The yes and no of various games

A few columns back, I interviewed various players about their likes and dislikes concerning this or that game. So I decided to expand that survey by simply chatting it up with players in both Atlantic City during a weeklong visit and then another week in Las Vegas.

I don't pretend that this is a truly scientific experiment, since I don't have anything near the sample size necessary or the perfect list of questions. I just asked players why you like a game and why you dislike a game. I wanted to get a feel for why players play as they do and why they don't play as they, well, don't.

Here is what I found:

Blackjack Yes: The major joy of blackjack for almost all blackjack players is the ability to make important decisions concerning their hands. Some players even stressed that blackjack was beatable "if you knew what you were doing," although very few actually knew anything about advantage play methods such as Speed Count.

Blackjack No: Annoying players telling you what to do was the first thing non-blackjack players said about their brief experiences at the tables. Being yelled at, scolded and told how to play their hands all made players feel uncomfortable. Some other players just thought blackjack was too hard to play properly and preferred other games.

Craps Yes: Craps players loved the action; the severe ups and downs thrilled them. More than one said they enjoyed the "roller coaster ride." Also many said that playing with other players energized them. A few said they liked how many different bets they could make, although others said they stuck strictly to the "good bets."

Craps No: Players who watched a craps game for the first time were actually scared away because it looked too complicated. The craps layout alone was intimidating. Many women saw how many men were at the tables and thought of craps as a "man's game." Even before they tried to play the game, they just felt they could never learn it and moved on.

Roulette Yes: No one tells you what to do and you have many betting choices. The game moves in a leisurely fashion. You have the option of betting more than one bet at a time.

Roulette No: Weekend players found that too many roulette tables are too crowded and that it is uncomfortable having so many people "crammed in." Some players found roulette too slow.

Carnival Games (Three-Card Poker, Let It Ride and Caribbean Stud, etc.) Yes: Some decision-making is involved, but it is not all that complicated. All these games are occasions for chatting with other players. There's a "sociability" to the games that you don't find at the slots. Also big payouts on premium hands gives you hope of bigger scores.

Carnival Games No: High house edges with many decisions turn a lot of players off. Such players consider these games as "blackjack light." The casinos have put these games in to get more money from unsuspecting players.

Slots Yes: You are in total control when you play slot machines. No one can tell you what to do. You also have a chance to win big money, even life-changing money, if you hit those progressives. Most players knew the casino had pretty big edges on them but didn't know what these edges actually were on various machines and denominations of machines.

Slots No: The high house edges turned players off. Slots were also characterized as "boring" and "for players who have no idea of casino edges." Players knew that "life-changing" hits were many millions to one. Non-slot players thought of slots as the worst games in the casinos and wouldn't play them even if they were the only games offered.

Video Poker Yes: You are in control. Your decisions count. Some few even knew about "good" machines and "bad" machines based on their theoretical payout.

Video Poker No: Learning the best strategies was like "learning physics." Too complicated to enjoy and it was like "going to work."