You Can't Win Them All

By Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of Vimeo.com

You’re familiar with the old adage, “You can’t win them all.”  Well, that saying applies doubly in the casinos.  First of all, there is the matter of selecting the right game to play.  By that, I mean if your game of choice is governed by a random trial process where one outcome has no effect on the next, your ability to beat these games is limited at best.  Sure, you might be on a craps table just in time for a monster roll that nets thousands of dollars.  But if you record every win and loss, you will find out over time that all those little losses will more than overcome any occasional dice windfall.

The same goes for roulette, especially if you play an American wheel with 2 house numbers.  The average house edge for every bet on an American wheel is 5.26%.  So, while you may find success in any given hour of play, should you continue to wager on the wheel, sooner or later the math will out and the worm will turn.

What Happens in Vegas

By Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of en.wikipedia,org

With casinos being available in every state in the lower 48 with the exception of Utah, you would think that Las Vegas would have lost some of its luster.  But that’s not the case.  Of course, when you think about it, there are more casinos in Las Vegas than in the rest of the country combined.  If you count all the bars, stores and other places that offer slots, there are currently more than 1,700 licensed gambling establishments in the greater Las Vegas area.  You will find it hard to sit down at a bar that doesn’t have a video poker machine built into it there.  Some tourists have been known to drop their bankroll before ever getting out of McCarran Airport, since it too offers slot machines.

There's No Such Thing as a Sure Thing

By Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of Flickr.com

Casino players the world over are always looking for "The Sure Thing."  That is, a wager or betting system that will guarantee that they and not the house come out ahead of the game.  The problem is that while there are ways to gain the upper hand over the house in blackjack by counting cards, most players don't seem to want to bother taking the time to master the art.  

Who can blame them.  Card counting takes weeks or months of dedicated practice, practice, practice, just to be able to sit down at a table without getting blown away by the dealer.  Any of you who have tried to count cards in the distraction-rich environment of a casino, know that this is no simple task.  Not only are you required to count up to 8 decks of cards, you are required to make strategy and wagering decisions all in the time it takes the dealer to put 'em down and pick 'em up.