You know it, I know it: the casino has an edge on every bet. Except for the few advantage players who are, today, more like dust in a wind storm of the desert. 

Just about every player can’t beat the house. You can thank the mathematicians for that and the folks who fiddle with the computers for that too. You can thank the casino bosses for short-changing the payouts of bets or setting up a game where the casino simply wins more decisions. 

If you are the type of person who thinks it is stupid to play a game where your opponent has an edge over you than you probably don’t play casino games. Why would you? There can be no real reward for that. 

Now you can also be the type of person who doesn’t care about that because going to the casinos is fun. Betting is fun. The casino is the single place of true excitement in many people’s lives. That goes without saying. Otherwise, the games wouldn’t have spread to the Internet so fast.

Of course, there are discussions and (fierce) disagreements about what bets are the better of the bad bets and which bets are the worst of the bad bets. In fact, I have a list of bets that I consider good bad bets and the others are degrees of the worst bad bets. 

You can see I am not a purist. But there are uber non-purists; players that really have no care or even idea that the bets they are making come in various shades of black. They are hearty (or hardy), often thoughtless, players. If the casino were a church, these hearty (or hardy) players would have many a “bless you” said over them by the casinos’ bosses.

But that doesn’t mean the games have remained stagnant. Many have changed or been tinkered with over the almost 40 years I’ve been playing them.

Good and Bad Tinkering

The favorite table game in the casino is blackjack. It has been number one since Edward O. Thorp had his ground-breaking book Beat the Dealer published in the mid-1960s. That book taught an advantage-play method known as card counting that could, if applied properly, beat the house.

Until that time craps had been the number game, played by those great World War II veterans. But in light of card counting, craps fell to a tie with roulette as the number two game, where it still resides.

Casino players flocked to blackjack. Many of them thought just playing the game would give them an edge over the house. Some of them played what was then called (and is now called) basic strategy the method to play every player hand against the casino dealers’ face-up card.

Basic strategy (then and now) is the way to keep blackjack a very, very close game between player and casino – but it did not give the edge to the player. It did bring down the house edge on most games to almost even. Until the casinos started mucking around with the game, that is.

The 1950s style of blackjack was heavenly. A single-deck game where most of the cards were dealt to the players. Those who played the early form of basic strategy had a hair follicle casino edge to play against.

[Please note: I once played a single-deck game at the Maxim Casino-Hotel in Vegas where every card but one was dealt to the players. The game had surrender too and if you got a blackjack with a five-dollar or more bet you received a ticket worth one dollar that could be used anywhere in the hotel. And what if the deck ran out? They would just shuffle the discards and continue dealing. Best blackjack game I ever played. Somewhere around 1992 or so. My wife, the Beautiful AP, and I stayed in Vegas for eight straight weeks to play that game! We each played two hands too. At least eight hours a day.] 

Post 1960s, the casinos started changing the game. They brought in more decks, two decks, four decks, six decks and even eight decks. They put the cut card in shallowly. Fewer cards would be played. That hurt the player who could count those cards.

Today, you can see continuous automatic shufflers at many games. There is no break for the dealer to shuffle in such games because those games just keep going and going and going. Unplayed cards just go right back into the eight decks that are continuously shuffled. There is no way to beat those games other than a hefty dose of good luck. Gamblers who want to win really can’t rely on luck.

Whatever single-deck games remain usually have a blackjack payout of 6 to 5 as opposed to 3 to 2. There are also other limitations on some of those games as well. 

Can a competent card counting player of the old school actually beat those new single-deck games? Not really. These were introduced at Bally’s in Las Vegas if I remember correctly in the mid-1990s or thereabouts.

More cards, and heightened security, more or less did in most card counters. But blackjack still reigns supreme as the number one table game.

And What About Craps?

Craps was originally called carps by the Southerners who played the game in and along the Mississippi River towns. It is a hybrid of the British game Hazard. As it slowly progressed up north the Northerners misheard the Southern dialect and thought the game was called craps. And that’s what it became.

It was one of the two favorite World War II games, along with poker.

I will gladly admit that craps is my favorite casino game. Why? Because everything is in the players’ hands. The players shoot the dice and if a player doesn’t shoot, what then? Simple. The next player gets the dice and on the game goes.

The rules are firmly established and the “does and don’ts” of the game are well spelled out. It can be a loud game too.

Every night coming from the craps tables area one can often hear outbursts of applause and ecstatic cheers. Craps is one exciting game when the shooter is hot (unless you are betting against the shooter hitting his point or the numbers but those darksiders are still relatively rare when a shooter has hit a few numbers).

Craps has several excellent bets coming in with house edges well below 2%. It also has a way to reduce the house edge on such bets even more by using the odds bet once those other bets are up on the layout. 

The smartest players make the best bets. Period. A BIG BUT coming up now friends. Most craps players make more than one or two bets and many of these players, if not almost most, will also make some of the absolute worst bets offered in the casino.

There are craps bets that come in with house edges in the double digits – yes over 10%! Many just under that and a few over that – way over that!

Through the years, the casinos have tinkered with the bets at craps, usually offering “bonus” bets with astoundingly high house edges. 

But craps players are often lured by high-paying bets no matter how awful these bets actually are. Again, players who make these bets are not truly aware of how their prospects are completely dimmed by engaging in such wishful thinking.

For the average craps player, craps is a multiple-bet game. I am thinking many craps players have no idea of what those bad bets make for the casino and how much they cost the player. A close game becomes a “no contest” when a player insists on making many bad wagers. 

But over the decades that I’ve played the game many changes have been made. The original craps game I played had two-times (2X) odds; that is, you could add a bet that was double your pass-line bet.

The best one? One hundred times odds (100X). I played this game in Tunica, Mississippi. It was offered at several casinos. No added house edge either on those odds bets! Yes, a five-dollar pass-line bet could see odds of (hold your breath, Timmy) $500! Okay, very few players could make that odds bet but you could add whatever you wanted under $500. It was the single greatest change in craps ever.

It didn’t last too long but I saw it in action. That was a heavenly change for the players. Of course, such an amazing bet didn’t sweep the country. In fact, it didn’t last all that long even in Mississippi.

But other changes? Not so hot, in fact, truly bad. Rotten if you ask me. 

Adding side bets that would cost more than double digits to the craps players just made it almost impossible to win even a session unless someone got really hot. 

How could someone win who was betting seven or eight or nine or ten or more bets on this, that, or the other thing? Bad bets mostly. That makes craps an almost impossible game to beat except without outlandish heaps of luck.

Today, most craps games have gone away from the double odds game and many will offer 3X or 4X or 5X odds. Prior to the Covid lockdowns many more casinos than ever offered upwards of 10X odds. You won’t see that too much anymore.

Yes, despite all the horrible bets, craps is a great game to play if you play it right.

The Secret Behind Modern Slot Machines 

Oh, yes, the slot machines have changed immensely since I first started playing in the casinos. 

Most of the old-fashioned slots (circa 1990!) were generally of two types. Type one featured machines that took one, two, or three coins or were hooked into inter-casino progressive machines that could pay out millions with the odds being about 1 in 50 million on a hit. Yes, very, very long odds indeed.

These machines were played with coins and most slot players had as my mother said, “The desire to get a bigger bucket,” in which to hold their coins. If you played slots long enough on a given day your fingers wound up getting somewhat silver from all the “silver” dust floating around in your bucket. 

And that is where it stood. Coins, dust, buckets, progressives, and slot clubs for people with players’ cards.

Today’s slot players do not need buckets, little, medium or big. The majority of casinos use credit and credit monitors. And payouts are made at the cashier. You get a slip of paper when you quit playing a machine which tells you how much you have won or lost. If there is anything on that slip of paper, you can cash it in or play it in another machine.

Many slot machines today go with the idea that it is a good device if the player is multiple betting – no not just three “coins” or credits, but multiple different ways to win something or other.

You will see games where the player can play 10 games or maybe more. The amount of money these machines make can be enormous. They have out-craps craps!

In fact, you can often play table games at the machines! Ouch! That certainly hurts…the dealers especially.

In any modern business it is not good enough to make the same money this year as you made last year. Business always requires a bigger return, year after year. And today’s slot machines are geared to making more and more and more. And that’s why you get more games on them and why the decisions can come faster and faster even than that.

Society is Now a Gambler’s Paradise

You can’t escape it. There are so many commercials for online casinos and sports betting that one would think our countries will soon go broke. Maybe so.

I know that the college kids I’ve met all gamble on the games and some (who are old enough) love to go to the casinos. 

I guess we shall see what will happen when gambling stays so widespread.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

There are things you should do in a casino and there are things you shouldn’t do. Some of these are simply decorum issues, some have to do with the rules of the particular game you are playing. I think the key words here are “don’t be offensive.”

Okay, now, this part is simple. You should follow the rules of the game you are playing. Some of these rules are ironclad. You can’t touch the cards in a face-up blackjack game. You can’t dangle your hands over the craps table where the dice can hit them. Hit the back wall with the dice. Simple rules really. 

What you should say, how you should talk, and who you should tease is a little more complicated. Who you should complain to – or whether you should complain at all, now that is an even more nuanced task. Players do have a tendency to whine and moan if they have lost a lot that session. I guess that’s par for the course.

I am generally cordial at the table games. I say hello to the other players when I enter a game or when another player enters the game that I’m at and I even cheer when they do something good or if they have good luck. Why not? Good luck is good luck. Players like to be applauded. Don’t they? 

I tip the dealers whether I am winning or losing. I try to make the game easy for me and for them.

But in my over 40 years of playing in the casinos, I have seen players do and say awful things. Come along with me for the ride on two such occasions.

Oh, Please, Please Shut Up

If you are at a blackjack table, you don’t want to mention or act as if you know anything about card counting. That should be, and usually is, a verboten topic. 

Card counting is one way that the players can get the edge over the house at this table game – the most popular table-game in the casino. The casinos are very much aware of this fact and they watch the games closely to make sure no one is actually counting the cards. 

If they catch a player who is counting they will simply ask that player to stop playing or tell the player to leave the casino or ban them or trespass them, in which case the player cannot return to the casino if he or she doesn’t want to be arrested.

If you are a good and a wealthy player the risks will be greater if you count cards. If you are a small-stakes player you will be considered a flea to be snuffed off. The more the player can hit the house, the harder the house will hit back. That’s a casino law of nature.

Can many blackjack players actually count cards? No, but some rare few do try. However, it is not an easy skill to master.

But with thousands of players flocking to the casinos daily, it might be that a few players of that throng may be able to give counting a go.

My Blackjack Story

This happened just before the pandemic at a luxury casino in Las Vegas. I wanted to buy into a game and I went up to the table. 

Oops, there was an argument going on. 

A weird as heck argument. 

It caught my attention that’s for sure. I didn’t bother to buy in. I just stood there and listened.

“So, you see when all the aces come out or most of them, there won’t be any or many blackjacks. Blackjacks are favorable to the player.”

The guy talking was big and fat and seemed a little tipsy … or maybe a lot tipsy. He was giving a lesson on card counting at a blackjack table in the swanky high-roller room no less. 

“Sir,” said the floor person. “We prefer not to talk about, you know, card counting.” The floor person smiled, slightly. The blubbery guy was playing two hands for quite a lot of money.

“I’m not counting the cards, I’m just talking about it. Is there is a law against talking about it?” There were two other people at the table and they smiled. I don’t think they wanted to hear a lecture about card counting but they were polite. I mean this was a high-roller room in a high-roller casino.

“When the small cards come out, anything under seven, that is good for the players because there are more big cards left to be played. So, if the count favors the player, he will bet bigger. And that’s the basic theory of card counting. Good counts favor the players and bad counts favor the casino.”

The pit boss came over. “We prefer not to talk about you know what right? It’s kind of a thing here.”

Mr. Blubberbutt said, “I just got my ass whipped at the craps tables. Can’t I just have a conversation with these two fellas? I’m not hurting anyone am I?”

The pit boss made his decision, “We prefer you don’t. Card counting is not looked upon favorably here.” The pit boss laughed. But Mr. Blubberbutt just kept going. At what point would they ask him to leave? Or would they ask him to leave? He was a big bettor.

“I know you can beat the house with card counting, there I said it, card counting, but most players can’t do it. The casinos really don’t have to worry about it. But you can see how afraid they are – his arm swept across and it took in the pit boss and the floor person – neither of whom was smiling.

“Sir,” said the pit boss. “Perhaps you’d like to go back to craps? Your luck might change there.”

“You don’t want me to play blackjack?” said Mr. Blubberbutt.

“Uh … maybe … but no talking about card counting, okay?” The pit boss seemed resolute. That told me two things. Mr. Blubber was not a regular and they would (I am guessing) go the route not to let him play unless he followed their orders.

“Well,” said Mr. Blubberbutt. “I can tell when I am not wanted,” and he took his chips (dropping a few which I picked up and handed to him) and he left. I’m guessing he left the casino. Card counting, even in language, is a bad, bad topic to broach in a casino. 

By the way, he’s the only person I ever heard talk about card counting at the blackjack tables. And I’ve been playing 40 years or so. Most blackjack players know about card counting but they don’t care to talk about it when they are playing.

Craps: Don’t Say the Word 'Seven'

Craps has certain strictures. Kind of like semi-rules. You should never say the word “seven” because that will bring out the seven and end everyone’s chance to make some dough on the current shooter, who will go down in flames when that “seven” rolls.

Any proof to that assertion? No. It’s a piece of craps mysticism but players believe it and other players should obey the belief systems of the craps residents who might get perturbed if their ideas are not followed. 

Craps has other strictures too. Mostly mystical too.

Do not dangle your hands over the table. If the dice hit one or both of your hands or your arms that will bring out the “seven.” Will it? No, the seven will appear six times out of 36 rolls. On average that is.

You must hit the back wall with both dice. What happens if you miss once? Nothing. What happens if you miss twice? Probably the box man or the floor person will tell you that you must hit the back wall. Three times? Probably another warning.

Cheers!

Craps can be a loud game when rightside dice players are winning money because the shooter is hitting loads of numbers. That makes a lot of money for almost any craps player.

Except for darksiders, those players who are rooting against numbers being rolled and looking for the otherwise dreaded seven to show its ugly faces, ending the shooter's roll.

It is rare indeed that any darksiders will cheer at the table when their hoped-for seven appears. Why? Because usually there will be only one darksider or maybe just two of them. There are no legions of darksiders.

Craps tables have more cheers on them than probably any other table in the casino. Except for the following true story torn from the pages of something that has pages.

The Cheering Darksiders

The craps table had three openings on one side if you count a dozen players, six and six on each side. Our four guys pushed their way onto the table and one of the former players left the table for some reason or other. (Probably because they pushed him so the four of them could get on.)

This was midweek in Atlantic City at a big casino sometime in the late 1990s. This casino had a lot of bus traffic it was definitely a midweek early afternoon.

They cashed in and all of them made a don’t bet, a darkside bet that would go against the numbers, when the shooter took the dice. These guys were not at that exact moment rooting for the seven because on the come-out roll the seven would be a loser for them.

But after that? Onward and upward as they say.

The shooter’s point was a four. He had to make a four for the rightside players to win. If he rolled a seven the darksiders would win.

Now these young men had maybe been in the Sopranos that season. They had slicked-back hair and they were each smoking a cigarette. And then the bigger guy called out: “Let’s see the seven Herbie!” 

Herbie, the shooter, whose name I am guessing was not Herbie, ignored the shouts of the big guy. “Seven Herbie! Seven! Saaa-vvvv- ann!” 

Herbie sevened out to the cheers of the Soprano crowd. “Who is next?” said the skinniest of the four darksiders. “Who next?”

“Michelle? What the hell. Is you a man or a babe?” The three friends yucked it up on that one. 

Michelle rolled a seven and the pass line bettors won their come-out bets. “No more of that my girl,” said the second biggest guy putting down another don’t pass bet. “We’re here to make money, girl.”

“Roll a number, Joey Boy,” said the second-biggest guy. “You see I don’t think you are a girl. But you’re cute.”

The shooter rolled and his number was a six. He came right back with a seven.

The four lobos cheered and whooped and hollered. They were making money.

“The seven is our friend! The seven is our friend!” They chanted. And smoked. And chanted. And smoked.  A couple of players left the table. “The seven is our friend!”

Now the floor person came over. The casino’s craps games were crowded but this table lost a few more players as the floor person watched the game. You had one side of the table with the four amigos and the other side with just one player. The four amigos were chanting, smoking heavy drags of their cigarettes, and singing out their seven songs.

“What about you buddy?” One of the amigos called to me. “I don’t know how to play,” I lied.

“Can anyone in this joint know how to play this simple game?” the big guy shouted smoke coming out of his nose.  “What about you buddy?” he said to the one remaining player on the opposite side of the table from him. That player picked up his chips and left. There were now only the four of them. And me, of course, standing watching.

No one came to the table. In a little while these men left the table. “This casino sucks!” said the big guy. 

They left and the table quickly filled up again. I even played.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Bet a little to win a lot might as well be the mantra of every gambler. However, saying it and doing it are two completely different things. Short of winning the lottery or getting insanely lucky at the World Series of Poker, how does that life-changing score drop into your lap?

One mechanism for big bucks on a small gamble is to pony up for a progressive wager. In the casino, that means betting on a longshot and benefiting from a pool of money that builds up over time. Most famous are the progressive slot machines, where you wager on reels lining up in usually elusive ways. Most of the time, of course, they do not. But, with every loss, money goes into a pool set aside for the lone winner who hits it big. You want to be that winner.

Becoming that fortunate beneficiary is best attempted when the progressive jackpot is large. The odds of hitting what you need in order to take it down will be unchanged, but you’ll win a lot rather than, say, a lot less.

Money for Nothing & Lucky Machines

For all of that, though, nothing can be sweeter than landing a big score when there is no money at risk. Such was the case in 2012 for an anonymous gambler who wandered into the off-Strip M Resort in Las Vegas.

Amazingly, the gambler happened to have a free-play ticket for a slot machine. So, the thinking must have gone, what the heck, pull the lever and take your shot. The player got incredibly lucky when the free play came through magnificently and the stars aligned.

Most amazing of all? For a moment, the person did not realize that they had won. Soon after, though, it became clear that the lucky slots lover was suddenly $17.3 million richer than when they walked into the casino.

While it’s hard to buy into certain machines being lucky, recent turns of events might make you reconsider. Between Nov. 2 and Nov. 9 of this year, six Money Mania jackpots roared in. Various machines, operating under different Money Mania iterations, paid off, all told, to the tune of more than $30 million.

Considering that the machine is called Money Mania, it’s one gambling device that clearly lives up to its name.

Setting Records & Attracting APs

Progressive slot machines, with the giant scores that they deliver, open the door for players to not only win life changing money, but also to hold records for their wins. Such was the case recently when a gambler in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, broke the record for jackpot wins in the American state.

The gambler took down $924,562 and, arguably, has Whitney Houston to thank for it. The money derived from a Whitney Houston-themed progressive slot. It is unclear whether or not the winner sang the Whitney hit “I Will Always Love You” to the machine that made them rich.

The long-running endurance of progressive slot machines is testament to how much people love them. They first materialized around 1986.  The breakout machine was called Megabucks and was created by slot king IGT (officially known as Internet Gaming Technology).

The first big payout was hit in 1987 when a player caught a windfall of nearly $5 million. And the progressives were off to the races, becoming one of the most popular gambles on a casino floor.

Games evolved to the point where advantage players (APs) figured out ways to find positive expectations in the marvelous machines. Once the progressive jackpot builds to a certain level, those who understand the odds of winning can exclusively target machines that offer juicy jackpots with positive expected value.

In other words, the odds of winning matched with the money in the jackpot create a situation where playing the machine is an advantageous move. Of course, nobody knows exactly when it will hit. So, even a favorable situation can still turn into a money loser.

And once an AP starts playing a machine under that circumstance, stopping play is not exactly an option. There are times when the payoff takes longer than is optimal for a canny gambler. As one said to me about the many hours he spent feeding money into a one-armed bandit that was primed to pay, “If I stopped playing, it would have been a mathematical catastrophe.”

Beyond Slots

Slots are not the only machine games with progressive components. There are video poker machines featuring progressives that keep building up until someone hits a royal flush, a straight flush or, sometimes certain four of a kind combinations.

A prime example of that took place last year when a video poker fanatic was playing a game at Caesars Palace in June 2023. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, he was at it for 31 hours, playing for $500 per turn and managing to get extremely lucky three times. The player won a pair of $400,000 jackpots and a third for $200K before he was satisfied with his earnings and wound down the session. 

Other players manage to rake in the big bucks more efficiently. It’s been reported that a gambler at Cosmopolitan, on the Vegas Strip, was playing for stakes of $1,250 per spin and managed to take home $1 million after four aces with a 3 on the side materialized in front of him. 

It’s not only machine game players who get to have all the fun and win all the sudden fortunes. Blackjack, Three Card Poker and Pai Gow Poker rank among the table games with progressives of their own.

Pai Gow’s will pay off big when you hit a seven-card straight flush. A big progressive in blackjack requires a player to be dealt two 7s of diamonds and the dealer to have one of his own. 

The possible downside of making such a hand? Getting lucky enough to be dealt the cards but to not be wagering on the side bet. 

 A poster to Reddit recalled just such a scenario at a live blackjack game. A player in his 20s got dealt the 7s and the dealer made a third. But he failed to wager on the side bet and did not receive the $277,000 jackpot.

Despondent, the lucky but unlucky blackjack player is said to have responded to the non-payoff by saying, “I just never thought it would happen to me.”

But it did, it does, and it makes progressive side bets difficult for gamblers to ignore.
 

There’s nothing quite like rolling the dice at the craps table. There are plenty of cheers and high-fives as players watch those cubes tumble down the table and hopefully hit a much-needed point number. The chips move about the table at a fast pace as dealers pay off winners and collect losing wagers.

There are so many social dynamics that go into a game of craps making this an interesting setting that has inspired film directors and producers through the years. Whether shooting dice on the street or taking a spot at a high-end luxury casino, craps has served as an interesting activity in numerous films. Here’s a quick look at some movies that have featured craps games.

Casino (1995)

Ginger (played by Sharon Stone), the eventual girlfriend and later wife of Ace Rothstein (Robert De Niro), had some serious self-destructive tendencies. The Martin Scorsese masterpiece that reflected some of the real-life mafia events that took place in Las Vegas. In this scene, Ginger hits the craps tables and “earns” some cash from the player she is stealing chips from. Ace becomes infatuated with her “Ginger's mission in life is money,” Ace says. Casino earned numerous award nominations and Stone won a Golden Globe and also was nominated for an Oscar.

Hard Eight (1996)

This thriller was written by Paul Thomas Anderson and was also his directorial debut. Hard Eight boasts a superb cast including Philip Baker Hall (Seinfeld fans may remember him as Mr. Bookman), John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Samuel L. Jackson, with the action revolving around an older gambler who takes on a homeless man as his protege. The film earned positive reviews with Roger Ebert noting: “Movies like Hard Eight remind me of what original, compelling characters the movies can sometimes give us.”

Owning Mahowny (2003)

With a great cast featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Minnie Driver, this film tells the story of a Canadian bank executive who steals $10 million to help fuel his gambling addiction. The film could be a warning for those who believe they may have gambling issues and sees Dan Mahowny taking his casino gambling much too far. He uses the cash for regular trips to Atlantic City and that includes some time at the craps table. The film is based on a true story as featured in the 1987 book Stung and things eventually come crashing down for Mahowny. Owning Mahowny was a dud at the box office, but earned plenty of accolades for the story and Hoffman’s performance.

The Cooler (2003)

William H. Macy stars as a casino “cooler” who is sent to winning tables. His inherent bad luck ultimately leads to losses in various casino games.  His presence at the tables ends gamblers’ winning streaks and helps the house recover those winnings. The film had a great cast that also included Alec Baldwin, Ron Livingston, Maria Bello, and Paul Sorvino. The Cooler earned some nice reviews and Baldwin and Bello earned Golden Globe nominations. In the scene below, cooler Bernie Lootz amazingly finds a massive streak of luck at the craps table.

A Bronx Tale (1993)

This crime drama stars Robert De Niro and Chazz Palminteri and tells the story of an Italian-American boy grappling with whether to become a member of organized crime or to walk the straight and narrow. The film also features an underground craps involving a young boy. The story is based on Palminteri’s one-man stage show and much of the story was based on his own childhood. DeNiro acquired the rights to the story and made it his directorial debut. A Bronx Tale became a critical favorite and has been recognized as one of the best gangster films of all time by the American Film Institute.

Getting Back to Zero (2013)

In this craps-centric dark comedy, two brothers work to overcome the death of their father after inheriting his dice table and gambling debt. That cash is owed to some guys who are more than willing to collect the cash using their fists and more. There are plenty of ups and downs as the two brothers try and work that debt back to zero. The film may not have been seen by many, but generally earned a positive critical response. It's a nice addition to this list and craps is a central part of the narrative.

Guys & Dolls (1955)

Frank Sinatra spent plenty of time in Las Vegas and seems like a natural fit for any movie involving craps. This film version of the famous Broaday musical also features Marlon Brando. In the film, one of the main characters regularly runs an underground craps game. Check out the trailer below for a look at some of the on-screen dice action.

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

James Bond is known more for playing Baccarat while on her majesty’s secret service, but also mixed in some dice playing while on a trip to Las Vegas in this film. 007 (Sean Connery) comes decked out in a sharp-looking white tuxedo and impresses a nice lady named Plenty O’Toole, who just can’t seem to win. When he takes the dice, Bond rolls a 10 and takes full odds with an additional $200 on the hardway 10. When the dust settles, the superspy walks away a winner with $50,000 and gives a nice tip to the dealers with another $5,000 for Plenty. The film drew positive reviews and stayed No. 1 at the box office for seven weeks.

The House (2017)

This comedy stars stars Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler as Scott and Kate Johansen, parents who devise a unique way to pay for their daughter’s college – running an underground casino on a friend’s house. It’s a bit of a flimsy premise and the movie didn’t receive great reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes noting that The House had a “shortage of comic momentum.” However, there are plenty of gambling scenes including some action at the craps table.

The Big Town (1987)

Matt Dillon stars as J.C. Cullen, a small town craps player who heads to Chicago to try and hit it big as a professional gambler. Along the way he falls in love with two women, including a stripper named Lorry Dane (Diane Lane). He gets involved with a revenge plan hatched by Lorry and plenty of drama ensues. The film is based off the 1967 novel The Arm and was supposed to be similar to other coming-of-age gambling moves like The Hustler (billiards) and The Cincinnati Kid (poker), but didn’t receive the critical praise of those productions. The Big Town earns just a 50% score on Rotten Tomatoes despite the solid cast that also included Tommy Lee Jones. But few films may make craps as much of a centerpiece of the action as this entry on the list.

When casino managers look over new table games, there are specifics they must see before offering the games to the public.

The game must be easy to learn and play. No one wants players to be intimidated and walk away. Empty tables earn no money.

Table layouts must be clean and clear, not cluttered and confusing. The game must be easy to deal. The house edge must hit a sweet spot between earning profit for the house and being so high it chases players away. Everyone must feel like they have a shot to win.

And managers must see enough appeal in a game that it's worth bumping another game off a casino floor. 

That's particularly important in live casinos, where physical space is limited. Often, you'll see new table games get wider distribution in online casinos.

Still, many games come along every year that seem to fill the bill. Once they get their trial, either online or in live play, the public will decide if they have staying power.

Let's check out a few of the latest and greatest table games to look for in the coming year.

Knockout 52 (M&M Entertainment)

Most new table games are based either on poker or blackjack. Not Knockout 52. It's a match game that deals up to 52 cards to see if a card matches a denomination on one of 13 table spaces.

Lined up on the layout are 13 spaces marked in card denominations in order from Ace low at the players' right through King high on the left.  Up to four rounds of 13 cards are dealt one at a time until one matches the marked space.

As soon as there's a match, or if 52 cards are dealt with no match, the hand ends. If an Ace is dealt on the first card, the hand stops without seeing any more cards. If it takes two-plus rounds of 13 cards plus a few more on the third round, then the hand ends on the third round.

Players have betting spaces with five options: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, or All the Way. If you bet on Round 3, you win if there is a match on the third round, or lose if the hand ends on rounds one or two or goes unto the fourth round.

Payoffs differ depending on round. A Round 1 winner pays at 1-2 odds, so if you bet $10, you win $5 in addition to keeping your wager. Winners pay 3-1 on Round 2, 10-1 on Round 3 and 30-1 on Round 4. If you bet on All the Way and four rounds are dealt with no matches, it pays a whopping 50-1.

That's in keeping with the chances of winning. In a single-deck game, a match will come on Round 1 an average of 64.3% of the time, with 23% ending on Round 2, 8.2% on Round 3, 2.9% on Round 4 and 1.6% going all the way with no match. Numbers are slightly different if more decks are added, but not by much.

Michael Shackelford at wizardofodds.com calculates the house edge is lowest if you stick with Round 1 bets despite the low payback. In single-deck games, he lists house edges at 3.5% on Round 1, 8.2% on Round 2, 9.9% on Round 3, 9.4% on Round 4, and an enormous 17.2% for the long shot on All the Way. Given an eight-deck game, edges starting at Round 1 are 3.1%, 8.6%, 11.1%, 11.3% and 20%.

Knockout 52 is easy to play and can be a fun diversion, but beware those house edges, especially for two or more rounds.

Dead Man's Hand Blackjack (Dunow Gaming)

A blackjack side bet, Dead Man's Hand is named for the hand Wild West legend Wild Bill Hickok is said to have held when he was shot to death in 1876 in Deadwood, in part of the Dakota Territory that became South Dakota.

While playing poker, Hickok supposedly held pairs of Aces and 8s when Jack McCall shot him in the back of the head. Whether he actually had that hand is open for discussion. No reports from the time include the cards, and reports from the next few decades differ on hand composition.

Nonetheless, it's a good piece of folklore. The blackjack bet plays into the Dead Man's Hand motif by paying off anytime you're dealt an Ace or an 8 in the first two cards. Bigger payoffs come for pairs of Aces or 8s, and drawing extra Aces and 8s after splitting those pairs.

Either an Ace or an 8 in the first two cards brings a 2-1 payoff. You get 4-1 with both an Ace and an 8. 

Pairs can bring bigger rewards. Ace-Ace or 8-8 with no further dead man's cards after splitting pay 4-1, unless the dealer has a blackjack. Then your pair is a big payer at 50-1.

If you split Aces or 8s and wind up with one Ace-8 in the first two hands after splitting, you win 20-1. And if you wind up with two Ace-8s, it's worth a 100-1 bonanza.

The house edge decreases slightly with more decks. At wizardofodds.com, Shackelford lists edges of 4.98% with two decks, 4.63% with four, 4.51% with six or 4.45% with eight.

As with most side bets, all those edges are higher than the base game of blackjack, where basic strategy players face a house edge of less than 1%, with precise numbers depending on house rules.

If you're looking for the best percentage play, stick with the base game. Dead Man's Hand's attraction is for players willing to spot an extra edge for a shot at bigger one-hand payoffs.

Split'em Stud (House Way Gaming)

Based on seven-card stud poker, Split'em Stud has similarities to pai gow poker in that you split an initial hand in two. It also has a pay table that will look familiar to Mississippi Stud Poker players.

To start,  players must make an ante. Each player then is dealt four cards, and three community cards are dealt face down in front of the dealer.

Next, it's decision time. You may either play or fold. If you fold, you lose your ante. If you play, you must make a bet equal to your ante.

Those who elect to play must then split their four cards into two two-card hands. Community cards are turned face up, and each two-card player hand is combined with the three community cards to make a five-card poker hand.

Payoffs are strictly according to a pay table. There is no dealer hand to beat.

Your best hand loses if it doesn't have at least a pair of 7s. It's a push and you get your money back on pairs of 7s through 10s. You're paid even money on a pair of Jacks or better, 2-1 on two pairs, 3-1 on three of a kind, 4-1 on a straight, 6-1 on  flush, 10-1 on a full house, 40-1 on four of a kind, 100-1 on a straight flush and 500-1 on a royal flush.

With one exception, that's identical to the pay table on Mississippi Stud. The only difference is that pushes start on pairs of 6s on Mississippi Stud while Split'em Stud pushes start at pairs of 7s.

Split'em Stud also has bonus payoffs if you have winning combinations in your first four cards without the community cards. The bonus payoffs are the same as the basic pay table except there are no push hands and no full-house payoffs since it's impossible to build a full house in four cards. 

In addition, there's an optional side bet on the seven-card hand formed by your four cards and the three community cards. Several pay tables are available. It's up to the host casino to choose which to offer. The table displayed at the House Way Gaming website pays 2-1 on three of a kind, 4-1 on straights, 6-1 on flushes, 10-1 on full houses, 25-1 on four of a kind, 50-1 on a straight flush, 250-1 on a royal flush, 1,000-1 on a six-card straight flush and 5,000-1 on a seven-card straight flush.

The manufacturer says the house edge is 4.49% on the main game and ranges from 2.77% to 10.05% on the seven-card wager depending on which pay table is used.

The house edge is higher than some other poker-based table games such as Mississippi Stud and Three Card Poker. Split'em Stud does have some intrigue in the dual decision of whether to play or fold followed by splitting your four cards into two hands.

Creativity, artistry, math and science come together in designing slot machines. Manufacturers come together every autumn at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas to show off their latest brainchildren.

Games are designed to shout "Play me!" at players and "Buy me!" to casino operators. There's intense competition to carve out floor space in live casinos and display prominence in online casinos.

Most of the hundreds of new games shown at G2E will make their first appearance in live casinos, though in recent years there has been a growing focus on catering to online providers.

Let's look at a few of the latest and greatest you'll be seeing first in live casinos in the coming months.

Dracula (Light and Wonder)

There's eerie excitement in classic horror movies, and Light and Wonder is there for the chills and thrills with its Classic Monster series of slot machines. Frankenstein was a big hit a couple of years ago, and now Dracula is back from the undead.

Featuring the image of Bela Lugosi, the star of the 1931 "Dracula" movie and then a mainstay in horror films until his death in 1956, L&W's Dracula slot evokes the film atmosphere with symbol such as hearts and coffins, sound effects including thunder and Lugosi intoning, "I am Dracula!" and video including animation of Lugosi flamboyantly waving his cape to start a free spins round.

The base game has five video reels and is available with either five, 15 or 30-payline versions. The five-payline  configuration is designed for high-denomination games such as $1 and $2 slots, with penny players will see 30 lines and those in the middle, such as 5- and 10-cent games, are likely to see the 15-line version.

Dracula features five progressive jackpots, with a wide-area pot at the top. That means multiple  casinos feed into the top jackpot and a player at any participating casino can with a huge prize. In demo versions, the top jackpot started at $400,000.

That top jackpot is rare, but just above the five video reels is a prize wheel, and that's where some of the biggest wins will come. When a heart lands on the first reel of the base game, players will be hoping Count Dracula's face will appear on the other reels. Coupled with the heart, each Dracula symbol gives you one spin of the prize wheel. 

The wheel is marked into segments with credit awards, power-ups and four progressives. If your spin lands on a power up, it increases the credit awards on the other segments. The more Draculas, the better, because not only do you have more chances to accumulate bonus credits, the power ups and increased awards apply to all subsequent spins until the round ends.

It's even better if you launch the bonus wheel during free spins. Then the power ups remain active once a wheel round ends. If you get to the bonus wheel on another free spin, you're working with higher free spins from the start.

It's a fun take on what can be done with wheel spins. Dracula could be in line to follow Frankenstein as a monster hit.

Wheel of Fortune Cash Link (International Game Technology)

Wheel of Fortune has been an important part of the IGT slot empire since 1996. That's when IGT debuted its first three-reel slot based Wheel of Fortune, complete with sounds and graphics based on the ever-popular TV game show.

Nearly all slot players have at least heard a recorded crowd chant "Wheel! Of! Fortune!!!" before the click of a spinning wheel. 

At G2E 2024, IGT proudly displayed eight new Wheel of Fortune games. It even moved to extend the brand into video poker with Wheel of Fortune Poker, in which winning hands on the initial deal bring letters toward solving a word puzzle for bonus credits.

Wheel of Fortune Cash Link  is a showpiece game. In live casinos, it'll make its debut on the Wheel of Fortune Trio cabinet, which features three slot machines under a giant wheel display that extends the width of the three games.

The game extends the Cash Link Line. In the base game, a five-reel video slot, coins showing credit values will sometimes appear on the first four reels. Those are valuable if a treasure chest symbol lands on the fifth reel. When that happens, you collect the credit values of all coins on the screen.

There are a couple of bonus event. One is called Big Money. If one of the coins that lands on the screen is a special Big Money coin, it gives you a chance to activate the Big Money bonus. The Big Money symbol then is duplicated on all other coins on the screen, a treasure chest falls into place and you collect the big bucks.

One bonus that will be familiar to slot players happens whenever a segmented wheel symbol lands on the screen. Then Vanna White strolls onto the screen and you get a spin of the prize wheel. There are five pointers for the wheel. Depending on the size of your bet, you can get anywhere from one pointer to all five. The wheel spins, and you get the prizes indicated by your pointers. Most are credit awards, but some segments are multipliers to increase your winnings, and with others you can win one of the three progressive jackpots.

Wheel of Fortune Cash Link has a familiar feel, but still packs plenty of excitement for slot players.

Powerball Power Play (Everi)

Hold-and-respin bonuses have become player favorites and casino staples in recent years. Everi puts a twist on the format with Powerball Power Play, with roots in the iconic lottery game.

It's a five-reel, 20-line video slot with luxury-item symbols such as new cars, diamond rings, jet planes and cruise ships – the kinds of things that might attract a Powerball winner to spend newfound riches.

As with most hold-and-respin games, the bonus event is launched when you land six orbs on the screen. Here, the orbs are designed to look like lottery balls. Balls on the first four reels are white with a credit amount in black. On the fifth reel, the balls are red. Those are the Powerballs.

You keep spinning until you go three spins in a row without collecting another ball. If you're lucky enough to land three red balls in the fifth column, you unlock another screen of reels above the first. And if you unlock the second screen and land three Powerballs, you unlock a third screen.

There's no guarantee of unlocking the extra bonuses. but when you do, the potential is there for three times the fun and credits.

Bingo Frenzy Stampede (Konami Gaming)

Konami also puts a new twist on hold-and-respin bonuses with Bingo Frenzy Stampede, available in two themes – Tiger and Shark. This time, the bonus symbols are bingo balls and there's an animated bingo dauber character to add hype through the game.

The base game is a five-reel video slot with each reel three symbols deep. At first, the yellow bingo balls are not emblazoned with credit amounts. They just say "BONUS." But when you land six on the screen, they transform to display credits, progressive jackpots or multipliers, and the fun begins.

Not only do you start a collection bonus, you get extra space and more opportunities for balls to drop in. The reel set grows to a 5x5 grid instead of the standard 5x3, so there are 25 spaces instead of 15. 

When five balls fill any row, you can cry "Bingo!" The row collapses to the center. All the awards on the row are added to the center ball and the other four spaces are left blank free for more balls to fill in. With a lot of luck and cleared spaces, the bonus event can go on and on.

If you fill rows 15 times, you win the top progressive level, the Grand jackpot. There are four other jackpots – Mini, Minor, Major and Mega. Any one of them could appear on a bingo ball as the bonus event progresses.

Bingo Frenzy Stampede also includes a free spins bonus that differs according to game theme. In Bingo Frenzy Stampede Shark!, three scatter symbols launch free spins with low-paying symbols removed. Only the high-paying ocean life symbols remain. You can re-launch free spins during the round. It takes only two scatters on any free spin to add more spins.

In Bingo Frenzy Stampede Tiger, three lotus symbols launch the free spins. On each freebie, some symbols are hidden. When revealed, the might show all wild tiger symbols. They're potential big winner if they line up on paylines.

If not tigers, then the hidden symbols are bonus symbols, enhancing your chance of getting to the frenzy during the free spins. Free spins are always fun, but in Bingo Frenzy Stampede, that frenzy is really the round that can make your day.

Gamblers playing casino games at an advantage love to camp out at the tables. They slowly make their money, hand by hand, as they deploy winning strategies that have them operating with an edge at games like blackjack, three card poker and even slot machines.

Unfortunately for them, casino bosses do not share their enthusiasm. 

In fact, casino bosses want nothing to do with advantage players and aim to get them out of their casinos as quickly as possible. Techniques for that range from gentle backoffs – a player being told, “Your action is a little strong for us; you can play any game in the casino, but you can’t play blackjack” – to the rigid 86ing: Come back again, even for a soda, and the police will be called.

Counting Cards

During a few years of serious card counting, I endured my share of backoffs and I came to understand why those in the game go to elaborate lengths to prevent such events from happening. 

To that end, I enjoyed dropping into Las Vegas on a Friday night, getting a few hours of sleep and hitting the casino with a cigar in my mouth and the demeanor of a hard partying drunk in late-night/early-morning mode.

In fact, I was well rested and trying to seem as if I had been going at it all night. Pit bosses were generally happy to see a player in that condition and I figure that it routinely bought me some time.

But that’s mild in comparison subterfuge deployed by others. One of my favorite APs in disguise stories comes from John Chang. A founding member of the famous MIT blackjack team, he inspired Kevin Spacey’s character in the movie 21. But he didn’t have to become  Hollywood famous to be casino notorious.

Chang had his share of gambits – including pretending to be the deep-pocketed nephew of a Chinese computer mogul – but the most outrageous one came when the heat on him turned so intense that desperate measures were required.

At one point, it became clear that dressing as a female would be the best way for Chang to be able to play without getting thrown off the blackjack table.

“Cross dressing worked in the Bahamas and Illinois,” Chang told me when I interviewed him for the now defunct Men’s Vogue. Admitting that a baby face did not hurt him in pulling off the gambit, he added that in at least one casino, something gave him away. “At Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, they were looking at my hands. An Asian host came over and whispered in my ear, ‘We know who you are.’”

Security loomed. When Chang rose to leave, a guard said, “Lose the pearls, Esmerelda.”

As Chang remembers it, “I had to run around the casino in high heels and make sure they weren’t following me.”

Wonders of Wheelchair

A fellow blackjack advantage player, who had the well-earned nickname of Wheelchair, could not be chased around the casino because he gave the appearance of being unable to walk.

Though he was perfectly mobile, the man rolled around in a wheelchair, pulled up to blackjack games and made it so that he was nose level with the table’s rim. That afforded him a perfect vantage point for hole carding – that is, seeing the bottom cards of sloppy dealers. 

Because he did not appear to be slouching, abetted by the fact that casinos would be  loath to insult a handicapped person, he managed a double whammy: Perfect hole carding position and an act that all but guaranteed he would not be backed off from the game.

Team Duynamics

A woman I know who played on one of the most notorious blackjack teams in the country during the early 2000s used her youthful face, tiny backpack and slender physique to look like a trippy rave kid who was gambling away her wealthy father’s fortune.

Taking casino costuming to the next level was a blackjack contingent known as the Church Team and famous for elaborate disguises. One player had get-ups that ranged from that of an Indian businessman (complete with a turban and a suit) to a rapping gangsta to a makeup wearing goth.

Another member of the team employed a quick change to extend his play. In a single night, he looked a little rough with a scruffy beard and the demeanor to match. Then, after getting booted from every casino in Tunica, Mississippi, he shaved the beard, put on a suit and tie, and returned as a completely different person. It worked!

In Atlantic City, he told me, “I played the persona of an aggressive Russian guy. I’d point at the pit boss and tell him to get me water.”

    James Grosjean, one of the most prolific and most inventive players out there, had a costume that convincingly turned him from computer nerd to gnarly biker – complete with a sleeve of tattoos. Kelly Sun, who pulled off a multi-million-dollar baccarat play, was known to hire professional makeup artists to tweak her appearance.

But sometimes, the disguises don’t need to be so elaborate if you have the skills to match the subterfuge. I remember hearing about a super sharp blackjack player who would situate himself within eye shot of a targeted table, calmly read the day’s newspaper and sip coffee. He resembled a reluctant gambler looking to keep up on current events. 

But he was actually card counting from a distance, discreetly looking up from a corner of the paper. As soon as the count turned favorable, he’d fold up his reading material, leave behind the java and buy into the blackjack game, thus playing only when he had an edge and thwarting the casino’s likelihood of picking him off as an advantage player.

Crafty Costume

Back when I interviewed John Chang for Men’s Vogue, the magazine was eager to photograph him for the article. I figured that maybe he’d be shot in shadow, but he had an idea that would pay off for him.

Chang requested that the magazine load him up with pricy fake facial hair – a fu manchu, a van dyke, a dramatic mustache – that he would get to keep after using the array to hide his identity in the photos.

The editors agreed and he got his hairy camouflage that no doubt faked out casino bosses. Crafty advantage players always find a way to win. 

It is an annual custom. People make resolutions on New Year’s Eve to improve their lives in some (usually) meaningful way. While most resolutions deal with fixing things in a person’s daily life, other areas should not be disregarded.

For many people reading this, resolutions concerning gambling style could very well top the list. Presented below are several suggestions for New Year’s resolutions that are appropriate and meaningful for video poker players.

Many of these resolutions will also apply to other types of casino gambling in general. Let's take a look.

Contents

1. Have a Plan
2. Preparing for the Trip
3. Steps to Take While at the Casino
4. Actions to Take After Play
5. Summary

Have a Plan

Most video poker players I know are woefully lacking in this area. The only plan they have is to arrive at the casino, play all that they can while hoping to hit a royal flush or other jackpot, and then go home. They are usually disappointed. Resolve to make a plan – not just some vague ideas, but a comprehensive plan.

A proper plan for video poker play involves making a list of steps that, when followed, will improve the chances for success. This list includes preparing for the trip, steps to take while at the casino, and actions to take after play. 

Preparing for the Trip

For any plan to succeed, there must be thought given to how the plan should proceed. That is what a plan is. Video poker players need knowledge to be successful in the casino.

This includes knowledge of several different aspects of video poker play.

• Game or games to play. Different video poker games have different characteristics. The two most important characteristics are return and variance. Games with low variance have few “jackpot-sized” winners – usually only the royal flush. High variance games have several jackpot-sized winning hands. The cost for these extra winning hands is the reduced pays for lower-paying hands. Lower variance means the player’s bankroll does not vary as much as it does in higher variance games. Resolve to pick the type of game that suits your style of play.
• Pay tables affect return so it is important to know which pay tables have the highest return – and if that return is adequate. If it is too low, the player’s bankroll can be quickly eliminated.
• Which games and pay tables are available at the desired casino. Knowing information about games and pay tables means nothing if they are not available at the casino.
• Know the strategy for maximum return. Once a player settles on a game and pay table that is available, the proper video poker strategy must be played to get the maximum return. This takes work. The proper strategy must be found online or from an app and the strategy must be learned. This takes time and practice – but it reaps rewards. Resolve to take the time and effort to learn the proper strategy.
• No plan for casino play would be complete without a financial plan. The funds for casino play must be truly discretionary. They must not be needed for any other purpose. Resolve to make plans for trip, daily, and session bankrolls before heading for the casino.

Steps to Take While At the Casino

Preparing for a trip to the casino is important. Executing the plan while in the casino is crucial. Those who follow their resolutions and develop a good plan, very often fail resolutions for keeping to the plan once they arrive at the casino. Major points of casino play resolutions include the following.

Many video poker players arrive at the casino and immediately plop down at a machine and begin to play. They do not that they may not be at their best. Resolve to take time to get acclimated to the casino atmosphere before diving into action.

Stick to your normal schedule while at home. As much as possible, resolve that meal times, bedtime, and wake up times mimic those at home. Keeping a normal rhythm helps keep the mind clear. There are enough distractions in the casino without adding to them with an unfamiliar schedule.

Resolve to practice good money management. Bring only the amount determined in the plans made at home to each playing session. When it is gone, the session is over. Do something else, whether it is an activity or resting. Make sure you get away from the casino environment between sessions.

An occasional alcoholic beverage can be relaxing, but can also quickly lead to more. Alcohol consumption dulls the senses causing strategy mistakes and loss of discipline. Resolve to keep drinking while playing at a minimum.

Resolve to cash out when winnings reach a certain point and set aside those winnings as trip profit. Do not use them further play. For example, $20 is originally fed into the game. After a period of play, the meter is at $65. Consider cashing out when the meter hits $80 or $60. This is to be taken home as profit. Continue playing the rest of the session bankroll, but do not touch the amount cashed out.  

Resolve to stop playing immediately if mistakes are being made, if you become tired, or unable to concentrate. Even if there is plenty of session bankroll remaining, continuing play will put that at risk. Take a break from the casino. Walk around outside or take a rest somewhere. Return and continue the session when alert and in control once again.

Actions to Take After Play

Here are some good resolutions for after a session is completed.

• Put any session money left after play in a special spot to be taken home. This money should not be used to finance further play at the casino this trip.
• Resolve to make notes about each session when it is completed. Write down things that went well and, more importantly, things that did not. Make the notes while the session is fresh in mind. These notes can be very helpful in determining ways to improve in future play.

Summary 

It is a sad fact that most New Year’s resolutions last a very short time. They are easily forgotten and people slip into their former bad habits. 

Make a detailed written plan covering preparation for a casino trip, what to do while on the trip (both in and out of the casino), and finally, follow-up actions to be taken after play. 

Resolve to faithfully follow your video poker resolutions. The above suggestions, if faithfully kept will allow video poker players to have fun while also protecting them from ruin.

Remember, it may not be true for all video poker players, but for me, winning is the most fun.

Many athletes know about this phenomenon. It’s called “flop sweat” and it occurs when you are down and out and feeling oh so miserable, usually because of what just happened to you in a game or some form of intense competition.

It could be a loss that causes it – maybe a strikeout or a fumble or something that makes your team lose the game. In a final game in the New York City high school league championships, I kicked the ball out of bounds with 10 seconds to go in the game and we lost – by one point; a point scored after I kicked the ball out of bounds.

That was our first and only loss of the season. Flop sweat started to cover me from foot to head. It was an eerie feeling. I was getting colder and colder.

Until that moment I was playing brilliantly, really, I was. I had the flop sweat after that game and it even came home with me.

I also had the flop sweat one other time, the time when I went the whole route with a Martingale method of casino betting (doubling my bets after every loss), trying to beat the house (a very dangerous playing method I found out) and I wound up losing in a devastating way. Devastating.

Flop sweat doesn’t make you cool off when you are warm. Not at all. It is a cool sweat, yes, but it seems to be coming from somewhere else other than your body and it has no bodily particulars. It seems to be surreal. It comes all over you at once. I don’t even know if it is sweat at all.

Handling Casino Losses

I think some (or maybe many) casino players have felt the flop sweat after their play (or during it) because many have gone down the route that creates the condition. That route is, as I experienced it, a losing session of monumental proportions. A losing session that is unexpected and just seems to come out of nowhere. It lands in your lap and covers you with a cold sweat that doesn’t actually cool you off. Flop sweat it is.

A large part of casino gambling is the ability to handle defeat with some grace. After all, you are playing against the house edge at every game and you should realize this. You will lose, maybe today, tonight, tomorrow, maybe this whole week and on and on.

Really bad defeats are inevitable for most players, especially those players who enjoy long sessions at the machines or the tables. And also those players who simply go to the casinos a lot.

It’s in the cards, the dice, and the Random Number Generators (RNG) at the slot machines. You can’t escape the house edge unless you become an advantage player and those players are so very rare indeed.

Flop sweats do not appear when you are winning – that sweat is just regular, normal “happy” salty sweat. If you are only losing a little I doubt you’ll have a flop sweat experience.

Flop sweat can make a player take a long or short or some kind of pause in his or her gambling routine. It did me. 

I dumped the Martingale betting method and took a short time off from casino playing after my flop sweat experience. Actually, I debated whether to ever play again but obviously I did play again and have done so close to 40 years!

Still, I only had one session of flop sweat – and one was more than enough for me to learn my lesson.

(Please note. I don’t know about players who are drunk if they experience flop sweats. Being anesthetized might not allow the flop sweat to appear. Maybe someone has done a study of this.)

Some Ways to Initiate a Flop Sweat

Let’s take a look at the games you play and how you play them and see how close to a flop sweat you might be at any given time.

Blackjack

Blackjack is a truly dynamic game. Every decision you make on how to play your hands matters. Every decision the other players make determines things for them – and for you too. Cards tell the whole story in this game. 

In a six-deck game if all the aces (that would be 24 of them) came out in the first few rounds, well, no blackjacks will happen after that until after the shuffle.

When you are hitting your hands – you can bust or draw a good card or draw a card that doesn’t help you very much. The game generally goes in and out for most players. They win some, they lose a little more, you have a decent session or you don’t or it is a wash.

Players will win about 44% of the time, lose approximately 48% of the time and tie approximately 8% of the time. 

So, how can the game be so close between the player and the house with that above spread? 

Some hands are premium hands and pay back more than even money. A blackjack will pay 3 to 2 (or in some games it will pay the icky 6 to 5). Players can double down on some hands by putting up more money – these are largely favorable situations for the players because they will win more or lose less on the hands on which they are doubling. 

Players can split pairs and in some games double down after splitting.  

The whole casino-playing world is in some kind of recognizable order when you play blackjack because players generally have a feeling that what they do counts. 

You have a fun time; you win a little or lose a little, and then you go home and live your life feeling safe to go back to the casino after a short interval. 

If you play basic strategy – the computer-designed strategy for playing all your hands against the dealer’s face-up card, then you face about a half-percent house edge. That’s a supremely close game. You’ll rarely find any games in the casino that can match blackjack’s house edge against the basic strategy player.

Sadly, many players do not play basic strategy properly and some so-called casino “experts” decry it as being a false option and caution players against it. More fool them and their followers. They are helping the casinos make more money from the players.

So, what kind of situations are more likely to bring out the rare flop sweat in blackjack players?

Let us say that you play perfect basic strategy. You make all the right decisions and suddenly nothing works. I mean nothing at all. 

• You get a blackjack and the dealer gets a blackjack – a few times during the session.
• You double down in the right situations and the dealer keeps drawing winning hands. 
• You split pairs, you double after splits, and you lose a bunch of a bunch of hands that you felt you should have won.
• All the bad hands become busts when you make all the correct plays.

Now you decide to go for it. How long can a bad streak last? You ask yourself. (This is the start of the self-conning stage.) You double up the amount you are betting and continue to see your money flying into the casino’s vault.

Do you stop and take a break? 

Nope. 

You think, let’s go to two hands with those twice as large bets. Why not? My luck has to turn around soon, right? I mean come on really.

Yikes! The casino trashes you. Can’t you win a hand here and there? No siree. You're betting the most you ever bet and now you are playing two hands perfectly and you are getting trounced! Clobbered. 

You are running out of money. Okay, let’s really go for it, folks, right now! Take all the money you’ve brought with which to play and let her rip!

And you are slaughtered. Ruined. Broke. You can’t play anymore because you have lost your whole session stake just like that!

And the flop sweat can now be felt all over your body. It signals the lowest point you’ve ever been in a casino playing perfect basic strategy at blackjack. 

How could this session possibly happen? Really, how could it? How could every decision seem to be wrong?

You go to your room and think about how you are sweating because you are hot but you feel the cool wave of the flop sweat all over your body.

Weird. How could such a thing be possible? Yet it is. Hopefully, you are able to hit the bed and fall asleep. Hopefully.

Slots: The Former One-Armed Bandits

Slot machines used to be simple mechanical devices. Now they are computer marvels, allowing players to often wager 100 bets at once! Chew on that for a moment.

They have shiny lights of all colors; fun and fascinating sound effects. You can play movie-style slots, television show slots, world events slots, historical slots (imagine playing a slot machine titled the Titanic!). 

They bring in most of the money the casino makes from its players and have for almost half a century. Slots rule the casinos and have ever since 1984. 

Slots players are a guaranteed huge win for the house because the machines can actually take 10 or more percent from the players! Amazing. Machines that pay out the most money – you know those multi-million-dollar progressives – are the cheapest. They often keep around 17 percent of all the money played in them. 

If you are playing a multi-game machine then you are asking for trouble – the returns are killers. Many slot players get really, really close to flop sweats when they play such machines even though the machines don’t really allow you to make decisions that actually count. They are strictly random devices programmed to knock the players senseless. And they often do.

So, how does a player get into the flop sweat situation on slots? Here’s one way of many ways.

The machine the player chooses to play can have certain features that make it abominable. One such feature is the “hit” without actually winning money or earning anything other than frustration. 

The player presses the credit button and the reels do whatever they do and suddenly you hear that you have hit! Hooray! Oh, wait, the machine only returns a couple of credits to you, nowhere near what you just wagered. You had a hit, yes, but a losing hit anyway.

These ghost-hit machines can rattle a player’s nerves.  You think you’ve won something when in fact you haven’t. Slot players have been trained to accept long losing streaks but even they can get antsy and move from machine to machine looking for one that actually hits winners.

After hours chasing the glory of winning something or other, the slot player must decide: quit play or just keep throwing credits into the machines.

Smart players just take a break from play. But potential flop sweaters continue their pursuit of Lady Luck’s favors. That reward does not come no matter how much money they have spent.

The losses pile up and so does the frustration. At some point it is possible that the player begins to feel the cool, cool flop sweat covering their body.

What Do You Want From Your Casino Play?

To win! 

Yes, every player fantasizes about winning. Such fantasies are the food of our illusions and are generally harmless – until they aren’t. 

If you are having a poor session why not just take a break? The games won’t go away, nor will the house edges. When you come back to play those edges will still be working.

So, why take a break? To settle your mind and emotions. You can go back to play after awhile and still get hammered. True. Still, you need to recoup.

One last word from me: All the best in and out of the casinos!
 

Take a relaxing walking trip around the casino. Come on, this won’t take too long I promise you.

Look at the table games of blackjack, craps, roulette, mini-baccarat, Pai Gow Poker and all the other table games that you will pass. Check out all of the bets you can make at all of these games. Each and every bet. Give them some thought.

Go by the slot machines, epic ones that pay out millions and multi-millions, and those smaller ones that pay out small amounts, and, oh yes, check out the video poker machines too. Note all the payouts. Each and every payout.

Now I have a question for you. Okay, what have you not been able to see in your scouring of the casino games? Give it some thought. I’ll give you a moment. What have you NOT been able to see, anywhere?

There is something curiously missing from all the signs hawking the casinos’ games. 

In no game does the casino tell you how to play it or give you some clue as to what the return is if you play the machines or the table games correctly. No advice whatsoever.

What is the house edge? And what does that edge mean? Nothing.

In days past some slot aisles would proclaim something such as this: The machines in this bank will return about 98%. Great, but what did that really mean? Basically, not much. There was no way to get an edge at these games. You could only beat the machines by some form of luck and luck was and is an ephemeral item.

Some casinos may still hawk machines in this way. Paying back 98% means that the machine keeps two cents out of every dollar wagered over time – on average.

Checking Out Those Table Games

In craps, a game with so many different bets, it is hard to keep track of them all. Craps players are in the habit of betting more than one or two bets. Some will have a half dozen or more bets working at the game at the same time. 

Yes, it is rare that a craps player will only make one or at most two bets at the game. Their concept of play is “the more bets the better!” 

They are under the opinion that the more bets they make the more money they will make because with so many bets one or two can hit so that means more money is coming in to the player. Not so. So many bets can hit, yes. But there are so many misses that the losses craps players experience can be sky high, even if they have a winning night now and again.

What is the edge on all those craps bets? The casino might tell you the payout is 30 to 1, but it never tells you the percentage edge the house has over you when you make that bet. It never tells you what your losing expectation is. 

Here is something to know if you love playing craps. The casino will not pay the true value of any bet you place on a number. I’ll explain this fact in the roulette section of this article. It’s called, for lack of a simpler word, short-changing. Keep that in mind.

Look over at blackjack, the most popular table-game in the casino ever since the mid-1960s, and nowhere does it tell you what the house edge is if you play the game with the correct basic strategy. 

Basic strategy isn’t even mentioned in the signage at the table. That strategy is the only way to play the game to garner a one-half percent house edge over you. 

[Please note: Unless you are a card counter there is no better way to play the game of blackjack than basic strategy but that is, of course, a whole different story.]

At roulette, do you want to know how the casinos get their edges over the players? It is simple; really simple. Ridiculously simple.

The casino always short changes the winning player! You don’t get paid what the bet is really worth.

When a player wins, he or she does not get paid the full value of the bet. On the double-zero wheel, the payout for a direct hit is 35-to-1. The true value of the bet should pay 37-to-1 since there are 38 pockets for the ball to settle into. 

Take 38 players, each betting a different number straight up on the double-zero wheel (0, 00), and you have 38 bets on the layout. Yes, one bet must win. The players will lose 37 times but one player will win once and be paid that 35-to-1. In such a game, the casino will be ahead after every spin of the wheel. It can’t lose.

You do, of course, have roulette wheels with more or fewer numbers than the traditional American double-zero wheel. Let’s see how they fare for the players.  

You have the best wheel, the single-zero European-French wheel (0) that has only 37 pockets but the payout is still that 35-to-1 instead of 36 to 1. Or you have the new wheel, the triple-zero “yuck” wheel with a 0, a 00, and a 000. There are 39 pockets but the payout for a winning hit is still that same 35-to-1, not 38-to-1. 

Roulette goes from a decent game on the single-zero wheel to a rotten game on the triple-zero wheel. But the players (at least many of them) do not know this and some don’t actually care to know this. They just happily or unhappily play whatever wheel is in front of them.

No matter what bets you make at roulette, the casino will short change the winning player. Simple as that.

The short-changing of bets can be found at craps too. No place bet on the layout pays true odds except the “odds” bet. But to get the true payout on the “odds” bet at craps you have to have a pass line or come bet or a don’t pass line and a don’t come bet working. Those bets come with house edges too!

The player can’t create a betting formula that he or she can create to win at craps. There are no super betting systems. None.

Man, Do Tell Me More About Slot Machines 

The slot machines are ubiquitous losers for those slot players who don’t even pretend that they can get even close to an edge at them. The machines were once called, the “one-armed bandits.” Well, they certainly deserved that name.

In the good old days, the slots had to pay out in gifts: “Harry just won a cigar!” You’ll note that some machines had winning rectangles – those rectangles stood for cigars. There were multiple fruit images too. You could win a boat load of fruit but more than likely what you won were just lemons.

How Slot Machines Work

It is simple formula. More money goes into the machines than comes out of them. It is not a hard formula to understand. Money goes into to the machines. Less money comes out of the machines; casinos therefore win, players therefore lose. All is right with the world from the casinos’ viewpoint, that is.

Machines just used to be mechanical devices; now they are computerized marvels. Over the last 150 years they went from simple devices to space-age magic. But they always did the same thing; take the players’ money. That was and is their goal in life; winning money. And that they do quite well.

Today’s machines are run by computers. The new computer program is called the RNG which is short for the random number generator (actually it should be called the “almost random number generator” as humans can’t really set up randomness in its randiest sense). But the RNG is so close to random that there is no reason not to call it random. No slot player will argue that fact.

The basic principle is the same as the basic principle has always been. More money goes into the machines than comes out of the machines. Most players don’t even question this fact because it is a fact of casino life and, as such, is accepted.

In short, you are expected to lose at every game you play!

Now What About Comps?  

By the way, as an aside, your losing expectation is what opens the door to comps. You don’t get comps because the casino hosts like you. He or she may like you or may not like you, but that has nothing to do with how you earn comps. You earn comps by paying for them. Except a lot of players don’t realize the fact that the casino has a payment formula for comps. A very detailed one.

You get them because the casino can figure out what you are economically worth to them. Exactly what you are worth to them over a time period and they will return a certain amount of your expected losses in the form of “free” comps.

Your comps can mean “free” rooms, “free” meals, “free” transportation, “free” shows, “free” shopping sprees, “free” sporting events, and everything that the casino can tell you is “free” – but all of this is based on your expected losses at the games you play. 

The player has to show the casino that he or she is willing to depart with their hard-earned money to pay for the “free” givebacks the casinos will initiate. Indeed, there is no “free lunch” in the casinos’ eyes. No free lunch at all.

How the Casinos Calculate Your Freebees 

There are many formulas that the casinos use in order to calculate what a player is worth to them. It is not based on a player’s losses over time, but what the math says that player is expected to lose playing the way he or she plays. 

That takes into consideration how much the player bets on average per decision and how long the player plays at his or her chosen games. The casino will then come up with a comp profile of the player and comp the player based on this profile.

The player who complains that he or she is losing and has lost a lot of money will (rarely) nudge the casino to give more in comps because of those losses. 

It is pretty much an open and shut case for the casino. “Your expected loss is thus and such and we give you about 30% of those losses back in the form of comps and that, my friend, is that. You can win, you can lose, but we are basing everything on your potential losses over time playing how you play. Not on any immediate results.”

Low rollers walk a fine line when it comes to comps – after all, while their money means a lot to them, their value as individuals to the casino is not great in the scheme of things. Their value is great overall in the low-roller whirlpool but not as an individual. So, while the casino doesn’t want to alienate them, they can’t be catered to the way a high roller can be catered to. Those are the facts of casino life.

Most low rollers are aware of where they sit in the casino scheme of things. How could they not? 

How the Casinos Judge Worth

The casinos have charts explaining what certain play at certain games means to them. Slot machines have the same formula – except different. The slot machine keeps track of the player’s play and based on its handy-dandy formula doles out the comp points.

Most players know there is some kind of formula for judging them but they are not exactly sure what that formula is. 

Your play at the different games gives the casino insight into how much you will lose over a decent length of time. If the casino has a 5% edge over you then you can expect to lose 5% of all the money you bet. Based on those losses, the casino will reward you with a comp of up to about 30% (maybe 40%) of the expected loss.

Five percent of a thousand dollar-player is worth more comps than 5% of a $10 player.

All the best in and out of the casino!