Top Five Essential Casino Strategies to Make A Profit

Many people have the impression that casino gamblers are losers, but it is my assertion from years of study and experience that it can be just as easy to win as it is to lose.  Certain casino offerings – as well as certain behaviors exhibited by the player – will absolutely fill the casino coffers and make the casual gambler go broke quickly.  As you continue to follow ESBN, our team of experts have many tips, strategies, and specific implementation plans ready to go that will all but eliminate any house advantage over you.  To begin, allow me to get you started and give you just a few strategies that over time will help you to become profitable at the casino.

THE SPIKE THOMAS TOP FIVE ESSENTIAL STRATEGIES TO ENSURE PROFITABILITY AT THE CASINO

1. BLACKJACK – PLAY CORRECT BASIC STRATEGY 100% OF THE TIME

If you can make the correct mathematical play at the blackjack table every single time you play a hand, you grind down the casino advantage over you to practically nothing.  Some of this decision making is influenced by the rules of the particular casino (more on that later) but overwhelmingly your chance to win is based upon the decisions you make with your cards.  I don’t mean simply hitting or standing.  I mean hitting or standing with “hard” or “soft” totals, doubling down with each of these types of hands, splitting pairs, etc.  There is a lot to understand, and you must have basic strategy memorized if you wish to maximize your chances of winning.  I have played a lot of blackjack in my life, and while playing sometimes I see players that play with a little card the size of a business card beside them that covers all of the correct basic strategy plays.  These players would sometimes consult the card as the game progressed if they ran into a scenario where they were unsure of what to do next.  Guess what!! I used to mercilessly clown them!  In my mind they were chumps. Tourists.  Posers. Morons.  Who would be so “uncool” as to use a basic strategy card at the table??  Now, as a blackjack expert with 30 years of experience and a card counter/advantage player (more on that later!) I know that back then I was wrong – these players had the will and the smarts to make the correct play so they could win.

By whatever means necessary, study, learn, and memorize correct basic strategy for blackjack and always utilize this strategy at the tables.  Your bankroll will thank you.

2. NEVER – I REPEAT NEVER – PLAY A 6:5 BLACKJACK GAME

Any rule variation in blackjack that a casino imposes can either work in a player’s favor or give the house more of an edge. By way of examples, if a player can find a single or double deck game, the edge created by the player is approximately half a percent which is huge.  A game that allows late surrender pushes player advantage up by .08%.  Conversely, if a casino won’t allow doubling down after a split, that adds .14% to the house edge.  There are many other rule variations that can help or hurt a player at the table.

The rule variation that HURTS THE PLAYER THE MOST is a 6:5 payout on a natural (first 2 card 21) blackjack.  Naturals are hard to come by – I have played sessions that lasted for hours and didn’t receive one natural.  In order for you to keep your advantage now that you know basic strategy cold (Spike strategy #1) is to receive a proper payout on a natural which is 3:2.  A 6:5 payout on a natural creates a massive, staggering house edge of 1.39%!!  You might as well hand them a portion of your roll before you sit down! NEVER play in a 6:5 game.

I think I made myself clear here, but one last note about that.  Casinos make it as difficult as possible to figure out what rules variations they implement.  Casinos exist to extract your bankroll from you, so if they have a rule that favors them, they certainly aren’t going to broadcast it on the PA system or print up T-shirts telling you about it.  I was at a downtown Las Vegas casino with my good friend Eric McCafferty (an advantage player and casino/sportsbook expert who created this site).  I had put down a few adult beverages and sat down at a single deck blackjack game and started playing.  I then felt a tap on my shoulder, and it was Eric.  He said “Did you see that little card in the corner?”  I looked over and there was a small stand up card partially blocked by an ashtray.  Halfway down the card in tiny print it said RULES:  Blackjack pays 6:5.  Embarrassed and pissed off at myself, I immediately left the table.  I gave the house 1.39% advantage by not being observant.  Check out or ask about the rules before you sit, and NEVER, EVER play a 6:5 game.

3. CRAPS – BET THE PASS LINE/COME AND TAKE DOUBLE FREE ODDS

Craps is a very fast and exciting casino game but unfortunately for the player offers many wagers on the felt that have huge house advantages.  Allow me to steer you towards the bets that limit the house advantage and give you a better chance to become a winner.

First, bet the PASS LINE on the come out roll (1^st roll).  If 7 or 11 is rolled, you win. If 2-3-12 (known as craps) is rolled, you lose.  This wager gives the house only a 1.41% advantage over you, whereas many other bets give the house a massive advantage.  The examples are too numerous for this piece, but two quick ones are Big 6 (9.09% house advantage) and hardway 10 (11.10%).  The good news here is we can further reduce the house advantage on the pass line bet by placing a “free odds” bet after a point is established.

The free odds bet is the most advantageous wager a player in the casino can make (sorry, it isn’t Keno, so stop playing that!) because it is the only bet the casino permits where the house has no advantage over the player.  Awesome, right?!  OK, let me put my free odds bet down in the big circle that says FREE ODDS and let’s win!!  Not so fast, Mr. and Mrs. Player – there is absolutely no designated spot on the layout that indicates where or how this bet can be made.

Total BS – a scandal actually – but this isn’t going to change, so we must take action.  Here’s what we do in this situation.

Let’s say you had a pass line bet of one unit(chip).  The number eight was then rolled.  Your pass line bet moves over to the eight box on the felt, because if eight hits before seven, you win that bet.  You would then take 2 units (chips of the same denomination as your pass line bet), place them on the felt and say “odds on the eight, please!”.  Then your next one unit bet would be placed in the COME box.  If a number other than seven is rolled your come bet moves to that number box and you place two units as free odds, which again you must ask for.  Taking free odds bets at the craps table reduces house edge over you to a miniscule half a percent.

A quick note about free odds bets.  The reason for the name is that the casino will pay correct odds on those bets.  For example, if the point was nine, the odds of a nine being rolled before a seven are 3-2.  So, if a nine is rolled three units are won on a two unit bet.  Are you starting to see why casinos don’t advertise the wager?

Another note from the Spike Thomas file of gaming excitement – this tidbit can fall in the category of “this is supposed to be fun”!!  Yes, it is true that there is a slight statistical player advantage (less than .05 %) to betting don’t pass/don’t come.  But I will always forego that speck of an advantage to bet with a shooter and hopefully hear the explosion of excitement at a casino when he or she (or you!) starts hitting numbers and you cashing behind those efforts.  It is wonderful to see and thrilling to be a part of.

Advantage players avoid most available craps bets and play pass line/come and take double free odds on those bets.

4. INTERNALIZE AND EXECUTE EFFECTIVE MONEY MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

I took some time earlier in this piece to talk to you about the most advantageous ways to play the two casino offerings that give the player the best chance to win – blackjack and craps.  But a player can make these plays forever and a day and still lose big if he or she is not a disciplined money manager.  In many ways, money management is the most important technique that a player must utilize in order to be a winning player.

To begin, do not put into play any money that you can’t afford to lose.  There is an old and time tested saying that “scared money never wins”, and if you are tempting financial disaster by trying your luck at the tables, you shouldn’t be playing at all.  Words to live by.

Next, establish your Total Bankroll (TB).  Your TB is the full amount that you have set aside for a trip’s play wherever and for however long you decide to play.  Establish your TB based upon your personal financial situation before entering any casino.

Then you move to your Single Session Bankroll (SSB).  The SSB is the portion of TB that you will have ready to play at the particular time that you sit at a blackjack table or approach a craps table.  There are a large number of ways to approach SSB but the key point of SSB is to have the focus and discipline to not put your entire TB in jeopardy in a single session.

In blackjack, your SSB should be 40-50 times the minimum bet at the table, and your TB should be at least 10 times the SSB.  If you lose two thirds to three quarters of the SSB in any one sitting, pocket the rest and get away from the table.  By dividing your TB into SSB’s, you create a situation where you have backup financing in case the cards turn against in the short run, and also creates reserves if an optimum play arises that requires a little more capital like a split or double down opportunity.  One other important short note about SSB – you don’t need to necessarily convert your 40-50 unit SSB to checks (casino chips) right when you sit down.  Twenty unit buy-in usually does it for me.

In craps, take your TB and divide it by a number that is going to allow you to have an SSB that will enable you to take advantage of the best bets I described earlier.  By way of example (of course depending on TB) I like dividing TB so that an SSB would equal $100 at a $5 minimum bet table (you can do the math on how to divide a TB to create an SSB at any level of minimum bet).  If you cannot get to at least 10 SSB’s and 20 or so units per SSB, you should play at a table with a lower minimum wager.

If you are willing to utilize this type of money management at the tables – that is, if you are disciplined enough and tough enough to do it – you greatly increase your chances of success and profitability.

5. PLAY TO WIN

 Since I am an advantage player and a wagering enthusiast, I have spent a lot of time in casinos.  During these times I have heard a lot of stories about how players choose to wager.  There is a common thread that runs through most of these stories.  What I get from the majority of players who have told me what they do at the casino is that the thrill, the adrenaline, the panic, the excitement of wagering makes losing money acceptable.  I flatly reject that notion.

I play blackjack and craps and wager on horse racing and sporting events for one reason and one reason only – and that is to WIN money.  Getting a big adrenaline rush and an “Attaboy!” from another player followed by an empty wallet just doesn’t do it for an advantage player like Spike.  I have learned the discipline and the control it takes to be a player that puts himself into optimal situations with the best chances to win, and I hope to be able to share all of my secrets with you so you can win too!  In the meantime, allow me to share one small strategy that players who play to win use, and a story that drove this home for me.

In blackjack, I made it a hard and fast rule that if my SSB grew by anywhere from 10-20 units that I would take my profit and get away from the table.  I cannot emphasize enough how important this is, and I also cannot tell you how much cash I won (or kept myself from losing if and when the cards turn!) by doing this.  Let’s say my hypothetical SSB is $200 and I am at a $5 minimum table.  I exchange $100 for 20 red $5 checks and sit down to play the game I love.  After a while I find myself up 20 checks.  Doubling your money at a single session of blackjack is an incredible, awesome win, and leaving a session up 10,12,15 checks isn’t bad either.

“Not so!” according to a guy that I used to meet up with in Vegas.  He was a good guy, an advantage player, and a good card counter (like a lot of people I roll with!) but simply could not come to grips with the fact that when I was up a certain number of checks I would color up and leave the table with my profit.  “Why do you do that?” he asked.  “Didn’t you see that you were winning?”  “What are you doing?!!!”.   I pulled him aside and told him that it is very important to make smaller, disciplined profits at appropriate times – then we always can replenish or add to our TB and live to fight another day.  He proceeded to talk about streaks and staying longer at the tables to increase chances of winning.  Sometimes we would see him in the same chair at the same table for 4 hours straight, as he burned through SSB after SSB (if he even had the discipline to handle things that way).  My detractor is a helluva guy and a decent player, but I don’t think he plays blackjack anymore.  I wonder why….

John Turturro gave an Academy Award caliber performance as the poker grinder Kinish in the classic movie ROUNDERS.  Something he said in the movie always stuck with me.  He told Matt Damon’s character Mike “I don’t play for the thrill of fucking victory…I owe rent, alimony, child support…I PLAY FOR MONEY!”

Amen brother – so do I.