Much is written about when to stop playing video poker in a casino. Many say to stop playing when you are ahead. While that sounds good at first, that advice is not at all practical. A player does not want to stop playing after winning the first hand. Players may also never be ahead.

Articles that I have written in the past are focused on serious players – players who know and have practiced the proper playing strategies.

The vast majority of video poker players do not fit that profile, however. They are casual players who have neither the time nor inclination to learn and practice playing strategy. They simply want to go to the casino to have a good time and play some video poker while having a few drinks.

They are not particularly worried about winning (though they certainly are hoping that they will). What advice concerning when to walk away from the game can be given to this class of video poker players? Keep reading to find out.

Contents

1. Casual versus serious?
2. When a casual video poker player should quit playing
3. Summary

Casual versus serious?

To understand when casual players should stop playing, one must understand the casual player’s motivations for playing video poker.

What defines a casual video poker player as opposed to a serious player? While the main focus of a serious player is to make money, the main focus of a casual player is to have fun.

A serious player will:

• Learn what game type and pay table to look for to determine which games are best. 
• Take time to search out video poker games with a good return.
• Learn and practice the proper strategy for those games. 
• Monitor how well they are playing the strategy.
• Carefully manage their bankroll.

Casual players:

• Do not care about the return of the video poker game.  They do not even know what to look for. They may know that Jacks or Better or Double-Double Bonus are popular, but not why.
• Have no desire to “work” while in the casino.
  • They do not search for the games with the best return.
  • They do not learn nor practice proper playing strategy.
  • They do not know nor care if they are making the best play.
• When it comes to bankroll, they (hopefully) bring with them an amount they can afford to lose. They expect to lose what they bring (but they have fun), and are happy if they go home with something left over. They celebrate going home with a win.

When a casual video poker player should quit playing

As noted in the previous section, casual players have very different reasons for playing video poker than serious players. Many of their triggers for quitting play are also quite different. However, many of the following tips for stopping play also apply to serious players.

• Many casual players like to play for a short time of one machine – trying their luck as it were. They might insert a 10- or 20-dollar bill. When that is gone, they switch to a different machine, and try their luck there. This process is repeated several times, thus giving the casual player opportunities for a big win at several different machines. While switching machines is not really quitting play, it lengthens the time they can play video poker since when they are switching machines, they are not playing. Not playing means they are not losing.
• Although they are rarer, many casinos offer promotions such as free play, special pays for certain hands, point multipliers on certain days and times, and things of that nature. Casual players who take advantage of these promotions should consider stopping play when the promotions end. At a minimum, they should consider tucking away a portion of any wins during the promotion period before continuing with non-promotional play.
• Another great time to quit playing is after hitting a jackpot. A royal flush or four aces with a 2, 3, or 4 ”kicker” can be quite a windfall for any player – especially for a casual player. Cashing out and quitting play allows the player to relish the win without giving any of it back to the casino. An alternative to immediately quitting completely is to cash out the big win and play another $10 or $20 before leaving. Either way, the casual player is going home a big winner. The extra $10 or $20 played could add even more to that win.

There are also some no-brainer reasons to quit playing. 

• You are tired. Take a break and recharge. The games will always be there. 
• You are hungry. Get something to eat. You will feel better and have more fun if your stomach is not growling.
• You need to go to the bathroom. You may be on a good run, do not play so long that have an accidental “run.”
• Your bankroll is gone. Quit now. Do not go to the ATM for more. You brought what you could afford to lose with you – and you lost it all. It is time to leave.
• You are bored. Yes, casino gambling can be exciting. The prospect of winning large amounts of money is exhilarating. After hours of play, however, it can become tedious and boring. Stop playing – at least for a while. Leave the casino and walk around. Head back when refreshed and once again excited about playing.
• Quit playing when you are no longer having fun. Since this is the casual player's primary motivation for playing, why continue when it is no longer fun?

Summary 

Casual video poker players are not motivated by the same things that serious players are. They are playing video poker to have fun – and possibly become lucky and win. 

The mandatory time to quite playing video poker for casual players is when they run out of money. There are several other options for quitting play that will not only save money (or extend playing time), but will also make the time spent playing video poker more fun. That is what casual players are looking for, right – FUN?

Are video poker machines rigged? Plenty of gamblers believe that they are.

I knew a player who was convinced that certain video poker machines were rigged. His “proof” was winning hands did not appear as often as they mathematically should. The data he collected to prove his point was a few thousand hands and the number of times certain hands (such as a full house) were winners. The number of winning hands he showed me were, indeed, off the mark.

Does this information prove the machine was rigged? Read on to find out more.

Contents

1. What do you mean by the word rigged?
2. Brief description of how video poker machines work
3. Fair (random) video poker games
4. The error in the “proof”
5. Summary

What do you mean by the word 'rigged'?

It is probably a good idea to define what is meant by the word rigged. All video poker games are “rigged” in one sense. 

They are programmed to give the house (and on very, very rare occasions, the player) an edge. This is accomplished by adjusting the pay table. Changes are made to the payoffs of the winning hands so they pay less than the mathematical odds of the hands appearing. 

Certain winning hands might be paid at the true odds, others perhaps a bit higher than true odds, and some at less than true odds. The average amount paid for the entire pay table is virtually always less that the true odds. This gives the casino the edge.

Some players might consider setting returns to favor the house as rigging. In that case, all games on the casino floor are rigged. They either pay fewer winning hands than losing hands, or the winning hands are paid at less than true odds.

The type of rigged machine that the player in the introduction was complaining about was not that the house had an edge by short-paying winning hands, it was that the frequency of winning hands should match the mathematically-calculated frequency.

For the rest of this article, rigged means not random. Tweaking the payoffs for winning hands is not considered rigging, but offering games that are not random is considered rigging.

Brief description of how video poker machines work

Video poker machines (as well as virtually all machine-based casino games) are based on the results of a programmed random number generator. Being a programmed algorithm, it cannot be truly random. However, it is extremely close to random – close enough to be considered random by gaming regulators.

The random number generator (or RNG) is constantly cycling at a rate of thousands per second. At the instant the player hits the Deal or Draw button, the RNG is sampled and the number(s) retrieved are translated into card(s). The rank and suit are based on the number that was sampled.

This process generates random hands – or close enough to random to pass rigid tests of regulators.

Fair (random) video poker games

Depending on where you play, video poker games may or may not be random – or, in other words, fair. 

The good news is the large United States gaming destinations such as Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Tunica, and many others are controlled by gaming commissions. It is their job to certify the casino games in their jurisdiction are fair (random). 

The same cannot be said for some smaller casinos not under the control of gaming commissions. It also cannot be said about all online video poker games. Large online gaming sites such as 888casino are certified to be fair. 888casino is regulated not only by every state in which they are allowed, but also by the Government of Gibraltar, the UK Gambling Commission, and the Malta Gaming Authority.

If the casino, either land-based or online, is so regulated, you can be assured that the games are fair.

The error in the “proof”

Okay, you may be thinking, if the player in the introduction found that the video poker machines he was playing did not produce the proper frequency of winning hands, how could those games be fair?

That is a very good question. 

Any random event, by definition, cannot be predicted. If I randomly flip a coin, the math says that 50% of the time it will land with heads up and 50% of the time it will land with tails up. It will not, however, necessarily alternate with each flip of the coin. It might start out with three heads, then one tail, then three more heads, then two tails, then heads, then tails, and so on. 

In the previous scenario, the split between heads and tails is never exactly 50/50. However, as the number of random flips continues to grow, the balance between heads and tails will edge closer to 50/50.

The player in the introduction kept data for thousands of hands. Assume the math of a particular video poker game and pay table states that a full house will occur once every 87 hands and a flush will occur once every 91 hands. That in no way means a full house will occur exactly once every 87 hands or a flush exactly once every 91 hands.

In the coin flip situation, it is possible in a random flip that 10 or more heads will appear in a row. Using the same frequency for the video poker hands would amount to one full house in 870 hands and one flush in 910 hands. This, clearly, is nowhere near the mathematical average. However, in the coin toss, the fact the heads came up 10 times, also means that in video poker the full house or flush could, in a random machine, come up several times in a row.

Had the player in the introduction kept track of MILLIONS of hands, the results would be very close to the mathematical average.

Summary 

If rigged means that the game is set for the casino to win, all casino games are rigged. If rigged means random, video poker machines in gambling venues and online sites that are licensed and regulated by authorities, are random. They are considered fair, and therefore not rigged.

Mathematically calculated frequencies are based on an infinite number of events. The higher the number of events, the closer to the mathematical average are the results.

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 slots. 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.