Getting Started - How to Beat the Casino

• Why Casinos Win

• Psychology of Winning

• Choosing the Right Games

• Money Management

• Getting Comps

Why Casinos Win

The vast majority of people who visit casinos go home losers. There are several reasons for this:

•  Almost all the games in  a casino favor the house so it is difficult to beat them.

• Most people have no idea about the math or odds involved in any  of the casino games themselves, they often choose to play games with terrible odds.

• Most people playing in the casino have never learned the proper way to play the games and lose much more money than they should.

• Most people have no concept of money management, they simply play until they run out of money then go home. 

The Psychology of Winning

Winning is a habit - In order to Beat The Casino  you must make a personal commitment to excellence and develop the habit of winning. To Beat The Casino you must do the following:

1. Choose the right games- Play the games which give the Casino the smallest advantage, or preferably the games in which the player has the advantage on the casino.

2. Learn to play those games properly.  Learn the proper winning strategies from this website, read professional guidebooks, and practice as much as you can at home, while it is still free.  Be prepared when you walk into the casino.

3. Manage your money properly.  Never bet more than you can afford to lose.  Small losses are easy to overcome, large losses are not.

Don't get discouraged by defeat.  Even professional gamblers have losing streaks.  You can beat the Casino over the long haul with Knowledge, Skill, and Discipline.

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Casino Games- Which Ones To Play

Casinos give the player a large variety of games to choose from.  Before you bet money on any of them you should consider your odds of winning at them.  The most common way to describe this is called the "House Advantage".  How does this work? Let's say a game has a house advantage of 10%, this means for every $1000 you bet you could expect to win about $900 back.  You would lose $100, or 10%  of the total of your wagers.  The following is a table that gives approximate house advantages of some of the most popular casino games. Henry Tamburin's Reference Guide To Casino Gambling is a good book to read if you are interested in learning more about this.

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 Minimizing your losses is more important the hitting it big. Let's look at this example: Player A loses $50 on Monday, $30 on Tuesday, and wins $100 on Wednesday.  He has won $20 in his three day venture.  Player B loses $600 on Monday, loses $400 on Tuesday, and wins $1,000 on Wednesday.  Although he had a great day on Wednesday he still didn't make any money overall due to the fact he let his losses get out of control on the first two days.  Remember, small losses are easier to overcome than large ones. 

  Key Points of money management:

• Let's say the average person brings a bankroll of about $300 for a 3 day trip to  Las Vegas.  You would want to divide the total bankroll divide it evenly by the number of days you are staying. So you would have 2 $150 bankrolls (take one day off from gambling and play golf or see some shows) or 3 $100 bankrolls.   Each separate bankroll should be large enough to play through some losing streaks. 
• Each day when you begin gambling, take only that day's bankroll to the casino with you, and put the rest in a safe place.  If you lose all your money for the day, stop gambling walk away and don't be upset. Remember part of the key of winning is limiting you losses in any given session. 
• Try to keep aware of your current bankroll.  Be aware if you are ahead or in the hole.  This will help you decide when it is a good time to quit (while you are still ahead of the casino)

When do you quit if you are winning?  In general you should never quit when you are on a winning streak, but if your are still ahead of the casino and your luck is beginning to get worse you may want to quit while you are ahead.  Quit playing if you begin to feel tired and are losing concentration. 

As for your bets there are a few things you should never do. 

1. Never increase your bets with each loss.  There is no guarantee you will win and you will quickly exceed your daily bankroll.
2. Never play to win back your losses or "get even" with the Casino.  You will almost certainly come out a loser.

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Getting Comps

 When comps are figured into the calculation; any game that offers the casino an advantage of less than 1% will most likely give the player the advantage over the casino in the long run.

  Comps are rewards given by the casinos to their players, much the same way frequent flyer miles are given by the airlines.    Comps are usually given in the form of free or discounted rooms, meals, cocktails, and show tickets, and even in the form of cash back awards.  For Whales (high-rollers) the comps may even include round trip air tickets to the casino (first class or even private jet) and luxury suites.  

How do I get comps?

In order to receive comps you must first sign up for a Player's Card (also called Slot Club Card or Comp Card) at every casino you play at..  If you are slots or video poker player, you can join the slots club.  The casino will give you a card that you can insert into slot and video poker machines in order to keep track of your wagers. When playing table games, simply show your Player's Card to the dealer when you begin play and a casino host will take care of you.  

How are comps calculated?

For Slot and Video Poker machines comps are strictly a percentage of the amount of money you put through the machines.  Most casino slot clubs give players between .5% and 1.5% for Slot machine action and half that amount for Video Poker play ( this is because Video Poker machines usually have much higher payouts than Slot machines).

 For Table Games most casinos use a formula to determine comps offered to players. Although each casino has its own policy and formula for giving out comps, most casinos use a formula to calculate comps that may look something like this:

(Casino Advantage (for an average player) x Average Bet  x  Average Number of hands per hour x Hours Played) / 2. 

 In other words the casino will often give you back about half of your expected losses.

So if the casino assumes it has a 2% advantage on the typical Blackjack player and you have been betting $10 per hand for two hours and the casino assumes about 60 hands per hour.  Your comps should be .02 (Casino advantage) x $10 (average bet) x 60 (hands per hour) x 2 (hours) = $24 /2 = $12 in Comps.

Note: Comps are awarded for your play and not on the actual amount of money you won or lost. 

For more details about comps where you play, ask the Casino Host where you are playing how they calculate Comps.

Getting the most out of your play

Not all casinos give out comps in the same manner. In order to maximize your play, keep in mind a few things:  

• Smaller, less glamorous casinos will appreciate your play more than the big name Super Casinos-  In  Blackjack for example the Mirage or Bellagio  on the Las Vegas Strip may not consider you a valuable customer unless you are at least a  $25 per hand player.  The Four Queens or Lady Luck in older downtown Las Vegas on the other hand would greatly appreciate your business at just $5 a hand.  

• Casinos in other destinations such as Reno, Nevada and Tunica, Mississippi are usually going to be more appreciative of you gambling dollars than those in Atlantic City or other more popular locations.

• Try to slow the table games down if you can.  Time is money where comps are concerned.  Just don't be too obvious.

• Sit out a few hands every now and then.  As long as you don't overdo it, you will still be earning comps on those hands you sit out 

• Buy more chips than you intend to play with.  Casino personnel often take note of your initial purchase and this might give you a few more comps than you would otherwise get.

• Try to obtain FUN BOOKS from the casino if they offer them.  Fun Books usually contain coupons for free coins, match play for table games, or buffet discounts.  Using these books can help cut the house edge even further.

To find out more on getting comps, try reading:

  The Frugal Gambler (for low to mid- rollers) and Comp City (for high-rollers).  Bold Card Play also has some very good chapters concerning comps and techniques you can use to get more comps out of the casino.  How to Be Treated Like A High Roller Even Though Your Not  won't give you any great tips on how to get more comps out of the casino but it does detail how casinos determine who gets what comps and why, potentially useful information to frequent casino players.