Casino Gambling

Author: Sylvia Garcia

A 2005 survey found that in the previous year United States patrons made 319 million casino visits. That was about seven times the 1990 total. More people visited casinos than major league baseball games or any other professional sports events, arena concerts or Broadway shows. (Casino Gambling Basics by John Grochowski).

Apparently casino gambling has become one of America’s favorite pastimes. And casino goers span all demographics. 55 percent have some college education, 45 percent have white collar jobs, 25 percent hold blue collar jobs, and 17 percent are retired. Have you considered joining the legion of casino gamblers? If so, continue reading for valuable background information that will help you decide if casino gambling is right for you.

First of all, let’s discuss whether it’s possible to win. To be honest, casino gambling should best be viewed as a form of entertainment because in the long haul, casinos always come out ahead. Except for Blackjack, which has odds that consistently change as the cards are dealt, casinos are designed with a fixed mathematical edge that favors the house. For example, a Roulette wheel has 38 numbers – 1 through 36 plus 0 and 00. A player may place a bet on any of those 38 numbers and a winning bet will bring a payoff of 35 -1. This means the player gets his bet back plus 35 times his bet in winnings. If there were no 0 and 00, that would correspond exactly to the odds of winning. However, with these numbers added the true odds are 37 – 1 thus giving the house a 5.26% advantage.

However, this does not mean that the player will never win. If that were the case, casinos wouldn’t have any customers. What it does mean is that in the long run the percentage will hold up and the casino will make a profit. Still the house advantages are narrow enough to allow people to win. And they do.

To improve your chances of winning, you need to understand the games before you begin to play. For example, a Blackjack player who does not know the totals on which the dealer is required to hit or stand or the basic strategy of the game might as well just hand the casino his money.

So how do you improve your odds? Learn the rules of the game before you play, learn the best bets to place and stay away from games that offer the worst odds. And keep in mind that no matter how well you play the house edge will eventually prevail. Those resort hotels and attractions weren’t built to drive themselves out of business so keep that in mind. They do call it gambling for a reason.