkle in its daddy’s eye.

By the 1940’s the term had evolved into card shark. Both phrases do make perfect sense in their own ways. “Sharping” is from the early 19th century and is used to describe the act of “swindling” or stealing. Not just applied to gambling but also a variety of other activities. For example, a con man posing as a bona fide preacher in the Old West would be known as a “gospel sharp”.

In this sense, the word sharp has its origins in the German word “schurke”, meaning rogue or rascal. To that end, a card sharp could very well be a card shark.

In Application

Cardsharps who cheat or perform tricks use skilled methods to maintain control of the order of the cards or sometimes to control just a specific card. Many of these methods employ sleight of hand.

Essential skills are false shuffles and false cuts that appear to mix the deck but actually leave the cards in the same order. Some of the more advanced techniques include culling or manipulating cards to the top or bottom of the deck, and stacking or positioning desired cards in position to be dealt.

Dealing the cards can also be manipulated. Once a desired card or cards are located they can be controlled and dealt as the cheater wishes.

This is called a false dealing, if a card is dealt from the bottom it is called bottom dealing and if it is second from the top it is called second dealing.

Also, two cards could be dealt as one or the second card from the bottom could be dealt, hence the Greek deal and double deals.

Finally, dealing may be done from the middle of the deck, known as the middle deal or center deal, but is almost always performed as a display of skill rather than actual cheating.

Conclusion

Today both terms still have a slight implication of cheating. But not in the sense of sleight of hand or the hiding of cards. Or even card counting.

The very mention of an apex predator can instantly lead one to see an expert of cards pitted against and taking advantage of a lesser, more novice foe. In the same manner, pool sharks and pool hustlers are just using their advanced skill level to win, but only after hiding their playing powers. Are you an apex predator?

Blackjack combines random chance with a low house edge and player skill. Players love the game because it is both challenging and – if you wish – relatively low risk.

Some people can play blackjack for hours. For some the game is a chance to be social. For some the game is an intellectual challenge.

No matter your style of play or why you’re at the table, you only have 1 opponent: the dealer.

A common mistake I myself used to make was believing that other players’ choices affected my own chances of winning or losing. The number of cards left to play dwindles regardless of where you sit at the table. If you’re counting cards then you just count what has been played.

When it’s your turn you need to focus on what is in the dealer’s hand. The up card should play a bigger role in your next decision than how many face cards you’ve counted since the last shuffle.

If you want to win blackjack more often than anyone else then get a job as a dealer. Blackjack dealers are there to handle the cards and enforce the rules. They don’t have to worry about strategy because the rules decide their strategy.

If you count cards you should also know what counter measures the casino is using.

The tips that follow assume you’re playing a table with 4 to 8 decks in the shoe. The goal here is to simplify your decision-making, so it’s easier to see which strategy you want to use.

You should be able to apply these principles to any variation on blackjack. The less time you spend second-guessing yourself the better. Learn from your mistakes and take advantage of online blackjack games to practice simplified strategy.

Here is what you need to know about reading the dealer’s up card.

1 – It’s Your Entire Hand Versus 1 Card

Always count your points first. If you’re holding 18 or higher you’re done. Stand.

Less experienced blackjack players don’t understand why they shouldn’t split 10s. They see two 10 cards, not 20 points.

See the points first and the cards second.

All you’ll ever see in most versions of blackjack is the dealer’s up card. Look at your hand first and recognize either the pair you’re holding or the total points you’re holding.

In most versions of blackjack if you’re holding 4 through 8 points you always hit regardless of what the dealer’s up card is. After you hit you’re dealing with a soft count, never a hard count.

When thinking about strategy it’s easy to confuse the rules for soft or hard 13 but they do make a difference. And the dealer’s up card affects that decision, too.

2 – Assume Nothing about the Dealer’s Chances

You may have a strategy card you rely on, or you may have memorized every strategy play in the book. Either way you feel confident you know what to do in every situation.

By all means play basic strategy but remember that you’re pitting your probabilities against the casino’s probabilities. The probabilities always favor the casino.

They won’t play a losing game. You have two things going for you: skill and luck. The casino has three things going for it: the game rules, the final play, and the probabilities.

Put another way, you’re pitting strategy against rules in a game of luck. The rules have the advantage over blackjack strategy. The game is exciting because the rules give the house such a small advantage players have a real chance of coming out ahead.

Regardless of what the dealer’s up card is you don’t know what she’ll turn up when play returns to her. Frankly, if every player busts it doesn’t matter what comes next – unless you’re playing No Bust Blackjack, which is not a very common variant.

Perfect strategy only prevents you from busting when you stand. If you take a card it could be the wrong card.

And by the same token, standing doesn’t guarantee you’ll win. That’s the nature of gambling.

3 – Read the Dealer Card as High or Low

If the dealer up card is 2 through 7 it’s low. If it’s 8 through ace it’s high. Some people split the range differently but you’ll see why I do it this way as you read on.

When you look at strategy charts one pattern should stand out quickly. You’re going to hit more often when the dealer card is 8 through ace.

That doesn’t mean you always hit on a high dealer card, but if the dealer is showing at least an 8 you’ll have an easier time remembering when you should not hit.

Assuming you are playing 4-8 decks in a shoe, the strategy is very consistent.

If your hard point count is at least 13 and the dealer’s up card is less than 7, you should stand.

If your soft point count you’ll need to put a little more thought into what to do. You’ll always hit if your soft point count is less than 18. But on some of these plays you’ll want to double.

Knowing you need to hit is the simple part of the strategy. Master the strategies for doubling instead of trying to memorize every possible variant on hitting.

4 – One Split Decision Ignores the Dealer Card

When you’re dealt two cards you’ll want to think about what you should do. That’s usually based on what the dealer’s up card is in addition to what your pair is.

One rare exception to this rule is to always split aces. No need to think about it.

5 – The Next Easiest Rules to Remember for Splits

You’ll always split 8s if the dealer stands on soft 17 but you won’t split 8s if (the dealer hits on soft 17 and holds an ace). I put parentheses around that to make it clear the second decision depends on two conditions.

Technically, when the dealer hits on soft 17 the recommendation is to surrender 8s against an ace if you can, otherwise fight the uphill battle and split.

If you’re dealt two 8s you need to remember what the table rules are and pay attention to the dealer’s up card. That’s not a complicated decision but in the heat of the moment some people split 8s on a dealer ace where she hits on soft 17.

That’s not the end of the world. You might come out ahead anyway but the odds of that happening are not as good as when the dealer stands on soft 17.

6 – When Not to Split: High Card vs Low Pairs

Regardless of when the dealer stands or hits on soft 17, you should never split when:

• The dealer’s up card is 8 or higher
• You’re holding a pair of 7s or lower

In other words, it’s easy to see splitting is a bad choice if the dealer’s card is high and your pair cards are low.

If thinking in negatives is hard for you then always hit according to the above rules.

7 – When to Split: Low Card vs High Pairs

If the dealer’s card is less than 7 and your pair cards are at least 7s, you should always split.

Just as there are other times to hit when you’ve got low pair cards against a high dealer card, there are times to split when you have a low pair against a low dealer card.

If you think of strategies falling into four quadrant then the dealer’s up card puts you into 2 of those quadrants and your points or pairs put you into 1 of those 2 quadrants.

Each quadrant has a few exceptions except when your hand totals 18 points or higher.

Conclusion

Reading the dealer’s up card helps you decide what kind of strategy you need. If you’re lucky your decision is quick and simple.

Some players struggle to master strategy because they’re thinking that every situation is unique. In reality many different situations have the same resolution.

Differences in table rules confuse some people and it’s a good idea to practice playing multiple real money blackjack games so you become comfortable switching between the different rule variations. Just as you should teach yourself to look at your own cards first you should look at the table rules before you start playing.

Never ignore the table rules even if their variations are subtle because they are what the house leverages against you. Most of the time when players think the dealer has made a mistake it’s really the players who assumed they were playing by a different set of rules.

Recently, the state of Colorado decided to legalize gambling.  In other words, the Colorado legislature passed HB19-1327 which set up a state referendum to legalize gambling and the measure then passed.  In 2020, Colorado will be another state in which you can get high and gamble–legally–in the same state.

While this prospect is certainly exciting for Colorado gamblers (and those who live within driving distance of Colorado casinos), the passing of legalized gambling will have effects throughout the state in terms of more tourism dollars and more taxes.

To that end, it’s interesting to look at how the idea to legalize gambling in Colorado started, who sponsored the bill and how it eventually became law.  Hopefully, this article will either get you excited to visit Colorado (which has interesting non-gambling things to do, or so I’ve been told) or get gambling legalized in your state.

The Genesis of Legalized Gambling in Colorado

The start of legalized gambling in Colorado began in May of 2018 when the Supreme Court declared a Federal-level ban on sports betting was unconstitutional.  Given the FBI’s role in shutting down other forms of gambling, this decision was both surprising and timely.

Amongst proponents of legalized gambling, the laws the Federal government use to stop gambling are antiquated and rely on a provision in RICO laws that specifically deals with technologies like telephones.  Proponents have always said that the Internet, which stopped using modems long ago, should not be governed by RICO laws and internet gambling and sports betting should be legal.  That’s the timely part.

The Federal ban’s removal is also surprising given the large number of anti-gambling movements (which tend to be conservative) and the power they’ve often held in the gambling debate.

Still, after the measure gained the support of Democratic majority leader Alec Garnett, the measure to legalize sports betting eventually passed.  The benefit, according to the bill, will be to funnel millions of dollars to help update the state’s outdated water infrastructure.

What the Bill Means for Colorado

The passage of legalized gambling in Colorado is not a broad mandate for all types of legal gaming.  The scope of legalization applies only to sports betting.  This, sadly, doesn’t open the way for Colorado Internet gambling or gambling parlors in every location.

The bill also sets up statewide taxing on sports betting income.  The state is allowed to take ten percent of all winnings in taxes, which is lower than a lot of states where closer to a one-third of revenue is taken in taxes.  (Frankly, one cannot help but wonder if the state’s liberal marijuana policies and the taxes from that aren’t working in the sports books’ favor.)

The strangest part of the bill, though, is the target for the sportsbook revenue (which is estimated to be around two million dollars annually.)  In 2015, Governor John Hickenlooper designed a water plan for Colorado, a state facing chronic water shortages.  However, the plan faced deep fiscal shortages that the passage of legalized sports betting will help to correct.

Who Sponsored the First Bill

That’s perhaps the most interesting (and if you are worried about the state of modern politics, best) part of this entire arrangement.  HB19-1327 is the original bill that was passed in Colorado.

If you’re not a denizen of the state of Colorado (and frankly, even if you are), I don’t expect that to mean anything to you.  So, let’s dive into it a little bit more.

As mentioned above, Garnett is the House Major Leader and is a Democrat.  Neville, is the Colorado House Minority Leader and is a Republican.  Similarly, Donovan is a Democrat and is the Majority Whip in the Colorado State Senate.  Finally, Cooke is the Assistant Minority Leader which makes him a Republican.

In other words, this bill’s bipartisan support couldn’t get much stronger.  The number one Democrat and Republican in the House and two higher ups in the Senate, one from each party, all put their name on this bill.

While it might be cynical to say that it took something like real money gambling (and a whole lot of tax revenue) to bring both parties to the table, it is clear that the broad support in both parties did help smooth along the passage of the bill.

Politics Around Voting on the Bill

With that said, even with broad bipartisan support, getting it passed was far from a slam dunk.  The first opposition came from the bill itself.  Opponents of legalized sports betting felt the ballot initiative was poorly worded and made promises about millions of dollars that it couldn’t, necessarily, back up.

Second, the additional politics around the bill made for strange bed fellows.  In this case, Gary Wockner, an environmentalist, and Jeff Hunt, a conservative Christian found themselves on the same side of the issue.

Wockner, never a fan of Governer Hickenlooper’s original water plan, felt that passage of this bill would just fund something he would rather see done away with.  In the end, he ended up leading the charge against the bill that would ultimately prove unsuccessful.

Hunt, on the other hand, opposed sports betting on purely moral grounds.  His Christian Centennial Institute’s position is that gambling is immoral and should not be allowed on that basis.  (With that said, one wonders how the Christian Centennial Institute felt about the legalization of marijuana.)

At some level, Hunt’s not entirely wrong.  Gambling does have it shady side, it’s addictive, and has led to turmoil in the past.  To that end, Hunt also brought out the often-used argument that gambling affects the poor more than those who have money.

It’s an interesting argument and one that’s far beyond the scope of this article.  It’s definitely worth researching whether it is true for any demographic in a particular area.  For instance, did gambling overwhelmingly negatively affect the poor in neighboring states like Kansas?

Either way, despite the best efforts of Hunt and Wockner, proponents of the bill managed to raise a couple of million dollars to support it.  Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, most of this money came from the gaming industry.  Also, proponents of the bill were smart enough to couch most of their political ads around helping the water system and left gambling (and its moral implications out of it.)

While perhaps not a clean win, in politics things rarely are and now Colorado will support betting on sports.

What Legalized Gambling Means for the Future of Colorado?

It’s impossible to know for sure what the effects of this legislation will have on the state of Colorado.  What we do know is that the state is setting itself up to be a tourist destination for reasons that have nothing to do with blue skies and majestic mountains.

Still, if I were a betting man, I would say the state water plan is going to be receiving its millions in funding for a long time to come.  If nothing else, getting water to Coloradoans is not a horrible outcome.

It already has a prominent professional sports team in the big sports (yes, even the Broncos) and it’s not too hard to think that people from all across the country will start to fly into Colorado for a weekend of mountain climbing, recreational marijuana use, and placing bets.

In other words, Colorado could become Las Vegas’s summer retreat.  Seriously, why go to the desert in 120 degree heat when you can head to Colorado and be a lot cooler?

I’m not saying that will happen for sure, but it’s definitely a possibility.

Conclusion

The case of legalized sports betting in Colorado is an interesting case study, especially if you live in a state where you cannot currently place a wager.

A lot of things had to go right for this bill to pass.  First, the fact that it got broad bipartisan support in both the House and Senate was enough to virtually guarantee that the bill would pass.

Even still, proponents of legalized gambling had to work their magic.  It costs millions of dollars to get the bill passed and that money was spent on some fairly political ads.  Even more importantly, the existing gambling infrastructure (local casinos and sites like DraftKings.com) supported legalized sports betting and worked to make it happen.

In the end, though, Colorado got the right to bet.

If you want to bet in your home state, hopefully this gives you some hope.  Your state may not be as wild as Colorado politically, but there does seem to be a desire to legalize gaming and collect that beautiful tax revenue.

The art and science of gambling don’t differ very much. Art is more about the style of game play and science is more about the mechanics.

When you break casino games down into their basic rules a few common factors stand out. They’re all designed to give the house an edge in the long run. They all pay back less than players wager overall.

And the riskier your betting becomes the less likely you’ll win.

With these thoughts in mind, here are 7 proven ways to gamble strategically in any casino.

1 – Separate the Wheat from the Chaff

Everyone grows bored with their favorite game. There come times during long evenings when we need breaks.

If craps is your game but you want to spend time socializing with friends or family on the slot machines, change your betting habits.

Instead of going for the max just make minimum bets while you chat. You may hit the jackpot and wish you had bet max, but if slots are your game then strategy is more wishful thinking than reality.

If you want enough money that you don’t mind frittering away a couple hundred dollars then play a few games you don’t know well.

Otherwise limit your aggressive betting to the game you prefer most. That is the one you’re more likely to learn inside out. That is the game you care the most about.

2 – Play 2 Games at Once

This borrows a page from the book of slot gaming but it’s a strategy for games like craps and roulette.

The idea is to divide your stake into two wallets. The first wallet is for basic game strategy. Bet the max for your budget on outside bets in roulette. Bet your personal max on Pass or Don’t Pass and Come or Don’t Come.

The second wallet is for the riskier bets. In roulette these are the inside bets like street bets (3 numbers in the same row), split bets, or corner bets.

Riskier bets pay higher odds but have less chance of success. Those higher payout odds give you a little bit of wiggle room for spreading your coverage but you need to do the math.

The duo game strategy keeps you in play without risking all your money on a single betting system. It’s a diversity strategy.

3 – Step Down Your Bets

Regardless of what game you play, there is always a range of allowed bets. You have the most flexibility on table games but even slot machines usually have at least 3 wager levels.

This strategy is based on the assumption that making a few large bets is better for you than making a lot of small bets.

Large bets multiply whatever prizes you win and if your goal is to win, say, $1000 you’ll get there sooner with large bets than with small bets. The advantage of making large bets is all in the goal you set. You must stop playing to realize that advantage.

Casinos count on you to keep playing. If you do that with large bets then you’re nullifying your advantage. If you don’t have a specific goal in mind then you’ll keep trying to win more.

And that is where the casino has you. The longer you play the more you’ll lose than win regardless of how much you bet per game.

And this is why the Step Down strategy helps some players. You gradually wean yourself off the large bet. When you’ve finally made the table minimum bet you should walk away.

This strategy doesn’t guarantee you anything except that you’ll eventually stop making bets. Stopping is the hardest part of gambling.

Players who win big on their early bets will save more money by stepping down the wager amounts on each successive game. You’ll still win some nice prizes along the way but this strategy protects you against long streaks of bad luck.

4 – Only Play Low Volatility Games

Gamblers often use variance and volatility interchangeably, although most writers distinguish between the two words in some way.

A simple way of describing variance is to say that it covers the full range of scores a game can produce. A simple way of describing volatility is to say that it represents how often positive (winning) scores in a game occur (within a given timeframe according to some writers).

Sports and casino writers have borrowed these words from the world of statistics and probability.

A low volatility game is expected to pay prizes more often than a high volatility game in an average gaming session.

A low variance game is expected to pay fewer large prizes than a high variance game in an average gaming session.

Gambling experts usually say slot games have higher variances than card games like baccarat, blackjack, and poker. Players can affect the volatility of blackjack and poker through the decisions they make, but that flexibility is limited by the basic probabilities of both games.

You can vary how much you bet in any game. Hence, if you want to make larger wagers you’re better off playing low volatility games because your wagers will provide a better return in the long run.

5 – Get all the Free Practice Time You Need

Before we had free online gambling and gambling game CDs the only ways to practice for the casino were to find neighborhood games or spend a lot of time in casinos.

These were expensive ways to practice gambling.

Whether your game is craps or roulette, the more you practice and study the game the better you become at playing it. Although gambling is based on unknown outcomes these are still games. They have rules.

When you’re standing at the tables in the casino the excitement may overcome a minimal preparedness.

You want your instincts to take over as soon as you start playing the game. Ask for the chips you need and start laying the bets you want to play.

If you see a new game you’d like to try wait until you can play the game for free. It’s not like the games are going away any time soon. Time is on your side when you use it properly.

6 – Switch to Tournament Play

If you’re good enough to win then you’re good enough to compete in tournaments. Tournament play is a new level of challenge. You’ll find some people reaching for the stars too soon but you’ll meet a lot of players with knowledge and experience.

Start with smaller, less well-publicized tournaments. The idea is to build up your experience and your competitive strategies. When you have a strong track record start looking for sponsors.

The smart thing about sponsored play is that you’re no longer risking only your money. With enough sponsors you won’t risk any money.

The downside to sponsored gambling is you must your backers on a percentage basis. If they fund 100% of your gaming then you must negotiate terms that allow you to keep some of your winnings.

7 – Always Play the Lowest House Odds

In blackjack you should never make a decision without looking at the dealer’s up card. And in every other kind of game where player decisions affect the outcome of the game, you should always look at the consequences of what you’re doing.

The casino is counting on you to improve its chances of winning by making mistakes. Even though experts say you shouldn’t play the slots, most people do. So if you’re going to play the slots you should only play games with the highest return to player.

I won’t play a game that doesn’t tell me what the RTP is. And I don’t settle for a machine that only says “this game has a 1 in 4.5 chance of paying a prize”. I want to know if that is a 92% RTP “1 in 4.5 chance” or a 97% RTP “1 In 4.5 chance”.

In blackjack you improve the house’s edge by taking side bets, splitting when you shouldn’t, and doubling down when the dealer has a face up card. I know some people double down if they have 11 against a face card but that’s still taking on extra risk.

Keep your bets simple in roulette and craps. The higher payout odds bets are exciting because they are less likely to go your way. Victory is so much sweeter when it’s harder fought, but leave the hard-won battles to games of skill.

And throwing the dice across a table is not a skill in my book.

Conclusion

There are strategies for nearly every type of casino game. Learning the best strategies for those games is the most important step to take in your gaming career.

But take a step back and look at the bigger picture. There are so many lessons to be learned that help you with all games. Gambling may be all about taking risks but choose your risks carefully.

You can’t guarantee when you’ll win but we can guarantee the casino wins more often than anyone else in the game. They don’t need our help with that.

Make good choices and enjoy the sweet success of living wisely.

Let me start off by saying that one of the myths will not be that blackjack is a good game to play. In fact, it’s true that blackjack has some of the most favorable odds for gamblers on the casino floor.

With that being said, it’s important to note that although the odds are better than other games, it certainly doesn’t mean you have an advantage over the house – and it’s not 50/50 either.

Separating fact from fiction can help you make more educated plays and walk away with a bigger win, or at least a smaller loss. In this article, I’ll address the myths that are keeping you from getting the most out of blackjack.

1 – Myth: Card Counting Is Against the Rules

If you’ve seen enough movies with pit bosses giving shooting glances to the person who keeps winning in blackjack, you’ll justifiably assume that card counting is legal. This actually isn’t the case, but that doesn’t mean you should go showing off your skills if you do figure out how to do it.

The bottom line is nobody can regulate what goes on in your head. However, there are some tell-tale signs that someone is using the card counting technique to help their chances. Most casinos actually employ former card counters to help identify when someone at their table is using the misunderstood practice.

If you take the time to learn how to card count (it’s easier than you think), just be sure that casino workers don’t catch you putting your skills to the test. Even though there aren’t any technical rules against it, no casino is going to want to sit back and watch you make money by using controversial methods.

As a side note while I’m on the subject, don’t forget that you can’t use card-counting techniques in online casinos as the deck is shuffled after each hand.

2 – Myth: You Can Be Due for a Win

This theory has been misunderstood for so long that there’s even a name for it, The Gambler’s Fallacy.

It can be a comforting thought to think that, with a 2% house edge, if you play 100 hands, you’ll win 48% of the time. Keeping this in mind, it stands to reason that if you’ve lost five straight hands, you’re more likely to win the next one. The probability has to even up at some point, right?

The real truth is that no matter what, under all circumstances, the previous hands have no impact on the next few hands. Even though you feel like it has to even up at some point to get to the 48% chance you have of winning, that percentage is based on a single trial only.

Think of it this way…if you flipped a coin and it came up heads four times in a row, is it more likely to come up tails on the next flip? The answer is no, and if you don’t believe that, you can get in real trouble gambling.

No matter the game, always remember that previous trials do not impact future trials, no matter how logical it might seem in your head.

3 – Myth: The Goal Is to Get As Close to 21 As Possible

Yes, getting to 21 or very close to it is obviously a great way to put together many winning hands. With that being said, your goal is to beat the dealer, not get to 21. That means it takes careful consideration to avoid making unnecessarily risky plays in an attempt to get your number as high as possible.

So many inexperienced blackjack players have a tendency to think that they need a very high number to beat the dealer and win the hand. The reality is that you can win a good amount of the time with a 16. The lesson to be learned is that getting greedy will often set you back.

Whereas in other casino games it pays to take on a little extra risk in hopes of a bigger reward, in blackjack, you’re better risking staying then risking on an extra hit.

4 – Myth: A Table with Bad or Inexperienced Players Hurts Your Chances

This one actually could have some truth to it, but it doesn’t have to be true if you’re able to overcome.

To state the obvious, if you’re at table with the town drunk and his or her three closest (and loudest, most obnoxious) friends, you can become distracted. These distractions can actually hurt your chances of winning.

The good news? If you’re able to stay focused on what you’re doing and tune out the rest of the noise, you should be just fine.

Although they can’t do anything to mathematically hurt your odds of winning money, if you’re easily distracted, it may be best to stick to tables with more experienced players. It’s all about your personal preference and finding a playing environment that’s most comfortable for you will typically lead to better results.

5 – Myth: The Dealer, More Often Than Not, Has a 10 in the Hole

This one is another widely believed misconception when it comes to the most basic blackjack strategy. The false belief is that because there are more 10-point cards in the deck, there is a high probability of a 10 being the hole card. However, this assumption can lead to some bad decisions.

The reality is that the dealer has only about a 30% chance of holding a 10-card, which means that the odds are heavily on the opposite side. Now, that 30% chance is still high, relatively speaking, so it isn’t without some merit to hold this assumption, false as it may be.

While believing in the 10-in-the-hole theory has reasoning behind it, it’s just not enough mathematically to feel good making this assumption.

6 – Myth: Taking Insurance Is Smart

If you’re newer to the game, the concept of taking insurance on a hand might be unfamiliar. Here’s how it works: Insurance is an additional side bet that dealers offer when their up card is an ace. Once offered this option, a player can be half of their original wager, and if the dealer has blackjack, the player’s insurance bet will pay out 2 to 1.

All you really need to know about this scenario is that if it were truly that beneficial to the player, it wouldn’t be offered by the house, plain and simple.

The reason some players think that you should insure a bad hand is because they think there’s a higher chance the dealer has a face card. Other players believe that they should always take even money on a blackjack. Finally, others wrongly believe that if they get a 20 in their hand after the deal, they should protect it with insurance. To make things simple – it’s all wrong.

You have plenty of things to think about when you’re gambling, whether you’re real money playing blackjack or another game at the table. Save yourself some mental energy by remembering this easy-to-follow rule: don’t ever take insurance, and don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

Conclusion

Despite these myths that have been laid out above, blackjack truly is a game that gives players favorable odds and a good opportunity to make a profit. Just be sure to follow the basic strategic rules, watch your bankroll, and don’t fall for any of these misconceptions that might be floating around the table.

About 5 years ago, a close friend of mine approached me about contributing content for his gambling blog. My friend and I met in college and became fast friends when we realized we both had a love for poker and craft beer.

When friend X asked me to write my thoughts and experience down on gambling, I was flattered and a little scared.

Let’s look at what this road looks like and where I am now.

I Love Gambling, Betting, and Casinos

I saw my first James Bond movie when I was six with my grandfather.

There’s a famous scene where 007 is in a tux next to a beautiful woman playing a table game. He’s sipping on a martini (shaken not stirred of course).

The woman blows on his dice (totally not kosher in an age of Coronavirus), and he throws them on the craps table.

At that moment, I knew I wanted to be Bond, James Bond.

This didn’t happen, though.

I’m not oozing cool, nor am I a secret agent. I’m a high school math teacher living in Middle America. I have a mortgage, a master’s degree in abstract mathematics, and a family.

I don’t drive a fast sportscar — I drive a late model Subaru.

My love for Bond movies has translated into a love for everything gambling.

I love to gamble in casinos, sportsbooks, online, and in my friend’s basement. The first time I walked into a casino, I was in love. I was terrified of not being as cool as I wished I could be.

I was 22.

I’d played poker and blackjack in college.

I’d bought squares for the Super Bowl.

I played fantasy football.

I was sure I would nail the casino level gambling.

But I was wrong.

I share a lot in my blog posts about beginner mistakes because I’ve made so many of them.

I love the excitement of being around fellow gamblers and the shared energy of a table game. I love playing slots next to the old ladies. I love sportsbooks and their sporting event-driven mentality. I love taking some time to brush up on my table game skills against a stranger halfway around the world in an online casino.

I had my niches that I was good at and areas of the gambling community and industry I knew nothing about. I get to learn it all and tell you about it.

This has grown from a hobby to a real business endeavor for me.

Bold Blogging Goals

When my friend, let’s call him John, asked me if I wanted to write for his blog, I thought I would tell the world about how great of a gambler I am.

Like my first casino experience, my goals were much loftier than I could achieve.

My first blog was a mess.

I’m a mathematician. I was too wordy and did not convey my thoughts or gambling experience in a relatable style.

I used big words, and my experience was not as broad as I had convinced myself. I only considered table games and slots. I’d never even considered keno a real gambling game worth playing.

I had a lot to learn.

People (my wife for example) are not always math whizzes. I had to learn how to explain how to play a Double Bonus video poker game to someone who might not be good at math or might just plain hate math.

I have improved my own gaming abilities by having to learn to view gambling from different points of view. Before I started writing about gambling, I had never played online casinos. I thought they lacked the in-person excitement I always expected.

I did not consider that everyone doesn’t live in a state that has legalized gambling or had never visited Sin City. I have opened my eyes to other people’s experiences and lifestyles.

John sent back my first blog with more red lines that not. My explanations and writing didn’t seem to connect with the reader. We went through 3 edits. It was not the great ego boost I thought I had signed up for.

Writing for the gambling community, be it for veteran gamblers or newcomers, has brought me a better understanding of humans and a level of humility I thought I would never achieve.

Thank you.

Gaming Blogging — Yin and Yang

In my years as a blogger for gambling, I’ve discovered some dark sides and beautiful sides to this industry. I’ve learned about problem gambling and seen the generosity of the gambling community.

Problem gambling has become one of the causes that I care deeply about. It breaks my heart to see a hobby take over someone’s entire life and destroy it. What is so beautiful about this community is the support for people who struggle with addictive gambling.

Never Have I Ever

Things I thought I would never see or do in my life because of gambling blogging:

1. Slot machines with pee bottles next to them
2. Gamble in Paris
3. Travel the World
4. Turn my hobby into a side job
5. Get to use my master’s degree to make some real money ( I am a teacher so you do the math)
6. Be able to play with veterans and newbies alike
7. Learn more about humans than I ever thought possible
8. See sportsbooks blossom across the USA
9. Tell the internet my opinions on a variety of betting games
10. Like keno…

That last one is one I thought I would never say; let alone write on the internet.

I’d never played keno until I started writing professionally about gambling. I always passed the keno lounges in casinos and paid them no attention.

So much smoke, so much foreign weirdness I didn’t understand.

Keno is what I play (without fail) almost every trip when I need a break from the table games or (TBH) my travel companions.

It’s so strange but familiar at the same time.

If you haven’t played, give it go.

Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Math, Math, Math

When I told my parents and my friends that I wanted to get my master’s degree in mathematics, they looked at me like I was insane. I probably was looking back at my student loan amounts to pay for this endeavor.

I’ve always seen math like musicians can see music in their head. I have tied to explain this phenomenon to my wife — but to no avail.

She’s a fellow teacher, but she’s an honors English teacher. We don’t speak the same language when it comes to our careers.

I digress.

When I started applying to grad schools, everyone I knew asked the same questions,” What are you going to do with a master’s in math?”.

I had no answer other than “I love math”.

I ended up being a high school math teacher and am now the head of my department.

My math love affair is how I also fell in love with gambling. Without getting too complicated, math rarely lies to you. There’s always one right answer when it comes to statistics and that is what (to me) gambling boils down to.

As I’ve mentioned, I started playing basement poker in college. From there it has grown into a healthy (arguably time-consuming) hobby.

I will take or place a bet on about anything.

I have a bet with my editor John about how many words I can write about my math abilities in this very blog.

I think I’m winning, but I have the house edge (wink wink).

Friends in All Places

Since I have started being an active part of the online and land-based casino community, I have made more friends than I had in 15 years.

I am the textbook math nerd.

I’m lucky my now=wife sad yes to our first date. I’m socially awkward, not a looker, and I get in my head way too easily. It has always been tough for me to have a manage a wide group of friends — until I met all of you.

I have blackjack friends, bingo friends, roulette friends, sports friends, and fantasy football friends.

I have made more true connections in writing for the gambling community than I could have ever imagined.

My daughter’s godfather is someone I met through gambling. Sounds shady, but our families are close, and our kids play on play dates almost weekly. I wouldn’t have met him without the gambling community.

Thank you.

Conclusion

I don’t really know how to close this blog. I hope you have a better idea of who I am as a writer and a player. I hope you feel the same about our shared passion. I usually wrap up with a synopsis of what I have gone over. This is different. This is personal. This is me.

I am thankful for your input on the comments. As always, please leave a comment below. Happy gambling and making connections in this community.

The gambling world is filled with blackjack variations. Blackjack Switch, Spanish 21, and Super Fun 21 are just some of the available variations.

Of course, you’ve probably heard of these games at some point or another. They’re common at online casinos and even available in some land-based establishments.

Have you heard of Mega blackjack, though? If not, then you’re definitely not alone.

Mega Blackjack is much more obscure in the gambling industry. But as I’ll cover below, it’s a fun game that’s worth a try.

Brief History of Mega Blackjack

Mega Blackjack definitely doesn’t rank as high as Spanish 21 or Blackjack Switch in terms of popularity. But there’s good reason for this — the Mega variation has only been around for a few years.

They’ve had success with this game and continue offering it at various casinos across the United States.

As for AGS, they’re a game developer that first started out in the Class II Native American market. They’ve since expanded beyond just providing Class II games and now provide a variety of table games and Class III (e.g. slots) machines.

Mega Blackjack Rules

If you’ve played classic real money blackjack before, you shouldn’t have much trouble adjusting to the Mega version. It follows standard rules for the most part.

However, Mega Blackjack does have some unique rules that you should know beforehand. Here are both the standard and more-unique points of the game:

• 6 decks
• Dealer hits a soft 17.
• Dealer peeks for a natural blackjack with an ace or 10 upcard.
• Double down after splitting (DAS) is allowed.
• Players can re-split up to four hands.
• Gamblers can resplit aces.
• No surrender is available.
• Normal winning hands pay 1:1.
• A natural blackjack normally pays 3:1 (casinos can adjust these payouts).
• A winning suited A-K natural blackjack pays 5:1.
• If the dealer busts with 4+ cards, then the player pushes.
• Players receive a 3:2 payout for drawing to 21 (includes splits & double downs).
• These games can feature the “Buster Blackjack” side bet (wager on how many cards the dealer needs to bust).

Rules such as six decks, dealers hitting a soft 17, and DAS are quite common throughout gaming. Mega Blackjack differs, though, through a few specific rules.

First off, a natural pays 3:1 under normal circumstances. It pays even more for a suited A-K natural at 5:1. Most blackjack variations only pay either 3:2 or 6:5 for a natural.

The other big change involves specific dealer bust outs. You automatically win in this circumstance no matter what in other blackjack games. However, the Mega version sees you push when the croupier busts with four or more cards.

How to Play Mega Blackjack

Other than its unique rules, Mega Blackjack plays just like classic 21. You place your bet before a hand like normal and have the same available actions (hit, stand, double down, and split).

The Buster Blackjack bet presents one slight nuance. You have the option to make this side wager along with your regular bet before a hand.

As covered earlier, natural blackjacks pay differently in this game. You also push when the dealer busts out with 4+ cards.

But these rules don’t affect the actual process of playing Mega Blackjack. If you’ve played any other variation before, you should be perfectly comfortable with this one.

Mega Blackjack Strategy

The strategy for Mega Blackjack doesn’t differ tremendously when compared to other games. It does, however, contain some minor discrepancies.

The good news is that you can easily find strategy charts that cover this game. A simple search for a “Mega Blackjack strategy chart” will provide all the strategy you need.

I suggest going over your chart before hitting the casino. After all, you don’t want the dealer and/or other players getting mad because you keep referring to this resource on every hand.

Mega Blackjack House Edge

Mega blackjack is an appealing game when you want a new variation to play. After all, it features large natural blackjack payouts and a fun side bet.

The number of decks in play and whether the dealer hits or stands on a soft 17 (they normally hit) can influence the house advantage. But even with a 1.32% house advantage, Mega Blackjack gives you a stronger chance to win than the average table.

Many blackjack games in land-based casinos feature between a 1.5% and 2% house advantage. These same tables usually only pay 6:5 for a natural (raises house edge by 1.4% versus 3:2 payouts).

An 1.32%, or even 0.82%, house edge isn’t the absolute best that you’ll find in gambling. But it’s pretty good on a broader spectrum.

Pros of Playing Mega Blackjack

This game offers a few notable advantages over classic 21 and other variations. Below, you can see the biggest benefits of Mega Blackjack.

Relatively Low House Edge

Again, the Mega Blackjack house edge ranges from 0.82% to 1.32%. Obviously you want the former figure, but you can’t go wrong either way.

By comparison, French roulette gives you the strongest chance to win out of any roulette variation with a 1.35% house edge.

You do need to use optimal strategy to achieve the lowest house advantage. Luckily, you won’t have much difficulty in finding a strategy chart for this game.

Large Natural Payouts

Natural blackjacks are always exciting, because they typically offer you either a 3:2 or 6:5 pay out. Both of these payoffs are bigger than the 1:1 standard for winning hands.

But Mega Blackjack gives you even more reason to get excited. It offers 3:1 for a regular natural or even 5:1 for a suited AK natural. These payouts spice up the action and give you a chance to turn a $10 bet, for example, into a $30 or $50 win.

Something Fresh

Blackjack doesn’t really need any more variations. After all, it currently features more than a dozen different games.

But if you’re somebody who likes variety in your blackjack experience, then you’ll really appreciate another quality game.

Mega Blackjack isn’t just another variation either. It has unique rules that make it stand out from the pack.

Cons of Playing Mega Blackjack

You may be interested in trying this game based on what’s been covered so far. However, I urge you to consider the possible downsides before running out and looking for it.

More Variance

Blackjack will never be as volatile as slot machines in any form. But Mega Blackjack does involve more variance than the average blackjack variant.

On the plus side, it sees you win large natural payouts. The downside, though, is that the dealer pushes when busting with 4+ cards.

The latter occurrence happens around 1 out of every 9 hands. You’re robbed of a guaranteed payout each time it happens.

The fewer regular payouts counteract the enhanced 3:1 and 5:1 natural payouts to some degree.

New Strategy

If you’re all about increasing your chances of winning, then you no doubt study strategy when playing a new blackjack game. Of course, you must learn new strategy for Mega Blackjack.

The charts for this game are readily available on different websites. But as mentioned before, casinos and players frown on you checking a chart for every decision.

You may ultimately embrace learning new strategy. On the other hand, you might not enjoy mastering another chart if you’re already well-versed with classic 21.

Not Widely Available

Odds are, you won’t walk into your local casino and find Mega Blackjack. You also won’t find it at online casinos either (at least not now anyways).

This game is only a few years old and still slowly spreading throughout casinos. It’s available in Las Vegas and some other casinos but still isn’t heavily prevalent throughout gambling.

Conclusion

Mega Blackjack presents a fun take on a classic game. It amps up the excitement by delivering larger natural blackjack payouts.

The downside to these bigger payouts is that you push when the dealer busts out in certain circumstances. But you still get fair odds with this game in comparison to other blackjack variations.

The big matter involves actually finding Mega Blackjack. If you can find this game, you should certainly consider playing a few hands or more.

Before we get down and dirty, you should know that it’s not recommended that you count cards. Though it’s not illegal, it can get you in a world of trouble at major casinos and if you’re thinking of counting in a friendly game, then you’re not really playing with friends, are you?

Now that’s out of the way, and we can get to the fun stuff. After watching Rainman as a child, I became fascinated with card counting. It seems like magic when it’s possible to predict what card will come up next in an exciting game of chance like blackjack.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need unusual mental abilities to count cards. There is no memorization or tracking of cards. The strategies we’re going to cover here apply to blackjack, though it’s possible to count in other card games as well. It’s imperative that you first learn blackjack strategy.

House Edge

The house edge is inevitable. This term is used to describe the mathematical advantage that a game has over you as you play, ensuring a statistical return to the venue over time.

Unless you’ve got a group of good Samaritans opening a casino with the desire to give a fortune over to players and be bankrupt in a matter of minutes after opening, the investors are going to look at the brass tacks before allowing a game to be run in their operation.

The house edge for blackjack varies based on the variant you’re playing. A single deck classic blackjack game that allows you to double down when holding value of 9-11 and forces the dealer to stand on a soft 17 will give you the lowest house edge (down to .13% when playing with perfect strategy—meaning the house gets a minute $.13 return on a wager of $100).

Counting cards significantly reduces the house edge, regardless of the variant being played.

Tens to Triumph

The most common variants of counting cards in blackjack are based on the statistical evidence that high cards give a better edge to the player than the dealer, while low cards benefit the dealer and hurt the player.

A denser concentration of high cards is beneficial because: it increases your chances of hitting a natural blackjack (player payout 3:2), doubling down on additional hands can increase expected profit (dealers can’t double), it provides additional splitting opportunities for the player (no dealer splits), and a high enough concentration of 10’s can make insurance bets more profitable (increasing probability of dealer blackjack).

On the other side of the coin, low cards benefit the dealer because according to blackjack rules, a dealer must hit stiff hands (12-16) and low cards are safer in these common hands. The most common card to come up is the 10 (there are a total of 16 cards valued at ten in a deck of 52-30. 77% of the cards laid down are 10’s), so if the dealer has a stiff hand & gets a 10, they will bust, making this card essential to track when counting.

Brass Tacks

Instead of memorizing and tracking each card you see, you’re merely assigning a point value to each card you see that estimates the card’s value, and then track the sum of the values. This is called keeping a running count.

The basic systems assign positive, negative, or zero values to each card value available. As each card comes up, you adjust the count based on the value assigned to that card. Low cards increase the count as they increase the percentage of high cards remaining in the set of cards, and high cards decrease the value for the opposite reason.

The goal here is to assign point values to roughly correlate to a card’s Effect of Removal (EOR). The EOR is the estimated effect of removing a given card from play, and the resulting impact on the house advantage.

Gauging the effect of the cards removed from the deck (dealt) helps the player assess the current house advantage of the game based on the cards remaining. To increase efficiency, larger ratios between point values are used to create better correlation to the effect of removal.

These systems use more and different numbers and are placed into classes (such as level 1, 2, and 3), with the higher ranked levels being more complicated, thus assisting in more accurate predictions of what card value is likely to appear next.

Count Levels

Level 1 counts never increase or decrease the running count by more than a single, predetermined value. Level 2 counts increase or decrease the running count by two different predetermined values, and level 3 counts increase or decrease the running count by three different predetermined values.

The multilevel counts (2 and 3) make finer distinctions between card values to gain greater play accuracy. Instead of assigning the single plus 1, minus 1, or zero (such as Hi Lo listed below), the multilevel may also assign plus 2 and minus 2 (making it a level 2 count).

A level three count may assign a plus 1, minus 1, and zero, as well as a plus .5, minus .5, AND plus 1.5, minus 1.5. As you can see this stands to make things exponentially more complicated.

While you may get a better read on the next likely card to be dealt, you will be playing much slower until you can get the hang of the system. The additional information may detract from your ability to play quickly and accurately. Some card counters will fare better by playing a simple count quickly (more hands per hour) than by playing a complex count slowly. Practice makes perfect.

Hi Lo

Hi Lo is a level 1 count. The Hi-Lo system subtracts one for each 10, ace, or face card that comes up, and adds one for any card 2-6; 7-9 are assigned a value of zero, thereby causing the count to remain the same. While this seems simple enough, it can be a little mind boggling to process.

Begin your running count when a new deck is used. Your running count will begin at zero. As you get more accustomed to counting you will need to incorporate the true count. The true count is calculated by taking the running count and dividing it by the number of decks remaining to play. As an example, if the running count is plus 6 and 3 decks remain, your true count will be plus 2.

An estimation will work as you become acclimated to calculating your true count. It is imperative for you to utilize these steps in order to get the best outcome, however the true count only needs to be calculated in borderline cases. Usually the right play will be obvious.

The greater the true count, the higher you should bet. This is the point where card counting strays from the cold hard facts and you need to implement a little finesse. Books exist with rigid rules, but casino managers have read these books and this behavior sets off red flags. As you become more experienced, you’ll develop your own style, so use it when the heat is up.

Developing a limited bet spread is helpful keeping the heat down. This is a ratio of maximum bet to minimum bet. Only increase bets after a win, only decreasing after a loss, and staying the same after a push will make play look more natural, affecting profitability; keep in mind though that your profitability will go down to 0% if you throw up too many red flags and get the boot from the casino. Play it smart and play it cool.

Rather than using basic strategy, some hands will require you to play according to the True Count we discussed and a table of index numbers.

Practice, Practice, Practice

In order to calculate how many decks remain so that you can get your true count, you’ll need to get to know what a stack of 6 decks looks like, then as it begins to dwindle to 5, then 4, then 3, knowing by sight is important to calculate your true count. This is crucial. I would practice first by watching the movie 21. It’s pretty enjoyable, and after reading this post, you’ll be able to gather some ideas on how to hone your skills.

Conclusion

Don’t worry about why it works. Give it a shot with a deck you have at home. So that you can get the hang of it, try laying down fifteen cards and then see what your count is. If it’s a high count, that means the deck is HOT and you can predict a card value of ten or an ace is likely to come up. Oppositely, if the count is low, you can assume you’re going to get a lower valued card.

Have some expertise to add or a suggestion for something you’d like to see here? Please comment below and let us know. Play it cool with finesse, sharks and whales. Good luck!

Casinos are one of the most exciting and mystical forms of entertainment around. Players flock to them all around the globe. From the luxurious spa filled resorts of Europe to the smoke filled rows of slot machines in North Carolina. Gamblers roll in by the bus load with cash in hand in hopes of winning big.

Gambling is big business internationally. Almost every country in the world has casinos. With the exception of China, most of the countries without casinos are either predominantly Muslim or are remote island nations without the ability to attract many tourists. The U.S. alone has more casinos within its borders and on Indian reservations than the next ten countries combined.

Of the five most populated countries – China, India, United States, Indonesia, and Brazil – only the U.S. and India have licensed casinos, and there are only a few in India. Obviously, China is a major feeder market for other Asian gambling jurisdictions including the special administrative region of Macau, the Philippines, and South Korea.

Indians with discretionary income take to the internet to gamble, and many Indonesians travel to nearby casinos like Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore; Resorts World Genting in Malaysia, or to Entertainment City in Parañaque, Metro Manila where they will find a sort of mini-Macau.

The 5th most populous country in the world, Brazil, seems to be on the verge of passing casino legislation. If it does, expect to see big international players like Las Vegas Sands Corp, MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment, Wynn Resorts and even possibly a few big names from Macau throw their hats into the ring for integrated casino resort licenses there.

Who wouldn’t want to add world class casino gambling to their Rio de Janeiro vacation?

Let’s examine region by region how many casinos dot the landscape.

Africa (253)

As the world’s second largest continent, in terms of both landmass and population, assessing the state of gambling in Africa on the whole is a huge undertaking.

After all, the area is home to no less than 54 individual sovereign nations, each operating under its own unique system of governance and rule of law. Among them, countries like Libya and South Africa are about as different as any two places on the planet.

Climate, culture, cuisine, and indeed, the law has developed distinctive qualities in each and every one of Africa’s disparate collection of countries.

Below are a list of countries in Africa with casinos:

Asia (328)

Inhabitants of Asia account for more than 60% of the worldwide population so it is predictable that it is currently the largest gambling market in the world. Many gambling games that originated in Asia are now played worldwide.

China is home to a range of different forms of betting such as lotteries, sports markets and slot machines. Some of the forms of betting available are actually illegal with non-approved sites, such as poker, various casino games and sports betting.

It is no surprise that Asia is the biggest gambling market in the world given the size of the continent, however the laws in regards to gambling do vary from country to country. At present in some countries it is entirely legal to gamble, others ban it entirely.

Whereas it is just heavily regulated in places, such as India, which is seeing a massive growth in online gambling at present, even though gambling is very restricted throughout the country.

Perhaps the most shocking to me were the inclusion of North Korea and Iraq as Asian countries that do have at least 1 casino.

Here’s your breakdown of casinos in Asia:

Europe (3785)

Travelling to Europe is a rite of passage for people from all over the world. The continent consists of 50 countries, each with a rich heritage, national history, and unique relationship to the world of gambling.

From gaming hotspots like Monaco and the French Riviera to lesser known markets like Croatia and Poland, the entirety of Europe is a perfect travel destination for gamblers.

European hospitality sets the standard by which the rest of the world’s tourist trade is judged. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on hotel stays in places like France, England, or Italy. Of course, you may spend that much, especially if you’re interested in opulent amenities at the region’s best casino properties.

The following European countries offer casino gambling:

Caribbean (192)

Whether you have a passion for poker, soft spot for the slots or like the rush of the roulette wheel, you’ll find a winning gaming getaway in the Caribbean.

With beautiful white sand beaches and crystal clear water the Caribbean is already a top shelf  travel destination. The close proximity to the U.S. coupled with all of the other amazing features makes this a hotbed for some great casino action.

These are the island nations that offer casino gambling:

Central and South America (568)

I love to bet when I travel overseas. Getting the chance to travel to exotic destinations, relax by a pool or a beach, play against fresh and unlikely competitors sounds like my idyllic vacation trip.

Right now, my eyes are set on Latin America for my next gambling frontier. I cannot wait until I get to visit one or more of the swanky casinos that are at my disposal.

Why Latin America of all places? For starters, the gambling industry in South America has grown at a constant pace and it has become one of the most dazzling gaming destinations for all the travelers that like to have a tropical spin on their casino ventures.

So, without further ado I present where you can settle in to a table:

Oceania (753)

Australia is a huge country, home to both massive urban centers and remote populations. From beaches to mountains with just about every climate and geography in between, Australia is the sixth largest country in the world, some 4.5 million square miles of diverse landscape and culture.

People visit Australia for different reasons. You could make an entire tour of cultural landmarks, another for native sites of interest, and another for diving and watersports.

Gambling is a cultural phenomenon in the Commonwealth. From the rabid popularity of poker machines (slot machines) to dozens of tiny poker rooms, card rooms, and mini casinos in pubs and nightclubs, to the wide availability of Australia’s extremely-popular lottery games, gambling is an integral part of Aussie culture.

While Australia is not the only nation in Oceania that offers casino gambling, it’s clearly the leader:

• Australia (667)
• New Caledonia (2)
• New Zealand (70)
• Northern Mariana Islands (1)
• Papua New Guinea (1)
• Réunion (4)
• Samoa (2)
• Solomon Islands (2)
• Vanuatu (4)

North America (3451)

North America is home to many wonderful casinos. From the beautiful beaches of Mexico to the unique desert landscape of Las Vegas to the lush forests of Canada. Gamblers in North America love their casinos and the wonderful amenities they offer.

Here’s the breakdown of casinos by country:

• Canada (197)
• Mexico (365)
• United States (2889)

Conclusion

You are probably not surprised how popular casinos have become around the world. How close was your guess of how many casinos in the world to the 9,330 covered here?

Casinos have been around for centuries and it’s clear that they will be around for centuries to come. How many of the over 9,000 do you plan to visit?

Every blackjack player needs to know certain facts about the game. When you know these facts it helps you find the best tables, and play every hand the best possible way. This all leads to a lower house edge and a better chance to win.

Here are nine facts that every blackjack player needs to know. Take a few minutes to make sure you’re doing everything you can to help you win when you play blackjack.

1 – Every Table Isn’t the Same

The most important fact you need to know about playing blackjack is that every blackjack table isn’t the same. The base game is the same on every blackjack table, but there are rules variations that you need to know about.

At the base level, blackjack is about winning by either having a higher total than the dealer without getting 22 or higher, or having any total under 22 while the dealer busts. But the rules on the table influence your chance of doing one of these things, which in turn make the house edge higher or lower.

The first tip you need to know is you should not play on any blackjack table that pays less than 3 to 2 for a natural 21. Once you learn how to find the tables with the best blackjack rules you’re chance of winning goes up.

2 – The Perfect Play Every Time

Most blackjack players don’t know this fact, but there’s a single best way to play every hand at the table. This is summarized on a blackjack strategy card. If you don’t know what blackjack strategy is, pick up a strategy card or print a strategy chart from the internet.

When you sue a strategy card, you play with the lowest house edge that you can. You learned about playing at tables with good rules in the first section, and using a strategy card makes sure you’re doing everything you can to keep the edge low.

3 – Insurance Problems

Insurance is a common side bet offered when the dealer has the possibility of having a natural blackjack. It’s made to look like a good way to break even when the dealer has a blackjack, but the fact is that it’s just another way for the casino to make the house edge higher.

When the dealer has a blackjack, the insurance bet makes you break even, but most of the time the dealer doesn’t have a blackjack. This means you lose the insurance bet and still have to play out your hand.

Don’t ever take the insurance bet offered at the blackjack table.

4 – Other Side Bets

This section is short, because there’s not much you need to know. But that doesn’t mean it’s not important.

You learned about insurance in the last section, and it’s the most common side bet at blackjack tables. Some blackjack games offer other side bets as well. You should never make any side bets when you play blackjack.

Side bets are designed to make the edge higher, so never make one.

5 – Offset the Edge

Most of the time when you play real money blackjack the casino has an edge. This means that you’re going to lose more than you win. But you can do a few things to change this, which you’re going to learn about later on this page.

In this section I want to teach you about a couple different ways you can offset the house edge easily. The first way to offset the house edge is to sign up for the players club so you earn comps when you play blackjack.

The other easy way to offset the house edge is to use a bonus when you play online. Make sure the bonus is one you can use for blackjack, and then simply sign up, make a deposit, and use the bonus to make your bankroll bigger.

6 – Free Practice Is Available

Most blackjack players think they have to play for real money on a land based casino or at an online casino to practice strategy and how to play. But you can practice for free as long as you like if you know how to do it.

The easiest way to practice blackjack for free is to sign up for a free account at one of the online casinos listed on this site. Click on one of the reviews on this listed, follow the link to the online casino, enter a little bit of information, and you can start playing right away.

Another option is to find a free blackjack game son your phone or mobile device. You can find many different options, but the best one is to use the mobile app from one of the online casinos. This way you can play for free, and you can easily switch over to real money play when you’re ready.

7 – You Can Win More Than You Lose

If you know and use the proper strategies when you play blackjack, you can win more than you lose in the long run. Everything that you’ve learned so far on this page is important, but it won’t turn the edge in your favor.

The thing you need to learn how to do is count cards. This doesn’t mean that you have to remember every card that’s been played. It just means that you have to keep track of the ratio of low and high cards that have been played. This tells you the ratio of low and high cards remaining in the shoe or deck.

Pick up a book about one of the popular card counting systems, like hi lo or Red 7. The book explains how card counting works, how to practice so you can do it well, and how to use it to make money playing blackjack.

8 – Watch the Dealer

As a blackjack player you should watch the dealer’s hands on every deal. You need to do this for two reasons. The first reason is to make sure that they don’t make any mistakes. But the second reason is even more important.

It takes a sharp eye, proper seat placement, and practice, but sometime you can see the value of the down card when it’s dealt. This gives you a big advantage when you have to make decisions on how to play your hand.

9 – Watch the Shuffle

One way to make more money when you play blackjack that almost no one knows about is called shuffle tracking. It’s not well known because you have to use it in a hand shuffles game, it’s extremely hard to do, and some dealers do a good enough job shuffling that it’s not effective.

But winning blackjack players look for every possible edge, and if you can use shuffle tracking every once in a while it helps you win more.

The idea behind shuffle tracking is that high cards are better for you than the dealer. When you know high cards are coming out of the deck or shoe soon, you can make a higher bet because you’re more likely to have an edge.

When cards are put in the discard tray, you watch for small slugs of cards that have a high percentage of aces and 10 point cards. Watch this small slug closely as the cards are being shuffled to see where it ends up.

When this small slug is being ready to be dealt, you can profit from this information. Start watching for these things in every hand shuffled blackjack game you play.

Conclusion

These nine blackjack facts are going to help you win more often. And if you use them all, you can even win more playing blackjack than you lose.

Start with the best rules, and get a strategy chart. These two things are going to improve your blackjack results faster than anything. Now you know the facts about insurance and other side bets, so you can stop losing money on these types of bets.

Once you start using these strategies, take a look at advanced blackjack strategies like counting cards, looking for hole cards, and watching the shuffle. This is how some blackjack players can make more than they lose.

Gamblers are always looking for ways to improve their results, but most of them never think about how discipline can help them. Discipline is one of the most important things a gambler can have to improve their chance to win.

Here are five ways that discipline can help every gambler. Once you learn more about why you need to be disciplined when you gamble, start working on being more disciplined. Your results are going to prove that the effort and time you invest in your discipline now are going to pay dividends for the rest of your life.

1 – It Helps You Follow a Strict Budget

One of the most important things you need as a gambler is discipline with your budget and bankroll. It doesn’t matter if you’re an advantage gambler or just gamble for fun; if you don’t have discipline you’re going to burn through your bankroll too fast.

Every gambler needs to have a dedicated bankroll that they only use for gambling. And you also need to set a budget for every gambling session. But it’s not enough to have a dedicated bankroll and use a budget. You have to be disciplined enough to use them.

If you struggle with discipline with your budget, here are a couple tricks you can use to help. The first thing you can do is if you gamble with online casinos is to just deposit what you plan to use as a budget for the current session. If you run out of money before you want to stop playing, it’s too bad. Don’t make another deposit until your next playing session.

When you gamble in a land based casino or poker room, only take an amount of money equal to your session budget. If you don’t have more money with you there’s no way to use more than you planned.

Use tricks like these to help you build your discipline. Keep working on it until you have enough discipline to carry as much money as you want and never go over your budget.

2 – Discipline Helps You Identify and Only Play the Best Games

Advantage gamblers never play or gamble on anything where they can’t get an edge. This is why you don’t see them playing roulette, baccarat, slots, and most table games. They know that the only way they can keep their edge is by being disciplined enough not to place bad bets.

Even if you never plan to be an advantage player, you still need to take the time to learn which gambling activities offer the best odds and learn the strategies you need to use to play with a low house edge. This requires discipline, because it’s easy to just keep doing what you’re doing.

Being lazy is what makes most gamblers lose as much as they do. It takes discipline to do what you have to do to improve your chance to win. Start learning more about the games with the best odds and become disciplined enough to never play the ones with bad odds.

3 – It Keeps You in Top Mental Shape

If you think about it, gambling is almost 100% mental. You use your brain to make decisions, and there are very few things about gambling that are mechanical. This means that if you want to make the best decisions when you gamble you need to stay in top mental shape.

It requires a great deal of discipline to stay in good mental shape. Too many people do things that are designed to do the opposite of staying in good mental shape. They watch television for hours every day and look at pictures of cats on Facebook for hours at a time. They do everything they can to avoid staying sharp.

Exercise your mind just like you need to exercise your body.

Make sure your mind is sharp every time you gamble. Making mistakes can cost you a great deal of money. When you feel that your mind isn’t sharp, stop gambling until you can get it back in top shape.

When my mind isn’t sharp when I’m gambling, I stop and take a walk outside. The fresh air and time away from the table help me a lot. It requires discipline to work on keeping your mind in top shape, and to stop gambling when it gets cloudy until you get back on track.

4 – It Keeps You Focused on the Task at Hand

Casinos are filled with distractions. You have to deal with noise and other people, and you can easily be distracted. When you get distracted the chance of making a mistake goes up quite a bit. And when you’re distracted and start making mistakes when you gamble, it costs you money.

If you can’t focus 100% on whatever you’re doing when you gamble, you shouldn’t be playing. It can be hard to block out all of the noise and other distractions, but with practice and discipline you can learn how to do it.

If you simply can’t train yourself to avoid distractions, you need to be disciplined enough to only play the games that don’t require focus. You can play baccarat without much focus, because all you have to do is place a bet on every hand.

You can play slots without needing to be focused, but they have a high house edge in comparison to most other gambling activities.

Another option if you struggle with focus is to bet on sports. You can take your time evaluating games, so if you lose focus sometimes you can come back to it later.

5 – Discipline Helps You Walk Away When You Need To

If you want to know the number one reason why discipline is important for every gambler here it is. You have to know when you need to walk away from the table or slot machine, and you have to physically get up and do it.

Some of the other things you learned on this page can help with this, but you still need discipline.

It also doesn’t help your bankroll when you make bets that are too big, or refuse to use a budget.

You have to become disciplined enough to stop gambling when you need to. This doesn’t mean you’re weak or that you have a problem. Discipline is the opposite of being weak. When you’re disciplined to do what you need to do, it means you’re strong.

How to Improve Your Discipline

You’ve already learned some ways to help you become more disciplined on this page. You’ve also learned why being disciplined as a gambler is so important. Now I’m going to share a few more ways you can work on becoming more disciplined.

The first thing you can do is decide to become more disciplined. I know this might sound silly, but the truth is that you’re not going to become more disciplined until you decide to do it. The next step is to make a 100% commitment to becoming more disciplined. Make a commitment and never walk back on the commitment no matter what happens.

Another step you can take to improve your discipline is to focus on it as much as possible. Think about discipline the first thing in the morning and when you go t bed at night. Think about discipline as many times during the day as you can. The more you focus on discipline the more disciplined you’re going to be.

The last tactic I want to share with you about discipline is something you can use if you’re really struggling. Instead of trying to become more disciplined 24 hours a day, start with 15 or 30 minutes. Start by staying disciplined for a short period of time at first, and then keep expanding the time and build up to longer periods of discipline.

Conclusion

A little bit of discipline goes a long way when it comes to responsible gambling. You just learned five reasons why discipline is important for gamblers. Now it’s time to put these benefits into action when you gamble.

Start working on your gambling discipline today. It helps you with your gambling budget and bankroll, how to identify and play the best games, and has many mental benefits. Discipline also helps you stay focused and walk away when you need to.

In addition to helping you with gambling, discipline offers many benefits in other areas of your life as well. You might be surprised at how much discipline helps you in other areas once you start using it while you gamble.

Casinos have always held the edge over gamblers. They design their games in a manner that gives them a slight or, in some cases, large advantage.

Therefore, it’s not surprising that the house wins in most instances. What is surprising, though, is that gamblers aren’t closing the gap and winning more often.

I’ll explain why this is surprising below along with statistics that reveal how players aren’t any better at beating casinos than they were decades ago.

Why Gamblers Should Be More Skilled

Up until 20 years ago, you had to visit bookstores and/or subscribe to magazines to obtain gambling knowledge. Books and magazines were by far your best path to becoming a more-successful player.

Of course, the problem here is that you had to physically drive to a store and spend money on these resources.

Alternatively, you could have subscribed to a gambling-related magazine. However, this subscription would have cost you $10 per month or more.

You can quickly learn how to become an expert blackjack player or minimize the roulette house advantage to its lowest point. All you need is 5-10 minutes’ worth of online research to accomplish these feats.

You even have the ability to become an advantage gambler with little time wasted nowadays. You could learn a card counting system and then use online counting trainers to hone your skills.

I shouldn’t say that these resources come absolutely free. You’ll need a computer/smartphone and Wi-Fi connection beforehand.

However, you can use your smartphone and Wi-Fi connection for far more things beyond just gambling. The same can’t be said about the “How to Master Blackjack” book you might have bought 15-20 years ago.

Simply put, the widespread availability of strategy should make today’s gamblers much better than those in the past. Players can easily study a game with just a simple internet search.

What the Vegas Numbers Show on Gamblers’ Winnings

Anybody can go online and learn in minutes what took past gamblers hours to master. Therefore, you’d think that players today would be crushing casino games.

Statistics from the University of Nevada Las Vegas Center for Gaming for Research show otherwise. UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research has compiled statistics dating back to 2000 on the house’s win rate

These numbers don’t show that the casino is losing more. In fact, they reveal that gambling establishments are actually taking more money from players.

Here’s a breakdown on some figures from their research:

All Casino Games

• Casino win rate from all games in 2000 was 6.76%.
• Casino win rate from all games in 2019 was 8.32%.
• +1.56 change

Blackjack

• Casino win rate from blackjack in 2000 was 12.56%.
• Casino win rate from blackjack in 2019 was 14.12%.
• +1.56 change

Craps

• Casino win rate from craps in 2000 was 13.53%.
• Casino win rate from craps in 2019 was 16.03%.
• +2.50 change

Poker (House Banked)

• Casino win rate from all games in 2000 was -0.28%.
• Casino win rate from all games in 2019 was 19.27%.
• +19.55 change

Slot Machines

• Casino win rate from slot machines in 2000 was 5.23%.
• Casino win rate from slot machines in 2019 was 6.90%.
• +1.67 change

I should point out that not all of the factors accounting for the house’s increasing win rate are related to gamblers’ skill levels. However, the simple fact that casinos are winning more shows that the average player isn’t becoming any better.

Reasons Why Players Are Losing More

Casinos’ improving win rates goes beyond just players being lazy. As you’ll see below, though, the latter does play a part in how much Vegas is winning these days.

Many Gamblers Aren’t Taking Advantage of Available Resources

You’d think that with how easy it is to find gambling strategy today, players would be honing their video poker skills before hitting the casino. This just doesn’t seem to be the case, though.

I don’t know the habits of every single person who walks into a casino. However, I do know enough gamblers to realize that not everybody takes the time to learn games ahead of time.

Some people don’t think that strategy is worth the time. Others feel that they’ll be overwhelmed with something like basic blackjack strategy.

Another crowd simply feels that spending time learning gambling tips will take away from the enjoyment. People are free to play casino games how they want, but they’re also missing out on extra winnings by ignoring strategy.

They Still Rely on Luck

Even if you’re a skilled gambler, you need some small degree of luck to win. The only time that this statement isn’t true is when you’re an advantage player (e.g. card counter) who makes money in the long run.

Considering that luck is still a big part of gambling, many people just rely on this aspect to the fullest. They feel that they can only play and hope that Lady Luck smiles on them.

Of course, one doesn’t need to rely as heavily on good fortune if they can reduce the house edge through strategy. Nevertheless, many gamblers still think that they need a mystical force to intervene for them to win.

Casinos Have Increased Their Edge

Las Vegas used to be more generous with its rules and give players better odds. For example, they commonly featured single-deck blackjack games with around a 0.5% house edge.

These near coin-flip situations are becoming less and less common in Sin City and elsewhere.

They feel perfectly comfortable giving players worse odds. After all, those who still want to gamble live will do so regardless.

Of course, the same casinos also risk alienating serious players who know the rules and odds. But they seem perfectly comfortable with this for now.

Casinos Are Even Better at Marketing Today

The gambling industry doesn’t just rely on its advantage alone to win money. It also uses clever marketing to draw you back into the casino.

If you haven’t been to Las Vegas in six months, for example, you might suddenly receive an email for a free buffet.

This buffet pass has nothing to do with gambling. But if it gets you in the door, you’re more likely to play casino games afterward.

Some corporations are even using RFID technology (through casino chips) to track your betting habits and better tailor promotions towards you.

What You Casino Do to Win More with Casino Games

You don’t have to settle for being a statistic and lose big like many other gamblers. Instead, you can boost your chances of earning money with the following tips.

Play Games with the Lowest House Edges

Casinos offer a wide variety of games across the board. You can spin the slots reels, play Baccarat hands, try for Caribbean stud jackpots, and much more.

While this variety is great from an entertainment perspective, it doesn’t help your bottom line. Assuming you spread your play across the wrong games, you’ll end up facing house edges ranging from 10% (certain slot machines) to 30% (keno).

In contrast, baccarat, blackjack, craps, European roulette, French roulette, and video poker offer some of the best odds in gambling.

Study Strategy

My main point throughout this post has been that many gamblers aren’t using easily accessible resources. You can go against the grain by using the countless strategy material that are available.

If you want to learn basic blackjack strategy, for example, you can simply google the term “blackjack strategy chart.” This search will bring up countless charts that show correct moves in every situation.

Or, you could go online and lookup “video poker strategy” and find both charts and trainers. The latter refer to online programs that point out when you do and don’t make correct decisions.

Account for Variance

With reference to gambling, variance indicates how frequently casino games pay out in the short-term. Slot machines have high variance, because they don’t deliver many short-term payouts. Baccarat, on the other hand, has low variance, because it sees you win around 50% of the time.

Understanding this term alone will improve your profits. Return to player (RTP) is a more-relevant concept when trying to figure out how much you can win in the long term.

If you’re dealing with a small bankroll, though, you definitely want to know the variance behind each game. You can target low-variance games to win more often and sustain your bankroll.

Have a Bankroll Management Plan

Bankroll management plays two key roles in your gambling success:

• It allows you to keep playing.
• It prevents you from risking money that you can’t afford to lose.

Both of these concepts make bankroll management a worthy cause. What’s more is that you don’t even need to spend much time mapping out a bankroll plan.

You simply need to set aside an amount of money that you’re willing to lose. From here, you can set a stop-loss limit to ensure that you don’t lose your entire roll in one sitting.

Here’s an example of executing bankroll management:

• You start by going through your bills and expenses.
• You determine that you can afford to lose $500.
• You set a stop-loss limit of $100 for each session.
• You’ll quit playing for the day any time that you hit $100 in losses.

Conclusion

Gambling is all about entertainment. Some people just don’t find it entertaining to look up strategy before playing.

These cases aren’t a big deal if the same people are perfectly fine with facing bigger losses. But anybody who wants more control over wins and losses should definitely learn the strategy and odds.

Fortunately, the internet has made learning gambling strategy much easier. Contrary to past gamblers, you don’t need to visit bookstores or get magazines to learn.

Instead, you can quickly study strategy for any game with a simple online search or two. As a result, you’ll avoid being one of the many gamblers who keeps losing more to Vegas, online casinos, and other destinations.

Gambling at casinos, playing cards, throwing dice — no matter the game you need to know how to play. If you have no idea where or how to learn to play casino games, allow me to help.

It can be overwhelming to learn what and how to play casino games. I’ve made it easy for you to learn. The first time I went to a casino in my early 20’s, I was lost and made mistakes.

I want you to have a better experience.

I have split this blog into 2 parts so that you don’t feel overwhelmed. I want you to have the most information to have the most enjoyable casino game playing experience.

Let’s begin.

What You Need to Know Before You Walk in a Casino

You did it. You booked your first trip to a casino resort. You’re looking at flights and rental cars. Then it hits you. You’ve only played a couple of casual games of poker in your friend’s basement. Let’s be honest. You’re not very good and you went more for the company.

You just realized that your big dreams of hitting the big jackpot (table or slot machine) is not very smart. You really have no idea how to gamble in a casino. Gambling can be fun, but it helps tremendously if you know a few things before you step foot in a casino.

The House (Casino) Always Has an Advantage

The house advantage (also known as the house edge) means the statistical math is always on their side. The casinos are looking for players just like you to win at any game. Having this knowledge going into to casino is going to give you the upper hand over someone who has not done their research. If you know that the casino will have the mathematical edge, you will not be disappointed when you lose money.

Gambling Is a Game of Luck and a Little Bit of Skill

Since you don’t have the advantage of the house edge, you need luck to win money, almost all the time. There are slight things you can do to minimize the house edge by playing wisely. This extends your playing time in a game. Luck is going to be your biggest advantage and there is not a lot you can do about that. Play for fun and don’t get wrapped up in the things you can’t control.

Set Your Spending Limit

This is a trick I stick to, even as a seasoned casino gambler. Withdraw the cash amount you are comfortable playing with before you even step foot on the casino floor.

We’ll talk about the in- house ATMs in a minute.

When you start to gamble on the casino floor be prepared to lose the money you have in your pocket. I know when that money is gone, I am done for the day. I will not be going to the ATM that is most likely spitting distance from where I’m sitting on the casino floor.

The casinos know that winning is a chance for the players. They have designed their ATM locations to be wherever you need them to be. This is a trap to get as much money a possible from you.

It is okay to go back to our hotel room with a loss.

That’s part of the intrigue of gambling in casinos. Not everyone can be a winner but everyone can have fun.

Stay Away from Casino Floor ATMs

As I’ve already mentioned, don’t go back to the casino ATM after you have spent your set gambling bank. This is how the casinos get you in a frenzy to spend more money to make up for your losses. Statistically it’s not going to happen. These ATMs are placed on the floor within your sight so that you don’t question if you should spend more. This is how some people fall into problem gambling.

Winning Streaks Are Not the Norm

If you find yourself winning hand after hand, enjoy it.

But be warned, do not take this as the norm for gambling in casinos.

You should really enjoy the winning streak because your winning streak will come to end, and you will be left pondering where all your money went,

Join a Player Rewards Program

You have a customer card for your regular grocery store (usually tied to your phone number) that you use to receive special coupons and discounts at the store. This is a great business model, and the casinos have copied it, or maybe the grocery stores copied them. We may never know the answer to that mystery.

Anyway, players rewards programs are offered at almost any casino you want to play at. Do your research into the casino(s) you plan on gambling at. Find out what the requirements are to join. Read player forums on other’s experiences. These rewards programs offer great discounts and even free dinners because the casinos want you to spend money. The more you spend, the more freebies they give you.

So Many Games, Which One Should You Play?

There are so many choices when it comes to choosing a casino game to gamble at.

The main question is “What kind of adventure do you want to have?”.

Certain games are more fun to play while others have better odds for the player.

Are you looking to win money?

What is your skill level?

Are you looking to unwind with a few free drinks?

So many questions but I will guide you in the right direction.

If you’re wanting to win some money to keep your playing going, you need some basic skill level and have played before. These games have better odds for the gambler who know their way around a casino or play recreationally quite a bit. This set of games won’t leave you broke, and having to explain to you SO (significant other) where the money for the car payment went.

1. Video Poker (Try to find Double Bonus or Double Double Bonus)
2. Craps (some bets)
3. Blackjack (single deck if you can find it)

Research this blog and player forums on how to master these games. If you take some time to read up you should be able to play pretty decent. No promises.

Looking for something fun and easy to learn (you have zero experience or are not interested in hitting the big jackpot, not that you won’t?

Try these 3 games to really enjoy your casino gambling experience in a low stress:

1. Slots (make sure and read the fine print on the side or bottom of the top panel to better understand the rules)
2. Roulette
3. Keno

Want to know a cool thing about playing slots?

When you’re sitting at a machine you can score free drinks from the multitude of cocktail servers walking around the casino floor.

Be careful when mixing gambling (your money) and heavy drinking. This is not a famously successful pairing.

Roulette has two styles, American and European. Again, do you research. Everyone has a preference, but this is a fun and exciting game that will be a can’t miss experience to play.

Keno.

What is it?

It’s a gambling game brought to us from Asia. It is a combination of betting and the lottery.  You choose a set of numbers then place a bet. It’s weird and so enjoyable to gamble in casinos in this fashion. It is a great game to play if you want to relax, people watch and/ or have a drink. I like to take a break from the high stakes games and play Keno. Give it a try.

Conclusion

I hope you found this to be a good start on the easiest way to learn how to play casino games. I would love to hear any beginner tips or questions you may have, please feel free to leave a comment below.

If you would like to continue reading, check out part 2 here. Happy gambling.

Many gamblers strive just to win meager profits. But a small percentage of players have actually managed to become rich through gambling.

The biggest winners often have the perfect mix of talent, fearlessness, and bankroll management. Unfortunately, some big winners are lacking in the latter category.

These same players have won and lost fortunes due to their inability to handle money and/or walk away. The following 7 gamblers serve as cautionary tales for knowing when to quit.

1 – Stu Ungar

Stu Ungar is best known for winning three WSOP Main Event titles. He took down this prestigious tournament in 1980, 1981, and 1997. The latter title earned him the nickname “The Comeback Kid.”

However, Ungar was proficient in more than just poker. He first became a professional gambler through gin rummy.

After standing out in the New York gin rummy scene, Ungar travelled to Las Vegas in search of action. He dominated the competition so badly that nobody would play him anymore.

Ungar was also extremely good at blackjack. He was so good, in fact, that he could count a six-deck shoe and know what the final card was.

While Ungar was excellent at various forms of gambling, he did poorly with sports betting. He also developed a bad cocaine habit that would fester throughout the years.

The combination of sports betting and coke led to Ungar losing everything he made on the gambling tables. But he still experienced a shining moment after winning the 1997 WSOP Main Event.

Ungar split the $1 million prize with his backer, Billy Baxter. Sadly, he blew his $500,000 share on drugs and sports gambling.

Just a few months later, he died in a seedy motel of a heart attack. The heart attack was the result of years’ of cocaine usage.

2 – Erick Lindgren

Erick Lindgren was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the poker boom (2003-2006). He won multiple WSOP gold bracelets and World Poker Tour titles at the height of poker mania.

“E-Dog” also landed a sponsorship deal with Full Tilt Poker that paid him $300,000 per month. Lindgren used his wealth to bet on sports and fantasy sports.

The latter caused his sports gambling problem to surface in 2012. Fellow gamblers began complaining that Lindgren failed to cover a $100,000 buy-in into a private fantasy league.

Soon, others came forward with stories about the two-time WSOP champ owing them money. He eventually declared bankruptcy after realizing that he had no chance to cover some $12 million worth of debt.

He owed $3.8 million in back taxes to the IRS. Lindgren also owed fellow gamblers, including poker pro Andy Bloch, an estimated $6.1 million.

He’s since gone into gambling rehab multiple times and continues to play poker. But Lindgren will never be able to pay all the people whom he owes money. Of course, bankruptcy court probably took care of most of this debt for him.

3 – Terrance Watanabe

Unlike many other gamblers on this list, Terrance Watanabe has never been a professional. Instead, he’s a whale who formerly ran Oriental Trading Co.

Watanabe took over the family business in 1977 and helped it become a prominent brand. The Japanese-American businessman sold his stake in Oriental Trading in 2000 and retired a wealthy man.

He set out to be a great philanthropist in his retirement. However, he spent far more time in Vegas casinos.

Watanabe was the biggest fish in the casino and would play everything from keno to slot machines. He lost big playing these games and others.

Of course, Vegas was more than willing to offer him generous comps. Caesars, for example, created a special “Chairman” VIP level just for Watanabe.

The CEO would proceed to lose over $200 million through gambling alone. He eventually sued Caesars Entertainment in an effort to avoid paying up on a $14 million debt. The two sides settled out of court.

4 – Ryazan

“Ryazan” became one of the most-famous daily fantasy sports (DFS) pros in the mid-2000s. He won a fortune through football and other games in 2015.

Feeling good about his skills, Ryazan began challenging other noted pros like Martin “Papagates” Crowley and Saahil Sud to matches.

In fact, he used credit cards to fund his initial bankroll. Ryazan spent much of his 2015 fortune and used credit cards to reload his account.

The result was mounting credit card interest and a diminishing bankroll. His career took a downswing in 2016 that left him unable to cover the massive taxes on his 2015 earnings.

5 – Charles Wells

Charles Wells is similar to Terrance Watanabe in that he didn’t become famous for being a professional gambler. In fact, he was a conman long before his gambling ventures came to light in the 1890s.

The Englishman funded his initial gambling bankroll via a phony musical jump rope. He duped investors into giving him a collective £4,000.

Wells took the money and headed to Monte Carlo. Here, he played roulette using the Martingale system and got lucky enough to break the bank (win every chip at a table) multiple times. By the time the trip was over, Wells had earned 1 million francs.

He went back to Monte Carlo shortly after the first big win. He did even better this time, breaking the bank 17 times.

Wells became a celebrity upon returning to Britain. He even toyed with the press that he had a secret roulette strategy.

This notion was just another con. Wells simply got lucky while using an aggressive betting strategy.

The luck would finally run out when he returned to Monte Carlo for a third time. He lost everything and returned to Britain penniless.

As if this wasn’t bad enough, Wells was also arrested for fraud. He spent the rest of his life in and out of prison.

6 – Harry Findlay

A professional sports bettor, Harry Findlay has won millions of pounds through different sports and horse racing. He’s also become a celebrity in the UK due to his outspoken ways.

Findlay started drinking his own Kool-Aid in 2007. He placed a £2.5 million bet on New Zealand beating France in the Rugby World Cup.

Findlay was so sure of a win that he held a big party at the stadium. His huge bet looked like it would pay off when New Zealand led 13-3 at halftime.

Despite the big lead, Findlay hedged with a relatively small bet on France making a comeback. This wager promised to pay £600,000 if the French pulled off the miracle.

They indeed did so and dealt Findlay a massive lost. He at least salvaged £600k thanks to his halftime hedge.

This was just the beginning as Findlay continued to lose more bets over the years. He also poured money into saving Coventry Stadium’s greyhound racing program only to get burned.

Findlay is now worth far less than he used to be. He’s still a successful horse bettor but not to the same extend as previously.

7 – Archie Karas

No story beats Archie Karas’ fall from gambling grace. He managed to pull off the greatest gambling run in history only to lose everything.

Karas’ tale began in Los Angeles where he was down to his last $50. Rather than saving up money to reload, he headed to Las Vegas in 1992.

Once here, he borrowed $10,000 from a friend and won enough to build a decent bankroll. Karas proceeded to win millions of dollars through a combination of pool and poker.

By the time he was worth $17 million, nobody would play Karas in pool or poker. He resorted to playing high-stakes craps at Binion’s Gambling hall.

In 1995, Karas switched to baccarat and lost $11 million. He returned to the craps tables only to lose an additional $18 million.

Following a brief visit back to his native country of Greece, Karas began playing baccarat, craps, and poker in Vegas. All three propelled his losses until he was left with nothing.

Karas has since gone on other large runs only to lose the money. He was arrested in 2013 for marking cards at a San Diego casino.

Conclusion

All the gamblers on this list have had to think ‘what if’ when reflecting back on their careers. Each of these players was up big at some point and lost everything.

Ungar is arguably the best all-around gambler ever. But sports betting and cocaine proved to be powerful addictions that he couldn’t overcome.

Erick Lindgren once appeared set for life thanks to his poker winnings and Full Tilt sponsorship. But like Ungar, he couldn’t resist betting big on sports — much to his detriment.

Terrance Watanabe built Oriental Trading into a well-known international company. He cashed out in 2000 only to lose over $200 million of his fortune to Vegas casinos.

Ryazan was one of the earliest success stories in DFS. However, his good fortune took a downturn when mounting credit card debt and bad bankroll management caused him to go broke.

Charles Wells was a nineteenth century conman who got extremely lucky playing roulette. He pushed his luck too many times and lost everything.

Harry Findlay won millions of pounds through sports gambling. But big bets and a failed bid to help UK greyhound racing cost him his fortune.

Finally, Archie Karas won $40 million after starting with just $50. He couldn’t quit at the top, though, and ended up losing the entire amount.

You may never win as big as any of these gamblers. But if you do, heed their stories so that you can quit with some of your profits.

Blackjack is one of the few gambling activities where players can get a long term edge against the casinos. It’s obvious that most blackjack players never get an edge; because the casinos would stop offering the game if they stopped making money.

Some blackjack players don’t know they can get an edge, and some think that it’s too much work to get an edge. I’m going to eliminate both of these excuses. The fact is that you can get a blackjack edge by counting cards and adjusting the size of your bets. And I’m going to teach you how you can start counting cards in just one hour.

Can you learn enough in one hour to get an edge playing blackjack?

Yes, you can start playing with an edge in an hour. It’s not going to be much better than break even, but it’s a good way to start. If you want to play with a bigger edge, you can use what you’re getting ready to learn here and continue improving your skills and your edge.

After I teach you how to get started in an hour I’m going to tell you how to keep working and improve your edge more. It’s easier than most blackjack players think, and all you have to do is learn the proper techniques and practice them.

This might sound simple, and that’s because it really is simple. I don’t understand why more blackjack players don’t count cards. Keep reading and you’re never going to be able to use an excuse like it’s too hard to count cards again.

The Basics

The reason counting cards can give you a long term edge at the blackjack table is because the house edge goes up and down based on the cards remaining in the deck or shoe. A deck or shoe with more high cards than low cards moved the edge lower; eventually moving it so much that you have an edge instead of the casino.

When the deck or shoe has more low cards than high cards, the edge is pushed higher. When the deck has more low cards you want to bet less, or even stop playing. When the deck or shoe has more high cards than low cards, you want to bet more.

The problem for most blackjack players is that they have no idea how many high and low cards are left in the deck or shoe. A card counting system is a simplified way of keeping track of the ratio of high to low cards remaining.

I say that a card counting system is a simplified way to track the ration of high to low cards because many gamblers think that card counters memorize every card that gets played and then subtract these cards from the cards the dealer started with to figure out a ratio.

The truth is that most people aren’t able to memorize every single card that gets played and determine which cards haven’t been played. This is simply too hard. But a card counting system is a tool you can use to skip most of the hard work. In the next section you’re going to learn exactly how to use a simple card counting system that anyone can use.

Before you learn how to use a simple card counting system you need to know a few more things. The best card counting system in the world can’t overcome blackjack games with bad rules and poor strategy decisions.

If you want to be a winning blackjack player you have to use the best possible strategy on every hand you play and find games with good rules. The good news is that the best blackjack strategy has already been worked out, so you don’t have to figure it out on your own.

You don’t even have to memorize the best strategy. All you have to do is use a blackjack strategy card when you play. The casinos don’t have any rules against using a strategy card, and as you get experience using it you’re going to eventually memorize all of the plays without trying. The only thing you need to know about blackjack strategy besides using a strategy card for every play is to never take insurance or any other side bet.

Every rule at the blackjack table has ether a negative or positive impact on the house edge. Some rules make the house edge go up, and some make the house edge go down. I’ve included a list of common rules below that you want to look for. You’re not going to find games with all good rules, so you need to find games that have as many good rules as possible.

The blackjack table must pay 3 to 2 for a blackjack, or you should simply not play. Many blackjack games have moved to 6 to 5 payouts for blackjacks, and these tables have a house edge that’s just too high.

Blackjack tables either have the dealer stand or hit on a soft 17. When the dealer stands on a soft 17 it’s better for you. This isn’t a huge difference when comparing the house edge for a game where the dealer hits a soft 17, but it does make a small difference.

Another rule that you need to consider is about doubling down. In general, the more options you have for doubling down, the better. Though few blackjack tables offer it, if you can double down after splitting it’s a great rule.

Speaking of splitting, the more times you can split pairs, the better. The common rule is you can split to three or four hands, which isn’t bad, but if you can split unlimited times it’s better.

You should learn more about how the rules change the house edge, but if you want to get started in an hour I don’t have time to dive into the rules deeper.

The Simple Card Counting System

The card counting system you’re going to use focuses on the aces and fives in the deck. The reason why these tow cards are important is because they have the highest influence on the house edge when they’re removed from the deck.

More advanced card counting systems track more cards so they’re more reliable, but they work the same way as this system works. This means that once you learn how to use this system it’s easy to learn a more advanced system.

Most card counting systems start with a count of zero. Then you add or subtract a number, usually one, from your count. The only problem with this is that many people don’t like working with negative numbers. For this reason, I’ve adjusted the starting count to 10. You can do the same thing with most card counting systems if you don’t like to work with negative numbers.

Here’s how this card counting system works.

Start with a count of 10. Every time you see a five, add one to your count. Every time you see an ace, subtract one from your count. Make the table minimum bet when you start playing, and continue making the minimum bet as long as the count is at 11 or less.

When the count gets to 12, double your bet. As long as the count is at 12 or 13, stay at the doubled bet level. When the count gets to 14, double your bet again, and stay at this level at 14 and 15. At a count of 16 and higher double your bet again.

As the count goes back down, adjust your bets back to the appropriate level. Remember that when the count is 11 or lower you’re always making the table minimum bet. When the count gets to six or lower, especially in a shoe game, you should consider leaving the table because at this count the house edge is too high.

That’s the entire system in one short section. Using this system with the proper strategy and good rules will get you a small ling term edge. You’re still going to have some losing sessions, but in the long run you’re going to do a little better than break even.

Practice

Now that you understand how the system works and know what rules to look for and that you need to use a strategy card, you need to send the rest of the hour practicing. The good news is that all you need is a deck of playing cards. Here’s exactly what you need to do.

Shuffle the cards and turn them over one by one. Every time you see a five you add one to your count, and every time you see an ace you subtract one. After you deal all of the cards your count should be 10. Keep doing this until you can keep track while turning the cards over as fast as possible.

Now start dealing the cards in sets of two and three. Do this as fast as possible while keeping an accurate count. Keep practicing until your hour is up.

Start Counting in a Casino

The final step is to start playing in a real casino. If you followed my advice about practicing as fast as you can, you’re going to find that blackjack in the casino is slower than you practiced. The main things to focus on are using the proper strategy and keeping an accurate count.

You add and subtract for every five and ace you see, whether it’s in your hand, another player’s hand, or the dealer’s hand. You must track every single five and ace.

Don’t Get Caught

The only problem with counting cards while playing blackjack is if the casino thinks you’re counting they’re going to ask you to stop playing. This means that you need to learn how to count cards without getting caught.

Sadly, this is a deep subject that you can’t learn much about in an hour.

This is good and bad news. The good news is you’re not going to jail, but the bad news is that they might not let you play long.

The best way to avoid getting banned from playing is to move from table to table and casino to casino often. Some card counters only spend an hour or so in a casino before moving to a different casino. Once you try your new counting system in the casino a few times, spend some time learning more about getting away with counting.

Mastering Your New Craft

The next step is to learn how to use a more advanced card counting system. A more advanced system gives you a bigger house edge, and it’s not much harder to use.

I like the Knock Out system and the Red 7 system, but the Hi Lo system is the most popular. Any of these three card counting systems work well if you learn how to use them correctly.

Conclusion

You can get an edge at the blackjack table and you can start in as little as one hour. Use the simple system on this page in combination with good strategy and good rules and you’re going to be playing with a small edge when playing blackjack for real money.

Once you master this card counting system, continue learning about better systems. Pick a more advanced system and spend as much time as you need mastering it. Your bankroll will benefit from your new skills.

Return on investment (ROI) is often used to describe traditional investments like stocks, property, and rental units. Those who take these chances are hoping to get a high ROI on their original investment.

When you’re playing casino games, though, you likely aren’t thinking about ROI. Instead, you may be hoping to just hang on long enough to get hot or win a jackpot.

But you should keep the ROI concept in mind as you gamble. After all, a higher return ensures that you can sustain your bankroll until a hot streak does come along. That said, here are 9 tips for boosting your ROI with casino gambling.

1 – Pick Games That Pay Well

The gaming community uses return to player (RTP) as a substitute for ROI. Return to player refers to how much money you can expect to win with any given casino game.

The fact is that nearly every game gives the house an advantage. Therefore, your ROI will be negative in all but a few instances (covered later).

But the goal is to choose games with high RTP so that you can at least minimize your losses. With any luck, you can even win profits with the best-paying games.

Here are the house-banked casino games that offer the highest RTP:

• Video poker – 100.76% (full-pay Deuces Wild) to 99.17% RTP (full-pay Bonus Poker).
• Blackjack – 99.5% to 98.0% RTP
• Baccarat – 98.94% RTP (banker bet)
• French roulette – 98.65% RTP (w/ even-money bets)
• European roulette – 97.3% RTP

2 – Choose Casinos That Feature Great Odds

As you can see from the list above, certain games feature some variation in their RTP. The reason being is that casinos can alter rules to either give you stronger odds or improve their chances of taking your money.

Obviously you don’t want to choose casinos that specialize in the latter. Therefore, you should scout out gambling establishments ahead of time to see who offers the best deals.

For example, many downtown Las Vegas casinos boast player-friendly blackjack rules. You can use these rules to lower the house edge to just 0.5%.

Vegas Strip casinos, on the other hand, include house-friendly rules. These changes can increase the casino’s advantage to 2% or more.

With real money online casinos, you can simply google games (e.g. “Bonanza slot RTP”) to figure out how much they pay back. This simple process allows you to quickly find the casinos/developers that feature the best odds.

3 – Learn Basic Strategy for Your Chosen Games

Some casino games offer you a solid chance to win with little strategy involved. Baccarat, French roulette, and European roulette are all perfect examples of this fact.

Other games, such as blackjack and video poker, force you to develop skills to lower the house edge.

That said, you want to study basic strategy for whatever blackjack or video poker variation you’re playing. If you’re on a 9/6 Jacks or Better machine, for example, then you want to learn specific strategy for this variant.

4 – Chase Profits with Skill Based Gambling

Up until now, I’ve only discussed house-banked casino games. However, you can explore another side to gambling through skill-based games.

Daily fantasy sports (DFS), esports betting, poker, sports betting, and video poker (certain variations) all give you a chance to win long-term profits.

In the case of DFS or poker, you’re competing directly against other gamblers. Assuming you’re more skilled than the competition and can overcome the rake, then you have a chance to win serious profits.

With esports and sports betting, you’re trying to outperform the odds and bookmaker’s “juice” when placing wagers. The hope is that you win enough bets to accomplish this task.

The only catch, though, is that each of these types of gambling is more difficult to win with. Texas hold’em, for example, isn’t like a slot machine where you place mindless bets and let luck do the rest.

That said, you must dedicate a lot of work to improving your skills. If you’re up this task, then you should definitely try skill-based gaming.

5 – Never Play When You Feel Like Crap

Whenever playing a complex skill-based or house-banked game, you don’t want to bet anything unless you feel fine physically and mentally.

Attempting to gamble in these situations can lead to bad decisions. Going further, you could blow your entire bankroll in one session if you’re not in the right mindset.

Many poker players experience this scenario through “tilt”. This term describes the state where frustrated gamblers make irrational decisions and lose more money.

Don’t let yourself tilt! Resist the urge and come back at a time when you feel better.

6 – Ignore Comps

You shouldn’t literally ignore comps, because you can pick up some nice rewards based on your play. However, you want to block the thought of comps during your gambling sessions.

You might feel like you’re getting something for free when a casino gives you a meal or even hotel stay. However, you truly earn these rewards via on your play.

At best, the amount of rewards they give you will only be worth one-tenth of your theoretical losses.

Would you gamble longer or bet bigger just to earn $0.10 on every dollar lost? Absolutely not! Just play your favorite games and let the rewards come naturally.

7 – Take Advantage of Promotions

This step may contradict the advice given above. However, promotions can add more value to your play than simple comps alone.

Casinos offer extra comp points, free spins (online), deposit bonuses (online), and more through promos. Of course, you can’t take advantage of these deals if you don’t know about them.

The first step to keeping tabs on promotions is to sign up for a casino’s newsletter or Twitter feed. This way, you’ll receive direct alerts on special deals.

You can also visit the promotions section of a casino’s website. Doing so may help you find promos that weren’t sent your inbox or tweeted.

8 – Practice Strict Bankroll Management

Bankroll management alone won’t help you improve your ROI. However, it can at least keep you from blowing your money too quickly.

For example, you may find yourself placing high slots bets. After coming up with a detailed bankroll management plan, you can stay more disciplined and be motivated to lower your bet sizes.

In addition to keeping you from losing your bankroll, this concept will also help you avoid risking money that you can’t afford to lose.

Provided you have your bankroll mapped out, you’ll be less likely to dip into funds that are meant for rent, food, and other more-important expenses.

9 – Have a Stop Loss Limit

A stop-loss limit is an excellent addition to any bankroll management strategy. Stop-loss limits refer to predefined points where you quit gambling based on your amount of losses.

Your limit can be set in any manner you’d like. However, I suggest using a percentage of your bankroll as a measuring stick.

Here’s an example:

• You have a $1,000 bankroll.
• You set a stop-loss worth 20% of your bankroll.
• 1,000 x 0.2 = 200
• You’ll quit playing any session when you lose $200.

Of course, you don’t have to wait until losing $200 to quit playing. But a stop-loss will encourage you to quit when things aren’t going so well.

Conclusion

Casino games aren’t meant to offer you a positive ROI in the long run. However, you can at least give yourself a better chance of raising your ROI with the right approach.

Next, you want to learn strategy (if applicable) to these games. Making the right decisions ensures that you get a higher ROI.

You can take things to another level with skill-based gaming. DFS, esports betting, poker, sports betting, and video poker can deliver long-term profits under the right circumstances.

Of course, you won’t be even close to profits if you play in the wrong mindset. You always want to come into sessions feeling good from a mental and physical standpoint.

Comps and rewards can boost your bottom line for any game. Just don’t get carried away with focusing on comps.

Bankroll management is the final piece of the puzzle when it comes to raising your ROI. The better you manage our bankroll, the stronger chance you have at staying in the game and, hopefully, making some money.

The Martingale is the most-famous betting system of all time. It calls on you to double your wagers following every loss.

The Martingale is both simple and effective, but it’s also extremely risky. This strategy creates the potential for losing all your money more so than with any other betting system.

Nevertheless, some gamblers still use this system while chasing riches. Certain players, including the ones covered below, have made millions using the Martingale.

Charles Wells

Who Is Charles Wells?

Charles Wells is one of the most-famous gamblers of all time. Interestingly enough, though, he wasn’t a gambler by trade.

Wells was an nineteenth century conman who tricked people into investing in his fake inventions. The key word is fake, because he never intended to create any of the products he proposed.

The Brit’s best skill was convincing investors to give him money—not inventing things. He even managed to trick people into giving him a collective £4,000 for a musical jump rope.

Wells never had any intention of using the £4,000 (approx. £130,000 today) to work the fabled jump rope. Instead, he used the money to go on a gambling excursion in Monte Carlo.

How Did Wells Get Rich Through the Martingale?

Wells began playing roulette when he arrived in Monte Carlo. He started experiencing success almost immediately.

The conman suddenly looked like a professional gambler as the chips mounted in front of him. He managed to break the bank over a dozen times during the trip.

Wells walked away from his first trip with over 1 million francs (approx. £4 million, or $5.2 million).

He returned to Britain for a short while only to decide that he wanted another go at Monte Carlo. Wells once again experienced incredible success and won even more francs.

Upon returning to England this time, Wells had suddenly become a nationwide celebrity. Many people wanted to know the reason behind his success.

The conman lied his way through interviews by saying that he devised a secret strategy. The spoiler is that he was merely using the Martingale.

Wells made the fateful mistake of taking a third trip to Monte Carlo. Beforehand, he decided to defraud more people and purchase a yacht with his earnings.

Karma would catch up to Wells as he lost all his money to the casino. He returned to Britain and was immediately arrested for fraud. His final years were spent rotting in prison without a pound/franc to his name.

David Choe

Who Is David Choe?

David Choe is an American artist who has painted famous murals and designed album cover art for Linkin Park, Jay-Z, and more. His painting of Barack Obama is featured in the White House.

Despite his talent, one of Choe’s most-memorable works has nothing to do with his skill. Instead, he did a mural for Facebook’s office that ended up netting him $200 million.

Choe thought that Facebook would never succeed in the long run. Nevertheless, he liked Mark Zuckerberg and the other FB figureheads.

So, he painted them a mural in exchange for Facebook stock. His shares ended up being worth $200 million when the company’s IPO launched.

How Did Choe Win with the Martingale?

With a famous art career and numerous Facebook shares, Choe obviously didn’t need gambling to get rich. Nevertheless, he found success on the casino floor too.

Casino blackjack became his game of choice. Choe employed the Martingale and set a stop-win limit for each session.

A stop-win limit refers to when a gambler quits playing after meeting a desired win target. Choe even brought a friend along to make sure that he quit sessions after reaching his goal.

This gambling story is impressive enough. However, some of the side stories that Choe told on Stern and the Joe Rogan Experience podcast are even more interesting.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal chronicled some of his Las Vegas adventures in 2014. They recounted how Vegas rolled out the red carpet to keep Choe gambling.

“The height of my Vegas experience was staying at the penthouse in every single casino — like all the high-roller casinos — a harem of whores in each one,” he told LVRJ.

“I would be going to Vegas all the time with 100 grand. A million dollars in, like, a pillowcase in my backpack.”

One casino even sent a private jet to Choe’s Burbank, CA home. He and a friend rode on the “giant, empty plane” to Las Vegas.

Other gambling establishments let him ride in “secret elevators,” offered him illegal drugs, and threw more women at him. He didn’t want the drugs, but he definitely appreciated the women.

Choe’s lavish lifestyle and Martingale winnings came to a halt when he suffered an angina attack (form of heart disease) at age 35.

He hadn’t slept for five days and began losing his sense of balance. Finally, Choe collapsed on his penthouse floor with $20,000 chips spilling out of his pockets.

After waking up from the angina attack 36 hours later, he wanted to start playing blackjack again. However, his friends talked him into returning home to Burbank and leaving the wild Vegas lifestyle behind.

John Henry Martindale

Who Is J.H. Martindale?

If you think that the name John Henry Martindale sounds familiar, you’re right. He invented the Martingale system, or at least holds credit for the idea.

J.H. Martindale was a casino owner in London during the eighteenth century. He was a hands-on owner who frequently mingled with his customers.

During these conversations, he’d give advice to gamblers. One of his biggest pieces of advice was to double bets following losses.

How Did Martindale Win Through the Martingale?

J.H. Martindale didn’t win by gambling with the Martingale. Instead, he made money for his casino by talking players into doubling wagers after losing.

This is a risky betting strategy compared to others when considering that many players book small, consistent wins with this system. In the end, though, Martindale felt that the house would always come out on top.

He was right in most respects. The Martingale can reap plenty of small winning sessions. However, a gambler’s luck will eventually run out if they keep employing this strategy.

Should You Use the Martingale to Win Big Too?

The Martingale has remained popular for almost two centuries. The main reason why is because it works…at least in theory.

Here’s an example to show the power of the Martingale:

• You bet $10 and lose (bankroll at -10).
• You bet $20 and lose (bankroll at -30).
• You bet $40 and lose (bankroll at -70).
• You bet $80 and lose (bankroll at -150).
• You bet $160 and lose (bankroll at -310).
• You bet $320 and win (bankroll at +10).

You’ve lost five bets in a row in this example. But despite winning just one out of six wagers, you’ve managed to book a $10 profit.

The Martingale is seemingly a foolproof system. It could work under the perfect conditions. The problem, though, is that such conditions don’t exist.

First off, you’d need to find a casino without table limits. Otherwise, you’ll eventually reach the table limit during a losing streak and not be able to double your wagers any longer.

Secondly, you’d need an infinite bankroll to ensure that you never risk losing all of your money. Maybe Jeff Bezos can pull this off, but not you.

Of course, the odds of you going on an insane losing streak are low. The longer you play, though, the more likely you are to run into such a horrific occurrence.

If this happens, then you have no recourse since your bankroll will be gone. Long story short, use the Martingale at your own risk.

Conclusion

Most gamblers don’t use the Martingale (at least consistently) due to the reasons outlined above. But you can see from the stories of Wells and Choe that it’s possible to win big with this strategy.

Each player earned seven figures using the Martingale. Wells actually pulled this feat off twice during trips to Monte Carlo.

However, you should temper your expectations with this system. The Martingale can deliver frequent winning sessions, but it also takes a while to build your winnings. The story of Choe playing for a year before hitting $1 million illustrates this idea.

New Jersey has a pretty long legacy of stories and history around gambling, all centered around the famous Atlantic City and its historic boardwalk.

Over the decades, the resort city has experienced some pretty significant legal and economic shifts as a relevant and major tourist location, and in 2020, it looks like Atlantic City is on an upswing.

Let’s dive into the history of how gambling found its way to Atlantic City and explore some of the crazier facts about Atlantic City.

1- The First Boardwalk Ever Was in Atlantic City

Atlantic City was the first city to introduce a boardwalk. In 1870, the plans for the boardwalk started off as a $5,000 project and would run one mile long.

No stores would be allowed to be within 30 feet of the boardwalk. When harsh winter days arrived in Atlantic City, the boards would be taken apart and stored until the weather returned to a state that allowed people to want to be outside.

The Boardwalk in Atlantic City today runs 4 miles long and is abundant with tourist attractions, a small amusement park, restaurants, bars, and food stands.

2- Saltwater Taffy Came From Atlantic City

If you’ve ever had “saltwater taffy,” you can thank Atlantic City for being the birthplace of the popular candy that tourists have always enjoyed when vacationing in Atlantic City.

In the 1800s, a guy named Joe Fralinger wanted to create a candy that tourists could take home with them, giving them a tasty way to commemorate their trip in Atlantic City. Today, you can still find the famous candy story, “Salty Taffy.”

3- The Largest Musical Instrument in the World is in Atlantic City

A cool fact worth mentioning about Atlantic City is that in its famous venue, Boardwalk Hall, there sits what is known to be the largest musical instrument instrument in the world.

This pipe organ has over 33,000 pipes—no other musical instrument has been able to break this world record. It also holds world records for being the loudest instrument.

4- Atlantic City is the Birthplace of the Miss America Pageant

Everyone that lives inside the United States has heard of the famous Miss America Pageant. The very first pageant was held in Atlantic City in 1921.

The day for the pageant was strategically planned by the city as a way to keep tourists in the city past Labor Day.

The pageant shifted from being held in Atlantic City to moving to Las Vegas in 2006 before returning back to Atlantic City, where the pageant is still currently hosted.

5- Atlantic City Is on an Island and Once Housed a Health Resort

The gambling mecca in Atlantic City sits on an island in New Jersey known as Absecon Island. Back in the early to mid 1800s, the island was primarily used for light farming and shellfish harvesting.

The first idea for a resort to be built on the island came from a doctor named Jonathan Pitney. He thought that the island would be an ideal location for a Health Resort.

In the 1850s, construction on the first hotel would begin. Known as the United States Hotel, the resort would include 600 rooms and take up over 16 acres.

The hotel could comfortably hold 2,000 guests and would be the biggest hotel in the US at this time.

6- Prohibition Was Basically Ignored

By the early 1900s, the US saw a rise in hotel construction, and by the end of the Prohibition era, Atlantic City held the title as being the premier summer resort destination on the East Coast.

During the Prohibition era from the 1920s to the 30s, Atlantic City was a region in the US where Prohibition was simply just not enforced.

Atlantic City was the destination of choice for the thirsty folks that were seeking alcohol. The business model at the time held the belief that hotel owners needed to do whatever they could, and by any means necessary, to make sure that its guests were happy.

The convenient beach location of the resort city made it easy for rum runners to bring their goods onto the shore.

The people in charge of the law enforcement in Atlantic City controlled everything from the smuggling operations and the restaurants where alcohol was served to the hotels, making Atlantic City a wide-open town that supposedly did a good job of violating the federal laws that existed during this time period.

7- New Jersey Has a Long Gambling History

New Jersey has always had a long-held reputation for being more open than other states when it came to gambling. The state would run lotteries in an attempt to help fund war efforts until they were made illegal in 1844.

New Jersey was also home to the Freehold Raceway, the oldest racetrack in the United States. Freehold Raceway continued to operate through various legal statuses, much like how the town continued to serve alcohol through the prohibition period.

This included an 1894 decision to ban parimutuel gambling, a type of betting that involves all bets being placed in a fixed pool, and an 1897 vote which made all gambling illegal.

Racetrack gambling would be legalized again in 1939, but despite the fact that gambling was illegal in the state until 1939, illegal casino and bookmaking operations, slot machines, and numbers rackets were abundant in Atlantic City.

8- A Crime Boss Ran the City

The city operated under the crime boss Enoch Nucky Johnson, who was actually featured in an HBO series in 2010 called the Boardwalk Empire.

Filled with famous—but at the same time underground—speakeasy establishments, drinking, and betting, Atlantic City redefined the prohibition era. Atlantic City was so popular during this era that the famous hotel, Resorts Hotel Casino, renovated its entire resort to try to capture the 1920s vibe and culture.

As Johnson became more powerful, infiltrating different government commitees in Atlantic City throughout the early 1900s, it is said that he made an annual $500,000 from kickbacks that he would take from construction projects, illegal drinking, prostitution rings operating in Atlantic City, and gambling.

From a quote in an NYT obituary, Johnson stated “We have whiskey, wine, women, song, and slot machines. I won’t deny it, and I won’t apologize for it. If the majority of the people didn’t want them, they wouldn’t be profitable, and they would not exist. The fact that they do exist proves to me that the people want them.”

By the year 1941, Nucky Johnson would be convicted in tax evasion charges, resulting in a 10-year federal prison sentence. After serving 4 years, Johnson was released on parole, never seeking a seat in politics again.

9- Atlantic City Fell to Pieces After WWII

The end of the Second World War would bring a huge shift in the popularity of Atlantic City, a shift that would cause a severe decline in the city’s economy.

The demise of Atlantic City during this time period would create an influx of crime and poverty. By the 1960s, a pretty significant number of hotels would be closed down and repurposed as apartments and nursing homes.

Several of the popular landmark hotels in the city were completely demolished.

10- Legalized Gambling Was Seen as the Way to Save Atlantic City

By the 1970s, the plan would emerge to legalize gambling in Atlantic City and attempt to recreate the once popular resort town.

The New Jersey lottery emerging in 1970 would act as a catalyst that would bring the popularity of gambling back to Atlantic City.

There were potential downsides and fears around legalizing gambling and turning the city back into a resort mecca. A huge state-wide fear was that casinos would end up back in the hands of mafia organizations and would inevitably lead to corruption and exploitation of New Jersey’s vulnerable citizens.

But despite the fears of local leaders, many Atlantic City locals stuck behind the idea that casinos were the answer for how to bring Atlantic City back into the spotlight. They tried to introduce a revised referendum that would legalize gaming inside the borders of Atlantic City only.

Millions of dollars were spent on a campaign to save the city through Atlantic City legalized casinos. In 1976, proponents successfully got the proposal added to the ballot, and the press of Atlantic City ran a front-page editorial supporting legalizing gambling in Atlantic City as the answer to the city’s economic trouble.

The revised referendum passed in November 1976, although according to the Atlantic City Free Public Library, it was approved by a slim margin of just 1.5 million votes to 1.14 million.

In 1978, Resorts Atlantic City, which still operates from the same Boardwalk location to this day, became the first legalized Atlantic City casino to open to the public.

By the 1970s, Atlantic City would also see the first opening of the doors of Caesar’s Atlantic City and Bally’s Atlantic City.

Is There More That I Missed?

Atlantic City has experienced some pretty significant economic rises and falls throughout the last century.

By 2018, the city had finally seen its first economic rise since the previous decade, and today, Atlantic City’s economy is as stable and profitable as ever.

Do you have some facts about the history of Atlantic City and its entertainment industry that I missed?

If you have some relevant thoughts, please feel free to leave them down in the comment section below!

Online casinos present an alternative to brick-and-mortar casinos. If you don’t want to physically visit a gambling establishment to place bets, then you can simply play online.

For this reason, some states have approved internet gaming. They see online casinos as a nice source of additional tax revenue.

However, some feel that gaming sites serve as a threat to brick-and-mortar casinos. They propose that internet casinos will cannibalize gambling revenue and take away jobs at land-based establishments.

This view proposes that brick-and-mortar and online casinos are in some kind of war. Is this picture really accurate, though?

I’ll discuss this matter by looking closer at the reason why people think that internet and land-based casinos can’t exist.

Why the Belief That Online Casinos Will Topple Land Based Venues?

Sheldon Adelson, Chairman of the Las Vegas Sands Corp, is mainly responsible for pushing the idea that gaming sites are inherently evil. He even started a Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG) to promote his agenda.

The CSIG cited Macquarie Capital’s Chad Benyon as stating that internet gaming will “cannibalize $25 million to $50 million” in revenue from New Jersey land-based casinos.

In a 2015 interview, Benyon’s overall point was actually that online gaming will provide an additional $200m to $300m. Subtracting the projected $25m to $50m cannibalization, this is still a definite net gain.

The crusade that Adelson launched to stop online gambling isn’t built on sound reasoning. However, it has still swayed some opinions.

Notable Differences Between Online and Land Based Casinos

The CSIG seems like mere propaganda to further Adelson’s land-based casino empire, which stretches from Vegas to Macau.

Nevertheless, gaming sites do hold some advantages over brick-and-mortar establishments that make them threats in certain respects. Below, you can see the primary benefits that they offer gamblers.

Online Casinos Can Run with Fewer Operating Expenses

Online casinos in the USA don’t need to build lavish complexes that are filled with amenities and hotels rooms. They also don’t have to pay huge utility bills to run these establishments.

Instead, they just need servers and a place to operate. These operations, of course, have other costs to cover, but nothing to the degree of live venues.

Land Based Casinos Need More Employees

Gaming sites also don’t need nearly the same number of employees as brick-and-mortar operators. Outside of developers, marketers, and management, they don’t require much other help.

The biggest live casinos, on the other hand, employ hundreds or even thousands of people. For example, Adelson’s The Venetian Las Vegas has 6,000 people working for it.

The minimal workforce, combined with lower operating expenses, allow online casinos to run more cheaply. As a result, they can be more flexible during a market downturn.

Gaming Sites Offer Better RTP

Land-based casinos aren’t known for featuring great odds. They’ve gradually jacked up house edges on their games to give themselves more profits.

Of course, they also need greater profits to keep their operations going. This is the primary reason why they feature slot machines with low return to player (RTP) ranging from 88% to 94%.

Most online slots, in contrast, feature between 95% and 97% RTP. They also generally offer better payback for blackjack and roulette (more single-zero wheels available).

Brick and Mortar Casinos Charge Higher Bets

Land-based establishments also charge larger minimum wagers to play. This measure is also based on the need to generate more revenue to cover higher operating costs.

Slot machines, for example, require anywhere from $0.50 to $3 to play. Table games generally have minimum wagers ranging from $10 to $25.

Online slots typically let you play for anywhere from $0.01 (one payline) to $0.50. You can enjoy table games for just $1 per hand.

Online Casinos Are More Convenient

Perhaps the biggest advantage that gaming sites have over brick-and-mortar casinos is the convenience factor. They don’t require you to travel anywhere.

You can pull up an internet casino on your smartphone, tablet, or computer. You also have the ability to take the casino anywhere with you through a mobile device.

Free Online Casino Games

Gaming sites don’t need to employ dealers or feature physical slot machines. Therefore, they don’t technically lose any money by letting you play for free.

At most casinos, you can begin enjoy free gaming immediately after completing registration. Free online casino games let you test everything out before officially deciding to make a deposit.

The Reality: Internet and Land Based Casinos Complement Each Other

Some of the aspects covered above point to the possibility that internet casinos do compete with their land-based counterparts. The numbers, though, tell a different story.

Kevin Smith, CEO of Boyd Gaming, has pointed out how online gambling boosts the company’s overall revenue—rather than take away from it.

Smith spoke about Boyd’s dual success with the Borgata and their gaming sites in 2014. He stated that the company’s internet gaming success isn’t coming at the expense of the Borgata.

“These results also once again demonstrate online gaming’s potential to expand our business,” said Smith. “About 85 percent of our online players have not had rated play at Borgata in at least two years, showing there is little overlap with our land-based business.

“Online gaming is growing our database, creating a long-term opportunity to market Borgata to an entirely new group of customers.”

Tom Ballance, the COO of the Borgata, backed up Smith’s comments when speaking with CNBC.

“In January, Borgata launched a mobile gaming app for iPhones and iPads, and we are scheduled to roll out a version for Android devices shortly,” Ballance explained. “As Borgata expands into mobile gaming, we believe we will further grow our business and the overall market.”

Here’s more evidence from industry executives and reports suggesting that internet gambling compliments the land-based sector:

• Dover Downs (Delaware) CEO Ed Sutor refers to online gambling as a “new market” that targets a “new demographic.”
• A report from the American Gaming Association (AGA) offers the consensus that online gaming helps boost land-based revenue.
• A Nevada study concludes that most local poker players haven’t adjusted their land-based play with the presence of legal NV online poker.
• Mitch Garber, the head of Caesars Acquisition division, points to the UK as perfect evidence that internet gaming doesn’t hurt the brick-and-mortar industry.
• Thomas Winter of the Golden Nugget (New Jersey) states that up to 70% of their online players have never/rarely been to the Golden Nugget.

Will the Synergy Between Online & Brick and Mortar Casinos Ever Change?

Studies and comments from gambling execs prove that internet gaming isn’t having a negative impact on brick-and-mortar casinos.

Otherwise, gaming companies wouldn’t be launching legal online casinos. But will this favorable balance always remain?

More and more gambling options create extra competition across the board. Many states are already experiencing casino saturation.

For the time being, online gambling is supplementing revenue for casino corporations. However, when will the overload of land-based and internet options become too much?

My guess is that online casinos will continue to mostly draw those who don’t typically gamble live. Therefore, gaming companies are smart to expand into live and virtual settings.

They stand to earn more money overall with presences in both spaces. That said, online and live casinos aren’t truly competitors.

Politicians continue approving gaming bills in an effort to generate quick tax revenue. They also want to prevent this revenue from flowing into neighboring states.

Eventually, though, the gambling industry will begin to stagnate (it already has in some places). Both online and land-based gaming revenue will start to suffer at this point.

Conclusion

On the surface, live and internet gaming seem to be in a war for gambling supremacy. Revenue and casino figureheads, however, paint a different picture.

Not long after Adelson waged a war against online casinos, other executives and research suggested that internet gaming improves overall revenue.

It doesn’t, as Adelson and his CSIG claim, cannibalize brick-and-mortar earnings. Of course, many casino corporations already know this and have entered the online space.

The real problem for gambling companies moving forward is saturation. Casinos—both online and live—will need to deal with an overcrowded market in the coming years.

Blackjack is the most popular casino table game offered by casinos, and has held this crown for a long time. It gives players a chance to walk away from the table as a winner more often than most casino games, and if you’re willing to do the work you can even play with a small edge in the long run.

This ultimate blackjack strategy shortcut guide is designed to get you started playing as quickly as possible while taking advantage of a small house edge. Once I teach you how to get started, I’ll share with you the next steps if you want to learn more about beating blackjack.

The Importance of Rules

Most casino games have a single set of rules. The rules for each game are directly related to the house edge, so when the rules are always the same, the house edge is usually the same. But blackjack has a wide range of rules options, so if you want to play with a low house edge you need to find games with good rules.

A game with one bad rule and several good rules can still be a good game. And a game with several decent rules can be a good game, even if it doesn’t have a single great rule.

Because of this, I’m going to list common blackjack rules and explain which ones are better than others. When you find a game with more good rules than bad ones you know you have a game you can play.

Natural blackjack payout – One hard and fast rule for blackjack players is to never play at a table that pays worse than 3 to 2 for a natural blackjack. More and more casinos are offering games that only pay 6 to 5, and you should never play one of these games. The house edge goes up too much with a short payout to let you overcome the added edge.

Surrender – The surrender rule allows you to fold your hand before the end and receive half of your original wager back. This isn’t a common rule, but some casinos offer it. Surrender is a good rule for you. You might see things about early and late surrender, but it’s almost impossible to find a game offering early surrender. The difference is in early surrender you can surrender before the dealer checks their down card and in late surrender you have to wait to see if the dealer has a natural blackjack.

Splitting cards – The best rules are that you can split any pair and that you can split as many times as possible. If you split your pair and receive a second pair, it’s best to be able to split again. Common rules allow you to split three or four times.

Doubling down – When you double down you place a second bet equal to your first one and receive exactly one more card. This is valuable when you have a total of 10 or 11 and the dealer has a poor face up card. The best rule allows you to double down at any time on any number of cards. This isn’t common. The most common rule is you can double down on any two cards.

Doubling down after splitting – Most casinos don’t allow you to double down after splitting, but if you can it offers you another advantage.

Dealer stands or hits on soft 17 – This rule isn’t as important as the other rules listed here, but when the dealer stands on a soft 17 it’s slightly better for you than when the dealer hits a soft 17. If the other rules are favorable, the dealer hitting on a soft 17 isn’t enough to make it a bad game.

Number of decks – The number of decks in play makes small difference to the house edge. The basic rule is the smaller the number of decks, the lower the house edge. Blackjack games are commonly dealt using a single deck, double deck, four decks, six decks, and eight decks. A single deck blackjack game is best, followed by a double deck game, etc. If all of the other rules are good, the number of decks isn’t overly important.

You can find rules variations beyond these, but most of them don’t matter. Find games with as many of these good rules as possible and you should be ok.

Using Blackjack Strategy

Finding real money blackjack games with good rules is only one part of the equation. Once you find a game with good rules you have to learn how to use strategy to lower the house edge more. Every possible card combination you can have at the blackjack table has a mathematical correct way to play. Making the single best possible play either wins the most money or loses the least amount of money.

If you try to determine the best play on your own it can be quite challenging. The good news is you don’t need to figure out the best blackjack strategy on your own. You can find a detailed blackjack strategy card here.

The way to use a blackjack strategy card is to find your hand down the left hand side and the dealer’s face up card along the top. Where the two meet it shows the best play. Using proper blackjack strategy is this simple. Simply use a chart or card every time you play.

The other two things you need to know about proper blackjack strategy are to never take the insurance bet and never make any of the side bets. The insurance wager is simply a disguised side bet that increases the house edge. All side bets are designed to increase the house edge, so you should always avoid them.

How to Start Playing Now

Here’s how to start playing real money blackjack now with a low house edge. You can use these steps whether you play online or in a land based casino.

The first step is to print out or buy a blackjack strategy card. Always use you chart or card when you play. Eventually you’re going to memorize the best plays, but don’t worry about that now. Simply use your chart.

The next step is to find real money blackjack games with good rules.

Once you find a table with good rules take a seat and start with table minimum bets. As long as you play with good rules and use proper strategy, you should always bet the minimum. The only reason to bet more is covered in the next section.

When you follow these simple steps you’re playing blackjack with a low house edge. Depending on the exact set of rules, you’re usually going to play with a house edge of under a half percent.

The Next Steps

Once you learn how to find blackjack tables with good rules and learn how to use the proper strategy, you can start learning how to improve your chances of success even more. You can find information on this site and in books about advanced strategy for blackjack including card counting, shuffle tracking, hole carding, and ace sequencing.

I recommend learning as much as you can about card counting once you master the rules and basic blackjack strategy. It’s possible to develop a long term edge over the casino if you learn how to count cards

While you can use the other advanced methods I listed above to get an edge, the easiest way is to master counting cards. It’s more challenging than using basic strategy, but it’s not too hard for most players to learn if you’re willing to work at it.

The first thing to do is learn the basics of counting cards. Once you understand how card counting works, the next step is to pick a card counting system and master it. You can use almost any card counting system, but the ones I recommend investigating first are the Knock Out, Red 7, and High Low.

These are all simple systems that are easy to learn and produce powerful results.

I mentioned in the last section that you shouldn’t raise your bets as a basic strategy blackjack player. Once you learn how to count cards you raise your bet in specific situations to help you overcome the house edge. Complete details are included in the system you choose to learn.

Conclusion

Playing blackjack with a low house edge is as simple as finding games offering good rules and using the proper strategy. This isn’t complicated, and there’s never an excuse to ignore this advice. The casinos allow the use if a strategy card or chart at the table, so make sure you always use one.

When you follow this advice you can start playing right away. Once you get comfortable with the rules and using proper strategy, start learning more about counting cards.