I recently read the list on 10 Tricks Casinos Use on You, and found it interesting. As someone who has worked in the casino industry, I was well-aware of these subtle, but powerful, Jedi mind-tricks, and I’ve developed a few defenses of my own that I wanted to share. These are in no particular order.
This may seem like basic advice, but you’d be surprised how many people actually think they have an edge over the House. Regardless of how good you are, or how much experience you have, or what technique you use, the casinos have been at this for a lot longer than you have. The odds are stacked in their favor, and while you may win in the short term, you will eventually lose. Knowing this can keep help keep your head clear.
I used to be asked which machine paid out the most often in the casino, and my answer was always the same; “The one with the letters A-T-M on the front.” When you decide to go to the casino, you must assume that you are going to lose, and treat it as such. Decide beforehand how much money you can afford to spend on the evening’s entertainment, and take no more than that amount in cash. Leave your checkbook and credit cards in the room or at home. When you have played through the cash in your pocket, leave.
This seems, again, like an obvious point, but it is something that gamblers often forget. Always be aware of your win-loss ratio. At any time, you should know exactly how much you have spent and how much you have won since you began this session. It doesn’t seem like much when you’re playing quarter slots until you realize that you’ve been shoving five-dollar bills into the machine!
The casinos love to quote the old adage, “A winner never quits and a quitter never wins,” but the opposite is true when it comes to gambling. My wife and I have a standing rule: we play only what we intended to play before we arrived (see #2), and, if at any time, we reach double the amount we came in with (or greater), we cash out and leave. Just as small losses add up quickly, so do small wins. We go to the casino to eat about once every two months or so, and when we go, we usually bring a little extra cash (often $5 or $10) to play in the machines. In general, we lose or break even, but we have won (and walked out) often enough that, over the course of three years, we’re up by about $25.
There’s a reason that few casinos have clocks or windows. Compensate for this by wearing a watch or carrying a timepiece and referring to it often. At any point, you should know exactly how long you have been sitting at the table or the machine. If you’ve been at the same location for more than 15 minutes and you haven’t at least broken even, it’s time to cut your loses and go. Sometimes, in addition to limiting the amount of money I bring with me, I also set my watch alarm to 30 minutes or so. When the alarm goes off, regardless of whether I’m up or down, I leave.
Alcohol dulls the senses and impairs judgment; that’s why they keep offering you those free drinks. Fortunately, combating this tactic is as easy as saying, “No thanks.” Of course, the waitress will keep tempting you. After all, her job is to keep you there at the table or in front of the machine. If you need an excuse, you can always claim to be the designated driver and they will usually leave you alone. Just remember, they can’t force you to accept the alcohol.
All too often while working the floor, I would see people sitting in the same location for hours on end. Sometimes (it happens much more often than you think), these people would not even leave to take a bathroom break, instead simply urinating (or worse) right there in the seat. Sometimes they would shift to another seat, but more often, they simply sat in their own filth and kept playing. Such is the drive of greed. Get up once in a while and walk around. Go to the restaurant (if there is one) or snack bar and get a soft drink. Use that time to check your win-loss ratio (see #3), and if you find that you’re ahead, it might be time to go.
There’s no shortage of people trying to sell you on time-tested methods for beating the casino. Everyone seems to have a “system” that they claim works for them, but if you ask around, you’ll find that they made their money selling books, not playing casinos. If all of these systems worked as well as they say, how would casinos still be in business? And doesn’t it stand to reason that the casino operators have read these books too? There is no perfect system that can defeat the odds that are weighted in favor of the house, and it’s a waste of money to try. Gambling is largely luck, and you have no control over that factor. What’s more, most casinos write the rules such that the odds go to them.
Many slot machines today offer varying levels of payout with the number of coins played. Of particular importance to note are linked machines that are placed in different casinos across the country, and tied to a central mega-jackpot. Often, in order to win the big money, you must play the maximum number of coins playable. I have been witness to two occasions in which someone got the winning combination (and won a small jackpot), but was “cheated out of” the big money because they did not play the maximum number of coins. By law, this information must be made clear on the face of the machine, but casinos are good at hiding it amongst the colorful designs and other eye-candy.
Cashiers in casinos have been trained (or machines, where they replace humans, have been programmed) to provide you with the largest possible denominations of bills when giving cash outs. This is because they know that you have to pass through the maze to get back out, and you might be tempted by the lure of a particular machine. You sit down to play just “one more dollar,” only to discover that the smallest bill you have is a five…
It would be wrong to say that no one ever wins. In fact, casinos are filled with winners, sometimes big winners. But stop and ask some of these people how much they have spent trying to get to that point and the numbers become a little more revealing. It is very rare to win huge amounts of cash without having paid excessive amounts to achieve that goal. Ever notice that casino winners (in large part) tend to be in the ages of 50 and upwards? Who else has all day to spend in front of a slot machine, shoving coins into it?
Sometimes, you get lucky. I’ve had days when I’ve walked into a casino with two dollars and come out two hours later with $20. There have also been days when I’ve gone in with $20 and come out in 15 minutes with nothing. The best way to win? Don’t play. But if you must, then these tips will at least help balance the odds a little.
My comment has to be approved ? – first time in over 2 years. Whats happening !!! If you dont want me on this site just tell me.
Oh, please! If a brief delay before comments get posted controls the number of "First!" posts and blatant trolling that we see on Listverse, then I'm all for it. I daresay that JF is not trying to censor anyone, merely to control the garbage that tends to get posted on public forums.
no, no, there is a snafu that we're trying to fix. We love you. Take a look at my reply to McDuck. We're dealing with it as best we can – awaiting on Jamie for the permanent fix.
Thanks Mom for the reply – I jumped the gun, I should have waited longer – assuming there was a glitch – had a bad day at the office, but that is no excuse.
fixed me thinks
yeah it sucks i hope all trolls are happy now
actually i use all those methods,and i always win ,and another one is dont get greedy,i take bout a 100$ and always win bout a 100-150$
My cousin works at a casino, he has stories of people gambling hundreds of thousands (not rich people), one man killing himself in the bathroom, his boss running away because he owed money to the loan shark (he hated his boss so he ended up thanking the loan shark XD ).
All in all, don't gamble at casinos.
ótimo post
You know what's a good way to win money in a casino? Follow all of the really drunk people, and if they happen to drop some change, you've won, but if they fall asleep, then you've hit the jackpot!
Think about it, if it's wrong of you to steal drunk people's money, then why are there casinos?
I had a co-worker once who was a horse-racing fanatic. The weekend after payday he was either buying rounds at the pub, or bumming smokes. He ended up losing LOTS more often than he won.
After he hit a big payday, he took $1000 and put it in a cookie jar….and then bet against the jar, instead of at the track. He would watch the race on TV, and if he won, he took his winnings out of the jar, and if he lost, his bet went INTO the jar. He was tempted once or twice to bet the entire contents of the jar on a "hot tip", but never gave in….especially after the first "hot tip" turned out to be a dud.
After a year, he bought himself a new car. Paid cash.
The best odds in any game in the casino is on Craps. Period. That being said, they are the best odds ONLY if you “bet with the house”, or as they call it on the table, being a “wrong” better. You have to bet that the shooter will throw a 7 before making his point, throw craps, etc. All the bets the house wins on, you can bet on also, albeit with a small reduction in your return, because NO game in the casino, if played by the house rules and applicable laws, will give ANY advantage, not even 1%, to a player. On Blackjack, if you count (against house rules), that gives you about a 5% advantage, depending on a LOT of factors. Are you playing/betting strictly to the count? Great. You have that 5%-6% edge, BUT, you will be caught by surveillance fairly quickly. If you only say bet to it, OR play to it, it will take longer to get caught, but assume you WILL get caught.
Poker is good, if you’re skillful, however, because of this, the casino has what’s called the “rake”, which means that regardless of who wins the pot, the casino gets their cut.
Some of the worst are Keno (real balls, not electronic. The electronic versions, be it with paper or video are a whole different kettle of fish), Roulette, Big 6 (Wheel of Fortune, not to be confused with the slots by that name).
Someone said slots were horrible for the player. Not really… in Nevada, across the board, on average, the house take is around 3%, i.e. for every $100 dropped into the slots, they make $3… WOOHOO! BUT, if you have say 2500 machines, that %3 per %100, across 2500 machines… you get the idea… because with the modern electronics in slots, you can program them to ALWAYS return a fixed percentage.
Decent list, and it seems that the gambling lists are slowly getting better.
if you're a maths genius and can count cards is it then possible to beat the casino?
1. You don’t need to be a math genius to count cards, but it helps to be a quick thinker and have a good memory.
2. It is always possible to “beat the casino” even without counting cards. The odds of doing so are against you though.
3. Card counting just tips the odds slightly to your favor. Which means you win more often than not (or at least on a per-hand basis, know when to bet high vs. low so as to to maximize a potential win or minimize a potential loss). There is no guarantee that you will beat the casino every time though, but in the long run you should come out ahead. Until you get caught.
if youre any good at it, then yes. it's about the only thing in the whole place where the casino doesn't have a house edge.
single deck shoe?
i can count that.
and you don't have to be good in math. this isnt matrix theory, or dif. eq., but you do have to have a decent memory, and think quickly.
its damn near impossible to count a 6 deck shoe.
unless you're an excellent driver, and can't miss wapner.
slow on the driveway…
an ex-ex-ecellent driver
As has been said, it doesn't take a math genius, just a sharp eye and a good memory. There are 52 cards in a standard deck (sans jokers). So, in a typical six-deck shoe, that's only 312 cards that you have to track mentally, all the while keeping your mind on the game.
I've known one person who could count card well enough to make money on it, and he was banned from the casinos after they found out about his talent.
Isn't it illegal to ban someone for having a talent like that? HOW was he cheating if he just had a good memory?
Strangely, casinos seem to have the authority to ban anyone at any time for no reason. This is a right afforded to no other business that I know of. I may be off on this, so if I am maybe someone will clarify.
casinos seem to have the authority to ban anyone at any time for no reason. This is a right afforded to no other business that I know of.
Banning of card counters has recently been challenged in court, with the Indiana Supreme Court decision favoring the casino that was being sued:
http://www.indystar.com/article/20101001/LOCAL/10…
Seems to me that, generally speaking, any private business catering to the public has a right to establish reasonable rules of conduct so as to govern its patrons. Such as a restaurant or night club refusing admission or service to someone who is not wearing a shirt or shoes. Or booting someone that is being disruptive from a theatre. Though granted, card-counters wouldn’t necessarily be a bother to other customers, the way these other examples potentially would, but I guess the criteria isn’t limited to that. Of course said rules would have to be non-discriminatory. A casino couldn’t just ban someone for being of a particular race or some other protected minority for example.
Here’s another interesting article, with plenty of links to more detailed regulations and such:
http://www.thelegality.com/2008/05/07/playing-the…
One excerpt:
“Since card counting and other intellectual tricks are not illegal, a casino does not have legal recourse against players who employ those methods, so a card counter cannot be arrested or sued. Casinos can provide many distractions to help guard against such activities, though, including cocktail waitresses, pit bosses, other guests, and security. This still is not the last line of defense for the casino. Depending on the state, the casino may have the right to exclude a player from the premises.”
And another:
“states are allowed to implement some rules to eliminate much of card counters’ advantage. In response, several state gambling commissions, including Nevada, implemented new policies to tip the balance back in favor of casinos, including continuous shuffling, use of multiple decks in a game, and both minimum and maximum wagers at tables.”
@maggot: " A casino couldn’t just ban someone for being of a particular race or some other protected minority for example. "
—–if they want you out, you'll be out — they'll find a way to justify it.
what you have said here is exactly right, however — they cant ban someone for being a particular race, or a certain *****, or of a unique socio-economic status. a couple things would happen. they are both bad in every conceivable way. add that to the fact that a casino would have to really grasp at straws to justify picking on a character trait like colour of skin.
the casinos — they want everyone's money. they dont give a ***** if youre a doctor or homeless — a father of an nfl quarterback (brett favres father was a regular until his death) or a fat black lesbian — a starlett or a *whatever* guru (kate hudson and richard simmons sat across the bar from each other all night once) — cocktail waitress from a casino next door or the head of security's daughter.
they care that you are 21. (security and surveillance depts get in trouble)
they care that youre not *****-ass drunk (beverage dept will get in trouble)
i could go on and on and on — but you get the picture.
the casino needs and wants money. if you are giving it to them, you're golden. in fact, you are their best customer. they all love you. they give you a little card with your name on it, and promise you "points" you get free for playing, they give you free meals (so that you will stay in the building, and gamble more later) — they shuttle you damn near anywhere (so you wont rent a car, and get too froggy out and about).
ever looked at a list of the largest hotels in the world?
in the top 28 largest in the world, 21 are in las vegas. ive been to all 21, and worked in 3. they are all little citys.
worked for a long time in #7, #15, and #27. each one is perfectly designed so that no mattter how antsy you get at any time of the day, if you need anything other than a hooker, then you dont have to leave the premesis (all the hookers are in the parking garages or across the street).
……………………..cont'd
the properties i worked at anyway, including the one in louisiana, and the ones in mississippi — if i dont want to serve them, no one in the casino can. we cut people off all the time — my protocal is to call my supervisor, security dispatch, and an additional supervisor (of a restaurant, crap pit, slot supervisor, wherever the guest is). those 3 people tell their people, and i start calling the other bars. when i refuse service to one person, they are usually trapped within 5 minutes, unable to do anything but leave or go to their room.
maggot—sorry about the tangential crap — but the point was — the card counters — well, they are the only ones treated more hastily than the drunk and obnoxious. card counters come with two sets of potential problems. 1- is they disrupt other guests. but not like drunkards do. they disrupt the mentality of the other gamblers. i know it sounds silly, but the "gambling is entertainment" tag comes with it's problems — one of which is that it isnt very entertaining if youre at a one-deck shoe blackjack table, and you are winning 3.5 out of 5 hands, and some twerpy mother*****er next to you is winning 8 of every 9 hands. **note — no real mathematics went into that example** — anyway — not entertaining.
the other, of course, is they look at as theft, by proxy. this claim is because they have house stndards set up. the list of best-house odds — there isnt much variation in those lists. blackjack and craps are better than most. and guys — roulette, the big wheel, keno, and war are the worst. if you are ever in a casino and see the card game of war — *****ing leave.
you ***** with their strictly and succinctly studied prescious mathematical paradigms, you ***** with their intake — you ***** with the slot payouts (which have to adjust for various reasons) — all the way down to peoples perception of "luck" within vconfines of certian buildings. if i had a dollar for everytime i heard — "the luxor is my lucky casino — margartiaville in harrahs is my lucky bar — the third to last machine on any bar is my
cont'd…………………………………
…………………………………….cont'd
lucky zone — then i could buy jfrater his bently. —its dominos, tip one that tips another — and these places will use damn near any individual excuse to take a domino out of the chain, so that the ones toward the end stay standing. and saying you dont waqnt black or gay people ?….yeah — in this *****ogy, thats a tornado that not only knocks over the dominoes, but spreads them around the room. they avoid that. but if you ***** up a little (back to card counters) they try to get you ***** up a little more, so they have a good, and visible reason, not only to kick you out, but to have you as the example of the hour.
yanno, maggot. what you said. but with more words.
start disrupting people — youre out.
If you ever play poker with Kim Jong-Il, or his son Kim Jong Nam make sure you let them win. If they go broke they just shoot everyone else and take the winnings. *****s!!
playing A-T-M is still a losing game. Most casinos add a surcharge when using them.
Maximus, there are a few people who keep track of the face cards in blackjack well enough to tilt the odds slightly. I talked to one guy who said he plays at a local casino only often enough that no one will ever notice that he usually wins a little. But he wins so consistently that he actually has a line in his household budget for blackjack winnings.
Hmmm. It says my comment must be approved by the public before it will appear sightly.
Follow most of the items on this list and i gurantee you'll have no fun when you go gambling.
All at the same time, yeah, but you're still more likely to not ***** up your life if you do follow them
My post never appeared. That's a shame. Especially since it contained the secret of happiness. Oh well….
Counting a shoe, regardless of decks, is the same if it’s a single deck in the dealer’s hands (never seen, or heard tell of a single deck shoe, until today), or a 8 deck shoe. The critical part of the count is to remember to divide the actual count by the number of decks. If it’s +8 in a 4 deck shoe, it’s REALLY +2… if you play/bet to that +8, you’re in for a rude awakening.
Also, for those that agree that Craps is one of the best for the player, then follow that up with “stick to betting on the pass line” just proved how moronic and uninformed they are about Craps… BET WITH THE HOUSE, i.e. “wrong” betting. Bet the “don’t pass” bar, etc… or follow that up with “don’t come” if you’re feeling brave. There are several casinos that have removed the “don’t pass” bar from their layouts, but keep the “don’t come” box. Why? They don’t want to lose the tiny edge the “don’t pass” bar gives you… period. Also, the fellow/lady that stated that security was too busy on graves to deal with *****ed on seats, he’s 100% right. They have a hard and/or soft drop to deal with, nine kinds of drunken idiots, vehicle problems, be it break ins, walking some hottie (or those that THINK they’re hot, lol) out to their vehicle.
Also, remember, that counting cards is NOT against the law, however, it’s in your best interests to NOT be caught by the club you’re doing it at… fair warning.
Normally all a club will do is ask you to leave. And there are an awful lot of casinos across the country. I think someone could write a great novel about a guy who just goes from casino to casino counting cards and winning. Free idea for any budding novelists…
"Your comment must be approved by the mine satyrs before it will appear publicly."
wrong Jay – once they tag you the eye in the sky has your picture and there are several services the casinos subscribe too that have archives of all the counters that are banned – you get banned in Reno – you're banned in all Vegas casinos, Jersey, Louisiana, etc.
they even have facial recognition computers that can make you even in a disguise – glasses, hair, beard, hat – doesn't matter. Even overseas
Counting cards does not take a math genius, just someone who can do simple math quickly, accurately, and memorize some play charts. There are simple to very complex systems for counting cards; the advantage gained (generally) increasing with the complexity of the system used. Of course it takes time and practice (at home) to learn to count a deck which most players do not want to invest.
Games which are not house games are also beatable as long as you can outperform the average joe by the house take (poker-rake varies, sports betting-10%, horse racing-17%)
What has ruined counting for getting an edge in blackjack are what’s called “Shufflemasters”. Currently, in Reno, The dealer takes a cold deck (one not dealt from yet), deals the hand, then sets that deck in the Shufflemaster, and grabs the deck that had just been shuffled. So, you get ONE hand dealt from a given deck before it’s shuffled… so, so much for counting a deck that goes out of play after every hand.
Every time the house does something to fix the odds in their favor, the whole enterprise of casino gambling comes to seem more and more pointless and ridiculous. They are trying to take the "gambling" element out of gambling.
My comment is presently being studied by the sad Mennites.
the best advice for beating casino tricks is not to gamble at all. it is irrational, illogical, and is a macroeconomical harm to society. for those who go to spend $25 every once in a while and are not addicted it may not be a problem, although many people would fall victim to being addicted; a risk nobody should take.
i wished i knew that before i started masterbating, drinking beer, smoking cigars, eating hamburgers, using TP with aloe on it, buying underwear at the dollar store, picking my feet in Poughkeepsie , using abreviations like etc. etc. etc.
In March I took a long awaited vacation to New Zealand. As a Yank, I'm not used to having $1 and $2 coins and they rapidly began to accumulate (Not that I was rich, I simply wasn't used to that much weight in my pocket!). So, prior to setting out on a solo walking tour of Auckland, I decided to essentially lose the $30 or $40 I had clanking around. I was staying at the Sky City Hotel and it had a pleasant looking Casino so I figured "What the heck, blow it there. I can probably kill an hour on the penny slots!" This marked perhaps the fourth or fifth time I'd ever gone into a Casino. I very, very rarely even buy a Lotto ticket, much less gamble, so I was certainly ripe for a quick visit. Now here's my system: Walk into the Casino with NO idea how the slots are organized or how to calculate pay-offs.
Play slots, look at pretty lights.
After playing about $2, wait for the machine to post the following screen: "Please see attendant to claim your $618.00 Jackpot or continue playing."
I waved to a lovely young lady carrying a clipboard, she came over, opened the back of the machine, jotted something down and asked me to sign a voucher of some kind. She then handed me a piece of paper I was told to take to the cashier.
The cashier then gave me a stack of $50 and $20 bills (and two &@#! coins) and bid me a nice day.
Awfully simple, really. I may try it again the next time I'm in Auckland!
Wow, you're so open-minded! Where do you think the term 'Professional Gambler' comes from? I agree that it's very very hard but there are a small percentage of people that do make money gambling. I work in the Casino Industry and as an estimate I'd say that people who win more than they lose over a long period fall into a minority of well below 1%. So yes, hard indeed but you're statement above is unfounded.
All cashiers of all kinds are trained to give you the largest denominations possible. Nobody's going to hand you five $1 bills instead of one $5 bill, anywhere
So beating the casino – from listverse's point – seems a lot safer than investing in the stock market. j/k
As far as I know, there are only 4 forms of gambling you can win at. Black Jack (count your cards), Racing (know your form better then anyone else), Poker (read people better then anyone else) and the stock market(just know your stocks and invest in a lot of areas)
I won over $62,000 in 2004 playing Keno. I used the money and bought a condominium. But with the Real Estate going bust…I lost them all.
Lesson learned —if you win a big one, use the money to pay off your credit, buy something expensive, cause I guarantee to you..you will put them back! And the dry cycle will go a looooong time! 6 years and I haven’t won again!
Although craps game has more avantage for player, it is definetely very boring. I preper blackjack,too. Also I have a website here: http://www.onlinecasinosgames-onlinegambling . If you want to play online casinos and if you are from USA, you may want to check it. Thanks.
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