Dear Mark,
I'm about to make my
first trip to Las Vegas. Can you give me your favorite King Midas tip
that will turn my trip into gold? Jerome S.
Why King Midas, Jerome? When I think of
King Midas my thoughts turn toward greed. In Ovid's Greek tale, Midas
was so greedy he wanted everything he touched to turn to gold. To his
delight, his wish came true, and he proceeded to gild everything in
sight. But like a rapacious player who wants to win every hand, his fate
was tragic in the end. He killed his own beloved daughter with his
magical touch.
But you probably don't give a hoot about
some Roman poet's tale and only want a hot tip for success, so here's my
favorite: Only make bets that have less than a two percent house
advantage.
You didn't mention what type of casino
games you prefer, Jerome, so I'll trumpet my favored plays below. All
represent wagers that have a house edge of less than two percent.
Blackjack: With perfect basic
strategy.
Video Poker: Again, using perfect basic strategy.
Craps: A pass line wager, odds on that pass line bet and placing the six
or eight.
Baccarat: The bank or player hand.
Slots:
Yes, even a cybernetic one-armed bandit can be a good play if it's
advertised as a 98 plus percent return machine.
Horace once said: "Gold can be slave or
master." So can the wrong casino wager.
Dear Mark,
Every time I chip away
(no pun intended) at the casino, they return larger chips than those I'm
betting. I get the feeling they want me to cash out and keep what I've
just won. Why are they being so polite to a winner? Randall C.
Quite the contrary, Randall. The second you get on a hot streak, casinos
prefer pit employees to "change color" or upgrade your chips. No,
they're not being courteous, just trying to induce larger play. Because
most players don't equate casino chips with real money, it's easy to get
caught up in the game and forget what you're actually betting. Treat all
chips, won or lost, like Friday's paycheck-your hard-earned money.
Dear Mark,
I have a system in
roulette where I play all the odd black numbers and if I lose I follow
it by playing all the red even numbers. The dealer took note of how I
was betting so he knew my style of play. While betting my odd black
numbers, I placed $2 on 17 black as the ball was about to drop. Suddenly
the dealer reached for my money and handed it back to me. As you
probably guessed, it came up 17 black. To say the very least I was
extremely upset and demanded to be paid. The dealer said he couldn't pay
me because he had already called "no more betting" before I put my bet
on 17 black. The pit boss came over and agreed with the dealer's
decision.
Even though the ball did not land in a
slot yet, and the dealer probably knew my style of play, shouldn't I
still have been paid? Tom D.
Your question reminds me of the roulette
player who sent home this telegram: "System working well-send more
money."
As a rule, Tom, the casino wants the
dealer to wait to the final "reasonable" moment before he barks "no more
bets." The house wants to get as many wagers per decision as possible
because they hold a hefty 5.26% advantage over the player on roulette.
The long and short of it, Tom, is that every casino has its own set of
guidelines it wants its dealers to follow. Additionally, every
experienced roulette dealer has his own sense of timing on when to halt
wagering.
In this case, Tom, I side with the dealer
(casino). The simple solution is to get your bets in early. Better yet,
how about finding a new game that does not have such a precipitous house
edge? All you need now is a new system.
