Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
does in Sheboygan, Wisconsin: The more elaborate the decor and entertainment,
the bigger the bottom line, the more the casino needs to earn. Which is why many
seasoned gamblers prefer to play in smaller Downtown casinos, or in neighbor-
hood casinos (which are located off the Strip and targeted toward Las Vegas resi-
dents, rather than tourists), where they don't feel as though they're playing to pay
for the pirate ships and pyramids, the volcanoes and dancing fountains. Instead,
they feel like they're playing to win.
These professional gamblers, these consistent winners, have studied their
games with more dedication than many doctors, honing the skills necessary to
beat the casino. It's not something Joe Blow can expect to do on his first pilgrim-
age to the gambling Mecca. But he can at least read up on the games and master
a strategy or two to increase his odds. A good place to start is with books pub-
lished by Huntington Press, which is located in Las Vegas and run by former pro-
fessional gambler Anthony Curtis (see p. 320 for suggestions on particular books).
They can also read up on Curtis'
Las Vegas Advisor
(www.lasvegasadvisor.com),
which is full of tips, deals, coupons, and behind-the-scenes knowledge of how Las
Vegas works.
You won't find such elaborate strategies in this chapter. Entire books have been
written on the varied approaches to each game, and to even try to fit them in here
is impossible. What you will find is a guide on the basic rules of the most com-
mon games, and tips from the experts on what to play and how to get the most
for your money.
You'll also notice that I've left out description of each casino and its offerings.
That's because, aside from a couple of categories differentiating them, casinos are
by and large the same when it comes to gambling. Themes, size, location, and
degrees of fancy change, but the table games and the odds are comparable; all of
them have slot machines and video
poker; and most of them have
some kind of player's club.
Depending on the caliber of the
casino you'll find variations in
minimum bets and payoffs, differ-
ences in the sizes and styles of
poker rooms and sports books, and
the fancier the casino you're in, the
more you typically have to play to
receive any comps. Slots tend to be
looser (that is, pay out more
money) away from the more stately casinos. You simply have to decide whether
you prefer to gamble in the shadow of a theme (major Strip casinos) or gamble
with a higher chance of losing less (smaller Strip casinos, downtown, and locals'
casinos) and then get rolling. But before you win anything, you need to know
how to play the games, and what advantage the casino has over the players with
each.
“
A dollar picked up in the road is
more satisfaction to us than the 99
which we had to work for, and the
money won at Faro or in the stock
market snuggles into our hearts in
the same way.
”
—Mark Twain
SLOT CLUB CARDS
You've seen the little twirly leashlike things that seem to attach gamblers to the
slot machine they're playing. This isn't just their way of claiming a death-grip on
