Gambling Advice, Las Vegas

Favorite thing: ----- Video Poker!

Video poker machines do not all have the same payouts for various hands. Look at what is offered and select the game with the best payout. This game might be in another carousel (a group of machines) or the casino next door.

At jacks or better draw poker, you may encounter a machine that payer 8 coins for flushes and 5 coins for straights, whereas nearby another machine may pay 9 coins for flushes and 6 coins for straights. Or a progressive jackpot for one group of twenty-five cent jacks or better machines might be $1,200 when nearby there could be another group with a jackpot of $1,900. The chances of hitting the royal flush are the same, so why not play the game that pays the best?

Slots!

One should review the payout schedule of a slot machine if not intending to play for the maximum coins. Some machines might pay a jackpot of $600 for three sevens if three coins are played, $400 for two coins, and $200 for one coin. On these machines the payouts are all in equal proportion to the size of the wager. On these machines the player is not loosing any additional percentage of the amount wagered for playing less than the maximum amount.

However, other machines might pay equal proportions for the smaller payout of bars and cherries and such, but not pay the jackpot (say of $1,000 for three sevens) unless three coins are paid. Imagine your grief when you if you hit the three sevens and get nothing because you were a dollar short of wagering the full amount. If you want to play for less than the full amount possible on a slot machine, then be sure all the payouts are proportional to the amount bet.

Fondest memory: ----- Shop Around!

In a gaming town, it is advantageous to shop around for the best games offered.

Favorite thing: ------ The Felt may be Greener over at the Next Table...

It has always amazed me how so many people who, when in a grocery store, will deliberate over a potential savings of twenty-five cents on a roll of paper towels, will then head to a gambling town and play a poor game when a better one is available at the very next table or machine. They will risk a lot more money on that poor game than the savings made from a lifetime of deals on paper towels and other groceries.

When in a gaming town, it is advantageous to pay attention to the various games offered. If you choose to play, select the game that offers you the best odds. Here are some examples:

Blackjack!

The rules for blackjack games often vary within the same cluster of tables, called a pit. This can be true even for the same table limits. Differences in the games can include variances in player options, number of decks in play, side bets, and availability of insurance. The horrid rule of 6:5 payoffs for a blackjack might be mixed among the normal 3:2 games. It is a good idea to see what is offered before getting into a game.

Roulette!

The standard game of roulette has a wheel with numbers from 1 to 36, half of which are red and half of which are black. It also has a 0 which is green. When the zero comes up, all bets on the other numbers 1 through 36, black, red, even, odd, etc are all lost. (One could bet on zero but they the house would still be at an advantage.)

American Roulette is common in the United States. In addition to the green zero, this game features a green double zero making the house advantage twice as bad as standard roulette. I have seen two roulette tables, side by side, in the same casino. One was standard roulette and the other was American roulette. Both had the same stakes, both had equal amounts of players. Guess which players were having a better time?

Fondest memory: ----- Limits!

Table limits can vary wildly throughout a gaming town or even a single casino. They are often higher on the more populous gaming areas, like the Las Vegas Strip, as well as during special events or holidays. The time of day will influence them also. They tend to be highest in the evenings and lowest in the wee hours of the morning. Never play for stakes that you are not comfortable with or can not easily afford to loose. If you don't like the stakes, look around!

Favorite thing: ---- Ever have a $200 beer? ----

When gaming for anything but the smallest of stakes, it is best to reserve you drinking until your gaming is complete for the evening. The casinos liberally provide their customers with alcoholic beverages drinks not only to keep the players happy, but also to loosen them up. With impaired judgment players will gamble too long, risk more money than intended, and make mistakes in their play. Don't drink and gamble, your bankroll may depend on it. Would it make sense to get liquored up before rebalancing your retirement portfolio?

Favorite thing: I highly recommend joining every Player's Club you can find, they offer so many extra benefits, and if you're going to gamble anyways, why not earn something even if you lose? I found it easy to get comps for free meals and some free merchandise as well.

Fondest memory: 5AM at the Craps table in the Hooters Hotel & Casino. Just me & a few other rollers taking the House for a stroll. Don't forget to place bets for the Dealers, they'll help you out as much as possible.

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Favorite thing: Harrah's is my favorite place for playing Blackjack (and one of the cheaper one's on the Strip too). Here, you can get in the game for $5 most of the time unless it's Friday or Saturday night and I more than doubled my money in no time flat. Walk away people...walk away before you lose it all back to them because you will.

Make sure you get a comp card where you stay and put it in the machines or give it to the dealer when you gamble and you will earn free stuff before you leave. Based on how long you play, you can earn a lot of stuff without breaking the bank on gambling. I spent maybe $100 in one week and earned 2 free t-shirts and a $10 coupon at the snack bar. Drinks are free in casino's so do NOT go to the bar. Tip the servers. They deserve it.

Fondest memory: I can't think of my fondest memory of Vegas because the entire trip itself couldn't have been more perfect. Spend time to plan your vacation and I hope you have the same problem of deciding which is your favorite memory.

Fondest memory: If you are not a gambler but you really fancy your chances on the tables then take my advice and attend the half hour lessons that most hotels offer . Just half an hour can save you from the embarrassment I suffered at the Roulette table. Never having played the tables before and thinking I was being kind of cool, I slid onto a stool at one of the tables and tossed 100 dollars to the croupier who pushed me a stack of red chips. I slightly raised my head to glance at my table companions, they all looked pretty professional to me with high stacks in front of them. The croupier called and we all placed our bets. NO I didnt know that there was a minimum bet on certain parts of the table....red face for the first time! NO I didnt know you could place chips covering 4 numbers and sort of placed mine neither on a line or in the middle and the croupier had to call my attention to this....red face second time. Then I placed a little stack on a single number and it came up!! Wow, I screamed as he pushed a high stack of chips to me. Fellow player on the right said.."nice one Red". I was beginning to feel like a high roller. Then I went and made the biggest mistake ever. As my brother and sister came up to see how I was doing I suddenly started scooping up the chips and filling their hands ....I wasnt going to lose it all. Everyone stopped and watched in amazement as we left the table full of chips spilling everywhere. I approached the Cash Desk , piled the chips into the drawer and asked for them to be changed. The cashier took one look at me and said... " Gee I bet the croupier is happy with you, your are supposed to change them with him" Oh God now I had to go back and face them all again! I sidled up to the table and dumped my chips in front of me. No way was I just going to ask for change so I played another couple of rounds...and lost! This time I quietly got up off my stool and very politely asked for my chips to be changed please and left.....VERY red faced!

Favorite thing: Two suggestions about using players club cards that might seem obvious, firstly remember to put the card in before you start playing and more importantly DON'T walk away from the machine without it. I've lost count of the number of times I have foolishly done this. To combat this you'll see a lot of people who have their cards on an extendable keyring clipped to their belt. It seems like a good idea but I'm afraid I was never that organised.

Favorite thing: Having been to Las Vegas seven times I have learnt (sometimes the hard way) a few tips for gambling. I am only talking of the slotties here because that's all I do but my experiences have culmunated in one year winning the price of my holiday is 25cent slots!! My top tips are:
Use the slot machines nearest the doors. They are prgrammed to have better odds to make you enter deeper into the casino.
Set yourself an affordable limit for each evening and only take that amount with you.
All the time you are gambling you are entitled to a free drink. Keep an eye out for the waitress, order your drink and dont forget to tip. YouI'll find some Casino's are better than others at this and dont think I mean the up market ones!!
If you are there for more than the weekend the odds are higher on Sunday and Monday night and it's quieter and easier to access your favourtite slot machine!! We usually give up gambling on Friday and Saturday and have a nice meal - then start again on Sunday when everyone else is boarding their plane home!
And lastly remember although you would like a photo of you winning that jackpot, it's actually illegal to photograph people gambling in the state of Nevada - so be warned there are cameras all around you!

Fondest memory: I actually miss the sound of the slot machines!!