For some people multiple mistakes define their lives. For most people little mistakes don’t dictate too much. Oh, yes, we have all made mistakes; it goes with the territory of being alive. 

Playing casino games is no different. Mistakes are made. Working in a casino is no different either. Mistakes are made. And sometimes those mistakes make us become lost, either lost in the purse or lost in our personalities. Follow me here. 

She Lost a Whole Day

This took place at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas in the early 1990s. My wife, the Beautiful AP, and I were strolling through the casino to go to the cafe. A woman stopped us. She had a bucket from the slot machines with a few coins in it.

“What date is today?” she asked us.

“It’s April 2nd,” said my wife.

The woman paused, as if she were thinking deeply. “What happened to April 1st?” she asked.

“That was yesterday,” I said.

“I’m missing that day,” she said. “Where is that day?”

“You were here yesterday?” I asked.

“I started playing the night before April 1st and then it was today. I was ahead for quite a while but then, she looked at her bucket, “I must have lost it all.”

There are plenty of players who allow Las Vegas to ruin their normal rhythms but most of them do not lose whole days.

“Did you have a lot to drink?” asked the Beautiful AP. 

“I don’t drink,” said the woman. She shook her head. She wandered off. 

“She lost a whole day,” I said.

“What fun could that be?” asked the Beautiful AP.

He Lost His Cool

This happened at the Claridge Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City sometime in the late 1990s. 

I was there with a group of acquaintances and we were playing craps. It was about three in the morning. 

This was odd for me because I rarely stay up that late, whether in a casino or in real life, but this night just about everyone of my acquaintances was shooting the daylights out of the dice. Money was passing hands seemingly in cartloads right to the players. This was a table with many high rollers. Now, how can you leave a table when it is that hot? You can’t. I certainly couldn’t.

At the moment a man we called Skinny was shooting the dice. His name was Skinny because he wasn’t. That’s the New York/New Jersey type of humor. You have a big nose and your nickname becomes Schnozzle. Certainly this does not conform to the politically correct way to handle such things.

 

He had just rolled 26 (or so) numbers. Everyone at the table was cheering, loudly cheering; slapping fives.

He set the dice in what is called the hardways set which means you saw only hard numbers (2:2, 3:3, 4:4 and 5:5) on the sides of the dice. He picked up the dice, about to throw them, and the floor person named Francis (yes, I shared a name with this guy) came over and leaned over the table and waved his arms.

“Stop! Stop! Stop!” yelled Francis. “No more setting the dice! You hear me? No more setting of the dice!”

Skinny put down the dice and looked at Francis. We all looked at Francis. To me Francis looked over-heated. Craps players love to set their dice in different ways, one of which was the hardways. Rarely does a casino employee say anything about that. Setting the dice is a fun thing to do. It’s part of the game.

Skinny picked up the dice and threw them. He hit a number. He hit another number. He was setting the dice in a different set and he was still hitting numbers. A few more hits and Francis came running over to the table and – I kid you not – leaped onto the layout, holding his arms up, “No more shooting for you!”

Obviously, Skinny couldn’t shoot since Francis’ overheated puffy body was lying across the layout. “No more! No more!”

Skinny took his pass line bet down (something you are not supposed to do in the normal course of a craps game) and so did the rest of us. We all said, almost in unison, that we wanted all of our bets off the layout, including our come bets because of Francis’ actions.

The pit boss came over and he okayed the return of all of our bets as Francis was helped off the table and escorted somewhere. 

We all left the table. 

I do not know what happened to Francis.

He Lost His Wins

This has taken place at every casino in which I have ever played.

The player has been having a great night in the casino. He’s won at roulette, she’s won at blackjack, and many other players throughout the casino have won money even though the casino has an edge on every game. People do win in the casinos – every day. 

Some nights can be just magical. I’ve experienced those nights … and days. I have also experienced its opposite number. Getting hammered.

Yes, sometimes that magic can be quickly zapped into the losers’ realm. It happens to many players. In fact, it might happen to all casino players at one time or another in their casino-playing careers.

Why does a crash landing happen to so many winning players during the same session when things have been going so well?

Many players, maybe most players, think that because they have been winning that this positive streak will continue so why not (no! no! no!) increase one’s bets to enjoy even more profits? 

Players sometimes (okay, make that the players “often”) forget that even though they have won money, the house edge still exists and when these players raise their bets that edge just might kick in and kick the formerly winning players right in the head. Right in their bankrolls.

Increasing the amounts of your bets does not mean the good streak will last. In fact, the house edge grinds away at everything a player wagers, little money, big money, whatever money. That is a fact. It is a fact that cannot be disputed.

The bottom line is simple here: If you’ve won money don’t increase your bets thinking that the winning streak will continue. Bet the amount you normally bet and, yes, leave it at that wagering level.

Add this dictum as well: If you start to see losses growing, quit for a while and enjoy your win. You’ll come back to play later, but for a while settle into the glow of a winning session (or trip!).

Don’t substitute a loss for a win.

 

They All Lost Tips

This took place at the Maxim Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in the early 1990s. The casino had a magnificent single-deck game with great rules and, picture this, the casino dealt all but one card out of the deck. That’s right, they burned a single card and you played against the other 51.

The place was mobbed with players because you didn’t even have to know how to count cards to beat this game. Money was flowing to the players and it was flowing as tips to the dealers too. Players tend to tip generously when they are playing a great game.

But there was a wrinkle in all of this. His initials were M.A. and he was a surly dealer. You gave the guy a tip and he’d look at you as if you were a worm and he’d put the tip in the tip box. He never thanked anyone. Even in the greatest game of blackjack I ever played in a casino, I did not enjoy playing at this guy’s table.

No player that I spoke to felt any positive vibes from this guy.

My wife, the Beautiful AP, and I stayed in Vegas for eight weeks playing that game and we became quite friendly with most of the dealers. We learned something interesting. The dealers’ tips were taking a hit because soon M.A. had no tips to deliver to the shared dealers’ tip box. 

Almost no players were tipping him. And if any table had open spots of play it would be the table where he dealt. Players would actually pick up their chips and leave when he came on. 

The dealers were outraged by this guy and finally the casino fired him. That came at the end of our trip.

The most winnable blackjack game in Vegas became a loss because of a guy whose initials were M.A. Even good things can be ruined by bad things.

These Players Lost at a Biased Roulette Wheel

The Rio in Las Vegas had the only biased roulette wheel my wife, the Beautiful AP, and I ever encountered or played. It was one big accident finding that wheel too. 

This was in the mid-1990’s. During the course of a day, we kept noticing three numbers coming up out of all proportion to their probabilities at a certain roulette wheel. Finally, we decided to play that wheel and those numbers.

We started with direct bets on the three numbers at the table minimum. The three numbers were next to each other on the wheel.

In a couple of spins one of the numbers hit. A few spins later another of the three numbers hit. Let me make a long story short; for well over an hour, we played that wheel and by the time the pit boss came over to tell everyone they were closing the game and that we could play at any of the other tables, the Beautiful AP and I were scratching the table maximum on our bets. 

Yes, I’ll bet everyone is now thinking, “Wow! All those players at a biased wheel; they must have all made fortunes!” You’d think so … but you would be wrong.

No one, (no one!) played those numbers. Not one player played one of those numbers. My beautiful wife and I played them; the other players didn’t. 

Okay, yes, the table wasn’t very crowded and the players were all playing their lucky numbers or however they chose their bets but the one thing they wouldn’t do? Win! Win on a wheel that was offering up a bundle for anyone just observing which numbers were consistently coming up.

The players lost at a wheel that is a dream for most roulette players – a wheel that was off; that was biased; that had to be closed by the casino bosses. 

I have never found another wheel like that in all my decades of play.

They Lost Plenty of Sleep

The more you play when the casino has the edge over you, the better the chance that you will be losing. It could be a fast descent or a slow one but it will be one nevertheless. That’s what the casino edge does to us.

However, there is an exception to that rule and it concerns players who are known as advantage-players. These players, usually card counters at blackjack, have learned how to keep track of the cards to ferret out when the game favors them. 

Unlike other casino games, blackjack’s edges vary between player and casino. The edge is not stagnant as it is at games such as craps and roulette.

The more the competent card counter plays, the better chance he or she will be ahead of the game. The math tells us that, and great players have made some good money counting the cards.

However, there is even a wrinkle in this rosy picture. Some card counters think they have to get into the “long run” to make winning a guaranteed effect. They play outrageously long hours, often making unrealized mistakes because of fatigue, pushing to get into that mythical “long run” scenario.

I remember a card-counting couple who used to drive out to Vegas from California to “get into the long run.” They were so tired when they played that even the casino pit crews would tell them to get some rest. The couple ignored the advice.

They needed rest more than they needed more time at the tables. Because of mistakes of play due to fatigue, they were way behind – they were lost in a weary whirl of wrong decisions.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

*Credit for the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
 

Most of who and what we are can easily fit into the word “memory.” We are more of who we were than who we are at this moment. The “me” from 50 years ago is largely a forgotten someone with just hints of this or that of himself.

I think the longer you live the more you have forgotten. That’s life, no doubt. It goes by and we have flash glimpses of this, that or the other thing but nothing is complete. We are not complete beings. Even our scattered memories are scattered still more by time. Yes, indeed, time is the wrecking ball of our memories; it is the wrecking ball of ourselves.

True, everything that has happened to us has left its mark, although those marks might not be remembered in any way, shape, or form. I am who I am because of all those events, thoughts, and desires but they are not exactly the me of right now.

Casino Playing and Memory

Casino gambling is an adventure in memory too. Most players don’t think about the casino games they play as having anything to do with memory. Right now, some of you might be thinking that “I know the strategies of how I play and I know how to play the games I like. No problem with memories for me.”

That’s not what I mean. Sure, you know how to play the game(s) you like and these strategies, be they good or bad, do not seem at all forgotten by you. But casino games have memories too or lack of memories and the casino bosses are well aware of which games are memory games and which games are not.

The bosses are not thinking so much of a person’s memory but of how a game performs in the area of its own memory.

Let me take a closer look at casino memory games:

Upcoming is a short list of casino games. Which are memory games? Which are poor memory games? Which casino games have no memories at all? I put them as a contest so you can see clearly what the casino bosses see and why they see such things.

What a Memory in a Casino Game Means

The concept of memory in a casino game is actually quite simple; if what happened in the past has a direct influence on the future of what happens – 
meaning what is about to happen soon – that game has a memory. Something changes something now then that something dictates a change later in the game.

Blackjack versus Roulette

Blackjack is a game with a strong memory and the casino knows this and some players know this too. The game is dynamic. It has a powerful memory. Every card has a meaning for what will come out of the deck or shoe on the upcoming deals.

For example, if all the aces in a single deck of cards have been played, those aces will not come out of the deck because they aren’t there anymore. There needs to be a shuffle and a fresh deck put into the game for things to go back to “normal.” The playing of a single card influences what will happen in the future. That’s memory!

Since blackjack has such a strong memory, given that every card has an impact on the future player’s and dealer’s hands, the game can be beaten by advantage players, namely card counters (among some others). Even basic strategy players increase their chances of winning if they play their hands correctly although they are playing their hands against the entire deck or shoe of the cards.

The memory of blackjack can be quite good for the players and quite bad for the casinos. Yes, the casinos’ bosses are fully aware of this. Blackjack is watched carefully to ferret out those players who might have established an edge over the game due to the game’s memory. Casinos are not in love with card counters.

You can’t blame them. Casinos are like all-you-can-eat buffets and then along comes the world-champion eating champion. They don’t want to serve food to this person.

[Please note: How long does it take a player to learn how to count cards? Maybe a few months working at home. Accomplishing it in the casino? You do have noise and other players and those pit people watching the game so the actual achievement of the task in the castles of Lady Luck is not all that easy. Yet, plenty of players have been able to do it, some spectacularly.] 

Card counters have to try to beat the game while avoiding being caught and told to leave the casino. It becomes a double game for the player; avoid the bosses while simultaneously attacking the game. It can be done but it is not easy.

A card counter can get an edge somewhere between one-half and 1.5 percent over the casino. Some can get even more.

Roulette is a game that has no memory, no memory whatsoever. It is strictly a random enterprise and what happened on the last decision has nothing to do with what is going to happen on the next decision. 

The seven came up on the last spin of the wheel. It had a 1-in-38 chance of coming up on the double-zero wheel (0, 00). It will have a 1-in-38 chance of coming up again. That first appearance will not dictate any future appearances of it or other numbers.

Unlike blackjack, there is no new future being established by the present decisions at a roulette game.

In the past there were wheels that were “off.” These we called biased wheels. It is not a memory in a wheel, it is just a wheel where certain numbers came up more frequently than probability indicated. 

The odds of that one number or those numbers coming up with such frequency meant the wheel’s balance was “off” as far as the game was concerned but that did not change the nature of the game. If the seven would hit more because the wheel was “off,” it would hit with that frequency over time. The game was still random.

My wife, the Beautiful AP, and I played a biased wheel that we accidentally discovered at the Rio in Las Vegas in the early 1990s. We have never seen one since. I doubt there are any of them on casino floors today because the roulette wheels are finely manufactured and they are constantly tested to make sure they are random.

Thus, roulette has no memory.

Card Games such as Pai Gow Poker and Baccarat versus Craps

All card games share some of the elements of blackjack. Cards that have come out of the deck, even if it is a single-deck game with just one round of play, can give the player an idea of what the other players might have in their hands or, even better, what the dealer might have.

Such information can change how players will play their cards in the game. Is this exactly like blackjack where the player can get an edge by doing this? Not really. Can the player maybe lower the house edge against them? Quite possibly.

Most bosses want players not to know what other cards have come out. 

If you look at a traditional baccarat game you can find ways to count the cards. Will such counting give you an edge? No. Will it reduce the edge of the house? It might. 

[Please note: Always wager the banker bet at baccarat. Most baccarat card counting systems think the banker should be wagered about 90 percent of the time. You won’t beat the game but you will have the best game by doing this.]

Craps is supposed to have no memory, no memory whatsoever. Many players don’t believe this. Because all players can pick up the dice and shoot them, superstitious players (who don’t realize that they are superstitious) think that those players are influencing the game with their throws.

Most players (let me change that – almost all players) have no influence on a craps game. The dice are just like the balls in roulette; they will bounce and land where they will, strictly in a random way. 

Still, craps seems to encourage players to trend bet quite a bit. Many craps players think trends will predominate in the future (they won’t) and so these players raise their bets after two or a few hits of a number or proposition.

[Please note: Here I am going to contradict myself somewhat. There are some players, a micro-percentage of them, who have practiced long and hard hours to attempt to influence or control those cubes. Some have succeeded in a small way. Sadly, more people claim to have this skill than actually do and some of these sell their services. For craps players, beware of such players. How to tell who they are? They make bets no amount of control can beat in the long run.] 

Craps has no memory except in the extremely rare case of someone who can actually influence the dice. Card games have some memories but not enough to give the player any kind of edge over the casino.

Slot Machines versus Video Poker

Slot machines are unquestionably the kings and queens of the casino world and they have been since 1984 when both Las Vegas and Atlantic City first announced that these former “one-armed bandits” made the most money for these two venues. 

Slot machines are now responsible for the overwhelming majority of profits made by the houses of Dame Fortune. There are some casinos in the country where over 80 percent of the income can be traced to these machines.

Players love them and play them incessantly.

Slot machines are computer programmed devices that pay out a certain percentage of money played in them. These returns or “wins” are controlled by the Random Number Generator (actually known as the Pseudo-Random-Number Generator) that picks the winning and losing symbols on the machines.

With one exception, slot machines are strictly random devices paying enough (or as little) as casinos request from the designers. I think most slot players have no idea how these machines actually work and they honestly don’t care. They love playing the games. That’s enough for them.

What happens now on a slot machine has nothing whatsoever to do with what will happen in the future. The machine does not rely on memory. It won’t say to itself, “Gee, I haven’t given out a big jackpot yet. I guess it’s time.” The symbols and images are selected at random for a given percentage of the time. These percentages do not change over time either. They are what they are. 

Only if a machine is reprogrammed will things change but those things won’t change unless the machine is indeed re-reprogrammed. 

There are – or were – machines called banking machines that did rely on a memory of sorts. I wrote about them in my book Slots Conquest. Knowledgeable players could actually get an advantage on these machines if they played them at the proper time.

The machines had a bank that would multiply wins if some jackpots were hit. If player one was playing the machine and racked up say 50 points, the jackpot could be multiplied by some percentage. 

Now, say player one has to go to dinner? He cashes out his money. BUT the banked elements stay in the bank for the next player. If those elements multiply the win so that the amount of the money put in by player two (or player three, etc.) the money coming out of the machine will be more than the money played in the machine. 

The previous players have helped the newer player to beat the machine! That bank was the key to everything.

Now, video poker, as you can guess, is a card game where every card played dictates what cards can’t be played when drawing more cards for any given hand. This game has a memory and good video poker players have memorized the proper plays based on this fact.

Memory is as important in casino games as anything else!

So, remember this: All the best in and out of the casinos!

*Credit for the cover photo in this article belongs to AP Photo/Mike Groll*
 

Roulette is a random game. 

The dealer spins the ball across the top of the wheel fixture. That ball goes around and around, slows down slowly, falls through the bumpers (which it often hits) and then descends into the pockets where it jumps, skips, slows down rather quickly and then comes to rest inside one of those pockets.

A number is called. THE number! The WINNING number!

A roulette game is strictly random and any hope of actually getting an edge at the game died when the new (now relatively old) computers took over the roulette wheels. The hopes of roulette players to find an unbalanced wheel (or an “off wheel” or a “biased wheel”) or a biased number are the hopes of small children wanting to be superheroes when they grow up. It isn’t going to happen. I am thinking that the biased wheel is a dead issue in the modern game. 

[Please note: My wife, the beautiful AP, and I discovered a biased wheel in the early 1990s in Las Vegas and we played it until the casino shut down that particular game. We never found a biased wheel again.]

Still, the fact that roulette is strictly a random enterprise does not stop players from formulating strategies to beat the game. Roulette players look for ways to win even though in the long run, or short run, beating the game isn’t in the cards – or in the ball or the wheel so to speak.

I enjoy listening to players talk about their strategies, some strategies of which are interesting, some of which are, ahem, stupid, and some of which are to just throw the chips out there and hope for the best.

I am dedicating this article to the roulette players who doggedly attempt to beat the game by using home-minted strategies. The casinos should be giving these players rewards for their efforts.

The Random Predicts Random Strategy

For many readers this strategy might seem far fetched, but I have seen some versions of it used by certain players at just about every game. It has a certain appeal and for many players who use it, the strategy seems logical. 

Let’s use Bill as an example: “I like my random seeks random strategy. You see I know roulette is a random game but can other numbers that are random anticipate what numbers will come up at a roulette game? I think so.

“The day before I am going to play roulette, I look for numbers that I can bet at the game – but I am not at the casino during that time. I am out in the world in my real life.

“I have 38 numbers, one through 36 and the 0 and the 00. Okay, take this as an example. A truck comes by with a license number something like 2*4*6 *4*0. I write this down in my little notebook as such: 2, 4, 6 and 0. I drop the second 4.

“Now, this is the order that I will bet these numbers 2, 4, 6, 0. 

“Okay, I go to work and one of my co-workers has a cup of coffee with the price written on the bag of $1.05. I will use the 1 and the 5 but I will also be looking for higher numbers, you know, double numbers. 

“But now my bet order is 2, 4, 6, 0, 1, 5.  

“I take some more numbers down. My niece is getting married on June 15 and I just got a card from her announcing the date. It is 6 for June and 15 as the number. I will use this 6 and 5 too. I can double up on the numbers if those numbers come in another sequence. This 6 and 5 are new numbers. 

“The sequence of bets is now 2, 4, 6, 0, 1, 5, 6, 15.

“I can now look for more numbers in various ways. What numbers won the local lotteries? Baseball scores? Times certain things happened that day. I can even make words into numbers as long as the numbers come in at 38 or fewer. The word could be ‘love’ and I break that up into numbers and arrange the numbers so that they fit the game of roulette.

“Here is my basic theory for this strategy. All the numbers I am picking have been selected in some way, maybe random, maybe by a computer, maybe by a person. They are one up on not existing at all in relation to my roulette game and the numbers I will select to play. They are the hint that they may repeat for me at my roulette game. Why not?

“How many numbers do I need to go to a weekend of playing roulette at my casinos? A lot. Hundreds in fact. I have my notebook and I have thousands of numbers in the order in which I should play them. I am prepared.

“It is random going after random, if you know what I mean. 

“Okay, okay, I know what you are going to ask. Am I ahead using my system of play? No, I am not. But the challenge is so much fun that I can’t think of a better way to approach selecting numbers at roulette. To me this is the best of all selection methods.”

Bill loves the way he plays. No need to tell him what he already knows. His random selecting random just doesn’t work. No more than any other technique.

 

 

Climbing Mt. Everest

Maury is rich. Take it from him. 

He says, “Look, I have enough money to play whatever I want to play for whatever stakes I want to play the games for. I will not be hurting if I lose some bucks here and there. Not at all. 

“Playing casino games is fun and my most fun comes from roulette because I can go sky high with my bets and do things I don’t do at the other games. The 35-to-1 payout is a pleasure because it fills up your chips when you hit a number.

“That’s how I play. I have to hit a number and then I press, slowly at first, but if I start to hit that number again and maybe again, I will press like a speed racer. If I press enough, I have a mountain of chips on my number.

“When I say ‘press’ I don’t mean a full press right off the bat. If I am betting $100 on a number and it hits with a $3,500 payout, I will increase my bet to $300. That is a small press but I will keep betting that $300 until it hits or until I lose it.

“If it hits soon, maybe within five decisions, I will go with a full press of $10,000. Yes, yes, I have permission to bet that amount. I play a private game my man. Just me and the roulette table. I admit, the casino gives me everything I want. I bet enough for that at roulette and at the other games too.

“If I win on my huge bet, what do I do? I’ll keep that bet going until I lose the wins or until I have made so much that I decide to play another game for even higher stakes. I am limited at roulette to around that $10,000 mark. 

“You know I have a friend who is such a high bettor that the house will give him back half of his losses. How do you like that? I haven’t gotten to that point yet but who knows?

“I can tell what you are going to ask me now. Am I beating the game of roulette? Or am I beating any casino game? What do you think?”

No.

Following the Numbers

Deborah enjoys roulette. She bets two bets of $10 each. She enjoys betting straight up on the two numbers because she finds the 35-to-1 payout to be exciting. She has her method of betting too.

“I follow the numbers that have been hitting. I go to the table and I look at the scoreboard, that’s usually 20 numbers that have recently hit. If a number has hit twice, I bet that number and hopefully there is another number that has hit twice and I will bet that number as well. Numbers can hit three times too, but you don’t see that too often but if one did hit three times, I would bet that of course.

“What if I had three numbers that have hit twice? I then bet the two numbers closest to each other on the wheel. I do not increase my bets or anything like that. I play a tight game when it comes to casino play. I figure two numbers close to each other is a possible biased wheel. I know it isn’t but I can pretend it is.

“Now what if no numbers have repeated? I then pick the two latest numbers that have hit and bet those.

“I enjoy the casino very much but I am totally in control of my betting. I never have to worry about going overboard. I have my bankroll and I never go over that.”

Good for her!

A Proposition for the Young Lady

[A note from Frank: I enjoy the proposition bets, especially the even-money bets of red/black, high/low, and odd/even. I want to avoid long losing streaks and betting straight-up on the numbers can get you into those bad streaks. Yes, the house edge remains the same on the even-money bets but the pattern of the game is different. I like slow and steady. To each his own.]

Janet says, “I don’t go for straight-up bets directly on the numbers. I need to win some and not wait too long for a single win which I used to do when I bet straight-up. I know there is supposedly no difference in house edge between the proposition bets and the straight-up bets but it feels as if there is.

“I will go with the black at the red/black bet because I agree with – oh, what was the actor’s name? – oh, yes, Wesley Snipes who said to ‘always bet black.’ I forget the name of the movie. [Editor’s note: Passenger 57.]

“Anyway, I bet black. Does it have some magic property that lets it win enough times to make you ahead of the game? Sorry, no, it doesn’t. But don’t tell Wesley that. It might hurt his feelings.

“I will also occasionally go for the dozens and columns bets. But these I make when I am winning. That means winning enough that I know I will leave the game ahead for that session. These bets do pay two to one, which is a good payout for me. 

“I keep it simple. I know you can’t outthink the game. You just have to play as best you can and be in control of yourself. If you are in control of yourself, you will be in control of your money. 

“I know the house has an edge on all the games and I play recognizing that fact. I think we should all keep that fact in our minds. We are not playing even with the house and that is a fact of casino life.

“I do not want to throw my money away. I want to have some kind of a real contest with the casino. I may not be ahead when all is said and done, which means when I am said and done, but I want to give it my best shot. And I feel that I am giving the game my best shot.”

I think Janet is closest to my way of thinking but all of our spotlighted players have their own thoughts about how to play roulette and how to approach the games. The casino attracts all types and that’s what makes it the world’s favorite adult playground!

All the best in and out of the casinos!

 

*Credits for the photos in this article belongs to Eran Alergant

 

Most casino players know that the house has an edge over them at every game. Indeed the casino has an edge at almost every bet at every game. Most players know that in the long run they will lose because that “house edge” can’t be beaten except by great luck at a slot machine or a few nights of magnificent wins and a quick retirement from casino play.

But that “house edge” is not really thought about much – not really pondered –and few, very few, players know how the edge is actually achieved by the casino. That remains some kind of mystery. 

Don’t get me wrong. How the casino gets the “house edge” is no deep, dark secret, only to be revealed to the true cognoscenti of casino play such as brilliant mathematicians and magicians. It’s just that players don’t seem that interested in learning how the casino achieves it. Nor do they have any idea of how the “house edge” siphons their money for the house.

Players surely think the “house edge” exists. How it is structured at the games just doesn’t matter to them. And that is a plus for the casinos; a big plus indeed, as ignorance of the facts makes those facts even more powerful over the players. That is something similar to “ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Many people behind bars have learned that fact.

Emotions Come First

There are very simple mathematical reasons for how the house establishes its edge over the players but the first and strongest lure for the player is the idea that he or she can win some money or maybe a lot of money.

Yes, the first lures are purely emotional and hit at our deepest wishes and hopes.

Giant posters and billboards do not show mega-slot winners with the words, “I beat the house edge! Yippie!” Instead, they read “I won a million dollars!” Which sentence brings out the hope and anticipation in the player? It’s obvious. 

The lure of money is the first half of the tasty bait to catch the schools of player-fish.

The second half is the overall look and “feel” of the casino, the beauty of those machines, (said one woman, “The machines dazzle me!”) the allure of the tables with happy players and professional dealers, will also add to the possible dazzlement of playing. 

[Please note: Many players’ emotions can get overheated in such an environment. I’ve seen that many times. Normal people suddenly transformed into casino werewolves, playing foolishly, spending money they just should not be spending. That’s overheated and overwhelmed and just plain bad.]

Enter a casino (enter even some online casinos) and those lures will shine brightly for the players. It can’t not be.

Many critics of casino play poo-poo the idea that emotions have anything to do with the games. On a computer or in a mathematical formula, emotions don’t exist. But few players are emotionless machines. Emotions are everything for them. Just listen to the screams at a winning craps table. You can even listen to the moans if you wish. Slot players scream with joy at big wins or shake their heads in sorrow as they keep losing.

The casino and casino games are a magic kingdom and that fact is the powerful calling card of the house. The casino, short of anything else, is a labyrinth of emotional entanglement.

Bet More, Get More  

No one has to play any casino game. That’s simply a choice people make. As you can see the casino structures its pleasure palaces to lure play from players.

There are other inducements that tickle the possible player’s mind. These are called “comps” as in “free stuff” the casino gives to players to reward their play. 

Players associate comps with how much they bet. This is true, up to a point. How much a player lays out for his or her gameplay is important in the comp world.

Yet, that is not the whole story. A player is going to bet $100 per decision at a game that has a 10 percent house edge as opposed to $100 a decision at a game that has a 2 percent house edge. The player will make 200 bets at each game.

Who is more valuable to the casino? Obviously, the player who goes against the 10 percent edge. 

Too many players have the idea that if they bet more, they will get more in comps. Not so. If they are betting more at a game with a high house edge, the player will lose more. That’s what determines the comps; how much the players are expected to lose over time, not just how much they are betting.

The real formula is not “bet more, get more.” The real formula is “bet more, how much is the expected loss for that person, and based on that what comps can that person get?” 

The expected loss is considered a theoretical loss. At any given time, a player can be ahead of the game, way behind in a game, or all over the place at the games. What matters is the expected (theoretical) loss for that player. That determines the comps.

Comps can function in two different ways. The first is obvious. Players have to eat. Give a comp for a meal. If the player is staying at the casino hotel, give a free or discounted room. Heck, they have to sleep and bathe sometime, right?

The higher the theoretical loss, the better the comps.

The Casino Isn’t Worried

Before I get to the ins and outs of how some house edges are determined, I want to answer a question I have been asked many times. 

QUESTION: If a player is winning over some period of time, why does the casino give that person any comps at all?

ANSWER: The casino is not playing one table game against one player; it is playing hundreds of games in a day against hundreds of players and thousands in a week (or more for each period of time depending on how large the casino is). 

The casino is not just looking at one slot player’s results, it is calculating all the results for the whole casino. Think of all those machines being played throughout the day and evening. That’s a heck of a lot of decisions. 

And that’s what really is happening.

The mathematical figures at the end of even a short period of time will be in the range of the theoretical, whether Joan is way ahead or Sally is way behind. Those two will get their comps based on their individual theoretical losses, nothing more and nothing less. This will not hurt the casino at all. The casino’s true percentages are based on the totality of the numbers.

The Structure of the House Edge

There are two ways the house gets its edge at a game. It can win more decisions or it can take a certain amount from the player’s possible win – meaning it short-changes the player.

 

 

Roulette

Possibly the oldest game in the casinos, roulette has a simple method for establishing its edge over the players. It shortchanges all payouts for winning bets.

On the American double-zero wheel (0, 00), there are 38 pockets, numbered 1-36 with a 0 and a 00. The true payout for a winning bet should be 37-to-1. However, the casino cannot make a profit if it pays the true payout so it reduces the payout to 35-to-1.

Now, many roulette players have no idea that this edge is working on every decision at the game. They might think that a 35-to-1 payout is some huge gift. It isn’t because the player is paying for each and every win. You might consider the casino a partner of the player’s win, keeping two units of what should be a 37-unit win. 

What is the house edge on this game? It is 5.26 percent.

Every bet at the American game of roulette comes in with that 5.26 percent. It doesn’t matter if you are wagering on the inside numbers, on groups of numbers, or proposition bets – the edge is locked in.

The European single-zero wheel (0) only has 37 numbers and it still pays out 35-to-one. It removes one unit from a player’s win. That reduces the house edge to 2.7 percent. That 2.7 percent will exist on every bet of the game.

[Please note: Translated into money, an edge of 5.26 percent means a loss of $5.26 per $100 wagered, while a 2.7 percent edge means a loss of $2.70 per $100 wagered. Use this conversion when you are told what a given house edge is at a game. It is easy to translate percentages into money.]

Craps

The once king of casino games, craps still has a large following of enthusiastic players. It has certain bets where the house actually wins more decisions but it also has bets where the house shortchanges a player, sometimes by quite a lot. 

The pass-line bet wins 244 times for the player but the player loses 251 decisions. The same is true of the come bets. This means a 1.41 percent house edge.

The other bets at craps, such as the place bets, hardways, single-number bets and proposition bets will shortchange the players by not paying back the true odds of the wager. For example, the any-seven bet (known as Big Red) should pay five-to-one but only pays four-to-one. That creates a monstrous house edge of 16.67 percent.

Again, these house edges are working on all rolls at all times. 

Blackjack

Currently, the queen of all casino table games, blackjack has a 48 percent winning record for the house, a 44 percent winning record for the player, and eight pushes (ties) between them. (I am rounding these figures.) 

The house edge at the game is about 0.5 percent. How could that be since the house wins 48 percent of the time?

To make the game more appealing the house has added special hands where the players can either cut their losses or add to their wins. For example, a blackjack will pay 3-to-2. 

Blackjack is a dynamic game as the odds change based on what cards have been played. This appeals to card counters who keep track of the cards and the casino edge at all times in the game. 

Players get to make decisions on how to play their hands against the dealer’s up-card. Making the proper decisions based on the computer-derived basic strategy will keep the game quite close.

What is the house edge in terms of money? One-half percent equals $0.50 per $100 wagered.

Slot Machines

Put your credit slip in and press the play button and watch the antics of the machine and all the while keep hope in your heart. That’s the basics of slot play. Each type of machine will have a given return percentage and these are not actually released to the public. Doesn’t seem to upset any players to whom I’ve spoken.

Players develop their own ideas as to what are cold machines, warm machines and hot machines. These ideas are merely based on their experiences with such machines. Some players just play machines that they consider fun, regardless of what they have made or lost on them.

We do know certain facts about slot machines. The more expensive machines will hold less of the player’s money. Therefore, a $100 machine might return 98 percent of the money played in it, while that same machine at 25 cents might only return 90 percent of the money played in it.

But slot machines are really simple to understand; more money goes in them than comes out of them. They are computer programmed and short of a faulty machine, they are economic cannibals – and they are also the favorite game of all in the casinos and online!

All the best in and out of the casinos!

*Credit for the cover photo in this article belongs to AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki*

• Blackjack is not a team sport. In the long run, the bad play of other players does not affect the house edge against you. 
• A player should focus on seven important factors before taking a seat at a blackjack table to maximize his or her long-term results.
• If you don’t know the background of the people offering advice on blackjack playing strategy in print or on the Internet, I’d suggest you google their names to find out if they are reputable players, authors, or better yet, respected blackjack mathematicians.

Several years ago, I wrote an article that contained misinformation about blackjack that originated from players, dealers, movies, and the Internet. I thought I had heard and read all the nonsensical misconceptions about blackjack that have been spoken or written over the past 50 years; however, I was wrong, dead wrong.

That’s because I recently received a print magazine published in the USA for casino players that contained an article on blackjack strategy, which floored me.

Bad advice

The author wrote about a “few golden rules that have made a big difference in how I play from a strategic point of view.” Here is some of the author’s “wisdom.”

“To get started, you need to understand that it is a fact that each player at a blackjack table has a significant role in how the game will go. … The first thing to consider when taking a seat at a blackjack table is where you want to sit and what responsibility you want to hold at the table. The first seat (first base) and last seat (third base) of the table pretty much determine the way the game will go down. If these two players do not know the basic strategy rules of the game, then the odds will be altered for every player at the table.”

The author continues with more incredibly wrong advice, such as the following.

“First base sets the tone for the whole table. If the dealer has anything between 3 and 6 showing, the table should not take any unnecessary cards that could end up being the dealer’s bust card needed for the dealer.”

To say I was flabbergasted about what the author had written, and the publisher who published it, is an understatement. I also felt sorry for blackjack players who read this article believing the above “strategy advice” was accurate. I’ve already emailed the publisher of the magazine about the article; now I intend to state the facts about what a player should know before taking a seat at a blackjack table.

 

 

Setting the record straight

Let me begin with the misconception that players who misplay their hands (i.e., do not use the basic playing strategy) will “alter the odds for every player.”  The fact is this:

• Blackjack is not a team sport. In the long run, the bad play of other players does not affect the house edge against you. 

Don’t believe me? Take a gander at these studies done by two different blackjack experts.

My friend Michael Shackleford, who is recognized internationally as an expert on the mathematical analysis of casino games including blackjack, conducted a random computer simulation to “prove the myth that bad players cause other players to lose at a higher rate in blackjack.” He published the results on his own website. 

Shackleford programmed his software to, what were then, standard liberal Vegas Strip rules. This included: six decks; dealer stands on soft 17; double on any first two cards allowed; double after pair splitting allowed; late surrender allowed; and the player may resplit to four hands, including aces.

In the first 1.6 billion computer-simulated rounds, two players followed the correct basic playing strategy on every hand. The player who acted first had an expectation of –0.289%, and the second player’s expectation was 
–0.288% (both essentially the same, as expected).

In the second 1.05 billion-hand simulation, the first player followed the same correct basic playing strategy, while the second player to act (call him the clueless player) followed the same strategy except for these idiotic plays: 

• always hit 12 to 16
• always double 9 to 11
• split any pair
• never surrender
• never soft double 

I trust that you agree that this represents a clueless blackjack player. According to the author of the magazine article, the expectation of the player playing correctly should be much worse due to the poor play of the other player. Yet, this was the result of Shackleford’s second study.

• The clueless player's expectation decreased to  –11.26%, which was expected because of his foolish play.
   
• However, the expectation of the basic strategy player was  –0.282%, which is essentially unchanged.

This proves, without any doubt, that the poor play of another player will not alter your long-term expectation (or odds of winning) when you play blackjack.

Selective memory

Yes, but I know what many of you are probably thinking right now. It’s along the lines of something like this.

“Last week when I played blackjack, a clueless player on third base hit his 14 against a dealer four upcard and drew a picture card and busted. The dealer subsequently flipped over her downcard, which was a 10 giving her 14. The next card she drew was a seven for a 21, which beat the table. If that moron on third base would have stood on his 14, like he was supposed to, the dealer would have gotten the picture card and busted, and we would have all been winners.” 

Unfortunately, most casino players have “selective memory.” They’ll remember losing one (or more) hands as the result of another player’s misplaying his or her hand. Moreover, some players will berate the third-base player for making a boneheaded play.

However, suppose the two cards in the shoe were reversed; namely, the third-base player took a hit and received the 7 for a 21, and the dealer subsequently received the picture card and busted.

Would any of the players congratulate the third-base player for “saving the table by hitting his 14”?  I doubt it. This is what I mean by selective memory. You remember the “bad beats” that sometimes occur when you play blackjack, and you want to blame someone for your losses. However, the fact is this: 

• Every time a player misplays his hand, 50% of the time it could “hurt” other players and 50%, it could “help” them.  In the end, it’s a wash, meaning statistically bad players do not change the odds or the house edge against a basic strategy player.

 

 

Another example

Still not convinced? My friend Fred Renzey, author of the excellent Blackjack Bluebook II, also did a study about “bad players hurting basic strategy players,” and published it in his book. His study didn’t involve billions of computer-simulated hands, rather Renzey dealt 500 rounds of blackjack at home with him at first base and the mythical “player from hell” at third base. He did not specify the number of decks of cards he used or the playing rules, but that did not affect the conclusion of his study.

Renzey played all 500 of his hands with perfect basic strategy, while misplaying every one of the third-base player’s hands. That included some horrendous misplays such as hitting a 16 against dealer 5, always splitting 5s and 10s, and other idiotic bad plays.

He meticulously recorded the result of each hand (win, loss, or push). Then he reviewed the cards to see how he would have made out if the third-base player had played his hand correctly. When Renzey compared the results, he concluded the following: “There was nothing in the 500 hands that made it appear as if the third-base player’s horrendous play tended to hurt somebody else's result.”

You can review the statistics on the number of hands won, lost, and pushed when the third-base player played correctly, and incorrectly, in Chapter 4 of his book. However, keep this in mind: most statisticians would argue that it isn’t really very statistically meaningful to make any conclusions based on just 500 hands.

Bottom line

Players shouldn’t worry about whether the first- or third-base player knows basic playing strategy because it doesn’t affect a player's long-term expectation one iota. Instead, a player should focus on the following before taking a seat at a blackjack table to maximize his or her long-term results.

The payout for a blackjack hand. Never sit at a blackjack table where a blackjack pays 6 to 5 or even money. Only play where you receive a 3 to 2 payoff for a blackjack.

• The playing rules of the game. You want a decent mix of player-favorable rules. For example: dealer standing on soft 17; being able to double down on any two cards; and doubling down after pair splitting allowed.
• The number of decks of cards. The fewer the number of decks, the better for the player, assuming the playing rules are still favorable and a blackjack pays 3 to 2.
• The number of players seated at the table. More players means fewer rounds dealt per hour, which will reduce your hourly theoretical loss.
• The minimum and maximum betting limits. If you have a limited bankroll, you need to play at a lower-minimum table to avoid losing your bankroll too quickly.
• Having a strategy card with you to be sure you play every hand correctly. Your best chance to have a winning session, or at best to lose less or play longer, is to play every hand perfectly by following the basic playing strategy.
• Ignoring how your fellow players play their hand. Instead, focus on the cards that are being played on every round. If you observe a greater number of small versus big cards being played in previous rounds, this means you can expect more big cards to be dealt in future rounds, which is a player-favorable situation and therefore you should consider betting more.

Final Tip

Below is what I wrote in my previous article about blackjack misinformation, and it certainly is true about the article in the magazine.

If you don’t know the background of the people offering advice on blackjack playing strategy in print or on the Internet, I’d suggest you google their names to find out if they are reputable players, authors, or better yet, respected blackjack mathematicians. Otherwise, you might be reading a whole lot more misinformation about the game.
 
Note: If you would like to read more factual advice on blackjack, I’d suggest you read my Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Guide.

One of the major attractions of video poker is that players can determine the average return of any game with the information available on the game’s pay table.

The term “full-pay” is often used to describe games that have the best returns.

This article explores “full-pay” video poker games, their history, and current landscape for these sought-after games.

Table of Contents

1. Origin of Video Poker Games

When video poker games were in their infancy, game makers were not aware of the math used to determine each game’s return. In fact, in order to be able to tell casino management this critical piece of information, game manufacturers hired people to play their games and recorded the results.

2. Enter Corporate Accountants

Over time, a majority of casino management was assumed by large corporations. Corporations use accountants to help them manage. Increasing profits tends to be the order of the day. 

When the accountants saw the low casino’s take from video poker, pay tables were changed to increase their profits.

The original (higher-return) pay tables became known as full-pay. The new, reduced return pay tables became known as short-pay or low-pay.

3. The Term “Full-Pay”

4. Pay Table Changes Causing Full-Pay to Become Short-Pay

As mentioned above, pay tables were changed to increase casino profits. Which winning hands had their pays reduced?

The casinos realized that for most jacks or better based games, simply reducing the amount paid for a full house or a flush by one credit would net the casino better than 1% additional profit.

For almost all of these games, the pay for either the full house or the flush (or both) is reduced.

This is not the case for deuces wild games, however. Since there are four wild cards, full house and flush hands are much more common. Almost any pay table line is subject to change in deuces wild games.

 

 

5. Examples of Jacks or Better Based Full-Pay and Short-Pay Tables

Jacks or Better

Notice the return is nearly 100 percent. For every $100 played through the game, the casino gets only $0.46

 

 

Notice the 1%-plus reduction in the return for each one credit reduction in the full house or flush pays.

Double Bonus Poker

 

 

 

Notice the same 1%-plus reduction in return for each one credit reduction in the full house or flush pays.

Double-Double Bonus

 

 

6. Summary 

• Most of the original video poker games had very high returns.
• Pay tables were changed in order to increase casino profits.
• Original games’ high-paying pay tables became known as full-pay.
• Reduced return games became known as short-pay.
• Currently, the highest-paying game available is considered full-pay.
• For jacks or better based games, each one credit reduction in the full house or flush pays reduces the return by more than 1%.
   

• Bankroll management for recreational blackjack players is important to maximize profits when the cards are going their way and minimize the chance of going broke.
• Good and bad streaks are inevitable, but you can’t be a winner if you bust out fifteen minutes into your playing session. Therefore, the size of your bets in relation to your bankroll will minimize this risk and keep you in the game. 

Everyone who plays blackjack in a land-based or online casino has the goal of having fun, trying to win money, and avoiding losing his or her bankroll in a short time. The key to accomplishing all three is how you manage your money, how much bankroll you have, and how much you bet. What follows are tips that you can use to help you have staying power when you play, and with a little luck, be able to cash in on some short- term wins.

First, there are two important items that I want to state up front.

1. The money you use to gamble should not, under any circumstance, be “scared money,” meaning money that you need to pay the rent, mortgage, food, etc. The amount you set aside to gamble should be discretionary income that will not cause you hardship in the event you lose it all. Bottom line: Don’t bet more than you can afford to lose! 
2. Recommendations in this article are for recreational gamblers, specifically someone who is facing a house edge even under optimal playing conditions. If you are a card counter, your bankroll and money management strategies are different from those for a recreational gambler. (See Chapter 10 in my Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Guide for information on this topic.)  

Note: For the purpose of the following discussions, I’m going to assume a three-hour play session, which is about average for most casual players. 

 

 

Session Bankroll

You should bring enough bankroll for each session so that you have a decent chance of winning money should the cards come your way, with a minimum risk of going broke. The latter is important.

For example, betting $25 a hand at blackjack with a $100 session bankroll is suicidal because you have over a 90% chance of busting out. The problem: the bet to bankroll ratio is too small.  You should have a reasonable spread between your minimum bet and your session bankroll. How much? 

• Rule #1. For a three-hour playing session, have at least 50-times your minimum bet.

What this means is that for a $5 bettor, you should have at least a $250 session bankroll. A $10 bettor should have $500, and so forth. This will surely not guarantee a profit for every session, or even half of them, but it will allow you to stay in the game even if you experience a bad run of cards.

Total Bankroll

This is money you set aside to play blackjack. Each time you play, you bring one third of your total bankroll with you for your session bankroll. (Total Bankroll/3 = Session Bankroll.)

• Rule #2: Have at least 150 times your minimum bet as your total bankroll.
• Rule #3. Have it stashed away in a money market account (call it your “401-G,” where the “G” is for gambling). 

That means, for a $5 bettor, you should have $750 set aside in your 401-G. If you don’t have that much money right now to set aside for playing blackjack, I would suggest you wait until you can grow your 401-G to $750 before you start playing with real money. 

How It Works

When you complete a three-hour session, you are most likely going to have more, or less, than your starting $250 session bankroll ($5 bettor). Whatever that amount happens to be, deposit it back into your 401-G.

Remember that the bankroll in the 401-G is to be used solely for playing blackjack. It should not be used for other expenses such as drinks, meals, rooms, and transportation.

Why so much bankroll? Simply because blackjack is a game of ups and downs. You never know (or can predict) when you’ll experience a hot or cold streak at the tables. By having the recommended bankroll, you will be safeguarding yourself from going broke.

Proportional Betting

Over time, your 401-G is going to grow and shrink (hopefully, with some luck it will grow). What I recommend is that you always bet in proportion to the amount of money that you currently have in your 401-G (total bankroll)  to decrease further your risk of tapping out. This is how it works.

Suppose you are a $10 bettor and you want to play a three-hour session. You have a  $1,500 total bankroll in your 401-G ($10 times 150). You withdraw one third of your total bankroll ($500) for your session bankroll.

Let’s suppose luck wasn’t with you in this session, and you end up losing $300, meaning your session bankroll shrank to $200. After you deposit the $200 back into your 401-G, your total bankroll is now $1,200.

For your next three-hour session, you take one third of $1,200 or $400 for your next session, and your minimum bet should be $8 ($1,200/150). Likewise, if you win money in any session, you’ll be starting your next session with a slightly larger bankroll and minimum bet size.

The latter could grow your bankroll faster should you experience a good run of cards in your next session. The point is this: proportional betting will prolong your staying power, which will allow you to ride out losing streaks and still be in the game when winning streaks occur.

Just remember:

1. Minimum bet x 150 = total bankroll
2. Session bankroll = total bankroll/3

 

 

Varying Your Bets

The “safest” way to bet at blackjack when you don’t have the edge is to make the minimum size bet on every hand. This will decrease your theoretical loss and reduce your risk of busting out quickly.

However, most recreational players find betting the same amount on every hand not very exciting. Therefore, they use some type of progressive betting system to vary their bets, where you increase or decrease your  bet based on whether your previous hand won or lost.

The bottom line on progressive betting systems is this: mathematically speaking, you can’t, and you won’t, gain the advantage over the casino using a progressive betting system. If you don’t believe this, I encourage you to read Chapter 7 in my Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Guide where you will see a mathematical analysis of one popular betting system.

Nevertheless, for those players who insist on varying their bets, I suggest using a conservative system known as Oscar’s Grind. It works like this.

You begin your progression with a one-unit bet and after every win, you bet one unit more than the previous bet; after any loss, you bet the same as the previous bet. The goal is to win one unit for each series of bets, with this stipulation: you never place a bet that would result in a win of more than one unit for the series. 

More Tips to Preserve Your Playing Bankroll

You can preserve your session (and total) bankroll longer by decreasing your hourly theoretical losses (due to the house edge). Here are some ways to do this.

• Always use the basic playing strategy when you play in either a land-based or an online casino. You can reduce the house edge to roughly a half percent (playing-rules dependent), which will decrease your theoretical hourly losses. (Dominate the idea about how much money you will save by using the basic blackjack strategy is very important here)
• Check the playing rules. You want player-favorable rules (e.g., doubling down after pair splitting; dealer standing on soft 17, etc. And you definitely want to avoid rules that increase the house edge, such as a blackjack paying 6-5 instead of 3-2, dealer hits soft 17, or no soft doubling allowed. (The greater the mix of player-favorable rules, the lower will be the house edge. For more on this, read Chapter 2 in the Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Guide.) 
• If you are playing in a land-based casino, get rated for your play. The comps the casino will give you have value, which can reduce the cost of playing. Depending on the value of the comps, you can end up playing even or enjoy a net positive expectation.
• Take advantage of gambling coupons (e.g., match play, blackjack bonus payoff, free ace, etc.). These coupons give you an edge on a hand when you use them, which will save you money.
• Play on crowded tables. This reduces the number of hands you play per hour (which decreases the exposure of your bankroll against the house edge), and correspondingly, reduces your hourly theoretical losses.

Online blackjack games are significantly faster than playing in a land-based casino with a live dealer. The more hands you play per hour, the greater your theoretical losses. If the software allows you to adjust the speed of play, I recommend that you dial down to slow play. In addition, you should shop around for the best new-player promotions (another money saver).

Lastly, I don’t want to leave you the impression that by using only the basic playing strategy with the above bankroll and betting suggestions, it will make you a long-term winner. Mathematically it won’t. However, as a recreational player you’ll be using the best playing, betting, and money management techniques to:

• Reduce the cost of playing to a minimum
• Reduce the risk of going broke during a three-hour playing session, and , 
• Allow you, with a little luck, to have some exciting winning sessions. 

Good luck!

In this article, I write about Green Zero pockets in roulette games. I compare the house edge of one to three green zero pockets and focus on the importance of even-chance betting using the La Partage, also known as the half-back rule.

I also describe how you can use the single-zero pocket as a timing marker to help predict roulette outcomes.

Table of Contents

Green Zero Pockets and the House Edge

Single-zero wheels are the most-favored roulette games. These roulette tables are based in Europe from where the game originated. American roulette wheels contain two Green Zero pockets and there are even three Green Zero roulette wheels.

The house edge is higher even though the payout odds remain the same despite the additional Green Zero pockets in the two American variations. For instance:

A Little Roulette Knowledge is Power

Up Your Roulette Game

As a roulette bettor, there are some important aspects you should be aware of regarding Green Zero, including how to take advantage of a lower house edge. If you want to gamble like a roulette pro, continue reading.

Let’s cut to the chase. If you want to bet like a roulette pro you need to bear in mind that,

1. People bet on double and triple zero tables because they are new to the game and normally the minimum bet size is lower than on single-zero roulette wheels. 
2. You should only bet on roulette games displaying a single green zero pocket since the house edge is lower. Single-zero (#0) pocket roulette wheels are found mostly in European land-based casinos and within online casinos.
3. The house edge is 7.69% with Triple-zero pockets (#0, #00, #000) on a wheel: x39 pockets. It’s 5.26% with double-zero pockets (#0, #00) on a wheel: x38 pockets. The house edge is 2.7% with a single-zero pocket (#0) on a wheel: x37 pockets.
4. But the house edge is only 1.35% with a Single-zero pocket (#0) on a wheel: x37 pockets using La Partage, known as the half-back rule.
5. If you’re going to bet on the even-money chances, think “La Partage” when you spot single-zero wheels. Just make sure the half-back rule is in play.

In my view, the appearance of Green Zero colored pockets is important to players in three ways:

1. Green Zero Payout Odds and Chances

2. Using Green Zero as a Timing Marker

On single-zero wheels, the green color – to some professional roulette players – acts as a timing marker.

The player fixes his gaze to the far side of the wheel. He registers the passing of the green zero (which is easy to notice i.e., it’s the “marker”) and in his peripheral vision he is aware of the slowing speed of the ball.

He guesstimates the number of revolutions around the ball track the ball might make before it leaves the ball track.

The objective of this motion awareness activity is to calculate the falling zone on the wheel the ball might end up resting in (subject to the ball not bouncing or deflecting too far away from that area) moments before “no more bets” is called by the croupier.

The player can then make wagers particularly on “call bets,” e.g. Voisins du Zero, Tiers du Cylindre, Orphelins, or on Neighbour bets.

In land-based casinos, players move chips near the croupier when calling out their bets because only croupiers can place bets on the racetrack area. When playing in online casinos, players are allowed to place their own bets on the racetrack betting layout.

This predictive practice of working out when the ball might fall onto the wheel and in what area of the wheel is a skill one becomes better at rather than it all being down to mere guesswork.

 

 

3. Why Pro Roulette Gamblers use La Partage 

The “La Partage’ rule is found on single-zero roulette games (#0) mostly in the UK and other European countries. If betting in an online casino on the outside even-money chances, check this rule applies.

With La Partage, the house edge is 1.35% instead of 2.70%.

The rule comes into play when zero is the outcome and there are bets on one or more of the six even-money outside chances, i.e. Low/High (1 to 18 and 19 to 36), Even/Odd, and Red/Black.
 
All even-money bets lose half of the chip values wagered. So, if you wagered $50 on Red and the outcome is green zero, you’ll lose half, so you’ll get back $25.

The “Surrender” rule in double-zero roulette games acts in the same way as La Partage does on single-zero wheels no matter what zero occurs (#0, #00). And the house edge is 2.63% instead of 5.26%. This arrangement is common in Atlantic City, but not in all states in the U.S. nor online.

Many land-based casinos in the UK and online casinos don’t pay half back when games result in a zero. It doesn’t follow that all single-zero roulette games pay the half-back rule. For example, in some land-based casinos where a progressive random paying jackpot is in play (via touch bet electronic roulette terminals) in case of zero, the bettor will lose all even-money outside wagers.

Where the half-back rule isn’t in play, a player can negate losing all his stake by covering the Green Zeros should one occur.

However, the more often one or more Green Zeros are wagered on, as backup insurance bets, the more likely those extra fractional wagers will mount up. This will expose one’s bankroll to being depleted. So, it’s only a clever idea to back up outside wagers over a limited number of games.

Green Zero Roulette Summary

Although the green zero forms the casino’s house edge, a green zero pocket can be beneficial to players if using as a timing marker or when betting on even-money options with the half-back rule.

When betting big on even-money outside chances, try to find a single-zero roulette table where the La Partage rule is in play so that, in the worst-case scenario, you’re only going to lose half of your stake when green zero occurs.

If you’re a half cup full kind of a person, you’re going to reason that La Partage wins you half back of what you would’ve lost had the rule not been in play.

• less frequently, is more likely to occur, 
• more frequently in future games.

So that, if you bet on the side that is not occurring as much as the other side, you could make money. If your side begins to occur more frequently as if there’s a force trying to increase the percentage of occurrences in order to achieve an equilibrium.

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How to play the D’Alembert betting system in online casinos

A gambler plays the D’Alembert betting system by: 

• Picking one of two betting options, e.g. Banker or Player as in the game of Baccarat or Red or Black or any other outside even money chances found in the game of Roulette.
• In keeping with the D’Alembert theory, a bettor should select a cold occurring even-chance side.
• The bettor then sticks to that side by placing bets,
  1. wagering smaller value unit bet sizes when your side occurs as an outcome (decreasing stakes)
  2. wagering larger value unit bet sizes after your side loses (increasing stakes). 
• When you gain a win using the D’Alembert betting system, you reduce your bet size by 1 unit from the structure of the value unit bet size and the player continues betting, either by:
  1. Decreasing unit stakes by 1 unit following a win until you achieve a profit, or
  2. Increasing unit stakes by 1 unit following a loss in the way as follows: bet 1 lose, bet 2 lose, bet 3 lose, etc.

Is the D'Alembert betting system worth trying

You might be thinking about applying the D’Alembert betting system on even money games such as, Blackjack, Roulette, or Baccarat, but don’t be too hasty. You should first weigh up the pros and cons before adopting the D’Alembert betting system.

 

Pros and cons of using the D’Alembert betting system in casino games

The thinking behind the D’Alembert betting system is regression toward the mean, also the law of averages. The D’Alembert relies on equilibrium, the process where a state of balance occurs. 

The D’Alembert’s betting system is the gambler’s fallacy on the bases that in randomness, future outcomes are independent of previous ones.

 

D’Alembert betting system versus Martingale betting system

Although negative progression, the D’Alembert betting system is less risky than the Martingale betting system.  With the Martingale betting system, a player doubles his stake after a losing bet. E.g., 1 unit is lost, so you bet 2 units on the next game. Then 4, 8, 16, etc.

 

The D’Alembert betting system and the house edge in casino games

Roulette 

On the outside even chances in roulette the house edge is the green zero. A solution would be to play on a single zero wheel that offers La Partage rule so that you only lose half of your wager when zero is the outcome. 

Baccarat 

The biggest tip I can give you is to take the Player side. You would then avoid paying commission on Banker wins. 5% of the win amount is deducted and commission adds up when playing many outcomes which will reduce the value of your bankroll.

 

FAQ Section

1. What is the best casino game to bet on using the D’Alembert betting system?

The best casino game to apply the D’Alembert betting system is baccarat because every shoe presents a fresh set of outcomes. 

And outcomes in baccarat shoes end at around 60 or 80 depending on the number of decks of cards in play.

To help, I have made these three interesting observations:

 

Conclusion of the D'Alembert betting system

A bettor could gain lots of frequent wins, however just like the negative progression Martingale betting system, eventually the D’Alembert betting system will encounter a progression of losses which will damage your bankroll. Therefore, it’s important to activate a stop loss. 

If you decide to play even money casino games using the D’Alembert betting system, remember that there’s no guarantee the side you’re betting on will generate enough wins to make you a profit. 

But the D’Alembert betting system is still worth trying. Moreover, if you somehow start playing an online casino game at the right time i.e., when regression to the mean is occurring or about to occur on the side you decide to bet on.
 

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There are three main French bets or “call bets” players can wager on in the game of roulette. One is “Orphelins” and the other two are “Tier” and “Voisins Du Zero.” These special bet selections can be placed manually or on the racetrack betting layout found on European single-zero roulette wheels.

When an Orphelins bet is made manually, five chips are placed on the grid part of a roulette table betting layout so that eight numbers are bet on. These are straight up, and split bets and the payout odds are 35 to 1 and 17 to 1, respectively.

Orphelins Numbers

In total there are eight numbers that make up the Orphelins betting option.

• One sector holds the following five numbers: 1, 20, 14, 31 and 9.
• The other sector holds the following three numbers: 6, 34, and 17.

Advantages of Placing an Orphelins Bet 

The advantages of placing an Orphelins bet is that five chips cover eight numbers on two different areas on a roulette wheel.

Betting Orphelins using the racetrack means you can:

Rapid Orphelins Bets in Speedy Online Roulette Games 

You decide when you believe the ball might land in a numbered pocket belonging to Orphelins and click or tap Orphelins on the racetrack betting area. Your 5 chips will then be applied on the table betting layout.

4. What can I do when I lose on an Orphelins bet?

When you lose on an Orphelins bet you could decide to,

5. What are the Orphelins winning payout odds?

Not only is the Orphelins betting system designed to cover its 8 numbers using only 5 chips, it does so by arranging those chips in line with the highest paying odds to maximize pay-outs. 

In roulette the payout odds are 35 to 1 for a straight-up, one number win and 17 to 1 for split win, when one of the two numbers is won on. Plus, your stake on the number won on is returned too.

Potential Orphelins Wagering Gains and Losses

Winning on any one of the following:

1. Six Orphelins numbers increases your five-chip outlay by 160% (5 plus 160% = +13). 
2. And any two of the Orphelins numbers increases your five-chip outlay by 520% (5 plus 520% = +31). 

However, it’s vital you exit a session when in profit. And of course, the above is reliant upon the Orphelins occurring in frequent clusters. Assuming too that a winning streak occurred when your bankroll was at break-even point. 

1. If in every 37 games every number on a wheel was an outcome your outlay would be -5 x 37 = -185. 
2. The total return for having won on all eight Orphelins numbers once = 140. Calculated as follows: +31 profit twice = +62 AND +13 profit times 6 = +78 total return +140. And +140, -185 = -45 which is the equivalent of nine losing games given five chips are needed per game. 

Of course, as noted above, this is assuming all numbers on a roulette wheel have their fair share of outcome appearances. But given roulette is a random game of chance, there’s no way of knowing how often Orphelins numbers might occur when betting on them.

Tweaking your Orphelins betting game

Deciding when to bet and how much to stake might give you an edge moreover over longer roulette sessions. For instance:

1. If the ball is landing in Orphelins often such as:
   • Yes, No, Yes
   • Yes, No, No, Yes
   • Yes, No, No, No, Yes 

then you could double down or increase wagers if there are say no more than two or three losses in a row before a number in Orphelins occurs again.

2. If the ball lands in numbers in the Voisins or Tiers sectors and outcomes are not favoring the Orphelins numbers, you might decide not to bet and to wait for the scenario as I explained in point 1 above to start occurring again.
    
3. Or you may decide to continue betting, but reduce your bet size significantly. 
   
   Finding trends within patterns made up of winning and losing outcomes can save you chips and gain you chips when using a STOP-LOSS and decreasing wagers.
   
   Such methods can give you more control in roulette gambling games. This allows you to assess the probabilities of when Orphelins is likely or unlikely to occur based on the patterns and trends of previous outcomes.

Orphelins Betting System Summary 

How the Orphelins system performs in terms of profit or loss is dependent upon what approach you take when betting on its numbers. 

1. You could hope for streaks of Orphelins wins and stop playing when in profit. 
2. Or in the instance of continued betting over many games, you could partake in some analyses which is essential for deciding when to adjust your bet size.      

The Orphelins betting system is worth a try given that the chip placement aims to maximize profits and Orphelins winning streaks can occur.