James Grosjean has never been one for mincing words or suffering fools. Still, several years ago, when I bragged to him about having strong card counting skills, I couldn’t help but be taken aback by his response. He told me that he thinks of casino advantage players - that is, sharp people who deploy strategies to beat the games - as evolutionary. “Card counters are salamanders crawling out of the water,” one of the most brilliant, most lauded advantage players in history told me. “Meanwhile, I am a fully evolved human.”

In other words, anyone who wastes time card counting resides at the bottom of blackjack’s evolutionary chain. Argue as I might for the craft that I had proudly learned to excel at, James Grosjean had a point. Card counting is undoubtedly a grind. It requires lots of hours at the gaming table and is easy for casino personnel to detect. While counting cards remain legal, it is frowned upon by the house and you will be booted from the table if it becomes clear that you’re employing it with proficiency.

Happy to be doing things that are more profitable and less obvious, he crowed, “You’re more heated up than I am!”

Worst of all, perhaps, the card counter’s advantage is no more than two percent. “A lot of bad things can happen when you have such a small edge,” Grosjean told me. “It’s why you hear counters talking about having losing years.” His point being that he does not play games where you can plug away for 365 days and wind up in the red. Underscoring it all, not long after our conversation, I heard a story about him paying off a professional gambler who had helped him out with a high-level play. 

As he handed her the money, he cheekily said, “I hope this supports your gambling habit for a while.”

The habit Grosjean referred to, of course, was card counting.

James Grosjean is not alone in thinking this way. Most professional gamblers who made their bones as card counters have moved on to bigger and better things. They bet sports, beat poker, devise strategies for extracting money from various machine games. According to an email exchange between the astute professional gambler Nicholas Colon (himself a former member of the seminal MIT blackjack team) and casino consultant Bill Zender, the number is low enough to make counting sound like a horse and buggy in the age of Henry Ford. “I believe there are only 100 to 125 professional level card counters in all of North America,” Zender wrote.

Clearly, the ranks have thinned. But does that mean card counting is dead? “It’s not dead,” says Colon. “But card counting is on its way out the door. The games are more difficult, the rules are worse than ever and it is getting progressively harder to make any significant money. During the MIT days, it was not uncommon to see someone betting $20,000 on a hand of blackjack. Now it is unheard of.”

Plus, Colon points out, the most advantageous moves will result in swift back-offs.  When warranted by the count, “Splitting 10s and doubling with 10 against the dealer’s 10 can be profitable,” he says. “But you don’t want to take the risk” of being caught and tossed from the table.

Colon’s advice for getting away with card counting? He suggests keeping betting limits low, limiting spreads (the escalation of bets made as the count goes up), learning and deploying obscure counting systems that casino employees might be unfamiliar with, and reserving play for the most opportunistic games. In other words, you should play free blackjack the way pensioners handle their retirement savings: Forsake profitability by being conservative and living to fight another day.

Henry Tamburin, an esteemed expert of the game and a former blackjack pro who’s moved on to greener pastures, believes there are opportunities if you really want to spend your time adding and subtracting ones (which is the way counters keep track of the decks’ status) while looking out for heat. “I try telling people that card counting is not dead but you have to be selective in terms of the games,” Tamburin says. “I would recommend a double-deck game with 1.1 or 1.2 decks before shuffling and make sure that the blackjack rules allow doubling after splitting. Without that rule, I wouldn’t bother if there is not tremendous penetration."

Rocking it old school, Tamburin suggests limiting time at the table to 90 or so minutes, acting like a gambler (high fives all around when the dealer busts; eyes rolled toward the heavens when you do) and breaking out the occasional strategy card. He advises intentionally making rookie blackjack mistakes, keeping one’s bet-spread reasonable and playing with the kind of camouflage that deflects attention even if it crimps profits.

While Tamburin is quick to say that counting is not as easy as it used to be, he does report a bit of a silver lining. At this year’s Blackjack Ball – an annual gathering, held in secret, which attracts the gambling world’s most notorious advantage players – he encountered young guys who “find the good games and make a good living at card counting.”

The really uplifting news, in fact, is that by going against the slow and steady grain, blackjack profits can be mind-blowingly significant. Just ask Richard Munchkin, a seasoned advantage player, co-host of the podcast “Gambling with an Edge” and author of “Gambling Wizards.” For years, Munchkin had been in Grosjean’s camp, writing off card-counting as a strategy with the relevance of an abacus. No longer. “We’ve been having guests on the show who have adopted the attitude of going into casinos, spreading enormously, hiding nothing and playing until they get thrown out,” says Munchkin, sounding pleased. “Some places they last 30 minutes, other places they last three days. Then they move down the road and hit the next place.”

Munchkin likes the take-no-prisoners approach, though he warns that it is not for those averse to travel or gamblers who enjoy eating comped meals at Las Vegas restaurants. “Things are bad for counters in Vegas,” he says. “Over 50 percent of the games pay 6-to-5 [on blackjacks, meaning that a $50 bet yields $60 instead of the $75 paid by 3-to-2 games, which used to be the standard]. Plus, the Vegas casinos are very quick to catch card counters and communicate the information to other casinos.”

Hence, he adds, operating as a serious card counter now means “living out of a suitcase and frequently being on the road.” Advantage players doing really well with the strategy, he adds, “go away for two weeks and have a general itinerary. Several have traveled in RVs.” One key in all of this is to not quit playing until you are asked to. “I heard about one guy who played for weeks and won a million dollars before they threw him out.”

For all of that, though, Munchkin acknowledges that he is out of the counting game and has no plan to get back in any time soon: “The last game I straight counted was in Russia in 2001. It was a special situation with an advantage right off the top. For me, right now, there are better ways to spend my time.”

Then there is Tommy Hyland, another master of blackjack. Unlike Munchkin, he still plugs away at card counting. His assessment of current conditions is very positive. “You can make an argument that card counting now is as good as it has ever been,” he says. “Even though the games used to be better and the casino personnel weren’t smart in the late 70s” – which led to good opportunities back then – “there are so many casinos right now that strong games are out there.”

Hyland’s idea of a good game? “Dealers standing on soft 17, good penetration, the number of decks [less is better] and surrender. Surrender is an underrated thing. It may not be worth much off the top [at the beginning of a shoe] but it is good when the count gets high. It is good for fluctuation.”

Making things even better, according to Hyland, is the reality that the proliferation of casino gambling in America does not result in increased intelligence among those who run the joints. In fact, he maintains, quite the opposite is true. “I don’t think casino people, in general, are very smart,” says Hyland. “Now, with so many casinos, the smart ones are spread thin. They can’t watch everybody all the time and you can get in some hours before they get you.”

Considering that, he agrees with the approach of hitting blackjack tables with guns blazing and not letting up until you’re forced to. “I’ve played aggressively my whole life,” says Hyland. “I never played with much camouflage or cover. I always thought it was important to play for the money. If you play a tame game and have a very little edge, you take a chance with your casino bankroll.”

As for those who preach the gospel of playing for longevity, Hyland shrugs it off. With casinos spread across 30 states, being ejected from a blackjack table is not something he stresses about. “You can always find somewhere else to play,” he says. “Then, by the time you get thrown out of all the casinos, you go back to the first one and start all over again.”

This exploration deals specifically with American roulette, which has a 0 and 00 space. This really doesn't make much of a difference for the purposes of this discussion except when we talk about the exact number the ball will land in if it rolls N number of spaces. European wheel players have a lower house edge at roulette approx 2.7 instead of 5.2 as well as a better roulette culture. The American wheel derivations presented here can easily be translated to the European wheel with just a little effort.

If you're betting one chip per spin on either wheel, you need to hit on average once out of every 36 spins to take the house edge to zero. If you can hit once out of every 35 spins, your edge will be 2.86%; once out of every 34 spins, 5.88%; once out of every 33 spins, 9.09%. So remember the ideas do not have to hit every time and even a little skill goes a long way when applying the visual roulette prediction methods.

CAN YOU WIN AT AMERICAN ROULETTE?

In the almost two decades I’ve been in casino gaming I have come across a number of roulette system sellers; books and DVD products put out on legitimate to semi-legitimate to completely absurd methods for beating roulette. I’ve been taught methods in person by people who have proven they know how to beat roulette under a very specific set of conditions. So the answer is YES, but only sometimes.

AMERICAN ROULETTE: THE HOW AND WHY

 As stated a few things need to happen for a skilled player to start attacking Roulette.

1. First, you must find a wheel with a predictable ball fall-off point. This is where the ball actually leaves the track and begins bouncing on the wheel before it settles into a basket. This is done by finding a croupier who has a predictable initially velocity as well as a consistent launch point.
2. You must be able to determine the approximate point within revolution at which to make your prediction. This is three to four revolutions before the ball actually drops from the track and into the basket.
3. You must make your prediction based upon a visual observation of the ball in relation to both the position and velocity of the wheel. This is essentially a complex roulette physics problem, but fortunately for us, we only need an approximation and not the exact answer. This is why computers are outlawed for roulette because they can get the exact answer. Finally, you must place your bets on the layout all before the dealer says no more bets.

The traditional roulette strategy of betting once a player had his prediction has been to bet a sector of the wheel. This is ¼ of the wheel, or nine consecutive numbers on the wheel in the area of where you predict the ball will land, 4 on either side of your number. Some visual roulette players suggest betting a random subset of other sectors to camouflage your play. This will not make much difference to your EV. 

Older deep-pocket wheels could be beaten in this way. There are a number of problems with this method in actual casino play. Essentially, The modern game, as dealt in the US, on modern low-profile wheels, makes it impossible to make any money with these methods. This article will not discuss these problems but will give enough information to leave readers in a position to begin to win at roulette (at least those who are willing to practice and develop the necessary skill set.) 

For now, it’s important that readers understand that the traditional method of winning at Roulette. Everyone who is a successful visual roulette predictor has used it as their foundation much like the basic strategy is for blackjack players.

DEFINITIONS

Rotor: The rotor is the spinning part of a roulette wheel. It contains the numbered pockets where the ball will land.

Stator: The stator is the stationary part of a roulette wheel. It contains the spindle on which the rotor turns, as well as the sloped track that holds the spinning ball and the apron where the deflectors are located. The ball must pass across the apron, and through the deflectors, to enter the rotor and a numbered pocket.

Deflectors: Deflectors are the vertical and horizontal obstacles on the apron leading to the rotor. They are typically thicker and wider in the center, and thinner at the ends. They are spaced evenly and symmetrically around the wheel, with alternating vertical and horizontal obstacles. Most casino roulette wheels have 8 deflectors; a few older wheels have 16.

Frets: Frets are the dividers between the numbered pockets on the rotor.

Apron: The slanted surface on which the deflectors are placed, located between the roulette wheel track and the spinning rotor.

Wheel Track: A slightly sloped track on the vertical side of the stator that holds the ball in its spin around the outside of the wheel before it drops onto the rotor and into one of the numbered pockets.

AN EXPLANATION OF BALL ROLL

Assume for a moment that you are trying to predict where a roulette ball will land on a stationary wheel. The casino dealer has launched the ball into its spin an initial velocity. If you knew that velocity and exactly how much energy the ball dissipated on a revolution around the wheel track, you would be able to predict the numbered pocket under the point where the ball was going to fall off the track.

When the ball falls off the track its remaining velocity is not sufficient to keep it spinning fast enough to sustain its position on the nearly vertical track, but there is still a given amount of velocity remaining from the launch that must be dissipated before the ball can come to rest in a pocket. The velocity at the moment of fall-off will be approximately consistent from spin to spin. The point of fall-off, the ball will have a given its initial velocity, essentially is equal because the fall of velocity is equal each time because velocity needs dissipate in its roll before it can come to rest in a pocket.

If the ball’s path from the wheel track to the numbered pockets on the rotor is free of obstacles, the remaining launch energy will be dissipated in a pretty consistent way. Sometimes the ball will hit a pocket in such a way that it makes contact with a lower portion of a fret and then flies out of the pocket in such a way that it will skip over the next fret or two before making contact with another fret. Other times the ball will skip in a more consistent way across the tops of the frets, lightly hitting each one in its path.

In either case, the distance the ball will roll across the numbered pockets will be remarkably consistent. When a ball flies across several frets without touching them, it avoids dissipating the energy it would have lost in contact with those frets. But in order for a ball to take flight over several frets, it requires a certain kind of contact with an initial fret when the ball has too much energy to stop. In fact, that the ball is propelled out of the pocket into flight. The distance the ball then travels before stopping in a pocket is about the same as the distance it would have traveled if it had lightly touched and skipped across several frets.

You will see some rolls where stranger things happen.

There are some things that truly randomizes where ball roll will land. For instance when a wheel that’s spinning so fast that the ball’s first contact with a fret hurls the ball entirely out of the wheel and up into the air. 

Ed Thorp who invented the first roulette computer and card counting calls the behavior of the ball upon hitting the frets “spatter,” and notes, correctly, that it has some randomizing effect, but not enough, according to his measurements to deter him from developing the roulette computer. The spatter tends to look a lot crazier than it really is, and that overall a fixed amount of energy tends to take a ball a fixed distance across the numbered pockets on a rotor, especially on the newer wheels with low frets that now dominate the game in Las Vegas and most of the U.S. 

These are very broad strokes for players, but it should be enough to convince the active student that it is possible to beat the game of live roulette. Unfortunately, a significant investment of either time or money is required to practice and see the patterns emerge. So the next time you’re at a casino have a look at the wheels and pay attention to what was discussed here as it is acted out on the casino floor and you will be on your way to becoming a visual roulette predictor. 

Those who play video poker with any regularity generally have one or two favorite games they play. It may be some of my favorites such as Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild, or Double Bonus Poker – games which have a high payback and low variance. Others prefer a bit higher risk, if it gives them a shot at more “jackpot” sized payoffs – such as Double-Double Bonus Poker. Still others – usually those who don’t play very regularly – will try any game they come across and try to get lucky. If you're playing video poker regularly and find yourself getting a little bored with the same low-variance game, you might consider trying Ultimate X Video Poker.

• Warning: This game is not for the faint of heart.

DESCRIPTION

Ultimate X Video Poker is a variant of video poker that plays the same as standard video poker when playing one to five credits per line. The real allure of this game, however, comes when the player doubles the max bet from five to 10 credits per line. When this happens, each winning line sets up a multiplier for that line on the next game played.

• Ultimate X Poker is manufactured by IGT and is available in several of the more popular games types.
• These include Jacks or Better, Bonus Poker, Bonus Poker Deluxe, Double Bonus Poker, Double-Double Bonus Poker, Deuces Wild, Joker Poker, and Triple Double Bonus.
• Ultimate X games are available in 3-play, 5-play and 10-play variations.
• Most machines offer multiple denominations ranging from five cents through 25 cents.
• It takes 10 credits per line to activate the Ultimate X feature.
• This means: 
  • On a nickel 10-line game the total bet per game is five dollars - 10 nickels (50 cents) per line for 10 lines.
  • On a 25-cent game, the full 10-play bet comes to 25 dollars. 

MULTIPLIERS AND RETURN

The multipliers for winning hands vary depending on the type of game, pay table, and the number of lines per game. Here is an example of the pay table and multipliers from actual Ultimate X Bonus Poker games. The table below shows the returns for 3-play, 5-play, and 10-play games. The multipliers increase a bit as the number of plays increases. The return for a standard 6/5 Bonus Poker game is 96.87 percent.

The multipliers increase the return by about 1.5 percent making a miserable return for a standard 6/5 Bonus Poker game a merely not so good return in Ultimate X. Keep in mind that better pay tables are available – they just might be a bit difficult to ferret out.

Most Ultimate X pay tables are configured at less than “full-pay” levels (as in the example above). The multipliers raise the returns. Several examples for video poker games are shown below.

 

 

 

 

Notice the improved returns for the Ultimate X games. In fact, the 9/6 Double-Double Bonus Poker return is better than full pay (9/6) Jacks or Better standard play making this game the most popular Ultimate X game.

HOW TO PLAY ULTIMATE X POKER

To help understand how this game is played, some samples of play are very helpful. 

The illustration of a three-play 7/4 bonus poker game below shows a screen after 10 credits per line for three lines (a total of 30) are bet and “Deal” or “Bet Max” button is pressed. Notice the “Ultimate X Poker ACTIVE!” in the lower right portion of the screen. This is the player’s confirmation the feature is activated.

One line is dealt. The player then holds the desired cards (in this case the pair of aces). This is a good situation since each of the three lines is a guaranteed video poker winner.

This is what the screen looks like after the aces are held. The player then hits the “Draw” button. The aces are held for all three lines and the three remaining cards in each line are filled by a separate deck with the 47 cards remaining for each line.

Unfortunately, none of the lines improved, and even though each line is a winner, the player lost money on this hand (bet 30, paid 15). However, a winning hand on the next game on any of the three lines will win two times the normal amount as indicated by the “Next Hand 2X” to the left of each line. 

Another 30 credits are bet and the next hand is dealt.

The “Ultimate X Poker ACTIVE!” is again displayed in the lower right corner of the screen. In addition, a “2X” is also displayed to the left of each line indicating that a win on these lines will be doubled.

This time the initial line contains two pair. This, combined with the “2X” multipliers, guarantees this hand will be a money maker as the least that will be won (with the proper hold) will be 10 credits per line which will be doubled to 20 credits per line for a total of 60 credits.

The player properly holds the kings and 5’s and hits “Draw”.

None of the lines are improved from the two pairs, so the player gets 60 credits added to the credit meter and is up for this session. Any winning lines on the next hand will have the pays tripled as indicated by the “Next Hand 3X” to the left of each line.

Another 30 credits are bet and “Deal” or “Bet Max” button is hit

This time the proper hold for this 7/4 Bonus Poker game is the two high cards, which are held.

The two bottom lines are winners with a high pair in each. Thanks to the “3X” multipliers, this hand breaks even. Winners on the next hand in the bottom two lines will have the win amounts doubled.

Another 30 credits bet, the “Deal” or “Bet Max” button is pressed.

The pair of 9’s is held

The “Draw” button is pressed.

The top and bottom line are both winners with two pair in each. Because of the “2X” multiplier on the bottom line, the player breaks even on this hand. Winners on the top or bottom line of the next hand will have the win amount tripled.

Hopefully, the above examples gave you a good feel for how the game is played. 

STRATEGY

Obviously, the strategy changes slightly from the standard game due to the multipliers. Those hands with a higher multiplier will tend to be favored a bit more. To play perfect optimal video poker strategy would require a separate playing strategy for each different multiplier table. In video poker practice, however, a single strategy per game yields excellent results. 

VARIANCE

Playing Ultimate X is like riding a roller coaster – an extreme roller coaster. The sample hands that are shown above turned out well for the player. However, due to the nature of Ultimate X Poker and the double the standard max bet required to activate the Ultimate X feature, the variance of this game is extremely high. If you get a high multiplier winning hand dealt and winning hands on the following game, credits come flooding in. But as seen by the first winning hand in the samples, not all winning hands (even if dealt to you) mean you make a profit. If you hit even a fairly minor losing streak, your bankroll for video poker is vanished before your eyes. To play this game, a properly sized bankroll is an absolute must.

ONE WORD OF CAUTION

Before you leave a game, make sure you play off any multipliers that remain. Don’t leave them for the next player. You earned then – use them. In this case, however, only bet five credits per line. You are leaving. You won’t be playing any multipliers the next game. Also, when you first sit down, run through the game types to check for any stray multipliers that may have been left. Play them with just five credits per line – no sense wasting an additional five credits per line hoping for multipliers on the next hand.

ENJOY, AND...

• Look for the best video poker strategy return available.
• Have the proper strategy for the game and pay table you select.
• Limit your exposure to what you can afford to lose.

There are times craps shooters are cold, times they're hot, and times they're on fire. It's for those time shooters are burning through the points that the craps fire bet was devised.

Win the fire bet, and you could walk away with a 999-1 payoff, turning a $1 side bet into a cool $1,000. That's the kind of payoff not available on standard craps, where the pass line pays even money and long shots such as bets on 2 or 12 reach only 30-1.

This fire bets craps strategy is there for the same reason Caribbean Stud Poker has it progressive side bet and some casinos offer the Lucky Ladies side bet in blackjack. It adds excitement for players who love long shots and live for jackpots.

It's not for everyone. Big payoffs require long odds, and the odds against winning the fire bet are longer than those on any other craps wagers.

WHAT IS THE CRAPS FIRE BET?

The fire bet is a wager the shooter will make at least four different points on the pass line before sevening out.

They have to be different numbers — the shooter could make four 6s in a row, and that would count as only one number.

As craps players know, there are six potential point numbers: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 or 10. In the most common fire bet pay table, making four of that point pay 24-1, making five of them pays 249-1 and making all six pays the big jackpot of 999-1.

HOW TO PLAY THE CRAPS FIRE BET

Not all offline and online casinos offer the fire bet. At those that do, here are the set of rules for craps fire bets:

1. You begin on the comeout roll by putting your chip or chips on the layout and telling the dealer you want the fire bet.
2. Comeout wins on 7 or 11 or comeout losses on 2, 3 or 12 do not affect the fire bet. In fact, as long as those are the only results, you may take your bet down.
3. Once the shooter establishes his first point, the fire bet must stay in action until it wins or loses.
4. If the shooter makes a point, a dealer puts a fire disk on that number. Play then moves on to another comeout. 
5. If the shooter then establishes a different point number and makes it, a dealer puts a fire disk on that number, too. The same procedure would follow if the shooter made additional points.
6. Anytime the shooter makes a point he already has made, no additional fire disk is placed on the layout. Disks are added only after points made for the first time in the fire sequence.
7. If the shooter sevens out with zero, one, two or three fire disk covering made points, then you lose your fire bet.
8. If the shooter sevens out with four or five fire disks on the layout, or if he makes all six points without sevening out, then you're paid according to the pay table.

CRAPS FIRE BET ODDS

You will win at craps by using the fire bets slightly more than 1 percent of the time.

There are several pay tables available, but the most commonly used are:

• 24-1 on four numbers made
• 249-1 on five numbers and 999-1 on five numbers.

It's common for casinos to list the fire bet at odds-for-1 so they can display a nice, even, 1,000-unit payoff for six numbers made. A 1,000-for-1 payoff is the same as 999-to-1. If you bet $1 and the shooter makes six numbers, you get your $1 bet back and collect $999 in winnings for a total of $1,000.

Calculations are complex because of the need to make specific numbers. If the shooter starts by making a point 6, then he needs to make 4, 5, 8, 9 or 10, and making another 6 doesn't help the cause. If he then makes a point 10, he then needs to make 4, 5, 8 or 9, and neither 6 nor 10 help, and so on.

Because of that, calculation's can't strictly focus on odds of making a point. They have to include odds of making a point in a decreasing field of available numbers.

Michael Shackelford calculated the chances of the shooter making four different points before sevening out at 0.88 percent.

Multiply that 0.0088 chance by 24 -- reflecting the 24-1 payoff, and you get 0.211. Basically, four points give you back 21 cents of every dollar you wager.

There's a 0.164 percent chance of making five in a row -- 0.00164 time 100 to convert to percent. Multiply 0.00164 times 249 to reflect the payoff, and you get 0.408, meaning winning with five numbers get you about 41 cents per dollar wagered.

Finally, there's a 0.0162 percent chance of making six in a row, or 0.000162 times 100 to convert to percent. Multiply 0.000162 times 999 for the payoff, and you get 0.162. The shooter making all six numbers gets you 16 cents per dollar wagered.

Add up all the paybacks, and you see that the average return for all craps winners combined is about 78 cents per dollar wagered. There are some rounding issues at work, and the total return really is a bit more than 79 cents.

That leaves a house edge of just under 21 percent -- 20.8 percent, to be a bit more precise.

More rarely seen pay tables include one that returns only 10-1 on four numbers and 200-1 on five, but pays a big 2,000-1 jackpot on six. The house edge is 24.9 percent.

Another starts payoffs at 6-1 on only three numbers, then pays 29-1 on four numbers, 149-1 on five and a smaller than usual jackpot of 299-1 on all six.

Any of those house edges are higher than others at craps, which usually maxes ou at a 16.67 percent edge on any seven.

Craps players who are happy to try to grind out a profit on low house-edge bets such a pass plus free odds will see the fire bet as one to avoid.

But for long-shot players who revel in jackpot chances, a hot shooter and the fire bet go together like smoke and flames.

FreePlay vouchers are readily available to online casino players across a wide range of attractions including table games, card games, and slots games. FreePlay is essentially that – Free Play. FreePlay vouchers are offered in specific amounts that can be used for playing online casino games. The beauty of FreePlay offers is that it is possible to win jackpots with these vouchers. Reputable online casinos provide ongoing FreePlay promotions to players. Players are not typically required to make a deposit to be awarded a FreePlay voucher.

When funds are limited, you can always boost your gambling bankroll with a FreePlay offer. When it comes to real money play, every spin, and every draw matters. That’s why FreePlay is a valuable resource to boost your chances of winning. FreePlay bonuses are usually provided to players for specific casino games. For example, you may be offered a casino freeplay voucher for slots games. You can then divide this FreePlay bonus among your preferred slots and win for real.

Qualifying for a FreePlay offer is easier than you might imagine. Every FreePlay promotion provides specific details about how to receive your bonus. Be advised that wins which accumulate through FreePlay gaming are subject to the wagering terms and conditions associated with the FreePlay bonus. You will need to use the whole FreePlay amount before you can withdraw your winnings. There are notable differences between FreePlay offers and it’s important to understand these differences. Some FreePlay offers may require you to make a deposit first before you can withdraw any of your winnings.

Freeplay promos may be associated with x 30 wagering requirements indicating that you need to bet at least 30 times the bonus amount + deposit before you can make a withdrawal. Fortunately, online casinos provide detailed instructions on how to qualify for FreePlay bonuses via email notifications. What is FreePlay worth to you as a player in terms of winning a jackpot? FreePlay offers do not prevent you from winning a jackpot. On the contrary, FreePlay gaming is the same as real money gaming – it’s simply a promotional offer provided to you by the online casino. FreePlay vouchers can be spent on an exciting selection of online slots games, card games, and table games.

HOW DO YOU CLAIM A FREEPLAY BONUS?

Online casinos typically send FreePlay offers to their players via email. When you register at an online casino, you have the option to specify email or no mail. It’s always a good idea to accept email updates from online casinos – that way you’ll never miss out on specials and promotional offers. Daily, weekly, or monthly casino promotions may include generous Free Play vouchers for players. 

You may be wondering why casinos offer players FreePlay vouchers. This is a fair question. Casinos face stiff competition from other casinos, and one of the ways they can gain an advantage over the competition is by providing incentives to players in the form of Free Play coupons and vouchers. These incentivized gambling options really work. Not only are they the same as free cash, they also allow you to play real money games and win real money jackpots. Casinos understand the risks involved in giving players free spins, or free games. The random nature of online casino games ensures that players have a real shot at winning every time they spin slots reels, roulette wheels, or draw cards.

 

GETTING REELED IN WITH FREEPLAY OFFERS

FreePlay offers should be thought of as bait used by casinos to get you to play, hoping that you will spend money on many other online casino games as well. Some players are fortunate enough to win life-changing jackpots off FreePlay offers, while others may simply break even and enjoy an extended gaming session. Everyone gets to enjoy the benefits of FreePlay options – including low rollers and high rollers. It’s always a good idea to use your FreePlay vouches on games where you stand a high chance of winning. Slots games have a much lower RTP than blackjack and baccarat games. If your FreePlay vouchers are limited to games with a lower RTP, they may be less beneficial to you then games like craps, blackjack and baccarat.

Players must ask themselves several questions when receiving a FreePlay bonus. These include the nature of the FreePlay bonus offer. In other words, can you use the FreePlay bonus in increments, or does it have to be used all at once? If players are using FreePlay vouchers on craps, are specific bets permitted? The most player-friendly bets in craps include pass and don’t pass. If it is possible to use FreePlay vouchers on games with a low house edge, they can be hugely beneficial. Another important point to consider is what happens when you win using a FreePlay bet. Will the casino keep your winnings? Will you have to re-bet? When do the FreePlay vouchers expire? 

Casino aficionados advise players to claim a FreePlay bonus to try games that they otherwise would not have tried at the casino. For example, if the cost of playing live blackjack is too prohibitive for you, use a FreePlay bonus to cash in and learn the ins and outs of blackjack play. For many online casinos, it’s a no-brainer: FreePlay is a great way to give something of value to a player, without actually giving anything at all. Since most casino games are chance-based attractions, and each FreePlay is associated with wagering terms and conditions, you must meet the T&C to cash out your winnings from the bonus.

Many players prefer to use FreePlay offers on slots games since no skills or strategies are required to win these games. Everyone approaches a gaming session with a set bankroll. If you have $300 and you expect to play slots games for 3 hours, that translates into an hourly burn rate of $100. With a FreePlay offer, you can increase the length of your gaming sessions and improve the likelihood that you will win a prize in the process. Consider that slots games can pay out handsomely at any time. You may win a jackpot on your very first spin, your 100th spin, or not at all. It is completely based on chance. 

People rightly believe that the longer they play, the greater the likelihood that a generous prize will come their way. With FreePlay vouchers, you are putting yourself in contention to win a jackpot. Players should always maximize every possible opportunity to extend their gaming sessions at no cost to themselves. Bonuses, promotions, free spins, FreePlay vouchers and the like have proven to be highly profitable for players. Casino experts recommend that players examine the terms and conditions of FreePlay offers beforehand, to ensure that any and all winnings can be cashed out in a timely fashion. With FreePlay, you are not spending your own money – you are being gifted complimentary gambling cash (vouchers, comp points, free spins etcetera) to participate in real money gaming sessions.

YOU CAN’T DO A RUNNER WITH FREEPLAY OFFERS

Contrary to popular opinion, slot machines do not go cold when you use FreePlay vouchers to play. Truth be told, an increasing number of social gaming sites, online casinos, online poker rooms and the like are now using FreePlay to incentivize gaming activity. These may be in the form of matching deposit offers whereby you spend $20 and get $20 in FreePlay etcetera. If you’re thinking of pulling a runner on the casino, think again. FreePlay masquerades as free cash – but it’s actually in-game cash only.

You cannot withdraw the FreePlay money and make a run for it. If you play your proverbial cards right, you will be able to benefit from a FreePlay offer provided you don’t overspend by trying to meet the FreePlay requirements. It’s always a good idea to split your gaming activity into multiple sessions. That way you don’t play on tilt, and you won’t be chasing your losses to satisfy the playthrough requirements. 

Just in case you were wondering whether RNGs (random number generators) care about FreePlay or real money play – they don’t. It’s all the same. Gaming experts recommend that players keep a log of their FreePlay, free spins, and other promotional offers vis-a-vis how many spins or deals you have, and the number of wins you are accumulating along the way. Once you start investing more than you’re getting back, take a breather and come back to play another day.

What follows is the correct way to play any blackjack hand dealt to you when the dealer’s upcard is a 4. The strategy is not that difficult to remember since it is virtually the same regardless of the number of decks of cards being used and the mix of playing rules. In one instance, however, it also depends on the composition of the cards that comprise your hand and the number of decks of cards being used.

I’ll begin explaining the strategy using a base game, specifically, a multi-deck game with S17 and DAS.  I’ll use the following standard notations. This strategy is good for both offline and online blackjack.

S17 = Dealer must stand on soft 17
H17 = Dealer must hit soft 17
DAS = Doubling down after pair splitting is allowed
NDAS = Doubling down after pair splitting is not allowed
H = Hit
S = Stand
P = Split
Dh = Double down if allowed; otherwise, hit
Ds = Double down if allowed; otherwise, stand

MULTI-DECK GAME WITH S17 AND DAS

Against a dealer’s 4 upcard, you should play your hands as follows.

Hit if holding:

• Hard 5 through 8
• A-2 and A-3
• Pair of 4s

Stand if holding:

• Hard 12 through17
• A-8 and A-9
• Pair of 10s

Split if holding:

• Pair of As, 2s, 3s, and 6s through 9s.

Double down if allowed, otherwise hit, if holding:

• Hard 9, 10, and 11
• A-4, A-5, and A-6
• Pair of 5s

Double down if allowed, otherwise stand, if holding:

• A-7

Below is the corresponding playing strategy arranged into three color-coded tables for Hard Hands, Soft Hands, and Pairs. The first row represents the player’s hand (in the case of hard hands, it represents the total count of the cards), and the second row contains the correct playing strategy against a dealer’s 4 upcard with S17 and DAS.

WHAT IF THE RULES ARE NDAS INSTEAD OF DAS OR H17 INSTEAD OF S17?

You are in luck because the above strategy is the same, meaning:

• When the dealer shows a 4 upcard, regardless of the mix of blackjack rules in a multi-deck game, you can use the above playing strategy.

WHAT IF YOU ARE PLAYING A DOUBLE-DECK GAME?

More good news! The blackjack strategy for any double-deck game is identical to the corresponding multiple-deck game except for one change:

• If the rules specify h17 (with either DAS or NDAS), you should double down A-3, if allowed, otherwise hit.

WHAT IF YOU ARE PLAYING A SINGLE-DECK GAME?

Compared to the above multi-deck playing strategy, there are several strategy changes:

• Regardless of the mix of rules, double down A-2 and A-3 (instead of hitting) if allowed; otherwise, hit. 

• If the rules specify DAS, split a pair of 4s (instead of hitting)

FOR MORE PRECISION

You can gain some precision in your playing accuracy if you take into consideration the composition of the cards that comprise your 12 against a dealer’s 4 upcard. 

• In a single- or double-deck game with any mix of playing rules, hit 10-2 against a  dealer’s 4 upcard (rather than stand), and
• In an eight-deck game with S17, hit 10-2 against a dealer 4 upcard (rather than stand).

PRACTICE PLAY

To be sure you have the strategy down pat for playing your hand against a dealer’s 4 upcard, determine how you would play each of the 10 hands listed below, jot down your decision on paper, and then check it against the correct play at the end of this article. (Your goal is to be able to play every hand accurately, regardless of the number of decks of cards or mix of playing rules.)

For more playing strategy tips, consult Blackjack Charts chapter in my Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Guide.

Correct plays for the hands in the table are:

 

For nearly as long as there have been slot machines, there have been unsavory players who have tried to beat them using illegal means. Cheating at slot machines became a hot topic in 2017 when a team of Russian engineers was found to be using a high-tech road to ill-gotten gains. But players have cheated with methods as low-tech as putting a coin on a string and yanking it back out after it tripped the coin-counting mechanism.

The methods listed here have been used in live casinos. Cheating online slots require inside information on pseudo-random number generator programming -- slot machne cheats would have to crack the algorithm and be able to anticipate when winning numbers would be generated.

All the slot machine cheats on the list are strictly illegal, and most no longer works as slots have evolved to combat cheaters. Gaming jurisdictions take attempts to cheating very seriously, and those caught trying face felony charges and long prison sentences.

Do not try any of these, as we start from low-tech cheats and work up to the Russian scam.

SLOT MACHINE CHEATS

CHEAT #1: COIN ON A STRING

This is about as low-tech as it can get. Cheaters would attach a string to a coin and drop the coin into the slot. After the coin tripped the slot counting mechanism and credits were registered, cheaters would pull the coin back out and use it again.

In their 1988 book "Slot Machine Mania," Dwight and Louise Crevelt tell of playing video poker that jammed. When a slot tech cleared it up, he found a coin with a small hole drilled into it, and a nylon string fitted through the hole.

The previous player had been using the coin on a string trick and left when he lost his coin.

This method and the next several rely on machines accepting coins as wagers and/or paying out in coins. That makes them obsolete on newer model games that do not have coin heads.

However, older games remain in place in some casinos, so the coin game hasn't disappeared completely.

CHEAT #2: SLUGS AND FOREIGN COINS

 

In the 1980s, a Nevada hardware manufacturer sold a line of washers that, coincidentally, were the same size and weight as U.S. coins. Slot machine cheats took full advantage, and these non-coins were found in machines all over the state.

Coins from other nations sometimes have been used for slot play at less than full cost, too. Mexican one-peso coins issued in 1985 were worth only about half an American cent, but were accepted as quarters -- 25-cent pieces -- in some U.S. slot machines and vending machines.

Other coins from other places at other times have been found to work in place of the intended wagering units. If there are ways to wager for full-scale payoffs with lower-cost slugs or foreign coins, cheaters will take the advantage at slots.

In modern machines that do not accept coins, the equivalent cheating method is using the counterfeit paper money. Casinos are only too well aware of the cheating potential there, and constantly work with manufacturers of bill validators that scan money to make sure it's legal tender\before putting credits on the meter.

CHEAT #3: SPOONING

In the days before payouts by ticket printer, and even before there were coin hoppers paying from a pool of coins, slots used coin tubes to stack coins for payouts.

Slides under the tubes would slide to open and shut the way for coins to fall out for payoffs. Cheaters used a spoon-shaped tool to hold the slide open. Then, instead of the tube dropping the intended number of coins, it would drop all the coins it held.

CHEAT #4: HOLDING THE BAG

 

This one wasn't for players. Instead, it benefited casino employees who tried make their own illegal slot machine tips method, at least until they were caught, fired and arrested.

Machines that use coins have to be filled, and hopper fills require huge bags with hundreds of coins.

In emptying the bag into a hopper, attendants would pinch a coin or two into a corner of the bag. The hopper would be a couple of coins short, and the attendant would be a couple of coins richer.

Repeat that by dozens of fills a day, and it was a temptation a few dishonest employees couldn't resist.

CHEAT #5: MAGNETIC FIELD

 

Today's machines have been protected from outside influence by magnetism, but machines of the 1960s and 1970s were vulnerable.

On some machines, a strong magnet on the outside could make slot reels float freely instead of stopping where intended. When the reels reached a winning combination, the cheaters would remove the magnet and claim the payout indicated by the reel symbols.

Today, not only are the machines shielded, the slot machines payouts aren't determined by what you see on the reels. They're determined by the random number generator. 

If a jackpot combination showed on the reels and you weren't paid, you could ask an attendant to check. The attendant could then check the record of where the RNG stopped, and if the RNG didn't show a jackpot combination, the casino could refuse to pay you.

CHEAT #6: INSIDE THE MACHINE

Arrests were made in Nevada in the 1990s after an attempt to cheat a Big Bertha slot machine -- a tall, wide, more than a man-sized machine that you sometimes see as an attention-getter in large casinos.

A crowd gathered around to obscure what was going on from view. The machine's door was partially opened, and a woman climbed into the machine. After she manipulated reels into a position to win at slots, she came back out and the slot door was shut.

Everything looked normal to passers-by, but security guards caught the cheaters and held them for arrest.

CHEAT #7: THE MONKEY PAW

One of several cheating tools developed by Tommy Glenn Carmichael, the monkey paw enabled a cheater to trip the slot machine mechanism payout and collect coins without wagering.

Carmichael was notorious, inventing ways to cheat slot machines for nearly 40 years before he finally served prison time and had two homes seized by the government. He then turned to helping stop cheaters instead and worked with the Nevada Gaming Commission to develop "The Protector," which blocks cheating devices that are inserted into machines.

The monkey paw was made of a guitar string attached to a metal wand and was worked through an air vent trip a microswitch that would then trigger a payout.

CHEAT #8: THE LIGHT WAND

Another Carmichael invention, the light wand was an adaptation used after slot manufacturers started using random number generators in fully electronic slots. 

Instead of tripping a physical switch, the light wand was designed to trip an electronic sensor. The device still needed to be worked up the payout chute, but this time a light would trigger the sensor to start a payout.

Carmichael also was responsible for the top-bottom joint, used before either the monkey paw or the light wand. The top was a metal rod, bent on one end, and the bottom was a long wire. Cheaters would run the bottom up through the coin chute and use the top to jam the coin slot. The combination would trigger the payout mechanism.

The heyday of the top-bottom lasted into the early 1980s before safeguards adopted by casinos led Carmichael to invent the monkey paw and the light wand.

CHEAT #9: ENGINEERED FOR FRAUD

The Nevada Gaming Commission employed Ronald Dale Harris as an engineer, and he worked on monitoring and auditing systems for electronic gaming devices.

Through his work, he knew some machines' source codes and he used that to his own advantage. Harris was arrested in New Jersey in 1995 for using his inside information in slot machines basic computer program that enabled him to win $100,000 on a video keno game.

CHEAT #10: CRACKING THE RNG

Although we use "random number generator" for short, nearly all slot machines, live and online, use "pseudo-random number generators."

They start with a seed number, then use an algorithm to calculate numbers. The result comes so close to random that expected results given the odds of the game hold up, and there is no pattern discernable from the outside.

The Russian scam on slot machine cheats had inside information and worked until broken up by arrests in the United States in 2017. Casino gambling was banned in most of Russia in 2009, and thousands of slot machines were sold off. 

A team in St. Petersburg got hold of Aristocrat Mark VI slot machines, dismantled them and basically reverse-engineered the RNGs to crack the algorithm.

They then had operatives in casinos that had these older-model games to use their phones to record and transmit video of spins back to St. Petersburg. When the St. Peterburg team had enough information – about two dozen spins would do – they would use the algorithm to calculate when a big winning spin would come.

The operative then would receive a message to play. The phone would buzz and the player would hit the button. A quarter-second delay was built into the timing of the message because tests had shown it would take that long after feeling the buzz for the player to hit the button.

Four operatives who worked the scam in the American states of Missouri and Illinois were arrested on federal charges of conspiracy to commit fraud.

Slot manufacturers are extremely security conscious in designing their games, but in the absence of pure randomness, a team of clever engineers who have access to the machines can be tough to stop.

Column betting isn’t the first choice for most offline and online roulette players. However, if you’re serious about winning you shouldn’t overlook these three, 2:1 pay-out betting options. Look at the three sets of 12 numbers relating to each of the columns below. 

1st Column: 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34
2nd Column: 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35
3rd Column: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36

If you wager $10 on one of the Roulette columns, (disregarding the single zero for the time being…I’ll address that later) you have a 1 in 3 chance of winning. A win will return you $30 of which $10 is your recovered wager and $20 is your profit. When you select one column there are 24 numbers from the two remaining columns that can cause you to lose. (2 to 1 against your wager winning).

If you bet one column 9 times and won 3 outcomes, you would be at the breakeven point. Win one more outcome beyond the 1/3 division and you’ll be making a profit of two units. Roulette column betting seems like a decent game given the potential of winning two units against standing to lose one unit each game, even though there are two columns against your one. 

But knowing what Roulette column to follow, or what column to switch to betting is where the real game begins. If 1 in every 2 decisions, you make are correct, you’ll be making money. But if you only win 1 in 4 you’ll be losing money. 

If you want to find out how good your Roulette prediction skills are, column betting is the game for you. And if you’d rather follow the rules of a logical Roulette strategy, then read on because I’m going to show you why COLUMN BETTING can be just as exciting as betting on a random set of 12 INDIVIDUAL ROULETTE NUMBERS.

ROULETTE BETTING SYSTEM 1: COLUMN RANKING

During the process of testing and improving my betting methods, I discovered a bias in how well each set of column numbers are connected on a wheel.

In live Roulette a dealer sets the games in motion:

New live Roulette games begin from the numbered pocket a ball last landed in. A dealer picks up the ball and rotates the wheel in the opposite direction it turned in the previous game. At almost the same time the dealer flicks the ball into the ball track causing it to spin against the direction of the wheel.

Ball-wheel relationship:

From my research there’s around a 70% chance a ball will ultimately end up landing in a pocket close to where it last settled (Home pocket connections) or almost directly opposite the wheel within the distance of a few pockets (Away pocket connections) despite the journey and drama (spins, knocks and bounces) of a ball on its way to one of the 37 pockets.

Randomness:

You might say order can’t be formed out of randomness and Roulette is a random game of chance. Whilst Roulette is a random game of chance you can try winning using logic as a means of combating the problem of randomness.

For instance, divide the wheel into quarters (from any point of the wheel) so that a ball must come to land in one of four quarters. 

1. So, a ball will either return to the same quarter OR
2. Land opposite the previous winning pocket within the distance of a few pockets OR
3. Land in one of the other two remaining quarters.

Though regarding point 3. Even when a ball doesn’t result in Home or Away connecting column pockets, the other two quarters also contain numbered pockets belonging to the same set of column numbers of the previous winning result. (Occurring in approx. 30% of outcome to outcome results)

Thus, there’s a stronger likelihood one of the numbers from the previous column winning outcome will repeat. Indeed, a (Direct) repeat in my view is most likely to occur than a number belonging to a column from an outcome seen before the latest (One Before last) or a number belonging to a column in a (Crossover) outcome; from the earliest to appear to the most recent to appear.  

Look at the illustrations below. Each one relates to the connecting Away numbers of all 3 columns.

1st Column: 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34 Away connections

2nd Column: 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26, 29, 32, 35 Away connections

3rd Column: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36 Away connections

Probability:

I believe not all Roulette columns are equal when it comes to Home and Away pocket connections. I have ranked the three columns based on how connected they are. The closer the Home and Away column numbers are on the wheel, the stronger the likelihood of reoccurring wins.

Power of pocket connections:

Based on my scoring for each of the 36 numbers that makeup the three columns, one column is better connected over the other two. Though the column in second place is not far behind. All three columns do have strong pocket Home and Away connections, but of the three the 2nd column is the best.

In my book, Gold Mining the Roulette Wheel, I provide a complex breakdown of how I score each column based on both Home and Away connections.

ROULETTE BETTING SYSTEM 2: AUTOMATIZED PREDICTING METHOD (APM)

This APM System is a process of betting different columns based on previous outcomes. A Roulette player can take advantage of outcomes forming into patterns.

From spin outcome to spin outcome there are three possibilities. These are;

1. (D) Direct repeats. Numbers from the same column appearing one after the after. Example: x-x-x / y-y-y / z-z-z
2. (OB) Outcome Before last. A number from a previous outcome before D or before C or any series of Direct repeat or C outcomes. / D Example: z-x-x-y-y-x the ‘x’ was the outcome before the Direct repeat double ‘y’ so it occurred One Before the double Direct y-y. / C Example: z-x-x-y-y-x-z-x the ‘x’ was the outcome before ‘z’ so it occurred One Before the ‘z’.
3. (C) Crossover. A number that brings the earliest seen column to the latest column. Example: z-x-x-y-y-x-z the ‘z’ represented a Crossover, thus if the next outcome after the ‘z’ is a ‘y’ this would be a Crossover too.

System 2 works in the following way. You remember the D, OB, C abbreviation indicators and assign one to each new outcome as they appear. Proceed in the same vein as in the illustration below and how I’ve explained it above. PURE LOGIC!

This APM method will inform you what column to bet on next. It’s an excellent Roulette Betting System if you can’t decide what column to bet on. It works! (not all the time, but it’s powerful) Login to your 888casino account to give it a try.

It’s not always going to be 100% correct, but don’t forget the pay-out is 2:1 which means this System will keep you in the game and you’ll stand a good chance of going into profit.

Note: Where you see ‘?’ this means there isn’t enough information to start betting. This only occurs at the beginning of a set of outcomes. Number 36 gives us all the information we need to begin betting.

You continue assigning order to the outcomes. When you see two or more of the same indicators in a row this represents two or more wins. Underline the winning connections as you continue to allow the APM to do its logical thing.

I have noted the Wins and Loses (W/L) under the D / OB / C connected and unconnected column indicators. As you can see, I would have begun betting from #14. 

In total I wagered 16 times. I lost 8 and won 8. Assuming I lost -16 times, and my flat unit wager per game is $10 this amounts to -$160. Now I’ll calculate my returns. I won 8 times, 8 x $30 = 24 ($30 because the pay-out is 2:1 so $20 is the win and $10 represents the return of each of my winning wagers. 

Subtracting -$160 my total flat betting outlay, from my $240 returns, I won = +$80. Though at game result #15, I was in fact winning +$90. In short when you lose, you’re losing -1 and when you win, you’re winning +2, thus up +2 or down -1

ROULETTE BETTING SYSTEM 3: POWER OF THE REPEATER

After I’d discovered strong column connections, I then established that ‘Direct column connections’ are most likely to repeat. So, for instance if Roulette #18 was the last outcome you would then bet the 3rd column. And continue betting this column utilizing this roulette strategy until you lose. Then you’d simply switch to betting the column that caused you to lose. In my experience, the Direct [D] option has an edge albeit a slight one.

The stop loss and win target for all three systems:

It’s important to note that whether you play any one System or a combination of all three Systems, although you can go into profit you can also lose your winnings, as losing outcomes follow winning outcomes. So, it’s important to try and exit a game in a day or session say by +5 unit wins in profit. 

There’s no point winning and then losing what you’ve won because you didn’t stop. Or losing and winning back what you’d lost only to carrying on betting and losing all over again. Regarding how to win at roulette: Winning back what you’ve lost in a session in my book is classed as a win. 

In my System 2 example I didn’t stop betting when I took a hit on the 5 losses in a row. I could ride it out because I’m on a 2:1 pay-out. And as you see, I ended up in profit. However, you still must have an overall stop loss of -10 per session just in case you encounter a bad set of outcomes.

TIP: Here’s how you can use all 3 Roulette Column Systems to your advantage. If you use System 1, you can factor in the power of System 2 so that if System 2 indicates that the 2nd column is due, (if you decide to follow the 2nd column) whether due from a D, OB, or C, you could add 50% of your initial wager for the following outcome and moreover for a D repeat that represents System 3 coming into play you could add an additional 30% of your initial wager. So, if $10 is your initial wager, 50% is an extra $5 and 30% and extra $3 total max bet size = $18. This will mean Systems 2 and 3 (or both) will be informing you that the probability of System 1 occurring is more likely. Thus, you don’t need to bet the 2nd column every spin if you don’t want to. You can be super selective in allowing the Automatized Predicting Method of System 2 to help guide your Roulette column betting decisions. If System 2 informs not to bet System 1, then don’t or if you still do, then reduce your wager.

Dealing with the Zero:

When a zero result occurs (European Roulette wheels contain a single zero) players lose half their wager when betting on even chances: RED/BLACK, HIGH/LOW, ODD/EVEN whereas players lose all their playing chips betting on any 2:1 options such as columns, but column betting has advantages that outweigh a few zero appearances here and there.

If you’re going to bet very briefly say within 10-20 outcomes, then cover the zero just enough to back up your bet on one column OR to cover any increases to your column wager if you add whatever percentage you deem appropriate.

If you’re going to mostly flat bet and play over 50-100 results, then forget covering the zero because this will eat into your bankroll. For instance, if the zero results say three times in 100 spins and you hadn’t covered the zero, you would’ve lost just three units. NO BIG DEAL!

Whereas if you had covered the zero to protect your $10 flat column bet: say by 30c you would have lost $30 (100 x 30c) and won (including your 30c x 3 stakes back) = $32.40 (so only winning $2.40 when considering your x3 $10 column losses of $30) Because don’t forget when the zero appears you still lose your three column bets. 

It therefore isn’t worth covering the zero in my view, unless you’re going to BET BIG and just for a SHORT TIME; over a limited number of outcomes i.e. you’re going to go for it! Profit or Loss! or All or Nothing!

Also consider if the zero doesn’t result within 50-100 results or shows up only once, you’d be losing even more by covering it.

Online casino Roulette can be fun and rewarding. More so if you can adjust your column betting decisions using one or more of the Systems I’ve shared with you today, so that you can try to win like a true Roulette  Pro!

So, what exactly is a professional gambler? A professional gambler is a person who lives from gambling and spends most of his time at the casinos. Professional gamblers are actually earning their paychecks by making the right bets when they play at the live casino tables. In this article, I will go over some general misconceptions about casino gaming as well as go over a few real-world examples, gathered from several friends of mine who are professional Advantage Players. We won’t give out real names or when these “adventures” occurred, but rest assured this is about as truthful as an accounting of what real-world play is like.

The gambler lifestyle has been portrayed by Hollywood, and more so, by commercials for casinos, to be a glamorous one. Men are always dressed sharply and women are in their best gowns and, both seem to be having a wonderful time. They are winning money, eating at 5-star restaurants and drinking the best champagne. This is all done to entice the average person to come to the casinos and gamble, but more importantly to lose the maximum amount of money they can. The reality of the casino gaming world is very different.

HOW TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER

The first thing a player must do is forget everything they have ever seen in the movies or have read that portray the life of a professional gambler. Movies like the blockbuster hit 21 and book from which it is based on Bringing Down the House, by Ben Mezrich are strictly for entertainment purposes. Any relation to how things are is distant. The life of any person who has had success in any field has its shares of ups and downs but for some reason authors who write about gaming particularly ones who have not engaged in Advantage Play take a lot of artistic liberty when telling a story.

One of the things that happen when you take up the first level of Advantage Play, card counting, is that you start noticing blackjack players everywhere. On the graveyard shift in Las Vegas casino, you can find a card counter at least one of their tables. These people all have varying levels of skill. Some are strict blackjack basic strategy players with a minimal bet spread while others use all of the adjusted strategy plays and have an aggressive bet spread. Additionally, some use the basic Hi-Lo counting method, while others use the more advanced counting systems. The point is there are several ways to attack casino games and, specifically Blackjack, and the more complex the system is, the less likely the technique will be discovered.

 

 

 

There is a lot of lore that surrounds professional gamblers. Most have a kernel of truth to them but some are without a doubt embellished. One such story revolves around a new player who goes by the name el Gordito. As it goes, Gordito, during his infinite card counting days he was stopped for speeding on his way back to southern California from Las Vegas weekend trip. He told the woman CHP officer that he was in a rush to get home to tell his wife about a sizable win at the blackjack tables. He let it slip that he was a “semipro” blackjack player.

The story continues that the next thing he knew the officer was asking him questions like whether or not it was correct to split a pair of 2s when double after split is allowed. He claims that he got out a deck of cards and, while she held the flashlight, played a few hands on the hood of his car. The part about playing cards on the hood of his car, illuminated by a flashlight seems a bit of a stretch, but I know a few people who know the el Gordito very well, and they believe he was highly capable to talk his way out of the ticket.

Gambling is appealing because of it’s simple to play and most people have a good time with the games. Games can be played just for fun and with minimal losses; but, the vast majority of player’s do not win. 

Sometimes when players don’t have good results they question their skills. The reality is Advantage Gaming is a gloomy business when you’re on a losing streak. You begin to speculate about which curve of what fluctuation you were born. But, when you are on the positive side of the spectrum it’s like taking candy from a candy-hating baby. The hard truth is that the mentality of professional Advantage Casino player is that equal to a manic depressant. Most beginning and novice players are either very high or very low. Only most elite professionals can curb their emotional state to the point where it doesn’t affect other aspects of their lives. 

The blackjack mathematicians refer to a card counter’s financial journey through good and bad times as a random walk with an upward drift. This definition really only applies to multi-deck shoe games and it does not account for the ups and downs of single-deck blackjack. Single-deck is too often like a sweaty calamitous trip through heaven and hell. The swings are exceptionally dramatic and push the bounds of your own sanity. Overall the casinos give you decent chance to win, and that’s all an Advantage Player can hope for.

The literature on advantage play is filled with techniques and statistical formulas. Most of it is provided by professional players who bet at the black chip level, or from academic gaming scientists. So the information that they share is pretty solid. To be fair some of the claims by some authors are pretty absurd, so be careful what you choose to believe. Another thing worth noting is that the best techniques are usually shared only with a few other top players in only the very top echelons of this elite field.

 A common question is; what is it like for the average player? Since many players are only part-time players or gaming hobbyists, it might be interesting to review the playing records and experiences of a serious nonprofessional beginning card counter. A retired player who I will call Wild Bill has generously donated his complete first years’ records as a blackjack player. It should be noted that these records are over 30 years old.

AN INTERVIEW WITH A PROFESSIONAL GAMBLER

I asked Wild Bill what did he learned after his first year of Blackjack play? He responded that he learned two valuable lessons they were: The lesson of Losing and The lesson of Winning. 

The lesson of winning is “don’t be too greedy”. Several small wins are just as good as one large win. Even when a game is super good you don’t want too much face time with the pit bosses. Get a win and get out. The standard rule is play as long as the game is good, but I would expand it to play as long as the game is good and you are not getting any attention.

How did you get the nickname Wild Bill?  And how does Professional Gambler get a nickname?

"I’ll take the second part first. Gambling nicknames are usually given to you by another professional gambler or potential teammate, usually early on in your playing career. I have been given several nicknames over the years. Sahara Dave and Tuscany Tom are some of the other names I’ve been assigned. The name Wild Bill was given to me by a potential team whom I first met at Wild Bills gambling saloon."

How about the names Sahara Dave and Tuscany Tom?

"The name Sahara Dave came about through an introduction that was made by a friend of mine with another professional gambler. We talked on the phone briefly and decided to meet at a restaurant on Sahara Ave in Las Vegas. When we first met I told him my name was Dave. After the meeting, I was comfortable enough to tell him 'Hey my real name is Mike.'  He replied, 'Sorry, but I’ve already put you in my phone as Sahara Dave.'  So that’s how that name came about. The Tuscany Tom name came about in a similar way. A lot of players get their nicknames in that way."

How long have you been gambling professionally?

"I have been in gaming for the better part of 40 years. At first, it was just on vacations than on a once a month basis and, eventually, it was every weekend. At that point, I was treating it as a part-time job. I was able to move into the professional gambler occupation in my late 50s. I had saved enough and learned enough over the years that it was very doable so I decided let’s give it a shot."

As a Professional Gambler which game do you mainly focus on?

"The essence of a professional gambler is to always be looking for opportunities. The classics game that everyone professional gamblers started with is blackjack. That game will always be there, but making money on that game is getting harder and harder every day. This leads a professional gambler to look for new opportunities. Every game is beatable given the right set of circumstances; the player just has to know what to look for. This involves a lot of game scouting, which can be very time-consuming. A player has to think of a way to beat a casino game and then test it via computer simulation, usually, they have to write the computer program themselves and see if it works. This approach involves a lot of studies and a lot of thinking. There are only a few resources that offer these next level insights. The most complete resource is the rare books section at the UNLV library in Las Vegas.

"In general we look for value in our betting, adhere to a solid mathematics strategy and hope for the best. A good professional gambler or rather a good advantage player has a vast tool belt because we know a good game can go away overnight but at the same time we know a new opportunity can easily pop up."

What does the typical day of a Professional Gambler look like?

"First, there is no typical day for a professional gambler. And it really depends on what game we are attacking. When we do play, a lot relies on blending in with the crowd. So we make an effort to see what conventions are in town and blend in with them. Another case is when we are attacking a 3 card poker game using hole carding methods we may spend a day or two scouting dealer and games and try to gain schedule information from dealers asking them questions like “ You are always working don’t you ever get a day off?”  Fortunately for us, dealers volunteer their schedules with minimal effort."

Where do you gamble? Online or Land-based casinos?

"Everywhere. Being a high-level professional gambler relies on being able to recognize opportunities as they present themselves. You have to remain fluid in your practice, and this relies heavily on critical thinking. Anyone can apply a system the real talent relies on developing the system and of course not getting caught. That being said I travel extensively to casinos all over the world, but mostly in the US as well as using VPNs (virtual remote access points), to get access to an online casino. I do this when I see an opportunity at these online casinos. A lot of the online opportunities rely on sticky bonuses where if you play some amount you get additional funds to play with. Some bonuses are sign up bonuses, so you go where there are opportunities. The internet has a lot of resources where players can evaluate the current opportunities."

What was your previous occupation, and how do you relate it to the job of a professional Gambler?

"I was trained as an Attorney and did practice for almost 30 years. Relating it to my role as a professional gambler is pretty straightforward. Many people relate professional gamblers to stock traders. And I can see that argument because of the value-seeking and the financial swings that can occur. But I think it has a lot more in common with being a lawyer, especially a defense attorney. Because both have the objective of finding and exploiting loopholes in any given system. That’s why both lawyers and professional gamblers are loathed by establishments."

How’s the casino gambling landscape evolved over the past few decades and what will it look like for professional gamblers in a decade?

"On one hand over the past 20 years, the environment has gotten a lot harder for professional players. Straight card counting is pretty much an impossible task. Live blackjack games have also gotten a lot harder to beat with the advent of continuous shuffle machines and 8 deck shoes where the dealer cuts two decks off. But on the other hand, the increase in the number of casino games that are offered by casinos gives a lot more opportunity for the astute player. Casinos, in general, are reducing comps dramatically to their players and this also has a negative impact on the professional gamblers bottom line. So over the years, it has gotten progressively worse for the professional gambler.

"In the future, I don’t see this trend changing. A lot of casinos in Las Vegas are charging their guests for parking and this does not make the gambler happy. Comps continue to fall and games get tighter and tighter, so professional gamblers will have to look harder and, think faster than they ever have in the past if they want to continue to make money."

In a previous article, I summarized the blackjack school I opened in Toms River, NJ, in the early 1980s to teach students card counting. I also started to give seminars to local organizations and civic groups on the topic of casino gambling and many attendees started asking me if I taught craps, baccarat, and roulette (besides blackjack). I pondered how I could teach them the basics of these table games in a hands-on format to as many students at one time. Then the idea hit me: a casino gaming club.

This is what I had envisioned: Members who joined this club would meet once per month and I’d be able to teach them the basics of how to play craps, roulette, baccarat, and how to play blackjack on gaming tables that I would bring to the meetings. After much thought on this concept, my wife and I (along with another couple, who were partners in this venture) launched the unique Winner’s Circle Casino Gaming Club. It involved the following:

1. A person (or couple) joining the Club paid an annual membership fee.
2. Members met once per month at a local restaurant. Dinner beforehand was optional (although the restaurant owner usually offered a special for our members)
3. Members would meet in a banquet room where I had set up the gaming tables (that I had purchased), which were staffed by student dealers (that I hired).
4. At the start of our meeting, I would give a short lecture covering one of the table games, and then let our members practice play on the tables, where the dealers would demonstrate the procedures for making different bets.
5. Every member received a Monthly Winner’s Circle newsletter that I wrote and published. The newsletter contained everything about casino gambling in Atlantic City, such as the monthly win statistics for each casino, information on new casino openings, upcoming casino promotions, playing strategy tips, and more.
6. Betting at the tables was strictly for fun.

 

As word started to spread about the Winner’s Circle, membership began to grow. I started to invite guest speakers to give talks on topics that I thought would interest members. Here are two examples:

• An executive from the Casino Control Commission (CCC) gave a talk on what the CCC does, where they are located in each casino, and what players should do if they believe a mistake was made by a dealer that was not resolved to their satisfaction by casino personnel. 
• An executive from the World Championship of Blackjack organization gave a talk on tournament blackjack play. (It turned out, I subsequently prepped several Winners Circle members on tournament playing strategy and one of them made it to the semi-final round of the first World Series of Blackjack tournament held in Atlantic City.)

The key to teaching players the details of craps, roulette, baccarat, and blackjack were the demonstrations on the tables. This is why I went to great length to hire dealers who had recently graduated from a local dealer’s school and were eager to practice their newly acquired casino dealing skills while they were waiting to be interviewed and hired by one of the casinos. I hired dealers that were outgoing, had a friendly personality, and, I felt, would have the patience to answer questions from players during the practice-play sessions. I was fortunate to have hired a great group of dealer/instructors that helped make the Winner’s Circle a success.

 

The concept I had developed for the Winner’s Circle was working nicely. The vast majority of the members were able to learn how to play the different casino games, understood how to make each bet, knew the casino odds and house edge, and were learning an optimum playing strategy for each game to minimize the house edge. In the case of blackjack, they learned the blackjack basic strategy, and an entry-level counting system. The Club also achieved my goal of being able to teach a large group of players how to best play any table game. I thoroughly enjoyed the time and energy I spent with the Winner’s Circle Casino Gambling Club, and from the feedback I received from our members, they felt they got their money’s worth.

Eventually, I had to cease the operation of the Winner’s Circle for the following reason. While I was operating the Club and my blackjack school, I also worked for a large international chemical company that had a manufacturing facility in Toms River, NJ. I had started my career as a bench chemist, eventually working my way up to a manager of one of the production units located at the facility. As part of my professional development, I was asked to take a new position at a plant located in Alabama. After much thought, and discussions with my wife, I decided to accept the job and relocate to Alabama. 

It was a sad day for my wife and me when we announced to the members of our Winner’s Circle Casino Gaming Club that we were going to cease operation. We refunded a prorated portion of each member’s membership fee; however, many refused to accept the reimbursement.

My journey as a casino gambling writer, teacher, and player did not end after I left New Jersey and moved to Alabama. In fact, wherever I moved during the next 30 years, casinos seemed to follow. I’ll explain what I mean in my next article.