| Before we dive in, know this: you're getting First Aid training here, not medical school. To own a reasonable chance of winning, five minutes of preparation won't cut it. A couple of pleasant hours reading my Casino Gambling the Smart Way (or reading one of a relatively short list of good books written by other people who don't work for casinos) will improve your chances considerably. But in case you don't have a couple of hours to spare, in case you're more focused on socially useful things like going to work, keeping the economy moving, or caring for the children.... I present Las Vegas Lite: Five "Do's" and partner "Don'ts" which will give you a big leg up on most tourists: 1) DO set a loss limit, but DON'T "Bring $300 to Lose." If you're an infrequent, casual Las Vegas visitor, your gambling budget is part of your entertainment budget, and there's nothing wrong with spending money on entertainment. You spend it to go skiing, to professional sporting events, or to the opera. But unless you're renting out Aspen for the weekend, you're probably not spending $15,000 on a ski trip. So while spending money on entertainment is fine, spending too much on entertainment isn't. You wouldn't leave on your ski trip without pricing out hotels and having some sort of idea how much your trip will cost. A Las Vegas trip should be no different. So set a loss limit, but DON'T adopt the "I brought X dollars to lose" method. This plan sounds sensible, but if you expect to lose, you will, because you won't be trying to play smart. You won't care what kind of bet you're making; if your "plan" is to lose $300, it doesn't really matter if you're making 10% disadvantage bets or 1% disadvantage bets... you'll reach your goal (losing) either way. This would seem to imply.... 2) DO hope to get lucky, but DON'T assume that gambling is all luck. Unless you're an expert, you can't win without luck, and even experts will admit that luck outweighs skill in the short run. So there's nothing wrong with hoping to get lucky. On the other hand, if your assumption is "I'll win if I'm lucky and lose if I'm unlucky," you're making a big mistake. The House enjoys a much greater advantage at some games and some bets than others. At a Craps table, for example, betting the Pass Line (the simplest and easiest of all Craps bets), you face only a small disadvantage. If you bet the Hardway bets in the middle of the table, though, you'll probably lose ten times as fast. So if the winds of chance and fate favor you just a little, you might be able to overcome the small house edge on the Pass Line, but not the big house edge on the Hardway bets. The player who makes lots of big disadvantage bets is saying, in effect, "I'll win if I'm VERY lucky, lose if I'm a little lucky, and get crushed if I'm unlucky." You have to pick your spots. |
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