Casino Games you can win

The house advantage is built in to all the casino games, but in some games, the decisions you make can reduce the house advantage to its minimum, and you can give yourself more than an even chance of winning.

BLACKJACK
Blackjack is the only table game where the player can actually attain an edge over the casino, but that strictly applies to skilled card counters. A set of strategies were devised by a series of blackjack experis dating back to the 1950s, but the strategies are difficult to master and only give the player a slight edge under ideal conditions, so it is difficult for even good blackjack players to utilize them. And casinos are constantly making adjustments to their rules to combat these strategies.

Unskilled blackjack players face a house advantage between five and ten per cent. There is no set house advantage - because different rules affect the overall house position - the number of packs, the dealing style and the betting restrictions all add to the house advantage.

There is a way, without counting cards, to cut the house advantage to its absolute minimum. By applying “basic strategy”, a manner of playing that takes advantage of the rules which relate to the dealer’s cards, you can reduce the house advantage. Again, how much you can reduce the house advantage depends on the rule variations, but basic strategy gives blackjack players their best chance to win.

POKER
The house has no advantage in poker, so to make its money the casino traditionally takes a “rake” - a percentage of total bets. In some casinos or at higher-limit games, the house charges an hourly “seat rental” to stage the game. The rake or seat rental varies in most poker rooms but, because poker is a game of skill your decisions are all-important.

In poker, your opponents are the other players, not the casino, so if you’re skilled at poker, you should have the opportunity to win at least your share of the pots.

Unfortunately, poker is the most intimidating of all casino games. This is because the other players depend upon you misplaying hands, so they’ll use everything at their disposal, including intimidation, to force you to make mistakes. But there are few things more exhilarating in a casino than winning a big poker pot.

SPORTS BETTING
Even though you’ll only find legal sports betting in Nevada, it is clearly America’s favourite form of gambling. According to a 1990 article in the Wall Street Journal, more than $25 billion is bet annually on sports in the US. Only $1.3 billion of that was bet legally in Nevada, but if you want to bet on sporting events without worrying about whether you will be paid, Nevada is the only place in America to be.

The reason you can win bets on SpOrt is that, unlike most casino games like blackjack or craps, SpOrtS events are rarely played under ideal conditions. Weather, injuries, unusual events and human error may all affect the outcome. But the most important reason you can profit from sports is that the odds-makers set the lines based on how they believe the public will bet on the event, not on which team or player should prevail.

The object of a sports-book operation is to make the maximum amount of money without taking unreasonable risks. For example, in Nevada, you lay $11 to win $10. That odd dollar is called the “vig”. Bookmakers in Nevada will try to balance the amount of money bet on each side of any sporting event so that they will not have to payout more than they took in. The vig is their cushion.