(Gambling basics continued)

Casino Basics

     

What is considered a good bet depends on what you are willing to accept. As a rule, some casino games offer much better odds than other forms of gambling. The worst games in the casino, for example, offer much fairer odds than the lottery or the dog track.  American roulette, which you should avoid like the plague, gives the house a 5.26 % advantage, bad in terms of casino gambling but great when compared to the 50% advantage of the Cash 3 Lotto.

There are basically two types of games on the casino floor, slots and table games. I define slot machines as being any machine game, including video poker. Some machines offer a better game than others but are generally not as fair as table games. Table games include blackjack, craps, caribbean stud, roulette, and many others. Like slots, some table games are fairer than others. Unlike most slot machines, with the exception of video poker, winning at most table games is somewhat dependent on the player's knowledge and skill. Whereas a knowledgeable blackjack player may only be playing against a .5 % house advantage, an unknowledgeable player may be up against a 5% house edge.

A casino is a lively place full of distracting sounds and flashing lights. The whole design concept of most casinos is to create a dreamy surreal place where you will feel comfortable losing all your money. Your best friend and most important alley at a casino can be found strapped to your wrist. A good piece of advice that I would give to any casino gambler is to always wear a watch while gambling. As part of the casino's strategy, clocks are never displayed on the casino floor. You will also notice that most casinos have very little natural lighting. So tracking day into night can be difficult for a casino patron.