Just the facts, ma'am, just the facts

7 September 2013

By John Marchel

Recent data from the Nevada Gaming Commission shows how little most casino visitors know about the games they play. For example, if a player just follows blackjack basic strategy alone, the house will have a less than 1 percent advantage over a player.

What is really happening, according to the report, is the house is making a little over 12 percent from their blackjack tables. The same is true when it comes to craps and roulette. The house advantage is less than 1 percent for craps by making the correct bets and 5.26 percent for roulette.

Unfortunately for the player the house is making 13.5 percent and almost 18 percent for each of those two games.

What this tells us is that most players don’t know the correct or best way to play those games.

Reading a good book, looking up information on the Internet or taking a class are simple and easy ways to play better and, more importantly, lose less while playing. Learning golf, tennis or even bowling, a new player normally learns from a knowledgeable source before doing it. When it comes to golf a new player will take some lessons from the club pro, the same with tennis. When it comes to bowling you can find someone who belongs to a bowling league to help learn that game. The same is true when going to a casino. Get some knowledge before playing; don’t try to learn it first by doing it by yourself at the casino table. Yes, experience is a great teacher, but it is also the most expensive teacher.

BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW

In the early 1900s, Saratoga, New York, with its casino and racetrack, was known as the “Monte Carlo of America.”

In 1973, the Dunes hotel-casino on the Las Vegas strip offered the dinner buffet at $2.98 for adults and $2.00 for children under 11.

The original monorail cars used on the Las Vegas strip tram were purchased from Disney World.

During the 2004 Republican National Convention held in New York City, it was hoped there would be an 87 percent hotel occupancy rate. Las Vegas has over a 90 percent hotel occupancy rate all year long, regardless of events in town.

It’s been estimated that Las Vegas strip casinos keep approximately $6.15 for every $100 wagered.

In the 1700 and 1800s it was socially acceptable and encouraged for a gentleman to have a flock of gamecocks and to be an expert about the sport. In the United States, famous presidents who were lovers of the game were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln.

It was Benny Binion, owner of the Horseshoe casino in downtown Las Vegas, who first offered free drinks to customers while they gambled in the casino.