I recall the old
television commercial that ended, "An educated consumer is our
best customer." Some modern-day casino executives might not agree
with that dictum, but it is as true for the casino gambling industry
as it is for any industry selling a quality product. The more the
customer knows, the better for the customer and the better for the
company - in the long run.
Some casino executives
think that truly savvy casino players, while not a threat to the bottom
line, do not enhance the bottom line enough. They think that because
an educated consumer of casino games doesn't lose as much on a given
night as the "flaming meteors" do that this is bad for the
casino.
In fact, it's
a good thing and here's why. Casino players who play poor strategies
at the games and the machines often get burned out, often within a
year to three. Losing time and again is not fun and the losing player,
having had his head handed back to him on a platter night after night,
will eventually seek other outlets than gambling for his hard-earned
bucks. The unschooled gambler may have burned brightly on the casino
radar for a short while but eventually he disappears and needs to
be replaced by another "crash and burner" for the casino
to make any profit.
However, gamblers
who learn the best strategies and have their share of winning nights
begin to look upon casino gambling as a pleasant way to utilize their
discretionary income - and they plan accordingly. The also become
loyal customers of the casinos for years and years, and decades and
decades, visiting them often and losing far more over those time periods
than the crash and burners who have to be constantly replenished.
But to the savvy, steady gambler the losses are not that hurtful because
they have budgeted their money with casino gaming in mind. Indeed,
the savviest of gamblers usually open 401G accounts (the "G"
stands for gambling) where they put their gambling funds - money not
to be used for anything but the pursuit of Lady Luck's largesse.
And most casino
games do not require a high degree of skill on the part of the player
in order to play skillfully. Games such as Three-Card Poker, Let It
Ride, Caribbean Stud and most of the newer table games have simple
strategies that, if adhered to, will keep the house edge as low as
it can go. Those strategies, coupled with a disciplined money management
system, can make a player last for a long, long time. A long, long
time of fun in pleasant surroundings.
Games such as
craps require only that you learn to utilize the best bets and eschew
the high house edge bets - and, of course, learn how the game is played.
Even though at first glance craps is a confusing game, it is, when
broken down into its essentials, as easy as one, two, three.
Of all the table
games, only blackjack presents us with a strategy that does require
some intense effort on the part of the player to learn. Called "basic
strategy," it is the computer-derived play of every player hand
against every possible dealer upcard. It usually takes a good 10 to
20 hours to memorize it. Of course, if you are not the memorizing
type, all you have to do is pick up a strategy card from a casino
mail order firm or photocopy the strategy from a book (one of mine
preferably) and you are in business. When confronted by a hand that
is puzzling you, just look at your strategy card and it will tell
you what the right decision is. Simple!
Now, the first
goal of all good gamblers is to cut the house edge to a minimum on
the games you like to play. If you are just deciding which games to
play, then you should first take a look at the games where the house
edge can be kept under 2 percent. This dictum holds true for table
games and for all machine games as well.
Once you have
learned the strategies and games that keep the house edge at bay,
then you must look at the speed of the games. Some games are very
fast and some games are more or less leisurely. Machine games have
whatever speed you want them to have. There are also some games where
your money is at risk on each and every decision and some games where
this is not so. For just about all gamblers, the slower a game is
played the better. This dictum has one exception and that concerns
players who actually play with an edge over the house, then the faster
the game the better for them.
The next series
of articles will take us back to grade school. If you have been wondering
how the various games are played, what are the best (and simplest)
strategies to learn, and how to manage your money effectively, then
make sure you read the next series as I will tackle just about all
the games and all the issues that surround the games, such as money
management, progressive and regressive betting, streaks and, yes,
luck.
I'll even discuss
comps, how to increase them without increasing your risk, and how
to handle the casino caste structure that has grown up around comps.
There are 51 million
adult Americans who visit casinos on a regular basis - that's 26 percent
of all the adults in the country. Many of them will continue to do
so year after year because they have mastered the games and themselves.
Others will come and go. Which type are you?
