The only guarantee you can have betting is that is that you won’t lose the farm if you gamble intelligently. The most critical aspect of gambling is to acquire a basic understanding of the game which you are playing. With a little knowledge and a lot of patience, you could take your next trip to Las Vegas for free.
The first principle that you need to understand is that when you gamble you probably will lose. Gambling isn’t investing, although with the condition Wall Street is in, it might be safer. If you are not willing to throw your money in the trash can and walk away, you probably shouldn’t gamble. With that being said, you can still enjoy gambling and increase your chance of coming out ahead.
The second concept that you need to understand is that the odds are always in favor of the house. Not only that, but the odds are always weighted in the casino’s advantage. An example of this is betting on boxcars (two sixes) in craps. The odds in most casinos are 30:1 but the real odds are 36:1, so you are not getting paid what the wager is worth even if you win.
Before you decide on what games you want to learn, you need to know which games to avoid. Firstly, you need to know what “house advantage” means. Simply stated, the house advantage is average percentage of money that the casino will win regardless of the outcome of the wagering. A 10% house advantage in a game means that, on average, if you made had $100 and made 20 bets of $5 each you would have $90 at the end of the session. Over time you will win more money if you are lucky but you can influence the outcome by picking games with lower house advantages.
Blackjack has a house advantage of 0.5%, (depending on the number of decks used), and Keno has about a 25% house advantage. But the casino still can improve it advantage by varying the odds. A blackjack table with the payout of 6:5 for blackjack gives the house a 1.5% advantage versus the 0.5% advantage at 3:2 odds. The last thing to consider is the system to use in the game that you want to play. Card counting in blackjack is the only system that is proven to work and it is also the only system banned in casinos.
You can find many strategies to use in gambling but none come with guarantees. The best system is to quit when youre ahead because time is also an advantage of the house. Most people will probably lose if they play long enough. If you have patience to learn the rules of a game, find bets that have good odds (the internet is teeming with advice) and not bet the rent money, then you can have an enjoyable time gambling.
One last caution, if you’re at the casino for the free booze just go to one of the bars on the floor and play video poker or blackjack (only make the smallest wager allowed and don’t average more than $20 bet/free drink) You will still have a good time, you might even win and the odds are that you won’t have to get a cash advance from your credit card to pay your bills next month. Good Luck!