On a European wheel you would expect to lose, in the long run, 2.7% of any money you bet with. On an American wheel you can expect to lose 5.26% (if you are interested in the mathematics of roulette, the video at the end will show you how these odds are calculated). 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. A minimum amount is required in most table games. However, it is very rare to find a blackjack game that has a minimum bet of $2 or $5. Players may want to play, but the rules of the casino may indicate that the minimum of the game is $25. It is simple math; the casino expects to make a certain amount of money for each round of blackjack.
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Gambling is taking a risk of losing something of value on an unpredictable outcome. When you gamble at either an online or land based casino both you and the casino take a risk in losing something of value. The risk is greater for you because the casino only offers games that provide a statistical advantage to the casino.
However, much statutory and some case law has been devoted to ensuring that casinos and players don’t cheat each other by subtly altering the conditions of gambling games without each other’s knowledge and permission. You can, though, change the terms of the game. The casino often provides a way for you to do this.
But should you take the offer?
There are two things you need to understand before you can start improving your chances of winning when you gamble. First, you can change the outcome of a gambling game. Second, you will almost always confuse yourself if you try to do the math. These two most common of gambling mistakes help the casinos earn tens of billions of dollars every year.
How You Change the Outcome in a Gambling Game
Many casino gambling games allow and even encourage players to change the stakes, the odds, and even the percentage chances of winning. Here are a few examples of how you can change the outcome of a gambling game (almost always for the worst).
Say you are playing a slot machine game and you win a prize on a spin. A special “Gamble” button lights up. You are now prompted to play a secondary game, maybe betting on the outcome of a virtual coin toss, using the prize you just won as the stake in your new bet. This is an exciting feature. It also means you are risking the loss of what you just won on a game with a better “edge” for the casino.
Most slot games have a theoretical return to player above 75%. Games developed after 2010 usually have better than a 90% theoretical return. The RTP is an estimate of how much money would be retained by a hypothetical player who spun the reels continually for a period of several years. It’s not a realistic estimate of how much money you will win, lose, or hold on to. It’s a statistical measurement used to gauge how friendly the game is to the gambler.
In a coin toss the theoretical return to player is 50% or 1 in 2. So let’s assume you just gambled $5 on a spin in the basic slot game and that you won $10. You have doubled your money. Now the “Gamble” light activates and you are invited to take your $10 and bet it on the outcome of a coin toss. And suppose the “Gamble” feature allows you to wager on the outcome of two concurrent coin tosses. Now you have a choice: bet on 1 coin toss for a chance to double your $10 to $20 or bet on 2 concurrent coin tosses for a chance to quadruple your money.
Your chances of winning the double concurrent coin toss are 25% or 1 in 4.
You would have a better chance to keep your $10 prize and just spin again on the basic game. By taking the “Gamble” challenge you improve the casino’s chances of winning your next bet. It’s like paying $5 for a quarter of pie at one restaurant and then paying another $10 for an eighth of a pie at a different restaurant. Are you really getting a better piece of pie at the second restaurant?
In the game of blackjack if the dealer offers you insurance most experts tell you not to take it. Why? Because you are betting that you will lose your basic wager. The chances of being correct (that the dealer has a blackjack) on your insurance bet are worse than the chances that you can beat the dealer’s hand (your original wager).
The bottom line here is that casinos will sometimes offer you ways to change your stakes and your chances of winning to their own benefit. If you want to win at gambling, don’t take the deal behind door number 2. Stick to your original game and be consistent. Let someone else win the goat.
How to Confuse Yourself at Any Gambling Game
There is a certain idea among gambling experts that comparing the “house edge” in various gambling games helps you to make informed choices. The edge is a theoretical return to the casino, the complementary percentage for the theoretical return to player. In other words, in every form of gambling, there is only a 100% allocation of money. Gambling does not generate new wealth; all gambling does is pool wealth between the bettors and redistribute that wealth between the bettors (and sometimes also a middle man).
In the 1-on-1 game of blackjack there are only 2 bettors in your game: you and the casino. The casino is willing to pay up to the full amount of your bet if you win. It’s an even money match up, and that is really what makes blackjack so profitable for a casino. They risk less per round than they do with, say, roulette or a slot game. But if you have been reading blackjack tutorials you should know by now that the house edge is lower in blackjack than in other games, and therefore you have the best chance of winning in blackjack.
In fact, the dealer has a better chance of coming out ahead because at a busy table the dealer is playing multiple hands at once by the most conservative of rules. In other words, the casino is taking less risk per round in blackjack than the players while at the same time multiplying its chances of winning.
Players make mistakes when playing blackjack. Blackjack dealers don’t have to make hard decisions. In fact, by always going last the dealer often doesn’t have to make any choices at all. The players make most of the decisions in blackjack. And yet blackjack remains profitable for the casinos. The casinos are profiting from player mistakes.
Players make several types of gambling mistakes. One of the most common mistakes is to confuse the probability of winning with the theoretical return to player. The probability of winning is limited to the next round of play. The theoretical return to player is an estimate of what all the players of a game will collectively receive over the life of a specific game (or an arbitrarily large number of rounds in the game).
The rule of thumb is that the more rounds played for a given game the more the actual results of that game will average out close to the theoretical return to player (or the house edge).
But what are the chances of your drawing a natural blackjack on the next deal? What are the chances that the dealer will not win against you on the next deal? These are probabilities that can be computed on the basis of how many cards are left in the shoe, less the cards that have already been played. Those probabilities change as more cards are played but they rarely if ever line up with the theoretical return to player.
The mistake players make is assuming that the house only has a 2.5% chance of winning the next round. The dealer’s chance of winning that next hand can be as high as 100% and as low as 0%. The house edge is always irrelevant with respect to any individual round played on any gambling game from keno to slots to blackjack to baccarat.
When you gamble, it’s nice to know how much money the house is expected to retain over the next 30 days but that won’t help you predict how much you win or lose in any of the next 10 rounds of play.
Expert gamblers like to calculate probabilities but probabilities do not predict the next round’s outcome. The roulette wheel always has a 1 in 37 or 1 in 38 chance of landing on any given number. The chance that the ball will land on number “7” 100 times in a row remains 1 in 37 or 1 in 38. That never changes (allowing for truly random spins, although the laws of physics mandate that the spins won’t be completely random).
On the other hand, what is the expected probability of a random spin of the roulette wheel producing “7” 100 times in a row? This is where you multiply your individual spin probability (1/3x) by itself the number of times in a row (100 in this case). The expected probability of the wheel hitting “7” 100 times in a row is 1.51296e-157 (a very, very small number). But that low probability has no bearing on the probability of the next spin.
This is the dichotomy of probability theory, where you are dealing with large sequences of independent events. The expected probability does not mean you cannot or will not see the unlikely outcome. In this hypothetical example, we are simply computing how many possible outcomes there are and assuming the chances of producing the same result 100 times in a row are equivalent to a certain percentage of those possible outcomes.
Unfortunately (even semi-) random events have a way of defying the probabilities. But if someone offers you 100-to-1 odds that a roulette wheel will land on “7” 100 times in a row, verify their ability to pay and take the wager. They lose as soon as a different result turns up before the 100TH spin.
The bottom line here is simple: don’t try to do the math like an expert. Random chance will always eventually prove the experts wrong.
What You Must Do to Improve Your Chances of Winning
Here are a few basic rules for improving your chances of winning when you gamble.
- Stop second-guessing yourself.
Every casino game offers you a fair chance of winning. The games, when played fairly and legally, pay prizes that correspond to the expected probabilities of given outcomes, although casinos will hold back a little bit extra in most games to ensure they make some money. Hence, in roulette, the most you can win is 36-to-1 instead of 37-to-1 or 38-to-1.
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The odds are always stacked against you. But random chance favors the fool, as the old saying goes. You just cannot guarantee you are the fool upon whom random chance showers its favors.
- Take the least possible risk.
In a hypothetical game where you win 100 rounds out of 100 rounds, you will kick yourself if you only wager $5 on each round for the chance to win $5 instead of wagering $100 on each round for the chance to win $10,000 on each round.
In reality, positive thinking doesn’t work when you gamble. The more you assume you could win the more you are likely to lose when you do lose.
Risking less does mean you win less per round but that’s okay.
- Manage your money so that you play as many rounds as possible.
You are more likely to win back $100 in wagers if you divide them into twenty $5 wagers than if you divide them into five $20 wagers.
Instead of playing numbers games (which is second guessing yourself) or assuming you will win a certain number of times (which is taking more than the least possible risk) you should assume you are going to lose more rounds than you win. When you play slots or even a modest keno game (like a 5-pick) you can still come out ahead when you play more rounds with small wagers than fewer rounds with large wagers.
But how does playing conservatively work in blackjack, when the average prize is an even money bet? If you lose only 49% of the rounds in blackjack you lose. Okay, smart guy, you know you need to double down a few times. Instead of playing numbers games and assuming you can lose X number of hands and double down on Y hands, just accept that once in a while you’ll have to double down to improve your chances in blackjack.
When should you double down? The experts agree that if the dealer is showing a 5 or 6 and you have an ace and anything less than a 7.
You don’t need to double a lot as long as you can double enough to come out ahead.
- Don’t try to win big.
That’s the real fun in gambling, though, isn’t it? You want to win the jackpot, hit the long odds, and outwit the dealer at every hand.
Going for the big win is the worst possible way to gamble. You may not be playing all-or-nothing but you are playing too much.
Still, you can adjust the amount of your wagers upward if you are doing well. Just keep them proportionate to your bankroll.
- Use a consistent percentage ceiling in your wager to bankroll ratio.
Although it is prudent to limit your initial wagers to 5% of your original bankroll, at some point you may double or triple your money. Does it make sense to continue playing by the original 5% measure?
Most gamblers will feel confident enough to increase their wagers. But while it’s usually good advice to ignore all betting systems when you gamble (because each has its flaws), you can set a limit of “5% of your current bankroll down to half”, meaning you gamble with $5 bets until you lose half the money you came in with.
If you double your money then you can double your wagers as long as you don’t go above 5%.
Five percent is not a magic number. You can set the percentage at 1%, 5%, 15%, or even 20%. You should be consistent about not going above your percentage. You still have the flexibility of making larger wagers if you roll up your money.
- Divide Your Bankroll At Certain Split Points.
This technique works best in land-based casinos, especially when you can put your money into tickets that are easy to carry around. A split point is a multiple of your bankroll. Say you begin gambling with $200 and you roll that up to $400 at the craps table. Now take half your money and put $200 of it into a ticket.
You can continue playing craps with the remaining $200 or you can try another game. When you roll up your second $200 to $400 again you split the money into another ticket plus money to play with.
After you have 3 or 4 tickets you can rotate them. Never play a ticket all the way down. Leave at least a few dollars on it so you can leave the casino with some money (and a little dignity).
When you gamble online it makes some sense to shift money from the game balance back to your main account. As long as you have money in your game account you should be good. It helps you to stay focused on conservative betting if you take money out of the game when you get ahead of your original bankroll.
- Play with Casino Bonus Money Whenever Possible
Land-based casinos may not offer you signup bonuses but many online casinos do. Play conservatively with the casino bonus money to increase your chances of fulfilling your wagering requirement with just the bonus money. While that won’t always happen the longer you can delay putting your own money into the game the better the chances you’ll start winning.
You can try this strategy with the “no deposit” welcome bonuses some casinos offer but they do limit how much credit they extend to you. You have more bonus money to work with when you accept a deposit match bonus.
- Stick to the Basic Game.
Whether you play slots, craps, roulette, or blackjack the less complicated you make your game the less likely you’ll place dumb bets.
The casino is counting you to make dumb bets. You should count on the casino to be less than generous with its odds on the best most likely to pay off.
There are few progressive wagers that are worth the money. The more you throw into a round the harder it will be to recover from a loss.
In craps bet on Pass or Don’t Pass and play the odds but keep it simple.
In blackjack bide your time and don’t split every time you get a pair of cards of the same value. Should you really split two 5 cards when you’re showing 10 on the table? Should you split two tens? Two nines? You have three options: play the basic game, double down, or split. On some tables you may be able to surrender if you don’t like the dealer’s cards but look at the strength of your cards first and your options for splitting second.
- Assume the free games are more generous than the paid games.
When you have a chance to “try before you buy” at an online casino the free game just may be slightly more generous than the paid version. There are several reasons why this might happen. If you can check the theoretical return to player for a free game and the paid version, look for differences.
Does the free game run on a different server? The different server may be using a different random number generator, a different random seed number, or a different estimated percentage for the theoretical return to player. Variations in all these things can affect the randomness of the outcome of the game.
- Play low variance games.
Sad to say, but the less volatility there is in the prize to wager ratio of a game the more likely it will pay you prizes. Volatility is an important measure for a casino because it needs to know how much cash to keep on hand. But you need to know how long you may have to play a game before you win a nice prize. That is where the variance comes into play.
Think of variance as “how much any random outcome of a game varies from the average expected outcome”. There is a relationship between variance and volatility (in fact, some gambling writers use these terms interchangeably). The casino cares more about the volatility and the player cares more about the variance.
How do you judge variance? It comes down to how long you can play the game with your initial bankroll. A low variance game has a tendency to take less of your money.
Hence, as noted above, you can affect the variance of the game in a limited way by playing conservatively and ignoring the extra bets the house offers.
Conclusion
Think of gambling as an endurance race between the bettors. Whoever can go more rounds wins the most money, unless random chance steps in and hands a big win to the individual gambler. Then gambling is more about who has the most self-discipline. The casino is playing a numbers game and just has to be there with enough cash on hand to keep the games going. The player has to have the wisdom and the self-discipline to walk away with the cash.
Harvard Medical School published a trove of data about online gamblers that was collected from 2005 to 2007 by an online casino (Bwin). Researchers who studied the data concluded that about 11% of gamblers were likely to win and that winners were more likely to play less frequently. Subsequently, researchers from the University of Michigan and the University of Connecticut compared that analysis to their own analysis of data from a Native American casino’s database. The second study found that about 13.5% of the land-based gamblers were winners.
The good news for most gamblers is that fewer than 5% of them contribute about 50% of the casino’s net revenue, and about 10% contribute 80% of the casino’s revenue, so most gamblers are not big losers. That means approximately 80% of gamblers share the burden of about 20% of the casino’s net revenue between themselves. Given that most people cannot lose enough money (for lack of wealth) to drop into the lower 10% (the Big Losers) changing how one gambles increases an individual’s chances of moving into the upper 10%.
Gamblers with little wealth to lose should still learn to make better choices. You cannot guarantee you will win but you can always cut your losses short or take fewer risks. Gambling is more fun when it is just entertainment. If your losses amount to no more than what you would spend on other types of entertainment such as concerts and travel, then have fun.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.No matter what happens with the economy around the world, casinos are never going to run out of money. It’s a business model that’s always going to succeed.
But that doesn’t mean that they will always beat you.
Many gamblers have learned how to use the casino system to their own advantage, and one of the best ways to do that is by getting comps. Casinos all over the U.S. give stuff away for free every single day.
Why shouldn’t you be one of the people getting some of that free stuff?
What You Should Know About Casino Comps
Comps are free stuff and perks that casinos give to gamblers.
And they come in multiple forms:
Free meals, free hotel rooms, free parking, casino credit — if you’re doing it right, you could be getting these perks all the time. There’s no reason that you can’t get casino comps every time you go out for a night of gambling.
What you don’t know about comps could be affecting your ability to get them and make the most out of them.
You don’t have to gamble away a ton of money to get free gifts from the casino. In fact, this might be the most common misconception about comps.
There’s a simple way to start getting free goodies from the casino, and you don’t have to drop hundreds of bills on the table to get them.
Comps are not just for high rollers and players who lose a ton of cash. Casinos give them away all the time to all types of players — winners AND losers.
No matter who you are or how much money you’re losing, the casino wants you on their floor gambling. They’re happy to give you free meals and other gifts so that you’ll keep playing.
Even winners can get comps, because the casino wants to keep you on the floor — all in the hope that you’ll start to lose, and give them back some of that money they’ve been giving you.
First Things First – Get a Player’s Card
Before you can get any comps, you’ve got to be in the system.
Here’s how you get in the system:
Ask any casino employee about getting a player’s card, and they will tell you where to go to sign up for the program. Most casinos have their own dedicated player’s club, so even if you have a card with another casino, you’ll still need a new card for every casino you visit. (Some casinos do participate in programs that include multiple casinos, though — you’ll get details about that at the player’s club desk, if there are any.)
The casino wants to get you on the floor and gambling as fast as they can.
Fill out the form, give them your ID, and wait a few minutes to get your card. Then you’ll be ready to start earning all those great comps and casino rewards. Even if you don’t plan on spending much money at the casino, it’s always worth your while to get a player’s casino card. There’s no other way to get rewarded for the time and money you do spend gambling.
Once you have your card, don’t forget to use it. Slot machines, video poker, and other gambling machines will have a scanner for your card. Look for this before you add any money to the machine. If you need help, just flag a casino employee and they’ll guide you through the process.
You can also hand your card to the dealer for them to scan if you’re playing table games (like baccarat, craps, or blackjack). If you don’t know where to show your card, just ask the dealer. They will help you. The card must be scanned so the casino has a record of your activity and your time spent gambling.
The more time you spend gambling, the more comps you get. The minute you have your card scanned and start gambling, you’ll start adding up points with the casino that will become comps.
Take Advantage of the Specials Instantly
Ask a dealer, pit boss, or any other casino employee about any specials that may be happening right now. Many casinos run special promotions that allow you to get bigger and better comps. There may be player bonuses for playing specific games, so make sure you ask about these special casino deals before you make your mind up about which game you’re going to play.
Always take advantage of deals and limited offers so you can get more free goods.
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You can also ask about coupons or vouchers that may be available to you right now as a player’s club casino member. Most casinos also offer club signing bonuses, too. These are rewards that you earn just by signing up for the player’s club card. This is how you start getting comps instantly.
The casino employees might not always volunteer information about all the free stuff you’re entitled to get after you sign up, so make sure to ask on your own so you don’t miss out on anything.
Do Some Research
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If you already know which casino or casinos you plan to visit, do some research ahead of time and start working on your comps even before you start gambling.
Many casinos explain their player compensation program as an incentive to get more people to sign up for casino player cards. Go to the casino’s website and look for information about their player’s club and/or their compensation program. Sometimes, you can find a detailed guide that tells you exactly how the compensation point program works at that specific casino. Once you have this information, you’ll know exactly how to start making the system work for you.
While you’re researching, you can also sign up for a player’s card before you even go to the casino and get the whole comp process rolling along even sooner. Many casinos allow you to sign up for their player’s clubs online rather than in person, so you’ll be ready before you even set foot on casino property. Some casinos will even send you special coupons and offers through the mail ahead of your trip, so it’s worth it to take this extra step if you’re planning your casino visit in advance.
The Unspoken Comps
Along with the comps that the casino will outright give you through their player’s club program, many casinos offer little perks to people with a player’s card. The little extra comps give you more of a VIP experience when you’re at the casino.
Here’s an example:You might be able to use your card to get a line comp at the casino buffet. This means you get to go to the head of the line and cut in front of everyone else who is waiting.
Here’s another example:
You might also qualify for a casino rate on your hotel room, which can get you a discount of up to 50 percent on your room.
Find out which comps and extras are offered through your player’s card by speaking to the casino host. This person is specifically tasked with helping player’s club members get more out of their casino experience, so you can ask them about all the comps and learn all the ways to take advantage of perks.
What Games Should You Play to Get the Most Comps?
The best way to get comps from casinos is to spend time in the casino playing their games.
Your goal?
To spend as much time on the casino floor while losing as little money as possible.
To do that, choose to play casinos games with a low house edge and a slow rate of play. Slot machines and video poker can both cost you a surprising amount of money surprisingly fast. You play these games alone, so there’s nothing to slow you down, and your gambling ends up being constant. The odds are also greatly skewed toward the casino’s favor when you play slot machines. That makes it easy (and likely) to lose lots of money in a very short amount of time.
That’s the worst way to get comps — by losing lots of money on slot machines. Try table games where the odds are better. The play is much slower, too. You can spend more time and less money at the craps, blackjack, and baccarat tables.
You’ll earn more points toward your comps as a result. Comps aren’t about how much money you’re losing or winning. They’re based on how much time you’re spending at the casino. Remember that the more time you spend gambling, the more the casino is going to want to keep you there.
Ask, Ask, Ask
Casinos want to give away comps. They just don’t want to give away too much. To make sure you’re getting all the comps you’ve earned, make sure you ask about them. When you’re done gabling for the night, talk to any player’s club host and ask them about comps you may have earned. They can look at your card and see what you’ve earned, so you know exactly what you’re entitled to get from the casino. The host will often give you an extra little comp (like a meal) because you came up and asked them about your rewards.
The Free Drinks
The most well-known comp offered by any casino is the free drink. Almost every casino in the U.S. will offer you free drinks if you’re gambling, whether you’re sitting at a table or a machine.
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Always take advantage of this comp by flagging down a cocktail waitress the minute you hit the casino floor. She’ll give you a drink for free to take with you while you go find the table or the machine where you want to play. Flag her down again any time your glass is empty.
Find out what kind of drinks are offered for free, and keep your thirst quenched while you’re gambling. There’s no reason your glass should be empty when you’re on the casino floor. After all, free is free.
One caveat, though:They give you free drinks for a reason.
Drunk people tend to lose more money gambling. They start making poor decisions.
Be careful of that.
Come in Hot
Chances are, you already know how much you’re willing to spend on a night of gambling.
But when you go to the window to get chips for the night, ask for something above this amount. If you plan to lose $200, ask for a marker for $2,000 instead. This will get attention from the player’s club host, who will probably offer you a comp immediately. You will probably get a room discount, a free meal, or some other perk right away if it looks as though you’re about to spend thousands of dollars at the casino.
When you’re gambling, use just the $200 you’re willing to spend. When you cash out at the end of the night, add the extra $1,800 back to the pile unspent.
You’ll have earned some extra free stuff without having gambled anything you didn’t intend to lose.
Do Everything at the Casino
Some casinos don’t just reward those who are gambling, they’ll reward you for spending money anywhere at the casino. Look for casinos that have a lot to offer, and make the most of your stay. Mention your player’s club card when you check in at the hotel, when you shop at the boutiques, when you eat at a restaurant, even when you buy a cup of coffee.
In some cases, you can earn points for every dime you spend anywhere in the casino, so make sure you’re always using your card for everything you do while you’re there.
Conclusion
Take advantage of all the free stuff the casino will comp you, because their entire purpose is to take money away from you. Everything at the casino is designed for you to lose money and lose track of time, so that you’ll play longer and spend more. Balance that out by getting all the comps offered by the casino. Use all the tricks, take advantage of all the offers, and flash your player’s club card with every single move you make at the casino.
After all, gambling is a give-and-take process, and the casino will both take your money and give you free stuff in return.