Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cards at a time for about 12 games. Each session lasts about an hour, and newbies
will be amazed at how frenzied and exhausting it can get to keep track of so many
cards at once. Each card is a five
×
five grid containing 24 numbered spaces and one
free space. To mark the card you'll need to either bring your own dauber, or you
can purchase one on the premises. Another option is The Electronic Dauber (or
T.E.D.), which is a computer-like dauber system used to track multiple Bingo
cards, and many of the hard-core players look upon it with distrust (simply for
their old-fashioned sensibilities, not because of any charted corruption).
The game starts when the caller announces the first combination of a letter
and a number, drawn at random. The object is to be the first to get the letter and
number combinations laid out in such a way that they form a vertical, horizontal
or diagonal line across the board. When this happens, you yell out Bingo, a casino
employee verifies it and the game is over. Bingo rooms also call games where
you're trying to mark all corners, or line up your combinations in a particular
shape, or “cover-all,” which means you cover every combination on your card.
When they do this, that shape will be shown on a screen to avoid any confusion.
Be sure that when you call Bingo you actually have it. These players can be
ornery and take their games incredibly seriously. To call a game at the wrong time
could result in a sharp lecture from a dauber-wielding senior. Bingo games are pri-
marily found in locals' casinos and cards cost $1 and up. Bingo hot spots include
Terrible's (p. 55), Sam's Town (p. 55), Palace Station (p. 60), Boulder Station
(p. 56), and Gold Coast (p. 60). At all of these free donuts are served as an incen-
tive to play breakfast bingo. To locate other bingo games, see www.bingo
update.com.
BLACKJACK
On a cursory level, blackjack is one of the easiest games to grasp, which has helped
make it one of the casinos' most popular table games. It's also the table game with
the best odds for the player.
But, like most casino games, it's more complex than it appears. This was the
first table game I ever played, and like many newbies, I didn't know there was
much to the game outside of trying to get 21. Everyone else at the table, it seems,
had some kind of strategy. It only took a few hands for the glares to begin (I think
I did something as tragic as hitting a hard 18 or splitting tens). After long bouts
of growling, the table eventually emptied out. The dealer had to explain that they
left because they thought my uneducated plays were affecting their hands. I've
The Tax Man
If you win a jackpot of $1,200 or more on a slot machine, you're required to pay
taxes on it. When you're handed your winnings the slot attendant will also fill out
a W2-G form to file with the government. Don't forget that you need to do the
same. Table game tax reporting requirements vary; if you're worried about winning
a large jackpot (lucky you!) at a specific game, ask any casino pit boss about pos-
sible IRS snafus.
