What do you play at the casino?

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Sinsear

Diamond Member
Jan 13, 2007
6,439
80
91
Poker, craps or blackjack. I know how to play every game except baccarat, but just don't have as good a time or win nearly as much as the 3 I listed.
 

hanoverphist

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2006
9,928
23
76
Originally posted by: blackdogdeek
blackjack

my buddies usually play some 7-card stud variation i think called some kind of caribbean name or something. there's so many pushes in that game that they can usually go for hours on very little money.

Caribbean stud is a fun game. ill play that for hours and not lose much cash. first time i played it i had to use all my gambling cash replacing a tire and fixing my car on the way up, so i was down to 20 bucks. pushed the first 2 hands and won both the next. ended up walking out 4 hours later up 650. dropped 20 in a slot and won 185. now when i go to vegas, reno or laughlin i play carib. stud, black jack and paigow. my 3 fave games.
 

Kyteland

Diamond Member
Dec 30, 2002
5,747
1
81
Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
True, but saying that there's an 80% or 97% return isn't valid simply because the slot machine is likely to be emptied frequently(daily, I would guess). With a little monitoring, I'm sure you could balance the winnings of the house pretty easily.
Here's how this works. Every game has a theoretical return towards which it converges. Some games that's 80% and some it's 97%. The casino tracks what the theoretical is on every game on its floor.

The game takes in money through the bill validator or through tickets. The machine *never* pays out money, it only prints tickets. At least that's true on any casino that isn't 10 years behind the time. You have to take your ticket to a bill breaker to get any actual cash.

The casino takes in money and the casino pays out money. It has nothing to do with individual machines. Sometimes a machine pays out $1000. That doesn't mean it now needs to take in $1000 to balance the books. It will eventually converge as more games are played, but it doesn't actively need to try to get that money back.

Games are never exactly at their theoretical return. Every game has a confidence interval, So after N games the game will be between Y and Z return 90% of the time. Keep in mind that 1 in every 10 games is outside of the 90% confidence interval. Some are high and some are low. It's always changing game by game.
 
Mar 10, 2005
14,647
2
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ok, i rescind my statement regarding Nevada law. i was under that impression for years, but can find nothing to back it up.

just to kick my own ass a little more, it's widely known airports and convenience stores have the worst odds anywhere.
 

hanoverphist

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2006
9,928
23
76
Originally posted by: DBL
Originally posted by: anxi80
my usual games: 2/3 nl texas hold em, single-deck blackjack, $10 min. blackjack (too many kids splitting 10's and taking dealers bust cards at $5 tables), and sports gaming. if the mood strikes me right and i have a fun group of friends with me, i might walk over to the craps tables. but i have a card room only a few miles away so thay's where i usually play the aforementioned games.

How does a "kid" know to take a dealers bust card? Does a bust card always come out when a player incorrectly takes a card? How exactly does this affect you?

that was a response from a "seasoned" player that follow all the rules. they hate it when you go outside the norm and do dumb things like double down when the dealer is showing a king. i like playing outside the rule set that was arbitrarily placed by people watching odds of winning. i have much more fun that way.
 

hypn0tik

Diamond Member
Jul 5, 2005
5,867
2
0
Originally posted by: vi_edit
$5 blackjack tables are my home.

I can usually walk in with $40 and walk out with that or more after 4 hours of gaming and a number of drinks on the house plus some good tips to the dealers.

He speaketh the truth.
 

Kyteland

Diamond Member
Dec 30, 2002
5,747
1
81
Originally posted by: anxi80
i know statistically it about evens out, but if it is then its doing it for the people who sit after me. everytime i sit down the person at third base hitting on a 16 while the dealer is showing a 3 seem to get that 10 and bust and then the dealers hole card is sure enough a 10 and then she'll hit an 8 and doom the whole table.

and i do realize you should only be playing for yourself and not for the table, but why mess everyone else over and also take yourself out of the round if you do bust? at least play the percentages and hope the dealer busts instead of watching your cards end up in the shoe without even seeing the dealers hole card yet.
In the long run other peoples play doesn't affect you. You're right, it does even out. For every boneheaded move they make that screws you over there's another one that works out in your favor. You just tend to notice their mistakes more when it hurts you. That's why it's called luck.

If it bothers you you just need to get up from the table and find another one. It'll all work itself out in the end.
 

Kyteland

Diamond Member
Dec 30, 2002
5,747
1
81
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
ok, i rescind my statement regarding Nevada law. i was under that impression for years, but can find nothing to back it up.

just to kick my own ass a little more, it's widely known airports and convenience stores have the worst odds anywhere.
Captive audience and all.
 
Mar 10, 2005
14,647
2
0
Originally posted by: Kyteland
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
ok, i rescind my statement regarding Nevada law. i was under that impression for years, but can find nothing to back it up.

just to kick my own ass a little more, it's widely known airports and convenience stores have the worst odds anywhere.
Captive audience and all.

and for my next act....:eek:
 

DBL

Platinum Member
Mar 23, 2001
2,637
0
0
Originally posted by: anxi80
Originally posted by: DBL
How does a "kid" know to take a dealers bust card? Does a bust card always come out when a player incorrectly takes a card? How exactly does this affect you?
i know statistically it about evens out, but if it is then its doing it for the people who sit after me. everytime i sit down the person at third base hitting on a 16 while the dealer is showing a 3 seem to get that 10 and bust and then the dealers hole card is sure enough a 10 and then she'll hit an 8 and doom the whole table.

and i do realize you should only be playing for yourself and not for the table, but why mess everyone else over and also take yourself out of the round if you do bust? at least play the percentages and hope the dealer busts instead of watching your cards end up in the shoe without even seeing the dealers hole card yet.

I highlighted what is important. Everything else is how you rationalize losing.

Complaining about someone's poor percentage play in blackjack is no different than the person who insists on a re-deal after a card is accidently exposed in poker. The difference is that this person would usually be ridiculed in poker (rightfully so) but applauded in blackjack.
 

Kyteland

Diamond Member
Dec 30, 2002
5,747
1
81
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
Originally posted by: Kyteland
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
ok, i rescind my statement regarding Nevada law. i was under that impression for years, but can find nothing to back it up.

just to kick my own ass a little more, it's widely known airports and convenience stores have the worst odds anywhere.
Captive audience and all.
and for my next act....:eek:
Honestly, the odds in those places have always been set at the legal minimum because they can. But don't worry, casinos are slowly getting there. The returns casinos get are published in trade magazines. They have been going steadily down as more and more places try to squeeze more money out of their operations.
 
Mar 10, 2005
14,647
2
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whenever i go to a casino, it's like there's a carefully executed plan to separate me from my money.....

my favorite was the moving sidewalk that started on the Strip and dumped us off in the deepest part of Caesar's, without us even knowing wtf was happening. lol, no free lunch
 

Firebot

Golden Member
Jul 10, 2005
1,476
2
0
Originally posted by: Vic
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
Originally posted by: Kyteland
Originally posted by: compuwiz1
Sit back and watch some idiot put hundreds thru a slot, then when he's broke, I move in for the kill. It's amazing how many times I've scored that way over the years. :)

Slots are generally terrible for the player, so the key is observe and let someone else lose for a while.

What exactly do you mean by that? Are you trying to imply that you are somehow winning the money that person lost? That's not how that works.

<-- Makes slot machines for a living.

well, nevada law says machines have to pay out 97% of what they take in. it's gotta come out at some time.

You're miscontruing the law of averages. The machines have no memory. It's all random. And a particular random outcome is not more likely to occur just because it has not happened recently.
Everytime you flip a coin, the odds are still 50/50 for heads even if the last 10 flips were tails. Everytime you push the button on the slot machine, the odds stay the same.
Sadly, this mentality is so common though that it's actually a formal logical fallacy, known as the gambler's fallacy.

On this other forum, a guy was explaining how he had this system to win at blackjack, by avoiding dealers who showed a lot of 'bling bling':confused:. He couldn't get it in his mind that the dealer has no effect on the house rules, even after many people explaining it to him, since the tip was from a friend dealer and knew more then us 'outsiders'.:confused:

Casinos love those types of people.:D
 

spidey07

No Lifer
Aug 4, 2000
65,469
5
76
Originally posted by: Firebot
On this other forum, a guy was explaining how he had this system to win at blackjack, by avoiding dealers who showed a lot of 'bling bling':confused:. He couldn't get it in his mind that the dealer has no effect on the house rules, even after many people explaining it to him, since the tip was from a friend dealer and knew more then us 'outsiders'.:confused:

Casinos love those types of people.:D

Dealers can give you subtle clues as to what their card is if you tip them well.
 

anxi80

Lifer
Jul 7, 2002
12,295
2
0
Originally posted by: Kyteland
In the long run other peoples play doesn't affect you. You're right, it does even out. For every boneheaded move they make that screws you over there's another one that works out in your favor. You just tend to notice their mistakes more when it hurts you. That's why it's called luck.

If it bothers you you just need to get up from the table and find another one. It'll all work itself out in the end.
and thats what i usually end up doing. and i do believe it does even it; it just seems to happen as soon as i stand up from the table. ;)

Originally posted by: DBL
Complaining about someone's poor percentage play in blackjack is no different than the person who insists on a re-deal after a card is accidently exposed in poker. The difference is that this person would usually be ridiculed in poker (rightfully so) but applauded in blackjack.
they dont have to re-deal, im perfectly content with making it a burn card... unless it helps my hand. :p

when i made the statement i was speaking from personal experience, the way my luck runs at times it seems that when people play that way it never benefits me, always hurts me. but then again that sounds like every losing gambler's sad tale...
 

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
30,160
3,300
126
Originally posted by: Josh
Was just in AC last night. Did pretty well on some roulette...pretty much all I stick with.

craps baby!

$0.50 min and 20x odds FTW! ($10 odds on a .50 bet, if u cant do the math)

edit:
also play video poker
and of course regular poker
 

compuwiz1

Admin Emeritus Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
27,113
925
126
Originally posted by: Common Courtesy
Originally posted by: Kyteland
Originally posted by: compuwiz1
Sit back and watch some idiot put hundreds thru a slot, then when he's broke, I move in for the kill. It's amazing how many times I've scored that way over the years. :)

Slots are generally terrible for the player, so the key is observe and let someone else lose for a while.

What exactly do you mean by that? Are you trying to imply that you are somehow winning the money that person lost? That's not how that works.

<-- Makes slot machines for a living.

Suckers think that way though.

LOL, I understand all that, but believe it or not, it's worked a few times. But if it does not hit something in the first few rolls, I'm gone.

Wife works in a casino and said that is the MO of a lot of the winners there, to hang out and watch.


<----not much of a gambler, so no long term exposure to my ways. :)
 

Epic Fail

Diamond Member
May 10, 2005
6,252
2
0
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
ok, i rescind my statement regarding Nevada law. i was under that impression for years, but can find nothing to back it up.

just to kick my own ass a little more, it's widely known airports and convenience stores have the worst odds anywhere.

those are still better odds than the government run instant scratch games that pay 60%, then you pay half of the winning to the government as tax.
 

Josh

Lifer
Mar 20, 2000
10,924
0
0
I don't understand how playing red or black is the worst odds...(Even if it hits green)...I could be completely wrong but i'd say those odds aren't bad. Now, if you are playing all shltloads of #s, yea then the odds are pretty bad I suppose.
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,312
12
81
Originally posted by: hanoverphist
Originally posted by: DBL
Originally posted by: anxi80
my usual games: 2/3 nl texas hold em, single-deck blackjack, $10 min. blackjack (too many kids splitting 10's and taking dealers bust cards at $5 tables), and sports gaming. if the mood strikes me right and i have a fun group of friends with me, i might walk over to the craps tables. but i have a card room only a few miles away so thay's where i usually play the aforementioned games.

How does a "kid" know to take a dealers bust card? Does a bust card always come out when a player incorrectly takes a card? How exactly does this affect you?

that was a response from a "seasoned" player that follow all the rules. they hate it when you go outside the norm and do dumb things like double down when the dealer is showing a king. i like playing outside the rule set that was arbitrarily placed by people watching odds of winning. i have much more fun that way.

The rules are not arbitrary. By following the rules, you are maximizing yours (and everyone else on the tables) odds. By not following the rules, you decrease yours (and everyone else on the tables) odds.

Of course, sometimes following the rules results in a table loss when not following the rules would have resulted in a table win. But the rules are all about maximizing your odds, not guaranteeing a win.

MotionMan
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,312
12
81
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: Firebot
On this other forum, a guy was explaining how he had this system to win at blackjack, by avoiding dealers who showed a lot of 'bling bling':confused:. He couldn't get it in his mind that the dealer has no effect on the house rules, even after many people explaining it to him, since the tip was from a friend dealer and knew more then us 'outsiders'.:confused:

Casinos love those types of people.:D

Dealers can give you subtle clues as to what their card is if you tip them well.

QFT.

MotionMan
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,312
12
81
BTW, I play Blackjack to make money and Craps to have fun (and usually to lose the money back unfortunately).

MotionMan