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Any Casino strategies from the GA faithful?
- Thread starter Cubsfan23
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Escape Goat
Member
If you win, leave. Otherwise you WILL lose it and leave casino in the red.
AlphaSnake
...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
You always double down on 11, baby.
Escape Goat
Member
If you make more money than what you walked in with.
AlphaSnake
...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
Cubsfan23 said:
Just remember who's the bigger. That's right, Mikey's the big winner!
(It's actually pathetic, because I watch this movie at least twice a week. I've probably watched it ermm...50+ times since I bought the DVD last year).
Protip: Avoid American roulette. It has a house edge of 5.26%, and you can do FAR better at other games. If you restrict your bets to pass/don't pass or come/don't come in craps, you are only facing a 1.3% house edge, and it's a more social game to boot.Cubsfan23 said:I'm going to probably play Blackjack and Roulette, but if there are any lesser known games give them a shout. Oh yeah, I hate slots so I don't want to hear any $5,000 jackpot stories
As for blackjack, go memorize multiple-deck basic strategy, since that's what you'll be facing in Vegas. (The single-deck games usually have other factors which increase the house edge, and they can be hard to find.) Some of the rules are fairly intuitive, but others will require some practice to recognize and make the right decision every time.
I bought a blackjack tutor program for my Palm a couple of years ago from DeepNet Technologies -- they may have a PC version as well. What you want is a program which will let you play thousands of practice hands with rules that you can adjust to match the casinos where you will be playing, and that will tell you when you've done something wrong.
Not against an ace -- you hit in that case in multiple-deck basic strategy.AlphaSnake said:
DonasaurusRex
Online Ho Champ
find a game that you understand and only bet 3% of your total amount of money if possible. ANd remember casinos are entertainment , dont go in needing to pay bills hoping to make it big with your cash. Have fun and hopefully you'll get lucky.
There are many websites you can google that have the Gambler's Ruin equations that you can consult given your opening stake and game you are playing. Plan accordingly and just flat out stop if you lose your stake or when you get near the top of the curve for wins.
I recently did this on a trip to Vegas and it worked quite well. Whenever I won too much money and doubled my stake, I stopped right there. Since my chance of doing worse if I kept going was approaching something like 79 percent, I just chilled in the sports book with some martinis and a cigar and watched some football after that while I waited for my friends to get done. Thankfully I never lost my stake but if I did I would've just done the same thing.
I recently did this on a trip to Vegas and it worked quite well. Whenever I won too much money and doubled my stake, I stopped right there. Since my chance of doing worse if I kept going was approaching something like 79 percent, I just chilled in the sports book with some martinis and a cigar and watched some football after that while I waited for my friends to get done. Thankfully I never lost my stake but if I did I would've just done the same thing
.IAmtheFMan
Member
Learn to play craps, because it's the most fun game out there.
WasabiKing
Member
Alpha, stop. You are officially ruining the reputation of the movie. And don't go walking around thinking like you're Vince Vaughn and trying to talk chicks and this 6 day callback shit, cause they see right through you, LITERALLY. You don't even get the movie anyway.
Anyway, Cubsfan, take it from someone who went to Vegas a lot, take money that you feel comfortable about losing. Not happy, but comfortable. You become much more relaxed, focused, and you make wiser decisions. Don't ever get into a mode of desperation, because once that happens, it's all over. Walk away from the table.
Have set limits. Or, if you have trustworthy friends, if you win a pretty substantial amount, give them your chips to hold onto, that way, you stay in the black. Have fun, too.
Anyway, Cubsfan, take it from someone who went to Vegas a lot, take money that you feel comfortable about losing. Not happy, but comfortable. You become much more relaxed, focused, and you make wiser decisions. Don't ever get into a mode of desperation, because once that happens, it's all over. Walk away from the table.
Have set limits. Or, if you have trustworthy friends, if you win a pretty substantial amount, give them your chips to hold onto, that way, you stay in the black. Have fun, too.
IAmtheFMan
Member
:lolWasabiKing said:
I like how you said this in a Cubsfan thread.
WasabiKing
Member
Cubsfan23 said::lol :lol well I lost $90 on Blackjack, was never really up. As predicted, only 1 out of 6 double downs got me money. I guess I'll try to learn Craps now. Anyway......time for some Sports Gambling
what are you doing going online during a gambling trip. PRIORITIES!
Sports book is best during March Madness and the Super Bowl. Talk about action. If you're going to learn craps, go early in the morning and find out when the lessons tables take place. Learn the basics, and they play for like $1 min or something. They go really slow, and it can get confusing, but when you're ready to play with the big boys, be kind to the croupier and boxmen, they will help you.
You split tens?Society said:If you are going to play Blackjack, do not talk to anyone. It is not like the movies, I was told not to talk to anyone at the table when I was there.
Well that was after I split two 10 and won both
I would have followed you to the parking lot and kicked your ass.
All exaggeration aside, one of the main reasons to play blackjack IS the social aspect. It goes slower than many games, and there is an "us versus them" camraderie among the players against the dealer (as long as it stays polite). However, you do have to develop a thick skin to play at third base, and in general, you should NEVER accept advice at the table. People mean well, but most of them know jack shit about the game.
The house edge is essentially the difference between the true odds (the probability of an event occurring) and the pay schedule.Ecrofirt said:
To understand how it works out, you need to know about expectation value. Expectation value is defined as the sum of all possible outcome "values" for a game -- the "value" of a particular outcome is equal to the probability of the outcome happening times the amount you gain or lose.
So, as a simple example, imagine a game where you and I each wager $1 on a coin flip. If it's heads, you win my money...if it's tails, I win your money. Is this a good game for you to play? As it turns out, it's completely neutral. There are only two outcomes -- heads or tails, each with a probability of 1/2 -- and the value is always plus or minus $1:
EV = (1/2)(+$1) + (1/2)(-$1)
EV = +$0.50 + (-$0.50)
EV = $0
Over a LARGE number of plays, you expect to lose as much money as you win. However, for any short number of plays, you could win or lose money, based on a particular sequence of heads or tails. However, winning $20 out of this game would be HIGHLY unusual.
Now, what happens if we change the rules so that if I win, you lose your whole dollar...but if you win, you only get 50 cents of my stake? You should run from that game screaming:
EV = (1/2)(+$0.50) + (1/2)(-$1)
EV = +$0.25 + (-$0.50)
EV = -$0.25
The expectation value is negative, meaning that over the long term, you will lose a quarter for every dollar you play. In this case, we say that this game has a "payback percentage" of 75% (since you get back three-quarters of what you play), or that the "house edge" is 25% (since it keeps one-fourth of your money). Is it possible to win at this game? Yes, but you had better start off with one hell of a lucky streak...otherwise, the long-term likelihood will grind you down.
How about a real casino game? Take American double-zero roulette. Let's say you bet on one particular number. What are the chances that your number will come up? There are 38 numbers on the wheel (0, 00, 1 through 36), so the probability is 1/38. How much do you win if your number does come up? Well, your bet pays 35 to 1, which means that for a $1 bet, you win $35. Let's calculate the expectation value:
EV = (37/38)(-$1) + (1/38)(+$35)
EV = -$0.97368 + $0.92105
EV = -$0.05263
So, the house edge is 5.26%. In comparison, craps has a house edge (on the good bets, at least) of around 1.3%, and a perfect basic strategy player can enjoy a house edge of as little as 0.3% in Vegas casinos.
WasabiKing
Member
-jinx- said:
I did that to clear out the table. Hilarious, some Southern older woman thought I was crazy, and said it 3 times, and when 20 came up again, I split it and she got up and left. Then I played normally.
As for odds on craps, god bless the mathmeticians, but I just go with what I know, talk to the boxman. I totally believe in karma, but when it comes to craps, everything goes out the window. If I'm told the table is ice cold, I'll bet against people, I have no problem being heartless when I want to make money.
McLesterolBeast
Member
They don't need to provide any justification. If they so much as suspect you're cheating, or that you're an effective enough card counter to put the expectation in your favor, they can ban you.
example: for counting cards, if you tend to sit there and watch the cards until the end of the shoe, and then place your bets exclusively at the end (the point where counting becomes effective) repeatedly, they may ask yout o leave.
example: for counting cards, if you tend to sit there and watch the cards until the end of the shoe, and then place your bets exclusively at the end (the point where counting becomes effective) repeatedly, they may ask yout o leave.
Mister Zimbu
Member
WasabiKing said:I did that to clear out the table. Hilarious, some Southern older woman thought I was crazy, and said it 3 times, and when 20 came up again, I split it and she got up and left. Then I played normally.
As for odds on craps, god bless the mathmeticians, but I just go with what I know, talk to the boxman. I totally believe in karma, but when it comes to craps, everything goes out the window. If I'm told the table is ice cold, I'll bet against people, I have no problem being heartless when I want to make money.
I never understood why idiots always get angry at someone else's poor blackjack play and leave.
Anyway, my good luck story from yesterday.
I was bored, and was fucking around and found an online casino that credits your account for $10, no deposit required.
Played roulette for a bit and turned it into $180. I subsquently lost 40 on craps, three card poker, and blackjack. Cashed out the remaining $140 and it's going directly towards my poker bankroll.
Later that night I'm playing poker with some friends (very small stakes... $1 buyin
). First hand someone with a pocket pair flops a full house, and I river a bigger one.Two hands later two people flopped the nut straight, and I rivered quad queens
.It goes without saying that I had about a 6:1 chip lead over the second place person and that my friends weren't too happy with me for the rest of the night.
DonasaurusRex
Online Ho Champ
your not supposed to be counting cards heh. Most casinos make this rather impossible now , with thier friggin 8billion decks that they reshuffle after every hand in a machine. No more discard pile.
Phoenix
Member
1) Never take an ATM card with you EVER.
2) Take only cash, and cash that you can lose
3) Remember that drinks are free
4) If you're hungry get someone to comp you a buffet at the table you've been playing at
1) Always bet on black
2) Slots are almost always a waste of time and aren't any real fun - clearly some alien Pavlovian experiment in progress
3) Don't split 5s or lower
4) The most fun you will have is craps table
2) Take only cash, and cash that you can lose
3) Remember that drinks are free
4) If you're hungry get someone to comp you a buffet at the table you've been playing at
1) Always bet on black
2) Slots are almost always a waste of time and aren't any real fun - clearly some alien Pavlovian experiment in progress
3) Don't split 5s or lower
4) The most fun you will have is craps table
Without having read any of the posts here. Theres a table out there created by some MIT alum / students that if you use will bring the expected value of playing black jack close to zero. The other part of the strategy is to learn how to count cards... it's not as hard as you think. Then go to casino's and start winning some cash, because now the game will be in your favor. You have to be somewhat discrete because if they realize what you're up to the pit boss will probably throw you out. Luckily there are countless casino's out there for you to pillage before you get thrown out.
McLesterolBeast
Member
That's the only way to apply one's "genius" or "great memory" effectively. Playing "by the book" maximizes your "odds", but your expectation will still be marginally below 1.0. Even supposing you had a computer, and a detailed account of every card that was played, for the first half of the shoe, the information that you had would provide an extremely marginal improvement in your expected return (sufficiently low that the house still would have the edge for every hand dealt). Until the last few hands of each shoe, the information that you could potentially have (with perfect information of what was shown) would very rarely impact your decision to hit/stand/double down, even supposing you had the optimal algorithm.
For those who can "count cards" effectively, to avoid being caught, they play all hands - but (hopefully for their sake) inconspicuously bet more on hands that are dealt towards the end of the shoe - the hands where their expectation is above 1.0 for every dollar bet. If the proportions are done correctly, and the "card reading" is done effectively, you can both maintain an expectation above 1.0 and still be (for the most part) impossible to detect by casino security. Even still, if you're spending hours upon hours every day playing at a casino and walking away ahead on average, they'll still ask you to leave.
To be honest, if you have to ask about counting cards, you shouldn't even bother trying. Most people I've seen are more likely to overestimate the effect that the knowledge of the cards counted will give you, and consequently, will make decisions with an expectation lower (typically) than playing by the book. You're best off just "playing by the book" (you can find the 'rules' of blackjack at a variety of sites). Learning to count cards, unless you're a brilliant mathematician, will never result in you raising your expectation high enough to justify the time spent to learn it - not to mention the amount you're probably going to lose when practicing.
The one game where you have a reasonable chance to have a positive expected return is poker. With limit poker, which is what is exclusively played at the majority of casinos, you just need to rely on other players stupidity. There's very little skill to low limit poker. Play 'the nuts' hard, and fold marginal hands. "Slow playing" is rarely advisable. If the people at your table are playing sufficiently bad to compensate for the tables rake, then you can expect to end up above what you started at. At most casinos, there are a lot of drunks who come in quick, drop a thousand and play like retards. That's when you can make easy cash. One time when i went, there was a guy who was re-raising everything until it was capped blind. Needless to say, he lost everything in about 15 minutes.
I was playing $2-4 limit poker at a casino recently and found it to be an extremely frustrating process. The people who play low limit poker are basically 70% compulsive gamblers and old people with too much money and the rest are actual poker players who just want to play at a low limit. So out of a 9 person table you have 5-8 who see the flop and even if you have a monster pre-flop hand, someone is bound to outdraw you with their 38 offsuit or some other trash. You just have to be really patient and hope to get lucky.
McLesterolBeast
Member
If you've got a good hand, you want people to "chase".
Though it causes you to win a whole lot less frequently, when you do win, it's for a great deal more. With the increased volatility comes an increase in your expected return.
You dont really need to worry about "pros" in low limit stakes so much. "Skill" can only take you so far in limit. You basically need to bank on the incompetent players.
Though it causes you to win a whole lot less frequently, when you do win, it's for a great deal more. With the increased volatility comes an increase in your expected return.
You dont really need to worry about "pros" in low limit stakes so much. "Skill" can only take you so far in limit. You basically need to bank on the incompetent players.
Hournda said:
This is exactly what I ran into recently at the Aladdin in Vegas. Not a whole lot of skill involved when it's like that, but oh well. Drinks were shitty too, because they didn't want to waste the good stuff on such a low profit game for them
.Hournda said:
If you never had a bad beat, you'd never make money
As said earlier, since overall the game is based on probability, you want these people that stay in on 48-1 odds to stay in, because if you play your hands correctly then you will win much more money than them over the long haul. I remember this incredibly loose 1/2 game I played at our dog track. Bought in for $60, walked away with $240. It's all about watching the players who do improbable draws and trapping them. It's even better if they beat you a few times, that just means they think they can win moreTommie Hu$tle
Member
Agree in principle.Phoenix said:
Agree.Phoenix said:
AgreePhoenix said:
AgreePhoenix said:
Disagree slightly, I don't play slots but, I have a co-worker that does. He says you play at the 5 dollar slots and up and do the max bet all the time then your returns are better. He came up 40k on slots last year.Phoenix said:
Disagree, maybe it's becasue I don't know how to play. That game moves too fast for me. I mean I know the basics but, it has always let a bitter taste in my mouth.Phoenix said:
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