up to: “You can’t
win on slots anyway so what’s the use?”
Now, it’s no secret to readers that casinos
offer good games and bad games. Certainly baccarat
is a good game. Certainly, the Big Wheel isn’t.
However, there are some games where the player’s
choices decide what’s good and bad. For example,
craps offers good bets and bad bets and it’s
up to the players to distinguish which is which
and bet accordingly. Played properly, blackjack
is one of the very best casino games; played stupidly,
it is one of the deadliest. Even the much maligned
slots have better and worse ways to approach them.
This article is dedicated to the “don’t”
of gambling - as in “Please don’t do this!”
It is a war manual for those who are sick of being
taken prisoner or dying ingloriously on the plains
of chance.
BLACKJACK
The very best way to
play blackjack is to memorize the basic strategy
and play it with no variation whatsoever. Tunica
casinos will have an approximately one-half percent
edge on you in multiple-deck games if you do. The
very worst plays in blackjack are often plays that
seem right such as standing on your 16 when the
dealer has a 7 up; splitting your 10s when the dealer
shows a six; not splitting your two 8s when the
dealer has a nine or ten up, and not splitting a
pair of aces when the dealer shows an ace. The insurance
bet is a bad bet that many players make in the mistaken
belief that they are helping themselves protect
their good hands of 20 or their blackjacks.
And don’t listen to players who tell you not
to hit your 12 against the dealer’s two or
three. Hit it. Finally, some players mimic the dealer’s
rules for hitting and standing in the mistaken notion
that, since the casino invariably wins at blackjack,
mimicking the dealer will assure them of winning
as well. Well, this is one case where what is good
for the goose is deadly for the gander. Imitate
the dealer’s rules for hitting and standing
and you’ll get flattened. Why? Because you
have to make your decisions before the dealer and
if you bust and the dealer busts -- you still lose!
That gives the house over a six percent edge!
CRAPS
Here is a game that has some of the very best bets
in the casino and some of the very worst. If you
make a steady diet of the bad bets, your bankroll
will become anorexic. What are the no-no bets? Avoid
the all one-roll Crazy Crapper bets such as the
2, 3, 11, 12, Any Craps, C&E, Any Seven, whirl,
world, hops, horn and the Field; stay away from
the hardways, too, because of you don’t it
will go hard with your wallet. Don’t place
your faith in the place bets of 4 or 10, 5 or 9
as they come in with edges of 6.67 percent and four
percent respectively. Stick to the humdrum of playing
the pass/don’t pass; come/don’t come with
the maximum in odds that you can afford. In Tunica
casinos, you can place the six or eight in multiples
of $6 and you can buy the four or ten for $25 and
only pay the commission if you win. These are all
good bets.
ROULETTE
Most casinos have double-zero roulette wheels as
a staple on the gaming menu. The worst possible
bet at double-zero roulette is the Five Number Bet
(0, 00, 1, 2, 3), also known as the “Beast
with Five Numbers,” which comes in with an
edge over seven percent. What is the house edge
on all other bets at double zero roulette? An unhealthy
5.26 percent. However, if you can find a single-zero
wheel, and, as we write this, the Isle of Capri
has one, then this is the wheel to play as the house
edge is only 2.7 percent. That’s not great
but it is almost twice as good as the double-zero
wheel.
BACCARAT
Great game...if you stick to making Bank or Player
bets only. These come in with edges slightly over
one percent. But there’s an ugly duckling among
those two swans - the Tie bet which comes in with
a house edge of 14 percent! Awful. If you can find
it, try to play the full blown baccarat and not
the mini version. Why? Because the mini version
is so fast that its speed makes the tiny edges on
Bank and Player as sharp as a serpent’s tooth
and almost as deadly.
CARIBBEAN STUD AND
LET IT RIDE
Like blackjack, these two new games allow players
to make choices that actually affect the house edge.
There are very simple basic strategies for both
games that must be utilized in order to cut the
house edges down to somewhat manageable proportions.
If you don’t use the correct strategies at
these games, you can be giving the house edges that
scratch at double digits, and I don’t think
any sane person is itching to do that. But what
should you avoid at both games? That dollar side
bet! It has a house edge around 25 percent -- and
will cost you about $15 per hour in the long run.
SLOTS
Do you want the best chance to come home with some
money this afternoon or tonight? If you do, the
very worst machines to play are the giant progressives
as the casinos will have edges of 10-15 percent
on them. We know that the idea of a life-changing
event is very powerful but, really, only around
150 people have actually won Megabucks in the past
16 years because they face odds of over 49 million
to one against them. Stick to slot machines that
don’t have progressive meters and you’ll
be better off.
VIDEO POKER
If you know what you are doing, video poker can
be one of the best bets in the casino. If you don’t
know what you’re doing, you might be better
off playing the progressive slot machines! Each
video poker paytable requires a different strategy.
These strategies can be found in any good book on
video poker including Frank’s Victory at Video
Poker.
The bottom line of
smart casino play is actually the bottom line -
money. Play the best games and utilize the best
strategies and you’ll have an excellent shot
at the casino’s money; play stupidly and you’ll
have an excellent shot at shooting yourself in the
foot!
Visit Websites Of The Scoblete Network
www.goldentouchpoker.com
www.goldentouchcraps.com
www.goldentouchblackjack.com
www.scoblete.com
www.gscobe.blogspot.com
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Columns By Franki Scoblete
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