I would say that I know more than the average gambler in a casino. I have wasted money at Harrahs Cherokee North Carolina once or twice. (a DRY Slot casino, with a few DIGITAL blackjack tables. == not much fun)
I will be in Vegas July 3-6.
I would like to try every thing out, but I do know some basic strategy for blackjack, and how to ‘take odds’ in craps. Those two games I am going to play.
I have posted on Let It Ride, and I would like to try that, as well as Bacarat.
I know slots and roulette are probably big no-nos but, you can’t go to vegas and NOT play these games right?
Keno and Megabucks will probably get one or two plays from me. I am a realist, but I want the experience.
**With all of this being said, How much should I take, as bankroll, for my first time in Vegas? **
(All other expenses are already covered.)
And, also, (but not to hijack the thread) I am going to see “O” by Cirque.
It really depends on your self discipline, and as a newbie, you can’t count on having any. You need to be able to walk away from the tables and call it a night when you’ve hit your limit. It’s no fun blowing your wad on the first night and then playing 25 cent video poker to try to get free drinks for 3 days.
Think of “Lost in America” as a documentary. I’d budget $200 a night in gambling losses.
What kind of stakes are you planning on playing for? Where are you planning to play? You’re going to have trouble finding $5 blackjack on the Strip on a weekend, in my experience. You’ll probably have trouble finding or getting a seat at a $10 table, if you’re going to be at a swanky joint like Wynn or Bellagio or Mandalay Bay. If you’re going to be downtown, it’s a different story.
I think we’d need to know the amount you’re comfortable wagering per hand/roll/spin to give any kind of advice on your bankroll size.
Also, almost all casinos have a low key no crowd “lesson” craps table running in the morning where the croupiers will teach you the basics of the game. There are serious etiquette issues in craps, and you could really piss off people if you fuck up at a hot table.
There are also very well established rules of etiquette for playing blackjack. Such as, pick up your cards with one hand only, scrape your cards when you want a hit, wave your hand palm down sideways when you don’t want a card, don’t touch your bet, etc. Don’t play third base unless you know what the hell you are doing. Ask the dealer if you have any questions. They will be happy to play the game for you until you get the hang of it.
Yes, I already ran into that landmine.
I picked up Casino Player Magazine, today actually, that covers this.
Not to hijack my own thread, but, I don’t get why Third base is that big of a deal. I mean, It’s my seat, not yours. I’m not gonna go off my game, just to help yours.
Well a good rule of thumb is never sit at a table with less then 10x the minimum bet. At least for blackjack which is all I have good experience but I’m sure it will work with all table games. The spendiest weekend I’ve spent in Vegas was with a $1000 bank roll but I also spend a lot of time enjoying the scenery and hiking north of town. But if you’re playing $10 min tables and planning on gambling a majority of the time I would suggest about 300-400 a night to insure you have plenty of money and don’t end up at the end watching your friends gamble.
Statistically, it really means nothing. However, if you are hitting on a 14 against a dealer’s 6, and you take his bust card, and then the dealer gets a 5 and ends up beating everybody else, you have made a statistically retard move and have actually caused people to lose money on the cards that actually came up. If it doesn’t matter to you, just go ahead and play your statistically stupid moves at some place other than third base. No one will care.
There are good days and bad days…some days you could have a bankroll of $500,000 and still lose it all, other days it seems like you are on a roll and will double your money or more in short order.
The best trick is to put what you are willing to lose in your billfold, but put your credit card/debit card in your suitcase, under your bed, in your room upstairs. Usually, in a panic rush to get just a few more bucks, you will run to the nearest ATM machine (which charge about $3 or even more to take money out) and hit it maybe several times in one night. That is a bad thing.
However, often it happens that if you have to schlep back to your hotel, and go all the way up to your room, crawl under the bed, open the suitcase to get the card, and then go all the way back down to the table that is now probably occupied by someone else, your mind has cleared, the mood has passed and you realize it is time to call it a day.
I other words, carry only the cash you are prepared to lose that day with you. Leave everything else in the most inconvenient place you can think of.
Oh, and BTW - when my older brother came to Las Vegas for the first time ages ago, a friend had told him the “sure way” to never lose in Vegas!
The plan is simple.
Whenever you lose, simply double your bet and you get your money back.
Keep doubling that bet every single time you lose and eventually, you will break even!
Sure does sound like a good plan, eh?
He was dead broke in less than an hour and spent the rest of the weekend borrowing money for buffets from his buddies.
My recommendation: $200/day gambling “allowance”. You may be tempted to dip into the next day’s purse if you have a bad day, but control yourself. If you get cleaned out, then stop for the day (no matter what time it is). It’s a sign to take a break.
Practice with this Blackjack Strategy trainer: Online Blackjack 2023 ▷ [Trainer Teaches You Optimal Strategy]
(click on the “Blackjack Strategy Trainer” link). It’s free, and you can configure it for the tables you’ll play.
On the strip: either double/triple deck, 8 deck shoe, or “continuously shuffle” machine (which the trainer doesn’t know about).
Downtown you can find single deck and double deck.
No Surrender.
Double-down rules vary - some allow only on 9, 10, and 11.
Let it Ride is a “steady loss until you win” game. Unlike Blackjack (usually), you don’t really “hover” around staying even - you tend to get a lot of crappy hands in a row. And then (if you’ve survived long enough), you get some good hands. So you can’t just sit down to play only a few hands to check it out - you need a reasonable bankroll to start. At least this has been my experience.
Another game you might want to check out is Pai Gow Poker. This is normally a slower game in that you push a lot, and tend to win or lose slowly. I’ve spent multiple hours at a table and walked away with what I started. So when things are going too fast (you’re losing too quickly) it is a nice way to change the pace.
I personally think slot machines (all variations) are a waste of time. But if you must, you must.
How can we know what you can aford to lose? When I go I can aford to lose 0. OK, probably not true but I usually budget $500 per day winnings. When I hit 500 I stop.
This, BTW, is total bullshit. Not the “Don’t hit when the dealer is showing a bust card.” That part’s right. But the “You took the dealer’s bust card” is toro pupo. The next card could be just what the dealer needed to make 21. What you do has next to zero impact on what the dealer draws, especially with an 8-card shoe. Sure, the other players, who are likely juiced and not up on probability, will give you heat, but screw them. Tell them to buy a math book and play your hand the way you want to. It will influence what happens to them not a whit.
I started out saying that it makes no difference statistically. I understand the math. Go ahead and piss off your tablemates. I dunno, everyone I know likes a person who plays moderately rationally at third base. Like I said, you made a play that was statistically stupid, and the dealer won at that particular point in time. I guess you guys are the ones who irritate me. It’s your right. YMMV.
Sorry if this has been covered (I skimmed the thread, will read in a sec), but you need to KNOW basic strategy, not “know some basic strategy” for blackjack. It will increase your fun and playtime immensely. And if you bust, but the dealer doesn’t, 3 times in a row, move to another table.
While this is true, of course, if you’re just talking stats the best idea is not to sit down in the first place. Since we’re also talking fun, however, I think it’s good advice to avoid the dealer’s right if you can be counted upon to make a few elementary mistakes. Justified or not, people are likely to get on your case about it. A lively, happy blackjack table can be a lot of fun (in spite of the game’s fundamentally boring nature), but a sullen, annoyed table is pure hell.
If you’re there for 3-4 days playing those games, I would want at least $2,000 in the bankroll – but that’s me. Possibly much more depending on how much Baccarat you want to play. Possibly much less if you’re the type who gets dinner and goes to bed after losing a few hundred dollars in a night.
Definitely bone up on basic blackjack strategy. Print out a chart from online and study it en route – you can be fluent in under an hour.
If you know anything at all about poker, the low-stakes tables are likely your best value. It’s the most interesting game you can play in a casino, and, though in the long run you’ll probably lose money, it’s likely to last you much longer than at almost any table game.
The suggestion of Pai Gow is a good one, I think. It’s very easy to avoid fouling your hand so long as you know hand rankings in poker, and if you’re still not confident you can always ask the dealer to play your hand for you (in the same way that she is required to play her own hand). And, of course, it moves slowly and there are lots of ties, so you’re going to leak money, not gush it.