A little while ago I received a letter (a real letter, not an email or text) from Mr. Thomas M., a reader who wanted to know why I always show both sides of the casino ledger. He thought sometimes I was too clinical, always showing how the casinos get their edges over the players.

He thought the analysis was too dry and dull. That’s what I took from his letter.

Thomas wanted more magic about casino games. I guessed he wanted me to write about the magic of playing. I guess he wanted less real analysis and more fantasy. That I understand. One of the biggest thrills of casino playing is the ability to fantasize about what we would do should we win some money or a lot of money or loads of money.

I get it. I sometimes have those fantasies too. I’ve played well over three decades in the temples of chance and, yes indeed, I have had plenty of fantasies of epic wins and life-changing events tied to great luck at the games. What casino player hasn’t fantasized? I would think none.

However, Mr. Thomas was right. I do not just dwell on the fantasy of epic wins (which happen rarely and rarely to us). I want to tell my readers the truth about the casino games they play. Being forewarned can help us be forearmed.

Be Ready

I do not think real knowledge of the games is destructive of a player’s psyche.

However, I wrote an article (“The Magic of Casino Games”) where the second half caters to the idea of winning it big at the casino; so big that the actual word “big” was small. I’m hoping Mr. Thomas enjoyed that. By the end of my fantasy for him, he walked away carrying a huge chunk of the casino’s money. Why not? If you are going to fantasize, why not make it BIG? 

In reality now, can a player come away a winner on a given day, or trip, or an extended period of time? Certainly. Casino players wouldn’t play if they never won anything at any time. That would be insane. We have all won now and again and sometimes we have had great sessions. Sometimes we’ve had prolonged winning streaks.

Fine, our fantasies are fueled by the fact that we can and have won in the casinos. If we never, ever, even once won a hand of blackjack or a roll of the dice or a roulette number hitting or a machine paying us some money at some time or other, would we continue to play? Probably not.

Someone Must Win

Put simply. Take the game of roulette. We’ll use the American version which has a 0 and a 00 on the wheel.

There are 38 pockets into which the ball can fall, 1-36 and 0 and 00, and one pocket will capture the ball where it will remain. That pocket number becomes the winner.

A player has a one in 38 chance of winning any bet he makes directly on any number. That winning player receives a 35-to-1 payout. A $10 winning bet pays $350. Not bad, right?

Now watch this: A player can guarantee that he or she can win every spin of the wheel. Just bet all 38 numbers. One of them is bound to come up, right? Bound? It must come up. That’s a win each and every spin of the wheel if the player decides to go this way with his or her wagering. Just keep remembering that it’s a guaranteed win! Hooray for the winning player! That player is a genius betting on all the numbers.

Oops, wait a second – it’s also a guaranteed loss; meaning each and every spin of the wheel is a bitter defeat. It is a win and a defeat. How can that be? It is heads and tails coming up at the same time.  

Yes, you win $350 on that $10 wager. Great. But you lose (prepare thyself) on all the other numbers. So, you have one win and 37 losses. You win $350 but lose $370. Yikes! 

Yes, the casino pays the winner and takes all the rest of the bets. You win some money but you lose more money.

That’s a fact. Unsettling? Maybe. But it is still a fact that you can’t simply dismiss because it ruins your fantasy of a big score. 

The game of craps will shortchange the players on their wins as well. While the pass line and come bets will pay even-money, the casino will win more of those bets. The rest? The casino will take money out of the win before it pays the player. A bet that should pay 35-to-one will only pay 30-to-one.

That’s the world of payoffs for the player.

Dices

Betting Systems are Great, But…

Some of the greatest mathematicians (and maybe your neighbors down the street) have poured over the games and they have all come to the same conclusion: casino games are not beatable in the long run. 

[Please note: Games can be beaten by changing the nature of what you do as a player. A small percentage of card counters can beat blackjack. They follow what cards have been played knowing those cards will not come up again until after the shuffle. 

There are some other games where a player can change its nature or how he or she wagers. Craps can be beaten if a shooter has some control over the dice. Are there many players who can change the nature of the games? Not really. Winnable games are not being played based solely on the randomness of the selection principle of the casino because the players have figured out a way to beat that. 

Obviously, the casinos want the games to be played as they want those games to be played without the player having any kind of edge. We can understand this. We don’t like it but we do understand this attitude.]

What can we players do to lessen the impact of the house edges on our monetary futures? Following the “lucky dozen steps” below would be a first principle in protecting our money.

The Lucky Dozen Steps

  1. Know exactly how the casino achieves its edge over you at every game you play and at every bet you make at those games. If another player gives you advice you will know exactly what that player understands and where he or she is going wrong. Casinos get their edges in one of two ways. They shortchange the payouts (as I showed in the roulette example above) or they actually win more decisions at that game. Many games, such as craps, do both.
     
  2. Only make the bets at a given game that come in with low house edges. If you are betting the Fire Bet at craps and the house edge is 20-25%, then you are just handing your money over to the house. There are bets at craps where the house edge is less than 2%. Those are the better bets to make. Many new games have edges well over that 2% mark. You might want to avoid such games owing to their speed of play. Some of these new games want you to make more than one bet.
     
  3. The speed of games is something to be aware of. The faster the game means the more decisions the player must wager. The more decisions, the better it is for the casino. Mini-baccarat has a low house edge on two of its bets, the bank and player (it has a third bet that is awful), but the speed of the game is overwhelming. The more decisions on even small edges can be truly cutting to a player’s bankroll. Be aware of the speed of games.
     
  4. You should know when to quit playing. Taking breaks is not a sign of weakness. Indeed, playing when you are tired or somewhat high might be the biggest sign of weakness. You want your full faculties alert when you are gambling your money. You worked hard for that money. If you like to drink, do the yeoman’s amount of drinking after you finish playing the games. The drinks can wait, can’t they? Playing and drinking are not always a good combination.
     
  5. Play within the context of your real money. Over-betting is a killer of bankrolls. The casino bosses are not really impressed by how much you bet. The casino wants you to bet a lot so you can lose a lot. Keep that in mind.Blackjack Chips
  6. You might be a small-roller. So what? Don’t be envious of players who can bet huge amounts. Just think; those players can lose huge amounts – and they sure do. High rollers pay a pretty penny to be treated special by the casinos. Once those high-rollers stop being a pretty penny, you know what will happen to them, right?
     
  7. Have a separate bank account for your playing money. Do not use household money. Think of your gambling account as a 401G (“G” stands for gambling). It might take a while to save up enough money to play without worrying about a loss. So be it. Rome might not have been built in a day and a decent bankroll often takes time to build as well.
     
  8. Comps are not rewards that the casinos give you because you are a great person, a noble person no less, who is worthy of a whole bunch of stuff for free. We might think of ourselves in such a way but it is doubtful many other people in the world think this way. You have a price tag on yourself when you play casino games; it is as simple as that. That price tag has nothing to do with your character.
     
  9. Comps are just givebacks based on how much the casino figures you will lose over time. It isn’t their opinion of your worth as a human being. They call your potential losses your “theoretical loss.” It’s basically a formula that goes something like this (but in real computer talk): Mr. Thomas will lose about “X” amount of money so we’ll give him a couple of bucks for his efforts. Just about anyone who gambles in a casino and gives in a player’s card will get some type of comps. Thus, never play for comps as they are meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Take whatever comps the casino hands you, fine, but never play just to get them. The casino rates your potential losses; it doesn’t rate your character.
     
  10. Be careful of the friends you have who make gambling too big a part of their lives. You should have other interests. When you go to a casino, take time to see a show or a sporting event. Go for walks and workouts. Enjoy everything that you can. The whole experience is worth more than just one aspect of it. Gambling is fun, yes, but there are plenty of other things the casinos offer that are fun as well. Enjoy those things too. Don’t limit yourself.
     
  11. Never describe yourself as a “gambler.” It is a negative word. It is a word that detracts from you. It adds nothing. You are a player that enjoys the casinos. Period. Everyone wants to play; at least as kids they did. So, you play. Nothing to be ashamed of. Remember, think of yourself as a player. Nothing more; nothing less.
     
  12. Be aware that all games have streaks and none of these streaks will last indefinitely. You could be playing a slot machine that pays off handsomely and then it turns ice cold. It is starting to empty your wallet. Do not chase your losses. Are you having a bad session when that machine starts to whack you? Call it quits for a time and do something else. Take time off. You can play later. The older you get the earlier those later times will come.

All the best in and out of the casinos to you – and to Mr. Thomas too.
 

Frank Scoblete grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He spent the ‘60s getting an education; the ‘70s in editing, writing and publishing; the ‘80s in theatre, and the ‘90s and the 2000s in casino gambling.

Along the way he taught English for 33 years. He has authored 35 books; his most recent publisher is Triumph Books, a division of Random House. He lives in Long Island. Frank wrote the Ultimate Roulette Strategy Guide and he's a well known casino specialist.