Many people don’t write about gambling for a living as I do. They can therefore be forgiven for not knowing everything I know about this subject. There are enough people who gamble to make it clear that there is a lot more information about casino gambling. All of my writing assumes that the most skilled gamblers are also the most educated. You should be able to understand the subject matter before you spend money on gambling, food, or movies.
Many people don’t understand how casino games work. They see it as trading money for entertainment, which is exactly what they’re doing. You can make better and more rational decisions once you have a better understanding of casino gambling.
These are 10 things that most people don’t know about gambling at casinos (in no particular order).
1- Not all Roulette Games are the same
Roulette is a game that you don’t have to play often in order to learn. It’s the game that involves a spinning wheel and a metal ball. The number that the ball lands on is what you bet. There are many ways to bet on roulette. There are many ways to bet on roulette: one number, two numbers at once, three numbers at once, and so forth.
Roulette has a house edge because the payouts look fair, given the number of numbers 1 through 36. You get a 35:1 payoff if you hit your single number. You get even money if you bet on black, and half of the numbers are black. These are not the only numbers that can be found on a roulette wheel. A standard American roulette wheel also has a 00 and a zero. This gives the casino an advantage mathematically over the player. This edge is also easy to calculate.
Assume that you are betting $100 per spin on black. You then assume that you have 38 spins. If you add the 0 or the 00, there are 38 numbers on your wheel. Because 18 numbers are black, you’ll win 18 times. You will lose 20 times because 18 numbers are black and 2 numbers are green. For a total loss of $200, you will win $1800 and lose $2000. The average amount that you lose per spin is called the casino’s edge. It can be expressed as a percentage. This simply means that you divide 200 times 38 spins to get $5.26 per turn. This is 5.26% of $100.
The house edge is a measure of how good or poor the odds are that a casino game will be. This is what many gambling experts use to determine the value of the house edge. Although this is an accurate way to measure the house edge, it doesn’t take into account factors such as how many bets you make per hour. It looks terrible compared to craps or blackjack. The house edge for blackjack is between 0.3% to 1% if you follow a basic strategy. The house edge in craps is only 1.41 if you keep the pass line bet.
However, not all roulette versions have the 5.26% house edge. Online casinos, European casinos and Atlantic City casinos all offer roulette with only one zero. This lowers the house edge to 2.70% from 5.26%. Although you would expect that the house edge would drop by half if one of the zeros was removed, that is not the case. There are 37 numbers on a single zero roulette wheel. 18 numbers are red, 18 black, and one number is green (the zero).
The house edge calculation can be done the same way. Red is the color you bet $100 on 37 times. You win $1800 but lose $1900. Your net loss for 37 spins is $100. The average cost of $100 over 37 spins is $2.70 each spin. You should always play a game of roulette with one zero if you find it.
2- A Bet at the Craps Table With No House Edge
The house edge for the pass line bet at craps is only 1.41%. I already mentioned this. There’s a better bet at craps that’s not labeled. This is the “odds” or “free odds bet”. It occurs when a shooter rolls in craps and sets up a point. You can also place an additional bet, the odds bet. The odds of winning this bet are the same as the odds of winning it. This means that there is no house edge.
These are possible points numbers for craps:
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 8
- 9
- 10
If the shooter scores a point before rolling a 7, the odds bet pays out. The odds of winning the bet are 2 to 1. The bet is paid at 3 to 2 odds if the point is 9 or 5. The bet pays at 6 to 5 odds if the point is 8 or 6. While you may lose the odds more often, the payout is sufficient to make you break even if you win.
The house edge for all your money drops dramatically when you add the 0% house edge to the already low edge of the pass line bet. The maximum amount you can bet at a casino is based on how many times your original pass line bet was placed. Some casinos allow odds of 2X, 5X or 10X.
Your cumulative house edge will decrease the more you bet. The best casino bet that doesn’t require any skill is the pass line and the free odds. Although counting cards and basic strategy are better, it requires a lot of skill. Video poker requires the ability to select the correct pay table and make the right decisions for each hand.
3- Nearly All Casino Games are Examples of “Independent Trials.”
A few players use a simple system of roulette. They wait for a particular color to appear at the table, then they place a bet on it.
Here’s a sample:
Brian, my friend, likes to wait until red lands four times in succession. He decides black is due so he bets on black. Red is unlikely to appear 5 times in one row, so he places a bet on black. We also know that eventually, the game will even out and black and red will be equal in half of the games.
This system has 2 flaws:
First, you aren’t betting on the ball landing red five times in a row. The outcome of the next roll is what you are betting on. All the other events have occurred. Based on previous rolls, the probability of the next roll is not affected. There are still 38 numbers on this wheel. 18 of these numbers are still red. It is possible to get a red result at 18/38 or 47.37%.
This means that each spin of the Roulette wheel is an independent test. No matter what has happened before, the odds of winning don’t change. The roulette wheel does not have a memory. This holds true for almost all casino games. Blackjack is the only exception. As each card gets dealt from the deck, the composition of the deck–and therefore the probability–changes. This is where card counters have the potential to take advantage, provided that the casino doesn’t shuffle the deck after each hand.
It is foolish to try and make money by attempting to create a hot streak or a cool streak. This system assumes the long-term is shorter than it really is. The long-term results may be even, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be many spins of this wheel. Five results in a row is not enough to count as a long-term result.
4- Casinos are cheaper in the middle of the week
Hotels.com used to employ me. I quickly learned that Las Vegas hotels are more aggressively managed than other areas of the country. The supply and demand factors affect hotel prices. If you own a casino and hotel with 1000 rooms, and there are no reservations for that night, you will sell as many rooms as you can, especially if it’s coming up soon.
Important Note
The remaining 10 rooms can be a valuable asset if you have already reserved 990 rooms. These rooms will be more expensive. Most people visit Vegas on the weekends–specifically, Friday night and Saturday night. As a result, hotel prices will be higher on these nights.
The average hotel rate on Friday and Saturday night is likely to be at least twice that of the week. You can save money on your next Vegas trip by booking in the middle of the week. Book your room during the week, instead of booking on weekends. Remember that Vegas is home to many conventions and other events. You will pay more for hotel rooms when a convention is taking place because there are more rooms booked during that event.
5-Video Poker is SO MUCH Better Than Slots
Video poker and slot machines appear almost identical at first glance. There is a payline and symbols on the screen. You get paid based on which symbols appear on each payline. There are many differences.
The probability of getting a particular symbol on a slot machine is not given. One cherry may be programmed to appear once in 8 or 24 spins. A pay table on a slot machine will tell you which combinations trigger what payouts. Without knowing the probabilities of getting these combinations, you won’t know much about the house edge or the payback percentage.
A video poker machine, on the other hand uses a virtual deck. Based on 52 cards, the odds of getting a particular card or a certain type of card are 5/52. The probability of getting an Ace is 4/52 or 1/13. The probability of getting an ace is 4/52 or 1/13. You can use both the probabilities as well as the payouts to calculate the payout percentage of the game. This assumes that you make the best decisions for every hand. Video poker is superior to slot machines because you can choose between worse and better games.
The average slot machine game has a payout percentage of 94%. The payout percentages of most slot machines are likely to be lower than this, especially if they’re not in a highly competitive casino like those in Vegas. You might be able to find a slot machine that pays 90% in Oklahoma.
Video poker games usually have a payback percentage of 93% to 94%. They increase depending on the quality of the pay tables. You can gamble more with video poker than you can with slot machines if you do your homework. The added intellectual stimulation that comes with deciding how to play each card is a bonus.
6- How to Change Your Bet Sizes based on Winning or Losing.
The Martingale System is the most popular betting system. You double your stake when you lose and then re-double it when you lose. This process continues until you win. This system appears to be foolproof at first glance. The goal is to win a net amount equal to your original wager. This will occur a lot more often if you keep following the system.
Take, for example.
Let’s say you lose $5 after placing $5 on the first spin of a roulette wheel. The next spin is $10, and you lose the second time. Now you’re down $15. Double your bet size to $20 and you will win. You have now recouped the $15 that you lost on the first 2 bets and you also make a $5 profit.
This system has a problem. Long losing streaks are more frequent than you might think. When you double your bet size, you end up having to wager much more than you would think. The maximum bet at the roulette table is $500.
How many wagers are required to reach $500?
- $5
- $10
- $20
- $40
- $80
- $160
- $320
- $640
To lose seven consecutively, your system will fail to meet the casino’s betting limits. Although it sounds impossible, this happens at least seven times per day at all casinos that offer roulette. You should also consider how much you have to lose on the later spins in order to make a $5 profit. You’ll only make $5 if you win your 7th bet, which is $320. To get there, you had to take a risk of $320. You’ve also already lost $315.
You can’t lower or raise your bets to try and overcome the house edge in all betting systems. A house edge bet is like a negative number. No matter how many negative numbers you add, you can’t make a positive number by adding them all together. Betting systems are still useful. These systems can be fun and a great way to gamble. However, they are not a sure thing and you will still lose all of your money if you use a gambling system.
7-Counting Cards is both easier and harder than you might think
When you are counting cards, you don’t have to know which cards have been played. You don’t have to know the cards in your deck, or predict what you’ll be dealt. It is enough to estimate the ratio of high and low cards in the deck.
Card counting works by increasing your stakes when you have more aces or 10s than lower-value cards. This is because 10s and Aces increase your chances of getting a blackjack or a natural. Blackjack is a two-card hand that totals 21. The casino pays you 3 to 2 odds if you get one. You can gain a mathematical advantage by putting more money in action when you have a better chance of winning such a hand.
Most people simply add 1 to their count whenever they see a low-card come out of the deck. If a high card is revealed, people subtract 1 from their count. If the count is positive, it’s a good time to increase the size of your wagers. However, counting cards can be more difficult than you might think.
Casinos don’t like it when you count your cards . To pull it off, it’s important to be able count cards without appearing like you’re counting cards . That’s tough. Casinos can be noisy and distracting. It can be difficult to concentrate in such noisy places. Concentrating without appearing to be concentrating adds an additional layer of difficulty to the task. Counting cards is not as difficult or easy as you might think.
8- When you win, the Casinos really don’t mind
Some players believe that the casino managers and their managers are mad at you when you win. Some players even believe that the casinos manipulate the odds to get ahead. These players don’t see the bigger picture.
A casino must have some players who can win at least part of the time in order to remain profitable. They wouldn’t be able to continue playing if they couldn’t. Casinos have an advantage because they win slightly more than you. They also have an edge by paying out less if you were playing an even-money game. They know that some players may win. They should still be very profitable long-term, as long as they don’t mismanage other aspects of their business.
9- Online Casinos Are Surprisingly Honest
While not all online casinos are trustworthy, it is important to ignore the paranoid rantings of players on gambling forums. Online casinos understand that honesty and integrity are key to making money. While conspiracy theories are common, you’ll find plenty of them based on anecdotal evidence. However, most players won’t provide any evidence that anything strange has occurred.
Even online gambling can involve short-term variance. Anything can happen in 100 slots machine spins. The casino is not cheating if you have a losing streak. This is simply a sign that you have been unlucky. It’s more common to find a casino that has confusing bonus conditions. You might also find casinos that delay payouts of your winnings. But cheating? It’s rare.
10- Gambling winnings are subject to tax
Here are the IRS’s thoughts on gambling winnings.
These rules are applicable to casual gamblers, who aren’t engaged in gambling trades or businesses. Gambling winnings can be fully taxed and must be reported on your tax return. Gambling income can include but is not limited to winnings from lotteries and raffles, horse races, casinos, and other gambling activities. It includes cash wins and fair market value prizes such as cars or trips.
If you gamble at a casino regularly, you should keep a diary of your activities–especially your wins and losses. The casino will report any winnings that exceed a certain amount to the IRS. They won’t report any losses.
However, you are allowed to subtract your losses from your winnings. You only pay taxes on the net winnings. It is illegal to deduct more than what you have won from gambling losses. Or worse, if your winnings exceed $4000, you cannot deduct $3000 from those losses. Because you have lost more money than you won, the tax on $3000 in winnings will not be due.
Conclusion
Gambling is a great way to have fun but can also be confusing. Understanding how gambling works can help you in multiple ways. This will help you make smarter decisions about your entertainment budget. You should aim to have the most fun possible with your money.
You must also know the following information if you want to become a professional gambler. However, you will need to have more skill and knowledge than the information in this article. This blog also contains blog posts on professional gambling and advantage gambling. If you are interested, you should look at those posts.